A LibDem MP accepts tickets to a horse racing meet and then doesn’t declare this when she then asks 4 separate questions in the House about simplifying tax on horse racing. But it’s ok as this was an inadvertent mistake.

U.K. might lose a prime minister because a guy who worked for him knew another guy who hung out with Epstein. Meanwhile the U.S. opposition party is telling our President, who was Epstein's best friend, that his secret police should get better training so their public street murders look less messy.

This is so stupid - should Rayner take over and then the HMRC investigation rules against her, the press’ll froth away and we’ll have to do this charade all over again.

Probably time for another cognitive test

UPDATE: Asked the White House how it could defend Trump’s racist post of the Obamas as just showing “Democrats as characters from The Lion King" given it has no gorillas. They repeated the defense … and then blamed it on an unnamed staffer who "erroneously made the post." "It has been taken down."

Of course Leavitt had an excuse for him.

I have tabled a motion in Parliament, supported by 33 other MPs from 6 different parties, calling for a public inquiry into the British public figures and institutions with links to Epstein. With child sexual abuse on this scale, it is unfathomable that other people did not know.

Reminds me of the “It’s all for you, Damien!” woman from the Omen.

At some point a few generations from now, people’ll look back and ask how any of this happened when everyone knew. And anyone who was around through it all will just shrug.

This whole Mandelson mess could/should lead towards a huge rethink about how we look at cronyism and corruption in modern politics, but all I can think to call it is the Mandy Scandy.

The sheer acceleration through the warnings from history is breathtaking and terrifying

Tell me your great three album runs.

So they’re now releasing 3 million Epstein files to distract from all the stuff they’ve been doing to distract from their not releasing the Epstein files?

What is happening in United States is what happens when coercive powers of the state - arrest, detention, charges - are used as ends in themselves, and not as means of serving justice. They know the arrests and charges will not stick, but they don’t care. Intimidation, like cruelty, is the point.

Hey, USA - you’re at this stage already. The best time to do anything about it has long gone, the 2nd best time is now.

The Teal choice for candidate in Gorton & Denton seems to be a windsock for how far right people will be prepared to vote.

Real "please use this shit or the global economy will collapse because we bet the farm on it" energy here.

“As a result of sticking our heads out of the window and getting wet, first indications seem to be that it’s raining. However we have been told that the government is weighing up the facts and so we will have to wait and see if that is actually the case”

Well that was probably the best news that the Tories have had in a long time.

Just numb and sick. It’s almost impossible to see how this is going to end without a total rejection by agencies who so far seem happy to go along with everything so far.

He knows he stepped in it. 🇬🇧

Most of the potash that US agriculture needs for fertilisation comes from Canada. Making it 100% more expensive to import just means that US farmers have to pay 100% more duties to import it, and the price increase rolls all the way down to the consumer.

Everything’s off the table - no invasion, no tariffs - and all anyone had to do was to say that they might talk about it at some point in the future. Literally “we’ll see” platitudes as if NATO was his mum at the shops.

Brain spurs.

I see he’s at it again. One day, middle America might actually realise who pays all these import tariffs (clue’s in the name) and realise that they need to do something about it.

Getting the feeling that Jenrick’s copied much of this speech from Father Ted’s Golden Cleric acceptance…

The whole Jenrick thing really is little more than “Arsehole leaves party of arseholes to probably join another party of arseholes.” But it’s also very funny.

Monroe’s in Stockport, Sabbat, 1988? There was definitely a broadsword involved at some point

Looks like JD Vance is finally going to show his face today in a meeting with his UK counterpart. Was worried for a while that he’d vanished down back of a sofa

Another day where the news seems to have been designed to stun anyone into helplessness

This Jacob Frey speech is incredible. "To ICE: Get the fuck out of Minneapolis."

“I doubt NATO would be there for us if we really needed them” from the president of the only country to invoke Article 5 of the NATO charter that ensured that its members were there for it.

Rubio’s apparent desire to be king of Cuba is giving me 70s Superman vibes:

10/10 for headline, FT, a++ No notes. www.ft.com/content/ad94...

This is terrifying.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING with @atomcrowley.bsky.social and @tpneenan.bsky.social shows.acast.com/smershpod/ep...

One should always be suspicious when the state resists disclosure of documents. And one should be more suspicious when the state suddenly purports to agree to the disclosure of documents.

Trump posted this without knowing Nick Reiner had been arrested. He posted it apparently assuming that one of his fans had murdered Rob Reiner. So if you want to know how Trump will react once his fans start murdering his enemies, now you know. He'll celebrate and blame his enemies.

Gone from feeling intensely sad about something to brief incandescent rage and then back to being sad because remembering someone who brought such joy is immensely more important than someone else deciding to pick this as his daily reason to outcunt whatever he said the day before.

Oh, did he win then? I had a fiver on Ming the Merciless

Always love the way FIFA reminds you on a very regular basis that football is utterly broken beyond repair.

Oh shit. Just on a works global webinar thing and didn’t check the ‘anonymous’ box on my snotty question. Mine is the only question that is not anonymous and is also the only snotty one. Whoops!

I see it’s that time of year when artists do Spotify’s advertising for free

Putting up the Christmas tree under increasing levels of “fuck it, that’ll do”

Vagrant Story.

Oh, Kemi’s in this?

I see the new Bullseye is sticking to the tried and tested original format by having the board where a third of the audience can’t see it

A former UK prime minister held responsible for tens of thousands of deaths while the US president calls for elected politicians to be hanged. A jolt of a reminder that law and policy are ultimately about life and death. And politicians are often not up to dealing with such things.

DEAD OF NIGHT with @annasavory.bsky.social shows.acast.com/smershpod/ep...

Am dealing with absolute pricks at work who are deliberately not understanding an email instruction. My inner Brian Glover from Alien3 is bubbling to the surface.