Now the New York Times, of all places, has adopted the illiterate plural of aircraft The New York Times

Relieved that I’m not having to explain, as a British Ambassador, how the Government has a democratic mandate to take this huge gamble with the public finances, a policy completely contrary to the Tory manifesto at the 2019 general election on which their Commons majority rests.

I joined HMTreasury straight from university in September 1975. I moved on to The Economist 11 years later. In these 47 years I have never witnessed a more clueless and incompetent government. God help us all.

President Macron still refuses to condemn Putin in tv interview this evening. Astonishing.

Heaven knows Italy is riddled with problems, but as a Britalian I find this Economist cover offensive. The arrogance that led to the leap in the dark that was Brexit and the utter chaos that followed was very, very British. #britaly

Do I understand that correctly: Iranian football players are brave enough to boycott their own national anthem in the face of the current brutal crackdown on protestors, but several Western Teams (Germany among them) won’t wear an armband because they might get a yellow card?

A Verdun aussi, on ne savait pas pourquoi les Français s’obstinaient…

Hello, Brexit task force? I’d like to report a metaphor

The "cruelty" of making the French work up to age 64 before retirement. Commute, work, then the grave, says the sign in yesterday's mass protests against Macron's attempt to raise it from 62. School pupils were demonstrating too.

A lovely satire by singer Pierre Perret on the mess in Paris, with rubbish/garbage strikes, decaying urban landscape and construction sites blighting the capital. youtu.be/PPXnb0PhHvg Perret is 88 years old.

C’est tout simplement faux en plus d’être simpliste Aucun expert sérieux sur le sujet ne réduit la crise actuelle à une suite d’initiatives 🇺🇸 et de surréactions 🇨🇳 C’est occulter totalement l’évolution du rapport de force, la stratégie de pression 🇨🇳, etc

It’s content like this that would make me very sorry to leave Twitter

Chat GPT produces real whoppers. For a piece defending France's fine military record, I asked: "Give me examples of famous battles that France won against England or Great Britain". It named Hastings then listed six more French "victories": Agincourt, the Nile and Waterloo.

54 years ago today, #Apollo11 launched…Eagle soaring from Earth atop the Saturn V, bound for the Moon. It seems like only yesterday that we embarked on the mission of a lifetime – a mission for all mankind, a mission I hope will continue to inspire well into our future.

Mythiques

It is simply fascinating how literally everything a British PM does needs to be framed as an example of "leading the world".

Bed bug panic is getting out of hand in France. The government has stepped in today to calm the hysteria after Jimmy Fallon did a Macron song about them on NBC's Tonight Show. x.com/FallonTonight/…

Liberté de l'info: Le Journal du Dimanche consacre sa une plus 4 pages à la supposée censure des médias de droite par le pouvoir en France. Et le même JDD de 48 pages ne contient aucun article sur Alexei Navalny et les retombées de sa mort. Circulez. Il n'y a rien à voir.

Avant le 24 février vous étiez pour l’annexion de la Crimée et le retrait de l’OTAN de la façade Est de l’Europe. Avant le 24 février vous jugiez impossible que la Russie envahisse l’Ukraine et que le régime de Poutine n’était pas impérialiste. Depuis le 24 février vous êtes

the courage required to show up for navalny’s funeral is worth our appreciation