John West
@jwestjourno.bsky.social
M&A, macro and politics. Global Commentary Editor, Mergermarket. Any views expressed are regrettably my own.
One half of @illexplainlater.bsky.social - a Doctor Who podcast.
One half of @illexplainlater.bsky.social - a Doctor Who podcast.
Pinned
Private equity is weighing the UK Budget’s reach for stability against its strategic emptiness. In this week’s episode of Dealcast for Mergermarket, I sit down with BCLP’s Perry Yam to discuss how sponsors should align now the fiscal dust is settling. on.iongroup.com/m/mergermark...
Reposted by John West
British Member of Parliament and former Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Theresa May there, circling around a mass casualty event like a vulture to exploit it in service of a rancid reactionary culture war, in case anybody is still wondering how we got here.
December 14, 2025 at 2:42 PM
British Member of Parliament and former Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Theresa May there, circling around a mass casualty event like a vulture to exploit it in service of a rancid reactionary culture war, in case anybody is still wondering how we got here.
Reposted by John West
The simple fact is that domestic politics, security, geopolitics, and economics are all lining up for enormous institutional change at European level.
European values are in jeopardy and we can't just let them fade into the sunset. The UK needs to be at the heart of this change.
European values are in jeopardy and we can't just let them fade into the sunset. The UK needs to be at the heart of this change.
December 14, 2025 at 10:30 AM
The simple fact is that domestic politics, security, geopolitics, and economics are all lining up for enormous institutional change at European level.
European values are in jeopardy and we can't just let them fade into the sunset. The UK needs to be at the heart of this change.
European values are in jeopardy and we can't just let them fade into the sunset. The UK needs to be at the heart of this change.
Reposted by John West
Slides from a Home Office presentation for employers on “earned settlement” — note the case studies: they explicitly play the “good migrant” versus “bad migrant” narrative. Guess which category Sarah, the American, is placed in?
December 12, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Slides from a Home Office presentation for employers on “earned settlement” — note the case studies: they explicitly play the “good migrant” versus “bad migrant” narrative. Guess which category Sarah, the American, is placed in?
Reposted by John West
Meta has removed or restricted dozens of accounts belonging to abortion access providers, queer groups and reproductive health organizations in the past weeks in what campaigners call one of the “biggest waves of censorship” on its platforms in years.
December 11, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Meta has removed or restricted dozens of accounts belonging to abortion access providers, queer groups and reproductive health organizations in the past weeks in what campaigners call one of the “biggest waves of censorship” on its platforms in years.
Reposted by John West
This year’s top podcasts, according to my app which is where I listen to most podcasts… @illexplainlater.bsky.social @bigblueboxpodcast.bsky.social and @toohot4tv.bsky.social feature!
December 12, 2025 at 4:48 AM
This year’s top podcasts, according to my app which is where I listen to most podcasts… @illexplainlater.bsky.social @bigblueboxpodcast.bsky.social and @toohot4tv.bsky.social feature!
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If you can remember, or even know where to find, all this information then there’s definitely something deeply suspicious about you.
This is the full list of info the US is proposing to require from applicants for an ESTA (electronic travel authorisation) to secure visa-free travel to America. This would apply to every UK holidaymaker, conference attendee or businessperson. public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-22461.pdf
December 11, 2025 at 8:29 PM
If you can remember, or even know where to find, all this information then there’s definitely something deeply suspicious about you.
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For me, one of the strongest arguments for the ECHR is the international/regional aspect. All national legal systems, no matter how well intentioned or designed, can have rights blindspots (could be cultural, could be an oversight). Sometimes it takes outsiders to highlight this fully.
December 10, 2025 at 7:41 PM
For me, one of the strongest arguments for the ECHR is the international/regional aspect. All national legal systems, no matter how well intentioned or designed, can have rights blindspots (could be cultural, could be an oversight). Sometimes it takes outsiders to highlight this fully.
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Powell notes that the FOMC believes the Fed Funds rate "is now within a broad range of estimates of its neutral value." It's no longer got a foot on the brake or accelerator.
And that means it's likely comfortable sticking where it is until the economy screams for change.
And that means it's likely comfortable sticking where it is until the economy screams for change.
December 10, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Powell notes that the FOMC believes the Fed Funds rate "is now within a broad range of estimates of its neutral value." It's no longer got a foot on the brake or accelerator.
And that means it's likely comfortable sticking where it is until the economy screams for change.
And that means it's likely comfortable sticking where it is until the economy screams for change.
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Has he considered leaving well alone and telling the far right to do one?
December 9, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Has he considered leaving well alone and telling the far right to do one?
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Ofcom is reviewing how one major platform is dealing with hate crime - including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice. It does not want to publicly say which platform. It is opaque as to whether all forms of racism have similar or assymetric levels of priority
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Ofcom Launches Investigation Into Social Media Major Platforms Over Illegal Hate Content
Internet regulator Ofcom has launched a new investigation into whether social media platforms are doing enough to identify and take down illegal te...
www.politicshome.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Ofcom is reviewing how one major platform is dealing with hate crime - including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice. It does not want to publicly say which platform. It is opaque as to whether all forms of racism have similar or assymetric levels of priority
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
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The dedication of some on this island to pretending that it is not in fact alright to sell drugs fascinates me. A voluntary choice to remain locked several decades in the past on drug policy.
December 8, 2025 at 10:29 AM
The dedication of some on this island to pretending that it is not in fact alright to sell drugs fascinates me. A voluntary choice to remain locked several decades in the past on drug policy.
Reposted by John West
My reading of this? We already have a good idea about the impact and commissioning an official report into it is really not much more than postponing the doing for the sake of a govt-approved analysis.
~ Britain is stuck with a failed Brexit that neither citizens or leaders want. Here are three ways to fix that | Stella Creasy | The Guardian ~
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/08/brexit-failed-uk-eu
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/08/brexit-failed-uk-eu
Britain is stuck with a failed Brexit that neither citizens or leaders want. Here are three ways to fix that | Stella Creasy | The Guardian
While those who defend the status quo and those who say ‘simply rejoin’ the EU are both wrong, there is a new mood and a clear opportunity, says Stella Creasy MP, chair of the Labour Movement for Europe
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:07 AM
My reading of this? We already have a good idea about the impact and commissioning an official report into it is really not much more than postponing the doing for the sake of a govt-approved analysis.
Reposted by John West
Dialogue doesn't mean much against an enemy with determination to destroy a sovereign state and people.
Polanski here exhibits classic main character syndrome, as in believing that others are only ever responding to us as opposed to pushing their own agendas.
December 7, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Dialogue doesn't mean much against an enemy with determination to destroy a sovereign state and people.
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The thing about Sam Ashworth-Hayes is he thinks it's fine and good for kids to go hungry and live in poverty provided they're brown.
December 7, 2025 at 4:38 PM
The thing about Sam Ashworth-Hayes is he thinks it's fine and good for kids to go hungry and live in poverty provided they're brown.
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“Paul Waugh, who wrote newsletters for more than a decade, is a backbench Labour MP, yet Keir Starmer’s first Substack is bad” is the same problem as “Dan Neidle is an active Labour member, yet the government’s tax reform agenda is MIA”, ultimately.
December 7, 2025 at 10:54 AM
“Paul Waugh, who wrote newsletters for more than a decade, is a backbench Labour MP, yet Keir Starmer’s first Substack is bad” is the same problem as “Dan Neidle is an active Labour member, yet the government’s tax reform agenda is MIA”, ultimately.
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The CEO of Palantir.
December 5, 2025 at 12:22 PM
The CEO of Palantir.
Reposted by John West
It sure looks like Russian intelligence attempted to use military drones to assassinate the President of Ukraine inside an EU country.
Looking forward to more thoughts from Belgium on why freezing Russian assets is an escalatory move that might compromise the peace process.
Looking forward to more thoughts from Belgium on why freezing Russian assets is an escalatory move that might compromise the peace process.
Christ on a cracker — these seemingly hostile drones only missed Zelensky’s plane because he was unexpectedly early www.thejournal.ie/drones-dubli...
Four unidentified military-style drones breached no-fly zone to target Zelenskyy's arrival in Dublin
Gardaí are investigating whether the drones took off from land in Dublin or from an undetected ship.
www.thejournal.ie
December 5, 2025 at 9:22 AM
It sure looks like Russian intelligence attempted to use military drones to assassinate the President of Ukraine inside an EU country.
Looking forward to more thoughts from Belgium on why freezing Russian assets is an escalatory move that might compromise the peace process.
Looking forward to more thoughts from Belgium on why freezing Russian assets is an escalatory move that might compromise the peace process.
Reposted by John West
I suspect you have to be quite racist to stand out as "the racist guy" at a boys public school of the 1980s.
December 5, 2025 at 8:25 AM
I suspect you have to be quite racist to stand out as "the racist guy" at a boys public school of the 1980s.
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@economist.com his the nail on the head this week. Europe can easily afford to support Ukraine -- and it is not even that costly, as long as all members participate. Joint debt will rope in even the recalcitrant ones.
December 4, 2025 at 6:35 PM
@economist.com his the nail on the head this week. Europe can easily afford to support Ukraine -- and it is not even that costly, as long as all members participate. Joint debt will rope in even the recalcitrant ones.
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Really struck by the kind of Labourite who's correctly identified Labour faces media headwinds Tories don't, but whose plan for that, even now that they're in govt with 400 seats, is to just kind of wallow in self-pity about it
December 2, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Really struck by the kind of Labourite who's correctly identified Labour faces media headwinds Tories don't, but whose plan for that, even now that they're in govt with 400 seats, is to just kind of wallow in self-pity about it
Reposted by John West
Also here in more depth crookedtimber.org/2019/01/11/c...
Creative arts and investing in systems — Crooked Timber
crookedtimber.org
December 2, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Also here in more depth crookedtimber.org/2019/01/11/c...
Makes a mockery of commercial impact assessments for cultural endeavours - and even frontier scientific research with no immediate application.
December 2, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Makes a mockery of commercial impact assessments for cultural endeavours - and even frontier scientific research with no immediate application.
Terrific summary from @jim.londoncentric.media’s @londoncentric.media. And a reminder - not to absolve him from scrutiny - that Sadiq Khan’s powers as Mayor of London are quite limited for the mayor of a world city. Many gripes aimed at him “not getting a grip” actually start there.
December 2, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Terrific summary from @jim.londoncentric.media’s @londoncentric.media. And a reminder - not to absolve him from scrutiny - that Sadiq Khan’s powers as Mayor of London are quite limited for the mayor of a world city. Many gripes aimed at him “not getting a grip” actually start there.
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The moderate left needs to challenge this kind of nonsense. NATO is a diminished alliance that is finding its feet at a critical moment – pushing back against an actual imperialist power.
October 28, 2025 at 4:20 PM
The moderate left needs to challenge this kind of nonsense. NATO is a diminished alliance that is finding its feet at a critical moment – pushing back against an actual imperialist power.
Reposted by John West
Amid ongoing chatter in London about some Labour figures wanting to go further in EU relations, what does Brussels think of the UK... I've drawn a typical consensus view based on many conversations including with the few there who really care...
encompass-europe.com/comment/ever...
encompass-europe.com/comment/ever...
Everything Brussels really thinks about the UK
Mostly, the Brussels bubble does not consider the UK too much. That rather amorphous group of those working in and around the institutions whether for government or other organisations, that…
encompass-europe.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Amid ongoing chatter in London about some Labour figures wanting to go further in EU relations, what does Brussels think of the UK... I've drawn a typical consensus view based on many conversations including with the few there who really care...
encompass-europe.com/comment/ever...
encompass-europe.com/comment/ever...