You seem very convinced Colin.
Nottingham-born West Londoner. Author of Flip Chart Fairy Tales blog. Patient #NFFC supporter.
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You seem very convinced Colin.
They invaded the ones they needed and left the ones they didn’t. Neutrality isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. Neatly summed up by @vizcomic.bsky.social decades ago.
The Nazis did not respect neutral countries. They invaded and occupied Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
I thought Quentin Crisp was long dead.
You may not be interested in markets but markets are interested in you.
Finding key information shared at council meetings takes time and effort. Today, we've launched a tool that allows you to search verbatim quotes from council meetings in the UK and Ireland, without the need to watch long recordings or sift through extensive notes. council-search.bellingcat.com
this Labour MP needs to be sat down and have it explained to them in very short words that the primary goal of a budget is to set good fiscal and economic policy that will pay off over the medium and long term, not to have something that will “land” well with anyone
A good reshuffle for Resolution Foundation alum: - Torsten Bell working alongside Reeves on the Budget. - Dan Tomlinson, former RF senior economist, now Exchequer Secretary. - Minouche Shafik, Starmer’s new economic adviser, co-chaired RF’s Economy 2030 Inquiry.
Sacked, Expelled, or in the Dock: All the Reform UK Councillors Nigel Farage Has Lost in Just Four Months Party faces questions over candidate screening after string of resignations, expulsions and criminal investigations
“Could tackling land law help to make England a more competitive economy?” Interesting question posed by Norma Cohen is this piece.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) could be replaced with an annual levy on homes over £500,000. SDLT raises billions each year, accounting for 1% to 2.5% of all tax receipts. Any new system would need to deliver similar revenues. #ChartOfTheDay
Genuinely hilarious staging here - Coffee remains unpressed - all the cups are empty - biscuits undisturbed in neat rows - notebook with no notes It’s a mystery as to why they have a credibility problem, isn’t it?
I just saw an article that said a CEO that stole a hat from a kid at a tennis event was the most hated man in America. I feel like that's forgeting someone.
Why the market is ignoring the attack on the Fed on.ft.com/46iGveg | opinion
Actually, given that Baldwin of Flanders always seems to be cooking, I’d say this is dead cert.
Our new @ukandeu.bsky.social report with @resfoundation.bsky.social examines the challenges facing the government, from growth to immigration to tax. ukandeu.ac.uk/reports/poli...
Nice one @torstenbell.bsky.social. We need politicians who will call out the bullshit.
Good piece by @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social. Blaming ‘the rich’ might be good politics but taxing the rich won’t get us out of our fiscal hole.
“Operation Cry Baby” is an apt title. Reform is all about tantrum politics. newsthump.com/2025/08/29/c...
Nottingham Post standing up to the bullies. www.nottinghampost.com/news/news-op...
Executives at one of Europe’s largest private markets investors said some sovereign funds are asking to avoid US exposure entirely, citing uncertainty around tariffs and other potential trade or investment restrictions on.ft.com/461oIXI
Genius: Copies of the Nottingham Post begin appearing on lamp posts newsthump.com/2025/08/29/c... via @newsthump
Dispatches from the West Country: somebody’s painted 🏴s on a load of roundabouts in Penzance and the locals are furious because they also hate the English
Why does every TV drama have a bloody kitchen island? The Guest had one about 30 seconds in. I’m sure one will turn up in King and Conqueror before long.
Another reminder that the Musk/DOGE vision is not a small state per se, but a state oriented to handing out goodies to them and not other functions.
“Gottle o’ geer, gottle o’ geer.” www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
No they’re not. It’s not clear whether this falls within what the Environment Agency guidelines define as an ‘acceptable gap’. Until that is determined, they can’t send anybody out. It will have to be inspected but both the council and the water company say it’s the other’s responsibility.
The annoying thing about the PM's flag statement today is that it was so easy to say something substantive. "Of course I like the flag,but I hate litter, and slapping the flag on things that aren't yours is littering."
'Europe is at war with Russia' is a deeply weird thing that you can find out just by reading the information that governments put on their website and if you read a quality newspaper, but *actual politicians* don't really talk about:
At the starting point (1051) Morcar's grandfather was still Earl of Mercia. And the howlers just continued.
NEW: Bluesky is becoming place to discuss scientific research - it gets more proper engagement & attention, new study finds. For all the talk of decline - borne out by several metrics - the science community seems to have adopted Bluesky more than others. Story: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Where has this ludicrous ECHR "debate" even come from. I've never once met an ordinary member of the public who's said to me, "Do you know what? We REALLY need to leave the ECHR." It's just a new right wing talking point because every other shit idea they've foisted on us has run out of steam.
Apparently “leading” lawyers and “experts” say that the Good Friday Agreement is no obstacle to UK leaving ECHR. Me, being neither, merely sets out what the Good Friday Agreement expressly says. davidallengreen.com/2023/07/why-...
(Exaggerated) "fears of mass unrest" were not realised. 3 disorderly attempts at violence (Hillingdon/Heathrow, Cheshunt, Canary Wharf) led to 10 arrests. 30 small protests. But one protest (Hillingdon) had 300-500 people: 1 in 10 protests (Falkirk, Braintree, Cheshunt) had 200+ Most <100
A survey by the Financial Times found that economists based in the US and Europe believe the president’s attacks on the US central bank have caused long-term damage to the institution as well as to the economy on.ft.com/47V6KZz
Lucid, convincing case for a tax on high-value property, from the UK's most eminent housing economist, John Muellbauer. Would raise revenue *and* be good for growth. ://www.ft.com/content/bb4e7566-4bc6-45c9-87e4-271cc40c66a5
Unemployment and inactivity may both now be rising. If the inactivity rate is indeed rising rather than falling, this would be a major concern for policy makers would make encouraging labour force participation more urgent than at any point since the height of the pandemic.
King and Conqueror is so preposterous I find myself almost expecting them to dynamite the gate.
New: I looked at 90 porn sites to test the new age-verification law rewriting the web. The ones following the rules, and scanning visitors' faces, are crumbling, while the lawbreakers are doubling or tripling their traffic. One of many unintended consequences for an experimental tech wapo.st/47QuttW
It's prohibition all over again...
Dishwashers used to be a symbol of American affluence. One of those cool things they had and we didn’t.
Sunset in London is an hour earlier on the last day of August than on the first. During July, it only gets half an hour earlier over the month. The rate of change speeds up the closer we get to the equinox. At this time of year the nights draw in at a gallop. www.timeanddate.com/sun/uk/london
Just when you thought Farage couldn’t get any more ridiculous….
Worshipping at Trump’s feet again.
Couldn’t quite believe this so I went and checked. It’s true. And this man was once a Conservative MP.
Norway has chosen the United Kingdom as its strategic partner for the acquisition of new frigates, selecting the British-built Type 26 in what Oslo says will be its largest ever defence investment. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/norway-picks...
Reminder that small boat migration is c.5% of all UK immigration. And asylum-seeking generally is far lower per head of UK population than most other west European countries e.g. 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇧🇪 🇳🇱 🇦🇹 🇮🇪. Yes even Ireland takes way more. Yet none have the same sense of crisis and moral panic as the UK.
For the last hour, Sky News has been almost wall-to-wall on migrant hotel protests... or as chief correspondent Jon Craig puts it, 'illegal migration'. They desperately need some real news.
I liked the spread they did with commentators dissing Diana on one side, then the same commentators’ gushing tributes on the other.
Yep. The only publication to retain a sense of perspective was Private Eye. I was working in Brussels at the time and was glad to be away.
No, Lord Falconer. Labour should stop pandering to this nonsense. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Cracking piece. This bit nailed it.
Another dishonest post from the greens. No one cut NHS funding - it has had real term funding increases (ie rises above inflation) from every government since the 60s. If you think NHS funding was cut you fundamentally do not understand what is happening.
What a traitorous piece of shit Farage is… (Sunday Times)
They really don’t like scrutiny.
I haven't been in there. I'm not a huge fan of Cain's beer.
What's the pub?
Sewage in the rivers affects even the super-rich. There is poo the Sultan’s private lake. theviewfromw5.substack.com/p/thames-wat...
Put another way. If you’re on 20 with five cards dealt, you don’t shout ‘Twist’.
Of course the Queen was Remain. You don’t sustain a hereditary monarchy by randomly pulling pins out of grenades for the lols at the urging of a cluster of snake oil chancers.
I find the suggestion that companies are going to carry on 'doing DEI and ESG under the radar' fascinating. If a company is devoting resources to something it can't mention in its reports, what are the implications for corporate governance? www.diversityresources.com/quiet-dei-sp...
I can't recall ever seeing a fad and a backlash happen this quickly.
Interesting that they managed to write this story all the way through without using the words "spineless", "hypocrites", "cowards" and so on on.ft.com/4p6S4Nl
I’m finding the casting of @torstenbell.bsky.social as an ‘evil mastermind’ quite amusing. www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/commen...
Everywhere in the world gets more-or-less the same amount of daylight over the course of a year. It’s just that the variance is more extreme the further you get from the equator.
You’re just not down with the hepcats, daddio.
Oh bloody hell!
At this time of year the nights seem to draw in at a gallop. The rate of change speeds up the closer we get to the Equinox. In London, sunset gets earlier by half an hour during July and an hour during August.
Ok. You’re going to have to help me here…
Damn. Should have been on that one.
And of course, many of us, don’t even have the consolation of final salary pensions. www.ft.com/content/faf6...
Let’s hope they are on the wrong side of history.
I presume those calling for ‘mass deportations’ and deals with the Taliban will be excusing themselves from poppy wearing and Remembrance Day events from now on…
How the conservative world works. They punch down on you..... www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
Andrew Warwick-Thompson I know it will sadden everyone who read this blog but Andrew Warwick-Thompson is dead. I know there are people who don't use Linked in so here is the announcement made by someone close to him Anyone who has been involved in pensions know who he is, has heard him talk and…
Absolutely: mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/07/ever...
It is infuriating that the media love him and politicians follow him. Awful judgement by too many people. We need to judge them accordingly.
In this 2020 article, Tooze appears to claim that the financial transactions resulting from a current account deficit — increased foreign holdings of liabilities issued by domestic sectors — could be used in the same way as income from assets, and could fund a sovereign wealth fund.
Wednesday’s @thetimes.com cartoon times.newsprints.co.uk/morten-morla...
And 4 days later, here we are: www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
‘If you drive our car for long enough, the safety features stop working.’
Noticeable increase in intergenerational tension since the recently retired inflicted Brexit on us. My fear is that, by the time there is a reckoning, a lot of them will be gone and it’s the next generation (mine) that will get the blame. flipchartfairytales.wordpress.com/2016/09/28/b...
Hell of a passage to read in twenty twenty five
Another case of Farage not looking at the detail… UK’s EU relations minister to take on Farage over planned food deal www.ft.com/content/a98d...
You don't need to editorialise! Multiple opposition politicians have been arrested and more threatened. The military is occupying the capital. Violent criminals who support the president have been pardoned. Hundreds of people have been deported to a foreign prison. A few to a warzone. And so on
I tried all sorts and got nowhere.
The search facility on BlueSky is not even shite. But at least those I follow and who follow me on here are really nice people!
There was a chart posted here showing how mentions of the word 'debt' by UK chancellors in budget speeches almost disappeared at one point. I can't find it anywhere and the search facility on here is rubbish. Can anyone point me to it please?
Dear #BBCNews. I'm sick and tired of you promoting this Poundshop fascist. Please stop it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The BBC is promoting a political party that will abolish it if they ever take power.
Now I’d pay to see that.
I'm interested in how they actually physically stopped the boats. I don't see how you could do that in the English Channel without sinking them or putting them in a position where they would sink eventually.
This illustrates the distinction I made here between the politics of lived experience & that of abstraction. Our problem is that our political culture overvalues the latter. stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_an...
There’s not much online about the details of how Australia actually carried out its ‘push back’ policy on small boats. I assume the boats coming from Indonesia were bigger than the ones being used to cross the Channel. If we ‘pushed back’ the dinghies, they’d sink.
Having not really studied it since university, I’ve been meaning to read a book on the reign of William I - focusing on what happened after Hastings and how it changed England. The one by @marcmorris.bsky.social looks good. Any other recommendations?
I had high hopes of this. I read an article several months ago which gave me the impression that it would be historically accurate, as far as these things can be. On the plus side, it goes into the back story and, despite the howlers, the broad sweep looks about right.
