Very sad to say that my father passed away this morning, at the age of 99, 21 years to the day after the death of my mother. He was kind, generous, and loving. Now at peace.

Trist iawn dweud bod fy nhad wedi marw y bore 'ma yn 99 oed, 21 mlynedd i'r diwrnod ar ôl marwolaeth fy mam. Roedd yn ddyn caredig, hael, a chariadus. Gorffwys mewn hedd.

The greatest Poet Laureate Britain never had.

Re Harold Wilson’s ‘secret affair’, does anyone else feel that (whatever your views on the ethics in regard to marriage or power) the press’s bashing on about the 22-year age gap is slightly ridiculous when the ages concerned are 59 and 37, not 39 and 17?

#Egyptology job alert! A 12-month Departmental Lecturer post in Egyptology University of Oxford. Please circulate and please apply!
(This post is thanks to a @BritishAcademy / The Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship).
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecruit…

Irish: not a sectarian language!

One is not? Which one is not?

Do you mean the ones who were genocided out of Britain & Spain starting from the late 1800’s and were forced to relocate back to Jewish communities in Palestine? How about the genociding out of Germany, Poland, Russia, & Eastern Europe & forced to…

Cadenabbia: an early stop by E. M. Forster on his first visit to Italy (October 1901), with his mother. Their hotel is 'crammed with English - mostly T. Wells old ladies, who go on expeditions that are too long for them.'

Good sense (and optimism) on Irish unity from Bobby here.

Glorious. Bendigedig.

American graffiti

Honestly, it's extraordinary how many really talented former England cricketers are total wallies. Could probably come up with a solid XI.

Shocking, but unsurprising from the author of 'Why I'm Right ... And Everyone Else Is Wrong'.

Thinking back to our first evening as residents of Ireland (Myo's pub, June '98), and reflecting that there was an 11yo at National School in Greystones who is now Taoiseach.

Simon Harris elected Taoiseach in Dáil vote.
irishtimes.com/politics/2024/…

Ah, wait a minute, we might get Michael Healy Rae yet.

Very good piece, and not just about the comms.

Great to see. My father, wounded in Normandy 1944, Légion d'honneur, Remain voter, now 99, would approve.

Glamorgan 620/3d
Middlesex 655

So whose bright idea was it to use the Kookaburra ball?

John Curtice on Brexit and Labour:
1. Labour vote is as anti-Brexit as it was four years ago, despite being much larger.
2. This is because the public is much more anti-Brexit now (57-58% rejoin).
3. Young voters are overwhelmingly anti-Brexit.

Having worked for the Royal Mail for 4 1/2 years I can comfortably echo everything in this article