You get a bonus point for not allowing the railing to distract you from the need for the horizon to be level.

So will I.

Don't blame the Japanese for something too banal and obvious to be even a proverb, let alone a 'legend'. It's obviously fake.

There's a typo. It should read 'A beautifully put-together and elegant 17'.

That's why politicians need to focus on persuasion rather than trying to figure out exactly what their target voters think and then parrot it back.

People are open to different arguments!

You would think that Starmer now must see that whatever he does with the EU, he will still receive the same deranged, hostile media response. So he can be more ambitious in his future dealings. If he can't see this, surely his advisors can?

Superb and very useful analysis. Thank you.

cc @fascinatorfun.bsky.social (in case you missed it.)

The extreme hostility of the media to the summit should convince Starmer that he might as well be more ambitious. Whatever he does with EU will cause frenzy, so he should be bold. Also, if he argued the case eg on mobility, then not only would it undermine hostility, it would enhance his reputation.