Here’s Harold Wilson’s holiday home on St Mary’s in the Scilly Isles. The kind of modest place that a committed public servant might go to relax with his family. Compare this to the insatiable avarice of many politicians today. Something has gone deeply wrong in our politics.

I have today written to Sir Laurie Magnus, Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, requesting consideration of whether public statements made by Josh Simons MP on 6 February 2026 constitute a breach of the Ministerial Code. Letter attached.

Today’s editorial in the @thetimes.com calls on Josh Simons to resign as a minister. It quotes in its concluding paragraph his curious and incoherent late night response to me on that other platform, from 6 February 2026. As Josh Simons himself might say, “HOWZATT?” 😂

The world is starting to see the disgraceful, underhand & undemocratic behaviour of Josh Simons & Labour Together. This is largely thanks to the courageous journalism of Paul Holden. Buy his excellent book, The Fraud @orbooks.bsky.social here: orbooks.com/catalog/the-... 🧵 1/4

This new article by @martinoneill.bsky.social lays bare the extent to which Labour Together are operating in very dangerous territory - through undeclared funding, paying private firms to investigate journalists and entangling the state with Palantir. Read it below🔽:

I first posted (on that other platform) about the Labour Together smear campaign on 6 Feb. Exhibit 1: the (barely coherent) response I received from Josh Simons late that night, denying any wrongdoing. Exhibit 2: the *actual content* of the deal made with the private investigators at APCO 🧵1/3

As I have said before, you can't do a popular front if you're also doing McCarthyism. Great piece from philosophy's own @martinoneill.bsky.social tribunemag.co.uk/2026/02/smea...

DOCTOR Rümeysa Öztürk has earned her PhD!!

The Josh Simons story isn't just about one minister commissioning smears on journalists. It's about a toxic political culture that was built to destroy Corbyn — and then walked straight into government. My piece for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social 🧵 1/4

The Labour Together spying scandal shows how Britain’s mainstream press looked the other way when dirty tricks were deployed against the Left — allowing a culture of surveillance and paranoia to take political power.

This by @martinoneill.bsky.social is a damning indictment of Labour's degeneration at the hands of the Labour Together clique. tribunemag.co.uk/2026/02/smea...

“A faction that made use of generous funding from wealthy donors to destroy its own party’s left wing, now governs in partnership with a company whose founder declares democracy & freedom incompatible.” - @martinoneill.bsky.social tribunemag.co.uk/2026/02/smea...

An excellent, important piece on Labour’s “democratic decay”. Time to stop the rot.

“This is not normal politics. It is democratic decay unfolding in real time.” I’ve written for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social about the Josh Simons / Labour Together scandal, and what it tells us about the degeneration of British democracy. tribunemag.co.uk/2026/02/smea...

The development of community wealth building in Poland has hopefully been helped by the existence of the new Polish edition of The Case for Community Wealth Building.

Fascinating essay by Callum MacRae @czmacrae.bsky.social on the APA Blog, on economic democracy & the development of Community Wealth Building @communitywealth.bsky.social @democracycollab.bsky.social, looking in detail at the exciting new push on CWB in Poland. blog.apaonline.org/2026/02/11/d...

2nd story on BBC radio 4 bulletins now Still huge questions to answer about Labour Together smearing journalists and sources As I revealed yesterday, senior Labour insiders knew - and person who commissioned it, Josh Simons, now a Starmer minister…. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/starmer-al...

How on Earth could a "Cabinet Office investigation" into Labour Together's dirty tricks and smear tactics be impartial, while Josh Simons remains as a *Cabinet Office* minister? For an impartial investigation, Josh Simons needs to be removed from office. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

How on Earth could a "Cabinet Office investigation" into Labour Together's dirty tricks and smear tactics hope to be impartial, while Josh Simons remains as a *Cabinet Office* minister? If Starmer wants an *impartial* investigation, Josh Simons needs to be removed from office.

I've written a short post on the broader implications of today's Sunday Times story on Josh Simons, Labour Together, and their dirty tricks against journalists: Power, Corruption and Lies: Labour Together and the Degradation of British Politics martinoneillyork.substack.com/p/power-corr...

Labour Together under Morgan McSweeney and then Josh Simons was an organisation funded by rich donors, waging a campaign of bullying, smears and deception, using mafia tactics against both journalists and the left. Yet Starmer has still failed to sack Josh Simons even now. 👇

Josh Simons has refused to answer a single question from Democracy for Sale for 10 days Now he is saying that the ‘PRCA is investigating’ so nothing else to see here If he was so ‘distressed’ by the reports he commissioned why is he ok with a voluntary PR trade body being the only accountability?

In the last 10 days Democracy for Sale has published *five stories* that we asked Josh Simons to comment on He could have told us all about how ‘distressed’ he was by the investigations into journalists that he paid for He said nothing Here’s latest democracyforsale.substack.com/p/starmer-al...

Really looking forward to hosting this Q&A with @profafinlayson.bsky.social on Wednesday 25 February - and discussing how the right won the internet (clue: not by being on bluesky)

This story keeps getting bigger.

Apropos of Chris Betram's @crookedfootball.bsky.social post on Crooked Timber today. (Link in next post.)

Today's High Court judgement, which found that Yvette Cooper acted unlawfully in proscribing Palestine Action, cited the work of the philosopher John Rawls. Rawls's ideas can help us to see how Cooper's actions were such a deep violation of democratic values. open.substack.com/pub/martinon...

Today's High Court judgement, which found that Yvette Cooper acted unlawfully in proscribing Palestine Action, cited the work of political philosopher John Rawls. Rawls's ideas can help us to see how Cooper's actions were such a deep violation of democracy values. open.substack.com/pub/martinon...

Cooper should go as an MP as well but ultimate responsibility for this unlawful attack on fundamental freedoms and human rights rests with the Prime Minister. It really is time to get these blundering authoritarians out of power before they do any more damage to our civil liberties.

Yvette Cooper must have fully understood that her unlawful proscription of Palestine Action was an attack on the fundamental freedoms of a democratic society. She did it anyway. After today’s High Court ruling, she should no longer remain as a minister. www.bostonreview.net/forum/the-re...

BREAKING⚡️The High Court has just ruled that the government's draconian ban of Palestine Action was unlawful. This is a massive blow to the Home Office’s authoritarian approach. They need to stop criminalising people protesting a genocide and start ending the UK's complicity

Labour’s vote is collapsing everywhere. In Peterborough last night, as in Gorton and Denton, voting Green is the only way to stop Reform.

Vindication for Palestine Action from the High Court. And further shame on Keir Starmer, Yvette Cooper, David Lammy, and all the other cynical authoritarians who tried to silence legitimate protest against genocide. www.bostonreview.net/forum/the-re...

Lots of new followers, so to explain a bit here is a review of my book, Exam Nation amp.theguardian.com/books/articl...

I've got a really fascinating assignment today: off to the @ptieducation.bsky.social Leadership Symposium, where I'll be talking to secondary school headteachers about "Values, Secondary Education and the Common Good". Looking forward to learning a lot. www.ptieducation.org/event/a0sQt0...

Important thread ... 👇

When he ran Labour Together, Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons hired a PR firm to investigate journalists After our revelations, and a flurry of news stories, Simons finally gave his side of the story But it doesn't seem to tally with the facts... 🧵 democracyforsale.substack.com/p/mcsweeney-...

Camps

This is all designed to appeal to people who either don’t work or don’t have the opportunity to work from home. Perhaps they will achieve their dream of reducing the UK economy to its least productive elements

I always followed and supported this campaign in its early days, but - hope I'm wrong - this article provides scant concrete evidence of success with respect to the teaching of economics. Not sure why this long report is appearing now www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Sure! Bombino: bombino.bandcamp.com/album/sahel Mdou Moktar: mdoumoctar.bandcamp.com/album/funera... Tinariwen: tinariwen.bandcamp.com/album/hoggar Enjoy!!!

I'm spending my Monday marking papers - on the upside an opportunity to check out some new music at the same time. I've just discovered Etran de L'Aïr, a Tuareg desert blues band from Niger. Huge energy -- confident propulsive stuff. Would recommend! youtu.be/nkCwGCDaaZ4?...

Now that Morgan McSweeney has 'resigned' as chief of staff, if the Labour Party has any hope of restoring any of its reputation, others figures who were close to Mandelson and did his dirty work also need to be removed. Josh Simons also has to go. 👇 bsky.app/profile/mart...

It’ll take more than a leadership change for Lab to begin rectifying this. They’d need to remove most of a generation, abandon a whole concept of politics they signed up to 30 years ago & open up an inclusive & pluralist politics that goes beyond parties. Obviously that that won’t happen (5/)

And so much ‘right-thinking’ regards acceptance of all that as a ‘grown up’ & ‘sensible’ ‘politics of hard choices’ which only loony lefties question. Again, the complicity of Mandelson stands for a general complicity of the state in privileging politicking over the rest of democratic politics (4/)

Epstein/mandelson encapsulates how UK politicians have abandoned individuals, towns, cities & industries to predatory wolves they invited in to asset strip our economy & to turn our culture into endless online degradation of women which many politicians won’t regulate fully because in hock to (3/)

I think a lot of politicians & commentators see all this very differently from most of the country. They see it as part of an ongoing story about decision-making, personalities, probity, money etc. For everyone else it’s part of a long series of events: Saville, Huw Edwards, Rotherham & more (1/)

This is the real culture war. Implementing its National Security Strategy the US govt. will directly fund political groups in U.K./Europe to oppose regulation of digital media (online safety act, digital services act etc.). Nationalists ensuring our political, intellectual & cultural subordination.

It's revealing that Simons will reply to you but he refuses to take Peter Geoghegan's calls or say where the £30,000 that Labour Together paid to hire APCO Worldwide came from. If you think there was nothing shady about this operation I've got a bridge to sell you. open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

Hard to see how Josh Simons could possibly remain as an MP after this revelation. An absolute disgrace. A police investigation is urgently needed. Simons has brought the Labour Party into even further disrepute. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...