Daniel Bond

Thank you for your messages @richardpbacon Israel faces an enemy in Hezbollah that is committed, absolutely, to eradicating it. In other words it is committed, like Hamas, to genocide. If I were Israeli I’d want my govt to do its utmost to destroy it.  Even as a non Israeli I would like to see the group destroyed. It sends unguided rockets into civilian areas, it embeds itself in civilian areas, all but guaranteeing any response by Israel harms civilians and it has torn Lebanon apart - which is why so many in Lebanon despise the terror group.  All civilian deaths are abhorrent. In war they are also inevitable and much more so when the enemy goes out of its way to maximise the death of its own civilians (like Hamas, which despite all the billions it has spent on rockets and tunnels has never built any shelters for its civilians).  But if Israel were to succeed in removing the threat of Hezbollah (and/or Hamas) there will be vastly more civilian lives saved than lost.  I’ve just seen that you have bombarded me with tweets in the last 24 hours. I’m flattered you think my opinion matters that much. But I’m also confused why you only seem to be animated by casualties where you can blame Israel.  Tragically the world is full of horrors of a different magnitude. But you seem completely obsessed by Israel, even though its actions (unlike those of the IRGC, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Syrian govt, the Sudanese armed forces, the RSF, the Afghan govt etc) are very obviously governed by a desire to remove acute and direct risks to its own citizens from organisations that are unambiguously committed to genociding Israelis. Israeli attacks have resulted in civilian deaths. Like you I don’t know all the details. But I do know that is not the purpose of its attacks. Obviously I wish there were no civilian deaths caused by Israel or anyone else.  Even more, I wish death cult groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, Taliban etc didn’t exist.  They are the real enemy Richard. Not Israel.

@rebecca_ryder21 My guess is, the building was PFI and the clock (attached to the wall) falls within their maintenance contract. While ordering a battery from NHS Supply Chain would be cheap, staff won't be allowed to do that themselves and instead will have to log a PFI job.

NHS hospital: I noticed the clock on the wall showed the wrong time. A nurse told me they knew, but they wouldn’t report it because replacing the battery through the NHS would cost £70. A £2 battery... £70. How? Why? That's when I began to dig further. 🧵

The supply of oil will be severely affected by the current situation in the Middle East. We are so lucky in this country to have an abundant supply of this commodity constantly on tap from our own North Sea reserves. It's just a matter of sheer luck that we're sat next to literally billions of barrels of oil providing us with energy security for decades. Now, just imagine if a government decided not to utilise this bounty and instead decided to completely ignore it's existence in favour of relying on other countries to supply it to us at greatly inflated prices. That would be insane.

@DanielJHannan I work from home pretty much permanently, and get way more done because people can't just drop past my desk and talk to me, they have to write an email/Teams message or ring me which all require they order their thoughts a little before engaging (and helps avoid social chat).

"Venezuela was a rich and democratic country and it became poor and authoritarian because of socialism" "That is why the case of Venezuela is SO IMPORTANT for us in the west, because it is what could happen to us. Superb @triggerpod interview with @DanielDiMartino.

This is unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. I had to watch it 4 times. It’s not a hoax. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️👇 WATCH: Ed Miliband’s car crash interview . youtube.com/shorts/xl_dzeD… via @YouTube

I like that you can walk between the sets of gates at @HeathrowAirport Terminal 5, but the lack of bins along the whole route is a bit of a pain. Presume it's a security measure but still mildly annoying.

Just seen a bin man removing a spider from our wheelie bin lid that was big enough to see from an upstairs window. Now that's customer service!

Liberal commentators like Nelson and Finkelstein are guilty of what philosophers call the moralistic fallacy - the belief that something *cannot* be true simply because it would be morally undesirable if it were. Let’s take their objections one by one: (1) No one is claiming that every illegal migrant is a sex offender. The debate concerns specific cohorts of young men from particular countries and the *higher* statistical risks they bring, not blanket slurs on every individual. Pretending otherwise is a cheap straw man. (2) The phrase “whipping up protest mobs” is dishonest and demagogic. Protest is a democratic right, and the anti-migrant hotel demonstrators are overwhelmingly decent, peaceful, and diverse in background. If anything, these protests are moral, given that successive governments have refused to repeal the Human Rights Act or reopen detention centres... the very measures needed to deliver on their own manifesto promises. (3) No one is “thrilled” by the prospect of ethnic violence. Quite the opposite. The idea fills many of us - myself included, and academics like David Betz - with dread. It is not something we want to happen. But intellectual honesty demands that we take the risk seriously rather than banish it to the realm of taboo. (4) The claim that white Britons face harsher treatment in the courts is a subject that needs proper academic inquiry. But the grooming gangs scandal already provide enough evidence to suggest a form of two-tier justice exists. Columnists like Finkelstein just can’t adapt to the demographic and political realities staring them in the face. They’re stuck in a New Labour/Cameron-era timewarp, clinging to scripts the public has long since stopped buying. They remind me of that tragicomic band Crème Brulee from The League of Gentlemen - especially Les McQueen, forever trapped in nostalgia, boring anyone within earshot with tales of his glory days.

@dhlexpressuk The experience was very positive, just wanted to highlight where a company (who I guess will mostly get complaints via social media) has really gotten it right.

Outstanding service by @dhlexpressuk: Parcels piled up on front step, but rather than leave them visible the guy moved the wheelie bin in front of the step to hide them. Simple gesture, took 30 seconds, but really appreciate the effort.

One of Sir Keir's favourite lines is that Liz Truss "crashed the economy" -- a reference to the interest rate on 30-year gilts peaking at 5% after Truss's mini-budget. Today, the interest rate on 30-year gilts climbed to 5.453%.

@DrEilidhMaria If you mean in person ID checks with HR, pretty sure that's a Home Office requirement, but there's no excuse for them to have to make an extra journey to see HR vs. sending a scanned copy and then the final physical check being performed at induction

STARMERS EU RESET TAX As the details start to leak out, and the caveats and conditions emerge, it is clear that all the #SurrenderSummit achieved was tying the UK back into the EU, and paying through the nose for the (dis)pleasure. #StarmerResetTax

@GBNEWS theonion.com/nation-could-h…

Russell Brand breaks silence after being charged with rape and sexual assault gbnews.com/celebrity/russ…

Really encouraging to hear effectively using existing technology (as well as looking at what's over the horizon) is being prioritised at #HETTNorth2025

Almost everything chancellor Reeves announced in her speech today – Backing a third runway at Heathrow. Relaxing planning constraints. Building Britain’s very own golden research triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge. Unlocking money from pension schemes — could and should have been done by the previous Tory government. The fact that none of the above happened is a true measure of how much the Tories squandered 14 years in power. We are almost 2 decades behind where we should be.

Dear @NYTGames I'm not sure that's how you spell the Jewish Festival of Lights in today's Strands (unless I've missed something with alternative spellings)

@nhsesr down all morning, which makes me glad my team (learning) stopped using it about a decade ago for what we do, but sadly still need access because our HR team do use it for what they do.