Charles Lees

@henrywinter Would still have a proper old skool 9, if you have to go long/direct and plan a has failed. Not sure the current candidates are up to snuff.

England do have talent. Just didn’t show it in the two friendlies. But they have good players. Tuchel will travel around, checking on players before naming his World Cup squad at the end of May. Here’s the 26 I’d take to the World Cup… Pickford, D Henderson, Trafford; James, Alexander-Arnold, Konsa, Stones, Maguire, Guehi, Livramento, O'Reilly, Hall; Rice, Anderson, Bellingham, Rogers, Wharton; Kane, Watkins, Rashford, Gordon, Saka, Madueke, Eze, Palmer and Bowen.  Caveats: James, Stones and Watkins have to prove form/fitness. Would have had Garner in midfield but O’Reilly can cover there (and Hall a good left-back). Overloaded with attackers for impact from bench, pens after 120/players off and need to get Watkins in.  More significantly, the man whose decisions matter, Tuchel will go with Jordan Henderson, possibly Burn, definitely no Alexander-Arnold or Maguire. Watkins at risk. #ENG

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves speaks at this year’s #MaesLecture

It is a huge honour to be appointed a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. It reflects a degree of recognition from academic peers for which I am incredibly grateful. A big thank you to whoever nominated me and also congratulations to all colleagues appointed today.

@hotspurreports Last week

Most boring football I've seen Spurs play since ____

@David_Cameron @Conservatives Sometimes one wishes Huskies were more vicious and unpredictable

20 Years!! Two decades on, I remain incredibly grateful to everyone who helped back in 2005 and to all those who supported me - and the @Conservatives - through the 2010 and 2015 elections, and during our time in office. With your help we changed our party to serve as a modern, compassionate Conservative Party that truly represented our country. Thank you!

There is a glaringly obvious message for Europe in the 28 point plan: This is the end of the end. We have been told repeatedly and unambiguously that Ukraine’s security, and therefore Europe’s security, will be Europe’s responsibility. And now it is. Entirely. If you are a European leader asking your team to book you on the next flight to Washington to go talk to Daddy, please don’t. Not without a plan, not cap in hand, not humiliating us all in front of the cameras at the Oval office. Europe is our continent, our future is decided here, not there. We aren’t poor, we have options, we can finally decide to assist Ukraine to the full extent of our very extensive capabilities, restore European dignity and defend Europe. Or we can continue to wait for the miracle we now know is not coming.

Extraordinary words by Sir John Major on #Brexit at LSE last night: 🧵 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 1. “In an act of collective folly, the United Kingdom voted to lead to European Union across the world, our enemies celebrated and our friends despair.” “We left Europe on a minority vote of 37% of the election after a referendum campaign that was packed with misinformation and misjudgment, it left our country poorer, weaker and divorced from the richest free trade market that history has ever seen. National interest was brushed aside by false hopes and promises”. “False hopes and promises that even a cabinet dominated by front line Brexit enthusiasts was unable to deliver the promises they made, […] while the forecast damage of leaving the European Union has become only too apparent. The nation saw Project Fear become Project Reality very easily. It's no consolation that the majority of the public now overwhelmingly recognizes that it was mislead in their moments of triumph.” “Brexiteers predicted other countries would follow their lead and leave the European Union. None have. All saw only too clearly that Brexit was packed with disadvantages, as we meet far from others leaving the European Union, as we meet nine further nations now wish to join the European Union, which is an apt comment on how the world saw Britain's decision.” “United Kingdom once reveled, not long ago, within the memory of everyone present in this room, once reveled in being a leading member of the European Union with half a billion citizens and the undoubted first ally of the United States, the world's most eminent superpower. Today, we know we are neither, and so does the world”.

@montie Harwood is so solipsistic. The real ‘pro family move’ - as he calls it -is to give supermarket staff a bit of a break on a Sunday.

Tom is deeply wrong about this. He has plenty of opportunities to shop, shop, shop and shop throughout the week. Many more shops operate extended or 24hrs of opening these days. And internet retailing never stops taking and fulfilling orders. In contrast the very modest residual limitations on Sunday opening provide many working families with their only guaranteed, regular and hardly extravagant opporunity for time off TOGETHER. If the Tories had devoted more time to strengthening families and recognised that untrammeled markets can be as destructive of community as the state, its voters might have been much more loyal in return.

I have recently published a piece in Frontiers of Political Science called 'Germany’s populist disruptors and the ‘politics of fluidity'', explaining German populism in comparative and historical perspective, looking at demand and supply side factors: frontiersin.org/journals/polit…

🏆City St George’s has climbed in the rankings again in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026. The University has been ranked 14th for graduate prospects and in the top 50 universities in the UK 👏 Read more ➡️ ow.ly/rc8g50X0Uws

Very few people seem to understand university finances and, distressingly, this includes many academics and most policymakers. This is an attempt to condense the key points you need to know. open.substack.com/pub/profseriou…

Prof Charles Lees, Executive Dean for the School of Policy and Global Affairs, reminds us that it's okay to not have plans after graduation. Wherever you go, "remember you have the drive, the ambition, the skill, and most importantly, the degree" to achieve anything! ❤️

@SVG__Collection Little Wing; Small Axe

What’s a great song with “little” or “small” in the title?

@TheExtremeMusi1 Laibach: Across the Universe

What is the best ever cover of a Beatles song???

@anandMenon1 Pathetic, isn’t it? (The Conservative tweet, obviously)

Christ. And we wonder why people are turning off politics

London's charm never gets old 🇬🇧✨

🤖 One of the main issues with AI is that large language models continue to get things wrong. Researchers at City St George's think they might have found the solution to these "hallucinations" ⬇️ ow.ly/lYTY50W6gEj

On the 80th anniversary of VE day, we should be thinking about WWII on a global scale, says public historian Dr Diya Gupta (@CityStGeorges). Her book "India in the Second World War: An Emotional History" shines a light on the untold stories of Indian soldiers. #VE80 #VEDay

@SpecCoffeeHouse When you need a laughing emoji

The gains of Brexit may have proved elusive so far, but they are starting to accumulate. ✍️ The Spectator spectator.co.uk/article/the-eu…