Have written for the @financialtimes.com about how decades of government policy has pushed integenerarional unfairness, and the political and economic cost of us not fixing it. www.ft.com/content/53f6...

Hello, I'm mental.

I remember the primary criticism of Tugendhat by other Tories was 'he is a hawk who wants to go to war with Iran' at the time...

Going to have to rename "common sense" at this rate.

My humble submission to the new Bank of England with concepts for the new bank notes to please both sides.

Higher taxes are actually lower taxes you see.

I know it's not the area of the American news ecosystem that captures the most attention, but the surviving parts of the liberal American media is really really weird.

This is grotesque and a road the Greens really really do not want to go down.

One of the biggest weaknesses of autocracies at war is that information to the leader is flawed as the layers of bureaucracy between the military and the leadership doesn't want to deliver bad news. Taking out several layers of leadership has probably made the IRGC more effective rather than less.

If I was commissioning editor at the BBC, I'd be telling the next celeb who requested a travel show that I'd offer to send them to the home front in Ukraine to visit civilians and show how people are managing to sustain life, culture, society under siege, and that they could take it or leave it.

A lot of enthusiastic Brexit supporters suddenly making very anguished noises about alienating our allies over not rushing to war with Iran.

Kemi called Labour MPs a 'sea of orcs and goons' at PMQs. The Tories are being led by a phone-addicted 10 year old.

Suzerain is fantastic, my first play through I saved the economy and got thanked for it by falling to a military coup. It also has the single best and most convoluted set up for a very stupid joke I've ever seen in a video game.

Iranian Ayatollah succession 🤝 Labour candidate selections

The response to the US-Iran war has felt like British politics at its most juvenile. Absolutely zero interest in real analysis of capabilities, planning, or real world consequences, just goodies and baddies and making everything about UK political positioning.

I'm sorry but these people have been driven completely tonto.

You see when you fail to read every post in a chain or to try to engage with what is actually being argued, you end up looking a bit silly. Me suddenly being an unreformed Corbynite would be news to just about everyone I've ever met in politics.

Thanks to wage compression it's two full time workers earning 20% over minimum wage. That's pretty low!

Yes Paul, people switching on mass from Labour to Green had nothing to do with values.

Quick bit of analysis from me about the Gorton and Denton by-election for work. The result is a wake up call for Labour, but cold electoral logic will make us even more divided. www.wpi-strategy.com/insights/gor...

Clear that block politics has replaced big tent competition for centre. There are other factors in Gorton, backlash over policies targeting older people, number of u-turns, Gaza. But if you try to straddle the two camps as current seat geography incentivises Labour to do, blocks can move around you.

These are getting a bit weird

Calling a slate 'The Many' is a bit of a hostage to fortune isn't it.

Hearing that Susan Hall's team are optimistic she will pull off a shock win in Gorton.

This is the real reason Farage dodges the Commons at every opportunity. Unlike his rallies or TV show, it's the one platform where he can't control who is allowed to challenge him back.

A lot of senior Muslims in the community have endorsed Labour and there has been a measured shift to Labour in the wards with a higher Muslim population over the last week.

Given direction of movement in last week, Labour GOTV, time period poll was conducted, and hard to reach communities for pollsters, Labour wins on these numbers.

Always mildly fascinated to see what different world leaders title their Zoom names.

Recent interventions from Reform politicians: Higher tax for childless women Opposition to no fault divorce Want to regulate 'sexual economy' Reintroduce two-child cap Want 'biological reality' check for women Higher education has been 'feminised' over last 50 years leading to 'PC authoritarianism'

Reform don't want to regulate your landlord. They don't want to regulate your employer. But they do want to regulate your sex life.

These Reform MPs are literally crazy and soon people are going to start asking the obvious question of why they are stuck in the mid 20s.

Going back to what I was saying about Farage completely losing his political judgment recently. Why in gods name would you announce all this before a crucial by-election in a working class northern seat?

Today thinking about a remarkable and resilient nation of brave people who never lost their commitment to freedom and independence in the face of unprovoked barbarity. Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦

This was basically exactly my impression on Saturday. The Labour machine there is just enormous and the North West/Manchester are some of the most effective campaigners in the party. The cautious optimism expressed to me over the weekend was sincere.

I’ve been to Gorton and Denton a couple of times, and the mood in Labour on Friday compared to a few weeks prior is remarkable. Labour thinks they have the most data, that green vote is coming over and that they’ll win. On anecdotal level, I also saw them flip some would be Greens while canvassing

It should be written into the contracts of Premier League footballers that in return for their salaries they give up the right to decorate their own houses.

We interrupt your usual programming to say that ballots for Labour Housing Group Executive Committee elections should have gone to members now. I am standing, but have the W surname curse and am easily missed at the bottom of both the ballot and the statements, so please vote for me. Carry on!

Great day campaigning in last Saturday of Gorton and Denton by-election. At one point were playing leapfrog with teams from the Greens and Reform at the same. Felt positive, though clearly close.

This is a really fantastic piece about the days and weeks leading up to the Ukraine invasion and what went right and wrong for western intelligence. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Truly the Michelin of world economies.

Incredible comic timing with the visit here guys.

Are Reform the party for people who want a completely different politics or for people who want the Conservative Party but with a different leader? Farage can't seem to make his mind up.

So, just to make sure I understand: Jenrick is saying Reform would restore the two child benefit cap. Goodwin is saying women who do not have enough children will be penalised. Cool.

Case in point. Jenrick was asked at their press conference today for Reform's position on the two-child benefit cap. Farage interrupted to say "I would like to speak for Robert here." If he wasn't prepared to let go of his personal control, why pick a defector to be his Economic spokesperson?

Increasingly cataloguing what I'd call "challenger brain", where at the point that someone who has been operating in politics quite effectively for ages suddenly can see the summit of the mountain they are climbing and starts to get in their head and over think things, to their severe detriment.

The Judean People's National Front meets the People's National Front of Judea.

Is a 36 year old who looks like he's the head of a theatre troupe for kids going to win Eurovision? Probably not. But picking a Youtuber whose music is a bit out there is clearly the right direction compared to the incredibly safe stuff we've sent before, even if it took a mass boycott to get there.

Went to a cinema showing of Casablanca yesterday having never seen it before. The first classic film I've watched where none of my positivity about it came with "for its time" attached to it. Instant lifetime top 5.

I'm sure Amatey will be delighted to know he's finally gone viral on BlueSky not for any of his higher education or former NUS VP work but for being the 'Sticky Toffee Pudding Guy'.