@colinb8.bsky.social
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"Jenrick is an unlikely champion of civil liberties or human rights, and his appeal to Magna Carta had a distinct air of Tony Hancock. For the Shadow Justice Secretary, every day is a leadership bid, and his reply to Lammy was no exception, magnificently histrionic." @roberthutton.co.uk spot-on.
How comfortable is wafer thin? | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine
“I wouldn’t say that we were at war with the Treasury,” Professor David Miles, of the Office for Budget Responsibility, was giving a demonstration of the British art of slipping a knife between the…
thecritic.co.uk
December 2, 2025 at 7:26 PM
"Jenrick is an unlikely champion of civil liberties or human rights, and his appeal to Magna Carta had a distinct air of Tony Hancock. For the Shadow Justice Secretary, every day is a leadership bid, and his reply to Lammy was no exception, magnificently histrionic." @roberthutton.co.uk spot-on.
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Think this is exactly right - political journalism that is completely abstracted from policy, which was not the norm before 2017, has become the default. Impossible to have a serious attempt to either shrink what the state does or widen the tax base (have to do at least one) on that basis.
All this budget news, claims, counter claims is confusing, but two things of consequence.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
December 1, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Think this is exactly right - political journalism that is completely abstracted from policy, which was not the norm before 2017, has become the default. Impossible to have a serious attempt to either shrink what the state does or widen the tax base (have to do at least one) on that basis.
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Proposing a bold new scheme replacing foster parents with wolves
November 28, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Proposing a bold new scheme replacing foster parents with wolves
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There's something mesmerising about Badenoch's combination of supreme intellectual confidence and "Jesus? Didn't he play for Real Madrid?" command of detail.
It's like somebody spliced the certainty of Margaret Thatcher with the work ethic of Boris Johnson.
It's like somebody spliced the certainty of Margaret Thatcher with the work ethic of Boris Johnson.
November 28, 2025 at 8:53 PM
There's something mesmerising about Badenoch's combination of supreme intellectual confidence and "Jesus? Didn't he play for Real Madrid?" command of detail.
It's like somebody spliced the certainty of Margaret Thatcher with the work ethic of Boris Johnson.
It's like somebody spliced the certainty of Margaret Thatcher with the work ethic of Boris Johnson.
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The guy shot two random people with a gun, I don't think you can say he wasn't assimilating into our culture
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 3:23 PM
The guy shot two random people with a gun, I don't think you can say he wasn't assimilating into our culture
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There was no state. Who does she think crucified him, an anarchist collective?
November 28, 2025 at 11:22 AM
There was no state. Who does she think crucified him, an anarchist collective?
@publicradionerd.bsky.social Who is in the background?!
Elliott Erwitt, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. New York City, USA. 1988.
November 27, 2025 at 7:56 PM
@publicradionerd.bsky.social Who is in the background?!
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For information, this is what the US court martial rules provide for in respect of the (un)lawfulness of an order.
jsc.defense.gov/Portals/99/2...
jsc.defense.gov/Portals/99/2...
November 26, 2025 at 8:05 PM
For information, this is what the US court martial rules provide for in respect of the (un)lawfulness of an order.
jsc.defense.gov/Portals/99/2...
jsc.defense.gov/Portals/99/2...
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“Soldiers testify that they have been told to burn down houses they have stayed in by pouring oil on curtains, books and mattresses.”
Read @aloner.bsky.social’s report on the destruction of Gaza’s cities.
Read @aloner.bsky.social’s report on the destruction of Gaza’s cities.
‘The directive was nothing left’: How Gaza’s cities were destroyed
Israel has razed large parts of the Gaza Strip since the war began in October 2023. The evidence points to systemic destruction
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 7:35 AM
“Soldiers testify that they have been told to burn down houses they have stayed in by pouring oil on curtains, books and mattresses.”
Read @aloner.bsky.social’s report on the destruction of Gaza’s cities.
Read @aloner.bsky.social’s report on the destruction of Gaza’s cities.
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Pro-tip: when defending yourself against allegations that you used derogatory language, never, under any circumstances, reach for the b-word. Dismissing anything you might have said as 'banter' really is the ultimate red flag.
Nigel Farage's racism denials are dishonest, says ex-classmate
Peter Ettedgui tells the BBC Nigel Farage targeted antisemitic abuse at him when they were teenagers.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Pro-tip: when defending yourself against allegations that you used derogatory language, never, under any circumstances, reach for the b-word. Dismissing anything you might have said as 'banter' really is the ultimate red flag.
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Nigel Farage has addressed the recollections of twenty contemporaries about his use of racism + antisemitism at school, saying it was "banter in a playground" many decades ago, but did not in his view amount to "direct unpleasant genuine abuse"
www.itv.com/news/2025-11...
www.itv.com/news/2025-11...
November 24, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Nigel Farage has addressed the recollections of twenty contemporaries about his use of racism + antisemitism at school, saying it was "banter in a playground" many decades ago, but did not in his view amount to "direct unpleasant genuine abuse"
www.itv.com/news/2025-11...
www.itv.com/news/2025-11...
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www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... - my new article, if of interest please share.
I endured an English public school. But that’s not the only reason I’m unsurprised about the Farage allegations |
Let’s put aside the schooldays accusations and look, instead, at the Reform leader’s path since then. I think a pretty clear picture of the man emerges, says author and podcaster Musa Okwonga
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:03 AM
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... - my new article, if of interest please share.
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"He’s impressed by what Vance had made of his tough upbringing – detailed in the book Hillbilly Elegy – BUT ALSO HIS REAL-WORLD MILITARY EXPERIENCE." ffs! Vance was deployed to an air-base in Iraq for about six months in 2005 as a military journalist and didn't experience combat.
So many laughable assumptions in this opening sentence that I honestly don't know where to start. 🤦
"What I struggle to understand, I say to Danny Kruger in his office at Reform UK HQ, is why a serious Conservative, with a glittering future like yours, would defect to a party led by Nigel Farage?
"What I struggle to understand, I say to Danny Kruger in his office at Reform UK HQ, is why a serious Conservative, with a glittering future like yours, would defect to a party led by Nigel Farage?
‘America is British’. Heaven is ‘a socialist state’. David Attenborough is ‘anti-human’ – the startling theories of Reform MP Danny Kruger
He was a Conservative party big-hitter who wrote speeches for David Cameron and worked with Boris Johnson before he suddenly jumped ship. He talks family, flags and why Nigel Farage is ‘top dog’
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:33 AM
"He’s impressed by what Vance had made of his tough upbringing – detailed in the book Hillbilly Elegy – BUT ALSO HIS REAL-WORLD MILITARY EXPERIENCE." ffs! Vance was deployed to an air-base in Iraq for about six months in 2005 as a military journalist and didn't experience combat.
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Also, I think the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee should publish a statement like this one;
- "The Nobel Peace Prize was never awarded to Neville Chamberlain. The Prize will never be awarded to anyone who trades somebody else's land for a few months to a couple of years of peace."
- "The Nobel Peace Prize was never awarded to Neville Chamberlain. The Prize will never be awarded to anyone who trades somebody else's land for a few months to a couple of years of peace."
November 22, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Also, I think the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee should publish a statement like this one;
- "The Nobel Peace Prize was never awarded to Neville Chamberlain. The Prize will never be awarded to anyone who trades somebody else's land for a few months to a couple of years of peace."
- "The Nobel Peace Prize was never awarded to Neville Chamberlain. The Prize will never be awarded to anyone who trades somebody else's land for a few months to a couple of years of peace."
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Quite the correction by the Telegraph. The publication in question is @freemovement.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Quite the correction by the Telegraph. The publication in question is @freemovement.bsky.social
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Complete and utter tangent for a Friday afternoon: we have a cargo cult cat*, who remembers that the radiators USED to be on, so will sit mournfully beside them in the hope that repeating the behaviour will make them switch on again
*or, as my husband puts it, a "cargo cat"
*or, as my husband puts it, a "cargo cat"
Richard Feynman once wrote about "Cargo Cult Science" - "they follow all the apparent precepts and forms, but they're missing something essential, because the planes don't land." I wonder if we currently have a Cargo Cult model of messaging and media management in British politics
November 21, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Complete and utter tangent for a Friday afternoon: we have a cargo cult cat*, who remembers that the radiators USED to be on, so will sit mournfully beside them in the hope that repeating the behaviour will make them switch on again
*or, as my husband puts it, a "cargo cat"
*or, as my husband puts it, a "cargo cat"
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Michael Gove on claims of a bad culture in No. 10 during the pandemic:
"The business of govt can't be carried on in the manner of a Jane Austen novel".
As so often, this assumes that the macho, hyper-aggressive style of Cummings & co produces better decisions. All the evidence suggests the reverse
"The business of govt can't be carried on in the manner of a Jane Austen novel".
As so often, this assumes that the macho, hyper-aggressive style of Cummings & co produces better decisions. All the evidence suggests the reverse
November 21, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Michael Gove on claims of a bad culture in No. 10 during the pandemic:
"The business of govt can't be carried on in the manner of a Jane Austen novel".
As so often, this assumes that the macho, hyper-aggressive style of Cummings & co produces better decisions. All the evidence suggests the reverse
"The business of govt can't be carried on in the manner of a Jane Austen novel".
As so often, this assumes that the macho, hyper-aggressive style of Cummings & co produces better decisions. All the evidence suggests the reverse
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This does feel like a major crossing of the Rubicon – the world's best-funded and in many ways most powerful public health agency is now actively pushing disinformation.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
The CDC website now disseminates disinformation about vaccines, claiming erroneously that infant vaccines might cause autism, when we know conclusively that they do not. It is difficult to overstate just how dangerous this is. www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safe...
November 20, 2025 at 2:03 PM
This does feel like a major crossing of the Rubicon – the world's best-funded and in many ways most powerful public health agency is now actively pushing disinformation.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
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As we move into “foreigners are cancelling Christmas in the name of political correctness” season it’s worth remember that Christmas was indeed once banned in England, by Christians and the man who enforced the ban has a statue in his honour outside the Houses of Parliament.
November 20, 2025 at 9:49 AM
As we move into “foreigners are cancelling Christmas in the name of political correctness” season it’s worth remember that Christmas was indeed once banned in England, by Christians and the man who enforced the ban has a statue in his honour outside the Houses of Parliament.
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Great paper here with some fascinating data on politicians and their estimates of which issues matter to voters
Several recent studies have found that politicians aren't very good at estimating public support for policies. But we have little idea about whether politicians are good at knowing which issues are more important to voters. Our new publication has a first go at answering this question rdcu.be/eQGm4
How Politicians (mis)Perceive Policy Salience
eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Great paper here with some fascinating data on politicians and their estimates of which issues matter to voters
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The misconceived notion that the way to deal with the backlog of asylum claims is to duplicate the system so as to have exit assessments too.
In essence: addressing the problem of a queue by forming another queue, just as long.
Daft, as well as cruelly unsettling.
In essence: addressing the problem of a queue by forming another queue, just as long.
Daft, as well as cruelly unsettling.
November 18, 2025 at 12:22 PM
The misconceived notion that the way to deal with the backlog of asylum claims is to duplicate the system so as to have exit assessments too.
In essence: addressing the problem of a queue by forming another queue, just as long.
Daft, as well as cruelly unsettling.
In essence: addressing the problem of a queue by forming another queue, just as long.
Daft, as well as cruelly unsettling.
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BBC News: "the government believe refugees are deliberately bringing their children to avoid deportation"
As opposed to doing what with their children??
As opposed to doing what with their children??
November 17, 2025 at 10:11 PM
BBC News: "the government believe refugees are deliberately bringing their children to avoid deportation"
As opposed to doing what with their children??
As opposed to doing what with their children??
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Nick Timothy, Tory MP most responsible for the Windrush scandal, gives Mahmood his support
November 17, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Nick Timothy, Tory MP most responsible for the Windrush scandal, gives Mahmood his support