َ

Cyber consultant. Former UK Cyber Diplomat and GFCE Rep. Rugby fanatic (@Harlequins). Cultural history nerd. Husband and modernist design dreamer....

[Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound]

Further to Blair. Literally every honest sensible person in all the main parties privately agrees with all these propositions:

- welfare spending is too high and is throwing good people on the scrapheap
- defence spending is too low
- the triple lock is unsustainable
- without cheap energy we cannot exploit the AI revolution
- we should be investing in EVERY form of energy: renewables, nuclear and the North Sea
- migration needs to be controlled to boost social cohesion and because the boats look like a huge failure of the state
- any new relationship with the EU will be imposed on us until we are stronger and cannot involve the closeness some desire without freedom of movement
- we are deeply embedded with America in ways which the public does not understand and cannot be told and however joyous it makes us feel to hate Trump, disengagement at the deep state level is not only wholly unrealistic but also undesirable
- Whitehall needs a total overhaul so specific project expertise and political appointees can be brought in quickly

Blair basically says all that.

The one thing he doesn’t say and which the same group of people agree on is this and it’s something Blair left behind:

- judges and quangos have too much power, are unaccountable and without redressing the balance in favour of parliament it is very difficult to do anything big fast
- the bare minimum that needs to change in this regard is to reform judicial review and planning law so we can put building and economic growth ahead of newts and NIMBYs

None of that above really ought to be up for discussion. It is all common sense but not one of our politicians will publicly say all of it

Whatever you think of Blair, engage with what he’s saying not how he makes you feel. The bare minimum we should expect from any leader is that they have an analysis of the current situation and a plan to deal with it which is as coherent and realistic as his intervention. Pretty well every critique I’ve read so far has failed to meet this requirement.

Over to Andy and Keir and Kemi and Nigel and Zack and all the others

[َ @thomaswmj1]

@AlistairCarns Well said!

[َ @thomaswmj1]

Love the commentator for #IREvRSA - brilliant game and phenomenal refereeing

[Ian Gallosi @IAGallosi]

Absolutely awful day at @altontowers today. Was meant to be having fun for with friends on my 40th. Managed to get on 2 rides in 5 hours and then gave up. Rides closing or breaking down all the time, 2-3 hour queries when some of them were open. Complete joke.

[The Good, The Bad & The Rugby @GoodBadRugby]

We’ve teamed up with @infinitysportst to give you the chance to win 1 of 10 ultimate rugby packages for you and a friend for the upcoming quarter-finals in France. To enter:

1️⃣ Like & retweet this post
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T&C's apply.
Does not include Flights, Beverage packages, Speciality Dining, WiFi, Service charge and port tax.

[َ @thomaswmj1]

@ciaranmartinoxf Yep. Just boring. Although respect to those who play the game to their advantage.

[َ @thomaswmj1]

@ciaranmartinoxf Oh dear…clearly a focus on the soul rather than foot

[Clandestine @akaclandestine]

#Blackhat 2022 all the slides.

https://t.co/ljdzCJRHB7

[َ @thomaswmj1]

Unbelievable! 🤬Booked our honeymoon flights BA First a year ago. Arrive at the airport and been bumped for people who booked yesterday. Cue a wife in tears. Thanks for single handedly ruining our honeymoon #BA #honeymoon #BritishAirways

[َ @thomaswmj1]

Excellent assessment. ‘Direct Appointments’ are ultimately individual decisions of trust. Getting clarity on the process is somewhat impossible.
I argue that it is the ‘reasoning’ and not the ‘process’ of DA, which requires transparency. Set accountability.

[Tim Durrant @timd_IFG]

On a bumper take out the trash day, the Boardman review into Greensill's work is just one of many big stories.

But as I argue for @instituteforgov, the review is just the *start* of the work that ministers need to do to clean things up in government

https://t.co/QpwgvKzVpR

[Tim Durrant @timd_IFG]

On a bumper take out the trash day, the Boardman review into Greensill's work is just one of many big stories.

But as I argue for @instituteforgov, the review is just the *start* of the work that ministers need to do to clean things up in government

https://t.co/QpwgvKzVpR

[َ @thomaswmj1]

Great to see Barnet has its finger firmly on the political pulse…Should you still be a privy council member if you break your own government’s rules??

[Paul Brand @PaulBrandITV]

Tory MP @SteveBakerHW says his party has to back footballers taking the knee after ministers dismissed it as “gesture politics”.

“It’s a wake up call for the Conservative party just how powerful our words are… We just have to get alongside those players who take the knee”.

[Alex R @marquoth]

@AndrewRosindell Just so were clear Andrew -

Footballers "getting involved in politics" to support brexit: ✅
Footballers "getting involved in politics" to oppose racism: ❌

Yes?

That isnt telling footballers to stay out of politics. Its telling black men what they are and arent allowed to say

[The Secret Barrister 🦋 @BarristerSecret]

The facts still defy belief on a cold reading.

The national football team chose to display an anti-racism message, informed in part by their own direct experiences.

Racists booed them.

The Prime Minister & Home Secretary publicly criticised the players and backed the racists.

[َ @thomaswmj1]

Time to start learning how artificial this all is 🤓 #wired

[LondonCyber @LondonCyber]

Great to meet @Geekulcha, hearing about their SafeHacks events across Africa, identifying and growing youth talent in Cyber Security #UKinSouthAfrica #AfricaCyber #CyberProsperity