Gabriel Milland
@gabrielmilland.bsky.social
Research and policy. Former senior UK government comms official and adviser. Happiest in a focus group. Once a journalist. Further back, a historian of the media, war and public opinion. Halberdier. Bristol City FC.
Tory culture spox demanding the BBC "grovel" to Trump is baffling. Who is this supposed to chime with?
Just a bizarre line that no one who doesn't use X would ever think.
Just a bizarre line that no one who doesn't use X would ever think.
November 11, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Tory culture spox demanding the BBC "grovel" to Trump is baffling. Who is this supposed to chime with?
Just a bizarre line that no one who doesn't use X would ever think.
Just a bizarre line that no one who doesn't use X would ever think.
Like Hollyoaks, but with Trots.
Your Party row erupts over hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations
Your Party row erupts over hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations
Corbyn and Sultana clash comes after months of fighting between the pair both jostling to be leader of populist left
The feud between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana over the future of a left wing party took another twist as the two camps argued publicly over hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations.
Sultana on Monday offered to transfer £600,000 from a company which the party’s founders set up earlier this year, only to be rebuffed by allies of Corbyn who accused her of playing “political games” with supporters’ money. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Like Hollyoaks, but with Trots.
Reposted by Gabriel Milland
Reposted by Gabriel Milland
Don’t think I saw a single post from Trump himself about the BBC over the whole week btw, let alone an actual comment. It was all from the White House press team, in response to queries from UK media. Not sure the President even knows what Panorama *is*.
November 9, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Don’t think I saw a single post from Trump himself about the BBC over the whole week btw, let alone an actual comment. It was all from the White House press team, in response to queries from UK media. Not sure the President even knows what Panorama *is*.
Reposted by Gabriel Milland
This might be the first spy who appears to be literally wearing one of those 'spy disguises' you could pick up in a joke shop in Newquay in 1993.
Russian activist held in Poland admits he worked as FSB agent, court papers say
Igor Rogov, who left Russia in 2021, due to go on trial accused of informing on other Russian opposition activists
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:34 PM
This might be the first spy who appears to be literally wearing one of those 'spy disguises' you could pick up in a joke shop in Newquay in 1993.
Mak u fink.
Rebecca Hendin on King Charles leading the UK’s Remembrance Sunday service – cartoon
Rebecca Hendin on King Charles leading the UK’s Remembrance Sunday service – cartoon
The monarch laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph in Whitehall in recognition of those killed in wars and conflicts dating back to the first world war
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Mak u fink.
On white poppies, it's worth remembering that they were associated with the Peace Pledge Union, by the late 1930s an objectively pro-Hitler organisation. Some people choose to wear them. They are fools, I'm afraid.
November 9, 2025 at 1:13 PM
On white poppies, it's worth remembering that they were associated with the Peace Pledge Union, by the late 1930s an objectively pro-Hitler organisation. Some people choose to wear them. They are fools, I'm afraid.
Alongside the British war dead, especially my own family members, this Remembrance Sunday I shall remember all American liberators but especially these African-American liberators.
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Alongside the British war dead, especially my own family members, this Remembrance Sunday I shall remember all American liberators but especially these African-American liberators.
Reposted by Gabriel Milland
At the end of September, Leeds prison had room for 641 men but was being forced to hold 1,092.
Chronic overcrowding has tragic consequences: https://howardleague.org/news/leeds-prison-report-reveals-the-tragic-consequences-of-chronic-overcrowding/
Chronic overcrowding has tragic consequences: https://howardleague.org/news/leeds-prison-report-reveals-the-tragic-consequences-of-chronic-overcrowding/
November 8, 2025 at 11:05 AM
At the end of September, Leeds prison had room for 641 men but was being forced to hold 1,092.
Chronic overcrowding has tragic consequences: https://howardleague.org/news/leeds-prison-report-reveals-the-tragic-consequences-of-chronic-overcrowding/
Chronic overcrowding has tragic consequences: https://howardleague.org/news/leeds-prison-report-reveals-the-tragic-consequences-of-chronic-overcrowding/
The polling was clear as daylight on this. The public may have a very shaky grasp of fiscal details. But they are not mugs. They instinctively understood that, eg, furlough would have to be paid for.
A weird inversion of normality if nobody did think that because outside of politics, everyone I knew thought that taxes had to go up, by a large amount.
“Nobody thought a Labour government would have to raise taxes by more than £70bn,” claims one insider in this excellent piece. Shows the problem of the climate of fear in meetings created by some of Starmer’s aides, in that plenty of Labour insiders, did, in fact, think this!
November 8, 2025 at 10:47 AM
The polling was clear as daylight on this. The public may have a very shaky grasp of fiscal details. But they are not mugs. They instinctively understood that, eg, furlough would have to be paid for.
Reposted by Gabriel Milland
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
November 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
Okey-doke. Sounds like the obits will be rollicking.
It's really important to note that not only was Watson a racist and misogynist but his contribution to the double helix was listening to a Rosalind Franklin lecture and getting mad because Francis Crick wouldn't invite him to his sex parties.
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
November 7, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Okey-doke. Sounds like the obits will be rollicking.
On the one hand, daftness. On the other, another poll which underlines how Reform voters are outliers - and current Tory VIs are at least as close and sometimes closer to LD/Lab/Green VIs
With Maurice Glasman and Dominic Lawson calling for the return of the stocks, we find most Britons opposed - although Reform voters are divided
All Britons: 21% support / 72% oppose
Lib Dem: 12% / 85%
Labour: 12% / 83%
Green: 13% / 82%
Con: 28% / 64%
Reform: 43% / 48%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
All Britons: 21% support / 72% oppose
Lib Dem: 12% / 85%
Labour: 12% / 83%
Green: 13% / 82%
Con: 28% / 64%
Reform: 43% / 48%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
November 7, 2025 at 12:16 PM
On the one hand, daftness. On the other, another poll which underlines how Reform voters are outliers - and current Tory VIs are at least as close and sometimes closer to LD/Lab/Green VIs
Reposted by Gabriel Milland
BBC really burying the lede there
November 7, 2025 at 12:07 PM
BBC really burying the lede there
An excellent column on the importance of effective thuggery in Westminster. Even the saintly Clement Attlee depended on the likes of Herbert Morrison, dubbed the "soft-hearted suburban Stalin" by Michael Foot.
Column: not many people appreciate just how many Brownites there are at the top of this Labour government. But are they the right ones for a PM with his back to the wall?
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
It’s Browning Street revisited but where’s Starmer’s Tom Watson?
The old guard offers experience across Whitehall but the prime minister lacks the enforcers that sustained New Labour
www.thetimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:52 AM
An excellent column on the importance of effective thuggery in Westminster. Even the saintly Clement Attlee depended on the likes of Herbert Morrison, dubbed the "soft-hearted suburban Stalin" by Michael Foot.
Fools and their money are not always soon parted. But it does happen eventually.
Musk gets his $1 trillion compensation package approved by Tesla shareholders.
Shareholders in the room chant "Elon, Elon, Elon!"
Shareholders in the room chant "Elon, Elon, Elon!"
November 6, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Fools and their money are not always soon parted. But it does happen eventually.
On behalf of all football fans everywhere in the world, I would like to apologise for Gianni Infantino.
Sorry.
Sorry.
November 6, 2025 at 7:06 PM
On behalf of all football fans everywhere in the world, I would like to apologise for Gianni Infantino.
Sorry.
Sorry.
I was just not prepared for Normie MTG.
Greene: "I will praise Nancy Pelosi. She had an incredible career for her party. I served under her speakership in my first term in Congress and I'm very impressed at her ability to get things done. I wish we could get things done for our party like Nancy Pelosi was able to deliver for her party."
November 6, 2025 at 4:42 PM
I was just not prepared for Normie MTG.
I've attended Shabbat dinners where the blessing has been recited by ordained Christian ministers.
I have never before heard a Christian say that it is against their Christian beliefs to attend a Shabbat dinner. Indeed, I have shared lovely Shabbat dinners with many invited Christian guests! We seem to be inventing bizarre new forms of bigotry these days.
Heritage Foundation having a normal one
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
November 6, 2025 at 2:08 PM
I've attended Shabbat dinners where the blessing has been recited by ordained Christian ministers.
Reminds me a bit of this:
November 5, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reminds me a bit of this:
I hereby nominate Kevin Muscat.
November 5, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I hereby nominate Kevin Muscat.
Hold on, I thought Mamdani's secret sauce was freeing politics from the dead hand of focus groups and message testing?
Turns that *good* research actually matters.
Turns that *good* research actually matters.
Zohran's relentless disciplined campaign was truly impressive - he brought every message/issue back to the cost of living and built a model for what bringing attention to a positive affordability message can look like
Proud to have Blue Rose do ad testing for the Zohran IE!
x.com/alimortell/s...
Proud to have Blue Rose do ad testing for the Zohran IE!
x.com/alimortell/s...
Ali Mortell on X: ".@ZohranKMamdani ran a phenomenal, authentic campaign focused on affordability. Blue Rose Research is proud to have partnered with @MiddleSeatCo on ad testing and to support their work in helping build the momentum for a more affordable New York. LFG 🌹 https://t.co/0HLenkSSrv" / X
.@ZohranKMamdani ran a phenomenal, authentic campaign focused on affordability. Blue Rose Research is proud to have partnered with @MiddleSeatCo on ad testing and to support their work in helping build the momentum for a more affordable New York. LFG 🌹 https://t.co/0HLenkSSrv
x.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Hold on, I thought Mamdani's secret sauce was freeing politics from the dead hand of focus groups and message testing?
Turns that *good* research actually matters.
Turns that *good* research actually matters.
Funny old world.
"The party has already lost big chunks of its right flank to Reform UK. That means the core who remain loyal to the Conservative Party are, proportionally speaking, more inclined towards what some might describe as the liberal side of the Conservative broad church."
"The party has already lost big chunks of its right flank to Reform UK. That means the core who remain loyal to the Conservative Party are, proportionally speaking, more inclined towards what some might describe as the liberal side of the Conservative broad church."
November 5, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Funny old world.
"The party has already lost big chunks of its right flank to Reform UK. That means the core who remain loyal to the Conservative Party are, proportionally speaking, more inclined towards what some might describe as the liberal side of the Conservative broad church."
"The party has already lost big chunks of its right flank to Reform UK. That means the core who remain loyal to the Conservative Party are, proportionally speaking, more inclined towards what some might describe as the liberal side of the Conservative broad church."
Updated edition incoming.
November 5, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Updated edition incoming.