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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 7h

I know I've said this before (repeatedly) but this is a book that should not be missed. It's an absolute cracker.

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 23h

👏👏👏

Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, well I'm listening to the wireless

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 2d

...and yet wholly unsurprising.

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, you're probably right

Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 2d

I think that most countries would be open to the UK rejoining, although I'm not sure that Hungary or Czech (and potentially others currently shifting to the right) would necessarily agree. Obvs the farming subsidy is dead and buried, but euro and Schengen adoption are the big questions, imho.

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 3d

"Or who have opinions, or who vote, or..."

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 4d

He, Gary Lineker and others represent what Farage et al most fear - people from a working class background who have done well and are role models to others like them, who use their platform to say things with which the far right disagree, and encourage others to think for themselves.

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 7d

There are about 140m Russians, so even assuming only 10% are of fighting age, they wouldn't have a problem if the war was popular. Instead, they emptied the prisons and took on N Korean and other mercenaries, and now Cuban ones as well. Doesn't sound sustainable.

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 7d

The general military view is that Russian weaponry lags way behind the West's, their military leadership system is totally unfit for purpose and that the only real advantage is sheer numbers of people. Does this outsourcing mean a lack of appetite by the Russian public?

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 7d

Generally English, but I'm afraid that Scots and Welsh make an appearance too. My Weegie mammy would not be impressed 😒

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 7d

Ha! Me too!

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 8d

Definitely, and I have a great deal of empathy with that, as I often have to force myself to speak because I know I'll struggle to understand the responses. It's the lazy, British exceptionalism I detest - people who just want England in the sun and expect everyone to indulge them.

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 8d

Yep, in bars with classic English names. Obvs there are those who integrate, but it's embarrassing how many simply don't bother. And it's not giving up anything - I still support England teams, I still watch rugby etc, but I also try to integrate. It's not either/or - having both is great.

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 8d

Where I am in the south of Spain it's very common to find Brits who have lived here for a long time (often 20+ years) who are incapable of putting a sentence together to order a drink, never mind hold a conversation. Monosyllabic exchanges. And yes, of course they're "expats".

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 8d

He explained his reasoning very clearly, and those who take offence are just desperate to feel victimised. The list of those attacking him tells us all we need to know.

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 8d

It could be so much worse

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 10d

I was chatting with someone here in Spain about this ('Expat' not immigrant; voted Brexit; can't speak a word of Spanish after 12 years but demands that 'immigrants' should speak English and integrate. They walk among us). Convinced that his rights wouldn't be affected because 'I'm English'.

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 11d

The costs of moving a child to boarding school abroad will greatly outstrip the increase in UK fees. The sums don't work, so either this is BS or there are other reasons.

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 12d

Ditto. And if I had a pound for every time that they chose not to take my advice, then later came back to me with a problem and the phrase "but I thought..."

Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 13d

5/n thinking, for long-term progress, rather than tinkering in order to gain promotion or status, or be reelected, little will change. You can blame this previous Commissioners all day long, but many of the causes and supposed solutions are not within their control.

Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 13d

4/n the IPCC, PCA, CIB2 before them were equally poor, generally for the same reasons, often political (not party political, but in terms of who holds power, who wants career progression) but often because the wrong people were selected for the roles. Unless there is some serious strategic cont...

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 13d

3/n having "risen without trace" (quote from Roy Ramm) and thereby being unwilling to and incapable of addressing the behaviours. The article also skates over the fact that the IOPC has generally always been useless, primarily because they lack quality investigators. This is nothing new - cont...

Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 13d

2/n the poor pay and conditions (driven by the Tories under the fool Tom Winsor), which deter many of the best candidates and result in accepting rubbish (very much a minority, but they shouldn't be there); a stupid and anachronistic promotion system which leads to many senior police officers...

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Andy Scripture @andyscripture.bsky.social · 13d

This completely misunderstands the causes of such behaviours and the many reasons for the failure to adequately address them. Causes include: societal changes (it's long established that police aren't much different than the general public); rise and legitimisation of the far right; cont... 1/n

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