There's a real prospect of the next UK PM being someone who the overall majority of the UK holds in total contempt.

Starmer has manouevred himself into a position where he looks naive and weak towards Trump whereas those across the political spectrum from the Greens to LibDems to even some pre-2016 Tories asking how the UK can prepare for a post-American world look like the realists.

Nobody in The Moral Maze gets eaten by the Moral Minotaur, which is a fundamental flaw in the programme.

Heartbreaking reading www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I'd never come across this survey before, and it's endlessly depressing - negativity towards trans people has gone from 16 to 25% in just a few years. That figure is roughly the same now as the percentage of people who feel negative towards Muslims. yougov.co.uk/society/arti...

Rob Reiner: the guy who directed that film you love. A short piece about one of the greatest runs of terrific movies from any director in the history of cinema. thecritic.co.uk/than...

In memory of Rob Reiner, please enjoy my favourite Wikipedia entry of all time, which is Former Members of Spinal Tap. Any time I need a laugh, I pull it up. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_...

Black day.

Turns out that safeguarding Jewish life in this country depends on safeguarding liberal democracy and pluralism, not expecting assistance from the Radical Right. Who knew!?!

“Parental resources seem to play an outsize role in who gets help.”

First, why is the MEN reporting on an accidental death in Bristol? And second, why does this read like: "Paul once got I AM A VIOLENT C**T tattooed on his face, which, local residents agreed, reflected his cheeky character and working class values." www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news...

“by insisting that parents of small children be each other’s village rather than the recipients of community care, we are simply asking an overwhelmed, dispersed, and time-poor group of people at the most critical time in their careers to also, by the way, start a bowling league and supper club” 💯

Labour’s shift away from “immigration is good but it needs to be managed” to “it is bad” is a gift to essentially everyone they compete with, because it means that they don’t have the right position to be able to attack *anyone*.

This is very good.

Wait, what?

The US right's obsession with the UK/London is deeply weird. It's so obviously rubbish! The LA murder rate is roughly 4 times that of London and 2/3 that of the entire UK!

My favourite Desmond Tutu quote (to the armed police who had stormed his church): 'You are powerful. You are very powerful, but you are not gods and I serve a God who cannot be mocked. So, since you’ve already lost, since you’ve already lost, I invite you today to come and join the winning side!’

Because of course Henry had got the full roll call from Dulwich College and of course Trevor Phillips couldn’t even be bothered to read the stories he’s writing about

More than that, his crew threatened to open fire on the murderers. He rescued civilians, returned to base to refuel, flew back, and rescued more civilians. Then he denounced the crimes to his HQ. For all this he received death-threats throughout his life. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Th....

He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

Also do read this brilliant and depressing analysis of the garbage mountains and our failed state bsky.app/profile/mjro...

I like this trophy. It has clearly been designed to symbolise the grasping, fetid hand of the autocratic elite, scraping whatever glory they can from the game of football.

I spent upwards of half an hour trying to make sure I got the maths right, and it turns out Love Me Do only got to number one in the US.

Enjoying this

The joke outcome would be England getting bowled out before Root can get two more runs.

this is unrelated but i really did laugh a lot seeing his big collection of DC comics in the background. Another reminder that the best way to understand politics right now is recognising that the most influential talking heads are resentful nerds and gamers

Thursday’s @thetimes.com cartoon times.newsprints.co.uk/morten-morla...

What is infuriating about this is the morons making legal threats can only succeed because of the EHRC guidance, which was written by Kishwer Falkner, a crackpot Boris Johnson appointee. Labour could and should end this by sacking her and appointing someone who actually follows the law.

I was really struck by this chart showing drop off in newspaper circulation just since 2019. Obviously no surprise it's happening but it's stark seeing it visually.

Lies, damned lies and the Telegraph. They posted CSJ figures using an outrageously false comparison of 2 cases. It claimed a benefits family were better off by £18k than a working household when the real figure was £16k worse off. The details benefitsinthefuture.com #benefits #budget

For all that has happened since, my Joker moment on UK politics media remains Boris taking office and immediately breaking every single red line he had laid down on Northern Ireland to accept a deal that had been on the table for years, then being hailed as a visionary who proved the doubters wrong

👇🏼 100% my view of the Your Party shambles. There is a massive chunk of our country that lacks any party political representation and that is extremely bad. The very fact that Corbyn - a wholly uninspiring guy - managed to do get as far as he did shows you the level of demand.

I've been having a rummage in the most recent Home Office stop and search data, published earlier this month. The first thing to note is that Merseyside Police are out on their own in terms of rates per 1,000 population. #stopsearch. 1/

Our letter to the Gaurdian on UK Jews voting for Greens and Reform has now been published. By @dmf101.bsky.social @brendanmcgeever.bsky.social and me, @bisa-bkk.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I don't think it's all of it by any measure but I do absolutely believe that the political media's raging anti-intellectual streak has got worse with time and has ended up influencing the way MPs talk, and what they choose to talk/think about

We have got to make politics intellectual again. It is the only way that societies thrive is when politicians have the capability to actually think and reflect deeply:

Bane of my life is my kids watching YouTube shorts. I swear, about 25% of them have AI passed off as real footage. They're completely inured to it at this point.

Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”

I read “It is hard to imagine that taking place in Britain” initially as “thank goodness”. Then I realised that Phillips *wants* this for Britain! He wants a Britain where visible minorities live in fear of abduction and deportation? WTAF?

Amazingly, almost everything in this skeet is wrong. The myth of Spinoza's "excommunication" is mostly a product of twentieth century post-Christian wishful thinking.

This afternoon I will be listening to this performance on repeat. RIP. youtu.be/ISMSAkVTTRM?...

People know exactly what‘s going on.

£40K to buy a European deputy seems quite cheap to me. Is that really the market price, or was Nathan Gill MEP just an exceptionally soft touch?

Today is Trans Day Of Remembrance #TransLivesMatter #TDoR #TDoR2025 #TransDayOfRemembrance #TransAwarenessWeek #SayTheirNames *** Trigger warning for the following thread: Violence against trans people (especially TWOC) * * *

We will struggle to explain to future generations how something so transparent and stupid was able to take place youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...

‘In one course video uploaded to the website, a voiceover presenting the material suddenly morphs into a Spanish accent for about 30 seconds, before switching back to a British accent’

A wonderful 2 year Research Associate post working with us on ‘Racial Equality Since Devolution: Divergences, Outcomes and Frontiers'. Deadline for applications 10 December. Please share: www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/research...

I'm a cycling nut whose bike spend p/a is embarrassing but this is such obvious shite. Unless you are racing or flinging yourself down big mountains, £1000 on a bike is all you'll need. People like me really don't need the tax break.

A thing I got completely wrong is I thought Tony Blair's "the reason for defeat is nearly always because progressives don't 'own the future" was just him going 'let's have a hopey-changey bit for the base', but this government has made me realise it is 100 per cent true.