Stop the War are campists and absolutely abysmal on Ukraine. We very much hope their input does not taint The National's coverage.

White working class voters want recognition and inclusion: not appeals to crude prejudice. As argued here with @tariqmodood.bsky.social Sam Taylor Hill open.substack.com/pub/nationst...

When "over two-thirds of all private donations in 2023 came from just 19 mega donors, you no longer have a system that represents the people. A bill called the Representation of the People Bill ought to take that seriously." A good article, that makes a compelling case for a cap on party donations.

Big purchase requires big Internet. This is simple math

Innovate UK head foresees ‘golden era’ for research commercialisation Interviewed by RPN, Tom Adeyoola confident research base can generate “companies of the future” as funder revamps model www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

First Past the Post just doesn't work when five parties are just nine percentage points away from each other.

It's why I often wonder whether the chaotic global disorder of the 17th century might be a more useful historical frame of comparison for our own era then the relatively ordered global system of the late 20th.

Been thinking about the oft-studied paradigm shift to monetarism in late-70s. Another shift is long overdue but the alliance of interests & ideas isn’t there: elite’s don’t feel threatened & the ruling party doesn’t do ideas. Now an oil crisis…feels familiar. So the Q isn’t if but who/what?(1/)

The Politics of Feeling: Populism, Progressivism, Liberalism - free online event April 11th - details and tickets: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-politi...

Welcome to Bluesky, the Libel Site

Really quite stunning how Trump's decision to deploy ICE has solved the problems he created at America's airports.

It never ceases to amaze me how vague people are about HS2 when the line of accountability is crystal clear. It was David Cameron and George Osborne who recklessly greenlighted HS2 and got us into this £100bn mess - while destroying everyday public services with their austerity programme.

At this point, this could mean anyone who has access to the scheduled social media posts can be selling insider info as a cottage industry. Pretty wide circle, I imagine.

All these outside actors arriving in Hungary to support a PM whose bread and butter for a decade has been railing against outside actors interfering in Hungary's national sovereignty.

And the deeper problem underlying this is a political culture where populists who simply lie with abandon are on the rise and moderate incumbents, terrified of these opponents, have become incapable of telling voters uncomfortable truths they don't want to hear.

I am beginning to wonder if this is a big error. This is not 2022, there isn't a gallon-load of demand-fuel in the system, history doesn't always repeat or even rhyme. Policy needed tightening then becaus NGDP growth was way outside its good range. Now it is where it should be ...

Same old story with Silicon Valley.

What is to be done @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social wp.me/p15p2Q-gpc

Since the election, Trump works to energise his base every day but rarely lets the wider popularity contest affect his strategy. For him, this presidency is all about establishing himself as an oligarch with klepto and networks. Winning elections is someone else’s problem.

Cuba is not in a crisis because it is communist or has an authoritarian government, it’s having a catastrophic humanitarian crisis because the United States is carrying out an illegal siege against the island with the goal of starving and killing thousands for financial gain.

Otherwise known as "pushing 50."

Today, tech billionaires who are ignorant, evil, or both are trying to change how we understand what it means to be human: what we are able to do with our minds, what we want to do, why we bother living at all. Don't let them monstrify you. From HUMANS: A Monstrous History: 7/7

A lot of American analysts shaped by how US strategic debates of the 1990s and 2000s revolved around specifically defined though often wildly unrealistic goals are struggling to adapt to a world where US war strategy boils down to smash shit up until it breaks forever and then go home

a fun fact that I will never tire of is that the brits cooked up the idea of a “vote of no confidence“ specifically to ditch the govt that lost the war against the US colonies, which is why our constitutional tradition doesn’t benefit from their innovation

[stares at British 'populism']

War on another front.

New thought for me

Not knowing what I can do to help Cuba, currently also the victim of a war initiated by Trump, I have bought more Havana Club rum than I need. Currently £5 off at Sainsbury's.

"The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not!" Not just an acknowledgement of failure, but also a substantial shift in the decades old US position on freedom of navigation. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...

I actually think something like a lower speed limit in the UK would inject a very welcome dose of geopolitical reality into politics.

Trump says, “The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it – The United States does not!” In which case, why would the Gulf states allow the US to retain its bases there?

this is completely insane: since when is it acceptable for a tech company to rewrite news outlets' headlines without their consent? especially at a time when audiences are sensitive to how stories are framed in headlines? (ie Israel/Palestine, the Trump admin, ICE) www.theverge.com/tech/896490/...

My synagogue meets in a church because we can't afford our own building, you pompous fucking dipshit.

I find it absolutely gobsmacking that after a decade-plus of hearing about how US-China was the most important relationship of the 21st century, we have gone a year now without hearing a word from Trump II (or the US forpol community, for that matter) about the US-China relationship.

‘In 2022, I published an essay endorsing Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination.’ These people really are a joke

Brexit has likely done more economic damage than feared. Recent evidence suggests the economic cost of Brexit may be approaching twice the 4% impact assumed by the OBR. The Chancellor has signalled a shift in approach to EU trade, but the effect will depend on how far the govt goes on alignement.

Why then the continued silence from the Tory Shadow Attorney General who continues to represent Abramovich? You can read it here: www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

A reprise on old threads and threads others have been writing... but... monetary and fiscal policy have hard work dealing with the oil price rise. This is literally a rise in the 'cost of living'. Living involves expending energy to sustain/entertain ourselves. The cost of that energy is up.

Terrific, forensic

You’d never know from reading the @nytimes.com that a blockade is an act of war. That this is a war of aggression. That suddenly depriving millions of people of safe drinking water is a war crime. That this unprecedented humanitarian disaster was deliberately engineered by Donald Trump for leverage.

I know this is widely remarked on but the complete collapse of the UK's right wing into extremism is so alarming. In the 20's we've gone from Tories regularly (albeit incorrectly) saying FPTP has kept far right out of UK politics to complete normalisation of the far right despite electing just 6 MPs

If you had $77bn you could squander without feeling any consequences whatsoever, what boondoggle would you throw it after?

People laughed at me when I said this would happen.

Big speech by John Major tonight delivering the Clement Attlee memorial lecture at Kings College. Some extracts: thinks that our electoral system may now need changing, Brexit needs revisiting.

There is literally no limit to how much damage Trump could inflict on the global economy. He is driven by motives that are completely disconnected from the wellbeing of his own country, let alone the rest of the world. If he thinks it will help in November, he will bankrupt us all.

Atleti there for the taking

The French Connection has delivered the goods. #COYS

Under Rayner Labour wld performatively demonstrate it was on working people’s side but she doesn’t indicate where any new money will come from to make a real difference to their lives. What’s clear tho is she’s not seeking a place in Starmer’s ‘unBritish’ govt. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Like the man says, very interesting.