I must be an outlier: I live in a 'rural' area but also about 7 minutes drive from the local A&E.

Time/distance from an emergency department would be a fascinating measure in comparative studies of urban-rural political divides (one for @lawrencemckay.bsky.social!)...

If Isaac Chotiner ever said this to me, I would move to the woods.

The who? 🫠

Westminster political commentary repeatedly tells the tale of a a northern industrial working class without *ever* recognising there is a large northern middle class or acknowledging the desirability of class mobility - of people being given opportunities to find better work than their parents.

It produces a performative ecosystem. Actors aren’t communicating; they’re staging provocations for yield. The result is disordered discourse: signals detached from truth, identity shaped by escalation, and a feedback loop where the performance eclipses reality itself.

Literally swam in their pool as a kid.

Literally knew them, used to swim in their pool as a kid.