Mighty fine in London today

Lovely afternoon in the garden doing a BBQ and enjoying the weather…

Today is the anniversary of the Brexit result. I celebrated by moving to Sweden.

The @sochistorywar.bsky.social annual conference is on 26-27 November 2026, University of Limerick, Ireland. The CfP is linked below. Deadlines for papers/panel submissions is 3rd July 2026. Look forward to seeing folks in Ireland. www.show.org.uk/2021civilwar...

Yes, obviously it is suspended, but is it operating or not? Useless TfL app.

Back in Blighty. Ok, so who mucked about with the thermostat?

John Healey for Chancellor? 😀

The bad news: the UK's fiscal position means Burnham/any new Chancellor will have little/no room for manoeuvre on tax/spending/borrowing. The good news: there is a. progressive policy agenda that is pro-growth *and* fiscally credible. www.ft.com/content/7235...

Mighty fine in Stockholm. My midsummer treat.

Britain cannot afford the sovereignty Brexit bought.

🚨🚨New study by @johnspringford.bsky.social & @antonspisak.bsky.social @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social titled "The cost of #Brexit, ten years on: The impact of leaving the customs union and single market on UK trade". 🧵

Congratulations to Andy Burnham. I think this is the choice Starmer / Burnham will need to put to the whole of the UK. Either vote for someone you might not like or else get a reform government. Will that be enough?

my god, it's real

Bread and games will continue until the mid-terms.

To which under 16s across the country ask, what is Bluesky?

Important story this one. "Russia recruits people as "proxies", offering payment to carry out acts of violence, sabotage, and espionage." www.bbc.com/news/article...

Of course a changing of the guard might not happen until a GE… Burnham could lose. The backbenches won’t revolt. Healey has sacrificed himself for MOD. Starmer has control of the party machinery & he’s doubled down on growth as the GE winner. Useless or not he’s chosen where to fight the GE.

Brits: if you want to trace your way back to a baseline reality then you can’t do better than read @chrisgrey.bsky.social’s blog. We are in a dark place. There is much to do.

Had a swim. Now time for a beer. Mighty fine in Stockholm.

My review article - "Institutional Efficacy in a Fragile World Order" - of Jack Watling's latest book, Statecraft, now out in Survival. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/3T2QQ...

And in relation to the JEF - the vehicle that reinforces Europe’s commitment European security - that one plank of UK defence diplomacy upon which so much has been invested by MOD & successive PMs post-Brexit.

Newspaper of record to newspaper of discord

The Times view on pogroms.

I worked in Domestic Emergency Planning & with Staffs CCU. You can't do right for anyone. There's either no budget for proper planning, or senior leadership are looking for ways to pass on the responsibility. If you finally implement something you're blasted in the media and by conspiracy theorists.

I gave a talk to Staffs Civil Contingencies Unit yesterday. Attacked from the left and the right, these are the people that must clean up from the failure of Britain’s mainstream politicians and the extremists that they subsequently and irresponsibly encourage.

Good luck to Dan Jarvis. You’re gonna need it.

And now Al Carns has put the boot in and resigned! Ooof

Get my book here and for whopping 45% off the usual price. The Bagpipes by Richard McLauchlan is also worth your time!

My view: Starmer is now done. John Healey has done him in. No one on the backbenches will want defence. It is a poisoned chalice. Starmer has run out of bodies to throw into the line. A changing of the guard has to be the result.

Welcome the Forward Land Forces Finland... #northcalotte #highnorth

No escape for the deep state…

A couple of days at Lund University. But where is the Swedish summer?

Today ranks up there as being one of the best ever. Certainly from a professional point of view. Way ahead of cancer which I’d not recommend anyone deal with!

Congratulations to my colleagues in the School of Social & Political Sciences Uni of Lincoln. Being ranked #13 for Politics in the 2027 Complete University Guide is a tremendous achievement, demonstrating our commitment to the student experience.

This is one of the many, many good reasons why authors should join @alcs.co.uk www.alcs.co.uk/news/an-upda...

Tony Blair on my radio doing full AI Silicon Valley boosterism Unrelatedly…. Tony Blair’s personal think tank has had or been pledged $350 million from Oracle boss Larry Ellison democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-the...

Tony Blair’s policy recommendations in full: Embrace civil war!

Tony. Good luck rebuilding Britain so you can negotiate a way into the EU from a position of strength. That policy led approach to AI won’t be remotely difficult to negotiate. It will just lead to better social outcomes and no social stresses whatsoever. AI is literally Blair’s silver bullet.

Just listening to Tony Blair talk about technology. He talks about policy led approach to embracing AI. His problem is that this is a deeply political matter. It promises to completely destroy the cost of labour & consolidate capital in the hands of the techbros. That IS a politics question.

Mighty fine in London today. Last day in Blighty for a bit. Looking forward to getting back to Stockholm. It won’t be so hot!

The first ‘take back control from unelected bureaucrats’ project worked so well that they’re ready to do it again, with AI this time.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a pillbox myth blog. This time I’ll be doing a critique of Pillboxes by Henry Wills to look at whether the drawings presented in this book are original, as is often claimed. chriskolonko.wordpress.com/2026/05/23/p...

A beautiful Brexit bonus… enjoying the inside of your car on a blisteringly hot day. Good choices. Good times. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

But I'm afraid this is the new norm. A general commentariat unthinkingly passing on their own or others prejudices then telling anyone with any greater knowledge that they're wrong. And this is bleeding into government making a hard job worse.

Very good piece discussing the Swedish decision to buy Frigates, written by one of my colleagues at @forsvarshogskolan.bsky.social, Commander Peter Krönvik. johanwennstrom.substack.com/p/contributo...

So basically this exercise is an advertising campaign by Anduril who are using it to push their business into MOD. “What follows is carefully choreographed. To explain the mission, journalists attending are invited to put on virtual reality headsets, supplied by US technology company Anduril…”

Confirmation that Britain continues to dig itself into an enormous hole it started in 2015 when we elected Cameron as PM.

Very grateful to John Arquilla for positively reviewing my book as "...an incisive tour d’horizon..." "Overall, this insightful book is...replete with thoughts that have broad strategic implications" From the Journal of Military History cc:@smh-historians.bsky.social www.smh-hq.org/jmh/jmhvols/...

Bargain! @hurstpublishers.bsky.social are offering a copy of 'War in the Smartphone Age: Conflict, Connectivity and the Crises at Our Fingertips' at 25% off using this code SMARTPHONE25 here: www.hurstpublishers.com/book/war-in-...