I stayed for drinks at work and was listening to a geeky podcast on the train, which has encouraged me to listen to A-Ha on Spotify 😬

So it's got to come from poor, vulnerable people rather than the rich, according to this Labour government. Shocking.

Keep a check on the Echo for when they're back and want to use the NHS, or want their state pension... www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2602084...

Cartoon by @deadder.bsky.social.

This leaflet got put through our letterbox this morning

What about conversations about the birds though?

Our apologies! Maybe one day? 😃

I’m really not!

“Think she feels the same”. Sure.

When satire appears to no longer exist spectator.com/article/ai-d...

New Brexit metaphor just dropped.

British Steel on track to be fully nationalised within weeks. Since privatisation steel companies have received subsidies; govts didn't take equity stake. Water and energy are also vital. Need to be nationalised to promote investment, end profiteering, reduce business and household costs.

Didn't the media make out Corbyn's defeat in 2019 was the worst ever, or something? Certainly they thought Starmer's in 2024 was amazing. Can't wait for the next one...

No, Morgan McSweeney didn't "win the 2024 election for Labour". Boris Johnson won it for them at his Christmas do, with Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak taking the assist. Actual Labour figures are lucky to make top 10.

I think we received a months worth of post yesterday, if anyone is wondering how privatisation (and being bought by a foreign billionaire) is going www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2596900...

They say how big this trust is, but I don't remember these problems before they combined Southend, Basildon and Broomfield. www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2596599...

Reading a book at the moment that talks about this (The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson). The economy will never grow when the rich are taking more and more from everyone else. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Yes, we know. That's what austerity did to the NHS, and we're still not out of it. If it wasn't for lockdowns, it would have collapsed, not that anti-lockdown Reform-types care.

"Train stations also become a travel set, with Southend Airport alongside Southend train station" Has the reporter been to Southend before? There is no "Southend train station" There are 10(?) railway stations in Southend, none of them called just Southend! www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2594874...

Haven't heard that name for a while... www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2594639...

To occupy my nephew for a few hours I asked him to solve a Rubik's cube that had been on the mantelpiece unsolved since 1992, my own childhood. He solved it in a minute, he's still bored, and I am now also resentful.

🔴 The Elections Watchdog Doesn’t Know Where Reform UK’s Crypto Donations Are Coming From The UK’s electoral watchdog tells @bylinetimes.bsky.social it wants tough new legal powers to prevent overseas donors from secretly bankrolling British political parties bylinetimes.com/2026/03/16/t...

Is Yeovil the new Ibiza? I think it's fair to say "no". www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/news-op...

I've just signed into BlueSky on my laptop and there was a notification that I've been missing out because I wasn't verified. What have I been missing out on?!

I’ve spent most of my morning viewing CCTV footage. A little treat to see me, busy at work, on the last day I had to check.

Just talking to my buddy in the Athens office on Teams.

Getting the best mail since turning the big 5-0

I’ve been waiting for this for ages. Good times!

At least with the Iraq war, they prepared a dossier

The University of Essex plans to close their Southend campus and cut up to 400 jobs — around one in five staff! But the staff and students are fighting back. Sign their petition to stop the cuts, save Southend, and protect education www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/sa...

Shit! I’m not reading my book! I’d even turned my podcast off to listen to a conversation behind me on the train. Apparently he were annoyed his partner had been spending money on gear, but it turns out, she was also annoyed with him for spending money on gear. Thrilling.

Keir Starmer noticeably more aggressive (and effective) in his attack against Reform at today's PMQs than he ever was pre-McSweeney exit

I can't read the article but he looks white and not trans. Imagine the comments if either of those things were true www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2588116...

The guy opposite me on the train yesterday had this book (wasn’t reading it though), and reminded me I started it last year and only read a chapter. Let’s try again…

In a surprise to no one, our eldest was assessed and diagnosed with ADHD yesterday. Out of all three kids, she got on best at school, so we didn’t notice that she was struggling till too late to be seen as a child. Now she has something like 10 months to wait for meds!

This guy hasn't been in the Echo for ages (used to be quoted daily) but how many independent groups are there?! What is the point?! www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2585350...

Interesting. But the Tories, Reform and Labour want to cut benefits. news.sky.com/story/the-va...

First time it hasn’t been raining when I step out of the office in the evening in forever!

'I'm going on LBC this morning, Nige. Anything I should say?' 'Do you have a story about how dangerous London is these days?' 'Well, this guy walked past me in a funny way yesterday morning.' 'Sounds absolutely terrifying. Go for it.'

An interesting article www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Apart from my lunch break, I think I’ve forgotten to drink today. That’ll be why I’ve got a headache then.

Govt to spend £5bn to pay off 90% of the English councils debts for supporting children & young people with special educational needs. The real problem is privatisation and profiteering by corporations, huge wealth transfer from public to private How long before the write-off needs to be repeated?

“Will not resign today”? Tomorrow then?! news.sky.com/story/politi...

Since #bbclaurak is trending, let’s remind ourselves that ONE MONTH ago, the BBC invited Mandelson on for a soft-ball interview on her show. While HIS CLIENT , Palantir’s Louis Moseley appeared as a pundit Both, as I wrote at time, were ‘abject failures of journalism’ 1/

Haven’t seen it yet, but it seems to have ticked the right boxes. Well, the box.

The “brains behind Labour’s comeback”? I could have told Labour to do what they did. Just keep quiet and let the Tories get on with looking incompetent. The problems started when Labour got into power. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I wonder why he deleted this tweet. How is Akehurst always wrong I wonder?

Just walking home up Hamlet Court Road and a guy gave me a nod. Took me a second to realise it was my son’s primary school teacher during Covid. I think I really only saw him on a screen!

Walking back to Fenchurch Street, two people just walked past with balloons. One a 5 and one a 0. I cannot get away from those numbers this week! A contractor came in today and said, “I’m 50 this year too!” Thanks!

Just had a text from the NHS. So I’m of the age I’m being sent a bowel cancer screening kit. Great!