I did a book event at Cover to Cover in Swansea last night, and quite a dramatic drive between Penderyn and Merthyr on the way home.

Say what you like about AI, it's certainly made it easier for people to send me invitations to submit my books for fraudulent book groups and offers to submit my application for fraudulent jobs.

This is very cool from the Friends of the River Wye. I hope the Riverside Code catches on in other parts of the country too! bsky.app/profile/frie...

The Beautiful Game gets more beautiful by the day. www.ft.com/content/234f...

In the latest episode of Suspicious Transaction Report host @keatingetom.bsky.social is joined by journalist @oliverbullough.bsky.social to discuss his latest book, ‘Everybody Loves Our Dollars: How Money Laundering Won’. Listen to the episode: https://bit.ly/41FglPX

There does seem to have been a surprisingly large number of verging-on inexplicable mistakes by senior civil servants since Keir Starmer became prime minister. Odd.

"Rituals"?!? What on *earth* is going on in that forest? bsky.app/profile/apne...

I think there is an argument for a Bank of England-run stablecoin, with instant settlement, to help make remittances cheaper/fairer, but I can't see the argument for private money (even when it's made by someone who makes a living from it). www.ft.com/content/69cd...

Not really the point (and please read the linked article), but why do weasels get such a bad press? They're rather lovely, and it seems harsh to compare them to people like Matt Goodwin, but we all do it. bsky.app/profile/paca...

Iran war has exposed the weakness of the dollar - @dsquareddigest.bsky.social oped here www.ft.com/content/ace8...

Seems odd to me but, since you're offering, I'll have number two on the back and sides and a bit off the top please.

I appreciate this is perhaps of niche relevance, but I'm interested that the European Council has signed this letter, but only a handful of the countries on the council (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Denmark) are separate signatories. What's that about? bsky.app/profile/pete...

"Hey, it's JD Vance, it looks like you're having a tough time in the polls, I'll come over and campaign if you like." "Really, there's no need.." "No worries, happy to help, I'll be with you Tuesday." "Um, thanks, actually we're kind of busy..." "Really looking forward!" "Wait, hang on..." <click>

All I want for Tuesday is for people to stop saying "war fighters".

I argued in the FT that a moratorium on crypto donations into UK politics isn't enough, we need a categorical ban. www.ft.com/content/a6b0...

I reviewed Rory Carroll's A Rebel and a Traitor for the Guardian. It's fascinating, and I'd recommend it. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...

Sometimes private equity is unfairly demonised, but most of the time we're not harsh enough.

American politicians have to look all the way back to 2003 for an example of the United States starting a second war before a first war was won, and therefore losing both of them. There's nothing to learn clearly from such ancient history. bsky.app/profile/wash...

I still can't understand why the government wants a moratorium, rather than a ban, on crypto donations in politics. They do the same job, but a moratorium is easier than a ban to cancel for a government that wants to make money from crypto. It's therefore just a crapper version of the same thing.

But what if, by adopting renewables that prevent climate collapse and secure our energy security, we also accidentally deprive our adversaries of their main revenue stream?

Rycroft review looks sensible, but I don't understand why a moratorium on crypto donations to political parties is preferable to a straight ban, not least because a future government could (it looks like) scrap the moratorium whenever it wanted.

I know engaging with a Bret Stephens column is probably a mistake, but surely you tell how well a war is going by whether it achieves its objectives, not by how easy you find it to kill people? www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/o...

Don't worry, things will go back-to-normal any day now, there's no need to try anything new, or to re-evaluate our assumptions about the world. No need at all. bsky.app/profile/jame...

Remarkable. Back in October, when the Trump White House pardoned CZ, it was telling us the DoJ's previous investigation of Binance, including its enabling of transactions with Iran, was an "overreach of the Biden administration's misjustice". bsky.app/profile/icij...

I didn't listen to the World at One, so is anyone in our government responding to the polycrisis with the urgency it deserves yet?

People using AI to invite me to speak to their book groups have of late been replaced in my inbox by people using AI to offer me jobs. So refreshing to know that a gazillion tonnes of carbon is being emitted so they can waste both their and my time.

Tbh, I think I might struggle more with a smaller animal. I would have far more chance against a horse than a mouse, say. bsky.app/profile/lond...

I am able to walk and chew gum at the same time, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. "The only thing prohibiting me from walking and chewing gum at the same time is that I'm not able to," he said. "It is possible for me to do so were I capable of doing that."

While we're no longer on the subject of whose face should be on the £50 banknote: ethnic minority people are disproportionately victims of financial crime, so could we honour their contribution to the UK by not printing £50 notes at all, since they're only useful to financial criminals anyway?

I'm trying to think who this idiocy is for, who would say: I wasn't going to vote Labour but now they've blocked a clearly exceptionally bright Sudanese woman from doing a postgraduate course in computational biology at Cambridge, I'm all in? www.ft.com/content/4493...

I met a young conservative the other day, who was in all respects indistinguishable from a young conservative back in the late 1990s.

I would like to vote for a party that said: "we keep being buffeted by forces outside our control. This is because we've allowed our capabilities to degrade. We're going to build them up again so some moron can't just bankrupt us with a stupid idea. It will take a while but here's the plan".

Cor, sure would feel great right now if we were self-sufficient in renewable energy, and laughing at all the rubes reliant on global oil supplies. We'd have a bit of a swagger in our step today.

I went to get some diesel yesterday, and the woman behind the counter told me I'd been clever to fill up while there's still something in the pumps, since the Strait wouldn't be opening any time soon. I've never received geopolitical advice in a petrol station before.

A chilling crime by Pete Hegseth and the US Navy. Iranian warship IRIS Dena was unarmed and taking part in an int’l exercise with countries including the United States when she was sunk off Sri Lanka by a torpedo fired by a US nuclear submarine, killing at least 87 Iranian sailors.

Hmmmm, interesting to see how google categorises @transparencyuk.bsky.social in its search results...

In decades to come, hundreds of historians will pore over documents from March 2026 desperately searching for, yet consistently failing to find, the tiniest clue as to what in the living fuck was going on.

So I've just discovered that I can make my stapler work better if I hit it really hard. Take that with your whole 'AI aids productivity' thing.

strikes me that one of the most obvious things this government should do is properly resource regulators. There’s a gigantic gap between law and its enforcement, yet politicians always focus on announcing new rules rather than applying the old ones www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026...

Clarification: he didn't break US bank secrecy law, it's just that the foundational US anti-money laundering law is, for historical reasons, called the Bank Secrecy Act. If you'd like to know why it's called that (You Would?!), you should read Everybody Loves Our Dollars www.ft.com/content/6e0e...

If Trump attacked the UK, Badenoch would demand to know why Starmer wasn't helping. bsky.app/profile/samf...

I know someone who moved back to the UK from Dubai with her kids so they could attend a state school, while her other half stayed in the UAE to make sure he didn't have to pay tax. It would be awful if he had to pay for an evacuation flight.

I'm still scratching my head a little at the fact that the Tories managed to get 706 people to vote for them.

🎥 BIG MONEY IS CORRUPTING OUR POLITICS 🎥 UK politics has a big money problem 💷 The super-rich use money to buy honours, influence and access to power. It erodes trust in our politics and undermines our democracy. The UK needs a cap on donations to end big money in our politics. More below ⤵️

"If I have one wish ... it would be for more transparency - if only for law enforcement - around who owns the different forms of corporate structures registered by the [US] states" - @oliverbullough.bsky.social speaking to @ianpgary.bsky.social from @factcoalition.bsky.social youtu.be/9Nr-q7yj9Kw

Would Peter Mandelson (were he to end up in court) have a jury made up of other members of the House of Lords like in Kind Hearts and Coronets? This could be really something.

If the tariffs are illegal, does that mean the US government has to give all the money back?

If he's found guilty, the sentence will be to lose another bit of his name.

Important conversation from #BBC @tds153.bsky.social at #BBCSounds Turkish writer, @ecetemelkuran.bsky.social’s new book Nation of Strangers: Rebuilding a Home in the 21stC explores the rising global displacement of people who will need to forge stronger connections amid political+social upheaval 1/