In the latest iteration of medieval problems, the 21st century edition - Imagine if Trump and Vance now declare Leo the antipope and name their own pope

I am not one of those who believes that history repeats, but consider the following from Herodotus: the Oracle at Delphi told the fabulously wealthy King Croesus that if he invaded Persia he would "destroy a great empire." Croesus invaded and lost--the empire he destroyed was his own.

“Dune - God Emperor of Whitehall”

Always great to see your work in print! @thenewworldmag.bsky.social #uk #folkmusic #politics

English folk music and practice is seeing a revival. Could it be an alternative Englishness to that pushed by the far right? My piece for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social #folk #ukpolitics #uk

March 8, 2026 - Tehran at sunrise today. But the sun is hidden behind a sky filled with smoke. After a night of intensive strikes on oil facilities, thick black clouds now hang over the city, turning morning into something that feels like night.

Labour have responded to a by-election in which they haemorrhaged votes to the left and came third in a seat they’ve held for decades by denying there’s a problem and doubling down on the same policies which drove those people away. They’re truly sticking their heads in the sand.

What a moment! The atmosphere had been building up all night before erupting when Hannah Spencer was confirmed as the new MP for @greenparty.org.uk

The once-safe Labour seat of Gorton & Denton just turned Green. Hannah Spencer’s pro-Palestine campaign delivered a historic by-election win in Manchester. The New Arab was there as the results came in Video: @kitrobertsjourno.bsky.social Additional credits: Issy Maple, Kitty Grant

My coverage for @thenewarab.bsky.social on the results of the Gorton and Denton by-election #ukpolitics #politics #gortonanddenton

Well this aged like milk 😂

Massive win for the Greens and a rout for Labour in Gorton and Denton. Labour went from a majority of over 13,000 to third place behind Reform, and the Greens have a comfortable majority of 4,402 votes. #ukpolitics #gortonanddenton

Turnout in Gorton & Denton is 47.62%. It was 47.8% at the general election in 2024.

Well there we go, polls have closed. #gortonanddenton #ukpolitics

It’s anyone’s guess who will win Gorton and Denton, but what do we think the margin is going to be? Less than 500 votes? Less than 100? Less than 10? Share your predictions! #ukpolitics #gortonanddenton #uk #journalist

Very excited to be covering the by-election in Gorton and Denton for @thenewarab.bsky.social overnight. #ukpolitics #uk #byelection #manchester

My report from Gorton and Denton for @thenewarab.bsky.social ahead of this week’s by-election #ukpolitics #news #politics

I’ve been in Gorton and Denton covering the by-election for @thenewarab.bsky.social #ukpolitics #uk #gortonanddenton Read here:

I interviewed @greenparty.org.uk candidate Hannah Spencer for @thenewarab.bsky.social ahead of the by-election in Gorton and Denton in Manchester this week. Check out some extracts from the interview here: www.instagram.com/reel/DVG8F1H... @zackpolanski.bsky.social #ukpolitics #manchester

How I define north/south as someone from Stoke-on-Trent #northsouthdivide #uk

Seen complaints from Americans about Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance because it was in Spanish. Sounds like a skill issue to me 🤷

“Lee Anderson? Wasn’t he a member of the Labour Party?”

Five jobs I’ve had: - Shelf stacker - Bartender - Drummer - Tea seller - Journalist

Well worth a read. newlinesmag.com/reportage/ho...

I drove through Snake Pass for the first time today, a hair-raising experience. It baffles me that this is one of the main road routes between two of the biggest cities in the UK I’m sure there are plenty of complicated reasons, but talk about “if it’s not in or connected to London who cares” jfc

The high medieval papacy, which incidentally got through a lot of (olive) oil, didn’t fight its own battles to protect its interests, it wanted the Holy Roman Emperor to fight them on its behalf This post is not about the high medieval papacy

Astonishing rendition of My Way by Jessie J on Hootenanny last night, and coming after her story of coming through breast cancer what a glorious and beautiful way to say defiantly “I’m still here” #jessiej #hootenanny

Do you like language, culture, and history? Then give me a follow over on TikTok where I’m posting regularly on language, culture, and a bit of news, history, and general nerdy stuff that I think is cool. If you’re very lucky I might even do a dance. #tiktok #bluesky #journalist

So I looked up the Christmas No 1 the year I was born. “Mr Blobby” by Mr Blobby Us millennials really just can’t catch a break can we? 🤣 #christmas

Estimates of 60,000 people murdered in el-Fasher in Sudan in three weeks. I’ll just repeat that - 60,000 people murdered, in three weeks. That’s nearly 3,000 people butchered every day - for three weeks. Where is the outrage? Where is the response? #sudan #worldnews #elfasher

Insightful and informative piece by @jessothomson.co.uk on the decision by the WI and Girl Guides to exclude trans women #lgbtq #ukpolitics #transrights

If you need me I’ll be in the corner rocking back and forth and crying at the mere thought of taking down the entirety of Hamlet in shorthand. #shorthand #journalism

If you had a guaranteed comfortable home and good quality of life on two days of work a week, what would you do?

I'm looking to get a TikTok going in the near future and I thought I would ask BlueSky - what do people want to hear from a freelance journalist on TikTok? #tiktok #bluesky

Well that can't be a good sign.

Unlike the US, Brazil has a dictatorship within living memory. In fact, Brazil’s current president was a key opponent of that very dictatorship. Worth remembering with the legal response to Bolsonaro’s attempted coup.

Well it’s not looking great.

As a 32-year-old I recently had an episode where I blacked out started getting excited about my new hoover. I came to while comparing life insurance policies.

Oh wow it's actually worse than I thought

This government has not taken a single meaningful step to tackle the causes of the horrendous inefficiencies in the criminal justice system, instead rushing to dismantle trial by jury. Legal professionals have offered numerous alternatives to address the backlog. Ministers are not listening.

So let me get this straight, Labour's plan to resolve the appalling crisis in the criminal justice system is to undermine the right to trial by jury? Between that and anti-protest laws you could be forgiven for seeing an alarming authoritarian streak in Labour. #labour #ukpolitics #politics

Some absolutely insane context here. What on earth happened?

Let me get this straight - the same government that has claimed to want to protect asylum seekers from exploitation by criminal gangs now wants to pick their pockets? #labour #immigration #politics

Seeing Ahmed Al-Sharaa go from having a $10 million bounty on his head to being personally spritzed with cologne by Donald Trump is a surreal reminder of just how much things have shifted in Syria.

A brave and important piece by @jessothomson.co.uk on biases in the judiciary. Please give it a read. #uk #law #transrights

When I'm out and about in Manchester lately I often get this sixth sense of something off or hostile in the atmosphere, like a gut feeling? This is recent, and not something I would associate with such a welcoming and diverse city. It's unsettling. I'm sure I'm not the only person who has this.

Seeing how Dawn Butler was treated by the speaker of the House of Commons while responding to Sarah Pochin is appalling and entirely unsurprising. In the U.K. calling someone out for racism is treated with greater severity than actually saying or doing something racist. #ukpolitics

Absolutely disgraceful treatment of Bury Times journalist @lvalentinejourno.bsky.social here #journalism #manchester

Police forces across the U.K. regularly bar football fans of a wide variety of clubs from attending some away matches when police have reason to believe allowing fans to attend may pose a risk to public safety. That’s a decision for the police and should have been the end of the matter. #ukpolitics

Somewhere two metal detectorists who look eerily like Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones are muttering into the pints they bought with muddy loose change detected that afternoon