Pity Sarah Pochin’s side decided to violate French sovereignty in 1940 when it launched its Blitzkrieg.
David Clark
@david-k-clark.bsky.social
Ex-Foreign Office adviser to Robin Cook. Politics, foreign policy, football. Scottish 🏴. Firmly left. HMFC🇱🇻MUFC🇾🇪.
It’s very welcome, obviously. But the real issue is why Wales and almost every other FIFA member rushed to endorse Infantino’s re-election in the first place. The World Cup was disgracefully handled from beginning to end. Utterly disqualifying by any reasonable standard.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2d agoWales become first nation to drop support for Fifa president Gianni Infantino
Trump’s assault on the Atlantic Alliance means that Europe now inhabits a world of predators. In that context, Ireland has to rethink parts of its core identity. It cannot remain both neutral and a good European.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3d agoIs Ireland’s unprotected ocean the weak link in European defence?
I have the privilege of this view for the third summer in a row. I never tire of it.
Why did they think they could get away with such an obvious dodge? Part of the answer is a record of weak enforcement. Serious concerns about the funding of Brexit were brushed under the carpet by the authorities instead of being properly investigated. They were too afraid of what they might find.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · last wk.Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK
This is not terrorism according to any reasonable definition. Putting a stop to this stupidity should be high on Andy Burnham’s to-do list.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · last wk.Palestine Action activists face being sentenced as terrorists over bank damage
Moving part of the executive to the North of England is great, but why not also move part of the legislature? Scrap the Lords and locate a democratic second chamber in a northern city. It would change the political culture of the UK and help to make devolution irreversible.
Mirror Politics@politics.mirror.co.uk · 2w agoMancunians gathered in their droves outside Heron House, home to the new No10 North, to herald the arrival of Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
What a bizarre premise. The Starmerites, if they even exist, weren’t a force when they held the reins of state power. Why would they become a force now that they are scattered to the back benches? What distinctive ideas or positions would they even rally behind? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Was Keir Starmer’s leaving party the boozy birth of a new Labour force?
A £10,000 bar tab was drunk, there was a ‘lot of anger’, and now ex-ministers are thinking how to cooperate in future
theguardian.com
This shouldn’t be significant, but it is. It shows broad acknowledgement that the tide of the war has now turned against Putin. The real fun will start as that realisation begins to take hold in Russia.
The Press Democrat@pressdemo.bsky.social · 2w agoLaura Loomer meets President Zelenskyy in Kyiv after reversing her stance on Ukraine war.
Trump’s peace plan was to force Ukraine’s capitulation by pulling aid, but Europe effectively vetoed it by increasing its support for Ukraine and enabling it to fight on. It’s a huge moment in the growth of European strategic autonomy and the corresponding decline of US global influence.
RAND@rand.org · 2w ago"Recent reporting and analyses suggest that the tide has turned in Ukraine's favor. Russia's war economy is going underwater."
Considering he’s a populist, Farage is staggeringly unpopular.
Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 2w agoNigel Farage's approval ratings have now sunk even lower than Keir Starmer's before he resigned, yet we're still being encouraged to believe he has some kind of magic connection with the British public
Is there a worse company in the country than Evri? Just catastrophically incompetent. The delivery business is full of cowboys, but Evri is by far the worst. How do they survive?
The amount of new housing being built along the M4 corridor is astonishing. Seems to have grown every time I catch the train to London.
That’s what Clive Myrie thinks. As we speak, beleaguered Starmtroopers are regrouping in the Sierras to begin the long march back to power under the leadership of Darren Jones and Peter Kyle.
James Ball@jamesrball.com · 2w agoClive Myrie just reassured BBC viewers that this is a "peaceful transfer of power", which I'm sure will come as a relief to everyone.
It was a cultural atrocity. How dare you invoke love and unity to justify this crime against football.
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2w agoThe first World Cup halftime show had a simple message of love and unity. Read our pop music critic’s review. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/a...
They’ve got a stronger claim than Argentina, so there’s that.
Marie Le Conte@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 2w agoI think after this Britain should give the Falklands to Spain, as a treat
When did referees start getting medals? Are the bribes not enough?
Let’s hear it for Spain, deserved World Champions. 🙌 Football wins. Infantino, Trump, Milei, dodgy refereeing and negative tactics lose. Not a great game, but certainly a great outcome.
What a load of bollocks. Can we just agree that America should never be allowed to have the World Cup again?
Defending free speech, they say. So we can assume the White House will have no objection if the Spanish players unfurl a banner saying “Trump is a paedophile” after the final whistle tomorrow.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3w agoWhite House backs Argentina players over Falklands banner in World Cup semi-final
My youngest described the Clacton by-election as the Arkham Asylum of British politics. I can’t improve on that. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Clacton by-election attracts 34 candidates
The list of people taking on Nigel Farage contains 20 independents and a number of joke candidates.
bbc.co.uk
It’s all very unfair. No other politician receiving a £5m bung would be subject to this kind of scrutiny.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3w agoNigel Farage says questions over his finances are part of ‘coordinated pile-on’