David Milner

Just saw a tweet with a George Clinton talking about how the Beatles were his favorite band, which reminded me of this quote he once gave me

@Craigyrobbo81 🤣

@DmiMilner In a ring, it would’ve been an unbelievable move 🤷🏻‍♂️

And Sakamoto? Or is clotheslining people allowed now?

@Steven_Swinford This has been blindingly obvious for years, the trouble is politicians chase the grey vote.

Here’s the full interview with Alan Milburn He says that successive governments, he says, have made the “wrong choice” by prioritising investment in pensioners over young people with policies such as the triple lock, under which the state pension rises by inflation, wages or 2.5 per cent, whichever is higher. The policy will cost £15.5 billion by 2030 “We’ve decided which generation to back,” he says. “So we backed the older generation with a triple lock, but there’s no such guarantee for young people. “When you look at what is happening in our demography, the truth is we’re going to have many more retirees than we are workers. So that’s why we’ve got to invest in the young. If we’re not investing in young people, we’re not investing in our country’s future. “Unless we can create ladders of opportunity for young people, we’ll have a social crisis, an economic catastrophe and a fiscal time bomb. “If the country is ageing, which it is, then what we need to do is ensure that there are enough young workers to support the elderly. I’ve got a vested interest in this. I’m marching in that direction, right?” thetimes.com/article/fcb80b…

Exclusive: Britain is “writing off” a generation of young people with “normal” mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression to a life on benefits, the government’s work tsar has warned Alan Milburn, a former Labour cabinet minister, said that the UK faced a “lost generation” of nearly one million people aged 16-24 who were not in employment, education or training Milburn was commissioned to conduct a review into the one in eight young people, known as Neets, who fall under this definition, and will report in the summer He said that successive governments had made the “wrong choice” by investing in older generations with policies such as the triple lock for state pensions rather than younger people, leaving Britain facing a “moral, social and economic crisis” He told The Times: “I think a lot of the debate around this has been framed in the wrong way as a fiscal problem. It is a fiscal problem, but it’s a moral problem, it’s a social problem, it’s an economic problem. I think you’ve got a moral crisis.” He added: “Anxiety is normal. Depression is normal. I got asked a brilliant question the other day … which was what proportion of the adult population at any one time could be classified as having a mental health condition? “I got the answer completely wrong. Because it’s 83 per cent. There’s a difference between a diagnosis and a disorder. And OK, so people might have anxiety or depression, but it doesn’t mean that therefore you should be written off for not being able to work.” A generation of young people is being put on a “downward escalator”, he said. “It starts in schools. One in five pupils are now getting a Send [special educational needs] diagnosis. The vast majority of those then trip into the benefits system because they get child disability allowance. “The vast majority of people on child disability allowance qualify for adult Pip [a disability benefit]. And then you’re into a world of benefits. Honestly, is that the aspiration we should have as a society, for a whole generation of young people? A life on benefits?” thetimes.com/article/1d3129…

@wrestlemepod I’d like to buy one but don’t have a CD drive; is there any way it can be bought in another format or is it too difficult to stop someone copying them? Can I buy them in another format if I promise not to copy them?

Only 17 of these bad boys left, and then NO MORE until we do another one collecting 51-100 (which won't be for ages!) Also the last few shirts and badge sets still on sale, but they're down to single numbers and then that's your lot! wrestleme.bigcartel.com

One of the many reasons why Kevin Keegan is special is that he makes other people feel special, and that's a great gift. Keegan is a footballing great who wears his greatness lightly. He’s King Kev and a man of the people. He's never forgotten his Doncaster roots, indeed is very proud of them, and the work ethic inherited from his father and grandfather, both miners. A work ethic that propelled Keegan to the top. The great smell of Brut - and sweat. That was Keegan the player. He maximised every last ounce of his talent. That's one of the many reasons he's always been so respected. Another of the many reasons why there is such an outpouring of love for Keegan, and so many messages of support as he undergoes treatment for cancer, is that as a footballer he reached for the stars with his feet firmly on the ground. Keegan is one of the greatest footballers in English and European history, a European champion with Liverpool, a two-time Ballon d’Or winner at Hamburg, a much-loved Newcastle United player and manager, and whole-hearted in his work with England as player and manager. Diego Maradona asked for his shirt after an Argentina-England game in 1980. Keegan played against Pele, George Best and Johan Cruyff. And yet he’s as down to earth as they come. In fact, he often sends himself up. He cares for people. I went to interview him once at Maiden Castle, Durham, where Newcastle were training at the time and Keegan was the manager of the Entertainers. He sent a message to say he’d come to the pavilion for a chat when training was finished. Great. I might get an early train home. A member of Newcastle’s staff mentioned that Kevin might take a while because this was a day when fans were allowed in to watch. He stepped off the pitch, and spent around an hour signing autographs, chatting away, never rushing people, just making them feel special. He dropped to his haunches so he could talk to one kid in a wheelchair, making eye contact, and having a proper chat. It meant the world to this kid that Keegan cared. He reached the pavilion, changed, and gave me 20 minutes of his time. He’s incredibly generous with his time. And there have always been so many demands on it. He tells the story that his determination to sign every autograph and meet every picture request dates back to a moment when, as a kid, he was snubbed by a Doncaster Rovers player. Keegan had waited after a Rovers game, politely approached his favourite player, and got knocked back. He’s never forgotten the hurt he felt. So he makes sure he fulfils every autograph request – no matter how long the queue. I hosted a talk with Keegan at the Cheltenham Literary Festival in 2018. He was promoting his autobiography so was obviously going to be accommodating. But, typically, he went above and beyond. Smartly suited, Keegan arrived so early that only the security guy was there. Keegan patiently chatted away with the security guy, asking him about his job, where he lived, just being friendly because that is Kevin Keegan for you. Interested in people. Good to them. Later, when the talk to the audience finished, Keegan headed into the Waterstones’ tent to sign books. The queue was huge. The Festival was closing for the night but Keegan stayed two hours to make sure everyone had their copy signed or their shirt. One lady had her Liverpool jacket signed (below). Keegan not only signed but had a joke and a laugh and a picture with them all. On Boxing Day, Keegan was at Scunthorpe United, his first club, promoting non-League football. He joined in the carols and got behind the bar, pulling pints, helping out, spreading laughter. Because that’s what Kevin Keegan does – spreads joy. And that’s one of the many, many reasons people are rooting for Kevin Keegan at this challenging time.

@Craigyrobbo81 2:45pm in the canteen if we lose the Christmas quiz….

😂😂😂

Claiming to be a "man of the people" here is risible. Might as well have Infantino's hand up his arse controlling him. Shill

Last quarter I rolled out Microsoft Copilot to 4,000 employees. $30 per seat per month. $1.4 million annually. I called it "digital transformation." The board loved that phrase. They approved it in eleven minutes. No one asked what it would actually do. Including me. I told everyone it would "10x productivity." That's not a real number. But it sounds like one. HR asked how we'd measure the 10x. I said we'd "leverage analytics dashboards." They stopped asking. Three months later I checked the usage reports. 47 people had opened it. 12 had used it more than once. One of them was me. I used it to summarize an email I could have read in 30 seconds. It took 45 seconds. Plus the time it took to fix the hallucinations. But I called it a "pilot success." Success means the pilot didn't visibly fail. The CFO asked about ROI. I showed him a graph. The graph went up and to the right. It measured "AI enablement." I made that metric up. He nodded approvingly. We're "AI-enabled" now. I don't know what that means. But it's in our investor deck. A senior developer asked why we didn't use Claude or ChatGPT. I said we needed "enterprise-grade security." He asked what that meant. I said "compliance." He asked which compliance. I said "all of them." He looked skeptical. I scheduled him for a "career development conversation." He stopped asking questions. Microsoft sent a case study team. They wanted to feature us as a success story. I told them we "saved 40,000 hours." I calculated that number by multiplying employees by a number I made up. They didn't verify it. They never do. Now we're on Microsoft's website. "Global enterprise achieves 40,000 hours of productivity gains with Copilot." The CEO shared it on LinkedIn. He got 3,000 likes. He's never used Copilot. None of the executives have. We have an exemption. "Strategic focus requires minimal digital distraction." I wrote that policy. The licenses renew next month. I'm requesting an expansion. 5,000 more seats. We haven't used the first 4,000. But this time we'll "drive adoption." Adoption means mandatory training. Training means a 45-minute webinar no one watches. But completion will be tracked. Completion is a metric. Metrics go in dashboards. Dashboards go in board presentations. Board presentations get me promoted. I'll be SVP by Q3. I still don't know what Copilot does. But I know what it's for. It's for showing we're "investing in AI." Investment means spending. Spending means commitment. Commitment means we're serious about the future. The future is whatever I say it is. As long as the graph goes up and to the right.

The Adoration of the Maga. A few thoughts. It all felt a step too far by Gianni Infantino. The award of the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize felt more to do with its president’s desire to please powerful politicians as much as Donald Trump’s love of such glitzy, expensive offerings of loyalty last seen in medieval courts. It felt more about politics than sport, a risky game for Fifa to play whenever it wants to bring a national association into line for perceived interference by government in the future. The Trump trophy weakens Fifa statutes. It also distracted from the real trophy, the World Cup, and the group-stage draw, traditionally a celebration about bringing countries together. Infantino took his eye off the balls. A football draw designed to work out who plays who and (eventually) where and when is not the time or place for such politics. Infantino wasn’t speaking for the world in bestowing the Peace Prize, as he claimed. So presumptuous. So out of touch. Many probably agree that Trump has been a force for good in geopolitics, some might disagree. Most would probably feel such decisions should be left to experienced experts like the Nobel Committee and, please, can we get on with a football draw. It’s spectacularly naïve or simply arrogant for Fifa to enter such non-football areas. It feels more and more that this was as much an Infantino initiative as Fifa’s. Infantino was supposed to drain the swamp when he arrived at Fifa in 2016 in the wake of assorted corruption scandals bedevilling the governing body of world football. How fitting that the nadir of Infantino’s propensity for self-aggrandisement as leader of what’s supposed to be a team game came in Washington. It was there that Trump promised to transform politics with his “drain the swamp” rhetoric, also in 2016. The selfie moment was particularly cringe-worthy. Infantino forgets that football is the star of the show, not a 55-year lawyer. A senior football executive, who’s been at the heart of the English and European game for more than 20 years, messaged me during the drawn-out draw with his verdict on Infantino. “I feel revulsion, anger, shame, disgust – how has our sport been taken over by a Swiss ***** and turned into a total travesty???” He also pointed out that ensuring the leaders of USA, Mexico and Canada each somehow pulled out their own country’s name was not a good look for a draw based on chance. Great for the cameras, though. Flash, bang, wallop, what a picture of Infantino's priorities. And who gets the next FIFA Peace Prize? And wouldn't Infantino have gained more respect had he used the money for the Trump trophy to subsidise excessive ticket costs? He's lost sight of what should be the real priorities for the leader of football. The game. It's sad, really. Many sensible people work at Fifa, passionate about the game not their own ego, but it's alarming what happens to the leadership when they take power there. Even the great football manager Arsene Wenger has changed since becoming Chief of Global Football Development at Fifa. He now campaigns for more games, backing the expanded World Cup, which he would have railed against as a widely-admired, free-thinking club manager, fiercely protective of his players' well-being. "I believe that 48 teams is the right number." Arsene, just listen to yourself. Many fans probably won’t lose much sleep that Wenger dances to Fifa's tune or that Infantino cosies up to Trump, Aramco and co. Some probably think Fifa’s a video game. Most just can’t wait for the football. The game’s about Mbappe and Messi, Haaland and Salah, Kane and Dembele, not Infantino and Trump. The game’s about the Tartan Army, the brilliant Mexican following, the ever-hopeful English, the mobile carnival of Brazilians and the millions of other fans flocking to venue cities next summer, only a third with tickets. The USA is prepared for the party. I covered USA 94 and you couldn’t really tell there was a tournament on, certainly where I was in Detroit, Chicago and DC. You will this time, also in Canada. Mexico's total immersion was never in doubt given their passion for the game. Infantino should remember this. He runs a great football organisation, not a political organisation. He needs to re-focus. Fifa is undeniably a force for good in many countries. The Fifa Foundation runs a new community programme that supports 154,924 people in 54 nations. Its new Digital Education Programme works on computer literacy amongst disadvantaged groups, helping them into the workplace. It’s easy to say it’s all about Infantino (Foundation board president), soft power and ensuring he keeps countries onside, voting for him, but the Foundation undeniably changes lives. Infantino needs to look at his Adoration of the Maga and remember what he should be doing for football: serving it, not himself. #FIFAWorldCup.

@steverichards14 A terrific episode, particularly the passage from 22 minutes onwards (the difficulty in discussing Brexit now having been scared to for years) - incredibly frustrating.

Latest RocknRoll Politics podcast-Is Rachel Reeves’ attack on Farage/ Johnson Brexit too late after years of silence? podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/roc…

Abolish the triple lock pension. @AndrewMarr9 Listen to the New Statesman podcast: newstatesman.com/podcasts

@Craigyrobbo81 @UnitAssistance_ 🤣 …. Mothers maiden name and name of first pet too please…

@UnitAssistance_ No problem. Shall I send you my credit card details as well?

Delayed by @KLM AGAIN. It’s embarrassing how many of their flights are delayed.

Almost quarter of a million under-25s are now on sickness benefit. A tragic waste of human potential. If Reeves wants more workers to boost GDP, she should fix this. Turning to young EU workers is no alternative.

If Rachel Reeves wants more workers to boost the economy, there are options other than immigration...

@Steven_Swinford I struggle to understand what they stand for other than “stop the boats”. Are they leftist state interventionists, or low tax low spend Thatcherites? They seem to be whatever their individual supporters choose to see in them - just like Brexit. And look how that turned out…

BREAKING Reform UK is close to having enough support to form a majority government after extending its lead over Labour, a YouGov MRP suggests Labour's position has significantly worsened since the last MRP in June. It is now on track to be left with just 144 MPs, down from 178 in June and 411 at the general election The Tories are on track to lose another 76 seats and be left with just 45, well behind the Lib Dems who would be on 78 It puts Nigel Farage in pole position for Number 10 one way or another... Reform 311 (5) Labour 144 (411) Lib Dem 78 (72) Conservative 45 (121) SNP 37 (9) Green 7 (4)

Much of procurement, marketing, management and consulting belongs to the tantric sector — white-collar welfare that prolongs meetings, multiplies decks and avoids making ideas people actually enjoy via @rorysutherland spectator.co.uk/article/the-ri…

I would instantly become the loyal customer of any business whose call centre message said "press 1 for service, 2 for sales" rather than the other way round.

Our @FantasyLeague auction isn’t until Sunday; do any other leagues stoop to tactics as low as sharing images like this to try and drive prices down/up?!….