Chris Smith
@spyhistorian.bsky.social
Historian. Spies, signals intelligence, Second World War. Social and Cultural history. History of humour. Insults = 🚫
Pinned
Chris Smith
@spyhistorian.bsky.social
· May 12
I cannot continue financially supporting Labour while it bullies immigrants; while it panders to racist Reform voters; while its leader employs the rhetoric of Enoch Powell; and while it is allowing the destruction of my sector of employment again to pander to racism. @teamlabouruk.bsky.social
So what have we learned (actually not learned as studies modelled this at the time) but Johnson and Cummings ignored the science, leading to 23,000 additional deaths, and lock down "sceptics" (science deniers) were and remain morons.
November 20, 2025 at 9:24 PM
So what have we learned (actually not learned as studies modelled this at the time) but Johnson and Cummings ignored the science, leading to 23,000 additional deaths, and lock down "sceptics" (science deniers) were and remain morons.
I haven't seen my partner in weeks and am (was?) about to go see her, I've had my job formally placed "at risk", and I've come down with a massive cold and am a ball of snot.
Maybe I should just curl up into a ball and hibernate for a week?
Maybe I should just curl up into a ball and hibernate for a week?
November 20, 2025 at 5:51 AM
I haven't seen my partner in weeks and am (was?) about to go see her, I've had my job formally placed "at risk", and I've come down with a massive cold and am a ball of snot.
Maybe I should just curl up into a ball and hibernate for a week?
Maybe I should just curl up into a ball and hibernate for a week?
Oh good.
November 20, 2025 at 5:46 AM
Oh good.
I spoke to Jonathan of the marvellous #Anglotopia podcast recently on the Coventry Blitz. This should be out soon. I had a great time and we arranged then and there to talk further about Bletchley Park, which is a strange part of the Coventry story, in February.
November 20, 2025 at 5:02 AM
I spoke to Jonathan of the marvellous #Anglotopia podcast recently on the Coventry Blitz. This should be out soon. I had a great time and we arranged then and there to talk further about Bletchley Park, which is a strange part of the Coventry story, in February.
Remember when the worst scandal to visit the White House for years was a President wearing an ugly suit? Happy times.
November 17, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Remember when the worst scandal to visit the White House for years was a President wearing an ugly suit? Happy times.
This is bullshit. The political gravity has, in my lifetime, always favoured poorly educated elderly and middle-aged people. It has always disfavoured the young been suspicious of the educated. Where is the triple lock for the young?
And it is not the job of universities to sell the idea of...
And it is not the job of universities to sell the idea of...
'our recent report by UCL Policy Lab and More in Common highlights that something more fundamental is going on in our politics that universities must grapple with: the political centre of gravity has moved towards voters who are more sceptical of universities.' 2/3
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 8:26 PM
This is bullshit. The political gravity has, in my lifetime, always favoured poorly educated elderly and middle-aged people. It has always disfavoured the young been suspicious of the educated. Where is the triple lock for the young?
And it is not the job of universities to sell the idea of...
And it is not the job of universities to sell the idea of...
Labour will lose the next election and deserve to do so. These people aping the right need to be deselected. Now.
Green MP Carla Denyer accuses Shabana Mahmood of trying to "out Reform Reform" and says "toxic racist narratives and the scapegoating of migrants" are to blame for "tearing our country apart" not migrants.
Mahmood: "I couldn't care less what any other political party has to say about these matters"
Mahmood: "I couldn't care less what any other political party has to say about these matters"
November 17, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Labour will lose the next election and deserve to do so. These people aping the right need to be deselected. Now.
Moral, intellectual and policy bankruptcy on full display from a *Labour* government. This is a disaster for the centre of politics and an apocalypse for the left.
I'm reading through the white paper or whatever it is. RESTORING ORDER AND CONTROL: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy www.gov.uk/government/p...
Asylum and returns policy statement
This policy statement sets out significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and returns policy.
www.gov.uk
November 17, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Moral, intellectual and policy bankruptcy on full display from a *Labour* government. This is a disaster for the centre of politics and an apocalypse for the left.
I don't do conspiracy theories. But seriously? The WH spent months blocking this. Months. Yet, all of a sudden, Trump is keen to release the files? After his hand picked people have had control of them? After sex-trafficker, Maxwell, has been transferred to a cushy life in minimum security? OK...
BREAKING: President Trump says House Republicans should vote to release Epstein files, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal.
In reversal, Trump says House Republicans should vote to release Epstein files
President Donald Trump says House Republicans should vote to release files involving the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal.
bit.ly
November 17, 2025 at 3:21 AM
I don't do conspiracy theories. But seriously? The WH spent months blocking this. Months. Yet, all of a sudden, Trump is keen to release the files? After his hand picked people have had control of them? After sex-trafficker, Maxwell, has been transferred to a cushy life in minimum security? OK...
Lol
November 17, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Lol
Perversely, I'm tempted to rejoin the Labour Party. I quit over Starmer's disgusting rhetoric regarding immigration. But now I feel that rejoining and making the argument internally is vital. Being outside the tent pissing in is cathartic but has proven fruitless. They took no lessons from anything.
November 16, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Perversely, I'm tempted to rejoin the Labour Party. I quit over Starmer's disgusting rhetoric regarding immigration. But now I feel that rejoining and making the argument internally is vital. Being outside the tent pissing in is cathartic but has proven fruitless. They took no lessons from anything.
The cinema is screening the new Running Man movie. On other screens, Home Alone and one of the Twilight films. Why these?
Maybe I'm being dumb, but surely, if you're showing a remake for a couple of weeks on multiple screens, you might want to put the kick ass original on?
Maybe I'm being dumb, but surely, if you're showing a remake for a couple of weeks on multiple screens, you might want to put the kick ass original on?
November 16, 2025 at 9:24 AM
The cinema is screening the new Running Man movie. On other screens, Home Alone and one of the Twilight films. Why these?
Maybe I'm being dumb, but surely, if you're showing a remake for a couple of weeks on multiple screens, you might want to put the kick ass original on?
Maybe I'm being dumb, but surely, if you're showing a remake for a couple of weeks on multiple screens, you might want to put the kick ass original on?
Do Labour want to lose the next election? I'm starting to think they do. You can't fight Reform with the issues of their choosing and the policies of their choice. You will *always* lose. They can't be outflanked from the right. Just as the Tories learned to their cost.
Labour surely must know this.
Labour surely must know this.
Shabana Mahmood has vowed to end Britain’s “golden ticket” for asylum seekers by forcing people arriving illegally to wait 20 years before they can apply for permanent settlement
Shabana Mahmood: ‘Illegal migration is tearing Britain apart’
The home secretary is planning to introduce a 20-year wait for permanent stay to end a ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers
www.thetimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Do Labour want to lose the next election? I'm starting to think they do. You can't fight Reform with the issues of their choosing and the policies of their choice. You will *always* lose. They can't be outflanked from the right. Just as the Tories learned to their cost.
Labour surely must know this.
Labour surely must know this.
I think it will be telling when the Department of Justice decides whether or not to prosecute Maxwell for perjury in her deposition - which the emails prove she did.
If they do not, the Democrats and journalists should repeatedly ask the reason.
If they do not, the Democrats and journalists should repeatedly ask the reason.
November 14, 2025 at 12:00 PM
I think it will be telling when the Department of Justice decides whether or not to prosecute Maxwell for perjury in her deposition - which the emails prove she did.
If they do not, the Democrats and journalists should repeatedly ask the reason.
If they do not, the Democrats and journalists should repeatedly ask the reason.
As mentioned in another post, I suspect the US might well now have a moment that the UK went through a few years ago with Jimmy Savile and, more recently, allegedly Russell Brand (not convicted, which is vital to note).
This interview with comic Katherine Ryan reveals much:
youtu.be/ubMtmQlNy4w?...
This interview with comic Katherine Ryan reveals much:
youtu.be/ubMtmQlNy4w?...
Kathryn Ryan talks about Russell Brand
YouTube video by ben parker
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 12:54 AM
As mentioned in another post, I suspect the US might well now have a moment that the UK went through a few years ago with Jimmy Savile and, more recently, allegedly Russell Brand (not convicted, which is vital to note).
This interview with comic Katherine Ryan reveals much:
youtu.be/ubMtmQlNy4w?...
This interview with comic Katherine Ryan reveals much:
youtu.be/ubMtmQlNy4w?...
Is the US about to have its Jimmy Savile moment. For those unaware, Savile was a really weird TV star and DJ who, it transpires after his death, was among the most prolific paedophiles of recent decades.
His position, power, wealth, and celebrity ensured that though rumours spread throughout his...
His position, power, wealth, and celebrity ensured that though rumours spread throughout his...
November 13, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Is the US about to have its Jimmy Savile moment. For those unaware, Savile was a really weird TV star and DJ who, it transpires after his death, was among the most prolific paedophiles of recent decades.
His position, power, wealth, and celebrity ensured that though rumours spread throughout his...
His position, power, wealth, and celebrity ensured that though rumours spread throughout his...
Is there a billionaire not implicated in the Epstein emails?
November 12, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Is there a billionaire not implicated in the Epstein emails?
I see the $1bn legal threat has put the frighteners on the BBC. This headline is very weak.
November 12, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I see the $1bn legal threat has put the frighteners on the BBC. This headline is very weak.
Just last night, commentators were predicting that the BBC story was so huge that it would distract from problems faced by the White House for a good while.
Looks rather small fry now...
Looks rather small fry now...
November 12, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Just last night, commentators were predicting that the BBC story was so huge that it would distract from problems faced by the White House for a good while.
Looks rather small fry now...
Looks rather small fry now...
(Dubiously now) Lord Nigel Biggar getting into muddles about history again...
an-historian.medium.com/the-atomic-b...
an-historian.medium.com/the-atomic-b...
The Atomic Bombs: History and Lord Biggar
Lord Nigel Biggar, a theologian and ethicist and formerly Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, took…
an-historian.medium.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:10 PM
(Dubiously now) Lord Nigel Biggar getting into muddles about history again...
an-historian.medium.com/the-atomic-b...
an-historian.medium.com/the-atomic-b...
I missed my connection from Phily to Heathrow because my flight was delayed at Richmond. There was no one at any info desk at 1am, no info about where to go and no complementary hotel room on offer. Should I now view the US as a failed state?
Noah Smith is paid in the high six-figures to write a blog read by Americans who believe themselves to be intelligent. Yet, he is both unable to read a sign and also for some reason chose to have a 90 minute layover for a flight that takes 90 minutes.
onemileatatime.com/news/economi...
onemileatatime.com/news/economi...
Economist Doesn't Follow Signs At Heathrow: Proof The UK Is Failing?
A economist had a bad experience connecting at Heathrow, suggesting it's reflective of bigger issues in the UK. There's only one issue...
onemileatatime.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:44 PM
I missed my connection from Phily to Heathrow because my flight was delayed at Richmond. There was no one at any info desk at 1am, no info about where to go and no complementary hotel room on offer. Should I now view the US as a failed state?
Why does the rightwing media hates the BBC so much? It is partly ideological and the BBC is duty bound to report in a way the right doesn't like. The other obviously is commercial: the BBC eats their dinner. But I think a key reason is rank professional jealousy. The BBC reporting is often better.
November 11, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Why does the rightwing media hates the BBC so much? It is partly ideological and the BBC is duty bound to report in a way the right doesn't like. The other obviously is commercial: the BBC eats their dinner. But I think a key reason is rank professional jealousy. The BBC reporting is often better.
The BRUSA agreement was signed in 1943 and the UKUSA agreement in 1946. Eight decades of shared history evaporating in a matter of weeks.
NEW via CNN: “The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal”
Exclusive: UK suspends some intelligence sharing with US over boat strike concerns in major break | CNN Politics
The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes ...
www.cnn.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The BRUSA agreement was signed in 1943 and the UKUSA agreement in 1946. Eight decades of shared history evaporating in a matter of weeks.
Ignoring the alleged pro-trans agenda at the BBC for a moment, who are these academics complaining that the history of slavery, the Irish famine, etc. has been "rewritten", not the widely debunked efforts of Historians for Britain or whatever they are calling themselves now?
Suzanne Moore, who would rather be locked up than pay her BBC licence fee because the BBC is too nice to trans people for her liking.
November 10, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Ignoring the alleged pro-trans agenda at the BBC for a moment, who are these academics complaining that the history of slavery, the Irish famine, etc. has been "rewritten", not the widely debunked efforts of Historians for Britain or whatever they are calling themselves now?
So the DG of the BBC has had to resign for making an edit to what Trump said to make it clear... what Trump said?
November 10, 2025 at 7:53 AM
So the DG of the BBC has had to resign for making an edit to what Trump said to make it clear... what Trump said?