Iranian officials threatening 'full-scale economic war' following reported Israeli and US strikes on its South Pars gasfield. Scary times: www.ft.com/content/6112...

New with @direthoughts.com: We took a look at the entire history of Farage's Cameo account. We found he had supported a rioter, advertised a Neo-Nazi event, and much much more www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-i...

Definitely worth a read from Andrew O’Hagan in the LRB www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

It’s crystal clear now that Trump has lost control of this war. He badly misjudged Iran’s ability to retaliate. The region is on fire. 1/ I’m going to explain to you in this🧵what I’ve learned - in part from closed door briefings - about the four biggest current crises.

There’s a lot of noise in politics but if you want to understand why we’ve had 8 Prime Ministers in the last 20 years and no leading politician has a positive approval rating, you might want to check out this chart

Pretty crazy how important the blockade of a trade route is right now

@aishadown.bsky.social's series on the UK government's AI 'investments' is great www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

NBC’s Richard Engel: “The White House meme campaign is outraging many former US military commanders… they say only someone who has never really seen combat would think it’s a joke and put out material like this.”

"Why are these yellow-bellied, jelly-hearted, lily-livered cowards unwilling to sail a large, slow, unarmoured target filled to the gunwales with flammable cargo through an active war zone."

⚠️ As a US military veteran, this article has me *shook.* Target selection is complicated and messy. The fog of war is real, and mistakes happen. But as late as yesterday, Trump and Hegseth were trying to spin this tragedy as the result of Iran's own actions.

I'm out of words here

Terrific essay on inter-generational fairness from John Lanchester, that brings up some of the discomforts of the past but still broadly accepts the problems now faced. www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...

This film is absolutely brilliant - moving and funny. Took my kids to it yesterday and it got a round of applause from the audience at the end which basically never happens in England.

Again, Farage, Badenoch and their fellow travellers on X are wildly out of touch with the public on Iran. Even the majority of Reform supporters oppose their position.

Fantastic interview. Everyone should read it:

Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital halts mass eviction after London Centric uncovered what was going on. Hundreds of Londoners now receiving bizarre door-to-door visits blaming misinformation and being asked to record videos saying they don't want to be evicted. www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-...

How extraordinarily fortunate for Wes Streeting that the only text messages he sent Peter Mandelson just happened to be exactly the sort of things other Labour MPs want to hear from a potential leadership candidate

Personal view - Labour will regret getting rid of Keir Starmer if/when they go through with it. Not because he's amazing but because you can pretty much guarantee whoever comes next will be worse (and also face some very valid pressure to call another GE plus have lots of internal enemies).

It is frankly mental how many pies old Jeff had his fingers in

“No action without your go-ahead” Exc: Jeffrey Epstein was contacted about potential involvement with Sheffield Forgemasters in the midst of a major UK political row about a cancelled £80m Government loan to the steel firm. Here’s what we know so far: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/no-...

New: Departing Global Counsel boss Benjamin Wegg-Prosser has been removed from his unpaid role as an economic adviser to South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard in the wake of his controversial links to Jeffrey Epstein coming to light: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/oli...

(gift substack) Jeffrey Epstein didn't want prostitutes. He wanted scared, vulnerable girls and young women he could control. open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...

Peter Mandelson is telling the truth on one thing: the idea he was bought for a $4k “bursary” or a $75k gift is ridiculous The real incentive was a post-government payday - one so big he *rejected* a $3–5m-a-year offer And Epstein enabled that payday Here’s the evidence. 🧵

Have written about how the Epstein files could yield one of the most serious political crises of confidence in British politics since Profumo. They are both revelatory of the realities of elite political power. open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...

Among the very many other recent revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, this looks very damning for Peter Mandelson www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New £51m Sheffield leisure Centre to be named The Uriah Rennie Leisure Centre in memory of the first Black Premier League Referee and a champion of numerous community, sports and charity organisations in the city following the unveiling of his Legends Star at Sheffield Town Hall

NEW: 'Tenant' Doncaster Council agreed not to object to housing planning applications in the Doncaster Sheffield Airport lease, the LDRS can reveal The previously unnoticed clause is further to 'approve housing or lose lease' revelations published last week

The Atlantic Magazine just dropped a tremendous story on the Minnesota Resistance. The author is a war correspondent & sees the echoes of leaderless community empowerment around the globe: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202... (supposed to be a gift link, might not work, it’s in Apple News, too.)

I love Stephen. The face of a doomed WW1 officer and the wardrobe of John Travolta. #thetraitors

"KEY £160M FOR AIRPORT UNDER THREAT IN DISPUTE OVER LEASE" @chrisburn.bsky.social for @yorkshirepost.co.uk Full Story: t.ly/uIcV9 Release of £160 million to reopen #DoncasterSheffield Airport won't happen unless the terms of a lease are changed. #YorkshirePost #TomorrowsPapersToday #IBPAPERS

New: £160m of taxpayer funding for Doncaster Sheffield Airport will not be released until a controversial lease with 'favourable' clauses to landowner Peel is renegotiated by Doncaster Council. Talks ongoing over potential changes but no agreement in place: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/don...

NEW: Mayor Jones is responding to today's revelations re) DSA lease. She says: "Peel had the ability to terminate the lease if they failed to obtain planning permission. BUT, let me be perfectly clear, that clause did not guarantee that they would receive planning permission and...

REPORT: Reform UK may suspend support for reopening DSA, the local chairman has said following the leak of the council's lease with landowners Peel

Doncaster Council secretly agreed that the lease for its use of Doncaster Sheffield Airport could be terminated if it did not approve plans for more than a thousand houses by the site’s owners, a leak to The Yorkshire Post has revealed. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/don...

Why is Donald Trump changing his mind every five minutes and saying completely mad stuff an embarrassment for Keir Starmer? It feels like it should chiefly be seen as an embarrassment for the United States.

Can Keir Starmer bore enough to stop a trade war - or an actual war? My SKETCH of Today In Saving Greenland. thecritic.co.uk/on-b...

Official press-release, English version, on Trump's letter: www.regjeringen.no/en/whats-new...

Update to Nixon's Madman Theory: now with no theory, but with an actual madman.

'An astonishing note' Faisal Islam tells #BBCBreakfast about a 'truly extraordinary' exchange of letters between Donald Trump and the leaders of Norway and Finland

Incredibly, no-one on Nigel Farage’s team has got round to deleting this post. It’s still live as Robert Jenrick gives his big defection speech.

Robert Jenrick

For someone who gets talked up in Westminster so much, Robert Jenrick is an amazingly charmless and uncharismatic speaker IMO.

Why is Robert Jenrick called 'Honest Bob', you ask? It was coined by John Crace after Jenrick overruled an objection to ex pornographer and ex publisher Richard Desmond's property development saving Desmond £40m and coinciding with a donation of £12,000 to the Tories. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-poli...

Things are awful, so a little treat for the real Crush-Heads. It is now eleven years since I got this printed in the Metro.

Internet traffc in Iran has dropped to effectively zero as of 18:45 UTC (22:15 PM local time), signaling a complete shutdown in the country, and disconnection from the global Internet. radar.cloudflare.com/traffic/ir?d...

I miss Old Twitter part VI. Steve Bruce photoshopped into wedding photos.

pound for pound this might be the funniest thing ever written

Hate freeloaders who join in the New Year's Eve countdown for the last 10 seconds. I've been doing this all year. Where were you back in May