This most of all pertains to the state defence and security structures. These are especially sensitive and inherently vulnerable, as we see with the scandals engulfing both the DNI and government surveillance in the US right now.

ICYMI author @gsoh31.bsky.social joined Rod Liddle on Times Radio on Saturday to discuss his new book, 'New Labour, New Britain?', which publishes tomorrow! Listen back here: www.thetimes.com/radio/show/2... #Starmer #Labour

The reality-based and patriotic parties need to get their arses in gear. They can do this. Farage is a rubbish politician whose case isn't even a single cell thick. He only has one shot at grasping executive power. After him his confected potemkin 'movement' will splinter. But they need to try.

One danger ahead is the pack of lies Reform UK is dangling. Cut equalities, get rid of green policies, stop immigration - all obvs will fall apart or make things worse. Imagine the rage and hatred then, just as now after Brexit now its reality has dawned. Another turn of the screw.

Another thing many underestimate is the sheer rage and the depth of the misinformation they're facing. Much right populism is emotional and psychological, a deep phenomenon which may not be particularly amenable to policy. At its simplest it's a turning outwards of insoluble frustration. (1/3)

There's such naivete about 'guardrails' and 'structures' in the UK. But in reality there aren't many, and there are no laws without politics and people that deploy them. Trump won fairly easily even though in the last two weeks he was barely able to speak or reason. He just puce-bellowed. (1/2)

Most politicians and advisers seem to way underestimate the stakes they're playing with. The fantasists, conspiracists and wreckers of Reform UK deeply sympathise with the dictators we face. Idea of them with executive power and access to the panoply of state functions dwarfs most else we've faced.

UK increasingly reminds me of the Biden-era US. Reality-based and constitutionalist groups, in which I still include the Tories, just cannot get their act together for five minutes. But the endpoint is staring us in the face: best case you end up sacked and harassed, at the worst prosecuted.

Right, I'm adding this New Labour book to the pile and calling it a day. It's bittersweet in a way. Twenty years of writing about British policy and planning while it's got worse and worse. But it's still important to say what you think and keep saying it. Meanwhile, salut! 🍾🥂

In case you missed it earlier, my NEW BOOK on the Blair years has arrived! It seems crass to promote it given everything that's happening, but I think it's a fair and balanced take. Here's a non-Amazon link where you can pick up a copy: www.waterstones.com/book/new-lab...

Having had a sneak preview of this at Glen's talk for the London New Liberals, I'm definitely going to be buying this as soon as I get back to 🇬🇧. New Labour's domestic policy is ripe for re-examination as the question of what a centre-left government looks like in the modern day is asked again.

Look what's arrived! It seems crass to be talking about it after everything that's happened this week, but I think my new book on the Blair years is fair, balanced and judicious. Available at all good bookshops: www.amazon.co.uk/New-Labour-B...

What one must euphemistically refer to as 'news' continues to flow in from around Higher Education, and it's very tough indeed out there. Solidarity if you're in the mire, almost everyone is.

I am crushed into the vestibule of a full and standing train. After 8.15pm. What a joke the whole thing is. A country without a transport system simply cannot grow as it might.

I was thinking 'hmmm, probably won't make it to my connection', but that's okay... because it's **running late**! You hear me? Late! Like every other bus, coach and train ever! 🇬🇧

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt's Liberal government will no longer use X for "routine" government communications:

Tried the coach earlier. Got stuck on a queuing motorway in the pouring rain. Now I just want to go home. But it's the dreaded **rail replacement bus** and will take aaaaages. Every single day, every single journey. 😭

Now tell me again how much it's okay that English Lit has collapsed at A-Level and in our universities.

Meanwhile... HS2. 😭

The visceral hatred I've heard directed towards Angela Rayner, why would she even want to be PM? Maybe this goes to the whole weirdness of politics. She could get a decent job, low hassle, go to the South of France or Majorca a lot, chill. Most of them could. I suppose it's a wish to do good, but 🤷‍♂️

How can the other parties not beat this? I mean, seriously? These people should be shouted down in roars of laughter the minute they say this. Just toxic. www.bigissue.com/news/politic...

Dead ahead: years of snobbery, misogyny and hatred about a northern single mum from a council house. So that's not worth looking forward to either.

He's laughing at everyone, and getting richer and richer doing it. No-one can touch him. The worse thing? Many voters who hate this sort of thing will plump for Reform out of desperation.

Most MPs are honest, hard-working and clean as anything. Dragging Parliament through the dirt hurts everyone, especially the weakest in our society. Next time you wonder why governing has got harder, this type of a debacle is one reason.

After everything - Horizon, expenses, Falkirk, Johnson's flat, Covid parties, contaminated blood, 'cash for ash', Cummings, Greensill, Pincher, Murrell, betting-gate, Nathan Gill - well, how did you think voters would feel? I love thinking and writing about politics, but there is a limit.

An awful but deeply revealing story about the structural power of wealthy patriarchal networks is in danger of becoming a story about some... powerful men. Ever noticed how quickly relegated and decentred women and girls in these stories are?

Just got back on the trains. Guess what? It's already late and it's not going anywhere for now. We're not moving cos there's a 'power outage'. Arrrrgggghhhh.

The Labour Party has one mission: to stop the calamity of Reform UK, which in normal times would never get near power, entering govt. We've seen how that goes in the US, and the working class voters Labour seeks to represent would be hurt the most. If they can't even manage that they're a disgrace.

Although there will of course be commentary on the political fallout of the Epstein files, as that will likely be consequential, the number one focus and priority must be absolutely clear: the industrial scale abuse of women and girls by powerful, rich men.

The procession towards authoritarianism in the United States continues apace. Faster even than expected. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...

📚New Episode📚 A forty-year slow-motion disaster in higher education is reaching its climax – and Labour is left holding the bag. @gsoh31.bsky.social joins @rostaylor.bsky.social & @hannahfearn.bsky.social to ask if the problems can be solved ➡️ linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnowpod

The latest Oh God, What Now? is really good on how government policies are threatening UK universities. @gsoh31.bsky.social is excellent here Episode webpage: twitter.com/OhGodWhatNow... Media file: pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffi...

Blair had a strategy: can Labour find one now? Author @gsoh31.bsky.social for @labourlist.bsky.social: labourlist.org/2026/01/blai... His new book, New Labour, New Britain? is out next month. #Labour #Starmer #booksky

Great listen this. Even if it gets four listeners, I want that teased REF deep dive too.

I'll be launching my book on the Blair governments in London on Monday 9 March! Between 6.30pm and 8pm. We'll be at the Gilded Acorn bookshop between LSE and the Hunterian... Come along! Booking details below: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/new-labour...

In case you missed it earlier, I've been talking to the @ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social podcast about my new book on the Blair governments and the crisis in Higher Education... Take a listen! megaphone.link/NSR1340804685

In case you missed it earlier, I've been talking to the @ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social podcast about my new book on the Blair governments and the crisis in Higher Education... Take a listen! www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/epi...

I've been talking to the Swedish press about the crisis in UK Higher Education. Read all about it here! www.tidningencurie.se/nyheter/skar...

I've been busy this week... third and last, I've been talking on the @ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social podcast. A bit about my book, a lot about the disaster now unfolding in Britain's universities. It's an hour, but it's fun: www.podmasters.co.uk/oh-god-what-...

I've been busy this week... Secondly, I wrote for the @bigissue.com about New Labour's housing policies. They cut homelessness, rough sleeping and housing need, but did they leave a big hole where more building should have been? My views: www.bigissue.com/opinion/new-...

I've been busy this week... First up, I wrote about Tony Blair's governments for @labourlist.bsky.social. Like them, loathe them, indifferent to them, he had a strategy. Does Labour have a roadmap now? labourlist.org/2026/01/blai...

Me, on astronomy funding crisis, on the @ox.ac.uk website: www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-02... 🔭🧪

Popcorn at the ready: the UKGov Science, Innovation & Technology Committee is about to quiz Sir Ian Chapman about UKRI’s new strategic objectives. Will they ask him about the devastating cuts planned for UK astronomy? Let's hope so. 🔭🧪 📺 Watch live from 9:30am: parliamentlive.tv/event/index/...

This week I've been on the @ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social podcast talking a bit about my new book, and a lot about the great university disaster that is now unfolding. Take a listen! 👇 megaphone.link/NSR1340804685

Authoritarianism continues to proceed exactly on pace and on track in the US, just as Kamala said it would and as everyone - red and blue alike - knew it would. edition.cnn.com/2026/02/02/p...

Glen has nailed what is happening to UK universities (again). All the grand strategists pontificating about the UK's future in a post-rules based international order need to realise that one of the critical sectors they tout as "world leading" is on the verge of collapse.

Beyond a tiny hardcore of rich universities, if you are an employee in UK Higher Ed you will be somewhere on the treadmill/ slippery slope below. You'll recognise exactly which step you are on at this moment. Take a look. 👇

In the UK academic recession, you will be at one of these stages since many unis buy the same cuts model from the same consultancies. It is always the same process: *Talk of belt-tightening *Incidental savings (e.g. printing, refreshments) *Travel budgets cut *Promotion freeze (1/4)

Authoritarianism continues to proceed on track in the United States. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

You too can read up on the New Labour era - the books seem to be arriving right now! www.amazon.co.uk/New-Labour-B...