Arguably more significant than defections, internal party politics and the Beckhams… In 2024 there were around 3,600 suspected cases of measles. We need to challenge the nonsense spread by anti vaxxers and ensure children are protected. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... news.sky.com/story/uk-los...

Please. This is absurd. Europe can certainly deter Russia and defend itself if its focused and determined. Perpetuating a sense of European helplessness may help Rutte bureaucratically but its 1. wrong 2. prevents action. 3. willfully blind: the US ain't coming to defend Europe.

Victims *must* be at the heart of the Service Justice System and we are strengthening protections and improving accountability to do just that in our Armed Forces Bill. This is a no-fail mission for me. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Just overhead two undergrads remarking that they 'honestly couldn't understand how anyone did university degrees before ChatGPT was invented'.... 🫠

A new moderate centre-right Tory group launched today. Worth looking at the list of supporters including @davidgauke.bsky.social @davidlidington.bsky.social, Ruth Davidson, Malcolm Rifkind &many others known to 1) be quite pro-European 2) have no time for culture wars prosperuk.com/meet-the-team/

Our latest research shows that 1 in 5 women coaches experience harassment. Most often, these incidents are carried out by fellow coaches and the majority of harassment is sexual in nature. Read the research, conducted in collaboration with Leeds Beckett University: https://ow.ly/rChy50Y1H6J

Are you a journalist covering Farage's veterans announcement today? Then you might ask him why he is planning to expel retired veterans from the UK. Gurkhas, and others, who have served Britain often have indefinite leave to remain. But Farage will revoke this - and only...

Populist nonsense. Hypothetical scenario: There is a global pandemic, or a war, and GDP crashes to the floor. Oh wait, could that ever happen? 🙄 Should all MPs be fired because they fail to "deliver“ (worst word in politics)"growth"? It is not a Pizza.

Sorry to see Mark Tully has died - he was very much an old-school gentlemen reporter, immersed in the region he covered. His is a very 20th-century story that I suspect looks alien and in some ways troubling to modern eyes, but he was really devoted to his craft and to India

notable how many of the Brexit guys are now *desperate* for Britain to be openly subordinate to a despotic foreign capital

'Perhaps most dispiriting for many Europeans was realising the French had been right all along.'

Career firing, career firing, career stops.

"As military, security, and government-aligned tribal forces advance in northeast Syria and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) retreat, all eyes are rightly on the extent of Islamic State (IS) prisoners escaping from detention facilities," writes Andrew Tabler.

Career firing, career firing, career stops.

Looking for a group experience that’s genuinely memorable? Sleep inside Colchester Castle with an overnight experience designed for schools, clubs, and organised children’s groups. Expect exclusive access, guided activities, and a night spent inside the Castle itself.

Crisis over, time to stick heads back in the sand.

Unfortunately, many in the government seem to think that it does.

I'd like to think that this crisis would kick the UK governmemt into taking the strategic implications of a breach with the US seriously. But because Trump, ever a figure known for his reliability, has now said 'no force', I cynically imagine they will put their heads back into the sand.

I cannot tell you how absolutely infuriatingly this stuff comes across to Europeans. When we say America is no longer a reliable ally, it goes considerably deeper than Donald Trump himself. This kind of complacent, condescending shit is a *huge* part of it.

European Parliament defers EU - Mercosur agreement to the Court of Justice. This is not good news, but it does not "freeze" the deal. Provisional application kicks in once one or more Mercosur states have notified the EU of their agreement to do so. www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

please refer to your Davos phrasebook www.ft.com/content/ab4f...

Mark Carney's speech is now only the second most acute analysis of where the world is at right now:

Strong speech from Carney here. Well worth a read. Wish a British politician could do the same.

🚨The Petition calling for by-elections to be called automatically when MPs defect to another party now has 55,000 signatures! Let’s get the 100,000 needed! petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

The whole speech is worth watching. #Carney www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE98...

Strong speech from Carney here. Well worth a read. Wish a British politician could do the same.

Fuck me not good.

One of the Bellingcat Discord members has made Wordle, but for identifying warships keel-fawn.vercel.app

Proud to be a founder member of Labour Friends of NATO - crucial time for progressives across the alliance to reassert solidarity and the values of the Treaty ... labourlist.org/2026/01/labo...

If only there had been some clue that he was like this.

This is fucking excellent.

This is fucking excellent.

@vienna_official today we welcome his imperial highness archduke franz ferdinand to sarajevo. unity, stability, progress. @pan_slav_posting wild that austria thinks this is a good idea but ok

Most alt history looking thing I’ve ever seen on Wikipedia

Me, an idiot: I'm worried about these parties that seem really hostile to darker-skinned people. James Orr, an actual associate professor at actual Cambridge University: It is impossible for populists to be undemocratic, because of the Greek origins of the word "democracy".

This article remains ever-green. *Sigh*

This is a very useful read. It's not how much kit you have -- it's whether you have the right kit, and whether you can actually use it meaningfully. Quality over quantity!

This article remains ever-green. *Sigh*

2024: can Europe defend itself ALONGSIDE America? 2025: can Europe defend itself WITHOUT America? 2026: can Europe defend itself AGAINST America?

🇵🇱The Polish Armed Forces Development Program envisages increasing the size of the Armed Forces to 500,000 personnel by 2039. 🔗Read details: militarnyi.com/en/news/pola...

Bastards. Still managing to cling on to power, after all this time. However: 'In the past, street protests have taken on an ebb and flow of euphoria and exhaustion. The 1979 revolution that toppled the Shah took more than a year to crest'

Everybody loves a bargain, don’t they. Grab yours now, by pre-ordering my new book with a massive discount 👊

Another fine example. A friend reports saying to a Tory operative - “isn’t Gaza awful”. The reply - “it’s worse for Labour “

The inability of a large number of politicians and journos to take an interest in anything outside the micro-world of SW1 never ceases to amaze. Reminds me of a few years ago when the coverage of a Rus missile landing in Poland was all about Sunak's leadership rather than the event itself.

The inability of a large number of politicians and journos to take an interest in anything outside the micro-world of SW1 never ceases to amaze. Reminds me of a few years ago when the coverage of a Rus missile landing in Poland was all about Sunak's leadership rather than the event itself.

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

This was the first news photo I saw this morning, and out of all the stupid shit I've seen in the news over the last couple of decades, it might be the stupidest.

I drop wikipedia a tenner once a year. It really is the last bastion of the old internet. The pre-evil internet.

Respect for the Heroes of Ukraine.

Macron’s speech to the armed forces: -Wants €36 billion defense spending boost in 2026-2030 -Slams 🇫🇷 defense industry — some could be « ousted from the market » -Open to buy more european weaponry (instead of mainly 🇫🇷) -French air, land, naval assets in Greenland: www.politico.eu/article/fran...