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The bar sinks low enough for Sunak to enjoy a brief dose of popularity

Liaison committee gently questions a prime minister who stands out just for getting a few things half-right A minister who has admitted to using cocaine being sent out to announce a clampdown on laughing gas. Totally normal. A home secretary who can’t be trusted to stay on message. Totally normal. A government prepared to break international law by deporting refugees. Totally normal. An environment secretary permanently at war with herself and the farming community. Totally normal. A chancellor unbothered by a 4% hit to GDP from Brexit. Totally normal. A prime minister who finds all the above totally normal. Totally normal. It’s sometimes easy to forget just how toxic the Conservative brand really is. How low the bar for normal politics has become. So when we come across a prime minister who appears to manage some of the basics – who gets a few things half-right without crashing the economy, lying through his teeth or starting a civil war in his own party – it’s tempting for some to ...

Elon Musk is taking away my blue check mark on Twitter. Who am I if not notable?

On April 1, Elon Musk will be robbing verified Twitter users of that which makes us special – the fancy blue check marks next to our names.           from USATODAY - News Top Stories https://ift.tt/F6Q5j1E

Humza Yousaf must work to prevent his coalition of support from splintering

New leader needs to convince Scotland that he can take the SNP in a fresh direction The first act of Humza Yousaf’s leadership of the SNP was to fire off a letter to Rishi Sunak demanding a section 30 order which, if granted, would trigger the mechanism to allow a second Scottish independence referendum to go ahead. His predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon, had already tried this in 2017 and again in 2019, but her approach failed when the UK government refused to agree to it. Downing Street has already made it clear that Sunak’s response to Yousaf will be no different. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/FZPi1Q0

Wayne State University suspends professor over social media post allegedly advocating violence

The professor, whose identity was not revealed, works in the Wayne State University English department. A Wayne spokesperson declined further comment.           from USATODAY - News Top Stories https://ift.tt/0Vfbz7g

The billionaire amateur racing driver who runs the Poole oil leak pipeline

François Perrodo and his family-owned oil drilling company operate 3,000 sites around the world The company that through a subsidiary operates the pipeline involved in the “major incident” oil leak within Poole harbour is owned and run by a multibillionaire amateur racing driver who owns 46 sports cars including a £12m McLaren F1 GTR. François Perrodo, 46, and other members of his family, own the global oil drilling company Perenco , which controls the Wytch Farm oilfield in Dorset, from which about 200 barrels of “reservoir fluid” – water with 15% of oil – leaked into Poole harbour on Sunday night. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/95DbIiO

Rishi Sunak’s ‘stop the boats’ bill is an election gamble fraught with risk

Tory critics of PM’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda say failure could do lasting damage to party Rishi Sunak’s proposed bill – which hopes to fulfil his promise to “stop the boats” – is part of a significant gamble which aims to pull off an unexpected Conservative win at the next general election. The prime minister is claiming he can break the business model of human traffickers by sending asylum seekers to central Africa in their thousands. If all the pieces fall into place – and his supporters admit there are many pieces – the bill will pass through parliament, legal challenges against the plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda will be dismissed by UK and Strasbourg courts, the Rwandan government will build homes for thousands of asylum seekers and an airline will be found to fly them. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/YfwguV9