My retirement party will be next Februaryā¦. š But Iām also a fair bit older than you. I think.
Brit proudly helping to build the EU. ECFIN. EBRD. Ukraine. Choirs. Running. Food. šŖšŗš³ļøāš
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My retirement party will be next Februaryā¦. š But Iām also a fair bit older than you. I think.
Clearly not the main point, but, OMG, the grammar.
Congratulations!! You beat me to it by a fortnightā¦
OK, Iām not going to read through the hundred replies, and I donāt much care if Iām the hundredth reply guy that makes the pointā¦. Itās the very definition of too little too late. There are some moments that demand an immediate, instinctive, heartfelt response. This was one of them.
š
Donāt post that. Itāll make people turn back to the Americans.
Do you want to try that again, but in English?
Labourās remaining progressive members and voters really need good reasons to continue to support this government. In the absence of such reasons they will - and should - make their ways to the Greens or LibDems.
Sunday long run means pancakes for breakfast š (Yes: I wonder why the fork is on the wrong side tooā¦) A second course of Greek yoghurt, oats, apple and various seeds to follow. And more coffee.
Bloody hell.
Can confirm: got blocked and labelled on my TL as āadult contentā š But you could still click on it and, if you wanted, see the golden buttocks without having to scan your passport and birth certificate.
š @spignal.bsky.social
the permission structure created for a bloodthirsty maga rampage the last two days by mainstream media, all before any facts were known at all, deserves some real introspection by the entire industry
Was the ghost of Jimmy Savile not available?
what do these people do to their faces?
Apparently, the poll is a bit of an outlier, but neverthelessā¦.
Or managerial experience for the job? Chris Mason is becoming a bit of a joke. One could question Laura Kās objectivity and judgment. But she wasnāt quite so obviously trying to make the job of political editor into some sort of lol bantz gig.
What level of political analysis is going on in the head of a person who thinks it could have been a good idea to appoint to represent the UK in the US a man who hates the government that would have appointed him; would would never have followed FCDO instructions; who has no relevant diplomaticā¦
An impenitent Chris Mason re-upping his Farage fanboy act on the BBC Radio 4 news just š¤£ What a clown show the BBC is becoming.
British washing-up habits in many homes are utterly gross. (Sorry, sisā¦).
EU Parliament has reached a unified position on #Gaza's situation: āSupports suspension of EU-Israel trade agreement āCalls for sanctions of extremist Israeli ministers & settlers āCalls on EU States to recognise the State of Palestine āCondemns Israel obstruction of humanitarian aid Time to act!
Someone writing in with their choice anecdote to BBC Radio 3 just, which gives a good sense of how far and how quickly the station is falling into pointless banality in its choice of music and presentation: āI once sat not far from Arvo PƤrtā. Jesus wept.
āVery selfish of Mandelsonā. āVery Catholic of the Popeā.
15 years ago, when the first State of the European Union was held, many thought it was useless and pompous. Now, it is a political ritual, part of a slowly maturing European democracy. My latest for @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/09/e...
This is Europe as one community. This is the Europe that I love. This is the Europe that we must protect at all costs. And we must do that together. Read the full #SOTEU speech delivered by President @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu here ā europa.eu/!NNWdhF
SĆ©bastien Lecornu, me glisse un parlementaire, "c'est l'enfant qu'Emmanuel Macron et Brigitte Macron voudraient avoir eu ensemble".
Oh Marieā¦ You sure know how to cheer a boy up.
One minute of daily movement could add years to your life. New research shows 60 seconds of activity reduces death risk significantly. Plus ten more positive news stories. š
Get well soon!
The chief ānever check bagsā lady āshipsā laundry home, takes one pair of shoes: if she needs sneakers buys a pair and ships those home too. I think she has a lot more money than the rest of us. She packs ādays aheadā, too, so has more time, as well. She sounds awful. Thoā probably isnāt, reallyš
I can readily imagine, on the other hand, driverless rural-to-urban and inter-city multi-occupant solutions being pretty interesting.
Itās just another form of moving individual humans in individual vehicles on their individual journeys in - in Europe - already crowded and growing cities where space is short. Itās unsustainable and risks making town and city life even more unpleasant and dangerous.
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Slightly diminish a book. Managed Expectations
The ingenuity, the investment, the tech - all of that would in most towns and cities in Europe be vastly better expended on mass public transport (including, of course, driverless forms).
Youāre a bit making Gilesās point for him. It revolutionised the lives of getting on for half the population, and liberated them from a day or moreās work a week that was back-breaking. No matter how neat some people think robotaxis are, theyāre not going to do that. Particularly not in Europe.
At the same time, the progressives who might behave been multipliers for positive messages about the governmentās achievements are sitting sullen and silent because we - basically - hate this government.
I wish you *were* a government spokesperson, or at least that government spokespeople would focus on the things that most people elected a Labour government to get done. However, as long as the government simply mimic Farageās narratives, then thatās what will cut through.
Belongs in badgaghole.
One track. One standard. One step closer to Europe. šŗš¦ Ukraine opens its first European-gauge railway, a 22-km line from Uzhhorod to Chop. A ā¬28.6 million #EUfunded project bringing: ā Faster border crossing ā More trade ā Better links to šøš°ššŗš¦š¹ and beyond ā europa.eu/!gypNxR
Since then, it has just looked ludicrously huge and it has been impossible to find an occasion or context in which it would not have appeared laughable. Given how much it cost, I would *love* to have worn it more. So, I would tend to stick with @dieworkwear.bsky.socialās classic recommendations
All of that is absolutely true. But what that look is *not* is timeless. It belongs so much to one - quite brief - moment that itās not useful to style conscious people on a budget. I had - still have - a gorgeous Armani dinner jacket from 1995. I looked fabulous in it then.
Less a Ā« fess Ā» than a Ā« cry for help Ā».
(I assume youāre a man: apologies if not). Honestly, almost nothing sexier and as long as you fulfil a certain number of other basic criteria, Iām going to take that neighbouring seat in a trice. If that doesnāt appeal to you, by all means wear deodorant and put me off. Thereās nothing worse.
Now letās talk t-shirts and singlets.
Oh! If I had still had someone to divorce me, then I wouldnāt answer. But as I donāt then: two racing pairs; two retired racing pairs; two fast interval training pairs; one easy 2 training pair; one easy 1 training pair. Three completely retired pairs that I donāt run in but use for the gym. So 11
So far away from the Dallas/Barbie look that US politics seems to demand of women.
I mean, itās *absolutely* not the main point, and Iām currently on leave and therefore not doing this for work š but itās worth saying that the President of the European Commission is absolutely rocking the Ā« strong leader Ā» look here. Great colours. Minimal cool jewellery. Hair and makeup real.
Have to say, I was hugely amused by the person who responded to this - I think sincerely, though I might be wrong - indicating that they imagined that President Macron was the leader Jeremy was referring to.
So - looking forward to 8 weeks of serious training now and a good result in Lisbon.
So I set off on Saturday afternoon aiming for something between 1:40 and 1:45. However, I found myself doing a nice brisk first 10k pretty easily and despite the really challenging hilly bits kept it up and finished in 1:36:55! A really nice surprise and a big boost psychologically
So I did and resumed training, a bit cautiously. I gave up hopes of a good performance the Stockholm Half Marathon this last weekend and decided to have Lisbon in October as my next objective and just to come and run an easy half in Stockholm because I had booked everything.
By mid-July the tendon was repaired enough to resume a training schedule for a couple weeks until I injured a hip and then had a fall. Then I had a fortnight of utter despair until I decided to pull myself together.
Anyway, #running news. There has been no running news since mid-May when I did something unspeakable to my Achilles tendon. A couple of weeks rest was followed by many, many 1k and 2k treadmill sessions and many heartbreaking false starts. Also endless hours of tedious swimming.
Is that some growth in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?
And is hot.
I am in a very posh restaurant in Stockholm (yes, alone, but itās because Iām on a running weekend so not as tragic as it seems) and I couldnāt help guffawing to the consternation of the other serious diners. No honestly not as tragic as it seems.
Why is the American human heart so damaged, compared with the hearts in the rest of the human world?
Go ahead, Donald.
We know youāre kidding.
If youāre going to take your *dog* to a *restaurant* you need to be willing to eat on the pavement outside.
š Why? Iāve been doing this stuff my whole career. Rogersā stuff which I remember from the time is the typical ex post justification by the British establishment of its own catastrophic failures over Brexit by blaming Johnny Foreigner. Tories wriggling out of blame for torching Britain
As I said: itās a Brexity trope. No-one crept anywhere. The UK and all the other governments signed off on that list of competences after years of EU and national debate and long ratification processes. The tories didnāt care for it, thatās all.
Ā« Worries Ā»?
Ā« European Court of Justice Ā» is *not* a translation. Such a court does not exist and never did. It was a lazy shorthand of journalists and politicians who couldnāt be bothered with accuracy.
Looking stuff up and checking facts is meant to be the meat and drink of an academic, isnāt it? š Genuinely surprised to be having this exchange with you.
eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-con... The idea that Ā« EU regs crept into areas that were inappropriate Ā» is merely the repetition of a tiresome Brexit myth. Nothing crept anywhere. The elected governments of 28 countries decided explicitly on the areas where EU law and the CJEU applied.
In none of them is the official name of the Court the equivalent of Ā« European Court of Justice Ā». It is not itās name in any language. Check it. The Court delvers judgment on EU law. EU law is developed in areas in which the Treaty confer competence on the EU.
How can you be so rĆ©sistent to readily verified facts? The Courtās own official website exists in all official EU languages. You can check the translations of Court of Justice of the European Union into those languages.
Hungary may have failed to support this statement, but that is more than compensated for by the fact that the United Kingdom added its voice to it. šŖšŗš¬š§
It is wrong to make intimidation, threat and violence part of politics: this attack on the conservative Policy Exchange thinktank, just like threats to law firms and migration NGOs, reflect a coarsened heightening that needs to be defused
Ā« European Court of Justice Ā» is not a misnomer. Itās simply incorrect. For that we must blame the BBC and practically all other media as well as politicians.
It has a name. The name is Ā« The Court of Justice of the European Union Ā». And itās the same in all of the other languages of the EU. You and the BBC can call whatever you like. But you will be wrong š And it has much wider responsibilities than your name suggests.
Hmm.
Things have correct names. That people commonly use incorrect names is not in dispute. But if people insist on using incorrect names then there will be misunderstandings.
To be fair to the Court its correct name is the Court of Justice of the European Union. Itās not necessarily the its (or the EUās) fault that itās invariably referred to as the ECJ in common and even professional parlance. It covers the whole body of EU law however, not only (or even mainly) trade.
No Ukrainian land to Russia. Donetsk is Ukraine, Luhansk is Ukraine, Crimea is Ukraine. The EU must continue to support Ukraine against Russia and Putinās ruthless campaign. We will not bow down to the Russian threat. Ukraineās security is Europeās security.
To be fair, he does look *exactly* as you would imagine a person purporting to be a water sommelier to look.
They are also led by people who are convinced that their massive parliamentary majority was given to them by a large share of the voters.
Freed from desire, mind and senses purified Freed from desire, mind and senses purified Freed from desire, mind and senses purified Freed from desire...
The constant refrain of my clubbing days. And no-one could ever explain why the French President was in Downing Street. Why? What did you think I meant?
Francis Poulenc throwing out the pillows.
Images exclusives de la confƩrence de presse du Premier ministre
100% this. I WILL chug a beer, I WILL use the loo, and I WILL aggressively tut at the person who inexplicably chose seat A or F every single time as they clamber over my knees and thrust their arse or crotch into my face on their way to the loo. Seat D is the best seat.
Iām not particularly a fan of BBC Radio 4ās āJust a Minuteā - nothing wrong with it, just not my cup of tea. But when I hear it, I do think that the choice of Sue Perkins to replace Nicholas Parsons shows that the BBC still has some people with good judgment. She is clearly perfect for it.
Jeremyās right - itās a great speech and absolutely worth your time. My Italian is pretty basic but with the subtitles, I got most of it. One of Draghiās great strengths is that his language is simple and direct.
It also ended with the aggressor, war criminal and genocidist shooting himself in the head in a bunker.
Theyāre not joking in Scandinavia when they say autumn begins at the beginning of August.
āIām looking for a copy of āLe Marteau sans MaĆ®treā by Pierre Boulezā¦. You do? Oh, wonderful!ā Thank you Yellow Pages.
āWe are living in a crisis of empathyā, says conductor Gustavo Dudamel on Radio 4. Itās not a particularly novel thought, I suppose, but it bears repeating, and needs us all to do something about it, by being more empathetic, especially with fearful and disadvantaged people everywhere.
Ditto. But possibly all of us thinking āAh - bank holiday weekend! HMRC is bound to be fully staffed up on this nice Friday afternoon, so obviously this is the best possible time to give them a callā¦ā may have something to do with it š¤£
Proud to be (even a minor) part of this effort.
Good save.
Across 142 routes in Europe, trains are on average twice as expensive as flights On some routes, they are 26 times the price Low-cost airlines profit from unfair tax exemptions, but trains are burdened with VAT, energy taxes and high track fees Governments and the EU must stop rewarding polluters
You should not think of this as a fess, but as a praiseworthy accomplishment. And thrifty.
Yep: he used to come across as a civilised and amusing sketch-writer of the Torygraph sort that you could do business with. Difficult to know whether he has been genuinely radicalised (I donāt use the term lightly) or has simply had to do the Faustian thing in pursuit of the career.
Trump says he wants to get to heaven, but Jesus says (Mathew 19:24) it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god. Breaking: Jesus detained by ICE.
I think they make sense *either* when you have 8-12 people round and the faff is worth it, *or* if you have the means to employ a couple of sous-chefs for a morning to do all the prep. š