Neil Goodrich

We haven't installed puppet monarchs in countries against the will of the local population since the 20th century. Long may that remain.

How the fuck this idiot got anywhere near influencing our Government is beyond me.

Looks Orban is looking to salt the earth vis a vis Ukraine and the EU. Deeply worrying escalation.

This feels like another major strategic error from Russia. Up for debate on whether Trump believes these reports. But it's a very dumb move, regardless.

Gafcon pulls back from electing rival to Archbishop of Canterbury as head of Anglican Church The group had said it would choose a new leader with the same title as Sarah Mullally, the first female head of the Church.

Shame, was looking forward to an Anglican version of the medieval period's Pope v Anti-Pope beef.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A small piece of good news.

They're selective schools - ie you're required to pass an entrance exam to get in. Best for others, especially Sam Freedman, to explain but typically (AFAIK) they've been found to work well for those who attend, but have a negative impact on surrounding schools.

I mean, I have no kids, I'm the son of a working class dad who went to a grammar (& it gave him opportunities his family never had) and a middle class mum who went to a private school - I still think it's a regressive move. Regardless, if we properly funded & improved state schools this'd be moot.

Yes, this is a valid point. And I say this as the son of a working class man whose entire life chances were immeasurably improved by getting into their local grammar. The system creates more losers than winners - the other parts of the approach were under resourced and badly delivered.

It is interesting to see those who so emphatically declared the need for Brexit for reasons of sovereignty are happy to defer foreign policy decisions to an unstable regime.

Thoughts and prayers with Darren Grimes and the rest of Reform in the north. Thought this was their heartland?

Expressly calls out challenges London orgs. face due to the nature of their stock (high rise, flats with fire safety liabilities). All in all regulatory pressure to get social landlords to invest more is working. The question is, why should it require such interventions?

Value for money metrics and reporting 2025 Annex to the Global Accounts 2024

Link to report:

www.gov.uk/government/p...

The Regulator of Social Housing has released its latest VFM analysis. Familiar themes - finances under pressure, orgs. are investing more in existing stock and needing to balance this against new builds. Also gives a word of warning, as it believes some orgs. aren't being honest in their reporting.

😂😂😂 that's my hairline in 10yrs lad.

Former Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg stripped of MBE He was given the honour in 2024 before he admitted a charge of domestic abuse against his now estranged wife.

Good.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

This is the culture Reform wants to rob you of. It'll be Bread Pudding and overcooked beef brisket only if they get their way.

No, it is the children who are wrong This week: Keir Starmer has decided that he blames the voters. Also: some golden age anti-car propaganda; and some new maps of British living standards.

"Where’s the soul searching about why voters might have defected to a challenger from the left? Why, in God’s name, did anyone think it was a good idea to imply a large chunk of Labour’s coalition is, in fact, stupid?"

Newsletter out. Bit angry.

It would be lovely if our main political parties could realise that we can talk about the trade offs for immigration - the massive success story it has been for this country, and our weaknesses - without being monumental cunts.

Some significant policy changes in that period. Including buy to let mortgages in 1996.

I cannot stress enough how badly we have enabled this situation to become. It was a success story (in the end) for New Labour. But since 2010 it's gone downhill significantly. To the detriment of us all.

Good. There is no place for this in modern sport.

Article - Nuffield Politics Research Centre

@martamiori.bsky.social and I have been writing, since 2024, about why Labour's 'Reform' challenge and emphasis was based on a misunderstanding of Labour's vote. Here for anyone interested: politicscentre.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

The reality behind the Home Office's latest announcement on asylum work and study visas The Home Office has made another announcement ahead of tomorrow’s statement of changes.

I have written up some context and analysis of the latest Home Office nonsense

open.substack.com/pub/thoughts...

Single cell amoeba learn faster than Labour.

This one neat trick to eviscerating the electoral chances of the most successful political party in modern history...

Dunno what's more embarrassing, the 2010s click bait, or the low views.

Oh, just a national politician spouting far right conspiracy tropes.

Agree with their concerns. This wasn't part of the original proposal and represents something of a watering down of the approach.