@simon_brooke@mastodon.scotScots, as a language, is rich in insults; and an ancient one is 'toom (empty) tabard' for a worthless person -- an epithet most notably applied to John de Balliol, who served as King of Scots during the middle period of the wars of independence.
It's interesting to see Grauniad cartoonist Ben Jenkins apply the idea to #Starmer's cabinet.
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot"But maybe the more complex reasoning for why #Starmer is such a vacant leader is that only such a man could have been elected as prime minister. Only a man characterised by the ability to identify who he must ingratiate himself with could have won the electoral race, placated powerful business interests and fended off the rightwing press"
Insightful from Nesrine Malik
@markhburton@mstdn.social
@pre@boing.worldYou'll never need a digital ID for NHS
Says Starmer, and literally the only people in the entire world who believe him is the UK press.
He doesn't believe it himself, the civil servants making the policy don't believe it, the programmers making the app don't believe it, the public at large don't believe anything he says.
Only the reporters show any credence at all. They are programmed to just repeat the words without even assessing if they are true. That's what journalism is now.
#nhs #digitalId #Starmer
@markhburton@mstdn.social @simon_brooke@mastodon.scot