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Joined April 2009
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Seb Merrick retweeted
“I don’t want to be just sitting there for two years vetoing everything.”
President Donald Trump picked up a call from @DashaBurns on POLITICO Elections Live and talked to us about the blue wave and how he’s willing to work with incoming congressional Democrats.
Watch live now: politi.co/4AgCofb
Seb Merrick retweeted
President Zelenskyy:
Europe is very strong.
You have very strong capabilities, industry, really smart people, huge productions.
Yes, of course, people are not ready for the war.
And God bless, I hope it will never come to Europe again. But Europe has to understand that Europe, together, this unanimity is several times stronger than Russia.
You are stronger. Don't forget it.
There need to be more posts about BBC Young Musician of the Year final on BBC2 right now!! Switch over from Strictly!!!
Seb Merrick retweeted
A momentous day for London.
I’m so excited to see our plans to transform Oxford Street becoming a reality.
And this is just the beginning.
Seb Merrick retweeted
Brexit has been catastrophic. It's time to rejoin the EU.
standard.co.uk/news/politics…
Seb Merrick retweeted
Ukraine is not Russia. That's Putin’s problem – refusing to recognize a separate nation, refusing to recognize a separate country – that's what did him in. He was shown a military operation that was supposed to take three days. We found parade uniforms in their various military vehicles. They were literally marching to a parade. He still doesn't understand and doesn't want to admit that this is a different nation, a different people.
They were advancing on Kyiv from all directions. Their main goal was to seize the capital of Ukraine. They reached Kyiv. They trapped us, and then we started hammering them, and they didn't know what to do about it. They were especially shocked when they drove toward the capital and people were just throwing burning mixtures. People were setting their armor on fire. It wasn't a matter of some general being an idiot. I believe the one who gave the order just didn't fully realize what was happening.
Because what does taking Kyiv mean? When you've taken those towns on the way to Kyiv, you have to leave troops behind to hold those towns. And that takes a huge number of people. It's a pretty large territory. If the people inside offer resistance, then you need an army to hold every town. That was their mistake. They didn't even realize there would be resistance. That was their main mistake. That's it.
From The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett. (1/3)
The kind of feature @classicjacko would love to get for the Proms in a kids magazine today - from 1977.
Barbara Hepworth's sculpture figure (Sunion) carved in 1960 just sold for over 3 million pounds at Christie's this evening.
Here's what to know: you won't get one.
Bayeux Tapestry tickets are back on sale - here's what to know trib.al/ZJoSHji
Seb Merrick retweeted
Ten years ago today.
In just the last few days: Trump made a deal for the U.S. to buy Russian diesel, an economic lifeline for Putin; he and Elon Musk blamed each other for an order that slowed down Starlink satellite connectivity over Ukraine, hampering the country's defenses during a devastating Russian attack; and Trump waived sanctions on Russia that Congress, led by his late friend Lindsey Graham, had pushed for.
Now, Putin has proposed a summit with Trump and Xi to decide Ukraine’s fate for them, bulldoze a century of international cooperation, and frame Russia as an equal to the U.S. and China.
We’ll see if Putin’s puppet continues to dance on his strings.
Seb Merrick retweeted
As a pragmatic political economist, I understand how irrelevant this point is to President Trump's thinking. But long-term, of course, walking away from the promises that the US government explicitly and prominently did has a huge cost in the future deals. Reputation matters.
Seb Merrick retweeted
It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say. But that’s exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
To understand why this is so appalling, it’s important to know the facts. Congresswoman Omar came to this country with her father when she was 12 years old. Five years later, her father became a naturalized citizen. If Ilhan had been 18 at the time, she would have had to apply for citizenship separately. But because she was 17, she became a naturalized citizen automatically.
Congresswoman Omar went on to graduate from college, work as a community organizer, become the first Somali-American legislator elected to public office in the U.S., and win a seat in Congress. There, she has been one of the Trump Administration’s fiercest critics, which has led the president to repeatedly single her out as someone who he believes does not belong in this country.
Now the Administration is actively trying to deport Congresswoman Omar, seemingly based solely on the unsubstantiated theory that she was actually 18 when her father was naturalized, and therefore is not a citizen. Federal agents have raided her home, confiscated personal records, and seized her phone — all to try and uncover a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago that will somehow make their case.
Think about that. The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president. And it’s not the first time this has happened. Under President Trump, the Justice Department has repeatedly gone after those he considers his political enemies — from the Attorney General of New York, to the former head of the FBI, to members of the Federal Reserve.
In those cases, the prosecutions either stalled or were dismissed for having no basis in law, and the same is likely to happen in this case. But not before Congresswoman Omar’s life has been turned upside down, her legal bills have piled up, and she’s been forced to spend time fighting unsubstantiated charges instead of serving the people of Minnesota.
The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views. Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.
Seb Merrick retweeted
"And the drone ports we are now mass-producing are not intended for Ukraine. They are for them [Europe]. They may not fully realise that yet. Idiots," - Solovyev, a Russian propagandist, is threatening Europe with war and warning that 10,000 Geran drones could soon be launched towards Europe.
Comment from me: Ukrainian Defense Forces, who are currently resisting Russia, are in fact the main deterrent holding Russia back. That is why Russia is doing everything it can to stop funding for the Ukrainian army and break Ukraine. Then Europe would be left defenseless.
Seb Merrick retweeted
I thank His Majesty King Charles III for the audience. It is important for me to have the opportunity to personally thank him for his unwavering support for Ukraine. We appreciate all the assistance provided by the United Kingdom.
🇺🇦 🇬🇧
@RoyalFamily
Pictures are by Aaron Chown from Press Association.
Seb Merrick retweeted
🇮🇹🇺🇦 WOW! WHAT A SPEECH! WHAT POWERFUL WORDS FROM ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER GIORGIA MELONI!
Here is the full five-minute excerpt of her speech devoted to Ukraine and Donald Trump.
“Russia has launched a new autumn campaign against Ukraine.
Unable to advance on the battlefield, Moscow has increasingly turned its attacks against civilians: power plants, residential buildings, hospitals, and even buses carrying people to work, as in the horrific massacre in Kramatorsk.
This is a strategy through which Russia seeks to subjugate Ukraine with terror, cold, and darkness, simply because it has failed to conquer it on the battlefield.
The facts contradict Kremlin propaganda and those who spread it here.
Since the beginning of the year, Russia has captured very little territory, and in September it lost much of what it had previously seized.
This halt did not happen by chance. It was achieved through Ukraine’s courage and Western support, including that of Italy.
This resistance is the only effective instrument for bringing Russia to the negotiating table.
I respect and understand the passionate debate on this issue, including within this chamber, because nobody here wants war.
We all want peace.
The difference lies in how we intend to achieve it.
As I see it, supporting Ukraine is not an alternative to peace. It is what makes peace possible.
Because if an aggressor expects its opponent to surrender, why would it negotiate?
Surrender is not peace. It is conquest.
If Ukraine stopped defending itself tomorrow, as many suggest, we would not have peace.
We would be discussing the occupation of a European nation and the return of Soviet imperialism.
Personally, I do not miss those times. I do not miss Russian tanks crushing uprisings in Prague and Budapest.
I do not miss the Berlin Wall.
And nobody will ever convince me that the surrender of those defending their freedom can be called ‘peace.’
The peace we want, and the peace we are working toward, even at the cost of concessions, is a just peace, because only a just peace can endure.
Only a just peace can protect Europe and our interests.
That is why our government's position remains unchanged: support for Ukraine, with particular attention to civilians, pressure on Moscow, and Euro-Atlantic unity remain the pillars of our actions.
In this context, we must address Donald Trump's diesel agreement with Russia.
This is a decision I consider extremely risky.
Of course, we all recognize the need to contain fuel prices, which place a heavy burden on families, including Italian families.
But we must understand that rising prices are primarily linked to the war in Iran, not Ukraine.
Legitimizing Moscow, whose bombs continue to fall on Ukrainian cities, providing new revenues to finance the war, and weakening sanctions are all factors we cannot ignore.
And they contradict everything Western nations, including the United States, have done to force Putin to the negotiating table.
An energy ceasefire is a different matter, one that Italy supports, and we are grateful to President Zelenskyy for Ukraine's immediate willingness to agree to it.
Now we expect Russia to stop attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Finally, at such a difficult moment, when so many variables are beyond our control, there is at least one thing that depends on us:
We must ensure that Europe does not simply stand by and watch, because the terms of peace will affect our continent and our security.”
— Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy
Seb Merrick retweeted
Congratulations to Carole Cadwalladr, @carolecadwalla, who together with colleagues first revealed this story.
Seb Merrick retweeted
After the Green Party's "Zionism is Racism" vote, the Leader of Haringey Council, which is controlled by the Greens, wrote to various Synagogues in the borough to "reassure" them.
I want to show you Highgate Synagogue's reply. I believe it is worth reading in its entirety.
Synagogue rejects Green council leader’s attempt to ‘reassure’ them after “Zionism is Racism” vote
jewishnews.co.uk/synagogue-r…
