Thursday, 14 May 2026
Just the one?
Labour's day of anarchy: Angela Rayner cleared by taxman - as Streeting prepares to challenge
Labour's leadership anarchy took a dramatic twist today as Angela Rayner declared she had been cleared by the taxman - and suggested Keir Starmer could consider quitting.
The former deputy PM effectively threw her hat into the ring by announcing that she has paid £40,000 to settle her wrangling with HMRC over unpaid stamp duty.
Crucially, she insisted that she had not been made to pay any penalty for deliberately or 'carelessly' dodging tax.
The peculiar hard, inelastic touch of incipient decay
Ledging the lid crossways on the coffin, he placed his hand gently upon Camilla’s brow. It was colder than he had expected, and it had the peculiar hard, inelastic touch of incipient decay — that touch which communicates a shudder even to the most impassive.
Arnold Bennett - Hugo: A Fantasia on Modern Themes (1906)
A chap is bound to wonder what else has the peculiar hard, inelastic touch of incipient decay. Something a little less human, a little more abstract perhaps, such as a government.
Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Our safest bet?
Joseph Dinnage has a depressing CAPX piece on what many people seem resigned to - Keir Starmer as Prime Minister may our safest bet because the alternatives are likely to be worse. Worth reading for those who can stomach the idea.
The King’s Speech confirms that Starmer is our safest bet
This was not the King’s Speech Keir Starmer imagined it would be. The crisis engulfing the Prime Minister has become so terminal that Buckingham Palace even questioned whether it would be appropriate for the King to speak at all.
But Starmer hasn’t maneuvered himself to the top job for nothing, and he patently won’t go down without a fight. So the show goes on, and as did the King’s Speech.
Setting out the Government’s agenda, King Charles outlined 35 pieces of legislation that Starmer – if he lasts for long enough – believes will transform Britain’s fortunes.
One of the greatest obstacles to this administration’s success has been its confused approach to the economy. Before the election, we were promised a government hell bent on achieving growth, that would make the tough decisions necessary to achieve it. But what did we get? Job-killing workers’ rights legislation, tax hikes and yet more unproductive public spending.
If the reopening of Parliament was supposed to mark a radical new departure, it certainly did not deliver.
- It's depressing, but the bond markets have made their preference clear
- In times of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, we should stick with the devil we know
- Britain could decline even more sharply under a new Labour leader
This was not the King’s Speech Keir Starmer imagined it would be. The crisis engulfing the Prime Minister has become so terminal that Buckingham Palace even questioned whether it would be appropriate for the King to speak at all.
But Starmer hasn’t maneuvered himself to the top job for nothing, and he patently won’t go down without a fight. So the show goes on, and as did the King’s Speech.
Setting out the Government’s agenda, King Charles outlined 35 pieces of legislation that Starmer – if he lasts for long enough – believes will transform Britain’s fortunes.
One of the greatest obstacles to this administration’s success has been its confused approach to the economy. Before the election, we were promised a government hell bent on achieving growth, that would make the tough decisions necessary to achieve it. But what did we get? Job-killing workers’ rights legislation, tax hikes and yet more unproductive public spending.
If the reopening of Parliament was supposed to mark a radical new departure, it certainly did not deliver.
Rachel Reeves could do with one of those
Indian state leader removes personal astrologer from key government role after backlash
Rationalist critics and opposition leaders had argued that such an appointment would promote superstition over scientific thinking
The newly elected chief minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has revoked the appointment of his longtime astrologer to a key government role following backlash.
Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, an actor-turned-politician who scored a stunning victory on his electoral debut earlier this month, had picked Rickey Randhan Pandit Vettrivel, an astrologer and numerologist with no administrative experience, to advise him in office.
Rachel Reeves could do with a numerologist...
Oh hang on, numerology is just superstitious twaddle.
Ed's the man for that.
A hidden order that connects them together.
Scientists discover new way to find aliens
Discovery could allow scientists to find signs of life without relying on particular special instruments, researchers suggest
Scientists might have find a new way of detecting life on other planets.
For years, scientists have been combing the Earth looking for particular molecules on other worlds that might be signs of life. But new research suggests that there might be another, more revealing way of finding them: not by looking for the molecules, but what scientists believe is a hidden order that connects them together.
Discovery could allow scientists to find signs of life without relying on particular special instruments, researchers suggest
Scientists might have find a new way of detecting life on other planets.
For years, scientists have been combing the Earth looking for particular molecules on other worlds that might be signs of life. But new research suggests that there might be another, more revealing way of finding them: not by looking for the molecules, but what scientists believe is a hidden order that connects them together.
Tuesday, 12 May 2026
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