Phil Kohler 🔶

The UK's North Sea gas production is set to drop 97% by 2050 - and even with new licensing rounds it would fall by 95% As of 2022, UK gas production had already fallen by two-thirds since 2000 From 2022, production is expected to fall by another 97% by 2050 - or by 95% if new licenses are issued

Better to focus our efforts on how we can reduce oil & gas demand.

We need to speed up decarbonisation of heating, industry and transport, rather than focusing on increasing gas production.

Increasing production would not have a material impact on energy security.

They've either allowed the use of their bases, or spoken in favour of the intervention, or cast it in traditional military terms. This approach encourages further recklessness. Going softly on Trump doesn't work. Only international ostracisation has any chance of success. Sanchez gets it.

I’m afraid my gallows humour has kicked in, so wondering how managers we could get through in the remaining games.

Don’t think Tudor will last much longer, but even so probably only time for one more.

Does Tudor go tonight or does he get another game?

I love how Ipsos show the margin of error on their charts. Should be industry standard!

We've seen before what happens when an American president launches an illegal war with no idea how it is going to end.

Does the Prime Minister not understand that when he fails to stand up to Trump, especially when he's breaking international law, it makes our country less safe?

“Maybe just drive next time?”

The Man in Seat 61 ain’t happy.

NEW: The Lib Dems are demanding MPs get a vote on allowing the US to use UK air bases.

Leader Ed Davey says:

“No matter how the Prime Minister tries to redefine offensive as defensive, this is a slippery slope. He must not let Trump drag Britain into another prolonged war in the Middle East.”

The UK can't be dragged into another protracted Middle Eastern war by a US President. Keir Starmer needs to rule out the use of UK bases for any future unilateral US strikes.

EU’s anti-fraud agency set to investigate Peter Mandelson Probe into former commissioner for trade is expected to be wide-ranging

Exclusive

The European Commission has requested that the EU’s anti-fraud agency investigate Lord Peter Mandelson’s actions while he was serving in Brussels as the British commissioner for trade between 2004 and 2008. 

www.ft.com/content/85b9...

If they win, congratulations go to Andy B.

If they lose, the rest of Cliff Richard’s back catalogue goes to Keir S.

And if Labour win, there will be a mass scratching of puzzled “how did that happen” heads, before concluding “that’s Manchester for you”.

A big if, obviously.

a year is a long time in politics

Just as a side note, WCC's constitution states that groups have to have at least 3 members before Group Leader / Deputy Group Leader special responsibility allowance will be paid. I assume they are on the lookout for someone else to defect to them!
democracy.warwickshire.gov.uk/documents/s4...

Reform’s Trump-inspired plans for an ICE-style force will only bring chaos and disorder to Britain’s streets, not the order and control our immigration system needs.

@markpackuk.bsky.social Thought you might be interested to know that the 2 Reform Warwickshire County Councillors who last week had the whip removed "over claims thinking about defecting" are now listed as "Restore Britain" on the WCC website:
democracy.warwickshire.gov.uk/mgFindMember...

When they got to student loans, Ed Balls had done his research and was insisting the Tory plan would only help the richest ex-students. After Badenoch denied this, Martin Lewis started shouting from off-set and basically marched on and began telling her why she was talking nonsense.

Reform would create ICE-style agency and end leave to remain, Zia Yusuf to say Nigel Farage’s party plans to deport up to 288,000 people a year on five flights a day and expand stop and search

Fingers’ crossed we are about see a policy that does brilliant numbers in the X / GB News ecosystem / sewer, explode on contact with the general public.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I think it would be nice if the CofE stopped pushing their doctrine on children in taxpayer-funded state schools. Children should have freedom of (and from) religion too.

Which feels a little hypocritical coming from Christian preachers!

Umm…. Have they read the Bible?

It is also full of stuff that shouldn’t get taken literally🤦🏼‍♀️

13/

‘Backbiting, bullying and slander’ – inside the expelling of two Reform UK’s councillors Warwickshire councillor Scott Cameron left Reform UK amid a tumultuous nine-month dispute, alleging slander and bullying by leaders. Both sides deny allegations

If your schadenfreude level needs any further topping up, there’s always this:

leamington.nub.news/news/local-n...

Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith has published his response to Cllr George Finch's open letter, dated 16/02/26: Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith has published his response to Cllr George Finch's open letter, dated 16/02/26:

And now the outgoing Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police has written a glorious letter to him. It really is worth your time to have a read - grab a cuppa and hit the link:

www.warwickshire.police.uk/news/warwick...

Restore councillor leaves 'sinister' party and asks Reform to take him back two days after quitting A North Northamptonshire councillor who left Reform on Wednesday has today announced he wants to return to the party after realising that Restore is ‘more sinister than he first thought’.

Who knows, if he’s lucky/unlucky* they may come back and ask to be allowed back in, like this one in neighbouring North Northamptonshire:

(*delete as appropriate)

www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/courts/...

Two Warwickshire Reform councillors expelled from party after 'betraying' voters Two Warwickshire councillors, Scott Cameron and Luke Cooper, have been expelled by Reform UK on February 19 for considering defection to Restore Britain

Then earlier this week he lost 2 more councillors to Restore, who apparently aren’t officially registered as a political party yet, so Cllr Scott Cameron and Cllr Luke Cooper have been added to the tally of ex-Reform Independents.

kenilworth.nub.news/news/local-n...

Warwickshire Reform UK councillor illegally let unsafe Tamworth homes Edward Harris is described as a

Poor old Reform aren’t having the best of time in Warwickshire over the last few weeks.

At the end of January, Cllr Ed Harris was called a “rogue landlord” by a neighbouring council, so he had to stand down as Chair of WCC and resign the whip.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It’s getting hard to keep up, but they are the 3rd & 4th Cllrs in Warwickshire to resign from Reform since May last year. 23 were elected, so they are now down to 19.

UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule Protest group’s co-founder wins legal challenge against decision to proscribe it under anti-terrorism laws

Wow!

Palestine Action win judicial review - Guardian report.

This is a *big* legal win.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The art of politics is not to do what people think. If it was, there literally wouldn’t be any politics. The art of politics is to convert public opinion in the direction of your policies. Not so subordinate your policies to opinion.

Screenshot of 2 stories from Politics live with Andrew Sparrow: 12:10 “Ratcliffe says he's sorry his migration comment 'offended some people', but stresses need for 'open debate' on topic” 12:13 “FA to look at whether Ratcliffe broke football rules by saying UK ‘colonised’ by immigrants”

Sometimes the juxtaposition of posts on the Grauniad’s live feed is just too good:

Grand juries consist of normal citizens, and it would appear that they are slamming metaphorical doors in the face of the federal government. This is not happening all the time: some questionable charges, like those brought against the journalist Don Lemon, are still getting past grand juries. The trend is thereby not universal, but it is significant. The federal government is not getting its way, all the time. And so one ugly feature of American politics—the use by Trump and his administration of the Department of Justice to go after those who displease them—is prompting an equal but opposite reaction of grand juries generally saying no. There are still checks and balances in the US polity, even if the current majorities in Congress and the Supreme Court have abdicated their constitutional responsibilities. In the US it now appears that grand juries are generally, if not universally, preventing some of the grossest abuses of executive power. Many things can and are said about juries: they are an imperfect mechanism for deciding legal questions. But the great value of juries is not so much the powers they have, but the powers they prevent others from having.

The great value of juries is not so much the powers they have, but the powers they prevent others from having.