Richard
@graspingkulak.bsky.social
IT Project Manager at Bournemouth Hospital, politics geek, tech enthusiast, Sci-Fi fan, leftist dad, atheist religious studies fan. Welsh and Italian learner and music nerd. UK journalism unenjoyer.
Reposted by Richard
I suppose it was inevitable that the belief that Starmer is a nullity whose strings were pulled by McSweeney would give way to the idea that he will now become a cat's paw of the ruthless soft left (a wholly fictitious faction that has no discernible programme).
February 13, 2026 at 6:02 PM
I suppose it was inevitable that the belief that Starmer is a nullity whose strings were pulled by McSweeney would give way to the idea that he will now become a cat's paw of the ruthless soft left (a wholly fictitious faction that has no discernible programme).
Reposted by Richard
Another slice of sententious nonsense from Rafael Behr.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Keir Starmer is the bandage Labour can’t rip off for fear of opening old wounds | Rafael Behr
The party’s MPs know their leader is failing but they are paralysed by fear of a contest with no obvious successor, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Another slice of sententious nonsense from Rafael Behr.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Richard
"If McSweeney has a genuine talent, it's as a con man."
A Farewell to Morgan McSweeney
What a fantastic week. Peter Mandelson toasted to charcoal, the government being forced to make public all communications about him, the pos...
averypublicsociologist.blogspot.com
February 8, 2026 at 10:27 PM
"If McSweeney has a genuine talent, it's as a con man."
Reposted by Richard
Once again, we stand in the ruins of Sensible Centrists getting absolutely everything they wanted.
Smart, Sensible, Grown Up, Serious politics has lead to this farce.
Smart, Sensible, Grown Up, Serious politics has lead to this farce.
February 8, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Once again, we stand in the ruins of Sensible Centrists getting absolutely everything they wanted.
Smart, Sensible, Grown Up, Serious politics has lead to this farce.
Smart, Sensible, Grown Up, Serious politics has lead to this farce.
Reposted by Richard
McSweeney will obviously be given another party job, from which he'll probably then have to resign as well. Give it a few more years after that, and he'll be in the Lords. That's the Labour way.
February 8, 2026 at 5:32 PM
McSweeney will obviously be given another party job, from which he'll probably then have to resign as well. Give it a few more years after that, and he'll be in the Lords. That's the Labour way.
Reposted by Richard
Nothing here to contradict my thesis (they’re just personally repellent, horrible people).
February 8, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Nothing here to contradict my thesis (they’re just personally repellent, horrible people).
Reposted by Richard
"I've had a lot of bad luck!"', i continue to insist as i slowly shrink and transform into a Jilly Cooper character
February 6, 2026 at 6:58 PM
"I've had a lot of bad luck!"', i continue to insist as i slowly shrink and transform into a Jilly Cooper character
Reposted by Richard
It's 1998. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2001. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2025. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2026. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2001. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2025. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2026. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
February 2, 2026 at 7:06 AM
It's 1998. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2001. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2025. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2026. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2001. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2025. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2026. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
Reposted by Richard
The idea here seems to be that members of political parties are “self-selecting oddballs” in a way that MPs are not. I wouldn’t want to risk much of anything on that supposition, myself.
January 31, 2026 at 4:52 PM
The idea here seems to be that members of political parties are “self-selecting oddballs” in a way that MPs are not. I wouldn’t want to risk much of anything on that supposition, myself.
Reposted by Richard
Reposted by Richard
Bluesky often provides laboratory grade pure liberal smugness.
I took a peak at Twitter this morning and it's like there's a fascist gas leak there just making everyone more racist and stupid.
Anyway, no one sees you still posting there and thinks less of you, I'm sure.
Anyway, no one sees you still posting there and thinks less of you, I'm sure.
January 25, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Bluesky often provides laboratory grade pure liberal smugness.
Reposted by Richard
Advances in toadyism
January 23, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Advances in toadyism
Reposted by Richard
This is tediously familiar, from PIPs & "injecting competition" to "risk-taking". Even the nod to agile teams is stale. What I think it highlights is that this govt has no theory of the state, beyond "jobs for me and my mates and contracts for our donors".
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Starmer’s chief secretary reveals plans to bust ‘the sludge’ in Whitehall
Under-performing civil servants will be sacked and taskforces brought in to solve problems, says Darren Jones
www.theguardian.com
January 20, 2026 at 6:19 PM
This is tediously familiar, from PIPs & "injecting competition" to "risk-taking". Even the nod to agile teams is stale. What I think it highlights is that this govt has no theory of the state, beyond "jobs for me and my mates and contracts for our donors".
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Richard
"... there are no crimes even the most extreme, reckless, and right wing American president in history can commit that would cause our country to step away from its subordination to Washington."
Playing the Supplicant
Every time Donald Trump commits an outrage , he causes a comms nightmare for Downing Street. Keir Starmer cannot and will not ever risk pub...
averypublicsociologist.blogspot.com
January 4, 2026 at 10:08 PM
"... there are no crimes even the most extreme, reckless, and right wing American president in history can commit that would cause our country to step away from its subordination to Washington."
Reposted by Richard
Two cents: The 'Trump is bad; so is Maduro' deflection is tiresome from Americans because the rest of the world has suffered under US belligerency for decades and yet still, at its deepest depravity, people seem inclined to take a passive seat at the helm of Empire and legitimate US gangsterism.
January 4, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Two cents: The 'Trump is bad; so is Maduro' deflection is tiresome from Americans because the rest of the world has suffered under US belligerency for decades and yet still, at its deepest depravity, people seem inclined to take a passive seat at the helm of Empire and legitimate US gangsterism.
Reposted by Richard
It's getting harder and harder not to expect things to become a lot worse before they get any better...
It's particularly striking to see how easily so many governments and institutions gave up on the pretence that international law applies to all equally
It's particularly striking to see how easily so many governments and institutions gave up on the pretence that international law applies to all equally
January 4, 2026 at 8:32 PM
It's getting harder and harder not to expect things to become a lot worse before they get any better...
It's particularly striking to see how easily so many governments and institutions gave up on the pretence that international law applies to all equally
It's particularly striking to see how easily so many governments and institutions gave up on the pretence that international law applies to all equally
Reposted by Richard
They’ve stolen their own oil, eh
January 3, 2026 at 2:24 PM
They’ve stolen their own oil, eh
Reposted by Richard
Turns out the ‘rules-based international order’ wasn’t another word for ‘International Law’, but a term of art to empower the US and to operate in open criminality while claiming a false legitimation. And how your and my governments respond to this tells you how they feel about International Law.
January 3, 2026 at 9:07 AM
Turns out the ‘rules-based international order’ wasn’t another word for ‘International Law’, but a term of art to empower the US and to operate in open criminality while claiming a false legitimation. And how your and my governments respond to this tells you how they feel about International Law.
Reposted by Richard
The Venezuelan government has been saying for decades it’s the victim of American aggression and sabotage because the US wants to steal its natural resources, so it’s clarifying that the US is now bombing the country while the President and senior officials say they are going to steal it’s resources
January 3, 2026 at 9:21 AM
The Venezuelan government has been saying for decades it’s the victim of American aggression and sabotage because the US wants to steal its natural resources, so it’s clarifying that the US is now bombing the country while the President and senior officials say they are going to steal it’s resources
Reposted by Richard
Emergency vacillation programme
Starmer has declared his ambivalence in the strongest possible terms and announced that the British government will equivocate with immediate effect.
January 3, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Emergency vacillation programme
Reposted by Richard
There are case studies to be written on why Labour has become the fiefdom of several families, and how its structures keep elevating their progeny to prominence.
Zack Polanski offering voters fantasy solutions, says head of Fabian Society
Zack Polanski offering voters fantasy solutions, says head of Fabian Society
Joe Dromey, head of the Labour thinktank, urges his party to take on the ‘twin populisms’ of Reform UK and the Greens
The Green party leader, Zack Polanski, is offering voters “unicorns” and Labour must confront his “fantasy” solutions such as the idea that a wealth tax would fix the public finances, according to the Fabian Society’s general secretary, Joe Dromey.
Much of the government’s fire is trained on Nigel Farage. But in an end-of-year interview, the head of Labour’s internal thinktank urges his party to take on the “twin populisms” of Reform and Polanski. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 31, 2025 at 9:34 AM
There are case studies to be written on why Labour has become the fiefdom of several families, and how its structures keep elevating their progeny to prominence.
Reposted by Richard
New blogpost: Hate and (Class) War - The commentariat's bafflement at Starmer's unpopularity is an attempt to create some distance between themselves and a doomed individual, to deny all knowledge of his origins and elevation.
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/12/hate...
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/12/hate...
Hate and (Class) War
Politicians are usually assessed by the public in two ways: what they have done and what they stand for. The two are not necessarily in harmony.
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:40 PM
New blogpost: Hate and (Class) War - The commentariat's bafflement at Starmer's unpopularity is an attempt to create some distance between themselves and a doomed individual, to deny all knowledge of his origins and elevation.
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/12/hate...
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/12/hate...
Reposted by Richard
"simplistic solutions to challenging problems that just don’t stand up to scrutiny" .... Oh, sorry, you weren't talking about Labour's approach to migrants and refugees then?
Zack Polanski offering voters fantasy solutions, says head of Fabian Society
Joe Dromey, head of the Labour thinktank, urges his party to take on the ‘twin populisms’ of Reform UK and the Greens
www.theguardian.com
December 31, 2025 at 8:21 AM
"simplistic solutions to challenging problems that just don’t stand up to scrutiny" .... Oh, sorry, you weren't talking about Labour's approach to migrants and refugees then?
Reposted by Richard
The creme de la creme
10 Best Science Fiction Books Read in 2025
We've had the bad stuff , so what makes a great science fiction book? Despite the best efforts of literary establishments and genre gatekeep...
averypublicsociologist.blogspot.com
December 30, 2025 at 10:59 PM
The creme de la creme