Tom

[Tom @TGHarding]

Sometimes, just sometimes. It’s perfect. X

[Stu thats all you get🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @Boldyboy1975]

Could watch these all day 🤣🤣🤣

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨🎥 WATCH: Ryanair CEO Micheal O'Leary calls Rachel Reeves "Rachel Rubbish" as he criticises her for not abolishing Air Passenger Duty

"I don't know what fucking airline this dopey git actually flies on"

"It shows you how out of touch the Treasury are with fucking reality"

[no context the west wing @LemonLymancom]

20 years ago today, "King Corn" premiered on NBC.

[Mark Carney @MarkJCarney]

I’m in. 🇨🇦

https://t.co/yH4HkAjL0V

[Tom @TGHarding]

@jessphillips is the best of British political leadership. We need more leaders like her in our politics. She is the best of us.

[𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘆🫧💚 @beyoncegarden]

this was pure cinema LMFAOOO😭😭😭

[Dominic Frisby @DominicFrisby]

The Tories were so useless thank the Lord that they have gone …

[Keir Starmer @Keir_Starmer]

A very special call this Christmas.

[no context the west wing @LemonLymancom]

25 years ago today, “In Excelsis Deo” aired on television for the first time. 🎄

[no context the west wing @LemonLymancom]

19 years ago, John Spencer died of a heart attack on December 16, 2005. Rest in peace ❤️

[Election Maps UK @ElectionMapsUK]

Some thoughts on this map...

🌳 Nightmare of a map for Badenoch as her first electoral test. Seats were last up in the 2021 vaccine-aided high-water mark at peak Boris popularity. Will be hard to balance messaging to fight off both LD and Reform. Big losses likely. Only saving grace is there's little prospect of Labour making inroads as things stand.

🌹 Relief for Labour as they start at such a low benchmark. Losses are likely though they might even benefit slightly from a split right-wing vote in certain areas. Means they can afford to be unpopular for another year but they'll need to see some benefit to the difficult decisions they're making by 2026 where potential losses are big (incl. Welsh Parliament).

🔶 Great opportunities for the Lib Dems, many of the areas they gained in 2024 are up for election here against a much weaker Conservative party than in 2021, very good chance for them finish 2nd in seat count.

➡️ Huge potential for Reform, council elections happening in all 5 parliamentary seats they won. East Coast was always fertile UKIP territory at a local level. Big question is can they stand enough candidates (only 12% in May 2024).

[The News Agents @TheNewsAgents]

"I was weeping as my friends lost their seats, Jeremy's staff just sniggering to themselves, didn't care.

I thought: You bastards."

@EmilyThornberry calls Corbyn's 2019 election campaign "disastrous" and says his team didn't have party interests at heart.

@lewis_goodall

[Sky Sports F1 @SkySportsF1]

"That is not a guy that I respect" ❌

George Russell furiously hit back at Max Verstappen after the F1 world champion's stinging criticism of him 🗣️

[England Rugby @EnglandRugby]

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened 😄

Thank you, @JoeMarler 🌹

[Tom @TGHarding]

This is very much the “Country before Party” approach, given the line about “whatever the facts of the matter, the issue will inevitably be a distraction”. Nips it in the bud, which is good for politics more generally and it also shows Starmer continues to be utterly ruthless.

[Beth Rigby @BethRigby]

BREAKING: Louise Haigh has resigned as transport secretary after @robpowellnews @alexrogerssky revealed she’d been convicted of an offence related to a mobile phone six months before becoming an MP. Says it was a ‘mistake’ & she’s sorry to leave under these circs, doesn’t want to be distraction

[Henry Zeffman @hzeffman]

NEW: Louise Haigh has resigned as transport secretary

[University of Oxford @UniofOxford]

Lord Hague of Richmond will serve as the next Chancellor of University of Oxford, having won a majority of support in the final round of voting for the post.

Lord Hague becomes the 160th recorded Chancellor in the University’s history, a role that dates back at least 800 years.

[Ed Hodgson @edhodgsoned]

Having spent the last months researching public opinion on assisted dying, one of the most interesting things has been how it doesn't polarise along traditional lines of political party, gender, socioeconomic group, or region.

So what does shape public opinion on this? 🧵....

[Tom @TGHarding]

Rest in Peace, Lord John Prescott #johnprescott https://t.co/XKBHzy8FGQ

[Paul Johnson @PJTheEconomist]

Seriously? I know this was in the Red Book. And I'm no expert on rules covering what government depts can/cannot say. But at best this is dubious. And that's being generous. Increasing NI was the central tax raising measure in the Budget. What is the point in pushing this line?