Gemmill

Fuck. Off. !

Oof.

Imagine being either Reform or Green/Libdem. "I just cannot make my mind up between Nigel Farage and Ed Davey. Nigel this time!"

Thread. @Kid Dynamite

That absolute clown selecting an injured LB who hasn't played in 4 months, and has a history of breaking down when returning from injury, for a one month long competition. And then deciding that he was the only player required in that position. So now the only player from our faltering attack that you could say was functioning remotely well, is moved to the wrong side and the wrong end of the pitch. Arsehole.

You're right, it was the Tuesday or Wednesday post election.

Starmer has announced a news conference for after this morning's cabinet meeting. Wonder if there's some snap policy announcement coming? There probably won't be, but they've played things pretty close to New Labour so far, and day 1 for them brought the BOE independence thing which was a total surprise - hadn't been in the manifesto or mentioned at all during the campaign. We'll see, probably not.

Wait how are you not Ronaldo's NUMBER ONE fan? He's the ultimate show pony footballer. A one-man step over machine in his pomp. It's like he was made in a lab to appeal to you.

That's right, aye. Big into rehabilitation, which will be a nice contrast to the lock them all up and throw away the key bullshit from the other side.

He's gonna have his work cut out. Some suggestion that one of the reasons Sunak went early on the election is that the prisons overcrowding crisis is about to come to a head.

Thornberry, who was Shadow AG, has been overlooked for the main gig. Only one so far, I think.

How was that not a pen?

The fucking lucky bastard Germans.

Paul Mitchell discovery Dani Olmo has just scored for Spain v Germany.

Listen to that podcast I posted earlier. Finkelstein reckons it'll come down to Badenoch, Tugenhadt, and Cleverly, and that Badenoch is the likely winner. He also says he doesn't think whoever wins it will be the next Tory PM.

Mandelson calling Ashworth "a casualty of the Gaza war"

Can't remember if this got posted or not. Gutted he got cut off just as he was getting into it.

They've got 5 now. Oh noes! Here's his bio: https://www.reformparty.uk/south-basildon-and-east-thurrock-constituency Definitely looks to be at the more polished end of their range of candidates. Although he also manages to say in the same actual sentence how big a fan he is of both tax cuts and supporting the NHS and education.

Totally agree. Honestly it was otherworldly last night watching cabinet member after cabinet member lose their seat, coming back to the studio and Kuennsberg's literal first take being "but look, the Labour vote share has barely moved!" You were watching a Labour landslide unfold and being gaslit into believing it was going badly for them. I dare say it's worked on loads of people.

Strong recommend for this if your worrying about Labour losing to a unite the right vote at the next election. Finkelstein is excellent and a proper brain (and a Tory) and does a pretty good job of dismantling the idea that you can just add up the Tory and Reform vote and give Labour real problems, for two reasons : Firstly, this completely ignores the fact that the Lib Dems have effectively joined the two party system. A big part of their success came from Labour voters in seats that would never return a Labour candidate voting Lib Dems. That's getting missed in the analysis. Secondly, on the unite the right point. He makes the point that the Tories have won elections before where they haven't wob seats like Hartlepool, but they've NEVER won elections before where they haven't won places like Chichester and Surrey Heath. And you don't win those places back by joining forces with Reform. Give it a lesson while you're pottering about the place or walking the dog, it's well worth it. Mandelson also points out that the "well this isn't as good as Blair's majority" line is nonsense (even though he was saying it last night), because Labour in 97 had had two elections prior to that where they'd been making progress and building support. This time they've gone from record defeat, to landslide in one electoral cycle. Given that context, OF COURSE their majority looks a bit brittle. But I'd rather he where they currently are, than where the Tories currently are.

And btw, this is one of the reasons why Tories and the Tory press fucking hate and are scared of her.