Best Of

Pic for the day. Pinot Meunier after full veraison, quickly gathering sugars and, er, dropping acid.



At this time of year the red varietal parts of the vineyard look properly bacchanalian. The white grapes less so, for now.

Harvest in mid October.

Just been through the area around Reims and the harvest is almost over. Managed to grab a few bunches going past and they were the juiciest and sweetest grapes I’ve tasted.

Now on my way to Porto for a trip up the Douro valley just to check those too.

Also found this strange lighthouse in the middle of the fields there, hundreds of miles from the coast.

Here’s an even stranger one (image copied from Man in Seat 61 website) at the summit if the Glacier Express rail route:

It seems the one near Reims was a promotional folly for the owner of the local Champagne house.

Opinium are ramping their poll tonight as 'extraordinary numbers' out at 8
They haven't ramped a poll since the election so probably a massive Reform lead or record Lab or Tory lows

https://x.com/OpiniumResearch/status/1964326689942458430?s=19

Opinium haven't headlined their VI in the fortnightly updates (whilst still issuing them in the tables) so it might be a catastrophic drop in Starmers approval etc

I’ll guess a 15 point lead for Reform . Starmers approval ratings would be less extraordinary as they’re in the pits already.

Or maybe Labours vote collapsing (which would also be a big lead anyway)
If the vox pop anger has crystallised into vote rage etc

Opinium have shown the smallest Reform leads so far . The interest will be where Labours vote goes to show what’s likely to be a huge lead for Reform .

Not long to wait.
Probably Con 13 after all that

Labour behind the Tories !

Opinium are ramping their poll tonight as 'extraordinary numbers' out at 8
They haven't ramped a poll since the election so probably a massive Reform lead or record Lab or Tory lows

https://x.com/OpiniumResearch/status/1964326689942458430?s=19

Opinium haven't headlined their VI in the fortnightly updates (whilst still issuing them in the tables) so it might be a catastrophic drop in Starmers approval etc

I’ll guess a 15 point lead for Reform . Starmers approval ratings would be less extraordinary as they’re in the pits already.

Or maybe Labours vote collapsing (which would also be a big lead anyway)
If the vox pop anger has crystallised into vote rage etc

Populism often hoovers up a certain online contrarianism and we see that with the populist right in the US going antivax with the appointment of RFK Jr. Reform UK are now going down the same path, with noted antivaxxer Dr Aseem Malhotra, who believes mRNA vaccines have killed millions (they haven't), speaking at the Reform UK conference: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/09/05/rfk-adviser-to-claim-vaccines-cause-cancer-at-reform-confer/

That's after this, https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/george-finch-chickenpox-vaccine-5HjdBdt_2/ , Cllr George Finch, the party's teenage leader of Warwickshire County Council, criticising the new chickenpox vaccine.

This stuff will kill. The US is seeing record numbers of measles cases. Two children and an adult, all unvaccinated, have died already. That's just the start: this could go on to kill hundreds, possibly thousands. It is estimated that the COVID-19 vaccine has saved 14.5 million lives globally.

Farage having a total car crash on Sky News . He can’t bear any proper scrutiny .

That will end up as Ref +2 though.
Big Nige versus the establishment innit. Hes one of our own etc

No if anyone saw that interview they’d think he’s making it up as he goes along . Now apparently the boats will stop two weeks after legislation passes , not two weeks after taking office which he spouted to the clapping seals yesterday . He doesn’t like scrutiny and he gets angry when any journalist asks difficult questions .

That’s it, reform is toast.

They’re not toast clearly because their base is similar to Maga . They’ll accept anything that Farage says , call any proper scrutiny a witch hunt and fake news.

Labour and the Tories need to try and get back some of the Reform support which is softer and still lives in the real world .

The more Tommy R type solutions Reform go for, they pick up a few more 'flag' type votes but start to lose the grandma and grandpa end.
In broad terms that is.
The sort of rhetoric starting (not egregiously but its there) to come out in this conference might start to drive away some of the grey vote theyve hoovered up

Lucy Connolly will, I'm sure, be cheered to the rafters when she speaks at today's Reform conference. I'm not sure it's wise of Farage to have invited her to speak, for the reasons you give.

Hope Nigel’s team have approved the speech, she could easily go all Tommy.

She shouldn’t be there at all. Reform seem to think they can walk on water and can get away with anything at the moment .

She's being interviewed on the Platfprm by Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan:

Mrs Connolly will speak on the main stage of Reform’s conference in a special live recording of The Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast with Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/09/06/lucy-connolly-to-speak-at-reform-conference/

I’d consider a vote for reform but this is the sort of thing that puts me off. She’s no victim