The Eye 02: When is sovereignty not sovereign?

When is sovereignty not sovereign? As countries start to reject reliance on US tech monopolies, Palantir and its allies rush to strip the word "sovereignty" of its meaning, attempting to frame opposition as “techno-politicization" Me and Charlie Young, for The Citizens substack.com/home/post/p-...

it's crazy when you see a photo for the first time and recognize it's gonna be used as a shorthand for the era you're living in right now by historians in 100 years

🚨🚨Great news: Culture Secretary Lisa #Nandy has announced she and her department are leaving Elon #Musk's #X platform explaining that " the platform "isn't healthy for our democracy or our communities and I don't want to support it". 🧵 www.bbc.com/news/article...

It is the dawn of a new era. Hear our battle anthem. Welcome to the new InfoWars.

Britons tend to expect that bills would be cheaper if utilities were nationalised, following Andy Burnham saying nationalisation would "absolutely be an option" if he was PM Water Cheaper: 39% Similar: 22% More expensive: 14% Electricity Cheaper: 39% Similar: 20% More expensive: 16%

SpaceX's Starbase injury rate is more than five times the national average for comparable facilities — and a 25-year-old worker is now dead.

Whose fucking fault do you think that was Morgan

The Reform leader and Clacton MP has just declared another £288,000 in earnings from jobs outside Parliament ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

🔴 NEW The Troubled Firms That Gave Reform UK Tens of Thousands of Pounds Whilst on the Brink of Collapse By Max Colbert and Josiah Mortimer bylinetimes.com/2026/06/29/t...

It's out! The full "Handbook on Authoritarianism in the Arab World" is available open access here: www.bloomsburycollections.com/encyclopedia...

"UK newspapers have already published 63 editorials this year calling for more oil and gas extraction in the North Sea... "Experts say trying to extract the last barrels of domestic oil and gas would have no impact on people’s energy bills and very little effect on energy security"

Starmer's government is still on X, the platform that promotes hate and racism.

BREAKING: Canary debanked by Lloyds Lloyds have debanked the Canary with no warning or explanation, putting the outlet in severe financial crisis www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...

Billy Allison isn't actually a founder of Raise the Colours, he's just a useful idiot captain. It did get some coverage at the time, again giving him a promotion. Founder Ryan Bridge has a string of arrests this year for things from abuse to assault to wounding.

Ben Cullen, a leading figure of the "Raise the Colours" campaign, will stand trial for three separate charges regarding a total of 78 indecent images of children. I have only seen this covered in local newspapers, so far. Grim as it is, it needs wider coverage www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2624087...

"AI is inevitable!! It's here to stay!! Can't put the genie back in the bottle!! You can't stop progress!!! But uhhhh... if we had to legally obtain the resources needed to run our business AND unless we make trillions in profits AND unless you give up your drinking water, we're kinda toast 🥺"

It is shown, repeatedly, that the inevitable outcome of pandering to "populists" is they want more. You can never go far enough. Mahmood's proposals are the most draconian reforms of immigration and asylum systems in decades. They undermine international human rights. Still not enough for this lot.

Don’t buy the analogy between @thecanaryuk.bsky.social and Nigel Farage when it comes to debanking. IRRC Farage given months warning and offered a NatWest account rather than high end Coutts. GBNews/Marshall made a mint out of aftermath. And I very much doubt the Canary got £5m from a crypto king

What do you do when Big Tech captures the state? You keep watch. 👁️‍🗨️ Introducing The Eye from investigative journalists Max @mc00.bsky.social and Charlie @charlienotold.bsky.social tracking the companies, ideologies and networks reshaping our democracy. First up: Palantir's bid to run the West 👇

Nigel Farage Has Been Paid £270,000 To Promote A Gold Bullion Dealer www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nigel-...

⚡ Weirdboy done! ⚡ This model is awesome and a great canvas to practice OSL 🧙‍♂️ #Warhammer #warhammer40k #new40k #ork #miniaturepainting #warhammercommunity

A woman known as Jane Doe 4 in the Jeffrey Epstein files is “staying off the grid” and lives in fear of retaliation from the Trump administration amid an escalating controversy over its handling of her case, according to a family member. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The problem with money in politics is not the location of party donors, but the influence they have on our elections. We need a cap on all political donations.

"I TWEETED HOW THE HEATWAVE IS A WOKE CONSPIRACY TO KEEP US FROM TALKING ABOUT HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS FAKE BEFORE I TURNED INTO A BURNING CORNCOB"

Trump just claimed without evidence that the algae on the Reflecting Pool was "criminally made."

me and my friends would've killed (insert pavement blocking monstrosities here) with hammers i can tell you that much

It's widely known that the US is now by a long way the world's largest oil producer, but we still search for complex cultural reasons to explain the prevalence of climate denialism in America. It might be simpler than that. open.substack.com/pub/arthursn...

Taxing vulnerable people for the crime of fleeing from war, torture and persecution. A new low from Shabana Mahmood

she’s a 10 but Excel thinks she’s October

🔴 The Troubled Firms That Gave Reform UK Tens of Thousands of Pounds Whilst on the Brink of Collapse Anti-corruption campaigners question why firms are choosing to donate tens of thousands of pounds they apparently don’t have to Nigel Farage’s party bylinetimes.com/2026/06/29/t...

This is absolutely damning.

So far, we have sold 37 feminist media bundles. To recap: You can subscribe to three indie, worker-owned publications— @autonomynews.co , @theflytrapmedia.com , and @mothership.blog —for less than $11/month. Help us get to 50 sales? trustfnd.com/theflytrap/c...

Ex-MP Craig Williams pleads guilty over general election betting offence

⚫ David Hencke: The Journalist Who Made Us All Better Byline Times tips its hat with love and gratitude to our acclaimed investigative reporter who has died aged 79. As Mark Conrad writes, "David spent his career holding powerful people to account. Yet he never behaved as though he were powerful".

'Second 'heat dome' to scorch UK within weeks, experts have warned' www.lbc.co.uk/article/seco...

Trump must now pay $5 million to former Elle columnist E Jean Carroll after SCOTUS refuses to hear his appeal over a jury’s finding that he sexually assaulted and defamed her. Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan said the decision “ends [Trump’s] quest to avoid accountability for his actions.”

I've never met a reporter with such a gleam in his eye for holding power to account in such a human and hopeful way. All of us at @bylinetimes.bsky.social are so sad to have lost David Hencke. He was a brilliant reporter, but perhaps more importantly: he was a really lovely man. Thank you, David!

Deeply sad to hear about the passing of David Hencke, an incredible investigative journalist, friend, and inspiration to so many. His death is an incalculably huge loss to so many, and he will be sorely missed, but never forgotten. Rest in peace, David. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

Really sad to learn my great colleague David Hencke has just died. He was a legendary journalist, probably best known for breaking the cash for questions scandal He was a lovely man, who loved reporting stories others missed and kept filing, even from his hospital bed. He will be hugely missed

🔴NEW: The Troubled Firms That Gave Reform UK Tens of Thousands of Pounds Whilst on the Brink of Collapse. Me and @josiahmortimer.bsky.social, for @bylinetimes.bsky.social: bylinetimes.com/2026/06/29/t...

At least seven firms have collectively donated £485,000 to Reform UK while on the brink of being dissolved, struck off, or otherwise in apparent distress, @bylinetimes.bsky.social analysis has found bylinetimes.com/2026/06/29/t...

The Troubled Firms That Gave Reform UK Tens of Thousands of Pounds Whilst on the Brink of Collapse Anti-corruption campaigners question why the firms are choosing… https://bylinetimes.com/2026/06/29/the-troubled-firms-that-gave-reform-uk-tens-of-thousands-of-pounds-whilst-on-the-brink-of-collapse/

I was thinking yesterday that while the Tory and Reform leaderships aren't very far apart these days, the Tories still have lots of long-serving normie councillors who haven't gone full Badenoch whereas Reform have freaks all the way down

🔴NEW: Exposed: Reform Councillor Shared White Supremacist and Covid Conspiracy Posts: bylinetimes.com/2026/06/29/e...

Fantastic read from @mc00.bsky.social & @charlienotold.bsky.social Great primer on Palantir, their insidious reach and the pushback against them citizensreunited.substack.com/p/the-eye-01...

Chris Harborne can say and do what he likes, but I will make it my mission in this Parliament to ensure he cannot single-handedly dominate British politics to the detriment of our democratic system www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...