Something between trolling and a wish fulfillment fantasy from Farage here, but the fact that this sort of story isn't even absurd is a prety damning situation for the old Tories.

It always seemed weird to me that most companies just discontinued their traditional sugary variety and went diet only, instead of having a diet version and the sugary version just at a higher price.

The death of original Irn Bru is a bit of a tragedy, and I'm not even sure what the point of low sugar Lucozade is supposed to be.

I am completely satisfied with the idea that all doctors should be career doctors who have dedicated a large part of their life to the study and practice of medicine.

I am not entirely as satisfied with the idea that all politicians should be career politicians who have dedicated a large part of their life to the study and practice of politics.

Parliament would be a much richer and more effective place if it were populated by people from a range of backgrounds and specialisms. I don't think it's a good thing that a sizeable fraction of them all studied the same politics degree at the same two universities.

Old article, recently reposted on The Other Place, but a good long read.

I'm no fan of Wes Streeting, but the Canary is trash and is doing its usual of selectively quoting.

We will go further than New Labour ever did. I want the NHS to form partnerships with the private sector that goes beyond just hospitals. Here’s one example. High street opticians have the staff and equipment to provide basic tests. Meanwhile 220,000 patients have been waiting more than 18 weeks for eye care. Specsavers have welcomed Labour’s plan to use high street opticians to cut waiting lists, saying they stand ready to help.

Personally I'm not enormously bothered about high street opticians taking NHS appointments (within their competency). This is essentially the same model that GPs and dentists already follow (and always have done).

There's plenty to be guarded about, but let's not catastrophise based on half-quoted electioneering material.

That'd be the same Green Party who oppose nuclear energy, whose local politicians oppose solar farms due to NIMBY issues, who opposed HS2...

They talk a good talk, and they've got the branding down, but their actual track record on genuine environmental policies is pretty blotchy.

As a trade union official myself, I'd just like to say that that is some seriously good shit. It's practically a wishlist of all the things I feel would make my job of representing people in distress easier.

I know Unite are critical, but other unions are less so. I'd suggest that Unite's criticisms are more about the strength of the pledges (i.e. how committed Labour are to implementing this stuff quickly) rather than the content of what's being promised. While they could always go further, this is nonetheless a really solid set of reforms.

There are hardly any seats left which haven't selected a Labour candidate at this point. All of the safe seats were done ages ago. The handful that are left vacant are all the absolute no-hopers for Labour where nobody really cares who the candidate is because they're not going to win anyway.

Any defectors hoping to go that route have long since missed the boat. They'd have had to have jumped ship a year or two ago.

The Labour Party has already gone through the process of selecting a candidate for that seat. If she'd defected before that had happened she could have put herself forward for reselection (and there's a different process for that), but that ship has long sailed. The candidate is the candidate, and it's not her.

Quits at the next election. Always an important distinction. No by-election this time, alas.

The Government has abdicated its duties; for the they who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains themselves and anxiously hopes for just two things: meat and crumpets.

• Juvenal, 100 AD (mostly)

Argh, Microsoft Store? One of the very few stores which remains doggedly impossible to get games running on Linux. Boo to you, Prime Gaming.

You know, I don't think I've ever heard an American say "Gen Z" before, and it literally never occured to me that they were pronouncing it "Gen Zee". Obvious now you mention it, but I've just been assuming that every time I see it written down it's "Gen Zed" by default.

Really interesting arcticle breaking down which groups have moved and where, and providing a bit of depth to the discussion around changing demographics.

An interesting take-away is the fact that the electorate is much "swingier" than it ever has been in the past, with a far greater number of people willing to consider switching their vote compared to historic elections. That makes things a lot more volatile than previously, and explains some of the break-neck changes we've seen in recent years (Labour gains in 2017, Tory majority in 2019, potential Labour landslide in 2024).

Sadly not. The Male Political Haircuts Twitter account is a fan, though.

Are you the woman dreaming of a beautiful new ideal home?

Boring answer for me: I'm a local councillor and activist, so I've been in the paper more times than is strictly good for me. I've pointed at potholes and glowered at empty shops and stood freeze-framed in the act of handing over petitions and all the other classics.

The burden of local fame can be overwhelming.

Funny you should say that. Someone had bought me The Book of Dust vol.1 ages ago, and it had been sitting on my bookshelf unread for exactly that reason. About a year ago I finally convinced myself to re-read the HDM trilogy so that I could finally get on and read it!

HDM held up decently well with adult eyes. It's still a very emotive, well-paced and convincingly plotted read, although there were parts that made me raise my eyebrows in a way I undoubtedly didn't as a younger reader, and the third book perhaps didn't hold up quite as well as I remembered. But all in all I greatly enjoyed the revisit, and like I said I really enjoyed La Belle Sauvage (which is a pretty weird and trippy book in a way, but a very enjoyable trip all the same).

If you haven't read Philip Pullman's other novels in the HDM universe they might be worth a go. The Book of Dust trilogy is still waiting for its third part, and the second book is not brilliant, but I really enjoyed the first one and it stands pretty well on its own as a prequel novel.

I've recently been reading the Rivers of London series, which is sort of urban fantasy / crime. They're not high literature, and I recommend them only relatively weakly, but they're very easy reading and pretty fun. Might be a nice one to ease yourself back into the habit again.

If you want some "serious" sci-fi that is also very accessible and action-oriented, The Expanse might be worth a look too.

I have read Three-Body Problem, and it certainly wasn't a bad book, but it also was far from top tier for me. The story is a little silly in places, and the writing (at least in the English translation) can be a bit of a slog. By all means read it, and you'll probably enjoy it, but maybe not as your first foray back into casual literature.

Yeah, and more realistically pineapple and pepperoni is a firm favourite of mine too. A bit of sweet with the heat.