Colin Baldy 🇪🇺 🇮🇹 🇬🇧 🌈 🔶#FBPE
@maestroc.bsky.social
Brexit refugee living in Italy. Singer, writer, teacher, director and Italophile.
Joe is clearly far more patient than me. I'd have had severe problems restraining myself in any conversation with Phil. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Dining across the divide: ‘He didn’t change my mind on anything – but he did give me a lift to my car’
A prospective Restore Britain voter and a Green-supporting Chinese immigrant found some common ground over small-boat crossings, but where did they land on foxhunting?
theguardian.com
Interesting results in Manchester. Reform is definitely on the slide 21% of first preference votes seems to be going in the right direction (IE, down). I do think, however, that it's time to introduce compulsory voting. And move polling day to Sunday. Thursday is ridiculous in this day and age.
Absolutely my favourite time of day. Evening sun on Monte Coscerno.
I think a lot of people have missed this. Until the police investigation in February last year, Reform UK’s financial structures were all tied up with Cottrell and his Montenegro base bylinetimes.com/2026/07/23/p...
‘Posh George’, Two Passports, and a Fraudulent Identity: Convicted Fraudster and Nigel Farage Funder's Connections to Reform UK’s Murky Financial Structures
Why did Reform UK change from being a privately-owned company to a non-profit company limited by guarantee in 2025? Nafeez Ahmed investigates a fraudulent identity used by George Cottrell – and how hi...
bylinetimes.com
Brava Carole Cadwalader. Farage is a crook, up to his ears in Russian and criminal money. His farcical by-election is a huge miscalculation because the curtain has finally been lifted on his criminality. Let's hope it's the beginning of the end for him. www.thenerve.news/p/nigel-fara...
Farage, the money launderer and me: a decade of denial
The Reform leader’s relationship with the UK media has enabled him to operate with impunity for years. This past fortnight, that impunity finally appeared to be coming to an end. Carole Cadwalladr, wh...
thenerve.news
What a suprise. Not! Why isn't Johnson and his ministers in prison? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Johnson government wasted ‘vast’ sums on PPE, Covid inquiry finds
Chair criticises use of ‘VIP lane’ to prioritise PPE contracts for companies with Tory connections in damning report
theguardian.com
Awaiting THE statement at 2pm. Is everyone in the UK crossing their fingers??
Appalling woman. I hope she's one of the first victims of Burnham's cabinet reorganisation. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Remove home secretary Mahmood and rip up her asylum plans, says Alf Dubs
Exclusive: Labour peer who fled Nazis as a child says Andy Burnham has chance to ‘correct mistakes’ on refugees
theguardian.com
Bear with me, as this is a slightly lengthy thread inspired by today's Guardian US Politics Sketch. It put me in mind of a paper by Robert Pearce on the collapse of the Western Empire. Two paragry seem particularly apposite: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Only Donald Trump could make America’s special 250th birthday all about him
The milestone called for the epic vision of a JFK or the soaring oratory of a Barack Obama. Instead it got a Trump rally
theguardian.com
I see Mark Rutte is arse-licking Trump again. He's just embarrassing himself now.
Waking up the day after the '92 election to hear that John Major had won, against all expectations, was so depressing. Nothing, however, can compare with the depression which set in on hearing the Brexit result ten years ago today. It's lasted for ten years. Bloody David Cameron.
There's a lot of sense here. Brexit has not only hurt the economy but it's poisoned political debate in the UK. We can but hope that Burnham is the person to bring the country back from the edge. He's got an enormous job on his hands. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Keir Starmer couldn’t beat the curse of Brexit – a politics poisoned by nationalism | Rafael Behr
The outgoing prime minister’s efforts to mobilise a healthier kind of patriotism fell flat. Andy Burnham may stand a better chance, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
theguardian.com
The Brexit bots are out in force today.
An ex-GOP lawmaker has heard enough about phantom left-wing saboteurs at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and he is pointing at the only suspects who fit the evidence: the people Trump hired to clean it.
Evidence shows Trump admin caused Reflecting Pool damage it blamed on sabotage: ex-insider
An ex-GOP lawmaker has heard enough about phantom left-wing saboteurs at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and he is pointing at the only suspects who fit the evidence: the people Trump hired to clean it.In a series of posts and a new video, former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger dismantl...
bit.ly
We all know the man's a moron but trying to deflect criticism of a costly mistake by blaming "vandals"? He clearly thinks everyone else is a moron,too. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Trump news at a glance: US president claims ‘vandalism’ for Washington DC reflecting pool problems
Paint seen peeling off in the water at pool site; investigation finds ICE agents disproportionately target people from Latin America – key US politics stories from Saturday 20 June at a glance
theguardian.com
I am most definitely no Meloni fan, however I'm loving this: mostly for the way in which Trump has been called out over his behaviour. I wish people like Starmer and Rutte would do likewise.
Dare we hope that the MSM will now stop platforming and presenting Reform as the inevitable next government? They bear a huge responsibility for their rise (and for Brexit). It would be good to get some balance back. How about giving more time to the LibDems who, after all, have 72 MPs to Reform's 8
Some good news to wake up to! Bye, bye Starmer.
The Valnerina is looking gorgeous at present but I really must endeavour to complete my bike ride before 10am. It's SO hot at present.
Hegseth showing his ignorance, and total lack of historical knowledge, as usual. The UK needs to rejoin the EU as a matter of urgency.
I love cool mornings like this, when I can enjoy my tea and granola on the terrace.
Clouds over the mountains above Grotti just now.
Bugger. The little box which feeds the modem (no idea what it's called) has fallen off the wall and broken the very thin fibre cable. No internet as a result (apart from 4G+).
We all knew that Blair was a Thatcherite. That he stuck to her philosophy after his huge '97 win is the main reason people are disillusioned with politics (and helped lead to Brexit). Aditya is correct that Labour is still stuck in the same, misguided, mindset. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Zombie Blairites still have British politics in their grip – it’s time to break free | Aditya Chakrabortty
Tony Blair’s departure as PM should have prompted a fresh start for Labour. But Starmer’s sad, backward-looking government remains in his thrall, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty
theguardian.com
How many of us feel in a cold rage today? Mine is directed at Farage & this comment on yesterday's Guardian piece by John Crace is spot on. The writer uses a pseudonym or I would credit them but, to whomever he or she is, I say bravo.
Once again Starmer's ridiculous red lines rear their head. Like so many things, he just doesn't get it. Why should the EU make a special case of the UK; especially after we behaved so badly? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
UK pitched single market for goods with EU in pursuit of deeper trade ties
Exclusive: Top British official presented idea in Brussels but sources say it was rebuffed
theguardian.com
After 12 years, the EU flag is back on Hungary’s Parliament building — the new Speaker’s very first decision. A happy Schuman Day indeed.
1/3 I think this is the first time I have read in print what I have believed for decades. I remember feeling hugely let down following Labour's landslide victory in 1997. Things could have been so different if Blair hadn't been a Thatcherite at heart. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reversing Thatcher’s failed legacy of privatisation can be a Labour vote-winner. If you see Keir, tell him | Julian Coman
The Tell Sid campaign promised to make the working man rich, but in reality the selling of public assets made us all poorer, says Guardian associate editor Julian Coman
theguardian.com