Zombie politics is the new norm and Starmer’s dying premiership is the latest instalment | Nesrine Malik

"Paranoia, cruelty and the faux-knowing cynical cluelessness of conspiracy theories all extend far beyond the Magaverse now. They are qualities routinely displayed across the political spectrum… "This might be Donald Trump’s lasting legacy: he has already reshaped America in his own image."

NEW: Palantir’s revolving door. A new investigation by @thenerve.news has found Palantir has recruited more than 30 senior officials from UK govt, a strategy transparency experts say poses an ‘acute risk’ of corruption. 1/ Link ⬇️

I think that is the plan, but it isn't Starmer's plan. screedvault.neocities.org/post/2025082...

The Nerve is a fearless news title covering culture, politics and tech Read the full report here and subscribe to our newsletter at .thenerve.news/membership We rely on members to fund our journalism. Please also consider becoming a member. 🙏 www.thenerve.news/p/palantir-t... /ends

'We’re all, quite literally, inside the “walled gardens” of tech firms from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep – and, in many cases, even while we’re sleeping.' Matt Gallagher, via Byline Times

Read more here: www.politico.eu/article/uk-b...

3/3 That's why I've signed this letter, calling on the Government to take action to ensure the resilience of UK digital systems in the event of interference by a foreign government.

Can't believe there might be a place in AI for massively overconfident self-proclaimed geniuses who believe you can data-logic your way through any complex societal problem if you just reject complexity, empathy, morality and legality as obsolete weaknesses.

Long thread: I've done interviews on Labour's latest anti-asylum policy today, but, unfortunately, had to turn down some for this evening. So, in addition to the clip from earlier, let me just set out why and how this latest Labour piece of cruelty won't work, but will cause far more harm. 1/38

Homegrown energy is no longer an idea. Balcony solar. Local grids. Prof Jules Pretty on what comes next. @eastangliabylines.co.uk @julespretty.bsky.social

Why are governments so dependent on private capital for investment and how do big institutional investors shape our economy? Find out more in our interview with @brettchristophers.bsky.social: www.faircomment.co.uk/p/a-brief-hi...

New post from @ldfreedman.bsky.social "Is Ukraine winning the drone war?" The Russians certainly think so. What are the implications of Ukraine's innovations for the war and, more broadly, for how other countries should be thinking about drones? (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/i...

Being PM is a tough job, with a close to unmanageable range and quantity of challenges, responsibilities and risks. But no one ever forced a PM to be PM. It’s their job. They wanted it. And there are some fundamentals any PM must know, and always pay close attention to.

This is such an insightful, wide ranging and ultimately hopeful interview with @quinnslobodian.com How Elon Musk and the Tech Billionaires Hijacked the State and Our Minds With Matt Gallagher on @bylinetimes.bsky.social bylinetimes.com/2026/04/17/h...

Signing up to EU single market rules would be a good thing. Doing so without a Parliamentary vote would be an electoral gift to Reform and Conservatives. It would be a huge political miscalculation. Better to be persuasive than push it through without one. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Growing up in the 1970s and 80s there were those from the generations before who still were genuinely traumatised by how close they thought the world had got to nuclear war in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. It seemed distant to us younger ones, but now I can sense exactly how they felt.

New — I wrote about the terror and loss of the last few days, mostly so we don’t forget. www.thehandbasket.co/p/trump-iran...

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/... Here @jillongovt.bsky.social @rosahodgkin.bsky.social and @danhaile.bsky.social break down what the Government neds to think about into short-, medium- and long-term buckets. Grab a coffee and peruse at length.

Steven Beschloss wrote: “This is an actual post. This is not funny. This is beyond desperate. This is a deeply unwell man who doesn’t belong anywhere near the levers of power. Every member of his cabinet and Congress is complicit in not demanding his removal now.” open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

'As the son or daughter of elderly parents whose memories have begun to falter, you will know how long it often takes from the first uneasy gut feeling that something has changed, to a conclusive medical diagnosis – and how many sleepless nights lie in between.' www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

From 1965 and frighteningly relevant today with a deranged madman in the White House youtu.be/qfZVu0alU0I?...

"When we take seriously professed concerns about the exchequer cost of immigration, we are paying too much of a compliment to opponents of immigration." @chrisdillow.bsky.social on the public finance impacts of immigration. chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-the-fis...

Always looking after others and putting yourself last can take a toll on women's bodies, as many find out in midlife | Lowri Dowthwaite-Walsh

📌 ICYMI — Kemi Badenoch Campaigns For North Sea Drilling at Company Owned by Oil and Gas Executive Who Donated £250,000 to the Conservatives The Conservative party, which calls the Government's plans for replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy "crazy" has also taken millions of pounds…

BBC News: UK to receive last shipment of aviation fuel this week. There currently isn't a shipment planned after that. So, the UK refuels USAF planes that fly out to bomb Iran, which then keeps the Strait of Hormuz shut, preventing aviation fuel getting to UK, shutting down it's airports. Brilliant.

Joint statement on Israel's Death Penalty Bill: 29 March 2026 www.gov.uk/government/n... #R4Today

So Kemi Badenoch today continued her “fuel Britainnia” campaign to extract “every last drop” of oil and gas from the North Sea, by visiting a company whose oil executive owner has so far donated more than £250,000 to the Conservatives since she became its leader bylinetimes.com/2026/03/30/k...

"The UK spent 75 years building something genuinely worth having: a track record of successful integration. And now a Labour government plans to blow it all up." @colinyeo.bsky.social on the permanent damage of the "earned settlement" proposals wewantedworkers.substack.com/p/earned-set...

📌 ICYMI — Revealed: Tony Blair’s ‘Dodgy Iran Dossier’ Helped Shape Trump War Plan Controversial polling promoted by the Tony Blair Institute, and criticised by academics…… https://bylinetimes.com/2026/03/24/revealed-tony-blairs-dodgy-iran-dossier-helped-shape-trump-war-plan

This is the situation we find ourselves in

Stunningly horrible tweet from the Home Office. Tars everyone from 4 countries with the same brush.

… so the reason that there is lots of commentary today is not that you can necessarily read across PR results to FPTP or that parties really are that similar. More that an absolutely key example in the Blue Labour tactics book has blown up. After G and D and this, that strategy is kaput.

Keir Starmer has granted the US access to British bases for ‘defensive’ strikes on Iranian missile sites. Given Trump’s erratic nature, we must ensure that clear limits are upheld and that the UK isn't pulled deeper into a conflict that remains unresolved.

I'll say it again: everything you need to know about Trump is visible & evident on the surface. You can understand him entirely, without remainder, within 30 seconds of hearing him talk. He's perfectly transparent, perfectly consistent, utterly without depth or mystery. Which means ...

This is an interview - really a delightful discussion - conducted by Bartolomeo Sala for Jacobin magazine... jacobin.com/2026/03/glob...

Ann Pettifor: War, Inflation and Central Banker Threats to The Global Casino - Brave New Europe

The Prime Minister’s plan to offer rapid routes to settlement for those earning six-figure salaries whilst punishing and making lower-paid workers wait up to 15 years appears to be based on the notion that care workers are “low-skilled” because they are low-paid - its an absolute disgrace.

Great. So now Starmer has caved in to Trump and embroiled us in Trump’s attack on Iran. What a spineless creep.

The thread on one page. skywriter.blue/@georgemonbi...

If the asylum and immigration reforms are the right reforms Parliament should get a chance to debate, scrutinise and agree or stop them. That’s why I have tabled edm 2908 which is a parliamentary measure to trigger that process.

The full text version of Rayner's comments on Mahmood's "earned settlement" proposals is very good indeed. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

BBC News - 'It's not a waste of time' - young people defend the humble gap year www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This will be the lesson in almost every country in the world.

The fact Trump patently didn’t plan for Iran doesn’t mean nobody had a plan & we should probably be focussing a lot more on the Israeli plan imho

This war has once again exposed the fact that our economic system is irrational, indefensible, and fundamentally anti-human. It’s never been clearer that we really do face a choice between the end of the world and the end of capitalism. open.substack.com/pub/gracebla...

🔎 From the archive: 'Peter Mandelson's Fixing of Keir Starmer’s Visit to Spytech Firm Palantir Raises Serious Questions' — by Iain Overton and Max Colbert 🔁 Relevant again: Worth re-reading in light of new revelations that Mandelson had not divested his Global Counsel shares

This is cool. The Government is set to allow plug-in solar, low cost solar panels that families can buy at supermarkets and put on their balconies or outdoor space. "In Germany over a million have been sold, helping households with energy costs and reducing dependence on fossil fuels."

Burnham was prevented from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election; he has now broken his silence about Labour’s rejection of him as candidate | Peter Sagar

If we made the green energy transition this war would be unthinkable and these authoritarians wouldn’t be in power — not in the US, not in Iran, not in Saudi Arabia, not in Russia. Hydrocarbons are killing our freedom and just plain killing us.