The bizarre thing is that, other than Reform, none of the mainstream parties are running. The upcoming Clacton by-election is really just an ego trip for Farage. Of course, it would be spectacular if Farage lost to Count Binface (who, apparently, is the Establishment). #VoteBinface

UK Politics News // Papernaut@ukpolitics.papernaut.co · 4d ago

BBC NEWS: Clacton’s record-breaking 90cm ballot paper costs four times as much to print as regular ballots. Officials will use double tables at polling stations and batch-sort ballots before verification and counting. - by Simon Dedman

I am watching #CasinoRoyale, and am thinking that the password that Bond uses for the wire transfer is the name of his femme fatale, Vesper. Surely it would have been obvious for Le Chiffre to guess that and get the money back from Bond, without being killed by his underworld clientèle?

What would the World Cup have been without England, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden or Scotland? Most of the most entertaining teams are European! Who would invest in a World Cup when you can be >90% certain that Argentina or Brazil will win it?

Peter O’Hanraha-hanrahan@peterohanrahah.bsky.social · 7d ago

"Fifa only requires a majority (50 per cent plus one) vote from its 211 member associations." Yeh maybe that's the case, but what sort of World Cup do you have without Europe? 6 of the 8 quarter finalists from Europe, Spain are the holders now. You'd have no Mbappe, Yamal, Toney and co👍

UEFA must surely have a lot of bargaining power with FIFA. Hopefully, the former will convince the latter not to pursue this awful commercialisation plan. Football is for everyone. ⚽️

Nadine Batchelor-Hunt@nadinebh.bsky.social · last wk.

The World Cup without UEFA means no Mbappe, no Bellingham, no Haaland, no Olise, no Yamal It means no England, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium It means no Zidane, Tuchel, Klopp The World Cup this year without Europe would have just been Argentina & Egypt in the final 8 UEFA must hold firm

¡VIVA ESPAÑA! That was an ill-mannered final, but Spain have come out of it as #WorldCup champions, and deservedly so. Awesome. 🇪🇸⚽️🏆 #SPAARG #WC2026

I think we need to petition to switch this weekend’s games, so that tonight’s game is the third-place playoff and last night’s would stand as the final. #SPAARG #WorldCup #WC2026

Thankful for the spectacular match last night - Eng 6:4 France. A much better and entertaining match than this boring Cup Final.

What a game! What a finish to England’s best #WorldCup performance since 1966! #FRAENG #WC2026

This third place World Cup match would be worth it if France and England each agreed to let Mbappe, Kane and Bellingham score at least 3 goals each to deny Messi the Golden Boot. Infantino would be inconsolable. #FRAENG

So where was this England in Wednesday’s semi-final? It is typical that what may be our best performance of the entire tournament is in its most pointless game. #FRAENG #WorldCup #WC2026

Seeing this reminds me of when I was given the BCG jab in school, after which everyone was punching each other in the arm for the rest of the day. I wonder if teenagers would get up to such mischief today?

David Blanchflower BSc@davidbflower.bsky.social · 3w ago

Teenagers from 15 should be given free MenB vaccine, say UK experts. 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

We also have the Women’s Euros, which we won in 2022 and successfully defended last year. 😀 #Lionesses

pixelatedboat aka “mr bluesky”@pixelatedboat.bsky.social · 3w ago

England still has the world darts champion and that’s all that matters

Final Score England 1-2 Argentina. England have done again. Took the lead in an important match, tried to defend it and lost. In the end a deserved win by Argentina.

England against Argentina in the #WorldCup semi-final. I’m already tense and it’s still an hour before kickoff! Come on England! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿⚽️ #ENGARG #WC2026

I’m surprised I didn’t get third-degree burns when I went down these slides as a kid on hot days in the late ’80s and early ’90s. 🔥

Angry People in Local Newspapers@apiln.bsky.social · 4w ago

It’s woke snowflake nanny state health and safety gone MAAAAAD!

“Verify your age” Ceefax page 300 Channel 4 Teletext page 140

Angry People in Local Newspapers@apiln.bsky.social · 3w ago

"Verify your age" My first website was on Geocities.

This is very sporting from the Norwegians. #WorldCup #WC2026

@kaybell27.bsky.social · 4w ago

The Norwegian team has been a delight to watch and they represent all that is positive about football.

What a game! WE’RE IN THE WORLD CUP SEMIFINALS! GET IN! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿⚽️ #NORENG #WorldCup #WC2026

England are in the quarter-finals of the #WorldCup. ⚽️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Arthur Fery is in the quarter-finals of #Wimbledon. 🎾🇬🇧 An excellent day of sport for us Brits.

To be fair to Starmer, this meant that the match went ahead at the planned kick-off time (or would have done except for a thunderstorm). England won anyway, and Mexico don’t really have grounds to complain. However, why do politicians get involved in these matters at all? It’s hardly sporting.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · last mo.

Keir Starmer intervened to oppose Fifa’s plan to move England kick-off time

Regarding the #MEXENG game, I woke up and watched the replay this morning. I was careful not to spoil it for myself, so seeing the win was a great surprise! Come on England! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #WorldCup #WC2026

So if there’s a 5am pub closing time tonight, and the match is now not due to kick off until 2am, then if it goes to extra time and penalties, it’s going to be incredibly tight. #MEXENG #WorldCup #WC2026

Does anyone else think that the Brazil penalty at the very end of the #BRANOR match was the most pointless penalty in the history of the #WorldCup? #WC2026

My goodness. Norway might just win this tournament. #BRANOR #WorldCup #WC2026

Cape Verde have been very impressive in this #WorldCup. 🇨🇻 #WC2026

Melissa Nadia Viviana 🐸@resistrebelrevolt.net · last mo.

Current Euro Champions 🇪🇸 Spain v Cabo Verde 0-0 Vozinha: 7 Saves 4x World Cup Champions 🇺🇾 Uruguay v Cabo Verde 2-2 Current World Cup Champions 🇦🇷 Argentina v Cabo Verde 2-2 until 110" min!! Vozinha: 8 Messi Saves 🇨🇻 Smallest country in knockout 🇨🇻 First time qualifying 🇨🇻 Ranked 67 🇨🇻 Unforgettable

Happy 250th birthday America! 🇺🇸 #USA250 #IndependenceDay

Cape Verde are in my #WorldCup sweepstakes. Come on! #ARGCPV #WC2026

CNN@cnn.com · last mo.

If nothing else, we'll get to see Lionel Messi back on the pitch. But, whatever happens, Argentina's opponent has been maybe the biggest surprise of the tournament so far. https://cnn.it/3SCJqdH

Oh dear. It’s quite ridiculous that Elon Musk can lose $50bn (more than the GDP of some countries) and it’s seen as small change. Still, he’s no longer a trillionaire. I almost feel sorry for the man. 🙃

Forbes@forbes.com · last mo.

A well-known analyst of Musk’s Tesla offered a bullish take for the rocket maker.

I’m taking the win against DR Congo, but I think saying that England’s performance was fantastic is overstating it somewhat. We had a slow start, leaving a gaping hole in our defence which DRC successfully exploited. We were lucky to win, as DRC had the better game. #ENGDRC #WorldCup #WC2026

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan@london.gov.uk · last mo.

Congratulations to England on another fantastic World Cup performance. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 And a huge well done to our captain, London's own Harry Kane, for his outstanding leadership and performance.

England were once again below par in the first half of that match, but redeemed themselves in the second with some beautiful goals from Bellingham and Kane. That means we end the group stages at the top of Group L. Come on! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #PANENG #WorldCup #WC2026