'Mandelson took [McS] under his wing, & Mr McSweeney became, in the words of a former adviser to Tony Blair, "the new Peter Mandelson" ... [making] himself indispensable to power without wielding it directly, cultivating influence through proximity rather than position.' www.rte.ie/news/analysi...

So much for the Trump regime's commitment to "free speech" - it seems, as the saying goes, they can dish it out, but they can't take it... www.euronews.com/2026/02/06/u...

Da iawn ti, Seren! nation.cymru/feature/wels...

Next, Washington DC to become Trumpton DC? www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

EU internal memo with info re rescue financing ... 'forwarded to Epstein in May 2010 with Mandelson suggesting in an email that “it should be announced tonight” [giving] advance access to market-sensitive data central to the ECB’s crisis-era strategy.' www.euronews.com/business/202...

Are you emotionally frail? If you are, what can you do about it? Listen to the latest episode: www.academicimperfectionist.com/podcast/126 #academicsky #podcast #wellbeing #productivity

In focus today for #WomeninEthics: @rebeccaroache.bsky.social, whose philosophy of language has made us think deeper about silences, passive aggression, and swearing - among other things! More about Rebecca's work: www.instagram.com/p/DUF9kJpDXT8/ #WiE #Ethics #PracticalEthics

Compare & contrast: Paris: 2019 Notre Dame partly destroyed by fire; 2024 reopened to public. London: 2016 HoP facing "impending crisis"; 2026 still considering options... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Our paper modelling transmission risk in schools is published in Nature Communications. **The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools** doi.org/10.1038/s414...

this is vicious and correct www.economist.com/britain/2026...

UK military head says defence cuts needed without more funding. Easing Treasury's fiscal rules could allow increased defence spending, yet government says 'the fiscal rules “are non-negotiable”.' Even with threat from Russia acknowledged to be immediate? Bizarre! www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

'Current economic models ... look precise but [are] wildly optimistic. “Some are saying we’ll have a 10% GDP loss at between 3C & 4C degrees [of global heating], but the physical climate scientists [say] economy and society will cease to function as we know it.' www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Weird and almost universal revisionism today. Even at the time, it was pretty clear that Mandelson wasn't appointed *despite* his dodgy links but *because* of them. Trump's Washington is a dirty swamp. Mandelson was deemed a man able to swim in it. This wasn't a secret. Everybody said it out loud.

"Poland to probe Russia-Epstein links: PM Tusk says late billionaire was likely a spy for Moscow" - all too believable in these fevered times... www.france24.com/en/poland-to...

"... it appears that the Government are going to reintroduce targets for policing." Is it too cynical too think that setting targets & describing them as 'achievable' is a convenient way of shifting blame for failure away from ministers? nation.cymru/news/theresa...

When Trump dissed allied troops’ contribution in Afghanistan, he touched an open wound in Britain over the ‘blood price’ paid for our relationship with the US markurban.substack.com/p/the-myth-e...

"the man with a rightful claim to have co-created the modern Labour party" - and inspired its readiness to pay too uncritical attention to the concerns of the very wealthy? Time maybe for UK Labour to take a long hard look at itself... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A small fire, quickly extinguished, to make a point. 10 yrs or so earlier, suffragette's carried similar acts for arguably related reasons. Whereas 90 years or so ago Andrew R T Davies favourite read, the Daily Mail, notoriously supported the truly violent Blackshirts. nation.cymru/news/andrew-...

But with UK's unwritten constitution & the constitutional supremacy of Westminster there'd be nothing to stop a UK Reform Gov abolishing UK's devolved governments anyway. Imagine what a Trump-like PM in the UK could do without the constraints of a written constitution... nation.cymru/news/ex-mps-...

This sums up what Welsh Labour are up against. @moreincommonuk.bsky.social polling looks at how people view various Welsh Gov policies. The further right on the graph the more have heard of it. The further up the more people like it. People have really only heard of the things they hate.

A tsunami is a wide scale event, so reading this raises the question whether there are records of similar phenomena in 1607 impacting other coastal areas of Britain, Ireland, France or Iberia? nation.cymru/feature/did-...

Welsh Labour MP: "There is no way policing will be devolved." adding it 'was especially the case "as we don't know who is in charge" after the Senedd elections in May' - Labour's Trumpist tendency on full display? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

David Lammy, now UK Justice Sec, wrote in 2019: “Stripping individuals of citizenship sets a very dangerous precedent. We should take responsibility for our own citizens & try them for crimes in British courts, not leave them stateless. This is the rule of law.” www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

"the man who, on spurious national security grounds, took away Shamima Begum’s British citizenship for choices she made, or pressures she was put under, as a child." - to placate the Daily Mail... www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

A stark illustration of how smaller Canadian provinces are strongly disadvantaged by internal trade barriers... www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

"UK has repatriated six women & 10 children since 2022. About 55 [other] men, women & children with British links were believed to be in Kurdish detention [including] Shamima Begum, still held at al-Roj camp, in one of the last Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria" www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

“That’s why [Trump] didn’t bring Machado back. He doesn’t want someone with a Nobel prize and a lot of woolly ideas about democracy.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Just a reminder that if Trump's policies had been in effect in the past, there would be no Apple (Steve Jobs is the son of Syrian immigrants), no Google (Sergei Brin immigrated from the USSR), and no WhatsApp (Jan Koum immigrated from Ukraine). 65% of all top tech companies has immigrant founders.

Unification of Welsh police forces with forces across the border might seem superficially attractive, but would undermine their efforts to facilitate interactions with the many Welsh language speakers who may be less confident communicating in English... www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

“The UK measles resurgence is a failure of policy, not parenting ... When appointments are difficult to get and support isn’t there, the system ends up failing the very families who need it most.” www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

"about 3.8 million UK people experienced destitution – a category even more extreme than very deep poverty, in which households cannot afford to stay warm, dry, clean, clothed & fed ... 'a seeming lack of urgency and sense of direction'” - just shameful in 2026 UK www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Iolo Morganwg matched his words with action. He was a vocal opponent of Britain’s involvement in the slave trade. Although he struggled financially for most of his life, Iolo turned away profit if it was connected to slavery ✍️Jerry Hunter wp.me/p8Mk4U-1dmE

"The NPS will be run by a national police commissioner" - will there be an arms length oversight body representing the four nations of the UK, or will there be just another shiny new lever of power for the Home Secretary? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

"The prisoners transferred face being tortured, sentenced to death and executed, without being granted any meaningful opportunity to contest the allegations against them," Katherine Cornett, Reprieve's deputy director told the BBC.

"Over the course of 20 years thousands of servicemen ... from dozens of countries deployed to Afghanistan, answering the US call for assistance" - Bush, Clinton & Biden were all in charge over this period. What do they have to say about Trump's accusations? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

On the other hand it could perhaps be argued that Alaska is the "natural partner" of Canada... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

British nationals were stripped of citizenship. "But the British state cannot so easily shed its responsibility. Because countries hoped the issue would remain someone else’s, the threat has only grown. These detainees should be repatriated and dealt with..." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Mein Mitleid hält sich schwer in Grenzen, um nicht gar zu sagen "Kein Backup, kein Mitleid, AI-Edition". After turning off ChatGPT’s ‘data consent’ option, Marcel Bucher lost the work behind grant applications, teaching materials and publication drafts. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Hanfodol i bawb sydd hefo ddiddoreb mewn addysg yng Nghymru - yn wir, i bawb hefo diddordeb yn ein dyfodol fel cenedl. Essential reading for anyone interested in education in Wales or, indeed, the country’s future more generally. wonkhe.com/blogs/welsh-...

Trafodir ymchwil @theunionsurvey.bsky.social gan @richardwynjones.bsky.social ac @ailsahenderson.bsky.social yn yr erthygl hon 👇 / This article discusses our research about Englishness from The Union Survey 👇 www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2...

'Dozens of oil tankers sanctioned by the UK in response to Russia's war in Ukraine have sailed through the English Channel this month despite [UK Gov saying it was] ready to "tighten the chokehold" on Russia and take new "assertive actions" against shadow fleet vessels' www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

My latest piece for the Guardian: Wales is on course to have a majority of parties in the Senedd who support Welsh independence. The best way to secure the future of the UK is to make it work for the people of the UK. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"Reprieve, a human rights campaign group, estimates there are about 55 men, women & children from the UK or with a claim to UK nationality held in north-east Syria, though many ... have had their British citizenship removed." - high time UK Gov repatriated them... www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

The package is aimed at England, not the 'UK' (yes, there is a difference!) www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

A more accurate description of the oncoming storm might be: 'a storm that at one time would have been considered a generational storm but is now the shape of things to come, thanks to climate change' (although admittedly, that doesn't make for a snappy headline) www.cbc.ca/news/science...

Exciting update! After appearing on the podcast, Dana Klisanin wrote a great article in @psychologytoday.com in which she reflects on imperfection. Here it is! www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/digi...

“... we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating. This is not sovereignty. It is the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination,” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Reprieve: “reality check” for Britain’s refusal to repatriate people held in Syria ... “volatility of the current situation demands an urgent rethink” ... only safe thing to do is bring British nationals home & prosecute the adults where there is a case to answer” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

"Any woman ever trapped in a relationship with an abusive man will recognise something in the posture of the US’s ... less powerful allies ... The first time he lashes out, you tell yourself that it can’t be what you think it is; that it won’t happen again ..." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...