Michael

I know that people will keep posting them on here and elsewhere because (incredibly, horribly) they are of great import in the world

I just hate it

I never want to see another “Truth Social” screenshot in my life

Yes I think I'd ultimately like something along those lines, i.e. keeping it appointed and subordinate to the Commons, but with term limits and more guardrails about quality of appointees.

I think if we're going to enter an era where party politics is more fragmented and changeable than it has been before, then it's just not workable to have a legislative chamber based on lifetime appointments for partisan members.

I have gone back and forth on the Lords. There's a fundamental democratic argument against it. It also at times seems to work well as a revising chamber.

But I don't know how you can look at this and find it defensible.

Tory vote share in current polling average: c. 17%

Tory share of current House of Commons: 18%

Tory vote share in 2024 general election: 24%

Tory share of current House of Lords: 33%

Tory share of current House of Lords (excl crossbenchers and bishops): 43%

Badenoch denies calling for UK to join US-Israeli war on Iran Conservative leader accused of taking confusing position after she said Starmer should ‘do more than catch arrows’

At the most basic level of 'have some self-respect', Conservative MPs should not put forward someone who visibly is not intellectually equipped to be prime minister as their candidate to be prime minister.

Great news today: we were told that @libdems.org.uk have written to the Minister for Women and Equalities regarding the EHRC and Supreme Court ruling. Urging the Minister to appoint a joint committee of cross-party MPs and peers to conduct post-legislative scrutiny of both the

Endorse reading both the blog linked here and the thread in response, lots to think about. I’m more inclined to a proportional system but I think if nothing else there’s value in talking about forms of electoral reform that Labour MPs might be more open to and willing to compromise on.

This is gonna be like a missing tooth all day. 'What is the point of this question and the underlying policy logic' is not a hard question to answer, and the minister of state *should be able to reach it from first principles* and *from being across the policy area*.

in fact I think probably some people reacting to it haven’t actually read / thought closely enough that they do know what he was trying to say

yeah as a classical music fan and amateur participant the recurring bit where everyone jumps on some imagined criticism and repeats the same few lines about it is so dull

God, has it only been two days of “how dare you suggest that my artform no longer has mass appeal. My heavily subsidised concert had a full house of 55-65 year olds and I earn as much as €26k some years”? It’s felt longer.

what a weird story! newspaper cartoonist levels of “pick two random things from the news”

To those who pay attention to such things this is grim as fuck, actually.

Every second of free time you have ever had in your life was subsidized by the existence of the combine harvester.

Interesting interview but I am, ah, skeptical that the solution to Nimbyism is... better leadership and taking people on a journey.

Nimbyism is normally about a clash of incentives/interests and you cant just magic that claah away with better leadership/narrative/process.

The weirdest thing about this is the attempted read of Cormac McCarthy at the end.

just finished the first of the Cicero trilogy!

can’t believe one of the options for the Pointless final topic was “Clouds” and no one said off-hand “I really don’t know clouds at all”

yeah I guess the difference is not really having fiscal rules, so the OBRs are just, like, complaining impotently?

American policy wonks: oh god the fiscal situation is so bad. we’re riding on the last reserves of being the world’s dominant economy/currency but the reckoning is coming

Democratic politicians: we should massively narrow the tax base

Republican politicians: I have drawn a shortlist of 30 new wars

@ George Osborne can you drop the AI lobbying and go and set up the American OBR, they need you 😭

Trump’s Venezuela strategy has failed in Iran The appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei has dashed the US president’s hope of picking Iran’s new leader

"Trump was able to start this war at a time of his own choosing. He may not be able to end it on the same terms." - excellent column by @gideonrachman.bsky.social:

(I tend to scorn “you’re attacking group x? on International Made-Up Niche Aspect of Group X Day?” responses, but it is… something that a representative of Labour’s malest faction should publish a piece that talks about “family wages” so close to International Women’s Day)

odd to write a piece that explicitly defends social conservatism based on vibes but doesn’t stake out any clear dividing line between social conservatism and social liberalism where the author is on the conservative side.

It's fascinating how Starmer talks about hard choices, not offering the politics of easy answers, will shroud-wave when it is *not* true, but is clearly incapable of delivering a serious 'so, the global backdrop has got much much worse' speech.

not to mention that in this case we literally know it’s a vape shop fire as OP says!

absolutely hate the faux savvy instinct you see online that every fire in Glasgow is deliberate and is to clear the way for student flats. not saying that never happens! but usually these are buildings that you put at the top of the “fire risk” list anyway: old, unoccupied, poorly maintained