All a bit ((( ))) out there.

Been checking in on the Fairford story on and off and my most consistent thought is "Christ, is that farmer STILL going?"

The five men are going to be *released*? Gets weirder. They were actually just planning a protest? Sabotage? (Though bail seems a little bit unlikely even then)

I'm guessing the idea is to pre-frame the Tories' election campaign as partisan wrecking.

James Ball@jamesrball.com · 2w ago

This whole thing is extremely confused: if you're putting it on the manifesto for 2029, there is zero chance of building a cross-party consensus around it. Because it's an election. So…which is it?

I can't imagine Nadine isn't the only British Jew quietly furious at this statement (or that of the Board of Deputies or the JLC). A friend was once amazed when I told him how few British Jews support Netanyahu, and no wonder he got the wrong impression when their leaders talk like this.

Nadine Batchelor-Hunt@nadinebh.bsky.social · last mo.

This is an overtly political statement unbecoming for a chief rabbi that conflates Jews and Israel and does not represent the views of me or people like me I could say more, but it’s almost Rosh Hashanah and I don’t want to start the new year badly - and, frankly, its awfulness speaks for itself

I thought Labour under AB were going to stop being utterly shit on this kind of thing...

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · last mo.

Labour seems quite slow on this (6pm last night). They do not know who their candidate is going to be - but should be confident they can get this open racism retracted

What I love about that six word Hemingway story, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn" is that in those few words we instantly grasp the sadness of what it is trying to tell us: the baby was so freakishly massive when it was born that it could never wear the shoes its parents had bought for it.

Lanyard class eh, I think a nearby horse might be missing its shoe

Elizabeth Taylor@elizabethtaylor47.bsky.social · last mo.

I’m being so serious, shut the fuck up

Does it matter whether or not a Prime Minister is likeable? It's a question that splits Britain down the middle between people who tell the truth and people who tell lies.

Luke Tryl@luketryl.bsky.social · last mo.

Does it matter whether or not a Prime Minister is likeable? It's a question that splits Britain down the middle, 45% think it's part of being a good PM, 45% think it doesn't matter. With younger people more likely to think that likability matters, older people less so.

The only good thing about this policy is that it will neatly split Reform in two between the overly online Young Yimbys and the the offline pint-quaffing trads.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2mo ago

Angela Rayner moves to protect pubs from being turned into houses or offices

Slightly fear that some people might be reading this as if it was posted today. Check the date - it's bad and lays bare how little she cared about the human involved, but not that bad!

Martin Headon@martinheadon.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Well. Glad you had your fun, I guess.

Please just want to remind everyone about the reporting (or even public discussion) guidelines around suicide - suicide is not ever caused by any one reason and speculating on (or even announcing) why someone completed suicide is really unhelpful, incl. to people with suicidal ideation

Well. Glad you had your fun, I guess.

Burnham's first misstep. 🫨

Oh good. Now Kemi can quietly draw a line under the story and get on with the job of - [finger in ear] sorry she's done what?

Kevin Schofield@kevinschofied.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Blow For Badenoch As Former Neo-Nazi Quits As Tory Candidate After Backlash www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/former...

Why is it that these people always seem to want to stay in the public eye anyway? Surely if you're genuinely an ex Neo-Nazi you at the most educate people quietly about extremism, and generally strive to live a blameless life for your remaining years.

Andy Burnham Earnestness Enjoyer@jorisbinned.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Hello I'm an idiot

Wow, cocaine really does age you.

I remember when this guy was the hero of student protests or Occupy or something. Now he grifts for a living, posing as a political journalist when actually every single he does consists of pointing at people and saying "they know Jews".

Officially writing for ads is my job, but sadly my pithy headlines for the London Stock Exchange Group haven't quite yet permeated the national vernacular. Though my copywriting teacher once overheard his MoreThan line ("That's lucky" "That's more than lucky") said in the pub.

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 3mo ago

So many common phrases were invented for ads... "When it rains, it pours" (for salt) "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride" (for Listerine) "Lovely jubbly" (for an orange drink called Jubbly)

This IS the news. There is no other news.

The PM so checked out that even Andrew Sparrow can't be arsed.

The issue isn't just the accident. It's the potential breakdown of trust. If it keeps happening and word spreads, anyone in the motorcyclist's position seeing a Waymo indicating right will slow down. If you can't see the driver's eyes, how do you know they've seen you?

Gautam Kambhampati@gautampk.com · 3mo ago

Another Waymo hits a biker. On the Old Kent Road. Waymo turning right. Bike going straight with right of way…

BBC budget cuts are a genuine worry, but THIS is a good thing! The BBC should be more active on social media! We're living through a misinformation crisis and we need trusted voices on there more, not less.

Feel somehow proud to have literally and specifically contributed to a newsworthy statistic. (The search thing, I don't have an overheated baby)

Wow, sounds like they've found a causal link between screen time and developm- oh.

Love this Le Carre esque detail about Josh Simons and his slow defection. Imagining him being "debriefed" by mistrustful soft-lefters shining powerful lights in his face.

Jessica Elgot@jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The project that began in the south London club ran through Manchester, Makerfield and now in a borrowed office of a Labour whip in Portcullis House. The secret history, by me and the great @joshhalliday.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I was working in advertising when all this happened and let me tell you, the only saving grace was that there was no AI and people had to write their bullshit grifting LinkedIn posts themselves.

James Ball@jamesrball.com · 3mo ago

I visited Meta's metaverse on the day it was supposed to shut down. I ended up in a virtual reality off-brand McDonald's car park – "a horribly designed, ultra-capitalistic space—a car park with no cars, for a restaurant that can sell no food, an earthly purgatory we have built for ourselves".

OK so I actual-lolled when it showed the kids' goalmouth for the first time.

Razzball@razzball.bsky.social · 4mo ago

my kind of Jubilee, the Japanese national team vs. 100 kids

I'm not sure it's best practice for headlines to completely turn on their head in the very last two words.

Jess Phillips' face when Peter Kyle says he's seen too many people appear on Laura Kuenssberg who are "detached from reality"...