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Tom Roberts

@tpgroberts.bsky.social

2.7K followers 1.2K following 10K posts

I'm no hero, that's understood. The only redemption I can offer girl, is beneath this dirty hood. He/Him https://www.instagram.com/tpgeats

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · Jun 23

Going to keep plugging this for now, but after years of just food posting into the ether I have made an Instagram of my food pictures as well as tips for recipes etc.

www.instagram.com/tpgeats

Some example photos here, but please follow if of interest:

Mezze of flatbreads, fattoush, hummus and adana kabab

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 7h

Shadow boxing over policies that no one actually believes will work

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 14h

Have ended up in undoubtedly the worst nightclub in morocco

A white man in a floral shirt in an empty bathroom

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

We haven't quite decided

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

There's a lot of properties with weird structures for both, either sky high service charges or short leases that are either undervalued or cash buyers only and will otherwise become very desirable, and this will happen basically overnight. I think you could easily make a killing.

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Our man in Casablanca

A white man in a floral liberty shirt, light brown suit and mid brown shoes

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Shopping in the London property market and feeling very confident that the Government's changes to leaseholds and service charges are going to make things go really weird pretty soon.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 2d

It's a desert.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 2d

You must remember this...

A dry martini on a napkin from Rick's Cafe

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 2d

Spent a week in Milton Keynes with work and it is a truly bleak place, no soul, just endless chains

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 2d

Cruel and unusual punishment.

András Forgács W @andraswf.bsky.social · 3d

Milton Keynes

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 3d

Kemi Badenoch asked where she would send the 150,000 people she says she would deport every year, replies that it's an "irrelevant question".

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 2d

Genuinely, the most logical response is "we will have a database of everyone who is here legally and check those who don't match," and that, we must remind ourselves, is her libertarian solution.

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 3d

Also, what is the database of illegal immigrant faces they are planning on matching camera data to???

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 2d

Stag do all over again

Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 3d

Packed hall for Toby Young.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 2d

Instructions unclear, formed a pro-legalisation splinter group.

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 2d

My friend meanwhile - "I think the mustache helps, they probably think you're from the government."

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 2d

"Oh wow sir, I love your style now!" - The concierge as I came back down after my swim.

A white man in a green and white striped shirt, beige double breasted suit and brown shoes

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Reposted by Tom Roberts

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 3d

She just railed against the government 'plotting to make everyone carry Starmer's digital ID'. Kemi, *this morning* you unveiled a policy that only works with people carrying around mandatory ID!!!!

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3d

A 50-something woman on a nearby sun lounger has just watched me reapply sunscreen with what I can only describe as a palpable hunger, and for a brief moment I can understand objectification in its most direct form.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3d

What the hell is going on over there?

Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 3d

Badenoch begins by drawing a direct line between pro-Gaza protests and migration from Muslim countries, saying that for too long the UK has "tolerated radical Islamist ideology", adding," We cannot import and tolerate values hostile to our own.”

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3d

Anyway, HR sent an email because I used the Q&A to ask why he'd blocked me on Twitter.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3d

He's quite a good speaker, but the anecdote about how cryptic crosswords can lead to people appreciating unusual solutions from unexpected places would be more convincing had I not seen him THAT WEEK write in the Times on the importance of abolishing the refugee convention.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3d

I've heard Syed speak at multiple companies I've worked for, and my overarching conclusion is "why is Britain's most incurious columnist lecturing me on the importance of curiosity and open-mindedness?"

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 3d

Maybe time for corporates to stop paying him £20k a pop for "inspirational" speeches?

Heard of one school trust that paid him £10k *of taxpayer money* for one keynote...

Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 3d

Might do a separate sketch on Matthew Syed's speech, which is the most batshit crazy thing I have heard from a conference stage in years. And believe me, I've seen some things.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3d

I keep making this reference, but it is kind of staggering that it's here.

The city is a sprawling metropolis that feels part reclaimed from the desert and part from the sea, the Mosque is built on land stolen from the Atlantic, the buildings a mess of Moroccan tradition, art deco, and modernist.

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 4d

"Oh, I'm off to Casablanca tomorrow."

"Why are you going there?"

"For my health, the waters."

*confused look*

"It's a desert?"

"I was misinformed."

*even more confused look*

"Right..."

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3d

Within that context, the Mosque feels... fitting. I asked the guide if there was any significance to the choice of shapes and was told, forcefully, that there was none, they were traditional, there was no iconography, no symbolism, just beauty. For beauty's sake. The better to worship god.

A carved stone pattern of repetitive squares and stars

A mosaic, in blues and yellows, lining the path.

One of many mosaics, a vibrant pattern of browns and golds and blue greens

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3d

This is the recurring refrain, Casablanca is a modern city, the buildings mostly new, the vast sprawl only appearing in the last century, even the last 75 years, eating into the desert beyond. Art Deco influences blur with more traditional architecture to create something that blends the cultures.

A modern concrete building decorated in impressionist artwork

The sacred heart cathedral, an architectural and religious relic of the art deco era

A modern, squared off apartment next to a shorter, squatter concrete building.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3d

The Hassan II Mosque is undoubtedly fascinating, a squared off modern structure belying traditional construction techniques that dot across the interior: mosaics plastered with egg yolk and black ash, hand carved cedar, beautiful in how it blends the old and new to capture Casablanca.

The minaret and the symmetrical view of the building, a tall, white granite structure flecked with blue and green

A shot of the mosque across one of the mosaic benches

The wash room, high ceilings and columns surrounding stone basins to wash in

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