Elio España
@elioespana.bsky.social
📤 482
📥 944
📝 1389
Writer & Filmmaker.
https://www.aftershocks.co
http://spiritlevelcinema.co.uk
elioespana.co.uk
Agree with the analysis in here around the OBR - as a creation of Osborne it’s not ideologically neutral. Also the urgent need for “narrative certainty”
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After Gorton. Where Now?
Labour must learn to be radical - on housing, defence, nationalisation and fighting the far right. We're in a crisis of democracy: start acting like it.
https://open.substack.com/pub/htsf/p/after-gorton-where-now?r=47n97y&utm_medium=ios
about 21 hours ago
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The good news from Gorton & Denton is that it shows (despite media attempts to suggest otherwise), that a crisis on the left is the political force, not surging support on the right. Crises on the left, while not a good thing, can be solved on the left. Reform can be put away. Clock is running.
1 day ago
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I’m a dual national, half my family are dual nationals, my brother-in-law is currently going through the naturalisation process with the Home Office, and neither I nor anyone I know had any clue about this until a small section of the media started reporting it *last week*
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Home Office denies ‘absurd’ criticism over rule change that may leave dual nationals stranded
MPs raise cases of honeymooners and other Britons caught out by new passport requirements as minister rejects calls for grace period
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/26/home-office-criticism-dual-national-border-rules-stranded?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
2 days ago
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This is so grotesque. Something very, very ugly is festering in our nation. It’s bleak, distressing, frightening.
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Reform would create ICE-style agency and end leave to remain, Zia Yusuf to say
Nigel Farage’s party plans to deport up to 288,000 people a year on five flights a day and expand stop and search
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/22/reform-uk-ice-style-agency-end-leave-to-remain-zia-yusuf?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
5 days ago
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Football. Depthless misery to limitless elation in four days. Fucking hell.
#arsenal
6 days ago
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It is the right occasion for the
@arseblog.com
classic
on.soundcloud.com/edWGULfrEUzr...
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It's the history of the Tottenham
It's the history of the Tottenham
https://soundcloud.com/arseblog/its-the-history-of-the-tottenham
6 days ago
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This is extraordinary. I love hearing about inventions like this, a reminder of all the brilliant, talented people motivated by doing good in the world - and that it pays off.
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‘Reimagining matter’: Nobel laureate invents machine that harvests water from dry air
Omar Yaghi’s invention uses ambient thermal energy and can generate up to 1,000 litres of clean water every day
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/21/nobel-laureate-omar-yaghi-invents-machine-that-harvests-water-from-dry-air?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
7 days ago
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In a few years time there’ll have to be a thorough assessment of what happens when you fill the government of a major country with actual, bonafide lunatics.
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US envoy Mike Huckabee says it would be ‘fine’ if Israel took all Middle East land
Rightwing Trump ally tells Tucker Carlson Israel has biblical right to land from ‘wadi of Egypt to the great river’
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/20/mike-huckabee-israel-middle-east-tucker-carlson?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
7 days ago
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This was encouragingly quick. One less pop-up trying to flog the UK to Peter Thiel.
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Global Counsel calls in administrators, blaming Peter Mandelson ‘maelstrom’
Advisory firm has lost string of clients despite efforts to cut ties with co-founder after Epstein revelations
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/19/global-counsel-calls-in-administrators-peter-mandelson-epstein?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
9 days ago
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Bloody hell, not even the Nazi ex-king actually got arrested. The crown coming for a sibling, bit of a throwback to the Plantagenet period, this. 🍿
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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office
It comes after Thames Valley Police said they were assessing a complaint over the alleged sharing of confidential material by the former prince with Jeffrey Epstein.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c70kjr9wjw0t
9 days ago
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Ffs. Now incontinent madness. I really don’t see how this gets turned around quickly.
#arsenal
9 days ago
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This is what happens when you don’t have your shit together and can’t dominate through good, skilful, impressive football and instead just try to edge dis-jointed wins.
#arsenal
9 days ago
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I really wish we didn’t have to have the gratuitous god-praising & sky-pointing after every goal. Apart from being annoying, it’s also idiotic, the logic being that all the pious Sky-pointers on the opposing team must be hated by god. As well as Big Vic - god detests him.
#arsenal
9 days ago
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R.I.P Robert Duvall. The Apostle is one my all-time faves from him. He also directed it.
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The Apostle (1997) ⭐ 7.2 | Drama
2h 14m | PG-13
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118632/?ref_=ext_shr_other
12 days ago
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Display an album that was important to you when you were nineteen.
add a skeleton here at some point
13 days ago
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This might actually help, rather than hinder Reform. Farage has always preferred having a movement to his right which can push the agenda in ways which are risky for him to do personally, while also giving him the opportunity to present as “moderate” & look more attractive to wavering Tories.
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UK far right lines up behind Rupert Lowe in challenge to Reform
MP who fell out with Nigel Farage and has backing of Elon Musk launches anti-immigration party in Great Yarmouth
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/15/rupert-lowe-great-yarmouth-first-party-far-right-reform-uk?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
13 days ago
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Initial reaction was too extreme. It’s just not very good, and forgettable. All the praise & nominations are completely unfathomable though, my expectations were miscalibrated.
add a skeleton here at some point
13 days ago
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Sinners may truly be one of the worst films of the last 20 years
13 days ago
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Of all the unnecessary acts of self-sabotage committed by Labour over the past year, this may be the stupidest. It really says something when the sanest arguments come from David Davis. Handing over the NHS to Peter Thiel really should be a resignation event.
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NHS deal with AI firm Palantir called into question after officials’ concerns revealed
Exclusive: in 2025 briefing to Wes Streeting, officials warned reputation of tech firm behind US ICE operations would hinder rollout of data system in UK
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/12/nhs-deal-with-ai-firm-palantir-called-into-question-after-officials-concerns-revealed?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
15 days ago
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City are going to catch us, aren’t they?
15 days ago
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Why do I…? It’s not enjoyable, it’s never enjoyable. It’s only ever intensely stressful. It leads to system inflammation in a man of my jaded years. What am I doing?
#arsenal
15 days ago
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Hasn’t really been happening for Eze, has it?
#arsenal
15 days ago
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This ref is far, far too card happy. Someone’s going to get sent off.
#arsenal
15 days ago
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One of the most haunting images from my childhood. Still find it traumatic - triggering on my timeline!
add a skeleton here at some point
16 days ago
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The British public has footed the bill for a programme of capital accumulation, industrial blackmail & tax evasion that is out of control & unfair. It’s only fair that billionaires are not given tens of millions in public subsidies, nor permitted to move their wealth offshore at taxpayer expense.
add a skeleton here at some point
16 days ago
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If they don’t want to waste a crisis, I would like to see the gov’t start at ground zero with a complete renovation of politics; particularly given the trend of fragmentation: Lords - PR - party funding - gifts/donations/second jobs - media ownership & regulation - foreign influence.
18 days ago
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Extraordinary, excoriating comments in here from OFCOM’s former director of standards. It’s been clear for some time now that (in common with those in other sectors) the regulator is not functioning. There needs to be a complete review, maybe even a replacement regulator.
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Ofcom under fire after refusing to investigate ‘misleading’ GB News Trump interview
US president not challenged over false claims climate change is ‘hoax’ and parts of London have sharia law
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/09/ofcom-investigate-gb-news-trump-interview?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
19 days ago
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Not only is this appalling, dishonest & reprehensible, it is also, as Sunder demonstrates, utterly incompetent politics. My benefit-of-the-doubt meter is now sputtering at zero & leaking oil. There needs to be a change of leadership; it’s very clear.
add a skeleton here at some point
19 days ago
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I’m not sure I am going to continue to be able to watch football while Gary Neville is still in a job. The rage, the blood pressure is just too extreme.
20 days ago
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Liverpool. It’s a conspiracy, this is a fucking conspiracy.
20 days ago
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Brown is one of those figures who has been so much more impressive post-pm than he was as pm. The Labour Party is still searching for an adequate successor.
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We owe it to Epstein’s victims and to British democracy to demand historic change | Gordon Brown
The abuse of women by figures such as Epstein, and of political power by the likes of Mandelson, must be confronted. As far as I am able, I will play my part, says former UK prime minister Gordon Brow...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/06/peter-mandelson-jeffrey-epstein-victims-democracy-change-gordon-brown?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
21 days ago
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Last year
@kibblesmith.com
posted asking people to check out his back catalogue. I bought this one, my 8yr old has not put it down since. 2nd photo is where I found it when walking into the room - open & well read, as always. Some great work to be discovered on Bluesky!
21 days ago
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Powerful essay, defence of journalism, demand for morality, argument for politics, warning against Fascism from someone who lived through it and died hearing the sound of its drums on the wind. A wonderful final piece to leave us.
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If you are reading this it is because I’m dead: here’s what I want to tell you about how to live | Carlos Hernández de Miguel
Leaving this world in an age of lies and cruelty, my last message is simple: don’t give up on truth, says Spanish journalist Carlos Hernández de Miguel
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/06/reading-this-i-am-dead-how-to-live?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
22 days ago
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You do have to question how Brown, Blair
@alastaircampbell2.bsky.social
and others failed to notice, over all those years, just how utterly self-serving & disinterested in the fortunes of his party & country Mandelson obviously was/is.
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Gordon Brown asks top civil servant to investigate Mandelson ‘leak to Epstein’
Ex-PM asks cabinet secretary to investigate whether Mandelson shared market-sensitive information
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/02/gordon-brown-asks-top-civil-servant-to-investigate-mandelson-leak-to-epstein?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
26 days ago
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This is a masterpiece of the form.
add a skeleton here at some point
26 days ago
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“I am certain that we are reaching peak screen addiction, that we want our communities to be more vibrant, that we crave a sense of possibility and purpose and that we need to feel the wind in our sails again”. A few spontaneous thoughts on this from Peter Hyman…
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The centre-left needs a cause
Technocratic government will not be enough to beat the populists
https://open.substack.com/pub/peterhyman21/p/the-centre-left-needs-a-cause?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer
26 days ago
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Oh! Havertz at left 8. Retro.
about 1 month ago
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For anyone in Los Angeles, there's a special screening of our new film Fantasy Rising this Saturday the 31st at the Laemmle Theater, Glendale. Featuring
@pvbrett.bsky.social
@scottlynch78.bsky.social
@matociquala.bsky.social
& many others.
www.laemmle.com/film/fantasy...
about 1 month ago
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This! We have one in Folkestone and hardly anyone I speak to knows it exists - get down there!:
sunflowerhouse.org.uk/folkestone-r...
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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Sunday
about 1 month ago
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Good to see Tony Benn’s 5 Tests of Democracy in here, from
@peterhyman.bsky.social
- an invaluable point of reference which I endeavour to keep top of mind. Try applying them in context of this week’s events, for example.
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The questions we ask
Asking better questions adds depth to our lives
https://open.substack.com/pub/peterhyman21/p/the-questions-we-ask?r=47n97y&utm_medium=ios
about 1 month ago
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Excellent, excellent deployment of “mook”, memorably featured in Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets. I would like to see this more often, there are far too many mooks, and they are rarely identified as such. Vance is, indeed, a summit specimen in the genre.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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Thank fuck for that. As always, though: statement should have been stronger.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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I would like to nominate Mark Carney as the Leader of the Free World. It can’t be this crumpled Lucozade bottle.
about 1 month ago
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Bessent is routinely discussed in the media as some sort of sanguine, stable finance minister; a pragmatic “Wall St guy”. Yet every time he opens his mouth it drips with contempt for Europe, & America’s allies. I would prefer that Bessent is reported on as he presents: a hostile bad actor.
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Scott Bessent says U.S. is unconcerned by Treasury sell-off over Greenland, calls Denmark ‘irrelevant’
U.S. treasury secretary Scott Bessant addressed reporters at a press conference at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/21/bessent-davos-denmark-greenland-treasuries.html
about 1 month ago
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Jesus needs to be starting 9 from now on.
#arsenal
about 1 month ago
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I find the CL nights so much more satisfying than the nerve-shredding endurance contests in the premier league at the moment. Both teams come to play, and we always bring fluid, creative football.
#arsenal
about 1 month ago
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“neither can the new world acquiesce in what the US, Russia and China now threaten: a return to the 19th-century arena of spheres of influence and great-power domination” Every word of this from Gordon Brown - I do wish he had greater involvement in front line politics.
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As Trump menaces Greenland, this much is clear: the free world needs a new plan – and inspired leadership | Gordon Brown
The idea that the liberal rules-based order can survive his presidency now seems complacent. This is a historic moment – and a time to act, says former UK prime minister Gordon Brown
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/20/donald-trump-greenland-world-plan-leadership?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
about 1 month ago
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Where this can get rapidly worse over the horizon, is if/when more of the Trumpists assume power in Europe (Reform, AfD etc). Gov’t needs to be clearly spelling out the danger, with reference to what has happened to the US, but I suspect hasn’t out of fear of upsetting the US. This is urgent now.
about 1 month ago
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Love the Bluesky-wide debate this morning on “what we got right and wrong during the rise of the Nazis”.
about 1 month ago
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