Andy Neather

By all accounts this is what most of the recent Reform media events have looked like. Bubble well and truly burst

Quite a turnaround

What is the BBC's justification for maintaining this level of coverage of Reform now it has slipped into third place?

Flávio, these are all really good ideas

"The system that begins with a phone number being put into a computer system ends with an entire family crushed under the rubble." Eyal Weizman on NAZA in @lrb.co.uk:

Most talk of constituencies being 'pro-Brexit' or 'Brexit-supporting' is incredibly lazy for basic reasons that large parts of Westminster just don't seem to be able to fathom.

Dragging this into the light...in light of Brazil.

In one day, two politicians - Bolsonaro in Brazil and Vucic in Serbia - with ties to Trump have lost surprise elections thanks to high turnout. The rise of the international far-right is not inevitable.

What a great night for democracy! Death-squad nepo-baby Bolsonaro defeated in #Brazil; corrupt, fascist Putin fanboy Vučić toppled in #Serbia. And in neither case was the support of US would-be dictator #Trump any help www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...

Fascinating Jeremy, now tell us about the time you cut national insurance twice as an electoral game despite knowing we couldn't afford it.

Go fuck yourselves

Interesting and worrying in @lrb.co.uk on the potential for #Trump to rig the midterm elections: Short Cuts www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Extraordinary @lrb.co.uk piece on prediction markets - just one place where the unbridled corruption of the #Trump administration is making fortunes for his cronies (and losing a lot of little people money)

A carefully planned Russian propaganda operation is underway. Having starved people in Oleshky for months, Russia, with the 'intervention' of Melania, will allow people to leave and pretend Ukraine was at fault. Read @zarinazabrisky.bsky.social www.kyivpost.com/analysis/88041

BBC report sanitises the overt racism: It notes that organisers warned marchers not to talk to journalists, then gives the "anti-immigration group"'s own sanitised description of itself. It does not report they chanted "England for the white man" in the streets. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This new electoral vídeo from Pedro Sánchez is quite something. Standing in front of Guernica defending the anti-war stance of his government, limiting military expenditure, denouncing the atrocity of Gaza. English subtitles.

Hey everyone, gather around! Elon Musk, the trillionaire defense contractor currently spending >$400m on political campaigns to prop up the party of a deeply unpopular president who launched the Iran War has some thoughts about Ukraine, elites, and money in politics.

When I was a child thousands of people died needlessly every year because seat belts were not compulsory.

Currently wondering what message the UK govt thought it was sending by dressing up the Minister for Net Zero in a literal Shell logo.

Once mass spam texts were made legal, younger donors vanished, leaving a grassroots fundraising machine that subsists on squeezing vulnerable seniors, some of whom give hundreds of times a day. It’s a horrific model. Consultants get generationally wealthy, and the party hollows out its future.

Here we go again. Is THIS the Big One?- as.ft.com/r/6aac1712-2...

The immigration doom loop, summed up here by @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

In a crowded field Jenrick manages to retain the title of biggest twerp in UK politics.

Slamming into reverse so fast you can hear the gears crunch

If you build a contraption that hurts your neighbour, you are liable. But if you build an AI software that allows attackers to down a good part of western government services along with university services etc., you become a billionaire and are not liable for anything? Surely that cannot be right.

Danny Tommo's 'patriot platform' vigilantes were refused service in The George Inn, Portsmouth. They demanded to know why, despite the fact they do not have to be given a reason. Always make bigots feel unwelcome. Show the pub some love for doing the right thing. Things you love to see ✊❤️

The new Get Yourself a Glass is out: Bordeaux fights back! In our podcast Victoria Moore and I look at Bordeaux’s crisis and how it is re-inventing itself, with growth in new white and sparkling wines. Rediscover the world’s greatest wine region with us - Apple bit.ly/3W0YvHx, Spotify bit.ly/4z2iC6Y

My Substack is out: Saving London’s oldest restaurant: Rules, founded in 1798, has just been given to the National Trust. But is it the kind of history worth preserving for the nation? Plus: what #wine I’ve been drinking this week aviewfrommytable.substack.com/p/saving-lon...

My Substack is out: Saving London’s oldest restaurant: Rules, founded in 1798, has just been given to the National Trust. But is it the kind of history worth preserving for the nation? Plus: what #wine I’ve been drinking this week aviewfrommytable.substack.com/p/saving-lon...

My excuse is that I’m straight. If I wanted to look like a gay stripper, I’d admittedly have more to worry about

Jackdaw doesn't matter in practical terms: it's a rounding error in emissions. But: it will do absolutely nothing to improve the UK's "energy security", nor to make UK energy prices any cheaper. So it's a step in the wrong direction on climate, for no actual benefit. That's not great.

The wrong man in the wrong place: my SKETCH of Farage in Plymouth. Or, as he calls it, Portsmouth. thecritic.co.uk/fara...

Ring French analysts up. Many speak English. They are findable with some cursory Googling.

This would be pretty bad as.ft.com/r/92d7d9ec-7... World headed for warming of 2.8C as fossil fuel emissions keep rising, UN warns

The new Get Yourself a Glass is out: Bordeaux fights back! In our podcast Victoria Moore and I look at Bordeaux’s crisis and how it is re-inventing itself, with growth in new white and sparkling wines. Rediscover the world’s greatest wine region with us - Apple bit.ly/3W0YvHx, Spotify bit.ly/4z2iC6Y

does the media ever—ever—ask republicans to disavow this open white supremacist?

Incredible report from @aaup.org & @amnesty-usa.bsky.social on the vast bipartisan repression of campus speech on Palestine by administrators and the police: www.aclu.org/publications...

The voice of fascism

Cambridge Ethics expert James Orr also spoke about having spent time on Delo’s yacht in the Peloponnese this summer, talking of mixing work and a holiday in Greece, saying: “We went from Athens down to Ben’s boat in Porto Cheli.” www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Quite how gullible would you have to be to buy this?

In troubled times Trump’s attempt to sue the BBC ... which is backfiring on him quite spectacularly... brings both hope and amusement newrepublic.com/post/216805/...

Uncle recently died. As a kid I thought he was quite a cool hippy type person. Just before his death he was saying that people in boat crossing the channel should be shot, plus other racist shite. The small inheritance I received gone straight to RNLI

Looking at the news over the past week or so, it is hard to escape a profound sense of silos violently colliding in ways that leave us all, but Europeans in particular, at the mercy of events largely beyond our control. Here's my attempt to join the dots - and identify what may break the doom loop

Jail time for people who stand on the left on tube escalators. Public stoning for people who walk at you looking at their phone. Stay tuned for more mad, unenforceable policy ideas aimed at minor daily irritations.

New from me, for Greek speakers: my appearance on my Cretan sommelier friend Iro Koliakoudakis’s #wine podcast, Το κρασί με απλά λόγια (“Wine, simply put”). I didn’t actually manage the i/v in Greek so did it in English with voiceover - subtitled YouTube version in works www.lifo.gr/podcasts/to-...

Oh well, no harm done, eh?