Tessera

Andy Burnham PM Alert Perhaps this is boring. But much discussion of Andy Burnham becoming PM ignores it. To be PM you need to be an MP able to command a majority in the House of Commons. Andy Burnham is the only MP able to. How long that will last, we don’t know. The end.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3w ago

“Insiders and donors were insistent that Farage needed to return and to take Reform into not only a 2024 general election but a 2029 one, too. He argued that would cost him £5m, the sources said. “No mention was made of security costs in the discussions about needing to replace lost earnings …”.

Farage said he would need ‘a million a year’ to stand as MP in 2024

Ann Widdecombe Terrorism is a criminal. Reasonably suspecting someone of such criminality is grounds for arrest & holding for 14 days (extendable). Terrorism crimes involve political motivation. What does that tell us about the killing of Ann Widdecombe? Very little. A 🧵 /1.

Andrew Levi@andrewprlevi.bsky.social · 4w ago

Irresponsible, self-serving, dangerous speculation by some about the Ann Widdecombe killing is made no better by the fact that, with new evidence, the police now assess the case as one of (some form of) terrorism. In fact, if anything, it makes such speculation even more inappropriate.

So everyone is now speculating, despite police calls (for very good reasons) not to. In the abstract, a full set of possibilities (not in order of likelihood) is: - pure accident - personal/grudge - burglary gone wrong - psychiatric case - UK or international political violence/terror /1.

Police: A Widdecombe death not terrorism & no info. to indicate political motive. N Farage: “We don’t know what the political motives are”. “I’m not going to speculate”. “A terrible reflection on modern Britain”. “For anybody in the political space things have become even more dangerous today”.

Andrew Levi@andrewprlevi.bsky.social · 4w ago

So everyone is now speculating, despite police calls (for very good reasons) not to. In the abstract, a full set of possibilities (not in order of likelihood) is: - pure accident - personal/grudge - burglary gone wrong - psychiatric case - UK or international political violence/terror /1.

Police: A Widdecombe death not terrorism & no info. to indicate political motive. N Farage: “We don’t know what the political motives are”. “I’m not going to speculate”. “A terrible reflection on modern Britain”. “For anybody in the political space things have become even more dangerous today”.

Police: A Widdecombe death not terrorism & no info. to indicate political motive. N Farage: “We don’t know what the political motives are”. “I’m not going to speculate”. “A terrible reflection on modern Britain”. “For anybody in the political space things have become even more dangerous today”.

This is a request for decorum and restraint in connection with Ann Widdecombe. Our personal views about her or the events surrounding her death are, IMHO, irrelevant. And sharing them is potentially detrimental to us all. A murder investigation is underway (see ⬇️, BBC).

This is a request for decorum and restraint in connection with Ann Widdecombe. Our personal views about her or the events surrounding her death are, IMHO, irrelevant. And sharing them is potentially detrimental to us all. A murder investigation is underway (see ⬇️, BBC).

The absurd, conspiracist guff about “who funds” Count Binface is as clear a sign as you’ll ever see of panicked desperation on the part of a weak-kneed, massively over-hyped political chancer - who has always been out purely for his own interests and ego - and his backers.

Populist, maybe. Popular, not. Almost everyone in the UK has heard of Nigel Farage. He makes much noise, gets masses of free publicity - & much less well publicised extensive funding & help from … interesting … sources. Yet he’s unpopular. Net negative all the way. /1.

Populist, maybe. Popular, not. Almost everyone in the UK has heard of Nigel Farage. He makes much noise, gets masses of free publicity - & much less well publicised extensive funding & help from … interesting … sources. Yet he’s unpopular. Net negative all the way. /1.

The absurd, conspiracist guff about “who funds” Count Binface is as clear a sign as you’ll ever see of panicked desperation on the part of a weak-kneed, massively over-hyped political chancer - who has always been out purely for his own interests and ego - and his backers.

The Farage by election manoeuvre looks increasingly like a botched attempt to distract from an awful news cycle filled with major financial allegations from yesterday’s Guardian story. It’s also a reminder of why there have always been limits on MPs’ behaviour. A longish🧵/1.

While we’re at it, no: Nigel Farage hasn’t been a great or even particularly noteworthy, political operator. He has achieved and influenced little or nothing of significance. His career has been nearly all passively riding the barely controlled backwash from the Thatcher tsunami.

Nigel Farage is a highly sophisticated, intelligent, strategically gifted, man of the people. And not at all desperate. So he has obviously, thoroughly thought this through.

Nigel Farage doesn’t control when, or even if, a by election is held in Clacton. The House of Commons does. If a Commons majority decides that the parliamentary enquiry into Mr Farage must first be completed, so be it. Press conferences aren’t parliament.

Will Nigel Farage have to wear an electronic tag while campaigning in Clacton? Or is that just a uniquely French way of dealing with politicians of questionable financial probity aiming to win the highest governmental office in the land?

Saw the match. Belgium were better. The end. Or not. President Trump’s actions, whether or not they affected FIFA’s decision, have left an impression with people around the world who don’t much follow politics, of the USA as whiny, bullying cheats. That’s bad for all of us.

🇧🇪 v 🇺🇸 latest How long before Putin intervenes to say Belgium isn’t a real country?

Mon 06 July 2026
UPDATE: RBFA STATEMENT REGARDING
FOLARIN BALOGUN
f X in •
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA] is astonished by FIFA's decision to declare suspended United States player Folarin Balogun eligible to play in the USA-Belgium match on Monday, 6 July at 5:00 p.m. (Seattle time).
UPDATE 06/07/2026
Q
Following its previous statement, the RBFA wishes to publicly explain the events of the past few hours.
After learning through media reports of FIFA's decision to lift the automatic suspension of player Balogun, the RBFA sent a letter to FIFA requesting a copy of the decision, an explanation of the process that had been followed, and setting out its position regarding the applicable regulations.
As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal. No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA.
For an appeal to be admissible, FIFA's own regulations state that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant. While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible.
All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA's legitimate requests.
Furthermore, during the match coordination meeting, FIFA deliberately removed the section concerning the automatic suspension of players from its presentation.
This topic had nonetheless been part of all such meetings before each of the previous four matches. The RBFA questioned FIFA, both orally and in writing, about the reasons for this change, yet once again received no response.

🇨🇻

Extra deficit spend to fund defence investment would deliver an approx equal amount of extra GDP. Government “debt” would remain +/- the same GDP %. The UK can afford to pay very large amounts for major defence improvements, without cutting elsewhere. Time to act.

Andrew Levi@andrewprlevi.bsky.social · last mo.

It *can* be guns and butter. It *has to* be. There’s no other workable political path. We can afford it. We can’t afford to fail. The MoD wastes cash? There’ll always be waste. Don’t pretend we can meet more than a small fraction of necessary spending through “efficiencies”.

Want a strategic, expert analysis of UK defence/ Defence Investment Plan (DIP)? Watch @lordrickettsp.bsky.social on @cathynewman.bsky.social’s @skynewsrss.bsky.social show. tl;dr the DIP is better than nothing, but not enough; need to get creative and take serious, urgent, sustained action /1.

Want a strategic, expert analysis of UK defence/ Defence Investment Plan (DIP)? Watch @lordrickettsp.bsky.social on @cathynewman.bsky.social’s @skynewsrss.bsky.social show. tl;dr the DIP is better than nothing, but not enough; need to get creative and take serious, urgent, sustained action /1.

Extra deficit spend to fund defence investment would deliver an approx equal amount of extra GDP. Government “debt” would remain +/- the same GDP %. The UK can afford to pay very large amounts for major defence improvements, without cutting elsewhere. Time to act.

Andrew Levi@andrewprlevi.bsky.social · last mo.

It *can* be guns and butter. It *has to* be. There’s no other workable political path. We can afford it. We can’t afford to fail. The MoD wastes cash? There’ll always be waste. Don’t pretend we can meet more than a small fraction of necessary spending through “efficiencies”.

Want a strategic, expert analysis of UK defence/ Defence Investment Plan (DIP)? Watch @lordrickettsp.bsky.social on @cathynewman.bsky.social’s @skynewsrss.bsky.social show. tl;dr the DIP is better than nothing, but not enough; need to get creative and take serious, urgent, sustained action /1.

Want a strategic, expert analysis of UK defence/ Defence Investment Plan (DIP)? Watch @lordrickettsp.bsky.social on @cathynewman.bsky.social’s @skynewsrss.bsky.social show. tl;dr the DIP is better than nothing, but not enough; need to get creative and take serious, urgent, sustained action /1.