James Alston

Back in the rehearsal room today with @ThePantaloons for The Importance of Being Earnest, our tour for this summer! Check the tour dates on the link below see when we’re performing at a theatre near you - expect Wilde and wonderful silliness! thepantaloons.co.uk/ernest/

Tonight 7.30pm unrestrictedview.co.uk/shake-it-up-th…

Excited to be treading the board of @TheOtherPalace again with @ShakeItUpImprov! 8th, 10th, 11th July! Grab your tix from the link below 👇

NEW: Trump admin to lift pause on intelligence sharing with Ukraine and will resume security assistance. So what was the week where Ukrainian civilians were left to suffer the full force of Russian ballistics for exactly? It is at best, unclear.

This was swift: The Philippine authorities have already surrendered former President Duterte to the ICC in The Hague to face trial for the alleged crimes against humanity of murder. The man who said, ‘my job is to kill’ and who oversaw the shootings to death of victims – including children – as part of a deliberate, widespread and well-organized campaign of state-sanctioned killings the man who once was all-powerful, so much so that he could openly threaten anyone who questioned his war on drugs; This man is now on his way to the Hague and an ICC jail. To all those in power now who think they are above the law - think twice, think carefully. Time will come: you will not enjoy impunity forever, no matter how powerful you are now.

Good morning to this man, & this man only. #bbcqt

120 years ago on Valentine’s Day, The Importance of Being Earnest opened at St James' Theatre for its first ever performance💓

“there are Neville Chamberlain’s in every generation” George Monbiot’s takedown of Matt Goodwin and the Reform party is a thing of beauty 👏 #bbcqt

80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz is a long stretch of time. A lot has changed. But what won’t change is our memory – how that war started, who was guilty, and who did the killing. And we will never forgive. We also remember that thanks to unity and determination, life won in the end. This is how it should always be. Thank you to everyone who keeps and shares the truth about that horrific time. Eternal memory to all the victims of the Holocaust! And thank you everyone who defends life today. It’s time for Europe to become a place without war. We dream about it. And we’re working for it.

Today, President Trump will issue a series of Executive Orders that deny the climate emergency facing our country in favor of a phony “energy emergency”. These performative acts show the pervasive influence that the fossil fuel industry will have in the United States over the next four years. But make no mistake, the global Sustainability Revolution is unstoppable. As was the case in 2017, withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement is a shortsighted abdication of leadership that will only serve to put our nation at a disadvantage. Clinging to the industries of the past instead of embracing the industries of the future may boost the short-term profits of fossil fuel companies, but it will come at the expense of the broader American economy - including American workers who risk being left behind. This is the first of what will be many attempts to ignore reality and try to stall the world’s unstoppable and irreversible move to a clean energy economy. But these proclamations are not reflective of our political and economic reality. These efforts to roll back progress – particularly the hugely popular clean energy investments in the Inflation Reduction Act – will be met with opposition from both political parties. That’s why, in the coming weeks, months, and years, climate leaders and activists must not be deterred or distracted. From extreme weather disasters like Hurricane Helene and the still burning Los Angeles wildfires, to the growing number of climate refugees, to competitiveness in the global economy, the climate crisis will have profound consequences for the United States over the next four years. If the new Administration won’t lead on this issue, it is up to all of us. Now is the time for Governors, Mayors, business leaders, investors, and activists to put their heads down and do the work that will advance the climate solutions our nation and the world so urgently need. We were able to keep up the pace of climate action during the first Trump Administration, and it is urgent that we take up the mantle once again.

Today, the UK government announced a proposal to change copyright law - for the benefit of AI companies - that would cause huge, irreversible harm to creators. More info below, but most importantly here's what you can do (wherever you live): 1. Email your MP. If you're in the UK, here's a template letter you can copy - docs.google.com/document/d/1Xt… - and you can find your local MP's details here - members.parliament.uk/members/Commons. 2. If you're a creator, email your representatives. Your publisher, record label, union - whoever represents you. Here's a second template letter you can copy - docs.google.com/document/d/1VT…. You need to know your representatives are representing your views. 3. Respond to the consultation. You can do so by emailing copyrightconsultation@ipo.gov.uk. If possible, write your own response, and go into all the detail you can. Feel free to use info / data I've prepared here - docs.google.com/document/d/12w…. 4. Share these template letters with anyone you know. The more people get involved, the more the government will get the message that a broad copyright exception is the wrong path to be pursuing. -- And here's a summary of the government's proposal, and why I think it's so problematic: - Broad new copyright exception for commercial generative AI training. AI companies will be able to train on British copyrighted work without a licence, even if the AI model is designed to compete with the creators whose work is trained on. This would make the UK one of the most punitive jurisdictions for creators in the world. - Rights holders can 'reserve their rights', i.e. opt out. But opt-outs don't work (you can't successfully opt out downstream copies of your work), most creators miss the chance to opt-out, doing so is a huge admin burden, etc. AI companies should be getting opt-in consent - it's unfair to shift the burden to creators. - AI companies must offer some level of transparency over their training data. This would be good if presented on its own, but it's much less helpful if you're packaging it up with a broad copyright exception that lets AI companies train on most of the UK's creative output with impunity. The consultation on these proposals lasts for 10 weeks. Anyone who cares about this issue should do whatever they can to make their views known to government now - there will only be one chance.

Never change, Daily Telegraph

Clarkson, owned, 100%, by Victoria Derbyshire. "Classic BBC ! Using ... er ... my own documented words. Bleedin' lefties quoting what I said, publicly ... Outrageous !"

It was once feared Kyiv would fall within 72 hours. Ukraine has just survived 1000 days of Russia’s full-scale invasion. World leaders have called for a “comprehensive, just and durable peace”. But the G20 communique did not criticise Moscow for attacking its neighbour.

Things have just got a lot more difficult . Here’s what I think . I had no control over what just happened . None . But I do have control over how I will react to it . And I am not going to give up on the beautiful and the good , the grip on my dreams just got tighter .

The biggest nation of turkeys just voted for Christmas… A dark day for Ukraine, the Middle East, women & girls, democracy, and the planet… Felt bad last time, feels even worse today.

London pals! Come and see me be silly and Shakespearean in tights this Monday! Join us at @TheHenChickens, grab your favourite tipple at the bar, and then head upstairs at 19:30 to witness the Bard-based Bedlam unfold. What could be better on a Monday evening? Ticket link 👇

Important reading for today… Palestinians and Israelis will only know peace once the dehumanisation of both sides stops. It is a year since my mother was murdered at her kibbutz. Out of this horror, surely peace must come | Yonatan Zeigen | The Guardian theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

This is getting silly now. Leave his kids out of it, and stop blowing things out of proportion. There is bad behaviour amongst some politicians, but this constant pearl clutching at everything undermines trust to an unjustified and dangerous extent. Try reporting some news.

This is not a drill! Get 30% off tickets to see @ShakeItUpImprov bring the Bard-based Bedlam at @TheOtherPalace! I’m performing on the 3rd October and I can’t wait! But be quick! This discount only lasts until Sunday night! Go go go! Ticket link below 👇