love* in the time of plague (and by love* i mean brexit* and other dreary matters of uk politics)

Omg his handle

Sandy McFadzean's Twitter account which was deleted after Ms Smith was contacted for comment by the EDP pic.twitter.com/akgkPU7D7D

— BoneyMcBoneface 👬🌈 (@enobkered1) September 3, 2020

It was interesting to see near uniformity in the comments under that FT article - although perhaps not surprising given how expensive and onerous the business of having an office job has become.

I'm a lot less bullish about the idea that the economic benefits will genuinely be diffused, though. Spending in independent shops might be up a bit but it's going to take a more skilled hand than this government has if the future isn't a collapse in transport infrastructure, millions more unemployed and an even greater market share flowing to Amazon.

Almost everyone who works at a Swiss bank is Vice President of something. They hand the titles out like toffees.

lol at @stateistoobig, just laying out the entire stall in one handle

and an even greater market share flowing to Amazon.

― Scampo di tutti i Scampi (ShariVari), Thursday, 3 September 2020 bookmarkflaglink

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-54009484?

Yep, Amazon's international growth in recruitment has been extraordinary over the last six months.

Love Ian Lavery but you've almost gotta hand it to all these rage-addled Blairites who seem to continuously pick him as the Corbynite they want to square up to. Bollocks of steel. pic.twitter.com/HfKlNHF8oJ

— RP Corp International Division (@RPCorpIntl) September 3, 2020

wouldn't even piss on a Times hack book on Corbynism, but it is quite fun reading short select cuts from it tonight.

Ian Murray, now shadow Scotland secretary, was the eighth original member of the Independent Group before pulling out at the eleventh hour. Here he is rehearsing their launch:https://t.co/4GxcdJTqKr pic.twitter.com/DAy59mvQhQ

— Patrick Maguire (@patrickkmaguire) September 3, 2020

Almost everyone who works at a Swiss bank is Vice President of something. They hand the titles out like toffees.

― Scampo di tutti i Scampi (ShariVari), Thursday, September 3, 2020 5:10 AM (ten hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah, I have a friend who is a VP at Morgan Stanley and he's just an IT guy, not some executive

you don't get highfalutin titles like "supervisor" until you can fly at Fox's Biscuits!

Gotta say, not usually a big fan of Rayner but all the quotes from her in this so far are class. pic.twitter.com/YJZPQ90p2g

— RP Corp International Division (@RPCorpIntl) September 3, 2020

Chris Leslie apparently has a "lilting West Yorkshire accent" in what was a big blow for regional accents amongst people that actually fucking have them.

Michael Gove's doric tones

doric pilla[ck]s of society, please don't unite and take over!

Yes this is all making that book sound, as I think Mark S would say, 'good not bad'?

So they assumed that Labour Party activists, many of whom ran themselves ragged to support the 2019 campaign, are stupid. Btw I am not a Labour Party member. pic.twitter.com/oZNQI82NSq

— Mic Wright 🏳️‍🌈🌋🏴‍☠️ (@brokenbottleboy) September 4, 2020

looks like a real hack job

In ‘Left Out...’ Pogrund and Maguire tell on themselves in every other paragraph. They see politics as a game to be played and are baffled that Corbyn sees it as something else. pic.twitter.com/BOqvgaDV7K

— Mic Wright 🏳️‍🌈🌋🏴‍☠️ (@brokenbottleboy) September 3, 2020

Eh, those excerpts seem more like "listen, we're not saying he's a bad guy..." equivocating than "wtf is this guy on about" bafflement.

My fave is Corbyn going "new phone who dis" in response pic.twitter.com/a5OpOm91Iv

— 'Client Journalism' Expert (@ClientJournoExp) September 4, 2020

I enjoyed the brief novelty of voting, shouldn't be a problem never doing it again tho

DO YOU WANT TRUMP TO WIN

I'm glad that I don't have to make a decision about the US situation which feels like a unique one. If Johnson is the UK Trump then there's more chance of him being toppled by the Tories on his own side rather than the Tories in the Labour Party

People said 5hst about Trump/GOP in '16

that, even

The difference is that the Republicans have, as far as I can see, never really turned on their own President in recent memory whereas nearly every Tory PM in my lifetime has been finished off by their own party. Only exceptions being Major (and they gave that a good go) and Cameron (and even then he was railroaded into his particular fuckup by his own party).

It's not something you especially want to wait around for because there's every chance when they get the opportunity they'll elect someone even worse.

Cameron’s own party rebelled en masse on the equal marriage vote.

I think the level of threat to BAME people from Johnson or Starmer isn't meaningfully different in the way it is with Trump and anybody. That would be the only thing that could motivate me to vote for the Democrat's sex pest right wing candidate

but but Sir Kier took a knee!

he just imagined he was grovelling in front of the queen tbf

The gay marriage thing really poisoned a lot of Tory MPs and parts of the Tory media against Cameron and while that almost certainly enabled and emboldened the Brexit wing of the party it wasn't terminal for him in the way that, say, the Poll Tax was for Thatcher.

The thing is that Tories fundamentally believe in the principle that oppositions don't win elections, governments lose them, and who's to say they are wrong when they see Labour drawing level with them while not doing or saying very much? The solution to staying in power (and in their seats) is to change the government. If Cummings - a sociopath with a hatred of institutions who either doesn't notice obvious pitfalls right in front of him or doesn't care about them - decides to go to war with parts of the Tory benches then it could escalate very quickly.

ahahaha

No need to bother, Co-op. As of today you are henceforth banned from advertising in The Spectator, in perpetuity. We will not have companies like yours use their financial might to try to influence our editorial content, which is entirely a matter for the editor. https://t.co/Iypkk9Pwrb

— Andrew Neil (@afneil) September 4, 2020

snowflake triggered etc.

No, you can't dump me because I dumped you first.

One of the responders has #GrahamLinehane #JKRowling in their Twitter name

I wish I hadn't read the responses

A lot of people who need a civil and understanding conversation to gently persuade them to change their views

count the numbers in their usernames

Also a lot of people who don't seem to understand what the Co-op is

Actually Neil does seem to have a lot of seemingly real fans who reply to his every tweet with 'Bravo! Absolutely the right response' and 'Finally some real leadership - if only we'd had you in 1938' and 'Yaaas go off king btw your daughter does not look much like you oh it's your wife sorry Sir'

Irony of the editor of a magazine that exists to serve the agenda of plutocrats refusing to bow to evil capitalist megacorp the Co-op

It is notable that every time anyone writes anything about anything JC ever said or did - especially when they're trying to make him look bad - he comes out looking incredibly good.

Going out to buy rainbow cones to own Andrew Neil

Johnson, JR, Joy Morrissey and the gang no doubt fuming over this latest history erasure

BREAKING: I’ve just heard the ‘Ripper Museum’ on Cable Street, East London, established under the false premise it would be a women’s history museum, has gone bust.
GOOD.

This was a celebration of misogyny & murder.
I’m proud to have been part of the campaign against it. pic.twitter.com/Us5e1uXs5x

— Dr Louise Raw (@LouiseRawAuthor) September 4, 2020

Cancelled by the market

can't wait to see how the BBC's new social media policy doesn't apply to Neil

So can I just check that you've not told your agency to desist from placing future ads in The Spectator? And that you are prepared to place ads in the future? https://t.co/WqdFm0WITi

— Andrew Neil (@afneil) September 4, 2020

Absurd performative outrage from Neil here, the Co-op was never trying to influence editorial, it chose not to advertise and didn't know it was doing so in the first place. He knows this full well.

I could be wrong but Neil is currently not employed by BBC (they cancelled his show and I don't think he does Daily Politics anymore) which explains why he's been far more unhinged and fashy recently.

The sheer scale of the support he gets though. This shit plays so well for them, there’s no downside Xp

Let me spell this out and end this nonsense. I currently have no contract with the BBC. But if I was to accept a new freelance contract, which came with tight restrictions re Twitter, then I would accept said restrictions as part of contract. Capice? https://t.co/uTAdFufHUw

— Andrew Neil (@afneil) September 4, 2020