Doughnuts are good for you and will make your powerful, says Dunkin’s chief economist

Indeed. On the media point, I've been stunned at the number of times I've read some variation on the words 'tricky for Starmer as his focus on the cost of living has been overshadowed by Trump's Venezuela raid'. I mean, yeah, sort of. But in another sense, the wood is being missed for the trees.

I’m not sure “there’s nothing we can do about the sexual abuse image factory ask OfCom” is going to hold much water as a line taken by a government which (a) has a huge majority (b) just passed legislation to regulate what people can access online

Critically, we also need the public to support actions that enable older people to live great lives without having to drive for when they fail the eye tests. So the public need to get onboard with no pavement parking, pedestrian priority, denser housing, fewer out-of-town shopping centres, etc etc

They do. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I'm afraid there *is* an obvious answer: it can't.

Adjusting to the fact that the US is no longer our ally but actively seeking to undermine us, European democracies we are allied to, will take a lot of money, time, risk and the voters deserve to have such a large challenge explained to them so they can decide whether they are up for it.

Once again, the responsibility of government to manage the economy in order to maximise the opportunities for its citizens’ talents to produce greater wellbeing is denied in favour of accusations of “overeducation”… www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Some thoughts on what Trump has done in Venezuela and what it might mean for US national security. Caveat: not a Latin America scholar so this is focused on US policy. Clearly huge consequences for Venezuela that others can address. First, despite the buildup, I didn't think Trump would do it. 1/

V good thread. IMV what’s double damning about the Ovenden piece is that you could write a thousand pieces about how Whitehall could run better, but absolutely none of them would run through “why should the diplomatic service care about a British citizen in an authoritarian jail?”

Lost amid the discussion of why the Government should get off X is its utter uselessness as an engagement tool and the fact departments are wasting vast sums making content for it. Take this:

Trump isn’t predictable or consistent, but this particular action *would* be consistent with the emergence of a G2+1 order where Washington and Beijing, with Moscow as a junior partner, give each other free rein in their purported spheres of influence.

God I miss the Rules Based International Order.

Remember when the right-wing press and the private schools lobby said VAT would mean an exodus to state schools causing a crisis? Not so much. (From this FT analysis: www.ft.com/content/c979...)

‘The source of all life is here’: plan to mine lithium in Chilean salt flat sparks fears of water scarcity

Grok's new "feature" that allows users to undress women in photos posted to X is a new low for the platform. If you're somehow still active over there, I urge you to let this be your final straw.

The world as 100 people over the last two centuries

This is a terrific thread on international security, Russia, Europe and the significance of the US foreign policy shift.

It's New Year, so time to look back and forward. These are 10 things I think we need to recognise in 2026. It’s a response to what I think are profoundly damaging mistaken assumptions I’ve heard and read from practitioners, journalists, and analysts in 2025. Warning: very long🧵

Sounds like something Wallace and Gromit would do

I think the key to answering this question is understanding Starmer/Reeves unpopularity among natural allies. A majority of Laboir voters disapprove of him, as do large majorities of LD/Green voters. Hostility from natural political opponents is normal. Hostility from natural supporters is not.

Reminder that Henry Hoovers are made in Britain by a unionised workforce

Sounds like the end of the 'fabric first' mantra being set out here. Electrifying homes is the way of the future, with solar panels, batteries and heat pumps being the focus of government subsidy.

This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)

The conclusion is spot on

We've always had these dead-eyed socipaths around. It's just a few years ago they were ignored and now they're "senior fellow" at places funded by evil millionaires + going on podcasts with a brain-rotted ex-PM.

This government has an uncanny ability to absorb all the flak from a decision only to u-turn when everyone involved already hates them and it's way too late to get any credit

Email from "A" in "Balmoral" asked Ghislaine Maxwell for "inappropriate friends" 🤢 www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...

‘An unsung alternative to the Cotswolds‘: exploring Leicestershire’s Welland valley

Our inaction on climate change is extremely dangerous. We need to do more. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2025/dec/18/how-climate-breakdown-is-putting-the-worlds-food-in-peril-in-maps-and-charts

Wonder what John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May think of Badenoch's latest outburst. Maybe someone should ask them.

NEW: Pumped hydro is fabulously interesting - and sometimes gigantically impressive - technology. It's having a renaissance! Why? Find out in my latest story for @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/pumped...

The Trump administration’s new national security strategy is yet another warning for Europeans that this administration means them ill 🧵 conservativehome.com/2025/12/18/g...

Important article about the current mess with funding for energy saving measures - Government announced ending the current scheme last month, but details of the replacement scheme, via the Warm Homes Plan (promised by October) still aren't out. The supply chain can't plan or invest in this situation

Jeez. Nearly a full one third of new fossil gas expansion in the US is specifically for data centres. It's 12% in Germany. It should be 0% in both!!!! www.urgewald.org/shop/fossile...

That does tend to happen when you rapidly expand what classifies as terrorism, yeah

The government's keenness to protect "good jobs" in manufacturing contrasts with its inaction in the face of the destruction of "good jobs" in universities. What's going on here is something other than economics.

I think the big change here is from students living in halls of residence, where there were bars, facilities and opportunities to meet many other people, to flats as the predominant model of student living accommodation, where they may only interact with 5 or 6 others. Almost half highlight design.

This enquiry is welcome but far too late and its scope too narrow I was calling for this after the EU referendum back in 2016 Why is the government afraid to seek evidence of Putin's involvement then? The nexus of UKIP/Brexit/Reform and Putin is not a coincidence share.google/NsScp2W5OYHD...

Not a good set of labour market stats. www.ons.gov.uk/employmentan... Employment down, real wages slowing, unemployment up.

I know the shameless hypocrisy is the whole point but seeing maybe one of the single most socially conservative MPs currently in the House of Commons welcome a pornstar into his party isn't not making me feel fucking mental

Quite a position to argues that the wokes are destroying a civilisation built on Christian faith but gang bangs are fine actually.

A reminder that this is the same man who has just spent the past week calling all the Jewish victims of his own horrific anti-semitic abuse liars

"Migrants who came to the UK on skilled work visas in 2022-23 will make a net contribution of £47bn to the public finances over their lifetime, according to new estimates from the government’s Migration Advisory Committee." Not surprising, but some observations (1/n) www.ft.com/content/10da...

Striking overview of China zooming past the west in energy production that powers computing. “Biggest power grid the world has ever seen… Production increased by more than the rest of world combined… Some Chinese data centers paying less than half what US ones pay for ⚡️” www.wsj.com/tech/china-a...

Labour’s shift away from “immigration is good but it needs to be managed” to “it is bad” is a gift to essentially everyone they compete with, because it means that they don’t have the right position to be able to attack *anyone*.

One thing social media platforms do is meld the British and US higher ed crises into one. I think there are similarities but, tbh, the UK feels much more like a catalogue of shambles and poor policy decisions than a real ideological attack—even if the consequences remain the same.

TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque: "This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".

Don't look away from this tragedy - this is a sign of things to come as we head to 2ºC I sound like a broken record - we are *utterly* unprepared. We need to *urgently* have a clear view of the risks and do something about robust early warning systems that reach people on the ground timeously!

I wonder how much Ofcom’s failure to use even the limited powers it has against Twitter is based on concern that it would be quite revealing when Musk just ignores any ruling.