Either the business environment in the UK has completely degenerated in the 6 months since they announced this or something else is going on.

Adam Tooze's latest Substack contains this arresting image

A podcast has appeared in my feed with a trigger warning that the episode does contain a small section discussing professional wrestling.

Instead of moping around the HoC like a depressed beanbag, rolling his eyes at everything Thatcher said, Heath should have instead set up the Edward Heath Institute to release reports critical of her but with arms length deniability.

As someone who does a lot of podcast listening while tidying the house I've had it with my headphones being pulled out of my ears by a vigorous hoover movement regardless of how Harry Styles is photographed listening to music

Today's Kindle news reminds me of people who ask me why I'm interested in "old fashioned" mechanical watches in today's smart watch age. The Rolex I wear almost every day is from 2004. I also have a working Omega from 1973. Good luck getting your Apple watch to last 20 odd years.

As Melania seems to be trying to get ahead of a story one has to wonder whether sacking the head of the DOJ, who knew where all the bodies are buried metaphorically speaking (hopefully!), was a good idea?

Delivering an angry statement to the media denouncing the "lies" being told about you always works and so from this moment on we'll never hear a single mention of Melania Trump's reported relationship with Jeffrey Epstein ever again. Absolutely not. No siree.

Not usually one for royal stories but why are we paying for Princess Beatrice's security? Would anyone even recognise her when she's off on holiday wherever in the world?

Came back from holiday a day early to make this episode of The Economics Show podcast with @chrisgiles.ft.com in which we talk all things Iran eg I asked him whether the energy shock could pull us into recession www.ft.com/content/db01...

This does make me think about how there's actually more to peace brokering than just arranging for the two sides to swap demands, as the persistent failures of Steve Witkoff have demonstrated: www.economist.com/asia/2026/04...

I can still remember when I was a kid one of those magazine programmes had a story about a long distance lorry driver who read the FT. That was it. It was reported in the same tone as if a dog was dressing up and going to the opera.

US "punishing" Europe by limiting its own ability to project power. Bold.

It's always worth spending some time listening to bad experimental electronic music so you can reassure yourself that the people producing the good stuff do actually know what they're doing.

On my walk out to a country pub today I realised how nonsensical the whole food security argument against solar farms is because there are just these fields which are far too crappy to grow crops in that are just rented out to people to keep their horses in or a bunch of sheep to graze in.

I don't know the wider issues with this case, and clearly she broke the law, but Matthew Perry made the consequential decisions that led to him losing his life.

An interview with Cathy Ashton that discusses the type of issues that you'd like to think the US thought about before declaring war but clearly didn't: www.ft.com/content/9bc6...

If you're not happy with NATO feel free to take your B-52s out of my country

Baudrillard's The Gulf War Did Not Take Place but for the US Iran ceasefire.

If criticising Trump directly is currently ruled out by Starmer for diplomatic reasons maybe he should do an angry rebuttal of Vance who is the type of swaggering, ill-informed US politician the UK electorate instinctively, and overwhelmingly, dislikes.

The Gulf states are watching their entire development model and years of diplomatic engagement to make it possible crumble before their eyes. And Israel thinks it is achieving security when in fact the landscape of destruction it's surrounding itself with is choking off any hope of a viable future.

Sorry but today's the day you get to discover that a giant rat has achieved more and secured a greater legacy than you ever will.

Iran saying the strait isn't opening until Israel stops attacking Lebanon is just another way of saying it isn't ever reopening

Walked for an hour in the sunshine out to a bit of pretend countryside for a pint just like everyone else in the packed pub garden.

That bloke who's trying to dig his Bitcoin wallet from out of a Newport tip but it's the Iranian treasury and it's under the rubble of a mountain hit by a US bunker buster bomb

Proper mafia shit this

As ceasefires go this one seems fairly violent.

God, what a waste of a life

SENIOR GULF OFFICIAL: ALLIES COMPLETELY IN DARK ON TRUMP'S PLANS; "WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TRUMP IS THINKING" - POLITICO

Dominic Waghorn of Sky was in Iran until last week and very good. news.sky.com/video/domini....

Maybe it's just because I'm taking all my news from online sources but in comparison to other US wars in the Middle East during my lifetime there seems to be no on the ground TV reporting. Is there anyone from the BBC or US TV networks in Iran?

Noel Edmonds has the perfect mix of deep grudges, weird metaphysics and an out of control ego.

Regional neighbours seem to be taking Trump's deadline seriously.

The idea he was simply shooting his mouth off without any real thought about how his words might be interpreted is incredibly convincing.

Vance's hectoring of Europe no longer works. That spell is broken now. And if he were to assume or win the presidency I don't think European capitals would even bother with trying to win him over and rather just accept a degree of mutual hostility from the start.

Have we had the tweets from Trump demanding that Kanye be allowed to perform in the UK yet?

Absolutely bonkers story

It's impossible as an outsider to parse statements that both boast of achieving all their war aims and the establishment of a completely new regime who aren't like the old radical lot and ALSO IF THEY DON'T DO WHAT I WANT I'LL KILL THE ENTIRE COUNTRY

Is Trump's support currently worth anything to Orban? Like being endorsed by Charles Manson.

Hope Wireless have a good insurance policy. They may find it hard to get another headliner when anyone they approach will know they're replacing the Nazi who wasn't allowed in the country.

Enjoyed this brisk demolition of a perfume line in a recent Substack post.

It is impressive how he's lined up a retirement dictatorship for when the time comes.

I have a friend who was not only responsible for bringing 3-2-1 to the UK he also produced, wrote the script and performed on it. Even today he's constantly going on about the 20 million plus viewing figures some episodes got. But it was bloody awful TV and, thankfully, hardly any cultural legacy.

Utter nonsense.

I've learned this week that we've apparently passed peak social media and also peak Reform polling and it's hard not to wonder if those two things aren't related

It is incredibly bizarre how the results of the Hungarian election get to decide if Andrew Neil has to pay for his own drinks in the near future.

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Apparently the middle eastern countries had absolutely no time for Obama but I do wonder how many of their leadership think they're in a better position today than they were in 2015.