'Leftwing' does not have to mean fiscally loose. "More open policies on migration and Europe and a fairer tax system would be economically “left” of the present government. But they would improve the public finances and reduce the deficit." Me in @financialtimes.com www.ft.com/content/7235...

If I was a Scottish voter I'd feel pretty cheated that the former SNP boss, who must have known full well what he did, waited till after polling day to cough to it. Is this a legitimate SNP administration?

Superb skewering of Danny Kruger by Emma Barnett on the Today programme at about 7.25 this morning. Reform is a Potemkin outfit.

Excellent piece this. “A bad economy creates bad politics and bad politics create a bad economy.” www.ft.com/content/a133...

Just saw the terrific @rosieisaholt.bsky.social show "Churchill's Urinal" at @kingsheadtheatre.bsky.social - clever, witty, brilliantly performed. A revealing take on our troubled times (and history). On til June 6, do not miss!

I wonder if Lab will be pleasantly surprised to be slightly ahead at this stage. Will the Reform candidate look any better under closer scrutiny?

Once Iran has passed its cognitive test everything will fall into place. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Highly recommended - as is @libro.fm where “Fair or Foul” is also available from for those that like their audiobooks with a little social conscience. #Booksky

The audio version of my book "Fair or Foul - the Lady Macbeth Guide to Ambition", is finally available, on Audible Fair or Foul Audiobook | Free with trial share.google/l7L6NamH3wno... Or Spotify open.spotify.com/show/3hyUAtj... And elsewhere. Five hours and a bit of me droning on! You're welcome.

It was kind of Robert Jenrick to set me up for an obvious joke at his expense.

Wannabe prime ministers are nakedly ambitious to run the UK, but why? That is the burning question | Stefan Stern www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Surprise! (Not really a surprise) giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Wannabe prime ministers are nakedly ambitious to run the UK, but why? That is the burning question | Stefan Stern www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

If Andy Burnham wins the Makerfield by election because he did lots of bus stuff - and I think aside from Covid that’s genuinely a source of a lot of his popularity - I will be expecting my peerage in the post 🚌

Well.

Is Wes Streeting the Jude Bellingham of the Labour party? Bags of ability, star quality... ...but is he good for the team?

It's A Wonderful Life (a less tragic arc than The Seagull or Uncle Vanya!) But yes. The Comeback Kid.

With VAR there needs to be a "is this player/team gaining an unfair advantage?" test. If not then there's no need to give the penalty/declare a player offside.

You can understand why Starmer looks at the flapping of the rival teams and doesn't see much to be frightened of.

Charge of the Wes Brigade.

My primer on ambition is still available if anyone is weighing up any big career moves just now. www.amazon.co.uk/Fair-Foul-Ma...

Feels as if Starmer failing to find 30 mins yesterday to talk to union leaders is the equivalent of Johnson's dismissal of the Chris Pincher case - the final mistake.

"You're good, kid, but as long as I'm around you're second best. You might as well learn to live with it."

"You're good, kid, but as long as I'm around you're second best. You might as well learn to live with it."

I suppose Starmer has just declared: "I fight on, I fight to win."

Listening to the callers on Five Live you might conclude that the country doesn't want a prime minister, it wants a therapist, preferably in the form of a firm but loving parent.

Will there be "a Keirguard action", asks @nickyaacampbell.bsky.social First (and only?) laugh of the day.

I think about this so often. I think that he would have transformed the country for the better. The UK is such a confused mess that it needs exceptional people to improve it, he was one of them. news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi...

Sadly not available. Died on this day 32 years ago.

He used self-hypnosis to *reduce* the size of his tax bill. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Really the prime minister ought to be an actual politician.

It's a pity Starmer didn't display this level of urgency and intensity starting on July 5th 2024. He has left it very late, probably too late.

They are going to have to reset the reset. #Starmer

A wall of crypto money is powering Nigel Farage, both politically and personally. And much of the British media just shrugs app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/73421/...

Has the moment come for Zohran Milibandani, the comeback kid?

"Are there any other multi million poind gifts to Nigel Farage that we don't yet know about?" @mattchorley.bsky.social asks Zia Yusuf. Yusuf refuses to answer.

The weirdly disproportionate anger aimed personally at Keir Starmer reminds me a bit of (some of) the people who cried when Princess Diana died. As Gore Vidal asked at the time: "Who are they crying for? They are crying for themselves."

It'd be nice if the BBC celebrated the life of old Wyggestonian David Attenborough by repeating one of his achievements - commissioning programmes of the quality of Civilization, Ascent of Man or Alastair Cooke's America.

The weirdly disproportionate anger aimed personally at Keir Starmer reminds me a bit of (some of) the people who cried when Princess Diana died. As Gore Vidal asked at the time: "Who are they crying for? They are crying for themselves."

His closest aide sentenced to 10.5 years for spying for the Russians. Failing to disclose £5m donation and how he bought a house in Clacton. A decade of school antisemitism and racism. Cavorting with Neo Nazis and planning mass deportations. What is the media love about Farage?

As I said last week, I'm starting a substack focused on social affairs, public services, policymaking etc - and I'll be launching it soon I've given it the unglamorous but self-explanatory name Policy Matters. Free for now, and for a while yet I imagine Sign up here! chamindajayanetti.substack.com

After the devastating Supreme Court ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act, you might be wondering: What’s next? Here is how Democrats, and anyone who cares about the future of our democracy, should respond.

Wait, I thought if 60 Minutes edited an interview with a politician in the slightest, that was grounds for a lawsuit?

So there are crazy headlines, and then there are "I'm sorry WTAF now?" headlines...😳 Yes, the Telegraph have deduced that Ed Miliband hates mothers because of some new legislation making tumble dryers more efficient and cheaper to run! 🧵 1/24

I doubt there was a dry eye in Oxford when the choir sang "Somewhere over the rainbow" this morning @dinahrose.bsky.social ! "Skies are blue...and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true...."

Great letter from Rowley to Polanski. Being the leader of even a minority party should mean showing leadership, not indulging in sixth-form sniping.

Maybe if Trump had fought in Vietnam he would have learnt the lessons of Vietnam.

£5m quid for security? Surely Farage could have got a discount from the Wagner Group, what with his Russian connections? @johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social

My local @greenparty.org.uk candidate in next weeks elections. I have no words.

trump proclaiming 'talks!' -- to which iran says nope -- then trump says, um, i'm now CANCELING 'TALKS' please adjust, accordingly, the precious american journalistic resources devoted to writing down and minutely parsing words this president says. and happy whcd!