Starmer should know after a year of failure inc. the catastrophic Madelson fall that, as with Humpty Dumpty, all the King's horses and all the King's men at Trump's state visit cannot put his cherished but shattered Labour Ming Vase back together again. Riddell 🎯 in the @theobserveruk.bsky.social

Listened to the show driving home on 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 flag festooned M20, M25 and A1 after a 6 week road trip through Europe and Scandinavia. A year on James it must be time to accept Starmer needs to have a chapter in the 2nd edition of your magnum opus. His quote in last year's Observer now a political epitaph.

We've been enjoying the last 9 days of the @hayfestival.bsky.social both at the festival and out in the gorgeous Welsh Black Mountains countryside. Looking forward to new and relevant Golden Road updates to inform current Sino-Indian relations. @empirepoduk.bsky.social
📷 Our last encounter at Hay.

Thank you @scaramucci.bsky.social and @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social for an incredible evening. My wife, who does not do political podcasts i.e. #restispolitics @restispoliticsus.bsky.social, was so impressed she will read both your books! For me a #tourdeforce.

No worries Alastair. We're all ready to enjoy the "Special Relationship" between you and @scaramucci.bsky.social here at the @hayfestival.bsky.social this evening.

Lovely garden view Francis. We're also enjoying blue sky and sunshine in the garden. Spent the last two weeks restoring our old garden mill pond digging out 20 years of accumulated leaf litter. Restocked with water lilies and marginal plants. For once, decided not to inoculate with AMF RootGrow 😉

Our red amaryllis blooms return for a 38th year but now on Bluesky 😀.

Thank you, #Australia and #Canada for showing us the way✌️. After the Farage #ReformUK landslide in yesterday's Mayoral and Council elections, Starmer's #UKLabour gov. has to build still closer 🇦🇺🇨🇦 economic ties that must also extend to the 🇪🇺. Where there's hope there's a way.
📷 @theguardian.com

Our restored Mill pond sees the light of day. Waiting for the first water lily leaves break the surface. Our thanks to LincsPlants.com for a fabulous selection of water liles and marginal plants.

The irony of Sweden's iconic global retailer 🇸🇪IKEA🇪🇺 opening its London City store on a 🇬🇧 bunting adorned Oxford Street. Timed on Election25 day with polls forecast big #ReformUK wins. But #Brexit Nigel Farage will brush off any talk of the 🇪🇺🇬🇧 benefits of closer trade deals. @mrjamesob.bsky.social

At last back to James O'Brexit we know and love 🔥. You've finally stopped giving Starmer the benefit of the doubt. But Ming vase Starmer's a one trick pony in the face of Trump's global earthquake over 83 days. There never was a "special relationship" and the post-Brexit US trade deal just a mirage.

Back to Osborne's Pb🎈austerity politics but now from a Labour government 😡. Reeves should've asked ChatGPT what was the UK economic legacy of Osborne's austerity policies (2010-2016).
She became an MP in 2010 with a background in economics and banking. So no excuses?
chatgpt.com/share/67de7e...

Brave new world? 😱
I still remember my first US trip to present a plenary talk at ICOM1 in San Francisco. I transited in JFK and along with other European colleagues had an intense grilling at customs. Dread to think what would happen now 😰. Had no customs issues on conference trips to Canada 😍.

Your much deserved #India "magnum opus". Kept seeing evidence of maritime Golden Road when visiting the British Library Silk Road exhibition. So look forward to seeing you again at #HayFestival2025. Excited to hear the new evidence unearthed since publication.
www.hayfestival.com/p-23031-will...