So, nearly all the people responsible for turning Britain into a skip fire are now in Reform. This is the same Reform that is promising to fix said skip fire, and is currently leading in the polls. This is the state of UK politics. How utterly depressing. #SuellaBraverman

Donald Trump is destroying the facade of legitimacy that cloaked US imperialism for 80 years. He's saying the quiet bits out loud. We enter the age of disaster nationalism where great nations dispense with fiction of "international rules" & European leaders have absolutely no idea how to react.

Keir tarmer's "de-escalation" strategy founders on his presumption that the "special relationship" can be preserved because Trumpism is fleeting. This fails to recognise deeper political transformations in the US - Trumpian post-fascism will long outlive Trump's administration, sadly.

The militarisation of law enforcement is a key symptom of a society's fascist tilt. As is performative military actions abroad. Both are key indicators of US decline, as the regime turns on its own citizens & engages in foreign spectacles as distraction. #ReneeNicoleGood #ICE #Greenland

Trump - the "transactional president" - is without a political concept in his head. Every move is about "the deal". But those behind him *do* have a political strategy - Bannon, Miller, Vance - and it is they who should worry us. The 1984 "spheres of influence" dream is theirs & it is becoming real.

Perhaps we should thank Trump for one thing: for decades the US cloaked its imperial greed in the language of international law, democracy, freedom e.g. Vietnam, Iraq. Trump has cut the BS - the US is a gangster state that uses its power to control whoever falls into its "sphere of influence".

Starmer continues to debase himself at Trump's feet on the pretext of "UK national interest". At what point does Starmer's failure to recognise the end of the rules-based order begin to work against UK national interest? His fantasy of a revival of the old post-war international order is dangerous.

The people expressing surprise re: Trump's attack on #Venezuela are those who still think the international rules-based order post-1945 exists. It doesn't. This is the new world split into spheres of influence, post-democratic world of chaos & unprecedented nation-state savagery.

Are we really supposed to debate whether Trump incited an insurrection to overthrow a democratic election? He instructed the mob to "fight like hell", failed to distance himself from the rioters & pardoned them. This is how far into an Orwellian "war is peace" post-truth dystopia we have fallen.

Witness the coming response of the US ruling class to Zohran Mamdani's win. Remember - it only permits "democracy" if we never threaten its wealth & power. It will now mobilise all its propaganda & physical force to destroy him. This outbreak of real democracy will not go unpunished.

Don't get me wrong - Rachel Reeves is truly terrible. But I'm so disgusted with the ghouls who told everyone austerity and Brexit would be wonderful lining up to pontificate on economic mismanagement. These people are idiotic cretinous fools who should never be forgiven for what's they done.

It really is quite something to witness those who championed austerity & Brexit rushing to condemn Rachel Reeves for economic mismanagement, like arsonists making a living from giving health & safety advice. These people's credibility is matched only by their self-awareness - zero.

The fatal flaw with the dead-behind-the-eyes McSweeney types in charge of the party that calls itself "Labour" is that it operates with a 1990s Blairite logic that can neglect its base without consequence. The dealignment of politics today proves this strategy cannot work. See Caerphilly for details

The lesson the govt will most certainly never learn from the Caerphilly byelection is that simply trying to make neoliberalism work better is a failed strategy. The system is BROKEN. But the visionless dreary hacks in charge of "Labour" are pathologically wedded to its preservation.

So in the age of Trumpian post-truth we are expected to laud Trump's genius when he secures a ceasefire that involves a continuation of the killing on a mass scale, while Israeli cabinet ministers openly talk about using the "ceasefire" as an opportunity to "open the gates of hell on Gaza".

The consequences for Western governments' enablement of the Gaza genocide are incalculable. Much more than Palestinian lives have been incinerated in the rubble of Gaza - Western illusions of civilisational superiority lie alongside the burnt corpses. #GazaGenocide

Take it from someone from Northern Ireland who lived through and studied my own peace process: A "Peace Plan" that does not involve one side in the conflict & nowhere recognises its basic *right* to statehood is not a peace plan, but a manifesto of continuing oppression & thus conflict.

@hibou2.bsky.social is a perfect example of the delusional state of Starmerism. Clutching at any available straws. I was going to say that Starmerism must be destroyed as an electoral force, but its dreary adherents are doing a pretty fine job of it themselves.

Starmer's "Labour" Party is lost. An irredeemably bad, visionless, decrepit vehicle of moribund capital. Their only electoral strategy is to scare voters with the prospect of Reform govt. But the 2-party system is as dead as Starmerism itself. It won't work. People want change & real hope.

Just in case anyone was in any doubt whether the Conservatives had given up on even pretending to have an intelligent, positive vision of the world, Robert Jenrick (who?) steps up to reassure us that "One Nation" conservatism is, indeed, dead. Bovine, dog-whistle politics it is, then.

Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. But FFS, can we not use this 2nd anniversary of the atrocities of Oct 7th - every bit as genocidal in intent - to remember the innocent victims of that day? WHAT IS WRONG WITH US that everything has to be seen through an "us vs. them" prism.

By denying @owenjones.bsky.social access to Conference, Labour is admitting it cannot handle scrutiny. It is a perfect metaphor for how closeted & disconnected from the ordinary people it purports to represent it has become. Labour is finished. It is now simply a vehicle for elite interests.

Rather than draconian measures forcing young people into low paid work, Rachel Reeves should devise policies to repair the broken social contract that locks Gen Z out of home ownership & secure work. Why should they work? What is society offering them in return - a chance to earn their poverty?

Welcome to MAGAland - angry, insecure, losers who would rather abuse the opposition than support their own side. America's unstoppable political and economic decline captured in one cultural/sporting event. Talk about art imitating life. #RyderCup

Keir Starmer's recognition of Palestinian statehood is performative nonsense for 2 reasons: (1) There is no state left to recognise: Israel has destroyed Gaza & annexed key parts of the West Bank. (2) Starmer has cheered (1) on & still can't bring himself to call it a genocide.

The ruling class have their utopian dream within their grasp - the dissolution of the liberal democratic order, the final check on their power & wealth negated. And they're exploiting the nihilistic despair of an exhausted w/class to their cause. We stand on brink of nihilistic hyper-capitalism.

The murder of Charlie Kirk doesn't signal a sea-change in Trump's authoritarianism - remember the smearing of anti-genocide protests as "antisemitic" last year; rather, it is an opportunity to intensify existing trends towards the police state Trump's billionaire backers demand.

Those hoping the long overdue UN declaration of Israeli genocide against Palestine will shift the dial mistakenly presume the US-Israel relation was ever shaped by humanitarianism. It isn't and never was. Israel is a US proxy, a strategic asset in the US control of the M East.

Elon Musk is deliberately destabilising liberal democracy b/c he sees it as a threat to his desire for unaccountable power which in turn services his insatiable greed & lust for wealth. His preferred model - authoritarian nationalism is a sub-category of neoliberalism's hatred of democracy.

The Labour Party cannot be saved. It is forever lost in the hands of the neo-Blairites, and Starmer's reshuffle is yet another lurch rightwards in a vain attempt to appease nativist voters lost to Reform. Labour is now simply a vehicle for the interests of Capital. A party of the ruling elite.

When can we start calling out the *real* antisemites - those who still support the actions of this disgusting Israeli govt? The reputation of Jews as a persecuted people has been turned on its head by these deeply depraved apologists for this genocide. #GazaFamine #GazaGenocide

Beyond the performative nonsense, yesterday's meeting was a failure of Euro leaders to accept that the post-war international order of US security is over. This is the new reality & their time would be better spent adjusting to a world their failed policies has helped to create. #Trump #Ukraine

If you understand Putin's mindset you can only conclude he got exactly what he came for - treatment as an equal to the US without giving anything up. A PR triumph for Putin as Trump tickled his toes for the world's cameras. For Ukraine? Not so good. Zelensky will now be strongarmed into a deal.

Another strongly worded letter from Keir Starmer. I bet Bibi will choke on his coffee when he reads it. Still, at least Starmer can save a few quid on postage by just putting it in with the UK-made missiles en route to Israel. That's what I call leadership.

Keir Starmer's recognition of Palestinian statehood is an obvious attempt to absolve his govt of complicity in the Gazan slaughterhouse. It will fail - his minor role in making the 21st C's holocaust possible is assured. History will not be kind to him.

Israel's performative distribution of aid - for the benefit of the world's cameras rather than for the starving babies they still intend to murder - is such a PR own goal for the apologists of genocide that they can't even stop I(O)DF spokespeople saying the quiet bits out loud.

A tale of contrasts in The Open Championship - a hugely impressive festival of golf, superb advert for Northern Ireland. On the other hand, a sectarian band parade to remind the world of our grubby sectarian underbelly. Well done to the R&A for directing tourists away from the latter event.

Creation of a new Left party became inevitable once it became clear Starmer's leadership bid was a pack of lies designed to destroy the Labour Left. Why are Starmerites whinging? This is their *intended* outcome - to rid Labour of its Left. #PoliticsLive #JeremyCorbyn

Every year loyalism punches itself in the face with "cultural expressions" of primitive, vulgar hatred. And every year it trots out its official dimwit spokesmen with ludicrous words of justification. And loyalism wonders why decent, respectable folk want nothing to do with it.

Our broken media is merely a reflection of a morally bankrupt political culture, itself a reflection of a decrepit corrupt economic system. These musicians are just holding up the mirror for the ruling class to see its own ugliness, in this case its complicity in genocide. #Kneecap #BobVylan

The new law from the govt mockingly calling itself "Labour" comes into force today banning Palestine Action as a terrorist group, while usual pearl clutchers get in a tizzy over some rapper no-one's ever heard of. Meanwhile the genocide continues funded by our taxes & supported by our establishment

Just your daily (and hourly) reminders that the US is currently run by a man with the behavioural traits of a 9 year old on the far end of the spectrum. #Trump #Iran #Israel #IranIsraelConflict

Banning #PalestineAction is demanded by those celebrating the end of the international rules-based order. Now it is "terroristic" to oppose genocide and colonial oppression, while supporting them is a marker of "civility". These are the death throes of western civilisational order.

The populist left should be thanking Trump for demonstrating the fallacy of "right wing populism". Trumpian "populism" is identical to establishment conservatism - it consists only of millionaire charlatans shilling for the pro-war establishment in the pockets of their super-rich donors.

We are witnessing the end of the international rules-based order. Even the fools we've somehow elected to rule us in UK, what's mockingly called the "liberal centre", are abandoning even the pretence that law/truth/evidence even matter. The normalisation of Trumpism for the age of idiot politics.

Pigmy Keir Starmer is calling for Iran to "return to the negotiations table". Let's recall, the only reason Iran *left* the table was because the Israelis assassinated their chief negotiator. War Is Peace. Ignorance is Strength. Freedom is Slavery.

Contrast Tony Benn's decency & logic with the pigmies who today sit on those benches & beat the drums of war, who were wrong about Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya. Who are consistent only in their incompetence & ignorance. What a shallow politics we now inhabit. #IranIsraelConflict

Mass protests like 2003 aren't going to cut it this time. They failed then & we are now facing a form of imperialist capitalism more grotesque, more misanthropic, more murderous, more violent than anything we saw back then Taking to the streets was & is a total waste of time. We need something more

The "Special Relationship"

The same neo-con ghouls who brought you 1 million dead Iraqis, turned Iraq into a failed state & sired the nihilistic death cultists ISIS, & who still think it was all worth it, are about to do it all again on the spurious pretext of Israeli "self-defence".