Top recent posts by Global News and Politics Professionals on Bluesky

CBC finally calls Carleton - the Canadian Tory leader Pierre Poilievre has lost his own seat

God there were so many of these…

"On the doorstep people don’t make a distinction between graduate visas & small boats" This is: a) objectively wrong (plenty of polling evidence) b) suggests utter contempt for electorate's thought processes c) is a dreadful way to make policy Otherwise fine www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Tremendous opportunity for Britain here. Let's see if we can swap our riot-inciters for their cancer researchers.

Bluesky is an education as a European, in that here you have someone suggesting that it is unreasonable that the Democratic 'tent' exclude a man who has never actually disavowed his belief that it would be better that products of 'miscegenation' such as myself had not been born.

Will British Labour politicians learn anything from the Canadian election, and entertain the possibility that there are votes in defying toxic American aggression, and making the case for liberalism? Or will they just keep on inanely chasing the Reform vote? Make your prediction lol.

There are several lessons from Canada for UK politics The biggest, most obvious lesson is likely to be widely ignored in the UK media by Saturday morning! Don't think you could predict & project a 2029 General Election result from the polls 2025/2026. It would be difficult in 2027/2028!

"We can't stop the boats, so let's cancel the Graduate Visa. Voters either don't know the difference or don't care." Terrible way to make policy, self-destructive as economics, and almost certainly doomed politically. Does anyone genuinely think this makes any sense?

shot, chaser

The U.K.’s first transgender judge, Dr Victoria McCloud, has announced plans to take the government to the European Court of Human Rights over the Supreme Court gender ruling

Canada should use the element of surprise and invade now.

Very funny, well done. Canada gets its Truss moment

It’s 2014. I tell you: “Yeah so you know the guy who funds the Lib Dems? Paul Marshall? Yeah his son’s in Mumford’s band. Anyway Paul’s going to fund a right-wing culture war TV channel called GB News and his son will pop up at Donald Trump’s White House press room asking for asylum for Brits.”

We’ll defend ourselves by explaining to the Russians that rapid rearmament doesn’t poll well.

Great piece. The other dumb thing about Uxbridge is that ULEZ is a *fantastic* policy that stops people choking to an early grave. Opposing it for short term electoral reason is close to immoral

Excellent article - and, I would add, by making the nearest big city bigger. I know I am a stuck record, but private entrepreneurs, over a century ago, dug a longer Underground line (the Central Line) than the whole length of Leeds-Bradford-Manchester.

My column in today’s FT: you can’t have an effective “pro-natal” policy if your only interest is birth and you have no interest in the lives and hopes of parents, particularly mothers:

CJEU, EU citizenship New judgment: Malta's investor citizenship law breached EU law by commercialising EU citizenship Press release - curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo... Judgment full text - curia.europa.eu/juris/docume...

Let's just remember that as recently as *February* the CBC poll tracker was suggesting a 99% probability of the Conservatives winning. This is an extreme upset - thanks in large part to Trump (and a little to Trudeau stepping aside and Carney stepping up). newsinteractives.cbc.ca/elections/po...

Doctors have labelled the Supreme Court gender ruling "scientifically illiterate", and naturally gender critics have now put this expert medical opinion down to "indoctrination" www.thetimes.com/article/68b2...

@nndroid.bsky.social Can we organise some sort of event to mark this moment? Dramatised public reading?

Excellent piece this. Ultimately you can’t govern if you change direction whenever someone yelps. Public opinion is the brake on government but it can’t be the motor, because we all want different things.

While carefully avoiding commenting on an ongoing criminal trial... can I suggest you read the BBC liveblog of the Sycamore Gap tree trial. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...

is it too late for Trump to weigh in on the Greater Lincolnshire mayoral race

Now Carney and the Canadian Liberals have the substantial challenge of protecting the Canadian economy by decoupling it from America's.

Looks like Poilievre's defeat in Carleton will be a microcosm of the Conservative defeat nationally: a small swing away from the Conservatives, an increase in turnout, and the collapse of the NDP (/BQ in Quebec) conspiring to hand the Liberals a narrow victory.

Got back last night from focus groups this weekend in Beverley, Hull,Scunthorpe & Peterborough and without doubt the disillusionment was the worst I’ve heard, in every group it was anger; despondency or misery about the state of Britain that doesn’t feel sustainable.

It’s almost as if the Times wants to make this happen.

Canada:

If you are asking this morning what Labour can learn from this, the answer is - almost nothing. The election is four years away.

The idea that the government simply has to deliver on its missions to win back public trust (and electoral support) is fanciful. The depth of disillusionment with British politics and government is very clear from focus groups like these...

Please, I'll drive Toby Young to the airport myself...

Bottled water is the biggest pathway to microplastic exposure, Mason said. “Most people in the United States don’t need to drink bottled water. Tap water is safer and more regulated.” www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solu...

The stocks were sold, the podcasts were squared, the middle-class was quite prepared. He was all set to be the next Canadian Prime Minister - but Pierre Poilievre has now lost his own constituency in Ontario. (There were 91 candidates for the constituency)

Maybe the UK’s Labour government is now going to realise that sucking up to Donald Trump is the wrong political (and economic) strategy…

Canadian Liberal party currently *700 votes* short of a majority in seats still counting

Good time to re-read @edwardluce.bsky.social's lunch with Mark Carney, who WILL remain as Canada's prime minister, and must surely now be a contender for a rare second lunch:

Prequels revisionism will always be a real “oh, I’ve gotten old” moment. Frankly embarrassing to see my generation convince itself that its childhood follies were good.

Among other things, people who came to GB to drive buses brought their spouse and children. It's a key part of integration and paradoxically the things that people who agree with this stuff *dislike about immigration* would get worse in their preferred system.

ICE are indistinguishable from the violent criminals they scaremonger about

This is corruption by any lay person’s definition. I can’t say whether it’s bribery or extortion under U.K. law or the tattered remnants of US law.

Strange that the Daily Telegraph won't splash on this positive, patriotic energy news... eciu.net/media/press-...

ICYMI: The UK has signed up to a statement of shared geopolitical values with the European Union. Starmer is bringing Britain closer to the EU. A clear reaction to Trump's presidency. Take the upsides where you can, I suppose...

Is this the same Amazon owned by one of the billionaires who has grovelled to Trump?

someone should open a biscuit shop called Essential Cookies Only

The China-US trade lane is stalling very hard. Lot of retail inventory in the US but plenty who need parts/inputs will feel pinch within weeks, per shipping experts.

Presented my first academic paper since PhD and it went pretty well. So that’s nice.

As a member of the public, what would make me feel safe is if Labour designed policy on public safety on things that are actually happening. For example, men who want to kill women because they get their ideas from the far-right. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Accidentally put kisses on a message in a family chat, so I'm up for adoption now

'A Tesla Cybertruck had to be rescued from a river after its owner appeared to believe Elon Musk’s claim that the electric truck could “serve briefly as a boat”.' www.independent.co.uk/tech/tesla-c...

Trump attempting to bully pollsters is the most predictable thing ever... via @maddow.msnbc.com.

Armenian govt moves towards closer relations with EU www.ips-journal.eu/topics/europ...

The editors of the Mail, Telegraph and Times are fully deranged on this issue. These figures are absurd

It took six weeks of negotiations between Sadiq Khan's office, TfL, and the London Fire Brigade... but it sounds like bookswap library shelves are coming back to 15 above-ground tube stations. (Those classed as subsurface tube stations, such as the Oval and Clapham etc are a work in progress.)

Good ballot paper well done everyone.

👇 Really important story from @bylinetimes.bsky.social about the lack of data on donations made by overseas voters – a high-risk route for #foreigninterference in UK elections – featuring a quote from our Executive Director @suehawley.bsky.social.

Yes! Uxbridge by-election was so misunderstood - Labour nearly won Uxbridge - They don't need to win seats like that for a majority - They do need enact life-enhancing green policies like Ulez to justify a majority labourlist.org/2025/04/loca...

Jeff Bezos is going to regret getting involved in politics.

There’s probably something to be done on the TBI getting a little bit weird. It’s increasingly detached from anything voters want and is becoming distinctly rationalist hued. Not even classic policy wonk silo-d, but quite…online.

All unhappy political parties are unhappy are alike, but all happy political parties are happy in their own way.

Looks like the Canadian Liberal party will get its highest share of the vote since 1980 - and the Conservatives their highest share of the vote since 1988

Blair’s anti-net zero intervention today suffers from one of his major blindspots - his inability to see (or call out) how political debate has been warped by garbage media coverage

Guardian editorial makes the case for a proportionate voting system www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I have a lot more time for Clegg than the average person I follow on Bluesky (and, it pains me to admit, in the UK). But I think one problem with *that* article is that part of what pro-European UK politicians miss about EU membership is that EU membership is a way to magnify your country's power.🧵

Classic authoritarian behaviour. So weak. So embarrassing.

just realises I was absent mindset reading my mug as "Robin red brexit", what the fuck brain

what I like about this is Quebec had been British for a whole quarter of a century before France stopped being an absolute monarchy

Winston Marshall, ex-banjo botherer from Mumford and Sons, has been on…. quite a journey. Worth remembering that his dad is behind Tory MPs’ favourite channel GB News.

In case any UK channels need someone to interpret this morning’s results I have a huge, huge track record of Canadian political scoops thanks to deep sourcing in Ottawa. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

In about an hour we have a Commons urgent question on Kneecap, submitted by Tory MP Mark Francois. I genuinely remember when we last had a proper moral panic about popular music. It must be a while.

Just horrifying behaviour from Anderson. This kind of disinformation fuels abuse against women MPs like Jess.

PM Starmer's statement on Mark Carney's historic Liberal election win in Canada “I welcome your leadership on international issues" - could be seen as veiled support for standing up to Trump...

So Carney does it. Over to you Australia.... (Reminds me I need to vote...)

I think it is v plausible that concern about house prices and big part of what cost Ukip Castle Point & Thurrock in Essex in 2015, when they were over-confident of victory in 4-6+ seats

Duty-free store at busy crossing goes into receivership as Canada/US travel plummets www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Important to remember that this policy is not intended to work. It is intended to appease Reform voters. And to the malign the left into appearing as if it supports sexual offences. The reality is further complexity in a broken asylum system, one which will, in fact, make the public less safe.

A Tory/Reform pact already appears to be in action... Labour's Ellie Reeves has accused the Tories of “gifting” Runcorn to Reform by not campaigning in the seat. The chair of Labour told The Huffington Post the Tories were not doing any work on the ground at all (Huffington Post, via LabourList)

Carney’s comeback suggests viability of Lib Dem ‘resist Trump’ strategy Some thoughts on lessons from the Canadian election for @politics.co.uk 👇 www.politics.co.uk/politicslunc...

Every year Tony Blair looks and behaves more like a caricature of Tony Blair. bsky.app/profile/geor...

What I find compelling about this is, the 'useful advice' from David Cameron (both a very good PMQs performer but someone who knows the format better than most as he prepped *three other leaders* for it) that she is quoting is so banal as to be obvious.

The message being communicated to us from govt. is that marginalised people are dangerous (trans people, asylum seekers, migrants, people of colour) and yet the truly dangerous people who literally started riots (the far-right) in the country are getting off scot free. Stupid.

Listening to literally the world's worst podcast. Two people reminiscing about music, without having researched any of the music. "I think this was a b-side. Was it?. "Can you remember when it came out?" "I haven't got the best memory". Jesus wept.

The govt announcement on barring sexual offenders from being granted refugee protection in the UK has several limitations: - the offences have to be committed in UK and fall under Schedule 3 of Sexual Offences Act 2003 - rape and other offences with prison sentences over a year were already a bar

‼️🇩🇪🇪🇺 Merz at @eppgroup.bsky.social Congress places a strong emphasis on Europe “My government will be one of the strongest supporters of Europe that you have ever seen from Germany..”

"The data is inconvenient, because it's at cross purposes to the government's project. And so into the bin this useful and interesting piece of work will go, while the "Morganiser" carries on laying the foundation for a catastrophic rout four years hence."

I never expected the end of the world to be so fucking stupid.

I love the live seat count 'as it stands' in Canadian election coverage. It's goofy as hell but it really adds a pleasing note of chaos (the essential of a good election night programme)

The time polls close is one of those 'god, tradition is so strong', in that I just feel *so strongly* that closing before 22:00 is too early, despite the fact I have as far as I can recall never voted after noon.

I’m sorry but the American way of life is in many ways ridiculous

Devastating, distressing and urgent journalism www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Seems fair

Hello darkness (waiting in for a UPS delivery) my old friend*.

A massive national power cut, freeing us from phones and travel and spreadsheets and media... would be nice?

Please do sift through this goldmine of data 👇

the population of Newfoundland & Labrador is roughly equal to that of the London boroughs of Hackney and Waltham Forest combined

Laughing at the right wing opinion writers is the obvious first response. Perhaps the second might we questioning why all UK political writing and analysis focuses on the immediate not the long term as is there is no chance of change beyond that day’s headlines.

It makes a great headline in the tabloids, but the Home Office has no idea how many people could be affected. Worse, individuals could be unduly excluded from protections - all because the gov is pandering to Reform ahead of this week's local elections. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

@iandunt.bsky.social hi so I ran out of lasagne sheets and used matzo crackers instead and I think maybe you’ve got a rival now.