Andy Birks

Passionate about football (SUFC), cricket and sport in general. Cisco partner business owner. Proud father of 3. All views are my own

[Harry Hugo @HarryHugoGoat]

🚨 Disaster. Sponsor has pulled out after signing the contracts and the day before shirts go to print 🙃

I have 24 hours to fill our back of shirt sponsor.

Throwing in hospitality package for 8 in our brand new hospitality suite as part of the deal.

133,000,000 views on this shirt last season and 3 back-to-back promotions. Now in the National League South.

Who's in?

[Victoria Whittam @vicwhittamITV]

(1/2) An inquest is due to get underway into the death Sheffield United footballer, Maddy Cusack (27,) 3 yrs after she took her own life. Her family complained to the club, alleging the head coach at the time, Johnathan Morgan had exhibited bullying behaviour towards her.

[Andy Birks @andybirks_]

@JoshFG So sorry for your loss Josh. Condolences to you and your family. Take care 💙

[Steve Rosenberg @BBCSteveR]

"I've been to a few SPIEFs. But none quite like this one." What we saw at this year's St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Producer @BBCBenTavener https://t.co/xhUxB17fXF

[Joncro @JohnCrookes7]

If Burnham puts country first he would be advised to get behind and support our Prime Minister and suspend his leadership bid until the run up to the next General Election by which time Sir Keir may have had enough of all the undeserved flack he has had from the right wing media.

[Ben Judah @b_judah]

Northern Ireland remaining in the EU single market for goods means we have an entire region running as a counterfactual on how much wealthier we’d have been had we stayed. It’s actually outperformed London.

[Andy Birks @andybirks_]

@CaolanReports @campbellclaret maybe important topic to reference on your podcast.

[William Dalrymple @DalrympleWill]

Alex Younger, with whom used to play toy soldiers with as a boy growing up in the Borders half a century ago, was an intensely moral man, perhaps unusually for a successful intelligence officer. Privately he was forthright in his criticism of those, such as Netanyahu, who were happy to slaughter the innocents among their enemies. This line in his obituary rang very true to the man I knew: "He was acutely aware of the corrupting powers of espionage and of the compromises it requires, but decried the “pernicious myth that, somehow, intelligence services are moral equivalents; that the end justifies the means, whatever the cost”. MI6 was not the same as the services of authoritarian states. “If we undermine the values we defend, even in the name of defending them, then we have lost.”"

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

I’ve been investigating the russian refinery for days now and the story gets darker and darker. The shipments are sent to Siberia, smelted, and sold to the russian company ‘ASK’. This company distributes aluminium directly to Russia’s missile & drone manufacturers.

[nazir afzal @nazirafzal]

Murder of Henry Nowak is NOT our “George Floyd”

A jury found Floyd was killed by a white police officer, actions celebrated by some on the Right
Nowak was killed by a Sikh civilian, condemned by everyone & deserves to rot in jail

Sarah Everard was our “Floyd”
Never forget her

[Lee Broadbent @leembroad]

The death of Henry Nowak is a tragedy in every sense, and the public reaction to the body‑worn video is completely understandable. It is painful to watch. It is painful for officers to watch. And it is painful for Henry’s family to know that his final moments were chaotic, confused and shaped by a lie told by the man who killed him.

But if we are going to talk about this case, and especially where/if politicians make highly charged statements, I believe it’s important to stay anchored to what was actually established in court.

The judge was clear that the responsibility for Henry’s death lies solely with the man who stabbed him. The fatal wound to his chest was described as “catastrophic” and “unsurvivable”, and the pathologist confirmed that no medical intervention, immediate or otherwise, could have saved Henry. That does not erase the distressing nature of the footage, it does not mitigate the seemingly dispassionate response of the officers in attendance, but it does matter when we are trying to understand what happened and what could or could not have changed the outcome.

It is also a matter of record that the officers were responding to a 999 call in which the offender falsely claimed he had been the victim of a racist attack and insisted no weapon had been used. That deception shaped the first few minutes on scene.

The IOPC has been involved from the outset, and the officers have remained as witnesses throughout. This is an important distinction, as those familiar with post incident procedures can tell you. If there was a shred of doubt or suspicion that the officers actions at the time, when balanced against the information known at the time and their reasonable held beliefs, amounted to potential misconduct, the IOPC must at the earliest opportunity review their status. The IOPC have confirmed that the officers status remains unchanged. That indicates that the officers initial decisions/actions have already been assessed against the information known at the time and is unlikely to now change and amount to misconduct.

None of this means the initial assessment was correct. It wasn’t. The officers misread the situation, and the body‑worn video shows that plainly. But policing is full of moments where decisions are made in seconds, under pressure, with incomplete or misleading information. Sometimes those decisions are right. Sometimes they are not. And sometimes…as in this case…the consequences are unbearably tragic even when the mistake does not change the final outcome.

What we cannot/should not do is turn this into a proxy battle in a wider culture war. Henry’s family have asked that his death is not used to fuel division, hate or to propagate political agendas.

It is possible to hold two truths at once:
that the initial response was flawed, sloppy even…and the investigation needs to establish how policy, procedure and relied information impacted those decisions and events; and that despite the officers clear mistakes and compassion fatigue, they did not cause Henry’s death, nor could they have prevented it.

Policing is at its worst when it becomes defensive, but it is also at its worst when it becomes a canvas onto which people project their own political battles and/or bitterness. This case, if it is to be a turning point, deserves better than that.

We can demand accountability without abandoning fairness. We can acknowledge mistakes without inventing motives. And we can talk honestly about the pressures and imperfections of frontline policing without turning every tragedy into a referendum on the entire profession.

That balance is difficult. But, to my mind, it is the only way we avoid repeating the same cycles of outrage, distortion, division and defensiveness that have done so much damage to public trust… and to the people who still turn up, every day, to do a job that is getting harder by the day.

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

For weeks, Irish politicians have dodged questions about the refinery in Ireland supplying Russia’s war machine.

So I tracked down government minister Niall Collins at a farming show.

He refuses to back sanctions & his stance was worse than I expected.

Avoidance.

[Sheffield United Community Foundation @CommunitySUFC]

£18 million in social value — delivered together 🫶⚔

We're extremely proud to have generated almost £18m in social value across our city, empowering people through sport, health, education, and inclusion.

Want to hear more about what's next for us? Join us at our upcoming Strategy Launch - "We Are United" - to discover our vision, hear real impact stories, and find out how you can get involved.

📅 16th June 9:30am - 12pm 📍Bramall Lane Pavillion🔗 Register now: https://t.co/5bpUU3vaBP

#socialvalue #communityimpact #bramalllane #sufc #sheffieldunited

[Andy Birks @andybirks_]

@wardyblade1975 Happy Birthday Lennon 🎉🎂🥳!

[TheBossRoss 🇪🇺 🧶 ❄ 📷 6x💉 @BettinaSRoss1]

So what happens when Reform take over your local council?

This.

#KentCountyCouncil

[Mims Davies MP @mimsdavies]

Horrific. Appalling. Unacceptable.

Women and girls left to wonder when the justice system will actually deliver for them.

Inexplicable the choice that these rapists get puny rehabilitation orders.

The 2 girls affected - will be affected for ever.

If you rape at knife point - apparently you can still avoid jail.

In no way can this ever be acceptable.

Justice for them both and their families must prevail

@aliciakearns

[Mr Ethical 🚩 @nw_nicholas]

A summary:

• previously overseas voters can only be registered for 15 years.
• Harborne has lived in Thailand at least 25 years. He has been making political donations since 2001.
• some of them must be illegal
• the 15 years rule was abolished (under Johnson, another Harborne donee [thanks @chris_spencer04]) in January 2024. • unless Harborne registered after Jan 2024 he was an impermissible donor
• Farage argues he wasn't an MP at the time. That doesn't wash with Parliament, but he's not worried about Parliament & its limited powers, he's worried about Electoral Commission.
• EC can take an interest if the money was for political campaigning etc, which is why Farage is at pains, via various versions, to say it had nothing to do politics.

Conclusion - an illegal foreign donation laundered through two properties, maybe more.

[𝔭𝔞𝔭𝔦𝔠𝔥𝔲𝔩𝔬! @UtdChulo]

“Thomas Tuchel left Maguire out because he’s not a progressive passer”

“Thomas Tuchel left Maguire out because he can’t pass from the back”

You guys lie a lot!!!!!

[Mr Ethical 🚩 @nw_nicholas]

@mjb1878 @calculus52 @Peston FT have just done it! https://t.co/9qiKWkUlvJ

[caenhillcc @caenhillcc]

Greetings and good morning it’s the Sunday farm rush hour with Oreo