If Dems retake either house, they must launch an investigation into this. There's no easier way to highlight the corruption of this era and to establish that Dems are committed to fighting it. Pretty sure @wyden.senate.gov and Maxine Waters would be the chairs to do it.

Ah I see they still think putting him on tv is a good idea

Are we really going to hold a public inquiry into whether doing the vetting after the prime minister publicly announces the appointment is a bad idea?

this did just give me a blinding flash that there's gonna be a Slow Horses novel about this disaster though and that's gonna be an absolute blast

by no means the main take to be had here (indeed takes 1 to 25 should be along the lines of "fucking hell Keir"), but worth noting just how quickly moral rot can spread - all of this obviously happened because Trump won and the government needed someone morally rotten to step in to help them

fascinated that the PM found out on Tuesday but told neither Cooper nor Jones, who both only found out yesterday it seems? what were no10 doing with the information, if not discussing it with the ministers who oversee the vetting process and the department in question?

Well-played, @zeit.de and Ben Wiseman.

Completely agree with this thread. It's just another example of the contempt Westminster has for local government.

'Is it me you're looking for?'

glorious intro from Marina Hyde: "You hear such a lot from Maga Republicans about how liberals think Trump voters are stupid. But not nearly enough about the far more salient point: that Donald Trump thinks Trump voters are stupid." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I suspect that had Labour not contrived to lose so many voters to the Greens and LDs over the past year that they would now be ahead of Reform in the polls, with the Conservatives not too far behind. Which would rather alter the tenor of press coverage compared to when Reform continue to lead.

Quite a flex to turn up at the presidential palace, get him to confirm you as prime minister, call him unfit to serve with no moral authority, tell him to resign, and then pose for a picture

This bunch of right wing nihilistic nutters seem able to mix religion and politics very well/badly indeed. So why can’t the Pope?

The pathology is so malignant and preposterous, it’s not hard to understand why some people look away and ignore

I know this is me still mourning a long dead world but it does feel remarkable that, not that long ago, British papers on the right would have run editorials and columns arguing that Hungary showed that only a solid, reliable centre-right party could defeat dangerous populists, but now? [crickets]

Exactly. And in relation to the latest moral panic, raise taxes on those who can afford to pay more and stop this nonsense that we have to cut ‘the welfare bill’ in order to increase defence spending. And finally, stop talking about % increases in defence and specify what, when and why!

As I said earlier, the latest moral panic.

My response to the Southport inquiry: the one lesson we definitely did learn is that some idiot spreading misinformation online can lead to widespread riots among knuckle-dragging racist fuckwits.

In the 1930s, Oswald Mosley claimed to be a patriot, while his British Union of Fascists was secretly funded by the Italian government. We are just beginning to grasp how much of the far right in the UK today has been funded by Viktor Orbán and Russian oil money. Their "patriotism" is always a con.

I've been thinking very deeply about what Lord Robertson has said in context of the whole debate surrounding Defence / Welfare and have come to the conclusion that our only sensible way forward is to send grandma to the front. Triple locked and loaded if you will.

Remember Johnson telling people Brexit wouldn’t affect their holiday? The referendum was inherently fraudulent, based on lies. Time to ask the people if they want to reconsider?

Exactly. And in relation to the latest moral panic, raise taxes on those who can afford to pay more and stop this nonsense that we have to cut ‘the welfare bill’ in order to increase defence spending. And finally, stop talking about % increases in defence and specify what, when and why!

Without having yet read the book, I’d say that in reality the purpose of UK immigration policy is to placate the racists without destroying the economy. That’s purely descriptive.

Furedi is explaining Orban's loss as down to the corruption of Hungarian youth by identity politics and "therapy culture". Hilarious.

You know I knew that Door Dash woman looked familiar

I find it so absurd when Reform fanatics say Nigel Farage wasn’t responsible for Brexit. Wasn’t his party then called the Brexit Party? Great Britain is poorer because of him 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🫖☕️

it feels quite bad that it's basically impossible to argue that much of the modern right in the west has become both entirely intellectually shallow and deeply, fundamentally morally corrupt without sounding like a tedious teenage tankie, because it is.....the factual truth

'Neither Washington nor Moscow but international liberal democracy' (to adapt an old Trotskyist slogan - for all the youngsters out there).

Péter Magyar has just wrapped up his three-hour press conference with independent Hungarian and global media outlets. He hasn't even been incoming PM for a day, yet he's already opened himself up to more media scrutiny than Viktor Orbán did in 16 years.

Incoming Hungarian PM Péter Magyar calls for the UK to rejoin the European Union: "I remember when I was a diplomat in Brussels... We were able to influence decisions. At the time, the Brits were also part of the EU. Let's hope they will rejoin."

Peter Magyar confirmed that Szijjarto, Orbán's FM, has barricaded himself with some of his closest colleagues and is shredding documents related to the sanctions on Russia any other evidence of treason.

The dynamic is interesting though—Socialist Hungary liberalized first, welcomed eg South Korean investment, accelerated crackup of bloc by freeing movement, etc. then led way as illiberal pioneers in the other direction, playing spoiler again in their new bloc.

One of the great tricks of transnational populism, of course, is to appeal to people who literally never see or hear any news from outside their own country. Thus it can slosh around from state to state, eating its losses, knowing most of its potential supporters won’t even know they’ve happened.

Bluesky : “yay, go Hungary!” X : “Europe has fallen! Europe has fallen!”

A primer on Hungary’s electoral system. Hungary has a mixed-member pseudo proportional electoral system. 106 elected in first past the post constituencies 93 by proportional representation in closed lists 1/

In absolutely chef’s kiss timing, Matthew Goodwin is due to speak at Orbán’s in-house propaganda group MCC *today* Badloss strikes again.

I'm an admirer of the works of both Rene Magritte and Gary Numan, but only today have I found out about this. L: Le Principe du Plaisir, 1937 R: The Pleasure Principle, 1979

I know it’s amusing to say Vance lost the election for Orbán, but he didn’t. This win for Magyar has been brewing a *long time*, and the anger is deeper towards Putin than towards Trump

An underappreciated dynamic of recent Hungarian politics is how several ex-intel officials and generals joined Magyar's team early on. Most professionally minded police, intel and army officers in Hungary just wanted to rejoin the big kids table in NATO and the EU

It's basically impossible for any non-Fidesz administration to really do anything. This isn't just needing a purge of the civil service, judiciary, and the like. The entire machinery of the Hungarian state needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and I don't think that's possible in a single term.

Even the Guardian goes with "marathon talks". One day is scarcely even "talks". www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Oh @vicderbyshire.bsky.social - Trump is not the ‘leader of the free world’. Come off it.

A great summary of the choices facing Hungarians ahead of Sunday’s election 👌

They pave paradise And put up something even worse than a parking lot

The Telegraph just gave a convicted criminal a two-page spread to explain why he's pumping £4 million into Reform UK. They tucked his criminal record away in the small print. So as a former financial crime specialist I’ll do their job for them👇

At the same time, Trump is also turning the DOJ on his enemies. The incentive structure is clear. Break the law for me, and you will be protected. Don’t, and we may turn on you. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Well, yes. About time engelsbergideas.com/notebook/let...

'What idiot signed up to this deal?'

Thank you for your attention to this nutter.

Melania has ended her ceasefire with Trump.