What links Jeffrey Epstein and Keir Starmer’s government? A thick seam of contempt | Nesrine Malik

“Female victims, the law, the public, are all remote and potentially treacherous things that need to be kept as far as possible from infringing on this vast, self-contained and sophisticated reciprocal system of power.” Brilliant. And the truth.

I've been singing this to myself all day

How do you legislate to make those with power respect those without it? The reporting of the Epstein scandal has given the women no voice. Try the small remedies. Listen to others (don’t just wait your turn). Censure those who interrupt. Call out the use of physical presence to establish power…

Will Starmer and McSweeney really survive this? And the 'one rotten apple/we didn't know much' is a rotten, empty defence in face of the extensive networks of so many in or with power selling their souls (if they had any) for girls, women, money, trips. So shallow www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Bigger things going on today i know but watching Bezos buy, wreck, and now basically gut a media institution at a time when America really needs a free press is just such a grotesque waste. If you don’t know how to run it, sell it to someone who can www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...

This.

Don't think I've ever felt as sick reading a newspaper story as I have looking at this morning's Epstein coverage. Just the open amorality of all the powerful people involved for so long.

Lebedev is still a Lord...

"What a uniquely American obscenity to hear this woman employ the language of shared humanity, as the Trump administration kills Americans and systematically kidnaps immigrants and their kids." Read @inaeoh.bsky.social on "Melania."

Really weeping for the patriarchy….

Brilliant story about what can be done to improve the lives of the incarcerated, with huge credit to www.justice-defenders.org www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

GOP senators, governor call for full investigation into ICE murder www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...

They murdered a nurse who cared for military veterans & then called him a terrorist.

A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.

Hannah Arendt: '... under such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them... '

Someone should ask Kemi Badenoch (or whichever Tory is up for Sunday shows) if the Tories’ proposed “removals force” with “sweeping new powers” will be modelled on ICE www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

“If the person is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.” Justice Brett Kavanaugh www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

Great to see some renewed interest in Nigel Farage’s sumptuous lunches How about this one when he launched a European Revolution with Steve Bannon, who was being backed by Jeffery Epstein all the time bylinetimes.com/2025/11/19/d...

Trump’s Board of Peace logo is basically the UN logo, except dipped in gold and edited so the world only includes America.

And we're back. The moment the danger passes, people rush to pretend everything is alright again. It isn't and will not be.

ICE targets Native Americans Multiple news outlets are now reporting that Native Americans are being profiled and targeted in what are supposed to be ‘immigration raids’ northeastbylines.co.uk/news/world-n...

No MP should be earning £380,000 on top of their parliamentary salary. Farage manages it because he's turned "politainment" into a viable career. Like his US counterparts he's discovered that being a disruptor can make you very wealthy indeed. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

BREAKING: Immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, a memo obtained by AP says.

‘Terrible things are happening outside… Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return… to find their families gone.’ Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The Limits of Violent Authoritarianism Trump’s authoritarian desires are boundless. But the past year proves that his ability to impose them on America is not. Even invoking the Insurrection Act would not magically change that. Some thoughts from my new piece: 🧵

If the US is no longer a reliable ally, the UK needs options – political, economic and strategic. This piece explores what comes next ⤵️ @eastangliabylines.co.uk @lizcrosbie.bsky.social

The same day he angrily attacks NATO he invites the war criminal Putin to his Gaza board. Says all we need to know. Now what will you do about it...Congress? Cabinet?

The charter of the ‘Board of Peace’ does not mention Gaza at all but stresses the need for a “more nimble and effective international peace-building body”, suggests its scope would be far broader, and that the body could be used as a rival to the UN… www.ft.com/content/0ee7...

This is deeply disturbing, especially after reports of growing concerns about the conditions at this facility. An investigation must take place. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

“Talk to your neighbors today. Do not wait until things get as bad as they are in Minneapolis, until ICE agents numbering in the thousands are openly marauding your streets and causing chaos.” www.liberalcurrents.com/we-have-orga...

I feel like America plotting to annex Greenland while masked state goons terrorise their own communities at will should encourage British press and politicians to reflect on what happens when you act like "far right" is an unfair slur rather than a necessary descriptor of a real political position.

Pew Research Institute (2023): • Red State Texas has about 2.1 million undocumented immigrants • Red State Florida has 1.6 M undocumented immigrants • Blue State Minnesota has 130,000. And yet only Minnesota is being occupied by masked thugs over "immigration." It's *not* about immigration.

I've harped on congressional war powers for a long time and we do need to fix all that, but threatening to invade Greenland while ranting at Norway about the Nobel Peace Prize and imposing trade sanctions on NATO is more the kind of thing you can only fix by not having a literally insane president.

Unhinged

Just got my ticket!

Two national academies; two dishonourable Fellows.

Trump’s bizarre to Norway PM in full as President links Greenland to Nobel Prize snub

The Nobel Foundation makes yet another statement:

Best one I've seen yet...

Buttigieg and Booker Lead Push to Hammer Republicans on Health Care www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/u...

"I think if a critical mass of us decided to take the fight to the enemy, many more would quickly join. And I think we would find the forces arrayed against us much weaker than we initially supposed." www.liberalcurrents.com/we-need-to-g...

Trump is reportedly taking aim at Canada and raising alarms about its ‘vulnerability’

The retaliation measures are being drawn up to give European leaders leverage in pivotal meetings with the US president at the World Economic Forum in Davos. ft.trib.al/aKexyt2

[1/6] A reminder: Europe has cards to use against the US. Lots of them. To cite some examples: - Tighten screws on US digital giants (taxes, fines, even bans) - Export taxes disrupting US supply chains eg pharma - Exclude US firms from European procurement, inc defence ecfr.eu/publication/...

An Old Theory Helps Explain What Happened to Renee Good www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/o...

greenland..

I grew up in Minnesota Right now nearly every person I know there is doing all they can to support their community This is who we are in the United States as much or more so than the violence in headlines May our leaders lead on an alternative future where we lean into the best of ourselves