Proud of this pamphlet - our dysfunctional media is at the heart of so many UK policy failures from austerity to Palestine. As @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social puts it: "all too often, journalism in Britain operates as an extension of power rather than a check on it"

Men are extremely keen to explain to me that Britain *needs* a domestic steel production plant and doesn't necessarily *need* universities. Okay. Steel contributed about £1.7bn to the UK economy in 2024. Universities contributed more than £200bn.

"Overall, there is strong evidence that accommodating far-right positions is not a vote winner." Despite heavy losses in the 2025 snap election, a rightward shift on migration would be disastrous for the SPD, argues @matthiasdilling.bsky.social fabians.org.uk/wrong-turn/

"I’m absolutely convinced that wealth inequality is the rocket fuel for populism, and you can see around the world voters who have had a really challenging time" I sat down with @iggywood.bsky.social to talk populism, Reform and wealth inequality. fabians.org.uk/absolutely-p...

Before the local elections, @liambyrnemp.bsky.social warned me about the threat posed by Reform. Even more impressively, he briefly gave me some hope...

Being seen as the nasty party is never good. Being seen as the nasty-but-self-righteous party is significantly worse

Some disabled people could lose £10k a year in benefits by end of decade under Labour’s reforms. The planned cuts will deliver a series of “painful income shocks”, with families facing losing multiple entitlements at once Me & @patrickjbutler.bsky.social report www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Even better, we could get the entire population of the UK out of here in just a few months

Israel has broken the ceasefire, killing 400 Palestinians in Gaza and injuring over 500. The death toll and humanitarian catastrophe is worsening by the hour. The UK must finally demand accountability for Israel's war crimes, strengthen sanctions and ban all arms sales.

Cautiously optimistic about this, but only if it creates space in the narrative/finances to hire more managers at the NHS trust level

turns out when you legitimate a taste for bigotry people gravitate to the parties that serve it as an entree rather than as a garnish

Love the moral clarity of @morganj0nes.bsky.social and @dmk1793.bsky.social’s forensic analysis of Maurice Glasman’s siding with the far-right: “we have to understand he left our [social democratic] house and crossed the street to build a new one with our enemies”. renewal.org.uk/2025/02/16/t...

Kaoru Mitoma ballon d'or #bhafc

Labour should be using the need to increase defence spending as a off-ramp for their promises on tax, not letting their defence policy (like everything else) be constrained by their promises on tax.

So much of the Labour right's worldview is still either a restatement of or a response to the consensus created by Cameron and Osborne in the 2010s. I really think that side of the party stagnated intellectually during the Corbyn years

Labour rebels won’t be allowed back in the party because of poor behaviour when they *check notes* spoke out against war crimes and benefit cuts. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Somewhere between 5,500 and 8,750 babies will die of AIDS because of Trump's heinous pausing of PEPFAR, estimates @lgilbert.co Utterly sickening. www.laurenpolicy.com/p/pepfar?r=2...

leaving the cruelty aside for just a minute it's absolutely humiliating to imagine being my age or older and getting excited because you think you've been given permission to say a bad word. what are you gonna do next, ride your tricycle past the end of the block

“In order for my company HumanBurger to finally become profitable we may need to put an end to most civil rights and renegotiate a few basic rules of human civilization, but I personally think it would be worth it.”

The government makes farmers pay a tax (a "levy", but same difference) which is handed to a QUANGO that then tries to persuade people to eat meat/dairy, and criticise people who suggest we should eat less. www.smf.co.uk/commentary_p...

Elon Musk, Henry Ford. Two men who made billions making cars. Two men who preach about free markets but rely on huge government support. Two men who went to war with their unions. Two men who idolize the Nazis. These are the leaders of 'free market' capitalism.

I share the huge relief about the ceasefire and hostage deal, but it is sickening that it took 15 months. The brutality that Palestinians have suffered, and the failure of the international community to stop Israel's genocide far sooner, will shame us forever. 1/2

There was an alternative to landing on the graveyard of incumbent governments in the wake of inflation. Mexico and Spain have demonstrated to the world how stabilizing the prices of essentials can pay back - economically and politically. My first @foreignaffairs.bsky.social

The simplest explanation for why a ceasefire appears imminent - the incoming administration actually wants one, whereas Biden was happy to let the genocidal killing continue - is the correct one. Israel's dependence on the US is difficult to overstate; Biden just chose not to exercise this leverage

🚨 Speaker announcements! We're looking forward to welcoming @sarahjonesmp.bsky.social, @liambyrnemp.bsky.social and Dame Meg Hillier MP to the Fabian Society New Year Conference! Book your tickets now 👇 fabians.org.uk/event/fabian...

Thing about student work that’s been written by AI that I’ve seen so far is: it’s utterly terrible! Sure we ban AI use, but even if I can’t prove it’s a ChatGPT joint, how would I grade a student-written paper w/ paragraphs that failed to develop an argument citing sources that the student made up?

Eugene V. Debs on Jesus, the working-class revolutionist. 1914. jacobin.com/2021/12/debs...

"Where will the money come from?" - Kate Andrews keeps asking, in order to press her attack on the NHS funding model. Well, where will the money come from under ANY other model? Does adding a profit-making insurance layer make healthcare cheaper? No. It just makes it less fair. ~AA

The HJS report attempting to minimise the number of casualties in Gaza is clearly a bad faith project, but even so it's astonishing that the authors assert that the number of natural deaths should be in line with previous years. How many natural deaths do we think there were in Hiroshima in 1945?

Flat tax rate is an ‘attractive idea’, Kemi Badenoch says. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

cargo pants? uuhhh no buddy, car go beep beep. You feeling alright man?

#WolffBites: French Pres Macron blamed political opponents (a big majority) for voting to end gov't that Macron chose. As sore loser, Macron demonized opponents as "anti-republican', took NO responsibility for his gov't's fall. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Least strategically inept centrist

I can't imagine why voters might feel parliament doesn't work for them when reporting on a vote accurately uses the phrases 'no practical impact' and 'empty ritual'. Meanwhile the answer machine at the GP says only ask for an appointment today if you are under 16 or under palliative care.

Biden pardoning his son (after repeatedly promising not to) only bolsters the perception that the Democratic party hierarchy is a members’ club that puts its own interests above those of the American people. It’s reflective of the arrogance and egotism that has characterised his career

Let’s run the government like a business, drive the car like a bicycle, and play the guitar like a piano

John Prescott knew what a new football ground could do for Brighton as a club and a city. He overruled two planning inspectors who said Falmer should be refused, giving initial permission for #BHAFC to build The Albion would be a very different club had the Amex not been allowed. RIP Mr Prescott