🇪🇺🏳️‍🌈⚖️🇭🇺 A legal earthquake - CJEU finds Hungary to have violated EU law on multiple counts with its anti-LGBT+ legislation (as expected) but also for the first time in history, in an EU law-reshaping precedent, finds Hungary to violate Art 2 TEU in a self-standing manner.

Talked to the BBC about today’s historic @eucourtofjustice.bsky.social ruling Today’s ruling is for everyone who love who they love But it is particularly for those who fought for that statement-of-the-obvious to become the EU’s highest law (@reclaim-eu.bsky.social) www.bbc.com/news/article...

English version of today’s judgment now available on Eur-Lex: eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...

I don’t think that Starmer did a good job yesterday (though I do think, pending what we hear from Olly Robbins today, that he did not mislead the House). He explained who told him what, and when, and said he was furious that he had been kept in the dark. All fair enough. BUT… 1/4

There's so much to write about everything that's happening with Mandelson vetting fight (and always happy to explain the process, others have done so v well on here). But the v. aggressive approach from no10 is over the weekend is just so damaging - so have tried to capture some of that

Olly Robbins had to implement something many people at the time believed to be a bad decision, badly made. But enough of his time as Brexit negotiator.

The things people say on the campaign trail…

The things people say on the campaign trail…

‘We will not be blackmailed’ says the man who who said that a civilisation will die (along with bridges and power plants) if Iran doesn’t make deal with him.

But… Starmer did appoint Mandelson *before* the vetting occurred. That makes the vetting look like a mere formality. As does the fact that his civil servants decided not to trouble him with the details. We’ll find out more next week…

Guns or butter? Or, as 2026 would have it, welfare or defence? You'd have thought that the debate on spending might have become a little more sophisticated with time, but clearly not.

I did appreciate the Russian doll with Orbán on the outside and Putin inside at the Tisza party 😀

Orbán's electoral crushing is a far greater achievement than most people outside Hungary realise. He systemically consolidated power for 16 years, fixed the electoral map, abused govt power for political purposes & censored media. The hurdles that Hungarians overcame for this moment were immense.

David Frost. Saying 'we in Europe'. I never thought I'd see the day.

From Roger Scruton cafes to paying Matt Goodwin $10k a month, Viktor Orban has built a network of populist right think tanks, journalists and activists Today Democracy for Sale delves into Orban’s allies on the British right Well worth a read democracyforsale.substack.com/p/orbans-brits

Some research-intensive universities have been hoovering up students from other institutions, even if they don’t have enough accommodation to house them. Read my new @hepi-news.bsky.social report on the financial sustainability of the HE sector: bit.ly/4mBraMN

~ Ten years after Brexit, this is the UK: a divided nation frozen in time | Aditya Chakrabortty | The Guardian ~ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/09/ten-years-brexit-uk-divided-country

This ‘NATO wasn’t there when we needed it’ line. Trump appears to have convinced himself that it is true. Did he consult NATO before acting? And.. what is it that NATO can accomplish that the US cannot?

Spare a thought this morning for Pete Hegseth (and for whoever was tasked with telling him that a deal had been reached).

Great coverage from @jakubkrupa.bsky.social. Vance, in Hungary doing this, warns that “what has been built over generations can be undone in a single life span”. Meanwhile, Trump is planning for Iranian civilisation to die.

So the President of the US has made a credible threat against Iran, saying that ‘a whole civilisation will die’, and the only thing we’ve heard from the PM is about the Wireless Festival. Good, good.

I assume that the UK Government is waiting for a reaction from Iran so that it can condemn ‘dangerous rhetoric’ and ‘reckless escalation’.

If Trump doesn’t ’unleash hell’ on Iran tonight, it will not be because he has ‘chickened out’. I’ve had enough of the TACO takes (which seem to have replaced the equally absurd ‘dead cat’ claims).

In trying to make sense of Trump, and the consequences of Trump, I think it is useful to focus on his personality traits. When you combine those traits with the power vested in the Presidency of the US, you get a recipe for disaster. And that's where we are. Thread. 🧵1/11

‘To the victor, belong the oils.’ Surely?

What you're spelling out is essentially this... bsky.app/profile/badc...

Apologies for the self-promotion, but there’s indeed quite some research about this out there onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

In trying to make sense of Trump, and the consequences of Trump, I think it is useful to focus on his personality traits. When you combine those traits with the power vested in the Presidency of the US, you get a recipe for disaster. And that's where we are. Thread. 🧵1/11

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

What it means is what has already started, which is countries considering all manner of restrictions on all manner of trade, weakening economies, before at some point they come to understand that weaponisation of supplies is lose-lose. This is the 1930s version of tariff raising.

It is by no means the biggest thing, but Keir Starmer is *absolutely terrible* at answering questions. I get that he wants only to repeat his key talking points, but his answers sound like the slop AI would generate if asked to ignore the question and do just that. Can't think why...

Direct empirical confirmation of my theory of the "immigration doom loop" in UK politics.... ☹️

Two (contrasting) reactions: 1. It is demonstrably true, and it is remarkable, given what's gone before, that PM Starmer would say it in a set-piece national address. 2. 'Closer partnership' could mean almost anything. I'm ready to be disappointed; both by the plan, and how it is presented.

Your illegal war, mate You broke it. The Straits were open before your ridiculous “master plan” without the “master” and without the plan. Demonstrated here by the fact he seems to think he can insult countries into joining in his illegal war. Dumb as a box of frogs

You know part of you that sometimes thinks that bad things somehow need to happen so that people… ‘learn lessons’ and ‘never make the same stupid decisions again’: Ignore it. They will never learn. They will keep making stupid decisions.

Some argue that Hungary should simply leave the EU. Yet the treaties contain no mechanism to expel a member state. And even if it were possible, a forced “Huxit” would not weaken Viktor Orbán — it would weaken the Hungarian people, warns German Green MEP Daniel Freund.

There's a beautifully-researched piece on the subject of invented AI history below. The author points out that the inaccurate AI version will become the source for more AI training and, even worse, will overwrite the true history for future human researchers. Ten minute read: tinyurl.com/mr26nvrts/

We learned a bit more about Trump’s approach to deal-making yesterday. There are, it seems, 3 simple stages. They work for international relations, domestic policy, and business, and, no doubt, they also permeate into his personal life. 🧵 1/9

We learned a bit more about Trump’s approach to deal-making yesterday. There are, it seems, 3 simple stages. They work for international relations, domestic policy, and business, and, no doubt, they also permeate into his personal life. 🧵 1/9

So, the BBC is now Brittin’s Broadcasting Corporation?

I have two theories about Trump and Iran - let me know what you make of them. The first is about the volatile nature of the US’ rhetoric, and the second focuses on yesterday’s phone call. Short thread. 1/3

We’re living in a world in which oil and gas prices and beyond depend not just on what Trump does, but on what he says on Truth Social. It is mad. And the volatility is a feature, not a bag.

The mess the Middle East is now in can be largely traced to one factor: Donald Trump's belief a) that international political negotiations are like New York real estate negotiations (they're not) and b) that he is a supremely skilled negotiator (he's not). 1/n

I’d like to ask Yvette Cooper a) whether ‘reckless’ Iran been obliterating the leadership and power supplies of any other country; and b) what adjectives she would attach to the threats the US and Israel have been making?

Nurse, he’s tilting at windmills again!

Just heard the response of Trump’s allies described as ‘lukewarm’. My prediction would be that things are going to get colder. Allies can remember a time, a month ago, when the Straits were open. Allies might ask who - unilaterally - did something to change that.

Here are 10 consequences of the US-Israel attack on Iran - a thread. US soft power is damaged. To launch an attack without clear aims or an exit strategy has upset allies - in Europe, Gulf & Asia - who must bear the economic, political and military consequences. /1

Another excellent post, in which frustrations with the Trump regime are never far from the surface. For example Steve Witkoff is described a man ‘whose limitations as a diplomat can no longer be put down to inexperience.’

"President Trump holds the cards."