Top recent posts by Global News and Politics Professionals on Bluesky

I don't think Peter Mandelson is PM's biggest problem. The biggest problem is not standing up to the literal violent racism on our streets, supercharged by the richest man in the world, and threatening the very fabric of our society. If he and so many commentators can't see this, we're truly lost.

Another thing I love about the present moment - Musk regularly goes 'don't worry, we are going to change THAT' whenever Grok produces an answer that doesn't align with his priors, yet the British Labour government thinks that they are going to be able to land an argument on there in 2029.

UKIP used to insist on principle that MPs who defected to them resign and run again in a by election. Has this principle been forgotten? Can someone ask Farage about it?

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey on BBC R4’s Today: “We represent traditional British values: things like the rule of law, things like working with other countries… If you hold to those liberal beliefs that have made our country great, I think that’s true patriotism.”

Agree. This is a misdiagnosis that does not fit the evidence at all well, and one which gets in the way of useful responses

It's bleak, but it tickled me nonetheless

Labour chair Anna Turley MP on Nigel Farage failing to declare his March visit to the US: “Rather than representing his constituents in the UK Parliament to which the people of Clacton elected him, he’s been jetting off abroad to call for sanctions against our country, putting British jobs at risk"

I never thought we’d see a US administration whose relations with North Korea were warmer than those with South Korea. But these are remarkably stupid times.

Labour Party spokesperson on Danny Kruger MP’s defection to Reform UK: "Every Conservative who defects to Reform ties Nigel Farage more closely to their record of failure. Nigel Farage can recruit as many failed Tories as he likes – it won’t change the fact that he has no plan for Britain."

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on the Prime Minister to rule out any future contracts the Government could have with Tesla after Elon Musk told protesters to “fight back or die” and that “violence is coming” at the far-right rally over the weekend

“Ignoring Elon Musk and hoping he goes away hasn’t worked. X can mobilise violent mobs onto Britain’s streets, financially support its leaders, and radicalise casual users of the site – and its owner has made plain his agenda. The government has allowed a problem to turn into a crisis.”

“If this continues, that violence is going to come to you – you will have no choice. You’re in a fundamental situation where whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die.” - why are these people so brain-rotted they can't accept what they are?

"They are legitimising the extreme right by letting them dictate the terms of politics, and in so doing are paving the way for them ... This is appeasement pure and simple. It didn't stop fascism in the 1930s. And it will not work today."

Labour MP Noah Law: "UK Government departments would do well to recognise...that Twitter is not an impartial platform, nor, given its increasingly narrow user base, a place where our Government needs to be." bylinetimes.com/2025/09/15/m...

Reform are proposing to “rescind” the climate emergency declared by Kent County Council in 2019 in a move branded "anti-science & dangerous" by the Greens on the council Green cllr Stuart Jeffery: "“Reform’s paper to council is full of conspiracy theories and garbage science. The science is clear."

I love how Renaissance painters are doing so well until they get to the babies and then it's like, "I have never seen a baby. Presumably they look like tiny, creepy old men?"

Fantastic column by @stephenkb.bsky.social "Racism in the UK remains the preserve of an extreme minority — but one that is emboldened and growing louder. It is the result of a year in which neither the government nor the opposition have been willing to draw red lines." www.ft.com/content/fbbd...

Jacqui Smith called Musk's comments "dangerous and wrong" & "wholly unacceptable" on calling for violence. After a wobbly weekend, the pressure to notice what was said and to respond has got the government to an important baseline

Oh noooo But given how this is the rare case when it’s caught, and where people are checking, I’m just increasingly assuming most stuff is just stuffed with hallucinations.

Apply the same rules to Elon Musk as to others is a good thing to keep pressing. He & his platform both act as if they are above the law. We need the rule of law for all

Apply the same rules to Elon Musk as to others is a good thing to keep pressing. He & his platform both act as if they are above the law. We need the rule of law for all

Art history in western Europe: Medieval: can't draw people, only side perspectives, maybe as it was Too Dark? Renaissance: can draw people, can't draw baibes Enlightenment: Can draw people and babies Modernity: Why draw baby when you can draw cube?

When we remember we beat fascism before, we must also remember that we kinda let fascism happen before we actually beat it. I'm not a historian but I think that the one lesson of history might be not to have to beat it in the first place.

My secondary concern about this stuff is that it makes me worry that the various ways generative AI can save time and improve efficiency are in practice quite dangerous, because 'this turns an hour long task to a five minute one you have to check rigorously' really dependents on 'check rigorously'.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

"You can be English with roots that stretch back a 1,000 years, but you can also be English and look like me". About time. Need much more of this, and need the PM to come out and say it and challenge the politicians and media who've brought us here - not just Musk www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It is not enough for the US media to lie about who Charlie Kirk was, they have to fire people who have the integrity to say who he was

Underlying problem is she chose to put him on the frontbench (not her craziest choice for the frontbench sadly!). Frankly the position for the Conservative party that gives them a reason to exist ought to be 'it's good that he has gone. They are extreme'.

A woman arrested at the recent Defend Our Juries protest against the ban on Palestine Action gets in touch: "No one that was arrested on Saturday has yet been charged because there were so many arrests they just sent people home. Shocking really, sending all those terrorists home..."

The Spectator is just a few columns away from endorsing Advance UK

LibDem leader @eddavey.libdems.org.uk has a focus on how significant Musk's call for violence was. I would like to see a strong cross-party response.

"[Robinson] claimed the world was watching, but most of London barely noticed - and much of what was on view was appalling." www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-t...

You can see how nerve-racking it was to say this. If it was easy for Hollywood people in Hollywood spaces to speak out in 2025, then more would be doing so. It takes courage

"the Conservatives said they'd have gone further and faster in investing in nuclear power and blamed a broken planning system" the brass fucking neck of it

Surely everyone involved in Eurovision (and probably some other cultural events) looks at this, and starts moving towards the inevitable www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cyclin...

No 10: "We can confirm the first group of children from Gaza have safely arrived in the UK with their immediate families & are receiving the urgent medical care they need from the NHS. We will continue to work with local authorities to ensure families receive appropriate support during their stay."

It is pretty weird that, following Musk's comments on Saturday (as well as many many others), democratic governments are still posting on X and therefore giving him content. It's beginning to look a little like buying adverts in Pravda in the 1950s or, let's be honest, in Der Sturmer in the 1930s.

"They are legitimising the extreme right by letting them dictate the terms of politics, and in so doing are paving the way for them ... This is appeasement pure and simple. It didn't stop fascism in the 1930s. And it will not work today."

The Times appears to have interviewed an 'ex Buckingham Palace cleaner' who supposedly divulges royal stain removal secrets but doesn't seem to exist, is possibly AI, and probably placed by a PR agency to boost SEO for a tiling brand. pressgazette.co.uk/news/royal-c...

I mean, "Democracy Dies In Whiteness" was right there...

And this is a platform that MPs, government departments / officials think it's appropriate to retain an active presence on?

Elon is given two boxes. In one there is a cheque for $1tn. In the second box, a big red button marked White Nationalism. He must choose one to open. He does not hesitate. He follows his heart

The case for 'Labour recovering from their present doldrums' runs through the 'the governing party pretty much always does improve its vote share by three points for reasons we don't fully understand' and 'the PM might shape up or be shipped out'. The case for the Conservatives is...what exactly?

Tory MP Danny Kruger has defected to Reform His career history: Eton, Edinburgh & Oxford alumnus, ex-Telegraph writer, David Cameron's speechwriter, Boris Johnson's political secretary, Michael Gove’s PPS How will Reform square this with its anti-Tory establishment image?

Today is International Day of Democracy. In the UK, we routinely elect Gvts with a minority of votes, and most of our parliament is entirely unelected, with a bloated upper chamber stuffed with patrons and a few clerics. We need major constitutional reform but have few turkeys voting for Xmas.

Elon Musk has made a major error - from being in a radicalised bubble - by speaking so overtly prominently for political violence + social violence in response to "replacement" Ministers had to respond to the call for civil war. This is an opportunity to Make Twitter Lawful Again on unlawful hatred

10/10

Reform's Next Star Signing Will Surprise You.

Stop Trump Coalition today: “After seeing the UK’s largest far-right demo [on Sat], it is even more essential to turn out to protest against Trump’s state visit. Starmer’s response to this disgusting display was too little, too late...We do not want our [Govt] to trade away our democracy & decency.”

Ultimately, if you are a) an ultra social conservative b) not a racist and c) by all accounts quite a good MP who enjoys being so, all of which apply to Danny Kruger, it is...not obvious that you are better off in Reform nowadays.

Reposting because it seems like a good time to remember how to deal with the politics of racism and how politicians and newspapers can draw red lines if they want to

"Really, I don’t mean to go on, but then I doubt the film-makers meant to muff the ending in a way that torpedoes later books either. This should have been a six-part BBC One series with budget to match. But I’m sure the money was very nice." This week's column is on how not to adapt a book.

NEW: Starmer Urged To Block Tesla From Government Contracts Over Elon Musk's Far-Right Rally Rant www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/starme...

Excellent piece on migration data, drawing on my/ @migobs.bsky.social work on earnings and employment of new migrants (1/2) www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

I felt this so strongly when I submitted the manuscript for my book on QAnon that I opened the book with this quote:

Politico reports that the Gov is expected to unveil the Hillsborough Law this Tuesday "It should enshrine a statutory duty of candor for public officials to aid investigations after state-linked deaths or disasters". Will see what victims' families make of it - they've previously clashed with No 10

The revolution will have an Eton education

The days sure are getting darker

Five years after that fact, I guess the media will now notice the leaked submission to the EHRC inquiry that covered appalling racist behaviour by sundry Labour right wingers.

UK welfare state is v badly designed for this reason, but the difficulty with all these “it’s actually economics” is all of these things were true *in 2023* and there still isn’t a correlation with the people who say, do and believe racist stuff!

The party in government may have changed, but the DWP’s cruel and callous treatment of people has not www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...

"They are legitimising the extreme right by letting them dictate the terms of politics, and in so doing are paving the way for them ... This is appeasement pure and simple. It didn't stop fascism in the 1930s. And it will not work today."

That's quite a big deal on any metric - sitting MP, relatively young, relatively high profile. Decline of Tories could rapidly become terminal if people like this head for the exit in numbers.

Crazy that Elon Musk has retweeted a survey on X showing Advance UK with more support than Reform among a self-selecting group of 13,500 people Advance UK are unknown and have a challenge to go from * to 1% in the polls anytime soon. (Reform are about 25-33 times bigger than 1%)

A while ago someone emailed saying Gemini disagreed with what I had written. They then just flatly refused to accept me saying 'I mean, I know this is the case, because I reported on it and talked to Downing Street about it *at the time*'.

The EU Law Analysis blog passes 10 million page views! Thanks to all the readers and contributors over the years eulawanalysis.blogspot.com?m=1

Even Trump realises that kidnapping, imprisoning and abusing the workers from foreign companies is going to have some serious consequences. *No matter, it's too late - can't imagine any company will choose to roll the dice and send its workforce to this regime.

Good on Sam for writing this. It's past time everyone left X, Musk's comments at "Tommy Robinson's" march really should illustrate exactly what people are actively supporting by remaining. That govt accounts remain after he called for a change of government and incited violence is absolutely insane

Print sales are, amazingly, still the main revenue base for most mainstream local newspapers and cross-subsidise the online journalism. As the remaining print readers die, and with online ad revenue flatlining, that journalistic cross-subsidy will fall. So that's an 18% decline year-on-year.

My interview with @billybragg.bsky.social on England, patriotism and the far-right is now up at @bylinetimes.bsky.social for subscribers (and on doorsteps/news-stands shortly) Interesting chat if I may say so! subscribe.bylinetimes.com/edition/78/b...

Whatever you think of these messages, the reality is this story and Paul Ovenden's subsequent resignation has provoked pure fury from long-serving Labour aides. Many saying they do not believe Starmer should have accepted his resignation. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

ICYMI: The Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched an investigation into misconduct allegations against 11 current or former Met officers (and a staff member) based at Charing Cross Police Station in central London

Of the eleven Conservative (mostly former) MPs who voted against the Sunak government's Rwanda Bill at third reading in January 2024, three have now defected to Reform Potentially some clues here as to who could be next to go?

This feels like a big one and one that’ll spook Tory MPs. Former Cameron speech writer, ran Jenrick’s leadership campaign, and the first sitting Tory — and shadow minister — to defect to Reform. It bursts Badenoch’s bubble after her boost last week, as well.

I’ve seen several right-wing commentators today describe Danny Kruger as a “deep thinker”. I can’t think of a dumber phrase to describe how smart someone supposedly is

Just a small thing, but, if Downing Street were serious about accomplishing its policy aims, it would, while firing all but three of the London MPs in the government, found a job for Helen Hayes in the DfE.

The next stage of fascism begins, based on a murder and a lie

The Welsh NHS structure is immensely convoluted. This makes driving system wide change challenging. Let me explain just how complex the NHS in a country of 3m is... [Thread]

There is increasing sentiment that this government needs to be more proactive on racism. It is about speaking more confidently. It will also need to be about greater clarity about what will be effective on a range of different challenges across society www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

It feels like a lot of people I know have discovered via social media that a person they Actually Know supported some aspect of the fascist march. And yet people still don’t seem to think Reform are likely to win the next election.

ICYMI On a visit to the biennial DSEI UK trade show in London at the weekend, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion Siân Berry found components of cluster munitions, prohibited under international law and banned from the trade show, "on full display by manufacturer Sandeep Metal"

Danny Kruger defects to Reform. Arguably their most significant defection yet. Another ex Tory MP keen to return to power who now sees Reform not Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives as the fastest route to do so.

What this piece shows is that the scheme is already a mess. The Home Office is deporting people entirely at random. Those in detention don't have legal representation. Ten children have been erroneously detained and released. Legal challenges will follow. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

We don’t know what the messages said, so it’s hard to comment on the details here. But more generally: things that once would now be phone or in-person conversations now leave a permanent written record. These chats dated from 2017. Can politics actually survive that level of relentless scrutiny?

America will be moving to five year plans soon.

Kent's Reform UK leader Linden Kemkaran has announced the cancellation of the sale of council HQ Sessions House and the planned move to another building, Invicta House Kent Greens say Reform have been "seduced by the grandeur of County Hall's pillars, panelled council chamber & sweeping staircase."

Fair play to Ed Davey for this. Absolutely correct.

As I have said - once or twice - everybody should watch A French Village (or, as it called in the UK, where you can watch it for free on ITVX, 'The Line'). Terrific, gripping show. Anyway, because my partner and I are super-cool, we also intermittently pause and discuss the translation choices.

America is in a dark place

Very interesting revelation in @kitty-donaldson.bsky.social's evening newsletter: Andrew Gwynne, one of the MPs rumoured to be thinking of standing down to make way for Andy Burnham, has applied to the Commons authorities to retire on medical grounds.

🔴 Give Big Fines to Firms Like X Promoting Hate and Disinformation, Democracy Groups Urge PM Without radical change, voters will “give their support to demagogues and extremists who crave power to further their own ends” the authors warn bylinetimes.com/2025/09/15/g...

Just a small point, I think quite a few journalists would dispute the characterisation in this case that the politician in question has 'good manners'.

Baroness Jacqui Smith: "Richard Burgon has never supported this prime minister. He had the whip removed for a period of time because of his failure to support the government. The fact that he now thinks the prime minister should go is not actually news." www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labour...

PM's spokesman just now on Musk's comments at the Tommy Robinson demo: "The UK is a fair, tolerant and decent country. The last thing that British people want is dangerous and inflammatory language which threaten violence and intimidation on our streets." British people will have "no truck" with it

Sorry just remembered in all the chaos that Keir Starmer said he would "never surrender to flags" instead of "never surrender to fascism".

“Awareness, solidarity, and practical investment are key to countering misinformation and building communities that are fair and safe for everyone.” Bravo Ayesha. This is a full myth bust on asylum hotels 👇 open.substack.com/pub/bestforb...

The Foreign Affairs Committee has called for the Foreign Office and the Cabinet Office to give evidence on the vetting and security processes behind the appointment of Lord Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US... The Head of the Cabinet Office's Propriety & Ethics Team has been asked to appear.

CJEU, new cases, migration law EU Commission sues Hungary for allegedly failing to properly apply EU law on smuggling of people. Summary of the Commission argument eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...

Rare disagreement with Dylan, in that while he's not wrong about the results, I don't think it materially changes anything for Labour in GE2029 (not like getting shellacked in Holyrood '21 hurt them in 2024). For the Tories, yeah, it is baking more paid Reform legislators into British politics.

For instance, they'll struggle to access the Metaverse.