Reposted by Kuba
I think it's wrong to describe the World Service as "soft power". It's actually "info power". And these days that's a very hard form of power indeed.
And another bites the dust?
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Guardian view on the BBC World Service: this is London calling | Editorial
Editorial: With just seven weeks before its funding runs out, the UK’s greatest cultural asset and most trusted international news organisation must be supported
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:05 PM
I think it's wrong to describe the World Service as "soft power". It's actually "info power". And these days that's a very hard form of power indeed.
The problem is Labour has governed largely left on economy, v right on immigration, been dragged by the backbenches to be good on welfare, and done a bit of rhetorical and gratuitous hippy punching for the love of the game. It also has cultivated a very skin-deep pro-business aesthetic
Keep seeing people ask whether Labour will revert to the left-wing policies of the 2015 manifesto. The ‘24 one was comfortably to its left.
February 15, 2026 at 6:21 PM
The problem is Labour has governed largely left on economy, v right on immigration, been dragged by the backbenches to be good on welfare, and done a bit of rhetorical and gratuitous hippy punching for the love of the game. It also has cultivated a very skin-deep pro-business aesthetic
At one point going for a long run today I wondered about the wisdom of it; and decided to do it anyway. Ditchling Beacon lovely as always!
February 15, 2026 at 4:37 PM
At one point going for a long run today I wondered about the wisdom of it; and decided to do it anyway. Ditchling Beacon lovely as always!
Reposted by Kuba
Reposted by Kuba
We bought Article II of the United Nations Charter with the blood of a hundred million human beings, and less than a century later, it's being sold for nothing by people who don't even understand what they're doing.
i think this is what drives me nuts. people talk about how, say, the UN was founded by "starry eyed idealists" who didn't understand "reality." the truth is that the UN was founded by those who had just fought and *won* the bloodiest war in human history.
February 14, 2026 at 8:03 PM
We bought Article II of the United Nations Charter with the blood of a hundred million human beings, and less than a century later, it's being sold for nothing by people who don't even understand what they're doing.
Reposted by Kuba
i often think about this review
February 14, 2026 at 3:13 AM
i often think about this review
The muddiest #parkrun I’ve ever done but the weather was spectacular and the wife and I wandered round Lewes afterwards, which was v cool.
If you ever want to do a Tough Mudder sim…
If you ever want to do a Tough Mudder sim…
February 14, 2026 at 1:41 PM
The muddiest #parkrun I’ve ever done but the weather was spectacular and the wife and I wandered round Lewes afterwards, which was v cool.
If you ever want to do a Tough Mudder sim…
If you ever want to do a Tough Mudder sim…
Reposted by Kuba
Rare to get an actual vox pop with a pothole
February 13, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Rare to get an actual vox pop with a pothole
At the start of the Russian invasion, there was a debate about whether to deny asylum (Tom Tugendhat called for it iirc).
Obviously, vet everyone properly. But if they’re willing to switch sides, take the best and the brightest. Shining city on a hill! That way victory lies!
Obviously, vet everyone properly. But if they’re willing to switch sides, take the best and the brightest. Shining city on a hill! That way victory lies!
Vladimir Semirunniy, who fled from Russia to Poland and was last year granted Polish citizenship, has won Poland's second medal at the Winter Olympics, taking silver in the men's 10,000m.
Urodził się w Rosji, zdobył medal dla Polski. Tak trafił do naszego kraju
W piątek Władimir Siemirunnij zdobył srebrny medal igrzysk olimpijskich na dystansie 10000 metrów. 23-latek urodził się w Rosji, a obywatelem Polski jest
sport.interia.pl
February 13, 2026 at 7:02 PM
At the start of the Russian invasion, there was a debate about whether to deny asylum (Tom Tugendhat called for it iirc).
Obviously, vet everyone properly. But if they’re willing to switch sides, take the best and the brightest. Shining city on a hill! That way victory lies!
Obviously, vet everyone properly. But if they’re willing to switch sides, take the best and the brightest. Shining city on a hill! That way victory lies!
Sorry this has stuck in my mind.
UK & EU oil and gas lobby: „is the speed of transition appropriate? Should we focus on our resources ahead of importing energy while building battery capacity?”
US „think-tanker” but really republican politician: „but what if world most _toasty_ good?!?!”
UK & EU oil and gas lobby: „is the speed of transition appropriate? Should we focus on our resources ahead of importing energy while building battery capacity?”
US „think-tanker” but really republican politician: „but what if world most _toasty_ good?!?!”
One think that *does* always strike me is that the posher these interviewees sound, the stupider they are. „Some people like it warmer”
I’m sorry but #r4today is currently interviewing someone sanewashing the anti-climate change moves by Trump (Diana Furchtgott-Roth, I think?) who is a *longstanding politician* and naming her as if she was a thinktanker and not really pushing back on lines like „a lot of people like it warmer”
February 13, 2026 at 9:29 AM
Sorry this has stuck in my mind.
UK & EU oil and gas lobby: „is the speed of transition appropriate? Should we focus on our resources ahead of importing energy while building battery capacity?”
US „think-tanker” but really republican politician: „but what if world most _toasty_ good?!?!”
UK & EU oil and gas lobby: „is the speed of transition appropriate? Should we focus on our resources ahead of importing energy while building battery capacity?”
US „think-tanker” but really republican politician: „but what if world most _toasty_ good?!?!”
One think that *does* always strike me is that the posher these interviewees sound, the stupider they are. „Some people like it warmer”
I’m sorry but #r4today is currently interviewing someone sanewashing the anti-climate change moves by Trump (Diana Furchtgott-Roth, I think?) who is a *longstanding politician* and naming her as if she was a thinktanker and not really pushing back on lines like „a lot of people like it warmer”
February 13, 2026 at 7:20 AM
One think that *does* always strike me is that the posher these interviewees sound, the stupider they are. „Some people like it warmer”
I’m sorry but #r4today is currently interviewing someone sanewashing the anti-climate change moves by Trump (Diana Furchtgott-Roth, I think?) who is a *longstanding politician* and naming her as if she was a thinktanker and not really pushing back on lines like „a lot of people like it warmer”
February 13, 2026 at 7:16 AM
I’m sorry but #r4today is currently interviewing someone sanewashing the anti-climate change moves by Trump (Diana Furchtgott-Roth, I think?) who is a *longstanding politician* and naming her as if she was a thinktanker and not really pushing back on lines like „a lot of people like it warmer”
Reposted by Kuba
This is what makes us a great country, right here.
“I’ve reviewed over 50 sticky toffee puddings” is an incredibly powerful way to begin a video
February 12, 2026 at 3:13 PM
This is what makes us a great country, right here.
Reposted by Kuba
Ah yes, The Witcher
I’m watching a Polish crime drama on Netflix. The police are corrupt, the mayor is in the pocket of the mob, nothing works, everyone smokes too much, there’s something horrible buried in the woods and the guilt of the nation’s past hangs over everyone like a rotting shroud. Five stars.
February 12, 2026 at 11:48 AM
Ah yes, The Witcher
Tbf not quite as stupid as the Polish equivalent, which is „licence fee but only 35% of TV users pay it but also the public broadcaster does ads”
No one's going to like this but the UK TV licence fee really is a stupid concept. Presuming you accept the notion that public broadcasting /needs/ a hypothecated stream of income there is really a much more normal way of doing it and it is just reserving a percentage of your taxes.
February 11, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Tbf not quite as stupid as the Polish equivalent, which is „licence fee but only 35% of TV users pay it but also the public broadcaster does ads”
Tbf not quite as stupid as the Polish equivalent, which is „licence fee but only 35% of TV users pay it but also the public broadcaster does ads”
No one's going to like this but the UK TV licence fee really is a stupid concept. Presuming you accept the notion that public broadcasting /needs/ a hypothecated stream of income there is really a much more normal way of doing it and it is just reserving a percentage of your taxes.
February 11, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Tbf not quite as stupid as the Polish equivalent, which is „licence fee but only 35% of TV users pay it but also the public broadcaster does ads”
Do we reckon it’s ever going to stop raining or nah
February 11, 2026 at 6:42 AM
Do we reckon it’s ever going to stop raining or nah
Passed this so sadly can’t blame SKSQC for failure
I have a (not major but still) professional qualification exam tomorrow, could they hit pause till like 2PM tomorrow
February 10, 2026 at 2:17 PM
Passed this so sadly can’t blame SKSQC for failure
Reposted by Kuba
If Starmer wants a reset - and not yet another U-turn when the parliamentary party balks at a policy - here is his chance.
300,000 children face 10-year wait for settled status under UK plans, says IPPR
The consultation closes on Thursday. What is being proposed is dreadful. Can I encourage you to engage with the consultation and put your dissent on record?
The consultation closes on Thursday. What is being proposed is dreadful. Can I encourage you to engage with the consultation and put your dissent on record?
February 10, 2026 at 7:23 AM
If Starmer wants a reset - and not yet another U-turn when the parliamentary party balks at a policy - here is his chance.
Nvm just one more tightening of ILR and the Starmer premiership’s legacy is saved
February 9, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Nvm just one more tightening of ILR and the Starmer premiership’s legacy is saved
Reposted by Kuba
Listening to Matt Chorley's show and Patrick Maguire on there hit it right - none of the contenders are ready and organised. All a bit dramatic today but I reckon Starmer stays for now.
February 9, 2026 at 3:32 PM
Listening to Matt Chorley's show and Patrick Maguire on there hit it right - none of the contenders are ready and organised. All a bit dramatic today but I reckon Starmer stays for now.
Reposted by Kuba
Okay, yeah, I may have got a bit overexcited in claiming I was 99% certain he'll be gone by Wednesday
I do think that the Anas Sarwar press conference was just too nakedly cynical to be effective, frankly.
February 9, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Okay, yeah, I may have got a bit overexcited in claiming I was 99% certain he'll be gone by Wednesday
I’d settle for warmed-up Milibandism with a side dose of social liberalism tbqh, but I am a Labour member
The reason why the Labour party wants a new leader is that the polls and local elections both put them on the brink of death, the policy agenda is a mess of warmed-over Milibandism pared with hypocritical social conservativism and no obvious route to the upside.
February 9, 2026 at 2:21 PM
I’d settle for warmed-up Milibandism with a side dose of social liberalism tbqh, but I am a Labour member
The by-election in Holborn and St Pancras will be fascinating
February 9, 2026 at 2:14 PM
The by-election in Holborn and St Pancras will be fascinating
I have a (not major but still) professional qualification exam tomorrow, could they hit pause till like 2PM tomorrow
February 9, 2026 at 2:07 PM
I have a (not major but still) professional qualification exam tomorrow, could they hit pause till like 2PM tomorrow