News news news. Really excited about this. There's a Waterstones exclusive edition of How To Be A Liberal waterstones.com/book/how-to-be…
This edition comes with an essay on liberalism vs libertarianism in the age of covid - essentially a new mini-chapter looking at how Hayek's liberalism mutated into a kind of Frankenstein mixture of authoritarianism and libertarianism inside the Tory and Republican parties.
This is what led to the bizarre spectacle of MPs banging on about individual liberties while silencing protests. How could functioning human beings come to operate while experiencing such catastrophic degrees of cognitive dissonance?
How does liberalism survive when we lose the liberty to even leave our homes? Well, it's in the essay. It spans from Hayek, to Pinochet, to Thatcher, to the pandemic. And hopefully makes some sense of the contortions we see around us today.
There's just one print run for this edition and it's only available in Waterstones. When it's gone it's gone. If you're buying the paperback, it would be great if you could do so there.
Anyway, formal tweet coming up so I can pin it. Apologies in advance.
Get the limited Waterstones Exclusive Edition of How to be a Liberal, with an additional chapter on 'Liberalism vs Libertarianism in the age of Covid'. waterstones.com/book/how-to-be…
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Quite apart from the silliness of the proposal, and it really is quite mind-meltingly silly, how exactly do you measure this? What precisely is British about Fleabag and in what quantities would it be needed to satisfy the criteria? inews.co.uk/news/john-whit…
I mean, I kind of agree that Fleabag is distinctly British. Something about the self-deprecation and lack of sentimentality. But we don't own those qualities. Why wouldn't that be very Danish? I would love to see the Excel spreadsheet where you get to turn that into units.
Also, it seems to solve a problem that doesn't exist. British telly is already really very fucking British. I show that stuff to my cousins overseas and they're usually baffled.
North London people: Pop London, our family's fashion boutique, is holding a fashion show in Wood Green tomorrow night. Free entry - drinks, gorgeous sustainable fashion, and me doing whatever I'm told.
I do not understand the fashion part. But I very much understand the bit where we all drink in the sun and listen to music.
Yeah so that was a fantastic night. @popldnboutique really does put on the best shows: London through and through. Just the thing after a day of relentless political horror.
Fwiw, this is the right thing to do. Why impose another shock to the system while it's unable to handle even the changes we have made so far? But it does carry consequences.
How often will they be able to do it, for instance, before businesses stop expecting it to happen and decide not to prepare? Each delay erodes the expectation that it'll ever take place.
Sturgeon's conference speech is just kicking off if you want to follow along
Sturgeon talks about those who "honour us by making this country their home". So reassuring to hear a national leader speak this way about immigrants and refugees.
You're reminded again what a gift Johnson is to Sturgeon. On refugees, social care tax and Universal Credit cuts, he does her work for her. A "lack of basic humanity and moral compass".
We actually saw the first Matrix recently and honestly it's still just as good as it was when it came out. An eye-popping spectacle which to effortlessly explore philosophical ideas.
I still really like the action set-pieces in the second one, but by then it's become much cruder - long philosophical monologue, then freeway chase sequence, another philosophical monologue, then fight scene.
It's not a good film, but it's helpful because it shows just how genius the first one was. The third is obviously dogshit and there's no reason to revisit it
The Home Office ‘welcomed’ Afghan refugees to quarantine hotels without nappies, sanitary products or medicine inews.co.uk/opinion/afghan…
I've spent the last few days talking to volunteers, local councillors and charity officials, all desperately trying to fill in the gaps of the Home Office's 'Warm Welcome' project for Afghan evacuees.
They picture they paint is of chaos: A failure of central government to tell local government how many Afghans are in their area, or where. Failure to supply them with essential goods. Failure to provide them with information about health, money or even their own legal status.