John Oxley
@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk
Commentator, writer, corporate/political strategy. Undertaking an MSc in International Security and Global Governance at Birkbeck.
The only Tory on Bluesky, but that's why you love me.
Newsletter at: www.joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk
The only Tory on Bluesky, but that's why you love me.
Newsletter at: www.joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk
Pinned
John Oxley
@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk
· Mar 9
And just think, you can read me being right about everything for less than a central London pint a month..
www.joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk
www.joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk
On the subject of the BBC, why did I just stumble upon Alistair Campbell as a talking head on a programme about Cleopatra? Am I meant to believe he's adding anything beyond reading a script?
December 1, 2025 at 9:47 PM
On the subject of the BBC, why did I just stumble upon Alistair Campbell as a talking head on a programme about Cleopatra? Am I meant to believe he's adding anything beyond reading a script?
Not sure that would have properly conveyed their desire for a United Ireland, tbh.
my most dad-core belief is that the IRA should have been called the Defeat Inflation Program (DIP) so that it better paired with the other signature Biden policy -- the CHIPS act.
December 1, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Not sure that would have properly conveyed their desire for a United Ireland, tbh.
Reposted by John Oxley
Hegseth's war crimes/murder thing just makes me think about this again.
Just been reminded that on this day in 1990 I landed in Kuwait.
Was immediately detached to scout and recon to add comms and linguistics support. When somebody asked why we needed linguistics, the XO said "because you win wars by making friends, not by making corpses. Safeties on, gentleman".
Was immediately detached to scout and recon to add comms and linguistics support. When somebody asked why we needed linguistics, the XO said "because you win wars by making friends, not by making corpses. Safeties on, gentleman".
December 1, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Hegseth's war crimes/murder thing just makes me think about this again.
More like RIP Cars, right?
Zipcar is shutting down its UK operations, basically the only car club that worked in London. Massive kick to anyone who tries to live in capital without owning a car. Having been a customer for 17 years and used Zipvans to move house repeatedly, this is.... very bad! (Zipcar is owned by Avis)
December 1, 2025 at 3:47 PM
More like RIP Cars, right?
Any political journalist after 2017 can't scrutinise policy, All They Know Is Mcdonalds, Charge Their Phone, Tweet, Be Bisexual, Eat Hot Chip And Lie
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 1:21 PM
Any political journalist after 2017 can't scrutinise policy, All They Know Is Mcdonalds, Charge Their Phone, Tweet, Be Bisexual, Eat Hot Chip And Lie
Think it's less their Conservativeness, and more they are self-centred, noisy prats.
I don’t think anyone will much notice with Gullis but surely sooner or later the embracing of Tory retreads is going to take the shine off Reform’s outsider charm?
December 1, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Think it's less their Conservativeness, and more they are self-centred, noisy prats.
"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea"
Two more Conservative MP rejects hop over to Reform UK. Jonathan Gullis and Lia Nici.
More and more, Reform UK looks simply as if the Tories ran off stage, then came back on two minutes lates, wearing a comedy moustache-and-glasses disguise. ~AA
uk.news.yahoo.com/former-tory-...
More and more, Reform UK looks simply as if the Tories ran off stage, then came back on two minutes lates, wearing a comedy moustache-and-glasses disguise. ~AA
uk.news.yahoo.com/former-tory-...
Former Tory MP Jonathan Gullis defects to Reform UK
He joins Daniel Jellyman
uk.news.yahoo.com
December 1, 2025 at 11:11 AM
"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea"
Excellent work by whoever was tasked with adding a water trap to the cycle lane.
December 1, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Excellent work by whoever was tasked with adding a water trap to the cycle lane.
There's an open goal for someone more talented than me to write "IP Cash-in: The Musical"
They've done a Paddington musical and it's supposed to be very good but the bear looks like it's on drugs
December 1, 2025 at 9:24 AM
There's an open goal for someone more talented than me to write "IP Cash-in: The Musical"
People who would never make a stand for anything beyond money not only find it hard to believe others would, but despise how that realisation makes them feel about themselves.
Wild how people like this, just like russians, still can’t comprehend that the Revolution of Dignity wasn’t staged. It was Ukrainians choosing freedom over fear. Imperialists and small minds always assume someone else must be pulling the strings, because they’ve never seen a nation with a spine.
December 1, 2025 at 8:00 AM
People who would never make a stand for anything beyond money not only find it hard to believe others would, but despise how that realisation makes them feel about themselves.
Reposted by John Oxley
have written that piece before but there's a whole lot of "oh wow this generation of kids are fucked" and nowhere near enough "huh what exactly have that generation of parents been doing and how can we not do that, going forward"
People are very hard on young people on here, lack of critical thinking, lack of responsibility etc, and then you see something like this and it all makes a different kind of sense.
November 30, 2025 at 1:52 PM
have written that piece before but there's a whole lot of "oh wow this generation of kids are fucked" and nowhere near enough "huh what exactly have that generation of parents been doing and how can we not do that, going forward"
Editor: You get the photo for the Tom Stoppard obit?
Photographer: Sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked.
Editor: what
Photographer: Sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked.
Editor: what
RIP Tom Stoppard. He left a fantastic body of work - playful with language, and serious about ideas of democracy, liberalism and freedom.
November 30, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Editor: You get the photo for the Tom Stoppard obit?
Photographer: Sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked.
Editor: what
Photographer: Sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked.
Editor: what
No, you make it into bread and butter pudding.
November 29, 2025 at 11:16 PM
No, you make it into bread and butter pudding.
Reposted by John Oxley
Also. Next time someone tells you Ru is invading Ukraine preemptively to stop it from joining NATO, show them this and laugh in their face. Blaming these genocidal politics on Ru feeling insecure is peak ignorance or gaslighting.
#UkrainianView
Next time any piece of shit politician tells you that "these are russian territories", "everyone speaks russian there" and so on - show them this. That is the "how" and the "why". It is called ethnocide and has been done numerous times by russia over the past centuries, to erase us.
Next time any piece of shit politician tells you that "these are russian territories", "everyone speaks russian there" and so on - show them this. That is the "how" and the "why". It is called ethnocide and has been done numerous times by russia over the past centuries, to erase us.
Putin signs decree formalizing Russification of occupied Ukraine through 2036 - Euromaidan Press
Putin signs decree formalizing Russification of occupied Ukraine through 2036, setting 95% "Russian identity" targets for four oblasts.
euromaidanpress.com
November 29, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Also. Next time someone tells you Ru is invading Ukraine preemptively to stop it from joining NATO, show them this and laugh in their face. Blaming these genocidal politics on Ru feeling insecure is peak ignorance or gaslighting.
I'm amazed senior leaders would find a use for something whose primary response is mindlessly agreeing with what one suggests.
A study by Dayforce shows 87% of executives use AI for work, compared to 57% of managers and just 27% of employees.
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
Execs are embracing AI more than their employees are, new research suggests
Research from HR software company Dayforce suggests that executives are leaning into AI far more than their employees.
www.businessinsider.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:45 PM
I'm amazed senior leaders would find a use for something whose primary response is mindlessly agreeing with what one suggests.
Reposted by John Oxley
Any takers for the Greens? We're one short of a full set
November 29, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Any takers for the Greens? We're one short of a full set
In my one of my masters seminars the other week we were talking about 9/11 and Iraq and someone said "I wish I was old enough to have lived through all this history".
November 29, 2025 at 5:13 PM
In my one of my masters seminars the other week we were talking about 9/11 and Iraq and someone said "I wish I was old enough to have lived through all this history".
If you want to go back to a world where my mum was forced to leave school at 15 you can just fuck right off.
November 29, 2025 at 10:47 AM
If you want to go back to a world where my mum was forced to leave school at 15 you can just fuck right off.
Impunity is addictive, and is unlikely to stop here.
a lot of words, none of them denying that Hegseth gave an order to kill helpless people who were stranded at sea after he blew up their boats
November 29, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Impunity is addictive, and is unlikely to stop here.
Once again grateful for the hyper-rationalism of my parents, who having cared for older relatives knew you had to do this and, really, your QoL becomes better the earlier you do.
But is downsizing in your 60s really very attractive if you don’t have to?
People don’t want to embrace old age too early (understandably!) or plan too much for care, they want to keep space for grandkids etc. And leaving a family home is a huge wrench and hassle
People don’t want to embrace old age too early (understandably!) or plan too much for care, they want to keep space for grandkids etc. And leaving a family home is a huge wrench and hassle
November 29, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Once again grateful for the hyper-rationalism of my parents, who having cared for older relatives knew you had to do this and, really, your QoL becomes better the earlier you do.
My favourite thing about this is I'm *fairly* sure her son was a Tory councillor.
November 28, 2025 at 9:02 PM
My favourite thing about this is I'm *fairly* sure her son was a Tory councillor.
Reposted by John Oxley
One time I saw a distinguished British historian playing with his small child, who was doing finger guns. He put his arms up and the boy - who was about six - went "bang!" and he very seriously explained that you must never shoot a prisoner.
Regarding the latter, one could argue there is a level of seniority below which it is not reasonable to expect service members to exercise their own judgement about that.
But the former—*everyone* knows that kind of order is illegal and must be refused. This is basic-training-level stuff.
But the former—*everyone* knows that kind of order is illegal and must be refused. This is basic-training-level stuff.
Refusing to follow a “kill the survivors of the previous strike who are clearly hors de combat” order SHOULD BE significantly more clear-cut than refusing one due to “this entire operation is unlawful because citing inherent Article II authority is insufficient.”
There must be accountability.
There must be accountability.
November 28, 2025 at 7:27 PM
One time I saw a distinguished British historian playing with his small child, who was doing finger guns. He put his arms up and the boy - who was about six - went "bang!" and he very seriously explained that you must never shoot a prisoner.
Reposted by John Oxley
The Rustaveli Avenue is fully packed with crowds commemorating the 1-YEAR anniversary of the DAILY #GeorgiaProtests against the hostile takeover of our country.
We will not stop, & GD can never fully stabilize.
For stability & peace in the region, and to end human suffering, we need
1/2
📷 MOSE
We will not stop, & GD can never fully stabilize.
For stability & peace in the region, and to end human suffering, we need
1/2
📷 MOSE
November 28, 2025 at 5:12 PM
The Rustaveli Avenue is fully packed with crowds commemorating the 1-YEAR anniversary of the DAILY #GeorgiaProtests against the hostile takeover of our country.
We will not stop, & GD can never fully stabilize.
For stability & peace in the region, and to end human suffering, we need
1/2
📷 MOSE
We will not stop, & GD can never fully stabilize.
For stability & peace in the region, and to end human suffering, we need
1/2
📷 MOSE
Maybe reconsider dressing slightly like a magician while doing the imaginary tits.
November 28, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Maybe reconsider dressing slightly like a magician while doing the imaginary tits.