Delighted to be in the USA watching Scotland play Haiti tonight, honouring a promise I made to my youngest many years ago that if Scotland qualified we'd go together to see them play... and hopefully win.

I love that he's just in the queue like an ordinary punter but also in classic Gordon dress down holiday - a formal shirt and trousers

Today I found my glasses and lost my hearing aid…… ach well

Choose Scotland. Choose Lewis Capaldi doing Irvine Welsh. Choose Scott McTominay bicycle kicks. Choose life.

Loaf was the independent that put Stirchley on the map. Now its future is at risk. A longer read from me today to explain it all: birminghammail.co.uk/whats-o…

NEWS: The Grade II listed Coventry Central Baths (1962-66), once described as ‘one of the finest swimming pools in the world’, is to be demolished by Coventry City Council after Steve Reed MP - Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government - formally approved the bulldozing of the building. The Olympic-sized pool and adjoining leisure centre on Fairfax Street has sat empty since it was shut in February 2020 to save money. In his letter to the Council, dated 21 May, Reed explained Listed Building Consent has been granted, subject to work being carried out within three years, and archaeological investigations. C20 Society and the Coventry Society strongly objected to the Council’s plans, arguing that there was insufficient justification for total demolition, that proposals to adaptively reuse the building had not been meaningfully explored, and the lack of any viable use - civic or otherwise - assigned to the site following demolition. The Society had requested application be referred to the Secretary of State for determination, as per section 5(b) of the Arrangements for Handling Heritage Applications. Historic England did not object to the proposals. The Coventry Baths site had been marketed by the Council since February 2021 via agents Avison Young, on a leasehold basis and for the buildings in part or whole. Documents reveal the site was viewed by seven interested parties during that period, with two formal bids received - one for an artisanal food hall and conferencing space, and one for padel tennis. The Council classified both bids as ‘unviable’ after ‘more detailed due diligence on refurbishment costs by the prospective purchaser/tenant’, however there was no indication of what the Council was willing to invest to help reactivate the publicly owned buildings. Given the the quoted annual costs of £400,000 for holding, security, and maintenance of the vacant buildings, tax-payers may well ask if demolition to create ‘an area of hard standing’ represents the best possible outcome. Designed in 1956 by Coventry City Architect's Department, Coventry Baths is in a highly sensitive city centre location; adjacent the Grade I listed Cathedral of St Michael (1956-62), and within the Hill Top and Cathedral Conservation Area. The adjoining dry-sports Elephant building (1977) is to be retained and detached from the Baths; both were highlighted on C20’s Risk List in 2017. Given the undoubted challenges presented by the current condition of the Baths and there being no prospect of aquatic activities returning, The Society would have welcomed a pragmatic approach to retain the radical W-shaped roof structure - described at its opening as “like a great garden-pavilion roof afloat above glass walls” - while creating a space for bold new uses beneath. What an opportunity missed to showcase a radical yet respectful reinvention of the city’s post-war heritage. Now, nothing but the later Elephant will survive. ➡️c20society.org.uk/news/secre…

The murder of Henry Nowak is absolutely disgusting - I know Sikhs like myself and others are horrified. Some people trying to make this about the kirpan is scapegoating Sikhs - a reckless and reactive response. This is about youth violence, knife crime, police standards.

True #Peace begins in a heart that loves. It is witnessed to by lips that speak words of reconciliation. It is reflected in eyes that look upon the world with gentleness and wisdom. Only the strength of truth and love is true strength. Whoever trusts in God understands this proclamation of peace and becomes an instrument of peace, building it with their own hands. vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/e…

Artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through relationships, and do not know from within what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean. Nor do they have a moral conscience, since they do not judge good and evil, grasp the ultimate meaning of situations, or bear responsibility for consequences. They may imitate or even simulate, but they do not understand what they produce, for they lack the affective, relational, and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom. #MagnificaHumanitas

The Pope just dropped the theological patch notes for the entire AI industry: “Your chatbot can generate a breakup text, a fake Van Gogh, and a VC deck about replacing nurses, but it has never held its mother’s hand in a hospital room, never felt shame, never prayed, never forgiven anyone, never had to live with what it said.” It can imitate the soul. It cannot grow one.

After four years as director, I'm moving on from @ChrLeft this summer. If you've ever thought you'd like to apply for this mad, brilliant, unique job of mine, I'd be very happy to chat about it. Details here: w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.aspx…

I cannot endorse this series (publishing) enough. I haven’t read this particular book but many of my favourites have this imprint

University Birmingham now has its own station, a Wetherspoons, 3 Costas, a Starbucks, a subway, and no bookshop.

Tell you what it must have been class if Peter Murrell got your name in the SNP secret Santa

In the era of #ArtificialIntelligence, when human dignity is threatened by new forms of dehumanization, ours is the pressing duty to remain profoundly human. We must lovingly safeguard the grandeur of humanity bestowed upon us and revealed in its fullness in Christ, the splendor of which no machine can ever replace. #MagnificaHumanitas vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/e…

It’s fascinating that there isn’t a wider appreciation that govt policies from the 1940s to as late as the 1980s intentionally dismantled the economic success of dark purple bit because it was too rich to try to grow the dark red bit because it was shockingly poor.

As evidenced by the unbridled promotion and implementation of technology at the expense of human dignity, we are truly experiencing an eclipse of the sense of what it means to be human. It is imperative to recover an understanding of the true meaning and grandeur of humanity as intended by God. It is in this sense that the challenge we currently face is not technological, but anthropological, and it is my hope that the Encyclical Letter to be published within a few days will contribute to answering this challenge.

If Andy Burnham is serious about public control, and he becomes PM, his first order of business should be nationalising Denby Potteries and subsidising British-made, sturdy products for every household.

This looks fun and if you are London based could be for you

In March, I wrote to the Prime Minister demanding a parliamentary vote on the use of UK military bases in the war on Iran. I finally received a reply during the height of the Westminster psychodrama - the perfect moment to bury the government's complicity in war crimes. [1/4]