Everything is the fault of foreigners, everything can be fixed by penalising foreigners. To call them Little Englanders is generous and euphemistic.

Have been thinking about “immigration has been tearing this country apart.” Surely I’m not the only person to think that it isn’t true, but inflamed rhetoric about immigration by politicians is what is tearing this country apart and so statements like that only makes it worse.

Yes, who would have thought. If you adopt a bash-liberals strategy, liberal voters will vote for someone else. And despite what they think in No.10, liberal voters do actually exist.

I've worked in this area of law/policy long enough to see most of what was announced yesterday tried before/reheated/varied. Defining Family Life? Done repeatedly, notably in 2012 by Theresa May. Appeal Reforms? How far back do you want to go! Temporary Status for refugees? We already do it.

Settling in after Thought Bubble, which remains a tonic, and pure comics. I was chatting to newbubber Chloe Maveal about it and she summed it up simply: "I haven't seen a Funko in three days." For a con to be as big as it is, and still be as comics as it is makes it a treasure

🚨ICYMI🚨 @iandunt.bsky.social & @dorianlynskey.bsky.social discuss The UK Labour Party: From Attlee to Callaghan 👉 linktr.ee/originstoryp... #LabourParty #politics #OriginStory #Attlee #Callaghan #ukpolitics

Coverage of the refugee proposals demonstrates why we have such a broken political system. Endless focus on left-wing anger and right-wing support. Basically nothing on whether the reforms will work. They will not, which is why we'll still be here having the same debate in three years.

Besides the obvious Nazi comparisons, this far more closely resembles the looting of personal property of Turks and Greeks on the wrong side of their postwar border, and of Hindus and Muslims on the wrong side of the Partition, and of Jews expelled as revenge for the loss of the 1st Arab-Israeli War

This document is the product of a broken administration, motivated by cynicism, immune to human decency, with a weak-to-non-existent understanding of the policy area they wish to legislate in.

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...

Plans to leave refugees in a state of perpetual uncertainty about where and if they can rebuild their lives are not just performative cruelty, they are counterproductive to integration and the economy. It doesn’t have to be like this - 1/2

Good on them.

This is a vital essay by @johnspringford.bsky.social & @acjsissons.bsky.social - diagnosing the British malaise and providing a set of clear policy solutions. You will be much better informed for having read it getting-out-of-the-hole.uk

The Government inherited an asylum system in meltdown, and had managed to at least get cases being processed again while ending the madness of the Rwanda plan. But the policies being announced today undermine all of that, making it harder for refugees to integrate and contribute to their communities

Could prob accept some pretty draconian small boat policies if there was a genuine safe route policy alongside it. So far we have no details at all.

This was such a joy. A bunch of people, bursting with ideas, battling their way into comics.

And a constant and vocal advocate for public libraries and the life chances they afford, which Rachel herself enjoyed. Go well and peacefully, Rachel.

Gutted to read this. Rachel was, among many other things, a great champion of comics. She tirelessly and pretty much singlehandedly worked to celebrate them in mainstream journalism.

Amazing. If Britain isn't your friend then who the hell do you have left?

Don't think there's any doubt it would have been incredibly unpopular. The relevant questions are a) will the tax rises they do instead be more or less unpopular and b) would it allow them to do things that made them look more competent in three years' time.

“We are still early enough in the electoral cycle for them to take firm action & reap the benefits by the time of the next election. But that time is running out and they don’t have the bravery. They don’t have the character. They don’t have the vision. What a crushing disappointment they are […].“

Read 'em and weep. (www.nber.org/system/files...)

Last night’s live edition of @originstorypodcast.bsky.social was a real gem. @dorianlynskey.bsky.social & @iandunt.bsky.social were on coruscating form. Their brutal takedowns of unhinged right-wing oddballs James Orr (UK) & Curtis Yarvin (US) were a special highlight. Gentlemen, thank you both.

I left the Tabernacle after @originstorypodcast.bsky.social live entertained, educated and one nudge closer to lighting a metaphorical bonfire under British politics. A big thank you to @iandunt.bsky.social and @dorianlynskey.bsky.social for an evening that was far too stimulating for a weekday.

Dan Dare was one of my first comics. My dad read it as a kid. He encouraged me to read it. I turned into a completely broken and obsessive nerd whose enthusiasm for the form was deeply alienating to him. The perfect circle. Very glad to see it return with a top-drawer creative team.

A week of chaos, cowardice and negligence: Labour has managed to pack so many failures into a single five day period that it's becoming difficult to remember all the details iandunt.substack.com/p/a-week-of-...

NEW: While remaining a neutral party to the case, Bridget Phillipson's lawyers have told the High Court they don't think the EHRC's proposed blanket bathroom ban is the right reading of the law www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

You absolute fucking clowns.

🔉What dangers does X pose to our democracy? And should the government stop using it? Good to hear yesterday from @sundersays.bsky.social and @petergeoghegan.bsky.social on the immense risk of X as it ignores legal obligations and its owner tries to influence UK politics. @commonswec.parliament.uk

God help us, it looks like utter chaos in there.

Big scoop by my colleagues, this:

The more you look into the Prescott memo, the worse it gets

My optician did a new bells-and-whistles eye test on me today and the photos are eerily beautiful, like an alien landscape.

Daft idea now abandoned. What a waste of everyone's time.

Who will be attending the Origin Story live show tonight? @iandunt.bsky.social and @dorianlynskey.bsky.social will be on stage at 7:30PM. Patreon supporters who can't attend in person can find details and the live stream link here: www.patreon.com/posts/yes-we... #originstorylive #originstory

Quite literally peak House of Lords

Why is McSweeney still there. What greater proof would you need that he is incapable of doing the job. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

And they didn’t even understand the sci-fi books they read.

They're going to crash the global economy by attempting to create an artificial general intelligence, despite having no idea what that is, no proof they can build it & no hope of doing so. Cunts just read too many sci-fi books.

What on earth is this nonsense from a Blue Labour MP? What, you want a policy targeting zero illness, no full time caring responsibilities, no skills mismatches or career breaks and you think we should heavily crack down on migration until we get there? Just not serious policy/politics.

Part two of our history of the Labour Party, in which a progressive political party tears itself apart over and over again in a series if events which in no way resemble the present day.

As you might imagine, this is very good. It is also very funny.

Three points I keep repeating 1. Left and liberal voters actually really exist 2. The right and "centre" are trying to rule without liberals - they are way out over their skis 3. Reports of right wing total information control are greatly exaggerated

Is Amazon labouring under the impression that viewers think the James Bond franchise is one continuous, unbroken timeline, with now holes or inconsistencies rendered there-in?

Keir Starmer has effectively started a leadership challenge against himself. To have entered into this kind of madhouse Westminster squabbling so soon after an election is simply unforgivable. inews.co.uk/opinion/back...

The problem is precisely that it is normal. That's the really gutting thing about it.

Streeting on Radio 4 right now is actually kinda masterful. Good humoured, as plain-speaking as possible.

It's an obscene act of irresponsibility. Inward-looking, solipsistic, self-interested, playschool fucking bullshit.

you know how people always say "oh haha I put off doing this admin task for ages and ages and turns out it was fine and took no time" well I put off doing *this* admin task for weeks and actually it fucking sucks and it's taking soooo long, it's hateful, so there