John Birch
@johnlbirch
Former government librarian, teacher, cricket & rugby coach/writer. Now a parkrunner. Also work in local government.
The government announces a major boost to UK tourism by allowing anyone to camp anywhere they like for no cost.
California here we come telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/…
"Our first ever proper Hawkstone commercial and for some extraordinary reason, it’s been banned." - JC
Today is International Day of Wagon Wheels!! 🎊🎉 I mean it's not, but every other fooker has an international day so why not?
Sorry to debunk yet another of your Remoaner tropes, Damo ... The Dublin III Agreement you allude to wasn't worth the paper it was written on: For its last full year, 2019: The UK requested removal of 3258 migrants, of which only 263 were granted. But it's worse than that,…
Which players from the past would thrive most in the modern game? No. 1. Gilbert Jessop.
Gilbert Jessop keeps the record for the fastest Test hundred in terms of balls faced (76 v Australia, The Oval, 1902) but Jamie Smith came close (80). Jessop's innings didn't include sixes as back then the ball had to be hit out of the ground for a six not just over the boundary
After one year of Starmer's government the UK has slipped so far that we are not a Chinese bots Axis of Evil anymore. We've slipped behind Finland, Peru and Singapore!
Why is Finland included in the "axis of darkness"? Did we do something particularly evil?
Young editor getting all surprised about how venal the Blair government was. In particular actually taking seriously claims by Blairite ministers that legislation with more holes than a Swiss cheese would never be misused. Oh the innocence of youth...
Ahead of the expected proscription of Palestine Action - the first time a protest group has been legally redefined as terrorist - I went through the Hansard of the 2000 Act they're being banned under. Turns out MPs were assured the law wouldn't be applied this way. Thread 🧵🔽
It's really tough being a @jodieburrage fan - especially at @Wimbledon
It is quite frustrating how dense people are when it comes to be basic constitution of their own country. A King cannot be seen to be going against his own government. There was a heated debate about this a few years ago. A previous King Charles quite lost his head over it.
Why does he not take Starmer to task?
Casey Report on child sexual abuse. What it looks like when a government does the absolute minimum to respond to a report. No links to the statement. No links to the government response. They could not make it plainer that they want this to have little publicity as they possible
When I was growing up we had John Craven's Newsround. Young people today have Instagram? Redditt? Quality over quantity?
Unlike our political and media class, most people in Britain aren’t insane.
You could not make this up. The "Global March to Gaza" did not know where Gaza is. Perhaps they just wanted a holiday in Taba or Eilat?
Two years of activism for Gaza. A well prepared selfie March of 4,000 activists from 86 countries. Yet no one even checked where the fuck Rafah or even Gaza! Is located on a map. This is what we have been saying all along. The “pro-Palestine” movement have no clue what they are…
When you toss up a slow full toss and are surprised when it gets hit for six. Almost as if they have never come across a British sense of humour before. Thank you, @KortkampJanice - that was fun. Never thought you'd push it the whole way.
"The British love animals". Apparently not as much as the rest of Europe. Even the Spanish care more.
The map shows in dark red where Halal & Kosher slaughter is banned & light red where it's highly regulated. Britain is excluded because ignorant MP'S would rather protect foreign religions than protect animals having their throats cut as they bleed to death @LittleBoats2020
Will someone somewhere PLEASE educate people about how Parliament works and in particular what Westminster Hall debates are (and why they do not have votes).
Parliament is voting today on banning halal ritual slaughter. Despite every civilised person agreeing it should be banned, sadly @UKLabour will vote against it to protect their muslim vote. They couldn’t care less about animal welfare.
This would mean that most councillors would never have to set foot in a council HQ - the only reason most come into their "county hall" is for meetings anyway. Once elected they could emigrate to Australia - but remain a councillor. ukauthority.com/articles/gover…
