New post from @ldfreedman.bsky.social "One last push?" The Russians are gearing up for a major offensive in the Donbas. What are its chances of success? The result could be critical to the outcome of the war. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/o...

More than anything, the MAGA phenomenon is about letting an incredibly stupid man have near-absolute power.

What Would Follow the Shoot-Down of a Russian Military Aircraft Over Tallinn Bay? balticsentinel.eu/8328888/what...

Putin is playing a dangerous game with Nato www.ft.com/content/2ee2...

Why are the American president's claims about autism the first item on British news bulletins? He's not our president, the advice doesn't apply here and he's not presented any evidence to support his assertions. So why spread these claims? What make this the biggest story in the UK?

Soviet deception operation you probably never heard about. Operation STORM, #MGB plan to fake the landing of #CIA agents in Lithuania. Based on my ongoing archival research at @hooverinstitution.bsky.social The link for my article: tinyurl.com/5h4zyj6c #spies #coldwar @socintelhist.bsky.social

📚 Join us on 9 October for our first event of the term! Dr Grant H. Golub will be discussing his new book, "Warriors in Washington: Henry Stimson, the US Army, and the Politics of American Power in World War II" 🔗 Register here: www.kcl.ac.uk/events/book-...

On Thursday 25th, 7pm Guildford Institute: Gordon Corera talking about his excellent new book The Spy in the Archive, plus a talk by me, all in aid of The Meath Epilepsy Charity. Do come! meath.org.uk/events/secre...

Reform's plans to end indefinite leave to remain go to the post I wrote last week on their slide towards chaotic authoritarianism. The British constitution would allow them to do it if they had a majority but at vast cost to our society and way of life. samf.substack.com/p/the-route-...

💯. Progressives have to stop franchising out their consciences to the courts. Politics is about moral choices. The problem with Reform's proposal isn't that "the courts won't allow it". It's that it's grotesque and inhuman. If we're democrats, we must believe that this argument can be won.

BBC News - How Russian-funded fake news network aims to disrupt election in Europe - BBC investigation www.bbc.com/news/article...

In view of today’s news, my piece on the key question: what are the frontiers of the Palestinian state the UK is recognising?

My latest: www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

This is excellent.

Speech by Sir Richard Moore, Chief of SIS, 19 September 2025 www.gov.uk/government/s...

You don’t need to be credentialed to cover an agency.

The last words of Czechoslovakia’s founder TG Masaryk were sealed for 90 years, but worth the wait: “If people are uneducated and foolish, there is not much that can be done. People are glad to be foolish. Do not make it easy for them, and argue with them.” www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...

It may, but there's a good answer. The US is also in trade talks with China. A similar response is available to President Trump's recent demand (in his search for reasons not to sanction Russia further) that the EU put "100% tariffs" on China. The US hasn't done so.

New post just out: "Three seconds" What links Charlie Kirk, the overthrow of the Nepalese government, the US-China trade deal, and the trial of a Romanian Presidential candidate? TikTok. Here's why it's changing politics and what that means. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

🚨Publication alert!🚨We start the autumn with a post from @bjorngronning.bsky.social and @stigstenslie.bsky.social from the Norwegian Intelligence School on intelligence failures and successes: kcsi.uk/kcsi-insight...

🫣🤫🫣

The UK’s problems aren’t caused by immigration on.ft.com/46p3BPl

“Children from Ukraine have been put in schools and cadet academies with military training oriented toward the fight against their own homeland.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...

Superb. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Essential reading as always.

On days like today, it’s important to remember the words of the wonderful Jonathan Miller when challenging the dog-whistling of those who wish to divide us for political or financial gain.

This is just utterly craven. (Do watch the videos in this thread). To quote - checks notes - Kemi Badenoch, in a lecture on "courage": "A strong nation is clear about who its enemies are and what its interests are. [Thatcher] knew that appeasement never works and that weakness invites aggression".

Pam Bondi deleted a government study showing that right-wingers commit more terrorism. The right cannot think coherently so instead of making their own studies, they censor legitimate ones. But don't worry Pam, I saved it for you web.archive.org/web/20250911...

New post just out: "Burn it down vs build it up" With the right radicalising by the day - how can the argument be won on the key dividing line in politics? (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...

This is as good as everyone is saying it is.

Establishing a new force with military status will help protect critical national infrastructure but needs to be more than an afterthought to Reserve force planning, write Professor Vincent Connelly and Paul O’Neill.

My new article on Substack! "The Spy Who Wasn't There: #MGB Search for a Suspected Agent of U.S. Intelligence in Lithuania in 1950" #coldwar #spies @socintelhist.bsky.social Based on my ongoing archival research @hooverinstitution.bsky.social. The link: kgbstack.substack.com/p/the-spy-wh...

Beyond the economic boost for the UK, the sale of Type 26 Frigates to Norway is a vote of confidence for the strategic partnership and NATO planning, write Commander Edward Black and Dr Sidharth Kaushal.

New post just out: "The route to chaotic authoritarianism" On why Reform's deportation plans would have consequences well beyond asylum, that could change Britain forever. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

NHS waiting times are vital for people's experience of the health service as well as their health. We've dug into the data behind rising NHS waiting times - and why they strengthen the case for taking a preventative approach to health, easing pressure on the system ⤵️

It's not over until...My latest Inside Out column... philipstephens.substack.com/p/reports-of...

Well deserved.

Important piece by John Simpson in @theobserveruk.bsky.social, on the American money funding Yaxley-Lennon and the far-right in Britain. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

A refreshingly against-the-grain reading of the latest "events, dear boy, events".

“Since President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to Alaska by Trump, the Russian leader has ramped up attacks on Ukraine, threatened to kill any future foreign forces in Ukraine, hit Western targets in Ukraine, and unleashed a drone incursion into Poland.” www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

My colleague @thejohnsimpson.bsky.social has done a terrific deep dive into the financial links between US tech billionaires and Tommy Robinson Well worth a read observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Deeply disturbed to see today's 'Unite the Kingdom' march in London with 100,000+ attendees. This was likely the largest far-right protest in British history and was led by Tommy Robinson and addressed by Elon Musk. The far right are emboldened like never before. But, here's the good news... 🧵

A Labour government that does not fight back against the far right, racism and extremism fundamentally misunderstands the nature of its electoral support.

in the 23rd century historians are going to need have their Routledge Handbook of 21st-Century Internet Memes, their Cambridge Companion to 4Chan, and their Oxford Guidebook to Computer Gaming Culture handy to make sense of the rise of American fascism and the fall of the United States

The partisan politicization of intelligence needs to stop. This is the most important piece I’ve written, and history every American needs to know:

From Stalin’s 1941 May Day parade in Moscow to Xi’s Tiananmen Square display, military spectacles have long been used to project power and mask vulnerability. The politics of a military parade | Peter Caddick-Adams engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...

Analysis of the Israeli strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar. As it failed to kill its targets and annoyed Donald Trump what are the implications for attempts to end the war? (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/n...?

'As universities close courses and departments in response to financial pressures...students in parts of the North, South West and East of England, as well as large areas of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, are losing access to social sciences, humanities and arts (SHAPE) courses.' 1/2

Excellent though frightening.