Alan Trench

Quondam academic and devolution adviser.
Uneasy about a world where the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

The war will indeed end, with Russia's conquest and annexation of Ukraine. This endorsement of Vance by Lavrov should be taken in deadly earnest.

[Alan Trench @devomatters]

@PickardJE

[Larry the Cat @Number10cat]

"VAT on private school fees?! I've got three of them to pay for; do you think I'm made of money?!"

[Jim Pickard 🐋 @PickardJE]

Liz Truss, who lost her seat in the general election, giving advice to the Tory party on how to win elections

[Alan Trench @devomatters]

if a serious figure in a party thinks 'strength of conviction' trumps 'policies that can actually be implemented', 'policies from which there are more winners than losers' and 'competent people making policies happen', they're going to be out of office for a long time

[James Vitali @VitaliJames]

Our defeat last week was certainly about a failure to deliver. But what is that
ensures parties deliver in difficult and uncertain circumstances?

It is strength of conviction. I've written for the @Telegraph this weekend about how we rediscover ours
https://t.co/EZk6TMIuRM

[Alan Trench @devomatters]

@kitty_donaldson one smile on both their faces? Surely each was smiling their own smile. Or is Britain now forced to borrow smiles from the US too?

[Alan Trench @devomatters]

@huspsa they are. The Asian pop of Leics East is almost entirely Hindu (or maybe Sikh). The Muslim one is concentrated in South - much of which (fun fact) was largely developed by Methodists, so it has no pubs!

[Alan Trench @devomatters]

@huspsa @Samfr I think that was more of an issue in Leics East which has a higher Hindu population than Leics South - and of course Labour lost Leics East too!

[Alan Trench @devomatters]

@Samfr there's an interesting conflict (or overlap?) if he's also got a remit for the Constitution. Does that mean he's i/c relations with devolved govts in the way Michael Gove was as Paymaster-General?

[John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch]

People are growing thoroughly fed up of a system that they don’t think is working, and increasingly opting for populist parties (or not voting at all).

This is not funny. Countries only do this when they’re in extreme distress.

[Alan Trench @devomatters]

@RJDoyleSW2 @josiahmortimer Whitehall would never want the sheer amount of hassle involved!
(I remember a senior official responsible for relations with both Crown deps and devolved admins complaining that practically all her work was the former. The latter were easy by comparison.)

[Stewart Wood @StewartWood]

Austerity has fundamentally cracked our country’s public services. It harmed us all, those with least the most. It set the context for Brexit, our Covid response, the return of mass child poverty, our NHS crisis. On July 4th please remember: we are all still living with it. 3/3

[Alan Trench @devomatters]

@twlldun Scrofula is the King's Evil. Nigel's not up to much more than spots.

[Alan Trench @devomatters]

absolutely this!

[robert shrimsley @robertshrimsley]

Having dodged the issue for tactical reasons before the election, there are very good political and economics reasons for Starmer to play prosecutor on Brexit once he has won. 1/n

Why Starmer should now play prosecutor on Brexit https://t.co/PNNH3zMR4D via @ft

[Jim Pickard 🐋 @PickardJE]

not saying the Tory campaign is getting desperate but it’s now…vote Labour if you hate puppies and kittens

[Morten Morland @mortenmorland]

Life imitating cartoon

[Larry the Cat @Number10cat]

Reminding people that they should regret giving the Conservatives a majority five years ago is an interesting tactic.

[Peter Foster @pmdfoster]

🤯 when a Conservative cabinet decided the party was more important than the country’s well-being.

Astonishing moment from @ShippersUnbound account of May’s Brexit travails in Spring 2019. (Fall Out, p.485)

[Alan Trench @devomatters]

@robertshrimsley it's not so much an archaelogical find as a rare wildlife sighting. They're gregarious beasts so like to congregate in large packs when they can, and often get too intimate when that happens.

[Alan Trench @devomatters]

and if you're a multisquillionaire living in free accommodation in central London, who's enjoyed two very rapid promotions due to chaos in your organisation and who can return to California when it doesn't work out, perhaps it is

[Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield]

Rishi Sunak says "this is a better place to live than it was in 2010".