Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 14h

This is why I never post about politics (subs please check)

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 17h

(There was some language about China being a 'threat to economic security', but the review very pointedly stopped short of calling the country a threat to national security, opting for 'epoch-defining challenge' instead).

1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 17h

Spoke to Kevin Hollinrake just before he went on stage - insisted the PM needs to explain himself to Parliament over the collapse of the Chinese spying case.

Also insisted the Tories had always called China a threat 'in certain areas', which is not my memory of the Integrated Review refresh

1 1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 1d

Even where you can get a prescription for it, some pharmacies just refuse to stock it/claim they can’t get it from their suppliers. Difficult to see the point of a prescription a pharmacy won’t fill.

4

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 1d

Today in things I didn't expect to hear or write at this conference: "Lettuce doesn't poo." www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home...

Reform would threaten ‘survivability’ of farmers with US trade deal, says Atkins

Victoria Atkins said chlorine-washed salad was not the same as chlorinated chicken because ‘lettuce doesn’t poo’.

www.the-independent.com

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 1d

Following today’s defections, Chris Philp tells one of my PA colleagues the Tories shouldn’t worry too much about Reform say because Farage “was boasting about MP defections during our conference, which has not happened.”

Feels a bit like a hostage to fortune that.

2 2 4

Reposted by Chris McKeon

Harry Taylor @harrytaylor.bsky.social · 1d

A bit of drama in the Conservative Party conference hall earlier, as London Assembly member Andrew Boff heckled a 'gender critical' session he later said was ‘curated hatred’

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Conservative conference gender session ‘curated hatred’ – Tory politician

Andrew Boff claimed the gender identity session featuring former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies was ‘one sided’ and said it was ‘not a debate’.

www.independent.co.uk

1 1 3

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 1d

Fair to say, Kemi Badenoch's response to 20 Tory councillors joining Reform has not been universally popular here - one Tory source tells me it's made them "sound like a protest party", and there's a widespread assumption that there's more to come before her speech tomorrow.

1 1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 1d

Unhelpfully, the photo's from the party conference in Manchester

1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 1d

If

1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 1d

It's even older than that - looks like Mitt Romney was telling this joke c.2006

1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 3d

Scenes from Tory conference, including a tractor, Margaret Thatcher’s wardrobe, “Labour’s Circus of Despair” and what appears to be an AI Winston Churchill

A JCB tractor in the exhibition hall at the Tory conference

Three of Margaret Thatcher’s most famous outfits - one purple, one blue, and a “fawn” one she wore in a tank

Labour’s Circus of Despair, featuring Rachel Reeves’ Wheel of Tax and Whack a Taxpayer

An AI Winston Churchill. No I don’t know why either.

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 8d

I must tell you that, having seen one Cabinet minister wandering over to him yesterday, I think some of these encounters might be staged

1 2

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 8d

If being out of touch makes you a bad person…I am concerned

2

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 8d

The guy, Max, does a TikTok thing called The Career Ladder where he interviews people while standing on a ladder and tries to guess their jobs in two minutes.

1 4

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 8d

Interviewed the PM at NATO a few months ago too (and I think Lammy at the FCDO?)

1 2

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 8d

What, no heckler?

1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 9d

Insert joke about ministers’ “grip” here

1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 9d

See more here: www.aol.co.uk/articles/mis...

‘Mistake’ to think Reform is the only threat, polling guru tells Labour

Sir John Curtice said improving the economy and the NHS was more likely to return voters to the party.

www.aol.co.uk

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 9d

Curtice also said it was a 'mistake' for Labour to think Reform is the only threat, and that Keir Starmer had presented himself as the "friendly local plumber" when the public want their leaders to be "the architect of Valhalla".

1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 9d

Polling guru John Curtice has shown this chart to a Labour fringe event this morning. I think the word is “stark”.

1 1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 10d

Streeting: “We’ve got to be self-confident enough as ministers to be open to challenge, and openly debate different ideas, because it makes you stronger as a Government.”

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 10d

Andy Burnham, making one of only a handful of appearances at this year's Labour conference, attacks a 'climate of fear' in the party and criticises calls for 'simplistic statements of loyalty' - but insists he's there to support the Government.

2 1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 10d

Battle of the conference merch - Steve Reed’s hats the major hit so far

1

Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 10d

Greetings from Liverpool, where I confidently predict racing games will prove the big draw of the conference exhibition floor.

1