Matt Reynolds

@PrivateEyeNews Thoroughly enjoyed to the episode. Though I’d have that the Eye’s crypto offering would be called GnomeCoin.

@GeoffNorcott *Got glassed. This wasn’t an anti-spectacles point.

@GeoffNorcott But he’s also like the nutter in the local pub. Even he doesn’t know (in advance) where the line is between him thinking you’re his best mate and you taking the piss. It’s obvious after the fact why you got glasses for saying hello. But not necessarily at the time.

Everyone gets that Lammy has to pivot. But there’s such a thing as laying it on too thick. Trump likes being liked, but he’ll also exploit obvious weakness.

@imbethmccoll Ha ha. I do this on principle once a week. Pick a pub, book a table, sit attend. Bring a bit of the anticipatory passive aggressive vibe of sitting in a reserved seat on the 18.03 to Chippenham energy to the local gastropub. I do not claim the table.

really not a fan of reserving tables at the pub.., i think unless it’s your bday and there’s a whole load of you it’s bad. it’s annoying. what do you mean Jenny 7:00PM on a table in the corner. grow up jenny x

@distantpod Late to the party on this episode and the #Cadfael haircut chat (I assume that’ll drive #engagement). Hard not to assume that Cole Palmer wasn’t an avid reader of the Ellis Peter’s mediæval Benedictine sleuth books with that barnet.

Can’t wait until tomorrow & Friday to hear this week’s episode? Want both parts now? Want a bonus section too? Want it advert free? Buy it now! patreon.com/posts/236-youv…

@Samfr Is there something to be said for knocking the whole polling system on the head? Increasingly unclear when / if a poll is right for the right or wrong for the right or wrong reasons & their primary use seems to be to feed the beast(s) of relentless media coverage.

Not the most important thing but pollsters are really going to have to figure out what to do about non-response bias. Even with a lot of weightings applied they don't seem to be able to fully capture it. Happened here too, albeit with different groups.

@TheSimonEvans But a night on the sauce with Katty Kay and the Mooch remains a giddy prospect.

The Rest is Politics is History.

@GeoffNorcott Very strongly agree with this point (if not a lot of the original post). We’d probably be better off thinking how the people of Saint-Malo in France might see the world, rather than Scranton. Or maybe even better, the people of Scarborough.

@KonstantinKisin Great thread mate. The high UK exposure to American popular culture tricks us into thinking we understand a lot more about the states than we actually do.

For my British and European friends who are "shocked" and "surprised", here are 10 reasons you didn't see this coming. Read this short post and then read the replies from our American friends who will confirm what I'm saying. 1. Americans love their country and want it to be the best in the world. America is a nation of people who conquered a continent. They love strength. They love winning. Any leader who appeals to that has an automatic advantage. 2. Unlike Europeans, Americans have not accepted managed decline. They don't have Net Zero here, they believe in producing their own energy and making it as cheap as possible because they know that their prosperity depends on it. 3. Prices for most basic goods in the US have increased rapidly and are sky high. What the official statistics say about inflation and the reality of people's lives are not the same. 4. Unlike you, Americans do not believe in socialism. They believe in meritocracy. They don't care about the super rich being super rich because they know that they live in a country where being super rich is available to anyone with the talent and drive to make it. They don't resent success, they celebrate it. 5. Americans are the most pro-immigration people in the world. Read that again. Seriously, read it again. Americans love an immigrant success story. They want more talented immigrants to come to America. But they refuse to accept people coming illegally. They believe in having a border. 6. Americans are sensitive about racial issues and their country's imperfect history. They believe that those who are disadvantaged by the circumstances of their birth should be given the opportunity to succeed. What they reject, however, is the idea that in order to address the errors of the past new errors must be made. DEI is racist. They know it and they reject it precisely because they are not racist. 7. Americans are the most philosemitic nation on earth. October 7 and the pro-Hamas left's reaction shocked them to their very core because, among other things, they remember what 9/11 was like and they know jihad when they see it. 8. Americans are extremely practical people. They care about what works, not what sounds good. In Europe, we produce great writers and intellectuals. In America they produce (and attract) great engineers, businessmen and investors. Because of this, they care less about Trump's rhetoric than you do and more about his policies than you do. 9. Americans are deeply optimistic people. They hate negativity. The woke view of American history as a series of evils for which they must eternally apologise is utterly abhorrent to them. They believe in moving forward together, not endlessly obsessing about the past. 10. America is a country whose founding story is one of resistance to government overreach. They loathe unnecessary restrictions, regulations and control. They understand that freedom comes with the price of self-reliance and they pay it gladly.

@ItsJohnRain Lovey bit of business.

@t0nyyates Though if comrade Hastings is arriving at the barricades before the leader of the Labour Party, Starmer’s probably got a bit more room for political manoeuvring.

Ah yes, Max Hastings, long time wise counsel of Labour leaders.

@almurray That’s why In Our Time’s on a summer break. Not even Melv can discuss the Brunhes-Matuyama Reversal while doing analysis of the defensive deficiencies of the Australia team.

Melvyn Bragg manages Nigeria?

Don’t follow football too closely, but excited to see that they’re now having three teams per match… #CommunityShield #ARSMCI

@Samfr @willfordosblaw By no means the main issues, but what did the council and home office staff do when they logged off for the day after that secret (unlawful) agreement was reached? What did they say to their friends, family and colleagues about how their day went?

More detail here. Extraordinary. (via @willfordosblaw) doughtystreet.co.uk/news/high-cour…

And Braverman has lost her third court case of the week - this time the High Court have ruled the routine housing of unaccompanied child asylum seekers in hotels is unlawful.

@OwsWills HUGE Rourke’s Drift Energy on this one.

And if you liked that… “Calon Lân” (Translation: “A Pure Heart”), written in the 1890s by Daniel James, tune by John Hughes. It’s unusual among the most popular traditional songs, in that an English language version is virtually never sung. twitter.com/matelotjack/st…

The audience at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, in multi-part harmony, singing from memory. The actual audience. No words on screen, no-one on stage. Just waiting, and singing. ❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 twitter.com/Traedmawr/stat…

Maybe a system where it’s a problem that people are getting poorer too slowly isn’t that great a system. Record wage growth fuels fresh inflation fears bbc.co.uk/news/business-…

@MikeBubbins Look forward to you taking up your seat on the WRU Board.

@ThatAlexWoman But reluctant to set much store by national identity takes from someone who elides Englishness and Britishness in two lines. Also, the Romans are probably fairly cross that it’s not theirs anymore. #romansgohome

Living in London I get homesick for England It’s not ours anymore. It’s not British.

@benpartridge The M4 has seen a lot of action already this weekend.

If I was Kiki Dee I'd be Wagner Grouping my way to Glastonbury right now.

@daisyayliffe @AndrewCornish10 TOMB lives.

And to our loyal members hoping to discuss the result (and the club’s “stick that in your pipe” response) on the #MTWD blog, we can’t. The blog was shut down after CEO @AndrewCornish10 and his family threatened legal action against it. #FreeSpeech #OneMiddlesex #OneLove

@ianmulheirn @Gilesyb Is that data for the earnings of renters, or is it just average earnings? And I guess would it make a difference - are renters more likely to be on jobs with average or higher than average earning increases? Sorry for the clunky phrasing.

Here's rents vs incomes since 2005. As T says, it's not like rents fell when mortgages did - so they won't rise because interest rates are up. Landlords will take the hit

Good thread on why the 'mortgage rates are driving up rents' story is wrong. That narrative also has a convenient political side-effect that we should be wary of... 🧵