Oh she's not quite managed to get her yellow mac fastened there. Tricky things. #Eurovision
#CZE Not sure about this one. Catchy, but kinda terrible. Guitar bow wanker isn't helping. It's a 5 from me. #Eurovision
#ROU The greased up glitter crop tops aren't doing it for me. Quite like the tune and the shimmy. 6 points. #Eurovision
#POR Support groups are really important and valuable, but they're not really appropriate for the #Eurovision song contest. Hope they sorted it all out. It's a 4 from me.
#FIN Did #Eurovision get a job lot of yellow macs or something? Glad they seemed to be enjoying themselves. I wasn't. All makeup and no rock. A generous 3. Which means this will probably win.
#SUI As George Ezra tributes go that actually wasn't too bad. Could have done with a key change. Or a chorus. Or, you know, something. 7 I think. #Eurovision
#FRA I think it's clear that France would very much not like to be hosting #Eurovision next year. Were they even all singing the same tune? Je suis désolée, mais that's 2 points from me.
#NOR I like it. But then I liked the masked singer - well, at least the bits without Joel or the panel speaking. I think a 7. #Eurovision
#ITA I don't know what they're saying but they're very insistent and good-looking about it. Sweet. 6, I think. #Eurovision
#ESP Not leaving much to the imagination. The eighties is really the decade that never ended in #Eurovision land, isn't it. I suppose a 6 from me.
#NED You could tell the crowd was starved of excitement during this, because they actually cheered when she walked down two steps. I rather like the song though, and a great voice. 7 points from me. #Eurovision
#UKR Not sure they needed all those people on stage to be honest, but I liked it and it's obviously going to do well. A 6 I think. #Eurovision
#GER Thoroughly enjoyed the song and the staging until we reached the spoken word part. There's no need for that. Still probably my favourite so far. 8 points. #Eurovision
#LTU Really liked this one. Retro chic and a seemingly effortless voice. No idea what she's saying but I'm not about to disagree. Surprising myself with another 8 points. #Eurovision
#AZE Good lord. Erm, 6? I'm baffled by that one. #Eurovision
#BEL I can't get the theme tune from The Morning Show out of my mind here. Could have done with something else but rather enjoyable overall. It's another 7. #Eurovision
#GRE Refuse sacks are a very tricky look to pull off. Found myself using my feet at parts though. Bit forgettable. 5 points. #Eurovision
#ISL The Dixie Chicks have really calmed down, huh. That was just one long intro! 3 points, sorry. #Eurovision
#MDA This is proper #Eurovision - too old for their clothes, bad dancing, a fiddle and a box crowbarred into a semi rock number. Terrible but much better than most. 7 points.
#SWE Wouldn't want to get into an argument with her. Looks like she'd take zero shit. Catchy stuff though. I think it's a 7. #Eurovision
#AUS Trying a wee bit hard, love. Settle down. Sorry, it's a 2 from me. #Eurovision
#UK It's a cracking song and he's a brilliant singer. I really hope he gets the points he deserves. It's a 9 from me. #Eurovision
#POL The Walking Dead meets High School Musical. You'd think it wouldn't work, and you'd be right. There was something there, and he has a good voice, but no. 5 points. #Eurovision
#SRB No clue what was going on there, but I have a feeling I've seen a French film with a similar plot. I wish I hadn't. 2 points. #Eurovision
#EST Hang on, wasn't this guy on earlier? Catchy though. Not sure about the video filters but he seems to have got the crowd going. I suppose a 7. #Eurovision
They could just have a gap where they show a different programme for an hour before the points are totted up. #Eurovision
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I oppose all nationalism. English nationalism, British nationalism, Scottish nationalism, all have critical threads in common which make them dangerous. They rely on blaming an "other" group for bad things. They propose outcomes that won't solve the problems they claim they will.
Scottish nationalism isn't the same thing as wanting Scottish independence. But if your argument for independence is based on it solving problems like poverty, political disenfranchisement, corruption despite there being no evidence that it will do so, then *that* is nationalism.
I've just been informed by @BBCScotlandNews that Nicola Sturgeon has "led" the condemnation of Alex Salmond's show on RT. That is an utterly preposterous claim. He's been criticised since the show started by almost everyone *but* Nicola Sturgeon. Playing catch-up is not leading!
@BBCScotlandNews Before the next NS fan pops up with the same 2017 line, "I am sure Alex’s show will make interesting viewing – however, his choice of channel would not have been my choice. Of course, Alex is not currently an elected politician and is free to do as he wishes" is not condemnation!
@BBCScotlandNews And the SNP party line at the time was "This is entirely a matter for Alex Salmond, who is not currently an elected politician and as such is free to take on broadcasting and other opportunities of his own choosing, just as those from other parties have done".
That Sunak article in the Sun is pretty extraordinary. He cites a "colder than usual winter" meaning we've "used up more of our gas stores". But the Tories shut down three quarters of the UK's gas storage in 2017, and so far this winter has been one of the mildest on record.
He goes on to say it would not be credible to respond to this "significant shock" with borrowing, despite almost his entire tenure as Chancellor thus far being defined by a response to a significant shock paid for by borrowing. I realise this is a leadership pitch but honestly.
That link on the phrase "colder than usual winter", by the way, is to a story about a single cold night in southern England and Wales. The story itself talks of "balmier weather on the way", and comes after record-breaking high temperatures were recorded in December and January.
"Progressive alliance" folk: yes, the UK needs fundamental democratic reform. But what the SNP wants is independence. Scots voters know that, and the majority of them don't want it. Give them a choice between an SNP-inclusive alliance and the Tories, they'll vote for the Tories.
In other words a "progressive alliance" that includes the SNP would, in Scotland, drive votes towards the Tories not away from them, and reinforce the Ulsterisation which has already taken hold here. It would be fundamentally self-defeating if your aim is to reform UK democracy.
Another way of looking at this is to acknowledge that the brand of Conservatism currently in power in the UK is largely, post-Brexit, British nationalist. That nationalism is what is driving its anti-democratic behaviour. You can't fix that by adding more nationalism to the mix!
Aside from the grim implication that Sturgeon is waiting for older Scots to die before holding a second ref, this interview is another missed opportunity to ask serious questions about the glib promises being fed to Scots who want to be back in the EU. ft.com/content/69599c…
If you support Scottish independence because you want to be back in the EU, you need urgently to think through some things. I mean, the earliest possible independence date would be at least two to three years after a ref, so that's six years from now at an absolute minimum. You
then have to assume an immediate referendum on EU membership, which a brand new government or a brand new country is highly unlikely to either want or have the capacity to do, *and* that Scots are going to actively vote for the erection of a hard border at Berwick right at the
In all honesty, and much as I understand that for some people it is a lifelong dream not a political calculation, I just cannot process how anyone who seeks to improve the lives of Scots facing hardship can possibly give any priority right now to the pursuit of independence.
How can you look at a policy like the £20 Universal Credit cut on the background of a Covid and Brexit induced series of crises and decide the way to address it is to push for dividing people rather than seeking the broadest coalition possible across the UK to fight against it?
How can you see the failings of a Scottish Government that has given us record drug and alcohol deaths, crises across the NHS and soaring child poverty and choose not to hold them to account for it but rather push for a new border that would make all these things harder to fix?