You. Don’t. Shovel. While. In. A. Hole.

And the battle lines have (at least temporarily) stabilized after all the doom and gloom of the last few weeks. No great Russian breakthroughs and exploitations, some small, incremental advances at very high cost. With Ukraine getting more ammunition, Russian losses might even…

Off to do live #weekinwestminster discussion on the local elections with Sonia Sodha and Iain Martin and the great steve richards in the chair - 11am BBC Radio 4

It’s not often I’m rendered speechless……. scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-…

How we made Four Weddings and a Funeral — by the cast and crew

thetimes.co.uk/article/01de25… lovely piece on a film that, scarily, came out thirty years ago this month. Still think they got the wrong ending.

Ace episode of the Reunion on BBC Radio 4 with Kirsty Wark on 2000 US election. Even with Clinton shenanigans, Al Gore robot and George Bush sounding under pressure like a confused Elvis Presley, it all sounds rather stately, dignified, quaint, compared to 2024.

Great news for Labour in particular and Unionists in general

Kate Forbes decides not to run for SNP leadership. Wise decision. As I explain on Spectator TV tonight she should leave it to the old guard to deal with the mess they’ve created. She can take the leadership post-election defeats and start the rebuild with a clean slate and clean…

This was a really enjoyable chat

Blimey. It’s getting worse for the Tories. That is a properly split centre/right and a Labour majority of 200+

Frank Field is proof that not all political careers end in failure | Adam Boulton (Adam Boulton)

reaction.life/frank-field-is…

Tim Shipman on the Brexit decade

Iain Martin (Iain Martin) talks to Tim Shipman (@ShippersUnbound) about the new installment of his Brexit Quartet and the political gambles, successes and failures that led Brexit Britain to where it is today.

reaction.life/tim-shipman-on…

In the latest Reaction podcast, I talk to the great Tim Shipman about the new installment of his Brexit Quartet and the political gambles, successes and failures that led Brexit Britain to where it is today. reaction.life/tim-shipman-on…

In the latest Reaction podcast, I talk to the great Tim Shipman about the new installment of his Brexit Quartet and the political gambles, successes and failures that led Brexit Britain to where it is today. reaction.life/tim-shipman-on…

It’s been 13 years since I came up with this photo caption to celebrate a big wedding in London. Good times.

I am not sure it really is a Westminster problem. Prosecutions in Scotland were brought by the Crown Office and, as best I can tell (though am open to correction on this), the Lord Advocate disagrees with the views expressed here and, indeed, by Mr Yousaf too

Let’s not do this again. I disagree fundamentally with Kate Forbes on a lot of social issues but her faith is personal to her and if she chooses to pray that’s her right, just as it was totally fine for Humza Yousaf to pray in Bute House.

I wrote on the most recent Baltic GPS jamming. Thanks to Markus Jonsson for sharing their data, which triangulates the jammers’ location to near St Petersburg. Other sources say there is evidence of Russian jamming there. Most likely force protection. economist.com/the-economist-…

I would find this harder to deal with than angry protesters

The tumultuous relationship between Red China and the Soviet Union hints at an uncertain future for the Sino-Russian partnership.

China and Russia: forever brothers? | Sergey Radchenko

engelsbergideas.com/essays/china-a…