NEW: Scottish actor Brian Cox is among almost 400 millionaires who have signed an open letter to world leaders in Davos calling for a tax on the super-rich 🔗 www.thenational.scot/news/2...

"Oh but *technically* we're not saying that" is great for a lawyer but really bad if you want people to trust you, which is important if you're (i) a politician asking for people's vote (ii) addressing the issue where people trust you least

We're looking for two part-time volunteers with lived experience of ADHD: a Content Designer and Graphic Designer. Both roles are flexible (4–6 hours/week). Want to help us prototype a guidance service and build our new website and visual identity? Email: [email protected]

In a speech to the World Economic Forum, Mark Carney says middle powers such as Canada must accept that the rules-based international order is effectively dead, and great power rivalry with is here to stay. Key excerpt:

God, I hate W3W.

Nigel Farage doesn’t look too ill to comment on Trump at lunch yesterday. And is Liz Truss the next discredited Tory jumping ship?

It is a real head scratcher as to why republicans don’t act against Trump. They have to see he’s destroying the country. They have to know he feels no loyalty to them. So presumably it’s largely fear keeping them in line?

This is such a cool illustration of how the Mercator map distorts the size of Greenland, which looks as big as the whole continent of Africa on that map but is actually the size of Mexico.

It continues to be a bad failure that essentially there's a policy debate that is obvious to you if you read a business newspaper OR the gov dot uk website or the MI5 threat update OR a decent policy Substack is basically invisible on the BBC and in 90 per cent of Commons debates.

Boldly brave Sir Nigel rode forth from Camelot He was not afraid to die oh brave Sir Nigel He was not at all afraid to be shown a total fraud Brave brave brave brave Sir Nigel

Cory Doctorow has been venting the radical suggestion to legalize interoperability as a counterweight to US tech power. DMCA-style copyright rules block competitors, forcing foreign businesses onto US platforms effecting permanent rent extraction from EU businesses to the US. Still too crazy?

Great to see business leaders backing electoral reform in the Financial Times. Our electoral system doesn't work for the multi-party politics we have today. Failure to change risks chaos and division after the next election. democracy4growth.uk

This is the thing to do. We don’t want tariffs we want to stop these monopolies screwing our economies.

I would normally think that reading the art of war is a bit of a waste of time…

This intro to David Frost's Telegraph column sums up so much that is wrong with British politics.

Random things I like, Part 36934: When you're driving in the pissing rain, hammering down onto the roof of the car, then you go under a bridge, and for a split second everything is silent.

This May’s elections are expected to bring chaos because our voting system is broken. I’ve written to my MP to push for fairer elections before it’s too late. It takes 2 minutes to do the same here: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell... @compassoffice.bsky.social

I was there. I was there 3,000 years ago when the strength of graphic design failed.

Really think this is counterproductive. For me an ADHD diagnosis in my late 30s transformed my life. From the governments point of view it helped me become far more economically productive. Yes there is an increased bill for medication but offset against my much much higher tax payments.

Do not be surprised if in the first days of an incoming populist radical government there is an entire raft of statutory instruments and other measures prepared and ready to go, exploiting every gap in our constitutional arrangements.

I am sharing this with you because, what does misery love?

It seems blindingly obvious that these goons are gonna be unleashed at the midterms to try and screw the election. So ya'll need to figure out how to stop that happening in your community. Make plans now! Don't let the bystander effect stop you taking action. That was me during Brexit. It sucks.

He'll just double down on funding hate and RW politicians. X should be banned full stop. It's a weapon not a SM platform and what any government department or official is doing, still using X is beyond me. That goes for the opposition parties as well.

I think we should be talking about this more www.brusselstimes.com/1916422/us-t...

Still furious about the media reporting that Couzens 'tricked her' into getting in the car. He didn't trick her! He arrested her! Using his warrant card! It wasn't a trick, it was an illegal arrest and calling it a trick is one step short from victim blaming.

BREAKING: The Foreign Affairs Committee has written to social media companies – X, Meta and TikTok – to request they give evidence to the Committee on the threat posed by foreign disinformation targeting the UK and its overseas interests committees.parliament.uk/committee/78...

🚨 Meta has already met 38 times with MEPs from the ECR, the Patriots for Europe, and the Europe of Sovereign Nations Group. In the week of 8 December alone, representatives met with four far-right lawmakers, with the majority of meetings referencing the Digital Omnibus.

“Martin angrily challenges Sir Keir Starmer to clear up social media scam adverts cess pit” Courtesy of @thismorningitv.bsky.social

I think he just codes moderate, so people keep forgetting his actual words and actions. Like the propensity to think of Sunak as a metropolitan liberal because of his dress and manners, even though he was actually really quite right-wing.

No notes x

Just scrolled newskies and great to see amongst the thirst bots you have a bunch of artists and micro biology scientists. Well that or there is some new scam involving fake micro biology scientists… Protein modelling is the new blockchain?? 🤣😂

In case you’re wondering whether the pro-ICE reactions to Renee Nicole Good’s murder are natural, here’s a comment that was just left on my video. My video about anti-transgender bias at the BBC. I haven’t made a video about Good yet. youtu.be/pWm3dK8tPto

Yup if countries want to preserve independence we will all eventually have to block the US tech social platforms. It’s that simple. We cannot trust IS admins not to abuse the power of tech platform feeds to manipulate our voters. Russia and China are ahead of the west in this!

This is true but I think it could be a source of hope? Back in the day being laughed out of the group could also be a death sentence. There is huge emotional power in mocking these assholes in a way that emasculates them in the eyes of their peers. Need to learn to preach beyond the choir.

once again we are all tapping the sign

Soo are we getting near blue states withholding taxes from the feds yet? Cutting Agricultural subsidies to punish a state for resisting ICE has to end there right? Is that even possible? If it happens presumably treasuries will move?

Given we are having a bit of a surge (or are likely to) and starter packs are a great innovation but hard to find... I've created a new one I'll direct people to. Largely people who are sound, smart ajd active - who enrich my experiance here and make me think (and prove me wrong)

Modest proposal: any minister claiming the government “needs” to be on X should have to read out the top ten comments on their department’s most recent post.

X is paying Reform UK MPs while its AI produces sexually explicit images of children and women, the public deserves answers. Will they return the money they’ve earned from the platform? 1/6

More MPs are coming off X and I assume that means they will be posting more on here @politicshome.bsky.social has a handy list of all the MPs on Bluesky Please point out anyone who is missing!

This really is good news. Making Bluesky work for Labour MPs is probably the most effective thing we can do to get X regulated. There's a starter pack of them here to help with following em: bsky.app/starter-pack... hopefully it's up to date? @alexzurclark.bsky.social

Exactly this! You can also go further, if the platform has an "for you" feed that makes editorial choices on what content to show users it needs to be regulated as a publisher of that content. Don't let companies hide behind "computer says" when it is their choice what the computer says!

Just back from local hospital for a routine ultrasound screening. Appointment at 13.40, told it would take 20 minutes. Called in on time and out by 13.58. I wouldn't fault a single aspect of the treatment. Many parts of our NHS still operate incredibly well. Would have been billed $450 in the US.

Will Labour take a stand against X/Twitter users asking Grok to remove clothes from photos of women and children? “If you can't win the political fight against the creation of paedophilic images, then what is the point of them?" Lewis Goodall asks www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/if-l...

bluesky’s vibes have been much worse over the last few days but, in our/its defense, it’s because most of us are here to chat about current events (either via trenchant analysis or hilarious riffs or both) and…current events fucking suck right now. so it’s not really on us. stay strong, folks.

It has become increasingly clear that X - a platform now actively producing explicit and abusive material against women and children - is not an appropriate platform to be using for our comms. I will keep pushing for action from the govt & relevant authorities in this area.

My first newsletter as a political correspondent! I'm excited to have joined the Britain department this week for a stint covering politics 🇬🇧

Or what?

The government have decided to remark in Hansard that 10 million people in Britain use X as their primary news source. A statistic that cannot possibly be true. Probably needs a correction I think.