Good morning, opening with the Eurofighter, Fursan Al Emarat and a Chinook at #FIA2026 We fly into the show with Blade, meet Joby's test pilot Buddy, chat to a Black Hawk pilot encouraging girls into STEM, and test Soundcore's ANC earbuds with the very loud air display ✈️🚁

Should Google be made to plant 250,000 samplings and rebuild what they tore down illegally? Surely there are better ways to try and build a data centres, starting with permission from the local authorities?

Left: Keir Starmer campaigned with WASPI women, and then rejected the recommendation to compensate them when PM Right: Andy Burnham campaigned to end fossil fuels, but then opened up Jackdraw for gas extraction when he became PM What is is about Labour Prime Ministers who say one thing in opposition, and do the opposite when in government? When Conservative Prime Ministers did this, Labour voters would call them out. But when Labour Prime Ministers are doing this, the same Labour supporters find excuses not to call them out. - Surely integrity means we apply the same standard to whoever is in office? After 14 years of Conservative chaos, is it too much to hope for a bit more integrity from Labour?

2021: Boris Johnson, "The old concept of fighting big tank battles on European land mass, are over" 2026: Sky News, "Tank barrels will be produced in the UK for the first time in 20 years.. The return of large calibre weapons manufacturing comes at a time of growing security concerns to this country" My view: Boris-let-the-bodies-pile-high-Johnson didn’t just get the future of warfare wrong. He dismissed and laughed off a serious warning from Tobias Ellwood who warned about tank warfare in Europe. Russia had already used tanks in its 2014 invasion of Ukraine and the fighting in Donbas. By November 2021, as Russian forces threatened Ukraine again, Johnson was telling Parliament that “the old concepts of fighting big tank battles on the European landmass” were over. Three months later, Russian tanks crossed the border in a full-scale invasion. Now Britain is rebuilding its ability to make large-calibre gun barrels after a 20-year gap, as security fears grow. Johnson’s arrogance was breathtaking; his judgment was wrong. When an MP warned that Britain needed to take conventional war seriously, the Prime Minister brushed him off and pointed instead to cyber and future combat aircraft. Ukraine showed that modern warfare can involve drones and cyber attacks and tanks, artillery and huge battles of attrition. The lesson is not that every future war will look the same. It is that leaders should not confuse a changing battlefield with the disappearance of old threats. Boris Johnson, the disgraced former Prime Minister, cut the UK's tank fleet by 35%. Britain is now paying to rebuild capabilities his government allowed to wither.

Britain and Norway discovered North Sea oil in 1969. Norway created a fund and invested its petroleum revenues; today it’s worth about £1.7 trillion. The UK created no equivalent fund—Treasury modelling suggests a Norway-style fund might now be worth around £1 trillion. On the same gross-debt measure, UK debt is £3.18 trillion; Norway’s is about £273 billion. Different choices, very different public balance sheets. We have to do better as a nation 🙏

🇳🇴 Norway, yay oil and gas! Let's nationalise returns and in 2026 we'll have a £1.7 trillion sovereign wealth fund 🇬🇧 United Kingdom, yay oil and gas! Let's sell it off, and with it's scraps in 2026, add £100 million a year by 2030 (OBR) to an Energy Wealth Fund

Good morning, a throwback to the wonder that is the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 😊 Have a good Thursday 🙏

Alastair Campbell, "Andy Burnham has been telling the truth, that's for sure" "I don't think that anybody can say Brexit has been a success for the country" "It's done enormous damage to our economic interests, our trade interests, our soft power" "It's done a lot of damage and I think Andy Burnham is just opening the debate to say we now have to look at how best we fix this" "I do think there is an appetite and understanding that we've got to get closer to Europe" "Particularly at a time when China is so dominant and America is so unreliable" "Yes you can say you might have a far right government in France, the far right in Germany are doing very very well - I don't think that's an argument against Britain trying to reclaim influence over Europe" Paddy O'Connell, "There's only one man tonight who has invented a new word, what is Persevilience - the title of your book?" Alastair Campbell, "It is the capacity to turn any setback into a positive opportunity" My view: Alastair Campbell says Andy Burnham is telling the truth: nobody can seriously claim Brexit has been a success for Britain. It has damaged our economic and trade interests, weakened our soft power and left us with less influence at a time when China is increasingly dominant and America is increasingly unreliable. Getting closer to Europe doesn’t mean pretending every European government is perfect. It means recognising that Britain is stronger when it has a voice in shaping the continent’s future. And Campbell’s word for turning setbacks into opportunities? “Persevilience.” Brexit was a setback of our own making. The challenge now is to find the courage to fix the damage.

Christiane Amanpour, "Don't forget. Every time Donald Trump has asked for a ceasefire, Zelenskyy says yes, Putin says no" "Putin wants Zelenskyy to give up territory which Putin hasn't even conquered yet" My view: Thank you for pointing this out @amanpour 👏 Christiane Amanpour cuts through the false equivalence: when a ceasefire is proposed, Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready; Putin keeps demanding more—including territory his forces have not even taken. Traditional Republicans who believe America should stand up to dictators are backing Ukraine. Trump and his cult are aligning themselves with Putin, pressuring the country that was invaded while indulging the aggressor. That tells you who is trying to stop the fighting—and who is using “peace” talks to demand Ukraine’s surrender.

Alastair Campbell, "Steve Witkoff is a disgrace. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia and Steve Witkoff calls Putin a humanitarian" "The Americans (Trump) speak about Putin in a way which is diametrical to the way they speak about Zelenskyy" "Trump has decided that this war has to end with Ukraine losing" "Trump has contempt for Zelenskyy because he's a proper leader with values and integrity, and all the things Donald Trump doesn't stand for" My view: Witkoff calling Putin a humanitarian is bad enough. But it fits the way Trump’s team now talks about this war: praise for the man who invaded Ukraine, contempt for the leader defending it. Trump says he wants the war to end. But if the price of that “peace” is Ukraine losing territory, security and its freedom to choose its own future, then it is not a fair settlement. It is rewarding aggression. Zelenskyy is a leader fighting for his country’s survival. Trump’s hostility towards him says far more about Trump’s values than it does about Zelenskyy’s.

Oh dear, Krishnan Guru-Murthy asks about the receipts from oil and gas going into Labour's Energy Wealth Fund, Tessa Khan, "The OBR made a forecast before the price spikes caused by the Iran war that by 2030, the tax take from the North Sea oil and gas sector, will be £0.1 billion" "That's not enough to bring down people's energy bills" My view: Labour is talking up an Energy Wealth Fund financed by North Sea revenues, but the OBR’s pre-Iran-war forecast put oil and gas tax receipts at just £100 million in 2030–31. That’s the projected tax take for the whole year — nowhere near enough to make a meaningful dent in energy bills. So when ministers suggest North Sea revenues can help bring bills down, where’s the money actually coming from?

Labour's Chancellor John Healy thinks you're stupid, "Now is the time to make the most of our own homegrown energy through production from Jackdraw" My view: John Healey is dressing up a small boost to gas supply as a solution to the energy crisis. Jackdaw is expected to raise domestic gas production by around 6% at peak—equivalent to just under 4% of Britain’s daily gas demand—and operate for up to 11 years. The Government’s £2.9 billion figure is the project’s estimated contribution to the economy over its lifetime, not money that will be handed to households or taken off their bills. And because gas is traded in an international market, producing it in the North Sea does not mean British households get it at a cheaper price. It may add a little to supply security, but it will not shield families from global price shocks or make energy bills suddenly affordable. If Healey’s argument is that Jackdaw provides a limited supply boost, say that. But pretending “homegrown energy” means cheaper energy for the public is the sort of spin the Conservatives used to deliver.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to President Putin, "You talk so much about my President, President Trump, being a humanitarian" "You are a humanitarian also sir. I salute that. I commend you. And I thank you again" My view: Witkoff was speaking after Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American teacher who had been held since 2022 and sentenced to nearly seven years in prison after a closed trial on mercenary charges. His release is welcome. He should be reunited with his family. But there is something utterly dystopian about calling Putin a humanitarian because he released one prisoner after holding him for more than four years. Since launching its full-scale invasion, Russia has killed and injured civilians on a vast scale. By July 2026, the UN had verified at least 16,874 civilians killed, including 820 children, and 51,273 injured, including 3,126 children. Those are verified minimums; the true toll is likely higher. In the first nine months of 2026 alone, the UN recorded another 2,570 civilians killed and 15,211 injured. Russian authorities have also deported or forcibly transferred Ukrainian children. A UN Commission found these acts amounted to crimes against humanity. It verified more than 1,200 cases, and 80% of the children in those documented cases had still not been returned. The Commission said the policy was carried out at the highest levels of the Russian state and that Putin’s involvement was visible from the outset. The destruction is staggering. The World Bank, UN, EU and Ukrainian government estimate $195 billion in direct damage and nearly $588 billion needed for recovery and reconstruction. Fourteen per cent of Ukraine’s housing has been damaged or destroyed, affecting more than three million households. Thank Putin for releasing Hubbard. Welcome his reunion with his family. But calling the man who launched this invasion a “humanitarian” is an insult to the Ukrainians killed, injured, displaced and still waiting for their children to come home. There was a time when America stood up to bullies and defended democracy. Now it is appeasing them — and its own envoy is publicly flattering the man responsible for this devastation. That is a shameful sight, and a sad day for American democracy and the United States.

"‘Jackdaw means we pay our mortgages’: relief in Aberdeen over gasfield approval" Every single person should have been transitioned across to a massive green energy training program and job. No-one employed should have been left behind. Labour's failure to invest at speed in Green tech is a genuine shame.

If a Conservative Energy Minister said one thing in the morning, then a Conservative PM said another thing in the afternoon, Labour supporters would be pointing it out and criticising the Conservatives. But today, a Labour Energy Minister and a PM said opposite things, and Labour supporters seem indifferent. We complain about politicians for inaccuracies, but party loyalty is just as bad, and it demonstrates what people will sacrifice just as long as its their guy or gal, at the helm. How sad for our democracy. xitter.cf/implausibleblog/status…

Left: Kemi Badenoch claimed the UK spends more on debt interest than on schools, the Army and the police combined #PMQs Right: Treasury outturn figures show the opposite. My view: In 2025–26, debt interest was about £111bn. Primary and secondary education, defence and police services came to about £192bn. In 2023–24, it was about £109bn against £171bn. Both comparisons use UK-wide figures from the same Treasury series. So what figures is Badenoch relying on?

Left: Labour's PM Andy Burnham, "Jackdaw will also allow us to do more to help people with bills" Right: Labour's Energy Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh, "Jackdraw will not have an impact on affordability and bills" My view: Two different messages from the same government, just hours apart, like a throwback to the glory days of the Conservatives 🤷‍♂️ Jackdraw is projected to have an 11 year lifetime generating £2.9 billion in revenue, or £264 million a year in revenue. One estimate cited in the Wall Street Journal suggests that will translate to an annual profit of £136 million. Spread across 29 million households, that's £4.69 per home. Which is 39p a month, to every household. Fahnbulleh was right, Jackdraw is not going to bring down bills - why did Burnham suggest it would?

£2.9 billion total revenues from Jackdraw's lifetime, increasing climate emissions £4.4 billion in lost output annually due to climate change, which will get worse as the climate crisis worsens