This isn't something distant or far away. Super-agent & close Epstein ally, John Brockman had huge influence. His 'rockstar' writers, scientists and academics dominated our book pages & broadsheets. We need nothing less than a total revisionist history of the last 20 years. 2/

NEW: Read this terrific piece @virginiaheffernan.bsky.social for @thenerve.news in which she unpicks Edge.org, the hugely influential 'salon' funded by Epstein & threaded through with race science & eugenics. 1/ www.thenerve.news/p/epstein-bi...

If you read one thing this morning, then make it this. You cannot be a “pragmatic problem solver” uninterested in ideas and deliver the change the country needs. open.substack.com/pub/chrisdil...

"You might discover you're not on your own" The amazing @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social on how reading can help children feel better💙 Explore our guide on the wellbeing benefits of reading for children, compiled with @place2becharity.bsky.social 👇 https://bit.ly/3MafanE #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek

Also, this is nuts: "For the 2019 general election, £3.4 million of donations came into our political system, potentially influencing people, but did not then appear in the Electoral Commission’s records." The records held by councils are actually destroyed after not very long.

"The Bill still leaves the door wide open to foreign money. It is just that the foreign billionaire or government will need someone in the UK to cooperate with them. Which is no real barrier at all." open.substack.com/pub/lordseye...

The Elections Bill is really very thin on political finance. Some loopholes closed, some warm words, but still unlimited political donations. That's why we're working with @38degrees.bsky.social to call for a cap on donations Please sign and share: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ta...

A decade on, Brexit still damages the UK’s economy, security and standing. The Epstein files sharpen an uncomfortable truth: democracy wasn’t subverted by “the people”, but by those who fear democratic limits most. @eastangliabylines.co.uk @stephenmcnair.bsky.social

Oh dear. It looks like George has had a bit of a day. This from Instagram.

International artist Daniel Lismore delivers advice on Reform I’ve sat in rooms where powerful men laugh at you. They know you’re struggling. They know you’re angry. And they know exactly how to use it westenglandbylines.co.uk/politics/dem...

🔴Jeffrey Epstein Met Privately with Bill Gates and Peter Thiel to ‘Rebuild His Reputation’ Through Philanthropy Documents suggest they met at the convicted child sex offender’s home, alongside Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel and media mogul Mortimer Zuckerman bylinetimes.com/2026/02/11/j...

This couldn’t be clearer. Bannon’s texts to Epstein in mid July 2018 - “overthrowing May right now” and in “London with Boris” as well as his appearance on LBC with Nigel Farage are prettying damning evidence of a cross party plot with foreign backing

Great that people are noting Epstein’s role as a classic ‘disaster capitalist’ along with Paul Marshall and Crispin Odey. I wrote a week ago how he told Bannon “Brexit is just the beginning” bylinetimes.com/2026/02/03/i...

"Switzerland’s military has terminated its contract with Palantir… following a security audit… concluded that U.S. intelligence agencies could potentially access sensitive Swiss defense data… significant reputational warning for the data analytics firm" www.newscase.com/palantirs-sw... #R4Today

Y'days post: Fiscal watchdogs, pluralist democracy, technocracy and evidence based policy mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/02/fisc... Calls to abolish the OBR are inherently populist, and would have the effect of suppressing the influence of knowledge on decision making.

Not a good look as the govt resets itself. Palantir hosts party for MOD and others to celebrate its new defence contract promoted by Mandelson’s PR company. www.thetimes.com/article/2ecb...

Labour's @johnmcdonnellmp.bsky.social written to General Sec Hollie Ridley for 3rd time calling for independent inquiry into Labour Together "Keir Starmer yesterday promised a change of culture in the party. This will be an early test of that promise” democracyforsale.substack.com/p/pr-firm-pr...

This week’s Gist is about how the U.K. Labour Party unknowingly has been blowing itself up by following Morgan McSweeney’s FG electoral instincts. They don’t know the patterns, but we do. www.thegist.ie/the-gist-uk-...

😡 Four former defence insiders hired by Palantir in a single year. A £240m MoD contract awarded without competition. A “strategic partnership” announced soon after. The revolving door between defence and big tech is spinning fast.

📌 ICYMI — The End of Morgan McSweeney: Peter Oborne on Keir Starmer’s Departing Chief of Staff As McSweeney resigns, we re-publish Peter Oborne’s exclusive Byline Times… https://bylinetimes.com/2026/02/08/the-end-of-morgan-mcsweeney-peter-oborne-on-keir-starmers-departing-chief-of-staff/

Our great @bylinetimes.bsky.social diarist Peter Oborne spotted the problem with McSweeney back in August 2024. Here's 18 months of his coverage of Keir Starmer's Departing Chief of Staff open.substack.com/pub/bylinesu...

In competence and venality of the old political elite is ushering in a class of oligarchic politicians that are backed by unprecedented levels of private wealth and driven by some batshit crazy ideas (that just happen to be good for their wealth…) Thiel is a prime mover in this

HMT's response to the @financialtimes.com demonstrates www.ft.com/content/7db5... why the government will fail to increase housebuilding as it thinks £500m is meaningful. “The government is committed to go further and faster on growth — with over £500mn investment for new homes, infrastructure and

Pls read whole piece. Neither Mandelson or Mosley were asked about Mandelson’s role in fixing Starmer’s visit to Palantir & subsequent £240m deal. It finally made headlines on Weds when a q was asked in Parliament. But honestly, BBC also has qs to answer open.substack.com/pub/broligar...

The problem with so many of our top politicians - from Johnson, Mandelson, Farage - is that they all want to join the oligarch class. Whatever you think of Gordon Brown he is financially unbiddable www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

🔍 'Palantir which provides military tech to the IDF and AI-powered deportation targeting for ICE, has UK govt contracts worth more than £500m (NHS £330m). Global Counsel, a lobbying company Peter Mandelson co-founded and part-owns, also works for Palantir.' www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Options include more transparency on party financing, ending revolving door, putting political roles and ministerial codes on statutory footing with independent oversight, reform Hse of Lords, and many more - drawn from cross-party Commission on Political Power commissionpoliticalpower.uk

I wrote this yesterday - Starmer could still turn his premiership around, if he finally, FINALLY, finds the courage to address the grubby circs which allow people like Mandelson to rise so far. bylinetimes.com/2026/02/07/t...

..grounds. My evidence is here committees.parliament.uk/writtenevide...

Peter Mandelson isn't a glitch. He offers a glimpse into how Westminster works. The public already knows it. Now more politicians must face upto it - and act. Read my 2025 article for @bylinetimes.bsky.social about the integrity gap at the heart of UK politics. bylinetimes.com/2025/09/29/t...

🔴 BREAKING: Labour Together paid controversial PR firm £30k to investigate journalists who were digging into how its undeclared funding Reporters from Sunday Times, Guardian and other outlets targetted *And* Morgan McSweeney knew about it Full story: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/exclusive-...

Peter Mandelson’s involvement with the US tech company Palantir must be exposed to full public transparency... Palantir... has UK government contracts worth more than £500m. Global Counsel, a lobbying company Mandelson co-founded and part-owns, also works for Palantir. #R4Today

Wonder why the government has failed to hit its house building targets🤔 The private sector builds out at a rate that maximises returns to shareholders, not to deliver social objectives. Only when the public sector returns to the market in a major way will the situation change.

Last year I wrote this for @bylinetimes.bsky.social: The public see a political class whose proximity to wealth has eroded its independence, where talk of public service is an empty ritual. It's this culture that claimed Mandelson’s ‘qualities’ outweighed the risks. bylinetimes.com/2025/09/29/t...

Union founder slams private equity milking UK foster care for profit. Privatised foster placements can cost double the local authority placing. Successive govts have pushed privatisation. Children in need treated as commodities for profits.

On the sleight of hand that uses free speech as a diversion from questions of who controls the digital infrastructure of democracy and to what purpose. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Preventing the next Trump Fundamental reforms must be enacted within the US political system | Ross McNally @rossmcnally.bsky.social @sussexbylines.co.uk

Leading American companies — including Palantir, Deloitte, and private prison giant GEO Group — raked in over $22B from ICE and CBP contracts last year. Do not forget who is profiting from cruelty and human suffering.

"The largest immigrant deportation and prison contractors in the US are expecting an epic payout this year: for every $1 that they donated to GOP campaigns in 2024, these private companies stand to reap more than $11,000 in increased annual revenue."

With Palantir and Mandelson both back in the news, it’s worth revisiting this — the Epstein/Mandelson/Thiel connection, and how Mandelson’s lobbying company introduced Starmer to the Palantir team bylinetimes.com/2025/09/12/p...

“The ad was assessed by the active measures directorate as one of the most successful KGB operations of that time. It was a big ­ thing— to have three major American newspapers publish KGB sound bites.” @craigunger.bsky.social craigunger.substack.com/p/when-did-d...

Toxic Tees: why I have launched a High Court challenge to stop the poisoning of our river "After years of watching the ecosystem of the River Tees collapse...I felt I had no choice" northeastbylines.co.uk/region/teess...

"Keynes was very clear: that's the great sin of usury . And i want that sin of usury to come back again." Political economist Ann Pettifor on the power of finance and how Wall Street gambles with people and the planet www.break-down.org/how-wall-st-...

Palantir’s stated mission is to defend America. Peter Thiel is a radical libertarian who does not believe ‘freedom & democracy are compatible’. Yet, the UK is overwhelmingly dependent on Palantir’s services. As a national security threat, this is off the charts. @thenerve.news 2/

A while back, I identified spend on Palantir software by the Submarine Delivery Agency, which manages nuclear subs, though it now appears Palantir are more enmeshed with our nuclear bodies than thought. MOD refuses to confirm or deny the existence of any contracts. bylinetimes.com/2021/07/30/r...

🔴NEW: I worked w @carolecadwalla.bsky.social and Charlie Young on this investigation mapping Palantir's public sector contracts, including previously unreported spend with the Nuclear Propulsion Integrated Project Team (NP-IPT) and AWE Nuclear Security Technologies: www.thenerve.news/p/palantir-t...

"Although overall relative poverty levels have flatlined in recent years at about 21% of the population, life for those below the breadline has got materially worse as they try to subsist on incomes many thousands of pounds beneath the poverty threshold." #R4Today

1/ So, should the EU retaliate against Trump's Greenland tariff threats? There are roughly three schools of thought, each progressively more interesting than the last. A brief tour through the logic of escalation and deterrence: 🧵

The UK government – Trump is threatening to destroy NATO, so let's give our military data to a company owned by a political extremist who wants to abolish democracy, and whose money and influence put Vance in the White House.