This. It’s not just Mandelson this government got wrong. Paving the way for Reform.

After a certain point the sanity of Palantir's leadership does matter to the national security of the UK and other European states buying its software

In competence and venality of the old political elite is ushering in a class of oligarchic politicians that are backed by unprecedented levels of private wealth and driven by some batshit crazy ideas (that just happen to be good for their wealth…) Thiel is a prime mover in this

No, Starmer will not request an election. This is the kind of willy-waving we got from Johnson in his dying days. If he did, the king would be entitled to refuse. The Parliament is still viable, an alternative govt could be formed & an election could not resolve what is an internal party problem.

Peter Pomerantsev: "If Moldova, the poorest country in Europe with 2.4mn people, can defeat Russian hybrid attacks, why can’t the rest of the continent?" www.ft.com/content/36b5...

Excellent piece. 👇👇

Peter Mandelson, Palantir & government cosying up to tech billionaires: NHS contract is key, but many more questions to ask, I said in #HouseofLords. Response: "If there is anything in these papers at all to indicate that further investigation to get to the truth is needed, that will be taken."

That‘s the spirit.

Irony is dead.

here's tonight's FT splash, fresh from the Epstein files

BREAKING: UK should consider re-entering talks for defence pact with the EU, Keir Starmer has said, arguing that Europe needs to “step up and do more” to defend itself in uncertain times www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Okay, I will just say that much: It was extremely good and v intelligent TV. Loved particularly the last scene. It's the truth. It's exactly what is going on in the world.

Waiting for the Grand Finale... #TheNightManager

Spot on from @andrewrawnsley.bsky.social “The growing list of defectors suggests Nigel Farage’s party is less an insurgency than a refuge for the least appealing Tories” #politics

Stunned to discover that this guy is an antisemite

Starmer calling for Andrew to testify is a new sound and it doesn’t bode well for Andrew. Maybe Charles did cut him off late, but still just in time to save the monarchy.

The "coincidence" of Epstein's cash payments to Peter Mandelson's partner/husband in 2009/10 and the then industry secretary's lobbying within cabinet for a softer post-crash policy towards bankers looks on the face of it like outright corruption. Certainly demands police investigation.

Wer verstehen will, wie sehr sich Springers Blattlinie verschoben hat, muss nur diesen Text lesen. ICE-Terror wird als „Unerfahrenheit & schnelle Hand am Abzug“ verharmlost, verantwortlich „Linke“. Die Schuldumkehr zeigt wie sehr Anstand, Moral & Menschlichkeit verrutscht sind.

All that has happened with the killings of Good and Pretti is that the US federal government now knows what it cannot - yet - get away with: murdering civilians while being filmed.

@lewisgoodall.com and David Runciman on @newsagents.bsky.social is just a brilliant brilliant listen, thought provoking, and everyone interested should listen. The analysis of Starmer has got me thinking a lot

It's six years today since Britain left the EU. I wrote this on Brexit day in 2020, about the strategic dilemmas to which European membership had once been the answer and that would now reopen once Britain left. I'd stand by most of it today. gladstonediaries.blogspot.com/2020/01/brex...

Freu mich drauf.👇

Seit dem 7.12. befindet sich das Magazin „Weltspiegel“ im Winterschlaf, unterbrochen nur von einer Ausgabe am 18.1. Eine Sendung, die man in Zeiten, in denen viele internationale Themen nicht die erforderliche Aufmerksamkeit bekommen, eigentlich bräuchte. (1/x) www.mdr.de/altpapier/da...

A new level of mafia statehood: if you do not give money to this person, his praetorian guard will come and terrorize you.

This is the spirit.

Oddly enough, this is the only perfectly accurate headline I've seen on the Minnesota killings so far. @theonion.com

Pre-ordered. This shd be fascinating!

Watching the Night Manager and still loving it. Also what a lovely oldschool way of putting out one episode every Sunday.

Trump and his outriders are intentionally trying to destroy even the idea of truth Trational media strictures - reporting he said, she said; not reporting more ‘extreme’ claims by those not in power - plays right into this It’s a playbook, and it’s already in U.K. (cf Farage’s Dulwich racism)

Es ist kein Journalismus, die Lügen einer Behörde zu stenografieren, deren Agenten erneut einen Menschen getötet haben.

The BBC coverage is absolutely terrible. It leads on "sharply contested narratives" It has a dramatic skew to the US government It has posted the video but has failed to report on what it shows: it shows the US govt account is untrue

Now is not the time to undermine the PM: The Independent Editorial www.independent.co.uk/voices/edito...

The guy should get a medal. He’s trashed Labour’s natural support base, sunk them to a distant second or third in the polls and made Starmer the most unpopular PM in history all for the grand reward of 0% of Reform voters switching to Labour. Quite an achievement.

Prince Harry has joined Keir Starmer in criticising false claims by Donald Trump that British and NATO troops were not on the frontline in Afghanistan. British "sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect" news.sky.com/story/prince...

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026... „Keir Starmer has issued an unprecedented rebuke to Donald Trump for his “insulting and frankly appalling” remarks about British troops in Afghanistan and suggested he should apologise.“

Mark your calendars. This week marks the beginning of the end for Trump. Unfortunately, thanks to his ugly blundering, it also marks the end for an era of American leadership and international partnership that shall be sorely missed. open.substack.com/pub/davidrot...

Great episode. 👇

The good news: The beginning of the end of Trump. The bad news: The end of the Atlantic alliance, American leadership, and the last remaining shreds of goodwill toward this country. open.substack.com/pub/davidrot...

Trump has really angered Starmer. PM had to toughen his language after initial No10 reaction was criticised as not strong enough by families of UK forces killed in Afghanistan. Govt realised it's out of step with public opinion. Even Farage has criticised Trump. Beyond the pale

So ein kluger, tröstlicher Text. Lesen 👇

The BBC has gone beyond both-sidesism, and frequently now presents only Trump's account of events (This isn't the only recent example)

Why there will be no midterm elections. This is worth a listen. Robert Kagan saw where Trump was heading years ago. And he sees it now. 👇 @carolecadwalla.bsky.social

Trump's utterance that force would not be used against Greenland has no more weight than any other of his utterances, and it certainly does not amount to him "ruling out" the use of force in any meaningful way. Disappointing to see so many news outlets place that construction on what he said.

One reason I am gloomy about Britain’s ability to rise to this geopolitical moment is the sheer parochialism and unseriousness of much of its media. The Times, which used to be a serious paper, does not have a single comment piece today on the gravest international crisis in 80 years

Morning, everyone.

There is no strategy www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Bevor deutsche Medien über Jake Lang als “konservativen Influencer” schreiben - der Mann macht Hitlergrüße. Er ist ein Nazi.

The message of Trump’s letter to the prime minister of Norway signals that the president “genuinely lives in a different reality, one in which neither grammar nor history nor the normal rules of human interaction now affect him,” @anneapplebaum.bsky.social argues.