Craig Hendry

[Geoff Norcott @GeoffNorcott]

Is Scottish football commentary usually that biased?
Pat Nevin and his mate sounded like they were doing poppers towards the end there.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

The politics of a country in decline. Not a single word about wealth creation, without which none of this nonsense can be financed. It’s deeply pathetic. If people fall for this left-wing populist drivel we’ve ceased to be a serious country.

[Sam Taylor @staylorish]

1/ How to demonstrate that John Swinney is not telling the truth about Scotland’s “low-cost” renewables.🧵

First, go to the Ofgem website and download this spreadsheet: https://t.co/FeAaozTmWo

[Sam Taylor @staylorish]

If you had to pick the two funniest words to misspell in SNP election materials, you’d be hard pressed to improve on “independence” and “education”. Tremendous work by Kate Campbell.

[Andy @Bobmcphail1872]

No one said they were.

But.. we have no chance of building anything EVER, or rectifying/ developing mentality EVER, if this now becomes the default for any manager we have, who must not only start off brilliant, but then continue brilliantly, and when a drop in form comes along, the need to be sacked becomes immediate.

I'm all for learning the mistakes of the past, but we must avoid overlearning the mistakes of the past. At some point you need to recognise the difference between undeniable progress that has hit the buffers by small margins and terminal decline. We are in the former not the latter.

That team today averaged 24yrs old, there were 3 players signed permanently in Jan who will get better again, and there is still more surgery required on the squad to be made (unless you think the bench was Laden with quality today?)

1st half was perfect, the 2nd half was unacceptable - but I think it's fair for Röhl to expect the players on the park to be capable of ONE COUNTER ATTACKING TURNOVER IN THAT 45 MINUTES to kill the game. Because we do that and today is hailed as a perfect match and he's had a perfect gameplan.

This season is bonkers and I think the difference between 1st and 4th will be marginal. Cup tie is crucial but for me it changes nothing re the above.

Structure is now stable above the coach and the improvements are definite, emotions tonight are overruling the strategy that I think is required to build a winning team.

[Paul Sweeney MSP @PaulJSweeney]

You can currently get a train from central Glasgow to Manchester Airport, but not Glasgow Airport. With over 8 million people using the airport in 2024 alone, this lack of accessibility cannot continue.

Recent increased prices for airport drop off and restricted bus links mean the airport is becoming unfeasible for many.

@GARL_2_0 are calling for the revival of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link. Check out their campaign and how to get involved👇
https://t.co/sHwZpcn91P

[John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch]

The real sign British education has failed is the number of people responding to this chart with "that’s what happens when too many people go to university"

HE has expanded in all of these countries, and in every one apart from UK that didn’t erode the graduate earnings premium.

[Stig Abell @StigAbell]

Nearly six years ago, we created @TimesRadio partially to be an always-live place for analysis of big events. I’m a punter this week, heard about the arrest of Andrew, and knew when I said “play Times Radio” I’d get the latest plus insight. @hugorifkind on now doing a great job.

[Julian Jessop @julianHjessop]

I see the usual suspects (and some new ones!) are again pushing last year's NBER "working paper" which claimed that Brexit has already reduced UK GDP by as much as 8%... 🤔

ICYMI, this figure is derived by comparing growth in UK GDP per capita with the *averages* of a wide range of other countries with many different characteristics.

Any UK underperformance since 2016 is then attributed *solely to Brexit*. Other factors which may have impacted different economies in different ways over this period are ignored - notably Covid and the energy crisis.

Moreover, these studies gloss over the fact that growth in UK GDP per capita has not been far short of that in France and better than that of both Germany and Canada (which doesn't fit the narrative!).

Finally, the results fail a simple smell test. If the UK economy had grown by another 8% since 2016 it would have been the fastest growing major economy in Europe by a long way.

UK growth would also not have been far behind that of the US, even though the US economy has benefited from a large fiscal stimulus, relatively low energy costs, and an AI boom.

This is all obviously daft.

[S Sebag Montefiore @simonmontefiore]

This is beautifully written and alarming and moving - v well judged.
It describes where we are #
It is a must read article. Do read it

‘What I learnt when I took on Nick Fuentes’ ⁦@Dannythefink⁩

https://t.co/udocZAWDc1

[Kate McCann @KateEMcCann]

There will be people who think this is deeply unfair, but it can’t be avoided anymore. You cannot do politics like this now - going on the radio or TV and using a clever form of words to avoid saying the thing you think will end your career. It doesn’t work and it hasn’t worked for a long time.

The career-ending thing isn’t saying “I broke that promise and I’m sorry, but here’s why I really think it’s the right thing to do…” It is repeatedly saying you did it without holding up your hands; in the process treating your audience like they’re daft and eroding trust so much that nobody listens to your actual argument. Why would you get a hearing for what you believe is right if you can’t show enough respect to admit your choice broke a promise?

No parent would accept that kind of apology from a child; why do some of our politicians still think voters should accept it from them? Trust people to give you a hearing and they’ll listen even when you admit mistakes - maybe even more then, because it is human.

[Stig Abell @StigAbell]

The First World War miraculously produced all sorts of high culture. But every year on this day it is worth watching the ending of the greatest sitcom, which somehow managed to catch the tone of remembrance exactly, perfectly right.

[Lucy Hunter Blackburn @LucyHunterB]

Before the rally started is what I handed to one of the police on duty. I have his badge number. I asked for it to be given to the most senior officer present. It took some discussion to get him to take it from me, but eventually he took it and separately recorded my details./

[Liam Halligan @LiamHalligan]

New "When The Facts Change" post ✍️🖨️

"Britain has an inflation problem"

At 3.8pc, UK inflation is now at an 18-month high – and fast heading for double the Bank of England's 2pc target.

While price pressures have been easing across the rest of the G7 and the eurozone over recent months, inflation in Britain is going up.

The 30-year gilt yield hit a 27-year high earlier this week – and while the national debt was just 36pc of GDP back in 1998, it is now almost 100pc, which is why debt interest payments are spiralling out of control.

The UK's increasingly stark "inflation outlier" status, and this government's lack of fiscal discipline, means global investors are demanding higher interest payments still.

No-one knows how Britain's escalating fiscal crisis will end – but the lack of official and media attention being paid to what is happening is absolutely shocking.

Link to post in next message

[Sam Taylor @staylorish]

If Scotland was a serious country, Shona Robison would have to resign (or be fired) for spouting this gibberish.

[Robert Colvile @rcolvile]

Sadly, this is what a lot of us predicted. If you make it more expensive to hire people (and difficult to fire them) it is those entering or coming back into the workforce who will bear the brunt.

[Niall Ferguson @nfergus]

'The phrase “luxury beliefs” was coined by the brilliant @robkhenderson to sum up the more preposterous ideas that progressives can afford to hold — “Defund the police!” “Open borders!” “Men can become women!” — because they are largely sheltered from the consequences when such ideas are put into practice.' 1/8

[Robert Colvile @rcolvile]

The @OBR_UK's new fiscal risks report, published today, is the most polite, spreadsheet-filled horror story you will ever read. It is the bureaucratic, non-partisan equivalent of grabbing our politicians by the lapels and screaming in their faces. It is very, very bad.

[MajToure999 @MajToure]

This. Is FUCKING. HILARIOUS. 😂😂😂

[Sam Taylor @staylorish]

Roughly half of the civil servants employed by the Scottish Government in its core directorates are “managers” or “team leaders”. And half of them only manage one or two people. What a farcical situation.