John Flanagan
@johnflanagan.bsky.social
Brit immigrant in Germany glad to have escaped the Other Place. Pro-EU; married to a wonderful man; former historian; BIR fanatic with ridiculously full spice cupboard.
Happily blocked by Ian Dunt and various other oddities.
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Happily blocked by Ian Dunt and various other oddities.
NO DMs
🇪🇺🏳️🌈🇺🇦
I’m sure he is, but he’s a tory so invoke the Bevan dictum. He’s also one of the PPE brigade - god knows their contributions to public life are questionable to say the least.
January 13, 2026 at 11:05 AM
I’m sure he is, but he’s a tory so invoke the Bevan dictum. He’s also one of the PPE brigade - god knows their contributions to public life are questionable to say the least.
Their front bench suggests there wasn’t much left to choose from, with luminaries like ‘excitable’ Chris Pilph, a bloke from League of Gentlemen, wealthy men’s outfitter Mel’s Strides and Claire ‘meat tax’ Contorto to name a few, Bad Enoch is doing us a favour. Plus she’s good for laughs.
January 13, 2026 at 10:20 AM
Their front bench suggests there wasn’t much left to choose from, with luminaries like ‘excitable’ Chris Pilph, a bloke from League of Gentlemen, wealthy men’s outfitter Mel’s Strides and Claire ‘meat tax’ Contorto to name a few, Bad Enoch is doing us a favour. Plus she’s good for laughs.
In the quarters of Tumps mind that still function, President = King.
January 12, 2026 at 6:48 AM
In the quarters of Tumps mind that still function, President = King.
Or this act of depravity.
January 11, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Or this act of depravity.
So, your stated preference in politics is a) that only nice things should be said, b) Starmer is a failure because he isn’t MLK and c) actions don’t matter, words do.
Lots of ppl also remember The Sound of Music (with super nice lyrics!) so do you also hate Starmer because he’s not Julie Andrews?
Lots of ppl also remember The Sound of Music (with super nice lyrics!) so do you also hate Starmer because he’s not Julie Andrews?
January 11, 2026 at 12:23 PM
So, your stated preference in politics is a) that only nice things should be said, b) Starmer is a failure because he isn’t MLK and c) actions don’t matter, words do.
Lots of ppl also remember The Sound of Music (with super nice lyrics!) so do you also hate Starmer because he’s not Julie Andrews?
Lots of ppl also remember The Sound of Music (with super nice lyrics!) so do you also hate Starmer because he’s not Julie Andrews?
I think it’s a matter of perspective. You only seem to be concerned with words rather than deeds.
January 11, 2026 at 11:48 AM
I think it’s a matter of perspective. You only seem to be concerned with words rather than deeds.
He did say it but government actions since do not bear out the intense negativity subsequently placed on that badly-chosen phrase.
Consider otoh ‘let the bodies pile high’, how would you consider the Johnson administration’s subsequent actions?
Consider otoh ‘let the bodies pile high’, how would you consider the Johnson administration’s subsequent actions?
January 11, 2026 at 11:13 AM
He did say it but government actions since do not bear out the intense negativity subsequently placed on that badly-chosen phrase.
Consider otoh ‘let the bodies pile high’, how would you consider the Johnson administration’s subsequent actions?
Consider otoh ‘let the bodies pile high’, how would you consider the Johnson administration’s subsequent actions?
I agree with almost everything you say except that as much as it’s greed, it’s likely also poverty 😞
January 11, 2026 at 10:47 AM
I agree with almost everything you say except that as much as it’s greed, it’s likely also poverty 😞
Reposted by John Flanagan
Perhaps we should come to view the RS (along with a plethora of other institutions with the ‘Royal’ prefix) as akin to a very old, fine looking clock in a dusty corner of an antique shop: nice to look at, excellent in its day but now incapable of telling the time with any accuracy at all.
January 11, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Perhaps we should come to view the RS (along with a plethora of other institutions with the ‘Royal’ prefix) as akin to a very old, fine looking clock in a dusty corner of an antique shop: nice to look at, excellent in its day but now incapable of telling the time with any accuracy at all.
And I might add to the analogy, easily purchased because of its condition.
January 11, 2026 at 9:42 AM
And I might add to the analogy, easily purchased because of its condition.
Reposted by John Flanagan
Small correction, Starmer is pushing for a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with Brussels. To get this, the UK must keep its food standards identical to the EU's. He isn't pushing to lower food standards.
January 11, 2026 at 9:19 AM
Small correction, Starmer is pushing for a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with Brussels. To get this, the UK must keep its food standards identical to the EU's. He isn't pushing to lower food standards.
Perhaps we should come to view the RS (along with a plethora of other institutions with the ‘Royal’ prefix) as akin to a very old, fine looking clock in a dusty corner of an antique shop: nice to look at, excellent in its day but now incapable of telling the time with any accuracy at all.
January 11, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Perhaps we should come to view the RS (along with a plethora of other institutions with the ‘Royal’ prefix) as akin to a very old, fine looking clock in a dusty corner of an antique shop: nice to look at, excellent in its day but now incapable of telling the time with any accuracy at all.
He was never a BMA member.
January 11, 2026 at 9:25 AM
He was never a BMA member.
Four years for Russia to continue selling oil is disgraceful, I agree. I tend to think about societies in countries and human motivations; we can call it ambition, entrepreneurship or whatever, but greed, at it’s current sickening level will be the undoing of humanity.
January 11, 2026 at 8:10 AM
Four years for Russia to continue selling oil is disgraceful, I agree. I tend to think about societies in countries and human motivations; we can call it ambition, entrepreneurship or whatever, but greed, at it’s current sickening level will be the undoing of humanity.
The key difficulty here is that a lot of ‘good’ countries are one ballot away from being bad ones, ours included.
January 11, 2026 at 7:58 AM
The key difficulty here is that a lot of ‘good’ countries are one ballot away from being bad ones, ours included.
I’m old enough to remember a time when goalies almost never saved penalties. What a time to be alive!
# HtL
# HtL
January 10, 2026 at 3:05 PM
I’m old enough to remember a time when goalies almost never saved penalties. What a time to be alive!
# HtL
# HtL
And even the shock of war in Europe cannot awaken the mil defence complex. Look at the assisted dying bill: wilful sabotage of legislation by the unelected.
Britain’s political system is so sclerotic that, if it were a cardiovascular system, it would be in a body approaching death.
/end
Britain’s political system is so sclerotic that, if it were a cardiovascular system, it would be in a body approaching death.
/end
January 10, 2026 at 12:46 PM
And even the shock of war in Europe cannot awaken the mil defence complex. Look at the assisted dying bill: wilful sabotage of legislation by the unelected.
Britain’s political system is so sclerotic that, if it were a cardiovascular system, it would be in a body approaching death.
/end
Britain’s political system is so sclerotic that, if it were a cardiovascular system, it would be in a body approaching death.
/end
I don’t buy the ‘Blue Labour’ thing personally and am also suspicious of polling orgs.
But let’s face it, our political system can’t ban X, allows bad faith foreign entities to fund parties, upper house is crammed with crooks & cronies, spending commitments become meaningless bc ‘processes’
/1
But let’s face it, our political system can’t ban X, allows bad faith foreign entities to fund parties, upper house is crammed with crooks & cronies, spending commitments become meaningless bc ‘processes’
/1
January 10, 2026 at 12:42 PM
I don’t buy the ‘Blue Labour’ thing personally and am also suspicious of polling orgs.
But let’s face it, our political system can’t ban X, allows bad faith foreign entities to fund parties, upper house is crammed with crooks & cronies, spending commitments become meaningless bc ‘processes’
/1
But let’s face it, our political system can’t ban X, allows bad faith foreign entities to fund parties, upper house is crammed with crooks & cronies, spending commitments become meaningless bc ‘processes’
/1
Reeves’s original plan was certainly in tension with the 2024 promise to tread more lightly on people’s lives.
I understand that social atomisation doesn’t bode well for pubs, but to invoke Hilaire Belloc:
“Change your hearts or you will lose your inns and you will deserve to have lost them.”
I understand that social atomisation doesn’t bode well for pubs, but to invoke Hilaire Belloc:
“Change your hearts or you will lose your inns and you will deserve to have lost them.”
January 9, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Reeves’s original plan was certainly in tension with the 2024 promise to tread more lightly on people’s lives.
I understand that social atomisation doesn’t bode well for pubs, but to invoke Hilaire Belloc:
“Change your hearts or you will lose your inns and you will deserve to have lost them.”
I understand that social atomisation doesn’t bode well for pubs, but to invoke Hilaire Belloc:
“Change your hearts or you will lose your inns and you will deserve to have lost them.”
I read recently that UK armed forces are seeing positive results in terms of recruitment, although retention still remains an issue.
Am guessing the delivery of kit is hampered by the complexity of systems but hopefully what’s eventually delivered is what’s relevant/required.
Am guessing the delivery of kit is hampered by the complexity of systems but hopefully what’s eventually delivered is what’s relevant/required.
January 9, 2026 at 9:14 AM
I read recently that UK armed forces are seeing positive results in terms of recruitment, although retention still remains an issue.
Am guessing the delivery of kit is hampered by the complexity of systems but hopefully what’s eventually delivered is what’s relevant/required.
Am guessing the delivery of kit is hampered by the complexity of systems but hopefully what’s eventually delivered is what’s relevant/required.
I should add there are notable exceptions, with some on this site.
January 8, 2026 at 1:57 PM
I should add there are notable exceptions, with some on this site.