Simon

@JamesCleverly Back of a fag packet? Assuming it is Ange

Constitutionally it’s simple, it’s the King’s Speech about the agenda of His Government, not the specific person who is PM. But If a new PM wants to have a new agenda, and they bloody well should, how can they do that at this late stage?

Genuine question: If there is a new PM before Wednesday what is the status of the King’s Speech?

@Turbinetravel @GrumpyOldRick @lisakeb007 There are very few buses outside of Ipswich in Suffolk. Bizarrely one of the best connected places, with late running buses, is the affluent Woodbridge - which also has a regular train service!

@GrumpyOldRick @lisakeb007 And yet all you need for a postal vote is an address…..

At the polling station an elderly lady presented her polling card only to be told she couldn't vote because she didn't have photo-id. She did not have a passport or a driving license but had a utility bill with her address & a credit card with her signature. She was 89

@Waggetteone @EADT24 And it seems they are rolling back on all the lovely stuff they used to sell. Woodbridge is mainly just an upmarket off licence now!

Beloved Suffolk brewery closing shop in town this May ift.tt/4xKlHOA

@Peston My understanding is vetting is a process that enables vetted people to do their jobs to the level of clearance their risk profile and job allow. If their risk profile is so bad they will only be allowed to see documentation that is in the public domain. It isn't a y/n result.

Downing Street has published a letter by the previous cabinet secretary, Chris Wormald, on whether due process was followed - as claimed by the PM - in the appointment (and sacking) of Peter Mandelson. As of 16 September last year, Wormald wrote to the PM that “appropriate processes were followed”. Downing Street officials hope this will persuade Labour MP’s that their boss has not misled them by saying in the Commons that due process was followed, and that they will therefore vote against the motion sought by Kemi Badenoch for Starmer to in effect be put on trial - as Boris Johnson was - by the Commons Privileges Committee. But the letter is not 100% comfortable for the PM. It says that when Mandelson was granted deep vetting status “the FCDO also immediately took on the task of working with Lord Mandelson to understand and mitigate conflicts of interest in advance of his departure for Washington.” This implies that issues were raised in the vetting process. So why didn’t the PM seemingly ever ask about these? If he had, surely he would have learned that the Foreign Office gave vetting approval after mitigating UK Security Vetting’s concerns, what we now know was a red flag. And Starmer would therefore not have felt the need to sack Olly Robbins as permanent under secretary at the foreign office for never telling him UK SV’s verdict. And by the way, the letter also contains this statement of the obvious, but which is the only fact that really matters about the Mandelson appointment: “This was a direct Prime Ministerial appointment from outside both the Diplomatic and Home Civil Service.” In other words, the PM really has no one to blame but himself for the Mandelson appointment, though plenty of others have lost their jobs. PS Government sources say that Wormald’s reference to the Foreign Office putting in place mitigations for Mandelson’s “conflicts of interest” do not refer to what the vetting of Mandelson threw up and are not the mitigations Robbins mentioned in his evidence to MPs. They are more routine than that, they insist - the “normal” management of outside business interests on behalf of someone going into government - and would not have triggered the PM to smell something more troubling. Presumably the Foreign Affairs Select Committee will get some on-the-record evidence about all this.

@Richard45933412 @JamesCleverly Continuous service with civil service though?

@JamesCleverly Plus, he can't sue for unfair dismissal. He was only employed for 15 months at FCDO. 24 months needed to sue for unfair dismissal. Very limited grounds to sue in the absence of discrimination, etc. He had a 60 month contract so FCDO can get rid if they pay 60-15 months salary

At some point soon, perhaps already, Sir Olly Robbins will receive a termination letter. It will have to include a formal reason for his employment termination. It will be interesting to see what the formal reason is.

@DazzyBroad @implausibleblog They said the same thing in slightly different ways

@implausibleblog The comments in this show people didn’t watch or understand both. Zara Sultana was asked to leave straight away, Lee Anderson was asked to apologise first before being asked to leave. Why the difference?

Why did Lindsay Hoyle ask Lee Anderson to leave but suspend Zara Sultana and have her escorted out, When both said the same thing, that Keir Starmer is a liar?

@bushontheradio The 3 Degrees. Inly 2 blokes, one had a BA..the other as BA and MA

What's the best PUB QUIZ TEAM NAME you've ever heard?

@AnglianWater simon@8cw.co.uk thanks

@8CW Thank you! There is no planned date showing currently so I will get this escalated now and explain that the leak has got worse. If you would like an update on this from the team, then please PM me your details.

@AnglianWater leaking since early March - now really big leak! Your ref 29102762

@AnglianWater Not my address it is your ref 29102762 at Boys Brigade Hall, combs lane Stowmarket Suffolk IP14 2AP

@8CW Hello Simon, thank you for getting in touch. Please can you PM me your full address, including the post code and I will investigate further? Thanks, Jasmin

@wpoel But how many households have a kitchen or dining table?

As the attacks exploiting our formally high trust society increase... how long before "we" have to adopt wartime security measures to deal with the enemies within? We have been progressively limited -and the only viable national emergency alert and news "mass medium' - Radio 4 long wave - has been providing last resort emergency coverage for some 90 years, and is under threat of closure. Cell phone alerts cannot substitute, and require a vast amount of functional and joined up online infrastructure, plus an audience with with individual cell phone contracts. Disruption by a conventional attack would be bad enough, but by nuclear? Unthinkable... We would all be in the dark, shaking under the kitchen table, if it still existed. Radio 4 long wave is delivered from a single transmitter to a simple ~£15 portable radio that can be charged by solar batteries or a hand-cranked dynamo. Old school, but effective, and works under the kitchen table. keeplongwave.co.uk/2025/06/16/rad…

@GrumpyOldRick Danbury? You should come to @JohnPeelCCA

first show tonight of Wakeman and Son in Danbury ,,,,,,,great rehearsal at Korg yesterday ...what lovely people they are there ..... Just spent nearly an hour trying to log into Twitter, (it'll never be X for me ...bloody stupid idea) .

@wpoel @Rainmaker1973 PJW was right many years ago predicting all this!

@Rainmaker1973 Tell your kids to be plumbers and electricians, buy them DIY tools and materials instead of PCs and PlayStations.

Chinese AI studios are now producing full TV series using Seedance 2.0.

@BriggsonBeer @SharpsBrewery Good job you still have Spingo

So,Molson Coors reared-up its iron-fisted, unscrupulous business model this week. Alas, @SharpsBrewery in Rock, Cornwall, will cease brewing later this year. The global brewer stated 200 jobs will be lost nationally. Usual spiel stating it had become financially unsustainable! 🙈

@mikewporter Dead Badger on Rattlesden Road this morning, near walking stick place!

2 cages seen being left in farmers field by white van man overnight but were missing by daybreak. Why would someone need to trespass onto farmland to leave the cages yet collect them before morning. Recent Badger evidence found nearby.

@cutlerstom @ITV The ads in live play are dire!

I’m sorry @ITV, I’m not quite sure what I just saw there, but it looked like you were trying to play an advert side by side with a live sporting event. Please don’t ever do that again.

@wpoel @PolitlcsUK Deadman walking?

@PolitlcsUK Oh dear.

🚨 BREAKING: Keir Starmer has confirmed he was aware of Peter Mandelson's ongoing friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein before he was appointed US Ambassador

@wpoel HMS Belfast's main guns point towards Wembley, or thats what they told us on a school trip back in 1982!

A reminder that there's a war on. Testing artillery and other things that go bang on the Essex coast or to be a revenue earner. Who wouldn't want to buy a £10 lottery ticket to have a chance to pull the trigger? Is 10 Downing Street within range we wonder? Sadly not. Downing Street is 40 miles away from Shoeburyness as the shell flies. Artillery range beyond 25 miles is not really on. So a cruise missile will have to do. 😃

@The_Proclaimers Come and play @JohnPeelCentre - you know it makes sense! Ask Wavy Davey, tell him Bomber said it is a good idea!

@wpoel @ciao_andrew Will happen here, if it isn't already. Less people go to pubs and clubs, less people meet, less knee tremblers etc.....

The spread of smartphones..? Maybe not just the 24*7 distraction factor, but also the spread of cell towers? Goodness, there's much fodder here for conspiracists. The AI tools to connect together all the various data silos that could explore the connections are now readily available.