Baccalà in umido (salted cod in sauce). One of the great pleasures of Italian cooking which I don't think I would have known about if I didn't live here. Really easy to prepare, and absolutely delicious.

Keir Starmer is reported as saying that aiming to join the single market would be more helpful now than the customs union. But the SM means accepting freedom of movement. I thought that was one of his ridiculous red lines? I mean: good if he believes this, and that is the outcome.

I begin to wonder whether Trump's got something on Starmer. I can't come up with any other reason for him being so ready to be Trump's lickspittle. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

What's Farage's response going to be to this news, I wonder? Will anyone tell Trump, Musk and Vance so that they stop lying about London and the UK?? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

This is probably the end of the Tory Party as a serious party of government. People have been moving away from them for years because of their rightward drift. I think this will only accelerate if she continues on this direction. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

In a move which must surprise no-one, Cruella Braverman defects to Reform. Now that it's packed with the very people who broke Britain, why would anyone vote for them?

With all the shit going on in the world (mostly Trump inspired) I've been grateful this week to be involved in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Assisi. This view greeted me as I returned to my car this evening. I'm so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world. No

Really? I'm sure we all remember watching those body bags being unloaded at Wootton Bassett. Time to just ignore this total cunt. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

#peaceboard ##ethniccleansing

The US won the war?? In whose universe? They only got involved once they were attacked themselves, after the UK & Commonwealth had single handedly kept the Nazis at bay. The man is not only deluded and, quite probably, certifiably mad; he's a total cunt.

Carney is rapidly turning into the new leader of the free world. Will Starmer heed his call? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Starmer's speech yesterday doesn't look quite so statesman-like now. When is he going to stop appeasing the dictator in the White House? Has he not studied history??? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Nothing to add to this www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I read that there's talk of Cruella Braverman defecting to Reform. I understand that there's already a lot of disquiet (anger) about the number of failed Tories joining; to say nothing about the brown faces (it is, after all, a racist party). Could this be an unintentional Trojan Horse for Farage?

The US really is fucked. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

What a joke. Any feelings of support I may have had for Machado have well and truly disappeared. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Mandelson has always been a slippery piece of s..t. He epitomised the divorce of the Labour Party from its roots, and from its job if governing for the benefit of all: particularly the deprived and left behind. He's a Tory in all but name & his appointment by Starmer spoke volumes.

Novgorod Nigel doing what he does best: shilling for the Kremlin. #Farage #Putin #Hawhaw

From an opinion piece by Rafael Behr in today's Guardian: "Starmer's determination never too choose (between Trump and the EU) amounts to acceptance that vital choices for Britain will be made by others." Indeed.

This may be the only positive outcome of the Orange Shit's invasion of Venezuela: oil prices have fallen, which will put further strain on the Russian economy. How much longer can they keep going?

Listening to some US government spokesman on the radio. No, you're not protecting your people against drugs: it's just naked imperialism.

Once again our pathetic, brown-nosing PM refuses to condemn Trump for a blatant breach of international law. Maduro may be appalling and illegitimately holding power but that does not give Trump the right to invade a sovereign nation. Where does it end? Ukraine, Venezuela: What's the difference?

The US is a rogue state which needs completely isolating by the rest of the world. When the USSR invaded Afghanistan the west was quick to impose sanctions and to boycott the Moscow Olympics. It's time for other world leaders to grow a pair and do likewise to Trump's USA.

A very wintry good morning. 10am and it's -3°. This was normal 20 years ago but it's years since we've had such cold weather in December. Trump world probably say it proves that global warming doesn't exist!

Reading the latest YouGov poll, I see Reform are down to 25%, with Labour and Tories both on 19% and Greens and LibDems both on 15%. Imagine a LibDem -Green coalition in charge. Impossible? Or finally something to hope for?

Why isn't displaying Nazi symbolism illegal in the UK? Just think of all those Tommy supporters who'd have to get their tattoos removed! www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Who'd have thought it? Tariffs damage exports because no-one wants to buy US goods. Voting for Trump doesn't seem such a good idea now; certainly not if you live in Kentucky. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

What a pathetic excuse of a human being Kemi Badenoch is. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

When is the UK government going to realise that there is no such thing as the "special relationship"? It's all a fantasy and it certainly doesn't exist as far as the US is concerned. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Good! www.theguardian.com/media/2025/d...

For my followers in the US. Please share widely, so that your compatriots know what rubbish Trump talks about London. It's a VERY safe city and a great place to live and to visit. Trump, on the other hand, is turning the entire US into a no-go area. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Totally agree. I cringe every time I hear this spoken of. It's one of Johnson's bits of hubris and, like him, should be consigned to the dustbin of history. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I love John Crace. Liz Truss really does need protecting from herself, doesn't she? Who do we talk to about getting her certified? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I definitely need to buy more popcorn. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I need to buy some more popcorn... www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

There you have it: vote Reform, get Tories. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I sometimes think Femi goes a little over the top but I think he's spot on here. Corbyn has always thought HIS ideas of what the country needs are the correct ones. There's no room for discussion or listening to other points of view. I can't see YP lasting but I can see it splitting the vote.

And this, from @chrisgrey.bsky.social just today, highlights one of the real problems in SM/ a CU/ Art49. https://chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2025/11/brexit-reminders.html

For nearly a decade, sceptics have dismissed allegations that Bannon’s Cambridge Analytica and Prigozhin’s troll farms successfully intervened in the Brexit referendum and Trump’s election in 2016 - now the argument is over pdjukes.substack.com/p/how-online...

Kemi Badenoch; "she started it!" For goodness sake, are there no grown ups at all in the Tory Party?

I really don't get Yusuf. How can a member of an ethnic minority support racists and traitors?

My attendance record in the European Parliament was the 4th worst out of 751 MEPs, yet I managed to turn up to vote AGAINST plans to tackle Russian misinformation. Thankfully this is of no interest to the media.

£26 billion tax rise announced today in Labour's budget £90 billon, how much tax revenue is lost because of Brexit EVERY Year The reason taxes are going up and spending is being cut is because we can't afford stuff because of Brexit!

PFI is just borrowing by another name, but with key differences in structure, cost, and accounting treatment that make it more expensive. Starmer’s Labour…. repeating the mistakes of the past is NOT ‘change’.

Nothing that we didn't already know or suspect but I'm glad this story isn't going away. Farage is a nasty piece of work; a bully of the first order. It would be karma if his inability to be honest about his past was the thing which finally brought him down. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The National Bureau of Economic Research published research this month showing that Brexit has reduced the UK economy by 6-8% far worse than originally thought. Investment has reduced by 12-18% and employment by 3-4%. Useful info to throw at cloth eared Brexiters.

So when will Johnson be prosecuted? I won't hold my breath... www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Another racist Reform suspension. What with this, Laura Jones being suspended from the Senedd and questions about Farage's past, I really hope the message about just how vile and racist this party is finally starts cutting through. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Good morning BlueSky. On the bus to go and collect my car. Every time I take the bus here in Italy I'm struck by the fact that they're all part of BusItalia; part of Trenitalia, the national railways. How sensible is that? So different from broken Britain (thanks Thatcher).