April Fools' Day doesn't really work in an era of rampant online disinformation, does it?

I'm late to it but @bwalker.uk spots something that makes sense, but is still fascinating: the Greens seem to be taking votes from Reform "Some voters are looking more to Shake Things Up than pursue a necessarily right or left platform. They may see little difference in a Green or Reform vote"

Reminder of the civil liberties polling disclaimer I have been advocating for. Also, as policies on support to oppose scales go, 39% support is on the low side.

Definitely worth a read. The wide ranging conclusions about young men in the UK are often incorrect. This is why 👇

Happy time of year where the oven and car clock are correct again everybody!

Sick of seeing grifters acting as if being told to 'shut up' by a few people online is an attack on their freedom of speech/expression. It may be unpleasant, unwarranted etc. but it's not the end of your civil liberties.

"Do you want AI to write a happy birthday message for you?" What hell is wrong with us?

And being given the opportunity to run councils.

You don’t have to caveat your condemnation of the burning of an ambulance.

You know those "My taxpayer money pays for that!" outrage articles / posts / comments on social media? That's how I'm feeling about my NowTV subscription paying for episodes of SNL UK...

I think the Haka is going to become really popular after the next Dune film...

Boring, conventional, left-wing talking points: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

So, the actions of the US have led to the speedy development of an effective Iranian Grand Strategy. ... excellent.

Having a real issue with the word 'told' being used in news articles. Being 'told' to do something is a parent does to a child. It is not something the leader of the opposition does to the Prime Minister...

Also, surely Energy Bills payments counts as treating? Oh wait... They're not a political party...

Replace Churchill with Attlee. Historically it makes sense, and the reaction will be hilarious.

"Would you still prefer me as PM over Badenoch if I was a worm?"

My vote:

The sofa I will die on is that only a fool would go all the way up a damn hill just to insist upon something

Being a component, means you are part of a whole. It's not dismissing social conservatives to say Labour also needs to think about social liberals.

If I had committed a memorable instance of tax evasion, I would spend a lot of energy trying to not appear as a grifter.

Agree. You can't understand Blair and Iraq without understanding Kosovo. And I don't think you can understand Kosovo without post-Cold War optimism.

Do they think people have literally no memory of past events at all?

This wasn't the first indication that Hannan has gone mad...

Going to say this isn’t the *greatest* of attack lines.

The Greens attacks on the government vis-a-vis Iran shows that they have a caricature in their mind when they think of Labour and Foreign Policy. I would imagine it will only harm their image on international affairs.

There is a kind of weird thing going on with conservatives and nationalists where they are trying to impose their standard of domestic politics on other countries... It's like a complete reverse of international Communism during the Cold War.

NEW: After Gorton & Denton, how should we understand the threat to Labour's left? Big new @persuasionuk.bsky.social report out with @38degrees.bsky.social on 'progressive defectors' - Lab 2024 switchers to Greens, Plaid, SNP, Lib Dems. Who are they, who are they not & what's moving them? 🧵

Say what you will about the leadership of Labour. At least they won't post messages about favourable national polling as if it is an actual political achievement.

Each generation has its own inoculation against Populism.

Diplomatic way of saying "He's a tempremental git"

Not uncommon for 'third' parties to surge in the middle of a Parliament. But this is unprecedented for the Greens.

Just putting it out there. "the Polls" is plural.

You can hear the sharp metallic pop of the can of worms that GB News has opened...

Just repeal Voter ID requirements...

In my day getting rid of a dictator without lifting a finger yourself was considered a triumph of statesmanship

FPTP has a serious issue with everything being seen through the lens of who won a winner-takes-all constituency competition. Remove this perspective and Reform had an impressive result in Gorton. But also Labour's response to defeat in Runcorn can be seen as a massive overreaction.

"the people who argued... that we should shift to the right and try to out-Reform Reform."

Basically, if you're not going to change course after Gorton, similar to the way you did after Runcorn, your MPs will force you to.

Might surprise people to know that in the latest British Election Study, Muslims are more politically fragmented than CofE Christians (measured by effective number of parties)

This point needs to be raised more. Austerity is macroeconomic. And the best thing for anti-austerity advocates is to show it is compatible with fiscal responsibility.

Well, we can conclude that more people would trust a man dressed as a pig than a Libertarian to be an MP. All is right with the world.

Already seen multiple discussions of Polanski as Prime Minister well known newspapers and media channels... Indicative of a wider point. Reputable news sources should be slower / less reactive when produce reporting.

I wish Hannah Spencer very well and think she has it in her to be a great constituency MP. But spare me the self-righteous "The Greens fought a positive campaign while Labour and Reform went low." The Greens were just as dirty during this by-election.

And to add the Express is being really stupid www.express.co.uk/news/politic...

This is a valid point to raise. Also valid to say that this was a by-election.