Tuesday 28th April 2026

[refitman]

Morning all.

[Frog222]

Some small laughs here

As the King and Queen hosted a garden party for 650 guests at the British Ambassador’s residence, which sits adjacent to the Vice President’s home on Washington’s Embassy Row, reporters were keeping a close eye on Trump’s social media feed for any fresh expression of anti-Starmer sentiment.

That none was forthcoming suggests that efforts to persuade Trump to button his lip during the four day state visit at least passed the first hurdle. But if a week is a long time in politics, for the bilateral relationship the next three days could be an eternity.

Invitees at the garden party (where sandwiches were offered featuring Scottish Smoked Salmon with a lemon-pepper butter or British beef with horseradish) came from across the political, diplomatic and social spectrum. Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, seemed almost struck dumb when the King was introduced to him. Republican Senator Ted Cruz from Texas raced to post pictures of himself with the monarch on his social media feed.

For a country celebrating the 250th anniversary of its decision to break away from the UK, and with “No Kings” protests providing a regular ongoing commentary on the Trump presidency, it’s an odd look to see politicians from both parties eager to tie themselves to the actual King’s apron strings.

But for the UK’s head of state, modest opportunity may be knocking to nudge a beleaguered Trump into putting the relationship with London on a more positive trajectory.

https://inews.co.uk/news/world/state-vi ... es-4384671

[Frog222]

Whoops !

[Frog222]

ibatch40 2 hours ago

I'd imagine one beneficiary of this endless Mandelson saga has been the viewing figures of the Snooker world champs.
English sister there already : !

[Frog222]

[refitman]

So, Starmer's getting away with it. But even with a 3 line whip, he couldn't get the backing of the entire party

[Frog222]

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Man who heckled Shabana Mahmood dismisses ‘laughable’ white liberal claim

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... mmigration

So basically Mahmood used an inaccurate racial/political stereotype to put this guy down while trying to make herself seem like the victim. Sounds pretty Reform to me.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

As a result of moving I now have a polling card for both addresses. Knowing how crap the council are I bet I can vote twice. Not that I'd do such a thing of course, or would I?

I've been a bit alarmed over the last couple of days about the bathroom in this place reeking like something had died in it (not due to my bathroom activities I hasten to add). After a quick Reddit plumbing search I ran the shower and sink for 20 minutes while flushing the toilet a few times and what do you know? It worked! Stagnant water in the pipes apparently after the place had been left empty for a while. Now I just have to master the oven. For the past 12 years I've been using a gas one so old it had been converted from using coal gas to natural gas in the early Seventies. It was brilliant. Best oven I've ever used. Now I've got a crappy electric fan affair that refuses to brown my oven chips. Gas hob though, thank god.

[Frog222]

Good zSky news !