If you read just one thing on ID cards, then make it this piece by Ian Dunt - it’s fair and balanced, and goes into the many of advantages of them; and why they’re still an absolutely terrible idea. open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...

Mandatory ID cards are a terrible, terrible idea iandunt.substack.com/p/id-cards-a...

RIP Menzies Campbell.

I’m an immigrant. No, I did not come here illegally. As a child, we were able to settle in the UK, thanks to the EEC/EU; as a🇫🇷&🇨🇭citizen, I was able to get indefinite leave to remain. 13 years ago, I naturalised as🇬🇧. (I also lapsed my🇫🇷citizenship - 🇨🇭only lets its citizens have 1 other nationality.)

Tony Blair and Rishi Sunak snapped after they bumped into one another outside Trump Tower in New York, four days ago.

Banks said "a potential Reform government should scrap the Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator, along with media and internet watchdog Ofcom, the Electoral Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority." Rather telling selection of regulators, there

Excellent piece of Who-ology by eminent Prydonian and authority on London’s private members’ clubs @seththevoz.bsky.social clubland.substack.com/p/clubs-in-p...

'Doctor Who' has nothing to do with the world of private members' clubs...does it? A deep dive into how the 3rd Doctor came to have a London club - and which one - and how it was probably the 1st Doctor who first put his name down for it. clubland.substack.com/p/clubs-in-p...

If this policy had been enacted, a first-generation immigrant like me would not have been allowed to have become a UK citizen. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

And after all the doom & gloom, subscribers to the Extra Bit can hear @rmcunliffe.bsky.social, @zoegrunewald.bsky.social, @matthewholehouse.bsky.social and I discussing politicians’ pets…

🎧 The one in which @seththevoz.bsky.social treats us to some historical factoids on by-elections, with some surprising data nuggets 😯 Interesting points! @rmcunliffe.bsky.social asks “tell us about Churchill!” And I thought she meant there was a 🐶 or 🐈 named Churchill! 🇬🇧 #UKPolitics 🗳️ #Podcasts 📻

Non-zero chance that Your Party never polls above Change UK

I think the King has plenty of experience of this sort of thing.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination has rocked US politics. Was he a provocateur or a generational voice? And what precedent does this killing set for democracy’s future? Charlotte McDonald-Gibson joins @seththevoz.bsky.social to ask what next for America? 🎙️ Listen on The Bunker: linktr.ee/bunker_pod

Today’s ClubCast - the Clubland Podcast - looks at if and how the old Salisbury Club propped up the Ian Smith regime in 1960s and 1970s Rhodesia. clubland.substack.com/p/clubcast-6...

The SNW season finale shed light on Star Trek. We now have an in-universe explanation for the Metron’s bad wig in Arena (TOS). They’re naturally bald, but faced with Kirk’s magnificent high-end toupee, they felt naked confronting him without rapidly grabbing a wig of their own. Even if ill-fitting.

Well, Oxford University had a lucky escape there.

This week's ClubCast - the Clubland Podcast - has an exclusive interview with Andrew Jones, author of the new book, 'The London Club: Architecture, Interiors, Art'. clubland.substack.com/p/clubcast-5...

Your friendly reminder that there is no way that Nigel Farage’s proposed deportations of migrants can reach anything like “600,000”, unless be also starts deporting legal immigrants, like, well, me. www.bbc.com/news/article...

An Edwardian cross-section of the rise of women's clubs, and the rise of political clubs: the story of the short-lived first Ladies’ Carlton Club, which lasted just a few months in 1910. clubland.substack.com/p/lost-clubs...

i have to give a presentation on monday about the norwegian senterparti and i’ve got so much material about how they’re the weirdest guys in norwegian politics but it just feels so fake when britain is producing absolutely incredible shit like this

This is objectively much worse that Kinnock's "we're alright" rally in terms of putting off voters.

What's the oddest thing to see in UK politics this morning? My contribution would be the new Leader of the Green Party, leading a choral rendition of "Lib Dem fightback", at Lib Dem conference 10 years ago.

I am so looking forward to Truss trying to defect and Farage desperately trying to stop her

I recently sat down with psychiatrist Dr. Raj Persaud, to talk about clubs and the human condition. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xra...

"Shortly after the interview, Mr Carswell blocked this reporter on X." So much for free speech... t.co/i6gMPrWaPj

David Howarth has a Substack. Sanity prevails. drhow.substack.com/p/liberals-a...

Those of us who take a keen interest in these things have been seriously heartened to see the palpable improvement in veteran documentary-maker Ken Burns’ toupee situation.

Rog got his one Bond film outing in a private members' club in 'The Spy Who Loved Me' (1977) - this one being in Cairo. clubland.substack.com/p/clubs-in-f...

Writers, keep writing. Do not buy into the hype train telling you your job will be replaced in a few years. Those using AI are literally atrophying their brains ability to be creative. The future will need your words, your creativity, to function well. publichealthpolicyjournal.com/mit-study-fi...

Three months ago, "London Clubland: A Companion for the Curious" was published in the UK, with some excellent reviews. Today is publication day for the book internationally, from Australia to the USA.

One of the best episodes and that's not an easy fit for OGWN

A fascinating episode of ‘Oh God, What Now’, interviewing Chris Bryant with @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com; it was also technically my debut in the presenter’s chair.

The latest episode of ClubCast - the Clubland Podcast - looking at the "aristocratic embrace": the Labour Party's attempts to set up a central London club in the 1920s, and Labour's strained relations with clubs. open.substack.com/pub/clubland...

A brilliant first US review for 'London Clubland' (which comes out in the USA this week), in the @washingtonexaminer.bsky.social: “an exuberant, suave, and discreetly indiscreet user’s guide to clubland. The perfect companion...it tells you everything you need to know.” t.co/9ZMG8TZRln

A colourisation (with the Kolorize app) of the earliest known photograph of London, looking down Whitehall in 1839; and the same view today, 186 years later.

The Cameron-Osborne years offer an important reminder that it is possible to excel at the theatre of politics - to "look prime ministerial", to dominate the "media narrative", to project "competence" and to communicate a clear political "story" - while being strikingly inept at governing.

Quite a few people have asked me over the last day what I make of the sale of Soho House. So I've prepared an explanation here. open.substack.com/pub/clubland...

I couldn’t take my eyes off the press conference. The seam on Emmanuel Macron’s toupee is there for all to see.

I am available for extensive comment. 😉 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

And those of you familiar with my historical voiceovers from @rostaylor.bsky.social’s 'Jam Tomorrow' may recognise my impression of Harold Macmillan.

After a week off (I had Covid), today sees the return of ClubCast - the Clubland Podcast - with a detailed look at the bombing of the Carlton Club on Pall Mall in 1940. clubland.substack.com/p/clubcast-3...

Excellent thread on the significance of Sevastopol to 🇷🇺

There can be no happy conclusion to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which involves 🇷🇺 keeping Crimea, and the port of Sevastopol. This is quite literally what this whole conflict is about. Yes, Putin’s ethnonationalism, & refusal to accept Ukraine’s sovereignty & borders, are a huge part of it. But…

While I try to make sure a good 90% of the Clubland Substack is free, a major bonus that paying subscribers get is my twice-monthly news round-up, which presents news of private members' clubs around the world, and tries to put it into expert context. clubland.substack.com

Who are this 5% of the British public polled, who have a favourable opinion of Prince Andrew?!?

Born on this day in 1756 in Chelsea,James Gillray .. the godfather & master of political cartoons.

Today's @ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social podcast is brilliant. This is why I pay like £3 a month to get the full podcast and a day early. It's worth every penny!

I spoke for half an hour to David Marr on Australia’s 'Late Night Live' cultural discussion show on ABC radio - you can listen to the episode below. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...