| | Jeff J Mitchell/Getty |
| The pitfalls ahead for Starmer | I'm old enough to remember the sense of "optimism, hope and promise" when Tony Blair declared in 1997 that "things can only get better", says Ed West on Substack. Whether you think they did or not, there's no doubt that Blair, like his predecessor Margaret Thatcher, "transformed the country in his own image". No one could say the same of the past decade-and-a-half of Tory government. "You could have woken up from a long coma and had no idea who had been in charge the whole time". One of the main benefits of being in government is meant to be "the ability to shift the terms of debate", but whereas the rest of Europe is turning right, "Britain under the Tories has gone the other way". | Not that Labour are going to have an easy time of it. The one trick that would help the economy – "relaxing planning laws" – is hard for Labour to see clearly. They can't understand that the problem isn't evil landlords and developers, but a lack of supply, in part due to mass migration, which they are even more ideologically committed to than the Tories. Meanwhile, those who have watched the turn away from "gender radicalism" with relief may end up disappointed. Under Starmer, the push for a "racial reckoning" will get stronger. The Labour leader has taken the side of the National Trust in its recent culture war, and has undergone "unconscious bias training – which is junk". And his top team have pledged a new Race Equality Act to tackle "structural racism", which may lead to more nonsense like the £760 million equal pay lawsuit which helped bankrupt Birmingham. Ultimately, because British progressives are enthralled to America, how woke Labour go will depend on events in the United States. |
|
| | | | Advertisement | | Millions of drivers who took out a motor finance deal to purchase a vehicle could be eligible for financial compensation. After a recent investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority, it has emerged that financial lenders including Black Horse, Barclays Partner Finance, Santander, MotoNovo, Close Brothers and many others could be ordered to pay substantial amounts of compensation back to their motor finance customers. Anyone who bought a vehicle with a finance agreement between January 2014 and January 2021 can do a free check to find out if they can make a claim. To see if you're eligible, click here. |
| |
| |
| | | | A thread on X by art writer James Lucas showcasing the childhood works of famous artists has racked up nearly nine million views. He includes a painting of a picador by an eight-year-old Pablo Picasso, who said: "at eight, I was Raphael. It took me a whole lifetime to paint like a child." He also includes an inventive painting of a fiesta by Salvador Dalí, sometime between the ages of six and 10. "At the age of six I wanted to be a cook," said Dalí. "At seven I wanted to be Napoleon." Also included are Claude Monet's caricature of his teacher done when he was 15, and a line drawing by a nine-year-old Edward Hopper of a small boy wistfully gazing out to sea. See the rest here. |
| |
| | | | Hero The Daily Star, which was the only UK newspaper to spare its readers a gloomy picture of Rishi Sunak announcing a summer election in the rain, and instead dedicated Thursday's front page to the tearful testimony of disgraced Post Office boss Paula Vennells. The paper accused "Little Miss Twaddle" of "talking a load of old cobblers" at the Horizon scandal inquiry, adding: "Somebody give her an Oscar!" In a small box to one side, they included a tiny picture of Sunak, who is known to prefer flying on private jets, and the headline: "Biggles calls a general election". | Villain Buying London, a reality show about a luxury estate agent, which has achieved a rare zero-star rating in The Guardian. Simultaneously "boring and infuriating", this is "probably the most hateable TV show ever made", says Rebecca Nicholson, the paper's critic. Presumably it was made in the full knowledge that it would be watched "not with joy, but with rage". In that respect, "I bow to Netflix", who have "manipulated me into a state of mild fury". | | Hero Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay, who received a standing ovation (above) on his return to the House of Commons this week, 12 months after contracting sepsis that resulted in the amputation of his hands and feet. Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer both paid tribute to the South Thanet MP, and science minister Julia Lopez, who was taking questions when he arrived, resumed by saying: "What an appropriate way to walk in on science questions, for the new bionic MP." | Heroes Mitchell Brewing Company, whose Osama Bin Lager beer sold out after going viral on social media. Demand was so high that staff had to temporarily unplug their phones and shut down their website. The Lincolnshire boozemaker also brews a Putin Porter, a Winston Churchpale and a Kim Jong Ale. | Hero Reddit user Johnny_Banana18, who is trying to "visit" as many countries as he can by reading a book about each one, and cooking a meal based on its cuisine. He's working his way through the world's 195 nations alphabetically, and has almost completed those beginning with B. It can be tricky, says My Modern Met. Living in Denver, he struggled to find books or recipe suggestions from any born-and-raised Bahrainis. But gratifyingly, his Reddit post on Brunei attracted more views than the nation's entire 452,524-strong population. | | | | Enjoying The Knowledge? Click below to share | | |
| |
| |
| | | | Pavel Barkin/Getty |
| The autocrats who phone each other to say happy birthday | Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Western strategists have dreamed of somehow breaking the "no limits" partnership between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. But few realise just how personal their relationship has become, says Frédéric Lemaître in Le Monde. Putin's trip to Beijing last week was his 43rd meeting with the Chinese president since Xi came to power in 2013, "a record in the history of the two countries". It was the first time Putin had chosen China for his inaugural visit after being "elected (or re-elected)" president, and was clearly a way of "paying homage to Xi", who visited Moscow right after being sworn in as Chinese president in both 2013 and 2023. | The two leaders phone each other on their birthdays. Both agree Gorbachev was wrong to give in to the West's "sirens' call", though they differ slightly in their wider world view: Putin looks back to a time when Russia was better off and Moscow was "defiant to Washington"; Xi believes the "best is yet to come" when China experiences its "great rejuvenation". As a result, the two men have slightly different views of the West: "Putin hates it, Xi holds it in contempt." Either way, their bond will not be easily broken. | 🫤 US attempts to woo China away from Russia have met with short shrift, says Gideon Rachman in the FT. As one Chinese diplomat sardonically puts it, America's proposition to Beijing could be summarised as: "Please help us to defeat your closest ally, so that we can turn on you next." | | | | Paris Hilton with dog. Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty |
| Want to know what fame's like? Get a dog | "Having a dog teaches you what it's like to be famous," says Mark Mason in The Spectator. I'll be sitting in a café reading a book or trying to finish a sudoku, when someone will appear. "Do you mind if I say hello to your dog?" they'll ask. "Of course not," I reply. They make a fuss, ask him to "sit" and "paw" to earn a treat, I call him a tart, "everyone has a laugh and that's that". But as Stephen Fry once said about being stopped for selfies, it'd be alright if it only happened once a week. "What if it happens every two minutes?" | It feels churlish to complain on any individual occasion, but cumulatively "things can get trying". Clive James once said that the average person couldn't imagine what it was like to have "several hundred uninstigated conversations every day". I'm always amazed at the patience shown by the truly world famous. Paul McCartney is "legendarily good at it", and if he can avoid losing his rag then anyone can. Mick Jagger has a skilful way of not getting trapped – after a brief chat he'll politely say "how nice to have met you", and off he goes. If only it were so simple with dogs. | | | | | | | | | "I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of, so they can see that it's not the answer." Jim Carrey |
| |
| |
| |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment