Because nobody does track government results, ministers tend to think their announcements are actually meaningful, and are surprised to discover that they haven't shifted any economic dials whatsoever. A systemic problem that should have been addressed in July 2024.

Genuinely believe SW1 is addicted to elections and political drama after the last decade of instability in Westminster because a whole generation of politicians and hacks got into politics or reporting on politics during that period

A lot of political coverage also tends towards being framed like sports or showbiz coverage.

Just realised what the Your Party shitshow was reminding me of, and it’s the old OSS (CIA forerunner) manual on how to disrupt organisations and meetings. They’re literally running a deep state op on themselves.

Any comments from France and Britain’s leading conk-sperts? @garlicandpearls.bsky.social

Fascinating insight into the current international scrum for AI sovereignty, enabled by dependency deals with trade partners. www.independent.co.uk/voices/starm...

Just so we're clear, placing yourself as a country front and centre in alignment with a murderous and rapacious dictatorship doesn't absolve you from any perceived moral indiscretions. www.thetimes.com/article/e720...

Building society chair engages with political party. In the context of Farage being debanked by Natwest Group, I would imagine that some elements of the financial sector are trying to demonstrate that they can conduct appropriate due diligence and come to their own conclusions.

I happen to agree with my last repost insofar as the agitprop is being ramped up in the language and content of some publications, but, well, this is also awkward from a trial-by-social-media perspective.

There are so many obvious benefits from inward investment to the UK from US tech companies with AI hungry for our data.

Up until the point when their motor skills, vision etc. clap out and they can't wield a welding torch anymore, those graduates could be quids in. Just in time for their retirement somewhere in their 70s and the glorious pensions triple lock to finally work in their favour.

Anyway, blue collar work seems to be the way to go for graduates since AI hasn't been sufficiently interfaced with robots yet to enable that sectoral takeover.

The world's their oyster, my husband and I boggle at the number of times we get turned down when putting out feelers for someone to do a bit of work. The supply/demand factor must be way out of whack.

In fact if Skills England was really savvy, it would gently suggest to the graduates that they retrain as brickies, plumbers and sparkies, since these are very much in-demand skills and has anyone tried to get work from a tradesperson recently?

This obviously ticks the right boxes by promoting use of AI in order to attract inward investment to the UK from the likes of Nvidia, which will of course generate more jobs in the UK. www.thetimes.com/article/856c...

It could be complemented by training programmes run through Skills England showing graduates how to best utilise AI to write job applications to get past AI recruitment shortlisters, all while they're bolstered by this government subsidy to ensure they don't starve or depend upon the welfare system.

It could be paid for through employer NICs revenue and efficiencies made by the public and private sectors in deploying AI.

I've got a marvellous idea. How about the government creates a graduate subsidy scheme akin to the pensions triple lock to support graduates for up to five years after they leave education. www.thetimes.com/article/4f27...

As in France earlier, this would be done as a national tax. It could lead to a distortion of the market and border shopping. The bigger problem is the evident lack of faith in the EU's joint response on e-commerce. /8

As a result, we've seen some worrying developments. Romania, France and other EU MS are considering going rogue on this and introducing their own handling fees before the EU Reform kicks in. regfollower.com/romania-set-... /7

The Reform introduces a number of important changes. One of the big ones is on e-commerce. It’s going to be more difficult to bring individual parcels into the EU. This is not just the removal of de minimis but a range of other changes. /4

Hello, it’s been a while. Wanted to do a quick update on the EU Customs Reform and particularly e-commerce, where things are not looking so good. /1

Presumably some of this is AI making job applications much easier rather than a genuine like for like increase in the number of applicants? on.ft.com/42H4Yrs Retail and hospitality chains sound alarm over UK jobs market

I happen to agree with my last repost insofar as the agitprop is being ramped up in the language and content of some publications, but, well, this is also awkward from a trial-by-social-media perspective.

Real "I saw Lord Hermes dancing with the devil at the crossroads" energy. The whole report is that a lawyer, then in private practice, gave free advice to a charity regarding the law. And if anyone avoided deportation as a result? That would be because they were legally entitled not to be deported.

The Telegraph has always been right wing, but recently they appear to have taken an even more conscious editorial decision to elevate hostility against those who in any way support people seeking asylum, in a highly targeted, and dangerous manner, especially at a time when death threats are so high

Just so we're clear, placing yourself as a country front and centre in alignment with a murderous and rapacious dictatorship doesn't absolve you from any perceived moral indiscretions. www.thetimes.com/article/e720...

This is what's great about LLMs. You ask it if anonymised and illegitimate crypto donations to a political party would need to be offramped/converted to fiat currency first to bypass thresholds for reporting -

In the land of personality politics, flattery will actually get you everywhere with Donald Trump, so aim high for sloppy seconds. www.thetimes.com/article/4699...

Oh look, funny that. Amazing what cuts through when that's all that is pushed across mainstream press and social media. It's almost like there was an agenda to make it so. bsky.app/profile/youg...

Katy Balls, hitting the problem on the nose as ever. www.thetimes.com/article/bffa...

If I were being terribly cynical, I'd say Trump et al were doing this because generating such a spin cycle is all they know about politics.

Third Stepdad In Row Has Goatee

First time I went to an eating disorders unit, I learned that "institutionalisation" is a white stick of a word and a way of life when you're not quite ready to die or to live l, and planning anything in advance feels pointless.

Case in point. On a state visit, and that's the level of detail he has to go down to. Seriously, wtf.

Way to go for giving that much of a crap about the details that further your push into the conversation and give you a platform, but let's drag ourselves out of that black hole now shall we.

It also reminds me of situations when I've been having pleasant if robust conversations with friends about films, and there's this one young dude always has to get red in the face with torturous analogies telling us how we interpreted LotR: Return of the King wrong.

Knowing the Trump/MAGA crowd penchant for spin, I imagine they'll run with this for as long as possible, punishing anyone that dares to not mourn openly enough and exporting the vitriol to a British public that seriously doesn't need it. bsky.app/profile/cnn....

As if the British public needs to know or give a damn who these people are. This is reminiscent of Reform pushing immigration up the salience agenda until we all started to believe the house was burning down.

Offhand, I'd say that the hoopla around Kirk and Kimmel is now reaching George Floyd proportions of overblown nonsense in the British psyche. Russia clearly doesn't need to do a thing to destabilise our state these days, the US is handling that adroitly.

The past week really mattered in a way that I’m not sure has been totally processed yet

Chinese agents ‘given licence to spy’ on House of Commons www.thetimes.com/article/3ed4...

And all for a bubble that's about to burst and a technology dead-end.

It strikes me that this isn't "investing in UK tech". This is investing in US tech and *dumping* some of their footprint on the UK in exchange for very little beyond a temporary construction boom, and at a time when we should be building houses and towns - 10K-20K jobs.

@greenparty.org.uk As a member, I'm interested to know what the party's position on the US-UK "Tech Prosperity Deal" is. These hyperscale data centres use the infrastructure and resources of large towns, but create very few local jobs after construction's finished. Cities without houses or jobs.

So apart from potential capital gains tax at point of sale, potential NICs payments on rental income if it's brought in at the budget, and second-home council tax premiums if it's unsold and empty after a couple of years, Gen Xers are quids in on inherited properties. www.ft.com/content/9c65...

In the land of personality politics, flattery will actually get you everywhere with Donald Trump, so aim high for sloppy seconds. www.thetimes.com/article/4699...

I've got a marvellous idea. How about the government creates a graduate subsidy scheme akin to the pensions triple lock to support graduates for up to five years after they leave education. www.thetimes.com/article/4f27...

I'm always interested in the possible socio-economic context of stories like this because, while CRT TVs were more ubiquitous decades ago, their availability and affordability were presumably more levelled across households because of a neater supply/demand balance. www.thetimes.com/article/e4e5...

My experience of a Thai restaurant in London was enlivened by discovering that their idea of unisex toilets was to take the doors off the sex-separated cubicle areas. So standing at the sink to wash hands brought more of a view of the urinal than any woman would care for and any guy would anticipate