If you read one thing today, read this. Any of us who have been part of a large organisation gripped (or subjected to) some awful top-down initiative will understand this immediately. Generative AI is rubbish, but the people charged with promoting it can't admit it. www.thenerve.news/p/cory-docto...

Cory Doctorow: The people who tell you ‘AI is changing everything’ are lying

It has become impossible to tell managers mesmerised by artificial intelligence that the tools are not, in fact, helpful. So employees just play along with the fiction to keep their jobs, writes our t...

thenerve.news

And next - Trump will declare war on The Canary Islands in the hope that the US can cede all control of Atlantic shipping to the Spanish autonomous archipelago. www.reuters.com/world/middle...

Proposed Hormuz deal would give Iran control of inbound traffic, sources say

A proposed deal between Iran and Oman would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters, in one of th...

reuters.com

According to BBC WATO's Jonny Diamond - Ed Milliband could not have "dug himself deeper" with his (very accurate) 2016 comments about Donald Trump. Zach Polanski is asked the same questions (again!!) about his social media post. 👇

On this inauspicious day I just wondered when the last instance was of a transgender person being prosecuted for illegal behaviour in a ‘single sex’ space.

Reminder that the Tories believe any non-British person who commits more than a minor parking or traffic offence should be automatically deported. They “believe in second chances”, apparently, but only for literal Nazis.

Kemi Badenoch defends selection of man jailed for harassing Jewish MP in council election – as it happened

Conservative leader tells press she stands by decision to select Joshua Bonehill-Paine as a candidate for local election in Somerset

theguardian.com

Ah! Lest they wander off!

Why don't we just release people from prison who don't need to be locked up - and replace their prison sentence with some other form of sentence. And then make that policy 'going forward' (I hate that phrase). It'll be vastly cheaper and make us think creatively. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

About 1,000 fewer prisoners to get early release as Burnham tightens rules

Justice secretary says he could not have gone further without causing system to ‘break’ but acknowledges impact on grieving relatives such as those of PC Andrew Harper

theguardian.com

This is shameful. The UK needs to stop this export - an export of our unwillingness to act responsibly. I wonder how many of these non-recycled plastics actually have viable biodegradable alternatives now - but the manufacturers / retailers just 'can't be arsed' to do the right thing.

‘Nobody cares’: the Turkish farmers bearing the burden of UK’s plastic waste problem

Britain exported 139,000 tonnes of rubbish to Turkey last year, leaving smallholders and poor districts of Adana to cope with the debris, microplastics and toxic smoke

theguardian.com

The reaction of the majority of politicians and governments worldwide to the Israeli government's actions in Palestine can be summarised by the image below. Of course there's also lobbying, money and callous stupidity.

FIFA’s number 2 (who was presumably around whilst Giant Infantilism was hatching his plans) (‘cos, like, that’s his job that he gets paid for - to be around) just proving the he is a number 2 in all senses of the word. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Wenger and Infantino’s No 2 Grafström criticise ‘sad and reproachable’ World Cup plan

Gianni Infantino’s authority was dealt a further blow after his No 2 Mattias Grafström called the failed World Cup private investment plan a “sad and reproachable series of events”

theguardian.com

Brilliant letter from Stuart Thompson to Jeremy Clarkson about his comments that benefit claimants should write weekly thank you letters to tax payers detailing how they spend their benefits each week.

Rod Liddle has proved that being horrible doesn’t make you live for ever - or even longer than average - so this a good opportunity to ask people to stop being horrible … it’s just not worth it. I mean - read his obituaries!!

So Rupert Lowe has surveyed the current political landscape and come to the conclusion that Nigel Farage would be a fine man to work with. Quite an insight that!! www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Rupert Lowe urges Nigel Farage to work with Restore Britain

Lowe says the two should put ‘personalities and our past disagreements aside for good of the country’

theguardian.com

For a long time the maxim of internet business - Move Fast and Break Things - has been in the ascendancy and has been allowed to corrode vast areas of civic life. Any progressive pushback - which we sorely need - should adopt the maxim: Move Fast and Make Things. Things that we all need.

ICE is many things, but one of the things it definitely is - is an experiment in setting up a state agency which is totally devoid of empathy. “I am become machine” should be their motto. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Family to sue after woman released from ICE custody froze to death

Exclusive: Daphy Michel, from Haiti, was dropped off in Pittsburgh in 20F temperatures wearing summer clothes

theguardian.com

So if this whole Ceuta episode turns out to have been carefully stage-managed by various bad actors, can we expect fulsome apologies to Spain (who have been magnificent in their calm response) from the muck-raking likes of Meloni, Farage and Yusuf? Or not.

Oh, the grand old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men; He marched them up to the top of the hill, And he marched them down again. When they were up, they were up, And when they were down, they were down, And when they were only halfway up, They were neither up nor down.

Trump climbs down on Iran strikes after Saudi alarm and threats from Tehran

President claims delay is ‘subject to being able to rapidly make a deal’ as intervention by Saudi crown prince is revealed and Iran warns neighbours

theguardian.com

Will a written UK constitution be as rock solid and impervious to corrupt manipulation as the US constitution? 🤔🍊 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Devolution plans strengthen case for written UK constitution, says Burnham

PM argues for codified model of decentralisation that would fundamentally change centuries-old workings of state

theguardian.com

It is a little known fact that Gianni Infantino is Italian for Enormous Baby.

Thames Water CEO went unchallenged on the BBC on the claim that public ownership means water investment competes with health and defence. This is a myth! 99% of water investment comes from BILLS. Take 2 mins to complain to Ofcom and the BBC vist.ly/5d5xb

Ofcom and BBC, correct the record: Thames Water CEO misled the public about public ownership

Thames Water CEO lied about public ownership on the BBC. It is time Ofcom and the BBC corrected the record

vist.ly

If you watch anything on #Moroccans coming to #Ceuta, make it this report. CBS News have interviewed some of them & they confirm that social media posts on Facebook & Instagram told them Spain had opened its borders. They're playing with people's hopes & lives. It's awful. We must combat fake news.

This is such a no-brainer. Do it Burnham!

Electoral Reform Society@electoralreform.bsky.social · 4d ago

At every election there is a huge emphasis on registration drives, especially in the lead up to the deadline. Automatically registering people should reduce those pressures and allow for a greater focus on the more important challenge – encouraging people to cast their vote.

🎶 We won’t cry for you, Infantino, The truth is we never would do. All through the bribe days, No Trump resistance, We’ll kept our promise, now - keep your distance. 🎶

“Burnham Baby Burnham” is not what he needs (or us, or the planet). www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Burnham risks first revolt as PM over apparent support for North Sea drilling

Labour MPs fear No 10 team lack up-to-date energy insight and don’t fully recognise voters’ climate concerns

theguardian.com

Suspicious sequencing🤔 US Congress declares the Spanish exclaves Ceuta & Melilla to be Moroccan Morocco names new highway after Trump Horde of Moroccan immigrants floods into Ceuta Immediately the global MAGA media machine spins up, gleefully supported by it's Israeli allies, to tear into Spain

The garment of the week on Series 12, episode 3 of the Great British Sewing Bee was glorious. Colonialism, invasive species and rampant capitalism in one beautiful dress. Good to see a judge nearly cry. A series of themed garments from Anna would win the Turner Prize. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

The Great British Sewing Bee - Series 12: Episode 3

It’s week 3 and time for Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, with pants, outfits with drama at the back and made-to-measures hoping to save the planet.

bbc.co.uk

And then there’s Infantino who uses football as a political crime. insidecroydon.com/2026/07/30/i...

It’s a red card for those who use crime as a political football

ANDREW FISHER on the London Mayor’s battle against crime and the often warped perception of crime There has been a succession of far-right figures who over recent years have posted online, sometime…

insidecroydon.com

That famous old phrase needs an update: You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, and …… and loads of the people for a long time until they work out what a charlatan you are - and this will eventually happen. www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/nig...

Nigel Farage is the least popular leader in British politics

Nigel Farage is now the least popular leader in British politics after his approval rating dropped to a record low.

thelondoneconomic.com

... and not a nice man. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...