Will this damage the Greens in England & Wales?
TSE
Will an Ayrshire hotelier win the 2026 Nobel peace prize?
I suspect this is a proxy bet on whether the peace deal in the Middle East unravels or not. My instinct is to back no as you’re effectively betting on Hamas and Netanyahu to behave and stick to the terms of the deal and that’s like expecting Boris Johnson to tell the truth. TSE
An interesting stat
Before I saw this stat my intuition would have been the lower the turnout the better Reform would do but as we can see that’s clearly not the case. I would counsel against reading too much into this for the next general election, the next round of local elections in May (and the devolved ones too) if this pattern holds up. TSE
Another parable of UK industry
Recall the GLP1 obesity drugs which are generating tens of billions every year ?Meet the British scientists who was one of those who first elucidated the biochemistry underlying them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_R._Bloom…Bloom played a seminal role in establishing the biology and pathophysiology of the intrinsic endocrine system of the gastrointestinal tract, an area which he pioneered and which is now a major focus of basic and applied laboratories worldwide. Through the identification of clinical syndromes associated with overproduction of these hormones and…
What is John Swinney’s secret?
When I first read about John Swinney’s comment my first thought was about Josh Lyman coming up with a secret plan to fight inflation in The West Wing. I am quite intrigued to see what the plan is although it might be moot if the SNP do not reach 65 MSPs next year, only once in the previous six Holyrood elections has a party won a majority. I have previously called Swinney’s plans courageous because he’s going to look pretty…
This is interesting on two levels from Trump’s Middle East envoy
TSE
A Bridget tale too far
Normally I would say getting criticised by the Trump administration would be a positive for most politicians in the UK but I don’t think Bridget Phillipson will benefit here. Unless she can provide some documentary evidence she’s going to look like a chump by the US Ambassador to Israel. In just under a fortnight we will find out if she’s won or lost, voting only opened four days ago so this could have an impact. The odds feel right. TSE
The green shoots of recovery for Kemi?
It’s only one poll but given the generally dire ratings Kemi Badenoch and her party experience this is something that needs to be cherished. I still think the Tories are going to be pummelled next May and that will trigger Badenoch’s exit despite her performance last week. TSE