John Watts

My heart is heavy. Walter Koenig, our Ensign Pavel Chekov, passed away early today. Walter and I met on the bridge of the Enterprise in the 1960s, and we stayed friends for nearly six decades. When Brad and I married in 2008, Walter stood beside us as our best man.

Really sad about this - Chekov was always my favourite character.

English Heritage are looking for a sports historian for their Blue Plaque panel. I have the same role on the Historic England National Blue Plaque Panel, and I encourage anyone with a bit of spare time and a passion for heritage to take a look at the post. Details here: gem.org.uk/jobs/english...

Opportunity for a Senior Finance Assistant at The Bulmershe School, Woodley. 37 hours pw (Term time + 10 additional days). £26,176 - £28,395. To start ASAP: www.schoolvacancies.co.uk/vacancy/seni...

Starting to look for Christmas gift ideas? I’m an independent designer in Manchester, creating bold, colourful art prints, cards and gifts. Join my mailing list for 10% off your first order. Bookmark my shop, thank yourself later. gailmyerscough.co.uk

Still can't get over how cool this is. The Donaldson Futuro House in Idyllwild, California, USA, is probably the best Futuro out there, as well as a listed property, and up for sale. That interior is so clever and stylish, as well as practical. bit.ly/4sjyOy0

All the best to Mark in his recovery 🙏 Read his statement here 👇 snookerhq.com/2026/10/21/m...

no offence but why is the British public being asked about my medical diagnosis, would it also like to check out my ankles and my elbows to decide whether I really have hypermobile joints, should I cough on them next time I have a cold so they can confirm that I'm ill

“For decades, the right has set the boundaries for what Britain’s safety net can be. The conventional wisdom is change can only go one way: the benefits system can become more punitive and error-strewn, but never more compassionate or accurate.” Today’s col. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

First time attending Surbiton Ski Sunday, where people strap blocks of ice to their feet and compete to ski down a soaped street. I love this country.

It would seem the Home Office has now acquired the ability to impose, without visibility or accountability, shadow bans on students coming to British universities from particular countries. How? Because of the interaction between indiv visa decisions (made by HO alone) and visa rules for unis 1/?

This a million times. People of colour being dragged on to debate maniacs about imaginary labels & race science is an abomination. proper ‘how German are you’ Nazi shit Note that people like me with white migrant parentage never asked to defend our identity Englishness. Is. A. Made. Up. Thing

Dear tv and radio producers. Thankyou for the invitation. But, no, I do not want to appear on your show to defend the idea that I am English, after 50 years of living and working here, because the increasingly feral right want to turn this into a "debate" and you cannot see how you're being played

iconic

My favorite Eva Marie Saint films are On The Waterfront, North By Northwest, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, and, maybe less well known, Loving. One of the greats. Rest In Peace. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/m...

I wrote up the recipe for MPS (My Perfect Sandwich) earlier this year, if you wish to see my qualifications: youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/i-dont-kno...

One of the first features I ever wrote was for the Mizzou football game program. It was a big deal as a student worker in sports info to get to write it. Who is being robbed of this opportunity by this nonsense?

Sad news from a true legend of snooker and pool. www.skysports.com/more-sports/... #snooker

'The Right Way' was also the hackneyed slogan adopted by the weak Conservative leader on the first British 'House of Cards'. Chief Whip Francis Urquhart took the pi$$ out of it.

Normally by this point I would be saying "Come on guys, these jokes aren't original, nor at this point are they particularly funny" - but no, I think I'll happily lap up jokes at Liz Truss' expense for a good while yet.

Another chance to remember that Theresa May’s social care plan in 2017 was actually quite fair and sensible - a safety net that required an element of contribution from those who could afford it on a timescale that didn’t wreak misery - and she lost her majority over it

AI is a complementary technology. It's going to take a few years for employers to fully grasp this as they try to replace workers with LLMs, but they'll get there eventually

But I don't know anything about tapes or digitisation or anything like that. I don't even know how I would play this. I don't even know if it's still in good enough condition to play. So my question is... How? How do I take these two tapes, this two part performance, and make the choir live again?

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: Play School, and more directly Johnny Ball, introduces a new presenter to play a leaf game with.

Young man-- there's no need to feel down I said young man-- Pagliacci's in town You can go there-- see the world's greatest clown Now why do- you- wince- so sadly?

Edinburgh O'Clock - 3 minutes to every hour. - we run fast so you don't miss your train. A new hourly image to brighten your day taken in #Scotland very often #Edinburgh and shared with love by Tom Duffin @tomduffinphotos.bsky.social. Please repost with your own caption.

Death in Paradise cruelly overlooked once again.

A joy forever. Even when you know what’s coming. Maybe *because* you know what’s coming.

Please excuse me while I scream into a cushion at the thought of ALL the articles I had to write on the "UK productivity puzzle" in the 2010s www.ft.com/content/c819...

A tremendous thread - hope Sarah gets home safe.

Fancy a pint … at Lidl? The bizarre battle over Northern Ireland’s stifled nightlife

I'm not much of a Pokémon person, but my son is & trying to buy him cards at retail prices has been nigh on impossible the last couple of years, and I refuse to pay scalpers for anything. So it warms the cockles of my heart to see so many of them having a full meltdown about the recent set. Enjoy!!

Feeling really happy with my column on how Ed Davey is not the Liberal Democrats' problem. Now to take a big sip of coffee and read the news:

This is the worst kind of cowardice, being willing to throw trans people under the bus to appease the hard right. I don't know how anyone can call themselves a liberal if they're willing to trade away the rights of a vulnerable minority on this basis.

This is my favorite picture on the internet (Former French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe defeats children in a game of dominoes during a visit to a school, September 2019)

“There’s an unwritten rule that says disabled people should just be grateful for what we’re given by the state, lest be scroungers or burdens. I say unwritten. It’s written in newspapers most weeks.” My col. on the care users fighting for the right to go abroad. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Lib Dem conference starts today. I’ve written a preview of the issues at stake for what you could argue is - bear with me here - currently the UK’s most interesting political party. Let me explain… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

We are very sad to hear that the wonderful Stephanie Cole OBE has left us. From Z-Cars to That Summer!, we have been delighted to share some of her work, just part of a remarkable career spanning over 50 years of British television.

The idea that the function of being in Eurovision is to win it, as if it were the World Cup, is a gigantic category mistake.

It is incredibly important that political violence does not succeed. The far-right mob that shut down Portsmouth wanted this outcome. If the state wishes to avoid more of these actions, it needs to make sure this RNLI branch reopens *immediately*, or as close to that as humanly possible.

Not for the first time I find myself wondering why anyone would admit to something like this in a national newspaper?