Has he...heard of Boris Kolonitskii

Not been discussed much from what I've seen but does feel like one of the clearest acknowledgements yet of the place that Brum occupies in UK right-wing discourse (see also Liverpool in the eighties). They'd go full Portland on it if they could

Hey it worked

I suspect he does know that, but has decided that a repeat performance of Amsterdam is a price worth paying, for whatever reason. At least people will be wise to it this time

Exeter generally is a case study in infrastructure not keeping pace with population growth and economic importance (the roads are shocking too). Have you been to Exeter Central? It's the opposite of St Davids: surrounded by nice bars and cafes, but wasted potential as a railway station

I think @tom-phillips.com may have coined the term (during the JC era, from memory), although others have used it since.

Also feels like another example of the cargo cult Blairism you discussed in the emergency pod last week.