Severe alert handily reminding me that I've only got an hour to get to Waitrose before they shut.

We should try to bridge the gap, instead of picking on each other. Constantly arguing with folks on the same side effectively, (not just on EU-UK relations, but SO many issues) who agree on direction and destination, but suggest a different route or pace, while ACTUAL FASCISM is rising, is daft. 3/3

At least Chamberlain got a piece of paper

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! Special Sunday School is coming to you EARLY - as in, the next hour or so - with @snellarthur.bsky.social and @sturdyalex.bsky.social looking at the Trump-Putin nothing-burger and implications going forward. xx

And that's why they got a London Overground line named after them.

FINALLY found time for the first two episodes of Podyssey's new season this WE. Unsurprisingly, it continues the insightful excellence of what came before, peppered with beautifully chosen music/extracts. The crucial distinction given between 'authentic' and 'honest' needs wider exposure, I feel!

Aesop -> Frasier -> Il Trovatore -> Trump -> Slavery -> Revolution -> Regional language -> Golden Girls -> Forrest Gump -> Velazquez -> Zulu -> Sheherazade -> Populism -> Individualism -> New Testament -> Agatha Christie -> Egalitarianism -> Mirroring -> Collective Consciousness -> Memento -> Japan

Who doesn't love anything that starts with a dolphin and a seagull going at it? Glorious!

A brilliant summary of 2025. Someone who doesn't live in London telling someone who does live in London to google London, for proof that it is, in fact, a dystopian hellscape. Something I can disprove by walking to the local bakery, or taking the tube every day, or just... looking out the window. 🤌🏽

🧵Introducing the Trump Action Tracker website! Today I’m launching www.trumpactiontracker.info - a live, searchable list of authoritarian‑style actions from Trump’s second term (over 740 actions so far). 1/14

He's one of Britain's richest men. So why does Asif Aziz's property company keep leasing London gift shops to overseas students based in abandoned offices or flytipped car parks — before vanishing without paying millions of pounds in taxes? www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-l...

Here's something very beautiful for the new Cherry Mint Koala single, out on my Bandcamp and streaming platforms today. The fluidity and energy of these two dancers (Isobel Staddon & Antony Dearlove) is mesmerising. 🤩 #newrelease #newmusic 🎧 youtu.be/eipm2z2jD4w

No-one is paying attention. No-one gives a damn. But one man is valiantly trying to make Labour stick by its manifesto commitment on constitutional reform. Tomorrow, we find out if he's succeeded. iandunt.substack.com/p/this-wedne...

I found @samfr.bsky.social's piece so interesting that I wrote a sort of companion piece on the role played by The Spectator @thespectator1828.bsky.social in this radicalisation. Sam doesn't mention it in his piece but I think it's an important part of the story. open.substack.com/pub/arthursn...

This is a subject I have yearned for people to take seriously. I can’t imagine a better person to do that than @samfr.bsky.social

Bingeing the very fine #strongmessagehere series on R4. Revealing insight from Sara Pascoe who once had to share a dressing room with Nigel Farage for a 2016 pre-ref event. She was introduced to him as a comedian, and the door shut. Farage's first words to her? 'I don't find comedy funny.'

It is perfectly acceptable to begin a sentence with ‘and.’  And it’s equally acceptable to begin a sentence with ‘but’ or ‘or.’

Very few broke ranks - @rolandmcs.bsky.social is a very honourable exception - and so, I'm sorry, but Hannan does not just deserve ridicule. What he, Owen Paterson, and many others of that ilk did to our country deserves condemnation and utter contempt. 8/8

And once you've read Roland's substack piece, read this response to it from Chris Grey for useful added perspective. #Brexit

Accurate histories are vital. Not least for recognising when certain political players attempt to rewrite the past. One neatly put sentence in this excellent piece particularly caught my attention: 'In short, the Leave movement had radicalised itself throughout the campaign.' #Brexit

If you are not concerned by the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation because you think it doesn’t impact you, you are wrong. This is an authoritarian abuse of power by the government & it curtails all of our civil liberties #r4today

And they have the nerve to describe this plan to rob everyone and give to the rich as a "Robin Hood" policy. ~AA

Reform UK is proposing a "Britannia card" that would let wealthy foreigners pay a £250k fee to move to the UK, and live here exempt from all tax on their foreign assets What they don't say: it would cost the UK £34bn Report here, and thread below: buff.ly/gpe2Dpf

For what the situation in Iran might mean for its people, and for the U.K. and Cyprus, have a listen to Arthur Snell on today’s Quiet Riot 🎧👇 open.spotify.com/episode/346K...

Five things to remember about war:

'In the aftermath of Trump striking Iran, the chances of the Islamic Republic surviving seems slim.' A timely and well-informed read. #Iran

#RecipeOfTheDay is Strapatsada! Whether you eat these special scrambled eggs for breakfast, lunch or supper is entirely up to you: they’re good at absolutely any time. With thanks to @sturdyalex.bsky.social for showing me the way! www.nigella.com/recipes/stra...

Judgement Day for the EHRC: How the equality watchdog turned into a toxic culture war campaign group iandunt.substack.com/p/judgement-...

The conditions that have led to what’s happening in the US today exist in democracies around the world. They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.

Mozart gets a mint makeover! One of his most earwormy tunes taken on a musical adventure ride by my classical-ish trio Cherry Mint Koala. With playful visuals. 😎 Out today via Bandcamp and streaming platforms. Upcoming album 'Connections Drawn'. #newmusic #musicsky 🎧🎵 youtu.be/Q3WPtaLkRj8

I cannot state this strongly enough: If you are upset about the way this government is treating trans people and immigrants, and you have a Labour MP, for God sake write to them.

Whose curse is it anyway? Another superb exploration in this wonderful series, reaching far beyond simplistic assumptions and framing. Ideal WE downtime food for thought.

Posted this earlier, posting it again, my blog post of ten years ago today in which I was depressingly and painfully prescient. I don't know why so few other people saw it coming. To me it was as plain as could be that we'd end up here if we elected Cameron. ottocr.at/treat-7-may-...

A new daily commute addiction has arrived.

Why do we have company law in the UK when no one enforces it? Right now, companies can break the law with near total impunity — and society pays the price. By @richardjmurphy.bsky.social

Reform are preposterously beatable. This flag policy should be called what it is - a Ukraine flag ban - and be an intense focus of attack from other parties www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

'US bases in mainland Europe have largely been closed down... Their orders, pretty much from Nov, were pack everything up and shred all the documents... Everything's in crates, just sitting on tarmac waiting to be loaded somewhere.' Sobering insight in this frank discussion. Also, reasons to hope.

If you have a Lab MP, please consider highlighting this graph to them (or the figures it contains). Anthony's summary is spot on: confront populism, don't accommodate it. My MP is @yuanfenyang.bsky.social

Already looking forward to Farage's next blame game cycle when he is shocked to discover that managing council budgets is a thankless and nightmarish responsibility after years of vicious austerity and rising social care costs, and that removing the 'woke' stuff doesn't save very much.

Curious how the number of Ref seat gains (677) almost exactly match the Con losses (676). Meanwhile, LibDem & Green combined gains (208) almost exactly match Lab & Ind combined losses (206). I mean, I know it's not that simple, but the neatness is striking.

Where is the incentive right now from Labour to encourage left/centre voters who are not tribally loyal, esp knowing the gov have a massive majority? There's plenty to be dismayed abt. And more broadly, voters know very well how to protest vote at by-elections under FPTP.

Such a thorough and welcome piece of analysis. Toward the end Ian highlights the potential for further dire consequences of the political cowardice we have seen to date (re the ECHR and Cons/Ref campaigning to leave it) which ought to give any Labour MP pause for thought.

There are several lessons from Canada for UK politics The biggest, most obvious lesson is likely to be widely ignored in the UK media by Saturday morning! Don't think you could predict & project a 2029 General Election result from the polls 2025/2026. It would be difficult in 2027/2028!

The Canadian election is definitely the only election in a developed country I can remember where the central pitch of the winning party was essentially “this country should exist”.

If only someone in the Trump administration could have told him that insulting and threatening neighbours and allies would lead to outcomes he would really not want. Personality cults, eh?

Congratulations to Mark Carney and the Liberal Party on their election victory. The bond between Europe and Canada is strong — and growing stronger.

Poilievre down by 2,500 with 17 areas to declare. Looks like he's going to lose his seat.

Glorious. Beautiful. Game changing. Wake up with a song of joy in your heart.

Strategic genius, eh. Not only has Trump achieved nothing with his bullying of Canada, he has ensured the return of a Liberal government that will stand up to him. This is where day-to-day leverage-seeking gets him.