Very well said.

Today once again proved that everyday citizens protesting their government are braver than the titans who own the largest media corporations, run the biggest law firms and lead the most powerful technology companies.

This is interesting because when I went for my first Covid vaccination, Farage arrived and pushed straight to the front of the queue.

“Geopolitical sugar rush” is a phrase for the ages

Trump has had "a massive geopolitical sugar rush", says the BBC's Jeremy Bowen. "What we are seeing is imperialism...if you can have an American empire you can probably have a Chinese empire, you can have a Russian empire." Bad news for smaller countries on their borders, he adds.

This is a lucid and brilliantly argued piece.

Farage says Sadiq Khan is "deluded" to think London is the greatest city in the world. Not sure that's the best way to appeal to Londoners at a press conference designed to appeal to Londoners.

Thinking about Napoleon's line about the impact of world events on 20 year olds, and then thinking about that current cohort of young people and what they make of today's world. And worrying.

I like cheese.

Absolutely right by @sarahoconnorft.ft.com - it's just a category error to believe that a LLM is displaying human empathy. It displays synthetic empathy. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

It was a pleasure talking to Rachel Bridge for her fun/useful new website Pocket Inspiration: pocketinspiration.com/people/f/the...

Essential reading open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

O fado! Ruben Amorim sacked LIVE - latest news as Manchester United make managerial change - BBC Sport share.google/rft3LjW9JleI...

It's a good day for fans of Churchill's phrase about "the confirmed unteachability of mankind".

The new pandemic: Global Trump Derangement Syndrome.

It feels like we're living through a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, it's just that we're still some way from the (violent?) ending. #Trump

It feels like we're living through a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, it's just that we're still some way from the (violent?) ending. #Trump

I don't get the feeling that Trump is a Faithful.

Stop asking DJT questions. He has no idea what’s going on.

We Don’t Always Know How It Ends share.google/WWeOoiPuJqE7...

Make a sick, angry, frightened 12 year old boy Commander in Chief and see what happens.

We Don’t Always Know How It Ends share.google/WWeOoiPuJqE7...

Make a sick, angry, frightened 12 year old boy Commander in Chief and see what happens.

Does he really keep taking this test again and again (worrying) or does he just keep forgetting that he's already told us about it (also worrying)?

Yannick Nézet-Séguin = Charlie Chaplin (This is a good thing.) #Wien

Now he is literally the Poundland Donald Trump

Great stuff, well worth your time.

Has the rise of the side hustle made it harder to assess the state of the economy - @pdonovan-econ.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/799f...

Let's hope it's not a happy new year for Farage. www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

"Read the bloody room" tweets Mr Braverman, who opposes the King's message of togetherness, but strongly approves of President Trump!

Hilarious BBC News report on the Andrew Epstein emails, using the phrase 'the emails do not indicate any wrongdoing' multiple times. Of course they indicate wrongdoing. They don't prove it, but they indicate it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...

Neither Trump nor Farage can escape or shake off their past. It will cost them. "The past is never dead. It's not even past." (William Faulkner)

Farage is not an inevitability (YouGov poll in The Times today). Merry Christmas.

I am shocked, shocked to learn the Trump administration has covered up (or "lost") damaging material from the Epstein files. If only there had been some clue they might act like this.

Wasn't completely sure what I thought about this move but Lord Frost's intervention has helped: I am now strongly in favour.

Great, now do a customs union and the single market.

EXCL: An agreement to rejoin Erasmus – the EU’s student exchange programme – set to be announced on Wednesday as part of UK government’s drive towards closer relations with Brussels. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

All the comments on Trump's latest new low are going to hit the US visa issuance for UK citizens and could be bad news for the airlines.

It's really a bit like sumo wrestling when I am trying to write something: lots of intense pacing about and then, eventually, finally, a whoosh of short-lived action.

For the record, Robin Ince is a superb comedian, an absolute mensch, a remarkable thinker and the kindest human you’ll ever meet. And the BBC is a genuinely great and globally unique institution that needs to stop being afraid. I think that’s where most of its faults and issues stem from.

On a purely factual point, Trevor Phillips’s column in the Times misrepresents our reporting in casting doubts on claims that there were more boys called Patel than Smith at Dulwich in 1980 (we did not report 1976 as the year it occurred). 1980 roll shows 13 Patels and 12 Smiths.

OpenAI is ten years old today! My take on how its transition from idealistic charity to profit-seeking corporation shows how capitalism squeezes morals out of business theconversation.com/why-openai-i...

Excellent piece.

"The tree is bent when young."

Good point from @labourlewis.bsky.social

The Daily Mail is getting Farage so, so wrong. Shameful. He didn't "turn the tables" on anyone. They should be condemning antisemitism and racism, not giving it a free pass.

Didn't like this then, like it less now:

Farage has made a big mistake going for a flat denial of something (deeply unpleasant and disgusting) for which there are loads of on-the-record witnesses. The Reform bubble will burst.

Lest we forget.