The problem is: national leaders are calling for “European autonomy” without giving it autonomy. They try to sell the fiction of Europe becoming autonomous without powers and means shifting from the national to the European level.

“These findings are fresh evidence of just how the plague of dark money is spreading through our political life”. open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

A £240m defence contract without tender. Their fingerprints all over our health care data. A meeting in the USA but without any minutes. Everything around Palantir stinks. www.thenational.scot/news/2584192...

“Gemany’s Friedrich Merz and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni have a long list of EU laws they want to tear up - which coincidentally happens to largely overlap with the laws the White House is demanding the EU scrap. Funny that.” open.substack.com/pub/davekeat...

Ch4 doc shows Starmer's ban on Palestine Action was done to protect the arms industry open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

In my view the Commission argument against regularisation is unfounded as the law now stands. Here's Article 6.4 of the Returns Directive, which allows Member States to regularise the status of irregular migrants. eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...

🤦‍♀️ Exhibit 1.999.999.000 as to why intergovernmental Europa doesn't work. Will Alden Biesen become a starting point for a truly federal and powerful Europe, or will national leaders carry out Trump's playbook?

Ch4 doc shows Starmer's ban on Palestine Action was done to protect the arms industry open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

No contrition here: “Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Musk frequently lies about the law - and, of course, most recently lied about his close relationship with Epstein, including his desire to visit the island and 'party'

TikTok’s endless scroll is under threat in Europe. “EU regulators argue the app’s design encourages addiction, a finding that could force TikTok to change its feed and put other platforms on notice” By @stokel.bsky.social www.fastcompany.com/91488579/tik...

My latest. Key point is that national defense in Europe is not a national sovereign responsibility. This is a fiction. Europe’s states haven’t been sovereign on defense since WWII. Instead they outsourced defense to a foreign power (US). Now Europe has to start working together as Europe on defense

"Thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of central Sydney, #Australia, to protest the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the country,denouncing him as a war criminal & an enabler of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, chanting “War criminals are not welcome here” & “Herzog is not welcome here”

Is this the end, or the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning of the end? My SKETCH of Keir Starmer clinging on. thecritic.co.uk/et-t...

“Starmerism was never about winning elections. It was about destroying the Labour left – and with it, any hope of a socialist government running one of the world’s largest economies.” open.substack.com/pub/zeteo/p/...

It's only if your worldview - like that of grooming gangs - is that girls from poorer families are just disposable playthings for the rich that this is all a hilarious joke.

“GDP isn't really a measure of the health of "The Economy" - it's a measure of the parts of "The Economy" that make rich people (that is, the Epstein class) better off. Notably, the wealthy don’t just win when ‘number go up,’ but also when ‘number eat shit?’” pluralistic.net/2026/02/09/s...

Major issue: “Andrew shared confidential information with Epstein as trade envoy, files suggest.” This clearly suggests he committed malfeasance in public office. Will the Met urgently investigate? Why not mentioned in The Guardian and buried under royal “expressions of regret” on the BBC?

Excellently stated: ““In an era of wrecking-ball politics, those who simply stand by are at constant risk of entombment. … Too much is at stake. In fact, everything is at stake.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

“Once the law … begins to treat persistence as a problem rather than a feature of democratic participation, free speech stops being a right. It then becomes what it has never been and never should be: a matter of political permission.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

First they fascinate the fools. Then they muzzle the intelligent. - Bertrand Russell. Not from Cork.

"We all knew circumventing the ban was going to be possible, but it was so much easier than we could have expected. No verification, no ID, nothing. It was comedic how many times I saw a new account pop up of one of my friends." HT @rosamundevb.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

You’re right The Sunday Times! Now keep going! Say it after me: “Billions in tax-payer money is being funnelled out of the NHS in various ways, because politicians are turning the NHS into a cash-cow for private shareholders.” www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

🇬🇱 An important gesture. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/06/canada-and-france-open-greenland-consulates-in-show-of-denmark-support

The dude whose company, thanks to Labour, will run our military analytics and to whom Wes Streeting is giving our personal healthcare data.

“It would seem [is!] absurd for the prime minister to ask Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to give evidence to US lawmakers, but not to MPs. The monarchy is not accountable to parliament. Commons rules bar “reflections” on the royals, rendering meaningful debate taboo.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Wise words from a brave woman: “It begins with claims that certain people are dangerous. That ordinary legal safeguards should not apply to them. It ends with a society diminished – more compliant, more cynical, more brutal.” With democracies hollowed out. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Hey, @politico.eu, shouldn't you include Tony Blair Institute's well-known links to petrostates & oil & gas companies in this report? And shouldn't you call him "oil & IT lobbyist" first, since he's been that twice as long as he was PM? www.politico.eu/article/tony...

Portrait of Michelle and Barack Obama former First Lady and President of the US 📷 Pete Souza

Diplomats worldwide, please stop and think: Palestine is being used as the laboratory to dismantle UN-led multilateralism. We can still pedal back and take another road: as a human family. ➡️End the genocide and apartheid in Palestine. ➡️Respect intl law. ➡️Practice SOLIDARITY.

In these dark days of February, a little something to look forward to.

Why are the comedy team of Witkoff and Kushner the lead negotiators on …. ANYTHING??? No Senate approval. No confirmation process. The only expertise these two have is the ability to enrich themselves.

‘Monumental Victory’ after Jury Clears Palestine Action Defendants in Elbit Case The trial occurred after the British government banned Palestine Action under terrorism legislation, a decision harshly criticized by civil liberties & human rights groups. www.palestinechronicle.com/monumental-v...

SWORN TESTIMONY!!! June 18, 2016 "I personally witnessed defendant trump telling the plaintiff that she shouldn't ever say anything if she didn't want to dissappear like the 12 year old female ⬛️⬛️⬛️ and that he was capable of having her whole family killed."

Has anyone asked Nigel Farage what he thinks of his "resilient and brave" friend Donald Trump posting racist memes on Truth Social?

🚨Gorton and Denton by-election PLEASE DON’T BE TAKEN IN BY THE DIVISIVE POLITICS OF REFORM

Two good points: (1) “It is extraordinary that so many of Epstein’s interlocutors were happy to use email. But for all we know there are other bad actors whose conversations will never be traced.” /2 www.ft.com/content/1e76...

"The next time Big Tech persuades the government to water down a digital regulation or wins an NHS contract, the ordinary citizen can be forgiven for being just a little suspicious." More than a little. And we already are! www.ft.com/content/1e76...

Notable: “For MPs to do what they did yesterday, and at speed, was one of the most important events of our recent constitutional history.” www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

@BBCNews rightly notes re Russian attacks on Ukrainian power stations that “attacking civil infrastructure is against the laws of war”. Just odd that they rarely if ever said the same about massive Israeli attacks on civil infrastructure including hospitals in Gaza.

Political drama aside, when a Prime Minister cannot carry the House of Commons on whether government can be trusted on national security, PM’s authority is over. Do not underestimate significance of MPs insisting on a parliamentary committee, and not government, to decide on Mandelson disclosures.

It took considerable courage for the jury in the Palestine Action trial to ignore the demands to convict from the judge, government, police and media and instead to weigh the actual evidence. My latest sets out why jurors were right to reject all the bullying: www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2026-02...

Très judicieux – la Grande-Bretagne devrait faire de même

[ 🇫🇷 FRANCE ] 🔸 Le gouvernement va lancer le 9 février un appel d’offres pour transférer l’hébergement des données de santé des Français vers une plateforme française ou européenne, selon franceinfo. [La suite en réponse ⬇️]

Utter nonsense: “The so-called soft left of the Labour Party [must] accept[] that Streeting is the best choice to lead a fresh start for this government.” He is a Mandelson protégé, FFS! www.independent.co.uk/voices/keir-...

💥 GOOD. Because that £240 million contract gifted to Palantir, with no competition… …after Starmer had an off-the-books meeting with Mandelson and Palantir… …while Mandelson was officially LOBBYING FOR Palantir and so personally financially benefiting from such links and contracts… Stinks.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... The impacts of locking under 16 yos from their social media networks are now beginning to bite for those young people who relied on them for social connection

I really hope people advocating to ban kids from SM read this. Some kids are isolated by disabilities or circumstances. Furthermore, some kids grow up in abusive households. “Ideally, a child’s exposure to online worlds should be moderated by their parents” isn’t a reassuring sentiment for everyone

DEFEND THE RIGHT TO PROTEST | DROP THE CHARGES! Join us at this important public meeting taking place on Thursday, 12 February. 📍SOAS DLR, London, WC1H 0XG ⏰ 7:00pm Details and registration: https://cnduk.org/events/drop-the-charges-defend-the-right-to-protest-free-palestine-public-meeting/

Mamdani: "I speak of Renee Good, whose final words to the man who murdered her were, 'I'm not mad at you.' I speak of Alex Pretti who died as he lived, caring for the stranger. ICE shot him bc he did something they could never fathom ... let us offer a new path: one of defiance through compassion."