Mike Joseph

@MerrynSW But who would run this course? Economists don't agree on how markets work. I don't suppose you would be too happy if the Professor giving lectures was Yanis Varoufakis.

This is why a one month course in how markets work should be compulsory for all incoming MPs. Don't have to pass an exam (that would not be inclusive...) but should surely be forced to at least sit thro some sessions explaining the basics.

@AFCFixtureNews Thanks for confirming. Hope you haven't got steam coming out of your ears from answering all these Qs - you're doing a great job!.

@AFCFixtureNews My brother has 2 STs in his name and usually transfers the 2nd to me. As he won't be going, am I right in assuming there is no way I can get a ticket?

M bloomberg.com/subscriptions/…

We are delighted to announce the winner of the Recording (Solo Recital) Award:
Gluck Arias, from Ann Hallenberg and the Mozartists. #OperaAwards2025 #SoloRecital #GluckArias #AnnHallenberg #OperaRecording

@Samfr It's by Geoffrey Holmes.

@Samfr Try British Politics in the Age of Anne (if you can find it!). Very good on how Whig politicians first began to coalesce as a party in the face of Queen Anne's efforts to buy some of them off individually by offering them Cabinet posts in a Tory dominated Government.

Book recommendations please for 18th century politics- particularly around Parliament, elections and the rise of parties / the role of PM. Also is there a good biography of Walpole? Can't find one.

So what results do you get if you ask Sir Humphrey's polling questions? @IpsosUK decided to try it. We showed 1,000 Brits his pro national service poll and 1,000 his anti national service poll. Results: Sample A: 45% in favour of national service, 38% say no. Sample B: 48% oppose national service, 34% say no. What does it all mean? Well, obviously we wouldn't ever do this poll for real, wording is too leading & there are rules about transparency of q wording / ordering. But it does show the importance of question wording, watching the detail and looking at more than just one poll when you want to understand what the public really think on an issue. Especially in election year. More here: ipsos.com/en-uk/yes-prim…

@MattSingh_ Not that unfashionable. George Orwell described the Sagrada Familiar as one of the most hideous buildings in the world and I'm inclined to agree - it's completely over the top.

An unfashionable take that’s genuinely unfashionable…

@havivrettiggur What is the source of this chart?

Folks, Zogby might be telling the truth. Or he might be lying. His poll is, er, “private.” Here’s a hint it’s the latter. Despair is widespread among Palestinians, Hamas’ vision entices. The result is the very support for cleansing that Zogby projects onto Israelis.

@Yair_Rosenberg Thank you for a wonderful article. Amidst all the bleak news, you've described a ray of hope for Israel and a possibility of real change.

I wrote about how Israel's crisis has exposed the fecklessness of its far-right Netanyahu government, while elevating a new group of moral and political voices. Israel doesn't need Netanyahu, and we are starting to see what might come next: theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

@YairWallach Of course the Palestinians see this very differently, as an unwanted takeover and dispossession. But labelling this as colonialism implies that there is a particular solution ie. that the 'colonialists' return to 'where they came from' but that is not a realistic solution.

@lewis_goodall Ms Kearns says "we've dealt with this in the past, Da'esh did the same thing" but the deaths inflicted in attacking ISIS (60-70 th) and the devastation of Mosul and Raqqa far exceed anything that Israel has done. If it's OK for the US and UK, why not for Israel?

Alicia Kearns without doubt one of the most impressive MPs in this parliament.

@JoeTwyman @youngvulgarian Yes, the Power Test presented by Sam Freedman and Ayesha Hazarika is excellent.

@youngvulgarian Should a company be wanting to very generously sponsor a podcast with a more diverse presenting line up - say one man and one woman - can you recommend one?

@PickardJE It's also wrong to assume that lower inflation can only means prices are rising less quickly. Inflation only measures year-on-year change so if prices ­rise 20% in the 1st half of the yr and fall 10% in the 2nd, that still shows up as 5% inflation even though prices are falling

it’s a common mistake to presume that lower inflation means cheaper products

@Samfr The difference is that Hancock is making a fool of himself whilst Nadine Dorries was a laughing stock already.

When she did it she was lower profile than Hancock for sure but I'm thinking more about her time in the cabinet - it didn't get brought up as a major issue but people are talking about Hancock like he's destroying Parliament's reputation single handedly.

I am misremembering or did Nadine Dorries get a lot less aggro for going on the jungle show? There was criticism but I don't remember Sunak or other senior Tories complaining about her being in the cabinet despite having "debased the role of an MP".