@ph3112.bsky.social
Geordie, MGS, lived on Wearside these past thirty-odd years. NUFC (old habits…) enjoys cycling, travel, family, friends. Follows current affairs and could despair…
Reposted
Here we go…
FT exclusive:
“The US state department is set to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities across Europe to disseminate Washington’s policy positions and challenge perceived threats to free speech.”
via @annasophiegross.bsky.social and colleagues
“The US state department is set to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities across Europe to disseminate Washington’s policy positions and challenge perceived threats to free speech.”
via @annasophiegross.bsky.social and colleagues
February 6, 2026 at 11:32 AM
Here we go…
Reposted
This is 100% the right take.
Normal people are not "effortlessly" charming and witty when something disruptive happens while they are giving a live speech in front of TV cameras.
Normal people are awkward as fuck public speaking, and the robotic voice politicians adopt is the best they can do.
Normal people are not "effortlessly" charming and witty when something disruptive happens while they are giving a live speech in front of TV cameras.
Normal people are awkward as fuck public speaking, and the robotic voice politicians adopt is the best they can do.
(seen a bunch of people sharing this/talking in general about how "normal" Mamdani is but imo this doesn't show a normal person, but an *exceptionally* skilled communicator - a normal person wouldn't react like that to having a speech interrupted by a child! give him his due!)
Child at the podium: “A woo woo woo.”
Mamdani: That’s how I felt when we came up with this plan. Together, we will expand the idea of what is possible in our city—and what sounds and noises we can make at a press conference.
Mamdani: That’s how I felt when we came up with this plan. Together, we will expand the idea of what is possible in our city—and what sounds and noises we can make at a press conference.
February 6, 2026 at 10:29 AM
This is 100% the right take.
Normal people are not "effortlessly" charming and witty when something disruptive happens while they are giving a live speech in front of TV cameras.
Normal people are awkward as fuck public speaking, and the robotic voice politicians adopt is the best they can do.
Normal people are not "effortlessly" charming and witty when something disruptive happens while they are giving a live speech in front of TV cameras.
Normal people are awkward as fuck public speaking, and the robotic voice politicians adopt is the best they can do.
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Warren, I want Labour MP’s to get out there en masse to publicly and loudly support our PM.
I’m pissed off at the one way traffic, it may be the ex-military instinct in me but I want teamwork and joint endeavour to the fore.
We’ve (Keir) has planted the seeds of recovery, get behind the man.
I’m pissed off at the one way traffic, it may be the ex-military instinct in me but I want teamwork and joint endeavour to the fore.
We’ve (Keir) has planted the seeds of recovery, get behind the man.
February 5, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Warren, I want Labour MP’s to get out there en masse to publicly and loudly support our PM.
I’m pissed off at the one way traffic, it may be the ex-military instinct in me but I want teamwork and joint endeavour to the fore.
We’ve (Keir) has planted the seeds of recovery, get behind the man.
I’m pissed off at the one way traffic, it may be the ex-military instinct in me but I want teamwork and joint endeavour to the fore.
We’ve (Keir) has planted the seeds of recovery, get behind the man.
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Every time Musk comments he's proving exactly why Sanchez's actions are necessary.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...
Musk goes to war with Europe and lashes out at ‘fascist’ Spanish prime minister
Statement from X accused prosecutors of carrying out an ‘abusive’ raid of its Paris offices
www.independent.co.uk
February 5, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Every time Musk comments he's proving exactly why Sanchez's actions are necessary.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...
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"Starmer didn't pick Mandelson in spite of his Epstein connections… He picked him because of them."
Would he have made the same choice if Kamala Harris had won?
"Absolutely not", says @lewisgoodall.com.
Would he have made the same choice if Kamala Harris had won?
"Absolutely not", says @lewisgoodall.com.
February 5, 2026 at 4:22 PM
"Starmer didn't pick Mandelson in spite of his Epstein connections… He picked him because of them."
Would he have made the same choice if Kamala Harris had won?
"Absolutely not", says @lewisgoodall.com.
Would he have made the same choice if Kamala Harris had won?
"Absolutely not", says @lewisgoodall.com.
Reposted
Enjoyed being back on the doorstep in Gorton & Denton yesterday. It's clear to anyone who has knocked on a door that this is a two horse race between Labour and Reform.
Angeliki is a brilliant candidate rooted in the community.
Choose unity over division on 26 February, vote Labour.
Angeliki is a brilliant candidate rooted in the community.
Choose unity over division on 26 February, vote Labour.
February 5, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Enjoyed being back on the doorstep in Gorton & Denton yesterday. It's clear to anyone who has knocked on a door that this is a two horse race between Labour and Reform.
Angeliki is a brilliant candidate rooted in the community.
Choose unity over division on 26 February, vote Labour.
Angeliki is a brilliant candidate rooted in the community.
Choose unity over division on 26 February, vote Labour.
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Gosh - Farage suggesting Starmer has poor judgement.
When will the media look at Farage?
Obviously the PM should be held to a higher standard, but the would-be king needs to be scrutinised.
When will the media look at Farage?
Obviously the PM should be held to a higher standard, but the would-be king needs to be scrutinised.
February 5, 2026 at 6:07 PM
Gosh - Farage suggesting Starmer has poor judgement.
When will the media look at Farage?
Obviously the PM should be held to a higher standard, but the would-be king needs to be scrutinised.
When will the media look at Farage?
Obviously the PM should be held to a higher standard, but the would-be king needs to be scrutinised.
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Boris Johnson’s Deputy Chief of Staff here, worried that secretly-funded lobby groups masquerading as ‘think tanks’ might finally be held to account. Because of course she bloody is.
Baroness Finn, stating that this would "risk a disproportionate intrusion into civil society", asks minister to confirm that the "current arrangements" will not change, but gets a strong response from Anderson:
February 5, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Boris Johnson’s Deputy Chief of Staff here, worried that secretly-funded lobby groups masquerading as ‘think tanks’ might finally be held to account. Because of course she bloody is.
Reposted
So true. Also, many of the Americans doing literally nothing about Epstein’s American ‘associates’ are precisely the ones lying about Europe & particularly the UK being overrun with child-rapists. It’s insane.
This is preying on my mind a bit. Jeffrey Epstein was not primarily a British scandal! So far we've removed a Prince from the Royal family, fired our US ambassador who was one of the most important political figures of the last few decades and banned the CEO of Barclays from the financial industry..
One by one, Europeans mentioned in the Epstein files who still hold political office are beginning to resign or are being forced out of office.
Meanwhile, ruled by an administration almost entirely made up of Epstein associates, the US carries on as if nothing really happened.
Meanwhile, ruled by an administration almost entirely made up of Epstein associates, the US carries on as if nothing really happened.
February 5, 2026 at 6:10 PM
So true. Also, many of the Americans doing literally nothing about Epstein’s American ‘associates’ are precisely the ones lying about Europe & particularly the UK being overrun with child-rapists. It’s insane.
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MI5 went to No 10 to warn the Prime Minister not to appoint him.
But the Prime Minister shrugged off the advice and appointed him anyway.
(2020 - Johnson and Lebedev.)
But the Prime Minister shrugged off the advice and appointed him anyway.
(2020 - Johnson and Lebedev.)
February 4, 2026 at 10:47 PM
MI5 went to No 10 to warn the Prime Minister not to appoint him.
But the Prime Minister shrugged off the advice and appointed him anyway.
(2020 - Johnson and Lebedev.)
But the Prime Minister shrugged off the advice and appointed him anyway.
(2020 - Johnson and Lebedev.)
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Today marks the 67th anniversary of the day the music died. Feb. 3, 1959. 67 years ago today (at 1:00 a.m.), the plane carrying Buddy, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson went down in a field near Clear Lake, Iowa. I took this photo at the edge of that field in 2014.
February 4, 2026 at 2:34 AM
Today marks the 67th anniversary of the day the music died. Feb. 3, 1959. 67 years ago today (at 1:00 a.m.), the plane carrying Buddy, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson went down in a field near Clear Lake, Iowa. I took this photo at the edge of that field in 2014.
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Lee Anderson on #r4today blithely saying Reform would revive the 2-child benefit cap and use the proceeds to keep more pubs open. The prospect of this lot in office doesn’t bear thinking about.
February 4, 2026 at 9:21 AM
Lee Anderson on #r4today blithely saying Reform would revive the 2-child benefit cap and use the proceeds to keep more pubs open. The prospect of this lot in office doesn’t bear thinking about.
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BREAKING: MPs vote to end two-child benefit limit in 'crucial step' to tackle poverty 👏
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
MPs vote to end two-child benefit limit in 'crucial step' to tackle poverty
MPs voted 458-104 to abolish the cap, which marks a major moment in dismantling a policy depriving kids of heating and food, and came despite opposition from Nigel Farage's Reform party
www.mirror.co.uk
February 3, 2026 at 8:13 PM
BREAKING: MPs vote to end two-child benefit limit in 'crucial step' to tackle poverty 👏
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
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Tonight, Labour MPs voted to scrap the two child limit – a move that puts us on course to drive the biggest reduction of child poverty in a single Parliament.
The Tories and Reform UK voted against it.
Don’t let anyone tell you voting Labour doesn’t make a difference 🌹
The Tories and Reform UK voted against it.
Don’t let anyone tell you voting Labour doesn’t make a difference 🌹
February 3, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Tonight, Labour MPs voted to scrap the two child limit – a move that puts us on course to drive the biggest reduction of child poverty in a single Parliament.
The Tories and Reform UK voted against it.
Don’t let anyone tell you voting Labour doesn’t make a difference 🌹
The Tories and Reform UK voted against it.
Don’t let anyone tell you voting Labour doesn’t make a difference 🌹
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AOC on ICE: It’s our task to figure out how to claw back what has essentially supercharged this agency into becoming a relentless domestic paramilitary that is also a blank check to Palantir to create facial-recognition scans on U.S. citizens.
February 3, 2026 at 1:26 AM
AOC on ICE: It’s our task to figure out how to claw back what has essentially supercharged this agency into becoming a relentless domestic paramilitary that is also a blank check to Palantir to create facial-recognition scans on U.S. citizens.
Reposted
1. In 2009 I wrote this. I argued that Peter Mandelson's department “functions as a fifth column within government, working for corporations to undermine democracy and the public interest.”
This thread explains what I saw, and reaches a startling conclusion.🧵
www.monbiot.com/2009/05/04/m...
This thread explains what I saw, and reaches a startling conclusion.🧵
www.monbiot.com/2009/05/04/m...
Mandelson’s Fifth Column
The British government’s business department exists to undermine democracy.
www.monbiot.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:32 AM
1. In 2009 I wrote this. I argued that Peter Mandelson's department “functions as a fifth column within government, working for corporations to undermine democracy and the public interest.”
This thread explains what I saw, and reaches a startling conclusion.🧵
www.monbiot.com/2009/05/04/m...
This thread explains what I saw, and reaches a startling conclusion.🧵
www.monbiot.com/2009/05/04/m...
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People have to do jail time. Powerful people, who thought they were untouchable. They have to be arrested, tried, stripped of assets relating to their crimes, and sent to jail.
Because if it doesn't happen, it will prove to voters that democracy is a sham.
And then we're seriously fucked.
Because if it doesn't happen, it will prove to voters that democracy is a sham.
And then we're seriously fucked.
February 2, 2026 at 4:34 PM
People have to do jail time. Powerful people, who thought they were untouchable. They have to be arrested, tried, stripped of assets relating to their crimes, and sent to jail.
Because if it doesn't happen, it will prove to voters that democracy is a sham.
And then we're seriously fucked.
Because if it doesn't happen, it will prove to voters that democracy is a sham.
And then we're seriously fucked.
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Oh.
February 2, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Oh.
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View across the River Tyne from Newcastle's Castle Keep, 1957, photo by Jimmy Forsyth.
February 2, 2026 at 8:37 AM
View across the River Tyne from Newcastle's Castle Keep, 1957, photo by Jimmy Forsyth.
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We’re announcing the next 500 schools to join the Best Start free breakfast club programme. Support is being targeted to the 300,000 children who need it most.
Labour is giving our children the best start in life – no matter their background or postcode.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
Labour is giving our children the best start in life – no matter their background or postcode.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
Parents to save £450 a year as major expansion of free breakfast clubs unveiled
Free breakfast clubs will roll out to a further 500 primary schools from April - with a £6,500 yearly funding boost compared to last year’s phase
www.mirror.co.uk
February 2, 2026 at 8:48 AM
We’re announcing the next 500 schools to join the Best Start free breakfast club programme. Support is being targeted to the 300,000 children who need it most.
Labour is giving our children the best start in life – no matter their background or postcode.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
Labour is giving our children the best start in life – no matter their background or postcode.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
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Heroes come in many forms and this is one of them
February 1, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Heroes come in many forms and this is one of them
Reposted
Always great to pop over to Holy Island and Lindisfarne Castle and have a wander, visit a coffee shop and consume cake. The light wasn't really playing today but the sun did come out for a few picoseconds.
#landscapephotography
#Northumberland
#UK
#winter
#landscapephotography
#Northumberland
#UK
#winter
January 31, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Always great to pop over to Holy Island and Lindisfarne Castle and have a wander, visit a coffee shop and consume cake. The light wasn't really playing today but the sun did come out for a few picoseconds.
#landscapephotography
#Northumberland
#UK
#winter
#landscapephotography
#Northumberland
#UK
#winter
Reposted
The BBC's decision to put its news content behind a paywall for American audiences is an astonishing own goal at such an important moment. New motto: "Nation shall speak peace unto Nation, but only when they pay 50 bucks for the first year".
January 29, 2026 at 9:10 PM
The BBC's decision to put its news content behind a paywall for American audiences is an astonishing own goal at such an important moment. New motto: "Nation shall speak peace unto Nation, but only when they pay 50 bucks for the first year".