HahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahHhHhHahahahHahahahaha

lol but in French

We can just pretend that this is the final. The real final is as much of a construct as this match is. We can papier-mache a Jules Rimet and have a parade and ignore the match tomorrow. We can just pretend

I both understand why the lobby almost completely ignores secondary legislation... but also, there's a report published each week Parliament sits with details the government has messed up on. I live in hope that one day an overworked journalist will spot what an easy source of stories it could be!

p.s. the idea that the increasingly widespread and damaging wildfires can be explained away by "fire suppression" practices etc. is an old denialist frame advanced by Trump and GOP: www.newsweek.com/lies-climate...

If he does this, his premiership will be meaningless before it's begun in terms of reform and doing things differently. There's no economic or energy case for it that makes sense v. the huge terrible signal it sends about abdicating a climate leadership role (and a new green industries focus).

(I have heard this a lot from pro-Burnham not-London not-Manchester friends and family who are like why is everything Manchester now I didn’t say I hated the focus on London just for the focus to shift to Manchester.)

“Burnham’s first steps as Labour leader indicate his intention to preserve the soft-blue alliance that delivered Starmer's downfall and brought him to power.” www.politics.co.uk/news-feature...

All the signs are pointing towards a precipitous decline for Reform UK, but could Andy Burnham be about to offer them a lifeline? Here’s why the coming days could decide whether Nigel Farage's entire political project dies www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-sudden...

Hard to think of a more deeply damaging start to Burnham’s premiership than giving green light to new oil & gas in N. Sea, if true. It won’t lower bills or lead to greater energy security but will drive an even hotter planet. What a terrible signal to give to rest of the world #ClimateVandalism

Liberalism - you'll miss it when it's gone.

The Times reports an 'extreme far-right campaign to infiltrate Restore Britain' Yet this had been an inflitration - by invitation - in plain sight The Times now understands Lowe "plans to root out those who espouse those ideologies from his party" (!) www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Direct foreign interference in British politics - we have rules against foreign governments funding parliamentary groups, but this is fine?? Seriously?? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

This is outrageous.

I've lived in Beijing, and the thing is - they don't have elections.

Labour needs to stop treating its large core vote in London as a weakness rather than a strength. Few remember now but the Tories used to lead in London under Thatcher/Major. Changing that is *a political success*.

'Patriot News' reporter Chris Atkins (scatatkins.bsky.social) was just kicked out of Liz Truss' CPAC conference for asking the wrong questions. So much for free speech.

Dear Andy Burnham: it’s time to scrap First Past the Post. Our voting system only breeds instability and chaos, and poisons our political culture. We know you agree. Now is the time to fix our democracy. Sign the open letter: actionnetwork.org/petitions/an...

Ossoff: "Here's what's going to happen tonight: the world's most famous sore loser will deliver a prime-time presidential sour grapes address to pursue his 6-year-old grievances about the 2020 election, while his war in the Middle East spirals out of control & the cost of living continues to rise.."

The Oxford Union debate, ‘This House Would Rather Go to War with Russia than Lose Ukraine’, is now available to watch online. You can watch my contribution here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9XU... And the full debate here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t8u... 1/2

Trump is now a day trader profiting from inside information from this other thing he does - pretend he's the leader of the country. Everything has become about monetization for him/his family. It's why he wants to stay in office forever. It's how he becomes really rich. bsky.app/profile/chad...

Got something that's been bugging for a while (25 years!!) off my chest for @thelineofbestfit.com There are musical revolutions bigger than punk and acid house happening in front of our eyes and the culture press just shrugs.

Furious that Chris Nolan would disregard historical accuracy in adapting The Odyssey by making a "movie" with "cameras" instead of memorizing the entire story and then going on a nationwide tour to sing it to us while tripping on ergotized barley

Weird thing is most testing will show you that one of the most vote losing positions Labour could adopt is explicit anti-Net Zero signalling. This is because climate still disproportionately matters to Lab/Green voters while Lab/Reform voters don’t care either way...

Ignore him and instead ask him about the £5m he got from a crypto-billionaire that just coincidentally matches the £1m a year he said he needed to be an MP for five years. Please and thank you.

The media seems v unlikely to notice dramatically falling school numbers as they continue to run inaccurate stuff about migration pressures on school places

This really does need some attention. I’m not sure even a slither of the population realise that either their local school is at risk of closure or could have a big financial risk (which will impact on teaching quality as most schools budget is staffing)

The best analysis you'll read of what happened last night. Key point is England dropped back before the subs. Tuchel was responsing to what was happening rather than deliberately trying to park the bus.

Good thread, this. Would add: just as one attraction of Lawson to Thatcher was that he had no parliamentary base, having beat up a number of MPs when he was at the Spectator and spent v little time on the backbenches, that Shabana is not a goer among members is a good thing if you’re Andy.

But a rainbow bucket hat is too political?

I suppose I just think I would find more dignified ways to celebrate than to try and make a righteous cause out of the failed military adventurism of a fascist junta. It’s not as if there aren’t options.

Great squad, good vibes, played their socks off and given us a lot of enjoyment. You can’t ask for more from your players.

In the bargaining stage where I'm thinking "I thought 60 years had a nice ring to it, but maybe 64 more years has a better ring"

Honestly, the way the entire pub chants "wanker" any time Infantino appears on screen is truly heartwarming.

At least it's not 3am

I love to be a FIFA referee and to take two to five valiums before every game so I can remind myself that nothing matters

In pub. Resisting impulse to yell "All national identities are fundamentally fictitious!"

Referee having to explain to Messi there that actually Argentina offered to cede its claim to the Falkland Islands as far back as the 19th Century.

"Ossoff predicts Trump’s address will be a ‘pretext for an abuse of federal power. Ossoff told MS NOW that he thinks the president will “lay the groundwork for some kind of potential challenge to the results” of midterms" 100% correct Trump is laying the groundwork www.ms.now/news/trump-p...

Jon Ossoff is awesome. Ossoff never flinches, he is calm, direct, and clear. Clayton looks like the sycophant he is. One has to wonder what mental pathologies and delusions Trump has about 2020. One has to ask: why did people vote for a proven felon, rapist, fraudster, liar?

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but that’s rape. www.salon.com/2026/07/15/m...

This is a terrific illustration -- for elected officials but also for media figures -- of the incredible power of simply refusing to take a bullshit dodge for an answer. Keep asking the question, over and over again, and make the weasels squirm.

If this case progresses, it will be an interesting reckoning for Reform’s position on online speech It relates to a post on X, but Lucy Connolly was celebrated as a "political prisoner" and given a speaking slot at Reform conference after being jailed for an X post

I live in England, but my heart is in the motherland Go on Argentina! www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland...

I just came across this astonishing 20-year-old work. By transplanting embryonic mouse gum-forming tissue to the beak-forming region of chick embryos, the researchers showed that the chick epithelium could be induced to make teeth. But the best part is... onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Excellent column by Martin Wolf, this:

"President Donald Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have amassed a portfolio of defense technology start-ups that are benefiting from new Pentagon priorities and spending" giving the family a direct interest in US security policy new reporting from @washingtonpost.com wapo.st/3R5InT7

"Our trade to Europe stopped overnight." An eighth-generation Essex oyster business says Brexit still costs it around £200,000 a year. Ten years on, this is the story of businesses still living with the consequences. 👇

Why I’m a fan of the Oxford comma.

I don't dislike Burnham but there's something a bit irritating about the tone of faux naivety, as if somehow he has been insulated from politics for the last decade. He's held one of the most prominent elected positions in the country - as a Labour politician. Granted, not Westminster, but still.