John Attewell

#marillionmob

[Ben 🇬🇧 @BenInRushcliffe]

All this in two years. @Keir_Starmer.

Feel free to share.

[Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys]

Immigration makes Britain brilliant.

[John Attewell @jakefish]

@liamgallagher @delreymaybe Quite cool, that you randomly quoted a Spice girls lyric 😀

[The Left Bible @theleftbible]

Nigel Farage secretly trousered £5 million in cash, and he didn’t want you to know.

Since the media have barely covered it, let's make it go viral 👇

[Neil Kaye @neilrkaye]

Animating the Mercator projection to the true size of each country in relation to all the others.

Focusing on a single country helps to see effect best.

#dataviz #maps #GIS #projectionmapping #mapping

[John Attewell @jakefish]

@walls @Morrisons where & when can I buy these again in Liverpool ?

[Don McGowan @donmcgowan]

Our media fixation with Keir Starmer is becoming a literal drag on the country now.

As I write this, I can already see the replies forming below, accusing me of being a Labour shill etc. but, believe it or not, I am not.

Maybe it's worth setting this out — I have no party affiliation. None. I'm not 'on the right' … but that's as far as it goes.

There are policies and people that I admire across the Lib Dems, Greens and Labour. Conversely, there are policies and people I am vehemently against within each of those parties as well.

There are some decent Conservatives left but fewer and fewer in frontline politics and I can have excellent discussions with those moderate Tories that remain.

Where my line in the sand is drawn though, as I'm sure you're all aware, is the far-right. Reform UK and Restore Britain. I have no common ground with their populism — I see through the propaganda.

This doesn't mean that I think every member of Reform UK is a bad person, far from it, but I cannot rationalise their top-line bravado into credible politics.

So, with all that being said, I think the witch-hunt of Keir Starmer is distracting the public from some far more serious crises.

Since the very day Starmer took office, there has been an onslaught from the media; desperation to try and topple him and his principal team. This played out successfully with Angela Rayner, and they have been vicious and relentless pursuing Rachel Reeves.

I listened to Paul Brand on LBC at the weekend continuously comparing Starmer to Boris Johnson in terms of sleaze.

Have we collectively lost our minds? There is no other Prime Minister in history that compares to Johnson for scandal.

The elephant in the room — Peter Mandelson.

But is it really an elephant still? Clearly, Starmer should never have brought the Prince of Darkness into his team, that was a madness and severe failing of judgement. One for which he has accepted responsibility and apologised on multiple occasions.

The vetting process appears to be, pretty much, a non-story, despite what Dan Hodges and GB News are shovelling out.

So … we should be moving on. Shouldn't we?

Kemi Badenoch and her famously robust judgement felt not yesterday, and spent more of her diminishing political currency by pushing Starmer with six questions at PMQs on the subject. She was met with a well briefed lawyer, that, in all honesty, made her look a bit silly for continuing her defeated line of questioning.

While this continues to dominate the headlines, other far more crucial issues are being missed — we're going to run low on fuel soon, the cost of living is about to skyrocket, holidays will be cancelled imminently.

But mainly ... the cost of living is about to skyrocket.

We saw in yesterday's inflation rise that food is already moving upward, if Trump's ludicrous war in Iran continues, then we're all going to suffer the consequences.

Surely, this is a far more pressing matter? One in which the government should be fully engaged in order to help protect the public — it's number one duty.

It is very telling that Reform UK are spending very little time on the Starmer issue. They sent Lee Anderson out to raise this issue, for goodness’ sake. LEE ANDERSON.

Farage is hyper focused on the local elections, safe in the knowledge that the media is obsessing over Keir Starmer, once again. He's making hay while the S*n shines on Labour.

Jeez! This went on a bit, sorry, but it feels critical to me. We are being led around by the nose by the legacy media outlets. They smell blood in the water, but I really don't think the story is there. Not yet.

And while the sharks circle, Reform UK are flying under the radar, ready to swoop on the local elections [sorry for the weird mixed metaphors — it's early!].

Have a lovely sunny day. 🌞

[Madelaine Hanson @MadelaineLucyH]

Ok, Americans, I am beginning to realise how badly misinformed you are on UK politics so let’s blitz this.

1. There is NO “welfare” in Britain. There are specific allowances and support systems in place for the vulnerable and deprived, but we call this benefits/universal credit. If you asked for the “welfare centre” here no one would know what you meant. It depends massively on where you live and what your situation is.

2. The NHS is not “welfare”. It’s not “what poor people have to do”. The vast majority of people use it.

3. You can’t get benefits in the UK unless you are legally allowed to stay here, are established as unable to work, facing extreme poverty, or are actively looking for work. You’d be given a leaflet on applying for jobs.

4. You can’t get council housing (welfare housing) in the UK unless you have no funds to support yourself in the private market AND you are unable to house yourself on your wages/income. Often they will place you in temporary shared hostel housing , not your own place, especially if you don’t have kids. You don’t just get a “free house”.

5. No, illegal immigrants don’t qualify for anything. You’ll be denied assistance if you don’t have the correct documentation as a refugee, citizen, resident, etc. You can’t just turn up and get money and education.

6. We pay councils (like mini states) tax on top of our normal tax for residency in that area and they are responsible for a LOT of local services and funding decisions. Nothing to do with Keir Starmer.

7. You have councillors and MPs. Both are elected. The first are usually civil servants who know how to do things, the second are more career politicians. Sometimes you get a “angry at the government” idiot candidate as a councillor and you’re fucked because he’s a crook and out for himself.

8. No, the king can’t intervene in politics or change any laws. The last person who did was Edward VII in the 1900s and he was ordered to after an election/parliamentary ruling. He’s basically Melania Trump power wise.

9. No, we don’t all support the royalty. It’s mostly for tourist so and grandmas. No one really talks about them.

10. No, we aren’t overrun by Muslims. London, Birmingham and Bradford are large urban immigrant areas but 60 years ago the same rhetoric was about Irish people and Black Caribbean people. Racists gonna racist.

[Martin Lewis @MartinSLewis]

The govt's Student Loan Plan 2 repayment freeze in April 2027 must be reversed. It isn't moral.

I'm concerned that my debate with Kemi Badenoch this morning distracts from the most immediate problem. In April 2027 Rachel Reeves will freeze the Plan 2 student loan threshold until 2030 which by then will increase graduate repayments by £300/yr more.

This is effectively a unilateral negative breach of the student loan contract. Students were told the threshold would rise with average earnings. No commercial lender would be allowed to do this. The govt shouldn't do it either.

Changing the terms of future students loans is a political decision - people may not like it but it is transparent. Negatively changing the terms of contracts already signed, and long in place, is a breach of natural justice.

[Tristan @Tristan0x]

This aired tonight to 1 billion people in China. A year ago these robots could barely wave a handkerchief, now they can do backflips and kung fu with nunchucks. Physical intelligence is the next frontier.

[Figure @Figure_robot]

Introducing Helix 02

It's our most powerful model to date - it's using the whole body to do dishes end-to-end and it's fully autonomous

[Dipti Sharma @Diptish09]

1. Free Streaming Finder

"List all legal, free streaming platforms available in my country. Include movies, TV shows, documentaries, live TV, and kids content. Explain what each platform excels at."

[Brian Allen @allenanalysis]

Scottish comedian Lewis MacLeod just did a Donald Trump impression so accurate it feels like evidence.

[John Simpson @JohnSimpsonNews]

This was the Daily Mail’s 2016 take on Britain trapped in the EU and gazing at the freedom and prosperity outside.

[John Attewell @jakefish]

@jackwhitehall Malice is great, please tell me there is a bloopers reel

[Jack Whitehall @jackwhitehall]

It’s time. Malice is out now on @PrimeVideo.

https://t.co/jVdEWMrmqK

[John Attewell @jakefish]

@jackwhitehall watched the first episode of Malice, and you really can act ! I hate Adam already. Well done !!

[Zack Polanski @ZackPolanski]

Ever since I finished Question Time, Reform have massively been on the attack.

Including a rant from Richard Tice entirely designed to distract from Reform and Russia.

Everyone should know about Nathan Gill, the bribes from Russia and the link to Reform.