Not quite Authoritarian leaders tend not to be good at thinking or formulating policy. Some of them do so deliberately so as not to leave a trace They'll sit around and spout thoughts, and their lieutenants will fill in the gaps That's how the Final Solution was designed

I can't help thinking that if the 'politically ignorant' facilitate Farage at the next GE, he would do exactly the same with UK bodies, as #Trump has tried to do with bls.gov and the Fed. 😬

This is unsurprising The pandemic showed how vulnerable our scientific community was to politicisation Excellent editorial from 2020 in the BMJ by Kamran Abbasi (now Editor of same) on this www.bmj.com/content/371/...

🧵🚨 The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news. Today our report is published! www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n... 1/11

Interesting and troubling report/thread here on vulnerability of scientific bodies to politicisation, something the public do not want and is not in there interest but could happen nonetheless if politicians with selective or hostile views on science and evidence were in charge

gosh that is so true.

You *really* should be by now but you don’t *actually* have to call them liars or racists, if it offends your commitment to now almost entirely redundant BBC principles of ‘objectivity’ & ‘ balance’. You just have to ask them again & again & again to justify their words & explain their exact meaning

I’ve been saying this for ten years now but possibly not often enough: Ask Them What They Think The Words They’re Using Mean. And then ask them to name the ‘problematic’ people. We had ‘sovereignty’, ‘laws’ & ‘unelected bureaucrats’. The US now has ‘Antifa’, the ‘radical left’ & ‘insurrection’. Ask!

Throwback Thursday. Way back …

Russia’s aggression has left Ukraine littered with mines and unexploded weapons. Today those saving lives are themselves coming under attack in breach of international law. We must Stand with Ukraine. #StandWithUkraine

I find the Gaza plans in my previous post horrific and sick. But there is much joy in the Substack post from @carolecadwalla.bsky.social as well. The Nerve team watching their website go live for the first time, and Press Gang (UK 90s TV). We know who is Julia Sawalha, but who is Dexter Fletcher?

What do human beings really need in order to survive the harms and cruelties that the world inflicts upon them? midpsy.uk/2025/10/03/t...

"Peter Mandelson lost his job for being friends with a paedophile. Donald Trump, who was friends with the same paedophile, was given a state banquet hosted by a King whose brother lost his job because he was friends with the same paedophile.“

Why have energy drinks been banned for under-16s in England? The real question is why it wasn’t done sooner | Devi Sridhar

People feel their lives are harder than their parents- Farage offers a compelling narrative of why (immigrants) and how he will fix it (stop immigration). I think it's a completely wrong explanation, but it's simple and appealing- and feeds into our worse impulses.

My latest column www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

New podcast with the Guardian www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...

What qualifies Kate Middleton to co author with Prof Robert Waldinger from Harvard Medical School on the subject of screentime and smartphones? Her degree is in art history and her career was spent working for a clothing company. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Well, #ZachPolanski is also on the panel (FINALLY a Green rep), so perhaps he'll do the honours.

I see Reform UK are on #BBCQT again tonight, would one of the other panelists kindly ask Is it fiscally responsible for Nathan Gill to make anti EU, pro Russia statements in exchange for bribes But for Nigel Farage to make anti EU, pro Russia statements, without bribes?

Water bills for England households to rise even higher. Bills already up by 36%. Competition regulator permits another 1%-5%, £556m hike No curbs on exec pay, dividends, sewage dumping as companies raise capital from customers, shareholders get returns. End the Scam. Nationalise water

£12 billion when you factor in stamp duty.

I sometimes worry I exaggerate the collective madness of our media but the people who cheered Brexit, Boris Johnson & Liz Truss's mini-budget are now applauding Kemi Badenoch's speech. 'Parallell universe' doesn't come close. I suppose her not falling over is a win of sorts for them at the moment.

Day 2077 of #Brexit: ‘In 2023, the EU agreed to ban exports of waste to poorer nations outside a group of mainly rich countries []. The ban comes into force in November 2026 for two and a half years and can be extended. The UK does not have a similar ban in place’ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Day 2078 of #Brexit: ‘Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “I am acutely aware of the challenges facing business – from ongoing global economic uncertainty to issues created by the UK Government, like Brexit and increases to employers’ NI contributions”.’ www.independent.co.uk/news/busines...

Day 2078 of #Brexit: ‘Food is the biggest risk as the UK imports an increasing proportion of its food from overseas, some of it coming from areas known to be at risk of climate disaster and ecosystem collapse.’ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Our authoritarianism is run on clichés borrowed from the Eastern Europe of twenty years ago. Paid protestors, disloyal cities, evil Soros, vast conspiracies — it was all tiresome then and there, and now it’s pathetic.

Port of Dover ‘Brexit’ checks may take six times longer - Headline corrected! www.bbc.com/news/article...

This couple believes that doctors in California are killing four week old babies in “post birth abortions.” These people vote. (Via MakeAmericaKindAgain)

The alternative is she’s flying back to London regularly despite claiming she couldn’t afford private school fees in the UK due to the Labour government

It’s quite a feat for Isabel Oakeshott to be the only white person in a London tube carriage given she lives in Dubai

A new review study examines four of the most dangerous climate tipping elements, confirming that they are destabilising. Risks are increasing that they will flip and not just in isolation. drtomharris.substack.com/p/are-we-hea... #tippingpoint #climatechange #feedback #greenland #AMOC #Amazon

Someone please explain. What is the point of Ofcom? Utterly useless.

Absolutely shameful. So much needs to change. Here’s a challenge. Membership of @greenparty.org.uk just passed 90k! If you’re not a member, watch an interview/podcast/speech/broadcast by @zackpolanski.bsky.social & join if he speaks for you. If we all invite 2 friends, we could triple numbers today!

Another benefit of Brexit ... the UK has returned to its traditional role as the dirty man of Europe. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Donald Trump is calling for the Chicago mayor and Illinois governor to be locked up because they won’t bend the knee to his fascism and legitimize his lies and propaganda. Locking up political opponents to crush dissent is fascism, whether you like the word or not.

Kemi Badenoch: "Poland are experiencing more economic growth than the UK!" also Kemi Badenoch: "We are the party that took us (the country) out of the European Union!"

"If China starts buying elsewhere, which they are doing now, once they establish those trade routes, it becomes more difficult for them to come back to the U.S. to buy their commodities." ...... Exactly the same thing happened to many British traders after Brexit.

Wonder when Starmer et al will also be mentioned?🤔😔

ME/CFS is a devastating condition that has long been denied, dismissed, psychologised and underdiagnosed. Research is at last starting to catch up with it, with glimmers of hope for those who have been left untreated for so long. There's a huge BUT coming ...🧵 www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

The Tories are at war with themselves Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet is a cacophony of contradictions 📫 Today’s Morning Call, with @georgeeaton.bsky.social

The extremely fast anticipated collapse in global demand during 2026 due to fast electrification and solar PV roll out in most African nations, India, China, Pakistan, and most South American nations will not be as obvious if Ukraine succeeds in destroying Russia’s entire fossil fuel supply chain.

🔴BBC Laura Kuenssberg Show Accused of Anti-Green Bias After Cancelling Zack Polanski Interview The Green Party leader was the only major party leader not to have been granted a conference interview on the flagship BBC show bylinetimes.com/2025/10/06/b...

Every nonwhite woman is in his head every day As much as any man who has lived since the 1800s, this one cannot deal with strong women and *particularly* cannot deal with strong women of color existing in public let alone challenging him

"15 years ago, Polish workers came here to find opportunity. Now Poland is growing twice as fast as we are," says Kemi Badenoch. Any ideas what may have happened in the interim?

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

The answer @mrjamesob.bsky.social is we don't know. It may be if they don't change the leader but there are so many permutations, the future hasn't been written yet. Reform implodes, they merge, they elect a one nation leader...