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Phil Entwistle

@82hou.bsky.social

110 followers 240 following 53 posts

Analysing policy for the House of Commons International Affairs Unit. 英国特色小镇做题家. Views and rants my own.

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Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 27d

🌊New Report 🌊

Today the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy @houseofcommons.parliament.uk @houseoflords.parliament.uk publishes its report on Subsea telecommunications cables: resilience and crisis preparedness: publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt5901/jt...

Key points: 🧵

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 16h

'There was a constructive discussion about the reasons for the recent dropping of charges against two individuals under the Official Secrets Act. Committees will now be considering what further action to take.' committees.parliament.uk/committee/11...

Update on select committee work relating to China spy case - Committees - UK Parliament

The Chairs of the Home Affairs Committee, Justice Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee, Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, and the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Intelligence and Securi...

committees.parliament.uk

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 18h

Read the Committee's report here: committees.parliament.uk/publications...

committees.parliament.uk

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 18h

Further to JCNSS's recent report on UK subsea cables, this from @thetimes.com: www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

How a catastrophic attack on UK’s undersea cables could unfold

Sir Keir Starmer has been warned he is running out of time to protect vital banking and NHS systems and that civil order could hang by a thread if they went down

www.thetimes.com

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 13d

Bonjour Priestess. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Sarah Mullally named as new Archbishop of Canterbury

Dame Sarah, a former chief nursing officer, was previously the first female Bishop of London.

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 27d

A massive thank you to all those who have generously contributed to this inquiry via written and oral evidence or informal discussions. Too many to name here, but you know who you are! 🙏

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 27d

🚨 Work with industry to roll out integrated monitoring and alert systems

🦺 Develop better impact assessments and contingency plans across key sectors

🔒 Upgrade security at critical infrastructure sites

↔️ Improve governance of critical underwater infrastructure through a cross-government unit

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 27d

It should:

💪 Deploy a more muscular military deterrent

🚢 Acquire a sovereign UK cable repair ship and train Royal Navy reservists in cable repair skills

⚖️ Explore ways of strengthening international legal frameworks to better prevent and punish malicious cable damage

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 27d

☠️ However, it’s not clear how robust the system would be if a hostile state or non-state actor were to launch a co-ordinated attack.

🎯 The Government needs to do more to prepare for such an eventuality, and to mitigate the potential impact of the disruption to data to UK economy and society.

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 27d

🌐 In the UK, we rely on data carried by subsea cable for every aspect of our lives.

🛠️ As things currently stand, the UK’s subsea cable network is resilient: plenty of redundant capacity, a diversity of cable routes, and quick repair times.

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 27d

🌊New Report 🌊

Today the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy @houseofcommons.parliament.uk @houseoflords.parliament.uk publishes its report on Subsea telecommunications cables: resilience and crisis preparedness: publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt5901/jt...

Key points: 🧵

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 28d

My personal favourite episode: Tea 🍵 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Tea

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss tea, the first truly global commodity.

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · 28d

In Our Time is a national treasure ❤️ www.economist.com/britain/2025...

The BBC’s best programme loses its star

Melvyn Bragg is retiring from “In Our Time”

www.economist.com

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · Aug 20

UK-China relations is now guided by 4 Cs: Challenge, Compete, Cooperate, and Coldplay. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Chris Martin invites fan from China on stage at Hull Coldplay gig

Raymond, 20, is invited onto the stage to sing with Chris Martin at Tuesday's gig in Hull.

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · Aug 19

'Compressed modernity brings high highs and low lows. It promises too much, too fast—and when disenchantment hits, it hits hard.'

Fascinating essay.

izading.substack.com/p/schopenhau...

Schopenhauer’s East Asian Renaissance

How a forgotten 19th-Century German philosopher became a TikTok sensation

izading.substack.com

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · Aug 12

'If somebody asks me to narrow my identity to a single label, I refuse, because it is mine, not to be explained or justified. And if it shifts tomorrow, that is my business.'

Fantastic, moving article from Fergal Keane.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The complex question of what it is to be culturally Irish in 2025

Ed Sheeran grew up in England but described himself as 'culturally Irish,' prompting debate about what that really means

Reposted by Phil Entwistle

The Economist @economist.com · Jul 8

A handpicked article read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist

China is building a new data empire

A handpicked article read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · Jun 24

Foreign Secretary statement on China Audit now up online. www.gov.uk/government/s...

China audit: Foreign Secretary's statement

The Foreign Secretary made a statement to the House of Commons, updating members on the government’s approach to China following the cross-Whitehall audit.

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · Jun 24

China gets three paragraphs on p.39 of National Security Strategy... www.gov.uk/government/p...

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · Jun 24

Also this from @politico.eu www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · Jun 24

UK Government's China Audit due to form part of the National Security Strategy released today. Unlikely we're going to see a separate document....

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · Jun 23

Meanwhile, waiting for the UK's China Audit be like

big bird from sesame street is sitting on the steps of a building .

ALT: big bird from sesame street is sitting on the steps of a building .

media.tenor.com

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · May 28

'The question “big but not strong” captures a deeper anxiety in China about whether scale alone can secure global leadership without addressing structural and social weaknesses.'

Interesting study of Chinese internet users' views on China's industrial strategy. @merics.bsky.social

MERICS @merics.bsky.social · May 26

Can scale alone secure global leadership? The @chinaspektrum.bsky.social team looked at how Chinese netizens have discussed Beijing’s industrial strategy “Made in China 2025” during the past decade and amidst increasing US competition:
EN: merics.org/en/comment/m...
DE: merics.org/de/kommentar...

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · May 27

'If you look at how modern manufacturing works these days, it's hard to pinpoint exactly where a thing even becomes a thing because most things are manufactured in many different steps scattered across the world.'

Great episode. #MadeinChina #中国制造

www.npr.org/2025/05/07/1...

What "Made in China" actually means : Planet Money

Virtually every product brought into the United States must have a so-called "country of origin." Think of it as the official place it comes from. And this is the country that counts for calculating t...

Reposted by Phil Entwistle

eraldo.bsky.social @eraldo.bsky.social · May 19

On June 4th, 26 years after the Tiananmen massacre, we will be hosting Jeff Wasserstrom to discuss his new book, The Milk Tea Alliance (Columbia Global Reports).

Please share widely!

forms.gle/CqYnJpgZRSJd...

@jwassers.bsky.social
@jmulich.bsky.social

Phil Entwistle @82hou.bsky.social · May 16

Epic episode. Starts with discussion of the role of China in US domestic political discourse, before looking at abundance, podcasting, and the role of emotion in political commentary.

Highly recommended listening 🎧

Jordan Schneider @jordanschneider.bsky.social · May 9

Pod with Ezra, Derek, and Dan Wang up now.

www.chinatalk.media/p/abundance...

Ezra, Derek, and Dan Wang

Abundance and China

www.chinatalk.media