Maybe we can, oh I dunno, start to have a conversation with voters about this? The problem is not going to go away.

Every single thing the Brexity Right said has been proven 100% wrong, indeed much of it a pack of lies. Everything those of us who warned about the populist Right said has been proved 100% correct. Choose your side.

Just how unhinged does Trump have to become before Congress or his Cabinet intervene to stop him? If he wants to impose more taxes on US consumers by raising tariffs, Europe (incl the UK) can't stop him, but it definitely can't compromise on principles of territorial integrity & self determination.

Good policy will almost always get you good comms, as long as you don't eff the latter up. Good comms will never get you good policy. Governments are re-elected on the basis of success and failure in policy. So focus on policy and get good people to communicate it.

One of the most astounding things about this government is their failure to grasp the primary lesson from the last one was so obviously "Don't mess about with Comms all the time, just do stuff that will probably work".

💥 Are you an experienced comms pro with a track record of crafting & delivering messages to achieve real change? ✊ Keen to join the fight against #corruption? 🫵 You might be the person we need! We’re looking for a comms adviser to join the friendly Spotlight team. Apply below 👇. Deadline: 14 Feb.

We have an ageing population, struggling public services, and climate change. People might want low taxes, no migrants and cheaper energy, but they also don't want to lie in a hospital corridor for hours or have their house flooded. You can win elections with magic thinking but can't govern with it.

Jenrick saying he's "put aside personal ambition" too join Reform is the single most shameless statement I've ever heard. If he "put aside personal ambition" he'd disappear. That's all there is.

Chilly but beautiful day for a morning walk with the 🐶

👇 Good coverage here of the growing calls for a ban on donations to political parties in cryptocurrencies. “Crypto donations present real risks to our democracy,” says our Executive Director @suehawley.bsky.social.

🔥 As Starter Packs are doing the rounds again, here is a hastily updated #anticorruption pack with (mostly) a UK focus. 🙏 As always, any additions, deletions or edits much appreciated.

Zahawi can lead Reform's crackdown on tax avoidance. Plenty of experience.

Third Round Sunday and not a single game live on free-to-air or the one subscription that the overwhelming majority of fans can afford. The FA has properly done the dirty on supporters with this new deal.

My advice to new Blue Sky folk? Post about your passion, as well as news etc. Do posts on sport, books, travel, food. Anything that you love.

The fact that a week on and the UK government is still unable to stop posting on X is frankly terrifying. A decision that simple to make and justify has left them paralysed. The world is now an Out of Context Problem for the UK political elites.

Wondering what the threshold would be for the National Crime Agency to get a warrant for their head office.

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.

😔 I would have loved to have been able to tag the SFO on this post. It's just ludicrous that government and law enforcement agencies continue to post on X but are seemingly banned from making the minimal effort to cross-post to other platforms.

Feels very smol bean government to brief about how everything gets in your way and not be able to say "Every department and minister off the CSAM website by 5pm".

The Grok "response" really does sum up Starmer's government: The inability to make even a very simple decision A complete lack of morality Incoherent and contradictory rhetoric Shifting the responsibility to someone else SpAds running policy for their benefit Eventual reversal of policy

Look what's just arrived in the post! Looks pretty good. You can pre-order copies here, and there are links to events I'm doing. geni.us/OliverBullough

I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality.

It’s hard to complain about a ‘stakeholder state’ preventing government from delivering for the people when it is the government that is promoting the institutions of the stakeholder state over the interests of the people.

It's completely unacceptable in every sense, except the very literal one, in which we are going to accept it.

The reality is that most government activity on X gets zero genuine engagement. It's landfill comms. Buried under thick layers of noxious matter. Potemkin activity that barely generates any outputs, let alone any outcomes. Other than legitimising a CASM site, of course.

If the UK government had a Culture Secretary, that person would be in a position to take a view about whether child porn on demand was a good thing, or a bad thing. thecritic.co.uk/brin...

@jamesrball.com I think there's an extra perspective that has not been considered enough. I don't see how a government department (or any employer) can require their social media teams to use a platform which will expose them to such distressing images and the legal consequences of accessing them.

The New Year is a good time for making changes, and we’ve decided the time is right to use BlueSky and LinkedIn as our main social media platforms, and to no longer post on X. Do give us a follow and please do share this post.

Went to check if this screenshot (posted by @aric.bsky.social) was real (it is) and then made the mistake of also scrolling through Grok's replies on X. Still constantly cranking out sexualised images of young girls. Beyond bleak.

What the use of X by the UK government actually *does* do is legitimise a website full of violent racism, political manipulation, the open sake of drugs, calls for civil war and - now - rampant child sex abuse materials. None of which are things HMG should actively promote. Obviously.

Labour’s foreign interference inquiry needs to go *much* further Had an excellent conversation with the equally excellent @petergeoghegan.bsky.social for his 'Democracy for Sale' substack: foreign influence on UK politics, Russia, my book Homo Criminalis... open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

In the future the British state will consist solely of public inquiries funded by corporation tax on Games Workshop, Rolls Royce and OnlyFans

I have some more live events for early 2026. Come along!

Don't steal pies this Christmas.

👏 Welcome news that there will be an independent review into foreign interference in our politics. 👇 Here's Spotlight’s statement on what it should cover:

As Spotlight’s Helen Taylor told @tbij.bsky.social today, the Tribunal’s ruling appears to give the green light for libel lawyers to act as guns for hire & shows an alarming complacency about public concerns about #SLAPPs, particularly when it comes to legal tactics used to silence victims of fraud.

The SRA alleged that the Carter-Ruck partner made an “improper threat of litigation” in a letter sent to the victim of the $4 billion crypto-scam #OneCoin:

🚨BREAKING: The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal dismisses the case against Carter-Ruck's Claire Gill, in a shock decision that could give the green light for lawyers to continue to push the boundaries of what constitutes abusive litigation. #SLAPPs

🚨 With few new announcements in the Anti-Corruption Strategy aimed at boosting political #integrity in the UK, Spotlight's @kamilakingstone.bsky.social looks at what the government should have said – and explains what it needs to do to show decisive action that will restore public trust in politics.

Congrats to Specialist Journalism winners @petergeoghegan.bsky.social Jenna Corderoy and Lucas Amin of Democracy for Sale #BJA2025

This fits into my theory that reality television was the beginning of the end of Western Civilisation

Almost every restaurant I used to go to, beer I used to drink, coffee I used to enjoy that has been bought up has become overpriced, bland rubbish. Spreadsheet Britain.

One of the most worrying aspects of the 21st century is the sight of failing governments in wealthy western nations. Ireland is a good example. The government has abandoned basic essentials like housing, environment, and defence. The UK no longer has any effective regulation. This is bad.

New from FACT- Ambitious New U.K. Anti-Corruption Strategy Provides Sharp Contrast to U.S. Backsliding in Global Dirty Money Fight @factcoalition.bsky.social thefactcoalition.org/new-u-k-anti...

✍️ Spotlight’s Helen Taylor has teamed up with @jyansura.bsky.social of @factcoalition.bsky.social for this joint blog on why we urgently need to tackle the issue of illicit gold, a key means of criminals laundering their ill-gotten gains that has devastating impacts on people and the environment.

"Why don't people trust politicians?"

I applaud this mission (and welcome Dan to BlueSky) and hope that something can be done about kleptocrats wherever they are.