Leaving aside Burnham’s more than dubious grasp of the GFA and the Northern Ireland Act, the high-handed arrogance with which he said that a unification referendum is off the table is something one might have hoped we’d have moved past. Especially disappointing from a Labour PM.

Eventually MAGA types will create a type of Orwellian newspeak which involves them just grunting “America” in substitution for all other words.

Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · 2d ago

freaking epic!

Mr Burns, I think we can trust Donald Trump’s US ambassador to Belgium.

I’ve just run a bath and decreed by executive order that the new body of water is to be known henceforth in our house as Lake Awesome. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

If the orange buffoon does decide to start calling Lake Ontario Lake America it would change the HOMES acronym for the Great Lakes to HAMES, which is what Trump is making of every situation to which he turns his hand. You may need to consult your Hiberno-English dictionaries.

“The mere fact, added Target, that antiquarians had to go rummaging around in the history of Charlemagne and the Carolingians was proof enough that France had no constitution and it was now necessary to create one from scratch.” - Schama, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution 🤔

Sometimes I take my 7yo to play football in a playing field with goalposts (the kind I’d have loved as a kid). Never anyone there, except dogwalkers, visibly annoyed when they see us because they can’t let their dog off lead. It’s sad that playing fields have essentially been reduced to dog toilets.

Not only is it odd to suggest that academic freedom requires engaging with “race realists”, but I also think that these ideas were already engaged with thoroughly enough on the beaches of Normandy and elsewhere in the middle of the last century, so I’ll go back to my book and cup of tea, thanks.

You cannot but admire Man Utd’s and Tottenham’s dedication to the bit.

Following Nigel Farage’s logic on investigations, next week, the electors of Clacton will decide whether to free Jesus or Barabbas.

I’m also wondering whether some of these UK government alerts could be filtered so that only idiots receive them.

The worst part of the UK government alert is that statistically more people now have a Billy Joel earworm than would otherwise have been the case.

In a very public place when that government alert was issued and you could sense people were fairly underwhelmed on reading it.

The voters of Clacton had one job, which is probably one more than the constituency will have in the future if they keep voting for joke candidates.

British right-wing columnists suddenly waking up to the threat from the far right in 2026: “Guys, this tiger we’ve been riding since at least 2015 is, on closer inspection, a tiger.”

My own response to the Cameron deal at the time was one of anger. Cameron was given way too much, and I thought the symbolic disapplication of ‘ever closer union’ to the UK abhorrent. My emotional response was that the EU might be better off with the UK out. Obviously, in the cold light of day, … /1

The News Agents@thenewsagents.co.uk · 3w ago

"I don't think it was fully realised how clear and present the danger was of the UK leaving the EU." Nick Thomas_symonds, (former EU relations minister) and Lewis Goodall on whether the EU was "crazy" not to give the UK more when Brexit happened

It’s a feature of the English right that the more they bang on about the war, the less knowledgable they seem to be about that war; the more they insist on the primacy of the English language, the lesser their own grip on it; the more they insist on Christian values, the more unchristian they are.

Just got caught in one of those very atmospheric Bavarian thunder storms.

I obviously welcome the idea in principle, but am on holiday so won’t have the time nor the energy to point out continuously that there are models other than the US and those models do work fine if conditions x, y, and z are also in place.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 4w ago

Devolution plans strengthen case for written UK constitution, says Burnham

I reckon Infantino can win Farage over with the 2027 FIFA Peace Prize.

Politics UK@politicsuk.com · last mo.

🚨 NEW: Nigel Farage has called for Gianni Infantino to resign as FIFA President

Hear me out: UEFA and the other regional organising bodies form a new global body to regulate football. FIFA continues on as regulator of a new code: kayfabe football. Every four years there’s a kayfabe World Cup in some dictatorship or other which either Messi or Ronaldo always win.

Chris Philp: “You ought to have a basic grasp of the British shadow cabinet from 20 yards if you’re going to be in the French navy.”

I’d imagine if Telegraph readers start embracing what they understand the Mediterranean lifestyle to be, the police will be busy.

Roland Smith@rolandmcs.bsky.social · last mo.

Nighty night.

I always laugh at these “Trump’s approval rating at 34%” celebratory headlines and posts. Like, no-one would say, “oh wow, only one in three people are now flesh-eating zombies; I like those odds.”

Re Fauci, I’m reminded of the story of how a great American, who had dedicated much of his life to the service of his country, stood tall in the Privy Council in London in 1774 while members hurled insults at him. That was Benjamin Franklin, of course. And we know that ended for his accusers.

Important for public understanding of the importance of judicial review in Ireland by @cathalmalone.bsky.social. Worth noting this has been UK Govts' playbook for years, and that arguably courts have adjusted behaviour (inc on standing) to head off criticisms: www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

The phrases “game’s gone” and “Brexit football” are revealing of a good section of British political *feeling*. The former usually refers to modern, perfectly sensible innovations in football that are objectionable merely because they offend against some sense of objectively meaningless nostalgia /1

Detective: “Where were you between 9-10pm on the night of the 24th?” Suspect: “I was scrolling on Bluesky?” Detective: “What’s your take on the Odyssey then?” Suspect: “Hmm, I don’t have one.” Detective: “A Bluesky user without an Odyssey take? There’s no such thing. You’re lying to me.”

One wonders whether the Jodrell Bank telescope’s greatest sin is that it is pointed at space, which is foreign. “Where are all the telescopes pointing at English towns? We should be pointing telescopes at our own and not at the great beyond!”, cry the market town mid-afternoon vox pops.

Tbh, if Mayo can win an All-Ireland, I no longer see why Trump can’t be impeached.