Letter to the FT that stingingly sums up Brexit and the shit creek we now find ourselves in. A terrible idea (naive, prejudiced and uninformed) that has deeply divided us and left us poorer and less secure… but unwilling to face up to the damage we’ve done to ourselves. While the EU moves on.

Byline Times: Why Is the Government Really Refusing to Investigate Russian Interference in Brexit? bylinetimes.com/2025/12/19/r...

The BBC censored my line about Trump's corruption, turned off the comment section, and sat on the video versions for three weeks. Still, I’m genuinely glad to see so many people watching (and commenting on) my Reith Lectures. Here's the first one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUJ-...

Following the controversy over the edited Trump speech, the BBC has been lambasted for its negative and biased portrayal of the leader of a prominent right-wing government… An Evening with Private Eye 2025, out now on YouTube.

Absolutely. Make it stop #AI

This is what a statesman and President writes

It has become received wisdom in Brussels and Washington that there is a new “euro-sclerosis”: that the EU economy is lagging the US This view is wrong A little primer on the measurement of productivity – and why reports of the economic death of Europe are greatly exaggerated🧵

This new one just dropped. Signed it. Lets go to another 100000,folks🇬🇧

Any signs that the full National Security Strategy is translated from Russian?

The second debunk in the Brexit Benefits autopsy: CBAM. Turns out the big win is checks notes… running two overlapping carbon regimes and charging ourselves for EU top-ups. Truly inspiring stuff.

The second instalment of my Sisyphean debunk of 75 supposed Brexit “Benefits” will be out later today. Yesterday I looked at whether we got all the same trade deals for free when we toppled out of the single market, and more importantly, whether maintaining the status quo is actually a benefit. 🐻

Given the latest US strategic review setting out the current administration’s opposition to international bodies, presumably the US is now opposed to FIFA, so that national bodies can better regulate the game in their own countries?

I thought the westward shift in the focus of US foreign policy was originally an Obama administration thing?

Brexit harms the UK. It was designed to harm the UK. Those who promoted Brexit, whether they knew or not, did not care. They were doing in their own or their (often overseas) friends’ interests.

"Why is it that the media wants to convince the electorate of Reform’s apparent impending outright success? Perhaps when we examine who owns these media and social media outlets, whether it be Rupert Murdoch or the tech billionaires, we begin to understand the motivation." #Democracy #Scotland🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

”Reform UK's barrister tried to scare us. Our advice to other news sites: don't play the bullies game." Martin Shipton from @nation.cymru on being bullied by Reform's lawyers: www.thenerve.news/p/reform-nat...

@mikegalsworthy.bsky.social what about some viral videos of British people who benefited from FoM but have now lost out? I remember @femi-oluwole.bsky.social interviewing young people who could no longer get seasonal jobs. Broaden it? And highlight the implicit damage to the UK?

Be part of the UK-wide campaign to reverse Brexit and defend our place in a free, open and democratic Europe. Join @europeanmovement.co.uk today! www.europeanmovement.co.uk/join2025

A little appreciated fact largely ignored by our “simplifying” media: the EU, including Freedom of Movement, was not just “them”, but also “us”.

bylinetimes.com/2025/11/21/n... “Emboldened by the UK voting to leave (and thus weaken) both the EU and our country, the objective the Kremlin has been pursuing for years, …, Putin had set his sights on Kiev.” Join the dots.

the price of populism

Who remembers that Brexit campaign slogan from 2016? 🤔

The petition for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics and democracy is now up to 45k. Let's get it up to 50k before midnight. Please keep sharing the petition far and wide. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

@stephenkb.bsky.social where does this leave us?

Please sign: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

Jimmy Cliff. Ahh man. None finer. I still think this is one of the greatest vocal performances I ever heard. youtu.be/twf7LhQIBkQ?...

The data shows Brexit was a massive mistake and badly hurt the economy. We're all paying for it. It was Nigel Farage who sold the lies that it would make life better. How can anyone still listen to him about anything?

Thread on immigration:

So, when people see someone with a white American accent on the news who lives here, is their first thought, “Immigrant!”?

The UK asylum/refugee system has been broken for over a decade and never explained by the government to the people so it is fundamentally both broken and misunderstood

BOY ARE WE GOVERNED BY STUPID PEOPLE! Get Brexit undone!

Reflection: impressive to see the effort being invested in building out energy resources for AI in comparison with the effort invested in building energy resources for those billions of people in the developing world who lack energy resources.

"These estimates suggest that by 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time. We estimate that investment was reduced by between 12% and 18%, employment by 3% to 4% + productivity by 3% to 4%" The Economic Impact of Brexit www.nber.org/papers/w34459

On top of which it is er… challenging to look at this figure and believe that the UK has a larger asylum seeker challenge than its European peers.

Seriously how did anyone expect making access & sales into the EU27 (& EFTA4) much more difficult, without making it *equally* compensating easier to access & sell anywhere else (it's not in UK's sole gift to), going to do anything else other than fuck over & contract the UK economy?

An American warning after WWII.

@tulipsiddiq.bsky.social (Including voting tactically)

🚨🚨🚨 Can anyone please explain why Labour is so convinced it is losing more votes to Reform than to the Greens or the LibDems? This weird obsession is causing Labour to lose its soul and is making it impossible for any decent and fair-minded person to vote for them.

Mo Farah, trafficked to UK aged 9 in 1992. Teacher Alan Watkinson secures citizenship after 8 years here, 2000 (aged 17) so he could travel abroad as GB athlete Under future rules Renew status? 1995, 98 x6 Eligible settlement after 20 years (2012) Citizenship 2013 news.sky.com/story/sir-mo...

Mo Farah would not have been a British citizen for the 2012 Olympics if Labour had introduced their new asylum plan.

My overwhelming feeling listening to this stuff about migration from Labour is that someone is trying to con me. This evokes a very negative response from me.

I came to this country as a child refugee. No English, no certainty, no idea what my life could become. Britain gave me refuge. Not on a timer, not with conditions attached, but with a chance to grow roots. A thread 🧵 1/8 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A good day to resurrect this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaEA...

What do you call someone who promotes a policy that is damaging to your country?

Just trying to imagine if the BBC gave as much time to climate change as it does to small boats.

Well worth a listen both for Jonathan's skewering of Piper but also Nolan's skewering afterwards. Piper was clearly out of his depth.

Ahead of Remembrance Sunday, We shall remember them (The Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium):

National populism keeps advancing. Each time its critics express shock - then carry on as before. Why does opposition keep failing?🧵