Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have settled her workplace sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit two weeks before it was set to go to trial. I’m relieved we don’t have to do Depp v. Heard again and I’m glad that her suit exposed a Hollywood smear machine that also influences politics and beyond.

I think that content creators get rewarded (views & engagement) for outrage and breaking the social contract (harassing strangers, being loud on public transit) feeds into this “rule-abiders are mugs” attitude as you see it everywhere online and said creators live lavish lifestyles (shown online)

Labour have zero excuse to keep using it.

I don’t know if it’s the intended purpose, but this just makes me want to vote Green even more on Thursday as an “up yours” to Yusef and Farage

Insane for so many reasons, but it's always astounding how much the left-wing pitch for rural conservative areas is "we need to invest in the communities left behind by the modern economy," and the right-wing pitch for liberal urban areas is "I WILL PUNCH YOU" www.bbc.com/news/article...

Shades of the infamous 1964 Smethwick campaign

do think one of the big problems of the era is that a lot of mainstream politicians have forgotten that you just can't convince everyone; the point of successful electoral politics is to convince the people you can convince and to *defeat the rest*

To most normies, the culture war stuff is weirdo stuff and we should keep saying it. Sure, some will likely get bits of it from TikTok, but I doubt many median voters will know the intricacies of “own the libs”

This is repellant, but it is also an opportunity. To win, Reform would rely on a lot of voters not fully signed up to its agenda – people sick of the established parties and want to roll the dice on something new. The more this stuff is publicised, the harder those voters are to win over (or keep).

This is grotesque on multiple levels.

British pork is a deep cut, if you know, you know #SNLUK

“Fancy another one?” This is how you know Aimee Lou Wood is tapped into the memes #SNLUK

I think that Mario sketch will be the peak of this #SNLUK episode

I’ll say it: this Doctor Who sketch is better than the last two seasons of the actual show #SNLUK

Aimee Lou Wood‘s #SNLUK monologue is one of the best I’ve seen in a while

Paul Selby must be running all those Starmtrooper accounts here #SNLUK

It’s the tech bro version of “no bro, the stripper really is in love with me, i promise”

The Dispatch runs a report about Shabana Mahmood's postal vote in 2004: she was a 24 year old law student. + her father was a local Labour election agent in a ward (one of two whose candidates elections were nullified). She is clear the two distinct signatures on her own vote were both her own.

🚨EXCLUSIVE: Shabana Mahmood’s postal ballot was investigated in a 2004 vote-rigging scandal in Birmingham The future home secretary submitted two postal ballot documents with very different signatures:

Great work from @birminghamdispatch.bsky.social. Makes me glad to be a subscriber. It says a lot that the reaction to being asked questions is to threaten to sue and get an injunction on the story. It’d be a dereliction of duty if none of the Sunday shows ask the Labour rep about this story.

Shabana Mahmood’s special advisor threatened us with an injunction and two different lawsuits last night in an attempt to block this story linking her to a notorious vote rigging case. I think it’s strongly in the public interest. So here it is. www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/exclusive-sh...

I agree with this on principle. I also think there is a real danger in carving out exceptional bans for particular causes or phrases, beyond what is covered by existing legislation. This can easily become counterproductive. bsky.app/profile/samf...

there was an entire infrastructure of working class education and art that is now gone; "working men's clubs" in the UK were intended for education as much as recreation.

All these guys out there just broadcasting to everyone what absurdly easy marks they are for any romance scam

The junior dev when they realise they can’t vibe code their way out of a merge conflict

Section 21 is no more! From today, in England, landlords will need a legal reason to evict you - making it easier for you to complain about unsafe conditions and challenge excessive rent increases. And no more fixed terms mean it's easier to move when your circumstances change.

Older Gen Z and I remember how limited food options were in the 2000s and how the foodie side of the internet forced everyone to up their game. It may have been cringe and pretentious, but it’s also how my area went from having only fish & chip shops to shawarma & pastry places opening

One of the most clarifying passages I've ever read on what "polarization" actually means in the U.S."

This is why I despise the “politicians should be relatable“ comments. No, I want my politicians to know more and speak more coherently than the pub bore who spouts bullshit left, right, and center. I lent Phillips my vote in the last GE to stop a socially conservative indie candidate, never again

Reports of two people stabbed in Golders Green after a knife man was reportedly targeting Jews in the area Tell me again concerns about antisemitism over overinflated, I genuinely don’t know how things can get better - they only seem to get worse

what he says when he doesn’t want to define the relationship:

Something something crybaby snowflakes

He’s a good King.

"Constitutional monarch looking pretty good around now, eh? Not so many funny funny tea party jokes these days."

JD Vance, the only one in this administration sophisticated enough to actually understand how quietly subversive and trunculently critical that speech was, looked like a bulldog chewing a wasp, behind Charles III. The others will have it explained to them later. Expect "rage-truth-ing" tonight.

Looking forward to being called a “white liberal“ when I vote Green on May 7th because I‘m a social liberal first & foremost

🚨 Birmingham Voting Intention: 🌹 LAB: 21% (-30) ➡️ REF: 21% (+21) 🟢 GRN: 19% (+13) ℹ️ OTH/IND: 14% (+13) 🌳 CON: 13% (-14) 🔶 LDEM: 12% (-3) Via YouGov MRP 27th Mar - 27th Apr Changes vs. 2021 LE

I don't think Labourites, particularly in England, fully appreciate how delegitimising this crisis of government will be for them in the long-term. 14 years of waiting, and this is what we waited for.

The Scorpion and the Frog

Fundamentally this audience decided not to have a conscience.

Yeah - Labour’s whole electoral strategy over the last few years is based on what they want their electorate to be, not what it actually is.

Initial thoughts after @birminghamdispatch.bsky.social hustings moderator controlled interruptions - needed time limits Quinton indies overrepresented (3 candidates) Lib & Grns underrepresented Lab bin deal unconvincing Cons & Ref unable to overcome national image Yakoob (ICA) had unfocused answers

The lack of time constraints meant we didn’t get to hear much from the Lib Dems or Greens which was disappointing considering they’re running a number of candidate which could form a majority on the council

Commons Speaker grants privilege application by for MP vote on investigation into whether the Prime Minister has misled the House of Commons.

You LOVE to see it, good work everyone, keep up the relentless dunks on AI, all these bros deserve a wedgie/swirlie combo and they are not allowed to sit at our table ever again.

Man arrested for arson with intent to endanger life over a fire at a packed LGBT club on Saturday night. The club today looks completely destroyed. Thankfully nobody hurt. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

it is weird to think that at least for a little while the assumption was that things were broadly going in the right direction, and people and societies would only get better and perhaps even more virtuous over time

The conduct Julie K Brown describes here is beyond unacceptable. Would love to see Michael Tracey face some actual consequences for this instead of it just being laughed off and justified.