After hours of intense Zoom interviews, library visits and walking tours round the country, England, my book with @TomBaldwin66, is finally published today! Available at all good places … Thanks to Nalan Cabi for the perfect photo.
Australia’s second largest city is now set to be the city with the longest period on lockdown in the whole world. That this is not a public policy success should surely be clear to everyone.
Do you question the ethics of your method, Robert? “Revealing” such enormous public policy decisions selectively on the basis of your conversations with nameless “sources”. Dubious at the best of times. Hideous now.
Want to know why Theresa May’s deal won’t die? One reason is that Labour refuses to back a second referendum and says it wants to find “consensus in the House”.
‘Khan has certainly suffered some loss of support, and almost certainly thanks in large part due to Ulez.’
✍️ Ross Clark
spectator.co.uk/article/khan-m…
Readers added context
Sadiq Khan was re-elected for a third term with a larger margin of victory than in either of his previous elections.
standard.co.uk/news/politics/….
In a world of British political awfulness, this is up there with the worst. The idea that Britain will be more prosperous, less London-centric, more capable of dealing with the challenges facing post-industrial communities, by leaving the EU is totally absurd.
"The breakdown of trust in politics if we try to turn this over by a second referendum will be hard to repair."
Labour MP Caroline Flint says she wants "to get beyond" Brexit so "we can get to deal with some of those more pressing, everyday issues".
With @MarkMcGowanMP’s late night announcement, Australian citizens - including family members - living in different states are still legally denied from seeing each other. That should be a national outrage.
Of only local interest, but the Australian media's general unwillingness to call out Trump's dangerous and anti-democratic politics is deeply embarrassing. American Fox News currently braver than the Australian ABC.
Emily @maitlis is absolutley right: coronavirus is not the great leveller. Yes, everyone is vulnerable, but some are far more exposed to that vulnerability than others, and they are often our lowest paid workers.
Within minutes of variant stress people who genuinely think of themselves as “progressives” are on here demanding border closures … there is something very, very strange at work in Australian political culture.
Let’s be clear: epidemiologists should not be calling for “troops on the street”. Society rightly values their expertise in pandemic control. They have no training whatsoever in the impact of militarising our neighbourhoods. It is more than outrageous overreach. It is dangerous.
If hugely influential modellers are consistently predicting that omicron is of the same severity as delta, and it turns out not to be the case, then public faith in science is going to take a very serious blow.
This won’t make many friends but … the self-absorption of journalists who are now outraged at the loss of their 11am pressers but who were largely silent when Parliaments were closed at the whim of Premiers is really something to see.