Best Of

https://x.com/Steven_Swinford/status/2030999849663893720

Breaking:

Despite briefings over the course of the weekend - and the assumption of Donald Trump - it sounds like the HMS Prince of Wales **will not** be deployed to the Middle East

Good call. It should stay where it is. The war has already been won anyway. We have this from the horse's mouth.

At the same time Macron is sending two warships to the Red Sea

France will send two warships to Red Sea - as Greek PM calls for more EU help at sea

France will send two warships to the Red Sea, Emmanuel Macron has announced.

This would be part of efforts to address the economic impact of "the de-facto closure of maritime routes", Macron said, as Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

The two French frigates will join an EU mission that protects shipping in the Red Sea on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula, though notably not in the Persian Gulf.

The EU mission was created in response to attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on international shipping in late 2023.

During a joint visit with Macron to Cyprus, Greece's prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, also called on other European countries to boost the naval force in the Red Sea.

For context: This isn't the first asset that France has mobilised in response to the Iran war. Macron promised to send the frigate Languedoc and air defence systems to Cyprus after a UK airbase on the island was hit by a drone last week.

France's aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, is expected to arrive in the eastern Mediterranean in the coming days.

Macron also married his teacher. I don't think we need to copy his every move.

Do you not understand just how bad this looks to our middle east allies, and indeed Cyprus

None of the Gulf countries is looking to us to defend them. And why should they? They're a lot richer than we are and indeed seem intent on hollowing out our tax base making it even harder for us to fund our military. We should focus on our own defence, as the US withdraws from defending Europe leaving us vulnerable at home.

We have defence and security agreements with many of them. Thats why we are allowed to use their bases.

Has anyone used the governments new petrol price finder website? Perhaps it also has a code for "no fuel available..."

Some sites have new functionality...

Is this going to be like that incident from a few years ago, when a couple of stations in a specific area ran out of petrol, but Radio 5 Live could talk about nothing else for six hours, treating it as a national emergency and setting off panic buying among all the road warriors who spend their days listening to the radio.

Why should journalists learn from mistakes?

The US are doing a great job today of proving “No matter how much you hate the media, it’s never enough”

https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/2030738086116642999

What actually happened is there was a demonstration outside Mamdani’s official residence, led by a guy who’s best described as an American Tommy Robinson.

Two jihadis threw bombs into the crowd of demonstrators, which the NYPD have confirmed were viable explosive devices. They were arrested at the scene.

If you only read the headlines, you’d be pretty sure that the people with the bombs were the people protesting Mamdani. The Mayor’s statement also deliberately confuses the situation.

The American Tommy Robinson is described by Sky News thus:

“Mr Lang was previously charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes before being pardoned as part of President Donald Trump's sweeping act of clemency for defendants connected to the January 6 riots in Washington DC.”

I guess the difference between the US and the UK is that we don’t pardon Tommy Robinson.

The problem isn’t that this guy was a moron, he’s clearly a moron, it’s that the media are being very careful to avoid saying that the bombs were from those opposing him.

No, I think part of the problem is that this guy is a violent nutcase. And part of the problem is that there are some other violent nutcases who chucked a bomb at the first violent nutcase.

The media taking a bit of time to work out what happened and meanwhile just regurgitating bland police reports… not a huge problem, no.

Oh dear.

So the headline is “bomb… far-right protest…. Mamdani residence…”

The actuality is that far-left Islamists, supporters of the mayor, threw bombs at the right-wing protestors.

No, the headline in the UK's leading liberal newspaper is:
"Explosive device thrown outside of Zohran Mamdani’s residence at anti-Islam protest"

Which is what happened.
Not 'by' or 'during'. At.

Which any regular human would think to mean that the anti-Islam protestors threw a bomb at the residence.

What actually happened is that the protesters were the *victims* of a couple of pro-Mamdani jihadis.

The headline is technically accurate but factually bollocks.

Your interpretation of it is technically and factually bollocks.
It's entirely clear, as is the story below, which doesn't adopt the right wing media habit of burying the essential details in the last paragraph.

"libsofticktock". Please.

Really? All “libsoftiktok” has done is pulled headlines from newspapers that are deliberately distorting the incident.

Is that all libsoftiktok has done? Let's check their Wikipedia page:

Libs of TikTok is the username of various American anti-LGBTQ[b] and far-right[a] social-media accounts operated by Chaya Raichik (/ˈxɑːjə ˈraɪtʃɪk/ KHAH-yə RY-chik),[10] [...]

Raichik's posts have resulted in threats, harassment, and doxing perpetuated by her followers against teachers, medical providers, children's hospitals, libraries, LGBTQ venues, and educational facilities.[22][23][24] At least 60 bomb threats have been linked to Libs of TikTok posts.[24][25][26]

[...]

On November 20, 2022, Libs of TikTok received renewed media attention following the Colorado Springs nightclub shooting,[116][22][117] a mass killing that took place at an LGBTQ venue in which five people were killed and dozens more were injured. Club Q, the venue targeted by the shooter, frequently hosts drag events, including those advertised to an all-ages audience. The Independent noted that Libs of TikTok often attracts negative attention to such events with her social media accounts and that harassment and threats are often sent by her followers against patrons and performers following her postings.[22] Hours after the shooting, Raichik used her Twitter account to target a "drag organization" in the same state where the massacre took place, underlining the names of two Colorado state legislators, one of whom was trans, for supporting it.[116][118][119] The Advocate criticized the post, saying that: "In the hours after news of the Club Q shooting spread, Raichik, for example, doubled down on her anti-LGBTQ+ messaging by posting about other drag-inclusive events in the state."[120] They drew attention to an interview previously published on their website with Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, in which she stated that social media accounts such as Libs of TikTok practice stochastic terrorism by provoking extremist outrage against marginalized groups, but using "vague language that allows the agitator to deny responsibility for the act".[120]

Yes, because "Wikipedia" is so famously accurate and unbiased? That's presumably why one of its co-creators has abandoned it, and admits it has been destroyred by leftist editors

"Nobody should trust Wikipedia, says man who invented Wikipedia"

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/wikipedia-founder-larry-sanger-democrats-b1885138.html

It's more accurate and unbiased than most sources you link to.

I mean, if we're going to have a rule whereby only sources more trustworthy than Wikipedia can be referenced on here it's you and ilk who would be most inconvenienced.

Do you ever say interesting things? You should try it

Says the man who posts pictures of his bric a brac.

It’s a half billion years ago old organism, emerging from the primordial slime. A massive great Trilobite

And right behind it is a vulgar gold copper pot, made in Nazi Germany in about 1941. And the copper pot sits on a ceramic trivet, dating from 1914, celebrating the alliance of the British French and Belgians in the Great War

And the trilobite is resting on a 17th century polychrome delft tile portraying an itinerant piper, which I have sprayed with clear lacquer and adorned with felt feet, turning it into a perfect coaster for my 1780s Georgian amethyst wineglass

And that’s just one corner of my William IV mahogany writing table

“Bric a brac”

Pffff!!

https://x.com/Steven_Swinford/status/2030999849663893720

Breaking:

Despite briefings over the course of the weekend - and the assumption of Donald Trump - it sounds like the HMS Prince of Wales **will not** be deployed to the Middle East

Good call. It should stay where it is. The war has already been won anyway. We have this from the horse's mouth.

At the same time Macron is sending two warships to the Red Sea

France will send two warships to Red Sea - as Greek PM calls for more EU help at sea

France will send two warships to the Red Sea, Emmanuel Macron has announced.

This would be part of efforts to address the economic impact of "the de-facto closure of maritime routes", Macron said, as Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

The two French frigates will join an EU mission that protects shipping in the Red Sea on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula, though notably not in the Persian Gulf.

The EU mission was created in response to attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on international shipping in late 2023.

During a joint visit with Macron to Cyprus, Greece's prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, also called on other European countries to boost the naval force in the Red Sea.

For context: This isn't the first asset that France has mobilised in response to the Iran war. Macron promised to send the frigate Languedoc and air defence systems to Cyprus after a UK airbase on the island was hit by a drone last week.

France's aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, is expected to arrive in the eastern Mediterranean in the coming days.

Macron also married his teacher. I don't think we need to copy his every move.

Do you not understand just how bad this looks to our middle east allies, and indeed Cyprus

None of the Gulf countries is looking to us to defend them. And why should they? They're a lot richer than we are and indeed seem intent on hollowing out our tax base making it even harder for us to fund our military. We should focus on our own defence, as the US withdraws from defending Europe leaving us vulnerable at home.

https://x.com/Steven_Swinford/status/2030999849663893720

Breaking:

Despite briefings over the course of the weekend - and the assumption of Donald Trump - it sounds like the HMS Prince of Wales **will not** be deployed to the Middle East

Good call. It should stay where it is. The war has already been won anyway. We have this from the horse's mouth.

At the same time Macron is sending two warships to the Red Sea

France will send two warships to Red Sea - as Greek PM calls for more EU help at sea

France will send two warships to the Red Sea, Emmanuel Macron has announced.

This would be part of efforts to address the economic impact of "the de-facto closure of maritime routes", Macron said, as Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

The two French frigates will join an EU mission that protects shipping in the Red Sea on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula, though notably not in the Persian Gulf.

The EU mission was created in response to attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on international shipping in late 2023.

During a joint visit with Macron to Cyprus, Greece's prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, also called on other European countries to boost the naval force in the Red Sea.

For context: This isn't the first asset that France has mobilised in response to the Iran war. Macron promised to send the frigate Languedoc and air defence systems to Cyprus after a UK airbase on the island was hit by a drone last week.

France's aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, is expected to arrive in the eastern Mediterranean in the coming days.

Macron also married his teacher. I don't think we need to copy his every move.

Inspiring stuff.

https://x.com/pippacrerar/status/2030952994733179302

Keir Starmer warns that the longer the Iran conflict goes on, the greater the impact on the domestic economy.

"You will sense I think, that the longer this goes on, the more likely the potential for an impact on our economy, impact into the lives and households of everybody and every business.

“And our job is to get ahead of that, to look around the corner, assess the risk, monitor the risks, and work with others in relation to that.”

File under "PM Insights: No Shit, Sherlock..."

"Get ahead of that". Try firing Ed Miliband. Oh you can't, because then he'd be working to unseat you as PM.

Why would he fire Ed Miliband whose renewables vision will save the UK whilst Kemi and Farage lick Trumps oily ass

Ed is ridiculously blinkered.

It's the oil and gas dinosaurs who are blinkered.

Yep let's start drilling... Wait 5 years and sell it where?

International market

Oh hang on.

If you think there will be no market for oil in 5 years I have a bridge to sell you.

You completely missed the point.

Drill baby Drill

But you've still got to pay

INTERNATIONAL market prices.

Technically it’s international market prices + delivery costs.

Which is one reason why we haven’t been drilling in the North Sea, with international prices below $x a barrel it didn’t make sense.

Now granted today we could do with the oil and gas but in 6 months time one of two things will play out

1) prices return to the previous ones and we don’t need the oil and gas
2) the Middle East remains a mess and we desperately need it

Anyone who claims to know which of those outcomes is going to be the case is a liar (probably to themselves and everyone else)

Sorry but this is rubbish. The reason we have not been drilling in the North Sea has been entirely governmental. A combination of very high taxes which are continually changing and a ban on exploration drilling (including until recently near field drilling) which has made platforms uneconomic as we cannot maintain the production plateaus.

It has nothing at all to do with the international oil price. If the price had dropped to below 30 dollars a barrel then it would have an impact on drilling in many places. But it hasn't. With a finite amount of rigs, personnel and time, companies will drill where they will get the best return on their investment. Which currently is just about any other place in the world except the UKCS.

Has anyone used the governments new petrol price finder website? Perhaps it also has a code for "no fuel available..."

Some sites have new functionality...

Is this going to be like that incident from a few years ago, when a couple of stations in a specific area ran out of petrol, but Radio 5 Live could talk about nothing else for six hours, treating it as a national emergency and setting off panic buying among all the road warriors who spend their days listening to the radio.

Why should journalists learn from mistakes?

The US are doing a great job today of proving “No matter how much you hate the media, it’s never enough”

https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/2030738086116642999

What actually happened is there was a demonstration outside Mamdani’s official residence, led by a guy who’s best described as an American Tommy Robinson.

Two jihadis threw bombs into the crowd of demonstrators, which the NYPD have confirmed were viable explosive devices. They were arrested at the scene.

If you only read the headlines, you’d be pretty sure that the people with the bombs were the people protesting Mamdani. The Mayor’s statement also deliberately confuses the situation.

The American Tommy Robinson is described by Sky News thus:

“Mr Lang was previously charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes before being pardoned as part of President Donald Trump's sweeping act of clemency for defendants connected to the January 6 riots in Washington DC.”

I guess the difference between the US and the UK is that we don’t pardon Tommy Robinson.

The problem isn’t that this guy was a moron, he’s clearly a moron, it’s that the media are being very careful to avoid saying that the bombs were from those opposing him.

No, I think part of the problem is that this guy is a violent nutcase. And part of the problem is that there are some other violent nutcases who chucked a bomb at the first violent nutcase.

The media taking a bit of time to work out what happened and meanwhile just regurgitating bland police reports… not a huge problem, no.

Oh dear.

So the headline is “bomb… far-right protest…. Mamdani residence…”

The actuality is that far-left Islamists, supporters of the mayor, threw bombs at the right-wing protestors.

No, the headline in the UK's leading liberal newspaper is:
"Explosive device thrown outside of Zohran Mamdani’s residence at anti-Islam protest"

Which is what happened.
Not 'by' or 'during'. At.

Which any regular human would think to mean that the anti-Islam protestors threw a bomb at the residence.

What actually happened is that the protesters were the *victims* of a couple of pro-Mamdani jihadis.

The headline is technically accurate but factually bollocks.

Your interpretation of it is technically and factually bollocks.
It's entirely clear, as is the story below, which doesn't adopt the right wing media habit of burying the essential details in the last paragraph.

"libsofticktock". Please.

Really? All “libsoftiktok” has done is pulled headlines from newspapers that are deliberately distorting the incident.

Is that all libsoftiktok has done? Let's check their Wikipedia page:

Libs of TikTok is the username of various American anti-LGBTQ[b] and far-right[a] social-media accounts operated by Chaya Raichik (/ˈxɑːjə ˈraɪtʃɪk/ KHAH-yə RY-chik),[10] [...]

Raichik's posts have resulted in threats, harassment, and doxing perpetuated by her followers against teachers, medical providers, children's hospitals, libraries, LGBTQ venues, and educational facilities.[22][23][24] At least 60 bomb threats have been linked to Libs of TikTok posts.[24][25][26]

[...]

On November 20, 2022, Libs of TikTok received renewed media attention following the Colorado Springs nightclub shooting,[116][22][117] a mass killing that took place at an LGBTQ venue in which five people were killed and dozens more were injured. Club Q, the venue targeted by the shooter, frequently hosts drag events, including those advertised to an all-ages audience. The Independent noted that Libs of TikTok often attracts negative attention to such events with her social media accounts and that harassment and threats are often sent by her followers against patrons and performers following her postings.[22] Hours after the shooting, Raichik used her Twitter account to target a "drag organization" in the same state where the massacre took place, underlining the names of two Colorado state legislators, one of whom was trans, for supporting it.[116][118][119] The Advocate criticized the post, saying that: "In the hours after news of the Club Q shooting spread, Raichik, for example, doubled down on her anti-LGBTQ+ messaging by posting about other drag-inclusive events in the state."[120] They drew attention to an interview previously published on their website with Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, in which she stated that social media accounts such as Libs of TikTok practice stochastic terrorism by provoking extremist outrage against marginalized groups, but using "vague language that allows the agitator to deny responsibility for the act".[120]

Yes, because "Wikipedia" is so famously accurate and unbiased? That's presumably why one of its co-creators has abandoned it, and admits it has been destroyed by leftist editors

"Nobody should trust Wikipedia, says man who invented Wikipedia"

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/wikipedia-founder-larry-sanger-democrats-b1885138.html

I'm an editor on Wikipedia.

User Sunil060902

It's fine.

Inspiring stuff.

https://x.com/pippacrerar/status/2030952994733179302

Keir Starmer warns that the longer the Iran conflict goes on, the greater the impact on the domestic economy.

"You will sense I think, that the longer this goes on, the more likely the potential for an impact on our economy, impact into the lives and households of everybody and every business.

“And our job is to get ahead of that, to look around the corner, assess the risk, monitor the risks, and work with others in relation to that.”

File under "PM Insights: No Shit, Sherlock..."

"Get ahead of that". Try firing Ed Miliband. Oh you can't, because then he'd be working to unseat you as PM.

Why would he fire Ed Miliband whose renewables vision will save the UK whilst Kemi and Farage lick Trumps oily ass

Ed is ridiculously blinkered.

It's the oil and gas dinosaurs who are blinkered.

Yep let's start drilling... Wait 5 years and sell it where?

International market

Oh hang on.

If you think there will be no market for oil in 5 years I have a bridge to sell you.

You completely missed the point.

Drill baby Drill

But you've still got to pay

INTERNATIONAL market prices.

But you receive the tax revenue of billions

Why are you blind to the revenue raised by taxing it