Patrick Mahon

In a trilateral format with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom @Keir_Starmer and @SecGenNATO Mark Rutte, we discussed joint weapons production and coordination in this direction to strengthen Ukraine and all of Europe. It is important to continue strengthening our air defense and ensuring it has a sufficient number of missiles for air defense systems. In particular, the decisions adopted during the Ramstein-format meeting must be implemented as soon as possible, and the PURL initiative must be replenished with additional contributions. I thank Keir and Mark for their efforts to support Ukraine and to maintain focus on Ukraine and the swiftest possible achievement of a dignified peace.

Art by Don Dixon from Starlog magazine

Meningitis symptoms can develop quickly, so it’s important to act immediately if you spot them. More info ➡️ nhs.uk/conditions/men…

Actually, the guy who was the point person for Iran at the White House and was fired by the Trump Administration after being Loomered wrote EXACTLY that warning 4 days before the war started. The article was titled “Why Iran Will Escalate.” But who needs experts… foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/wh…

I can't wait to see the new film adaptation of @andyweirauthor 's utterly brilliant #interstellar #SF novel 'Project Hail Mary'. Good to see that the @newscientist 's reviewer likes it!

'Ukrainians know they can trust the UK'. Volodymyr Zelenskyy begins his address by thanking the PM and Sir Lindsay Hoyle - following an enormous applause from parliamentarians gathered in the room to listen to him. trib.al/bplef4t

EXCL: UK national security adviser Jonathan Powell attended final talks between US and Iran - and judged Tehran's offer on its nuclear programme was significant enough to prevent rush to war @patrickwintour & @julianborger reveal theguardian.com/world/2026/mar…

The UK Parliament welcomed President Zelensky with a standing ovation. This applause is not for one man. It is for a nation that refuses to kneel. For people who wake up to sirens and still choose to live, to fight, to endure. President of Ukraine stands there today as the voice of millions of Ukrainians - their pain, their strength, their unbreakable will. We are deeply grateful to the United Kingdom and to all our friends who stand with Ukraine.

NEW: Nigel Farage has sold videos in which he endorsed a neo-Nazi event, repeated extremist slogans and supported a man convicted over his involvement in a far-right riot - Henry Dyer & Michael Goodier report theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-int…

And this is from a (former) Trump loyalist...

Our consultant Graham Biggs MBE spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today this morning on rising heating oil costs and what support means for rural households. 🎧 Listen from 09:13 bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

@RSNonline @ACRE_national Thanks!

🏡 It’s Village Halls Week 2026! This week is a national celebration of the vital role village halls play in rural communities. This year’s theme highlights how village halls support health, wellbeing & community connection. More from @ACRE_national ➡️ buff.ly/j7MlpmL

@andyweirauthor Just seen the trailer for the UK release of the Project Hail Mary film, Andy. Incredibly excited - it was a wonderful novel, and looks like a great film! Will be going to the cinema to see it on release (and I haven't been to the cinema for over 2 years). Thank you!

And so it begins! youtube.com/watch?v=m08TxI…

People are deeply concerned about how rising oil and gas prices will mean for their family finances. That is especially true for rural households dependent on heating oil, where prices have skyrocketed. The Government needs to move quickly to protect them from being ripped off.

Great work by the parliamentary select committee on the science funding crisis in the UK and clear instructions on how to resolve it (quickly!). Our political system is much maligned, but here is an example of it working very well indeed.

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response: A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief. Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege. And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down. So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that: • Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are. • You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man. This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump. And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

Eleven years since you crossed the black sands. I wish I could say that the world is better than you left it (although it will always be better for having had you in it) but at least there is a new Young Sam to help carry on the Pratchett name and ethos. Love you always ❤️

Reform’s position on the war - 9 March, Economic spokesperson Robert Jenrick: ‘this war needs to come to an end as soon as possible because it is making Britain poorer….that’s why Nigel Farage immediately ruled out suggestions that the UK might deploy boots on the ground. Nor do we see why British aircraft should become involved in offensive action.’ Daily Telegraph 8 March, Reform Deputy Leader Richard Tice,: ‘We wld be helping the Americans and the Israelis in any way they saw appropriate’ GB News  28 February Reform leader, Nigel Farage ‘ The Prime Minister needs to change his mind on the use of our military bases and back the Americans in this vital fight against Iran!’  Post on X

RSN Chief Executive Kerry Booth recently spoke to ITV News Anglia about the challenges facing households that rely on heating oil and the wider pressures rising fuel costs place on rural communities. 📺⬇️ youtube.com/watch?v=x3Uh_b…