The UK is weird in not having an ID system. There is no central register of residents or citizens. People prove their identity through random documents (driving licences, utility bills), and businesses check against incomplete databases (esp credit rating agencies,) This was recognised as a problem in the '00s, and the Blair government tried to bring in national identification cards. But on coming to power, the Conservatives scrapped the idea. The concept has been a dead letter since.

I occasionally still ruminate on the frankly weird choices of personnel at the top of the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign. The remain campaign was a very serious matter, and you would assume they'd have the top talent... Instead, as Executive Director, you had Will Straw: a failed Labour candidate who had never won an election, and whose main qualifications were 1) Having a blog and 2) Being Jack Straw's son

This story is even more bizarre, and worse, than it seems.

Pretty much ever news outlet has just reprinted BTP's press release. The only one which actually covered the trial was a website run by Southbank University students

journalism.london/2023/05/abdulr…

https://twitter.com/BTP/status/1658098114685808645

Presumably because they actually turned up to the courthouse, they were able to report that Hersi had three previous convictions for sexual assault, and was on licence for one of these offences at the time of this incident

I visited Taiwan, where the bin lorries drive the streets playing music like an ice cream van. When they arrived at a particular street, the residents came out of their houses to deposit their recycling…

https://twitter.com/Babygravy9/status/1595026052807593984

Witnessing this, I was immediately transported back to my then home in east London, where the street were littered with mattresses and empty cans of cooking oil.

Taipei, on paper a poorer city than London, was an important inflection point on my political development

If you use Wikipedia, you've seen pop-ups like this. If you're like me, you may have donated as a result.

Wikipedia is an amazing website, and the appeals seem heartfelt. But I've now learnt the money isn't going where I thought... The organisation which administers Wikipedia - to whom the money goes - is the Wikimedia Foundation Inc. Wikimedia is a San Francisco non-profit with 400 employees - which has exploded in size in recent years.

Following the death of Chris Kaba, a Guardian editorial and podcast spoke at length about the Met Police's supposed habit of killing unarmed black men. They identified three predecessors:
1) Azelle Rodney
2) Mark Duggan
3) Jermaine Baker
Who were they, and what happened? All four deaths resulted from a "hard stop" - armed police rapidly containing a vehicle. It should be obvious, but police in the UK are not routinely armed. If cops are smashing into your car and pointing a gun at you, they have an actual reason to think you are armed too.