Conversely, I think there’s a danger in sugar-coating this. Ed Davey’s rating has gone down by 3 points in July. Burnham now owns “care” which was Davey’s signature policy. Badenoch is up. The only good thing is that Polanksi seems to have peaked and Farage is down.

Stop trying to make the Manchester Mayoral election result some kind of predictor for a Clacton MP by-election. Farage will win Clacton by a Putin-esque margin. We can only hope the turnout is abysmal and that the investigations into his finances bear fruit.

Lots of posts about genocide today. The attempted genocide of Sri Lankan Tamils never seems to come up. Watch, ‘Sri Lanka's Killing Fields' on Channel 4:

The original photo

My experience of Singapore’s swift tilt into full-blown authoritarianism makes me want to scream from the rooftops that freedoms once lost, are almost impossible to regain. Fight for your democracy now while you still have the mechanisms to do so. Before resistance is outlawed.

What I write about Singapore with its authoritarian government and family legacy-Supreme Leaders, applies to Trump & his clan. See how spin maestro Lee Kuan Yew, once in power, put in place a permanent faux-democracy. One difference is that America has a tradition of democracy and *can* be saved.

Would now be a good time to talk about one of my favorite movies?

Does it get any more evil than offering to fund suing Amnesty?

The Scotsman today makes it very clear that Farage’s resignation means -“Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg’s investigation into the £5 million donation is suspended.” Also, kudos for the image 😂

So Burnham would take Britain back to the 1970s? The 1970s when we were in the EEC, later the EU? I doubt that very much. He a classic Lexit type

In defence of the Reform party- what woke lefties on here don’t understand is that this loss was a deliberate step in the long game. Lose in Makerfield to get Starmer out. See? Cunning isn’t it?

Remind me again of how the Regime change in Iran is working out? Are women allowed to dance yet?

Carers Week 2026 is over & I’m feeling isolated again. I know that I need to get out, join in a regular carer meet-up (because it’s impossible to socialise with people who don’t get it) but sometimes I just get stuck on the sofa staring at my garden. Ironically the garden is thriving on neglect!

It turns out the real danger is big boats crossing the channel. When I say ‘big boats’ I mean Russian Warships. I’m so glad it didn’t ruin their retirement dream, amazing couple!

Don’t get excited Londoners! This is like Trump winning the FIFA Peace Prize. Lee Kuan Yew was a dictator. A Eugenicist who considered Muslims to be several rungs lower than his own clan & he was adored by Mandelson. Khan is a vain old fool. Singapore is not a democracy it’s not a model to emulate

I went to my last event in National Carers Week yesterday. It was a print making workshop and tour of Two Temple Place. It’s been good meeting fellow carers & the print making was therapeutic. I’ve not done anything like that since elementary school. I made card for my husband who ❤️ Polar bears

One of my favourites and Mrs Clark lives on my road, as it happens. RIP David Hockney

Family in the waiting room today telling me that during the riots in Belfast they didn’t leave their homes. More than that - they didn’t open their doors. They were worried constantly that their older relatives would naively open their doors if someone knocked. This level of fear in London!

I got the New Astronomer. I called my first cat Galileo so that seems right.

Really bad news: Florence Foster Jenkins just withdrew from the Freedom 250 Concert.

Breaking! In a double whammy, The Vegetable Orchestra just withdrew from the Freedom 250 Concert. This also means that the soup is off the menu.

Good on them for a principled stand: The Wurzels just withdrew from the Freedom 250 Concert.

I’m beginning to feel that Labour are unable to read the room.

Here’s @cesea-libdems.bsky.social candidate @yipeichouscotland.bsky.social using three of those languages

Lib Dems have the 2nd highest number of councils so far and many more NOC where they are the largest grouping - but not even being mentioned by media. Labour 25 Lib Dem 13 Reform 10 Conservative 8 Green 3 NOC 52

Even the people who are against Reform UK/Farage are still commenting on the Singaporean Reform Party’s Facebook page by mistake. (The Singaporean party which predates Reform UK by a couple of decades is liberal and progressive.)

Who is Dubai’s Prime Minster these days?

The Telegraph in Dec 2024 was prescient on Mandelson’s appointment, his fondness for Oligarchs and impressive properties. Ending with the words:” …whether further ups and downs await- only time will tell.”

It’s not hindsight. I was incredulous, as were many. Here are some of my posts from Feb/March 2025. The fact that Farage supported him should have raised red flags everywhere.