If there is hope… it lies in Billy Bragg #maekuthihk

This is not going to get better with Labour’s current orientation (and leadership in my view). Look at how badly the Democrats messed up by not acting quickly enough when it was obvious to all they were in deep trouble news.sky.com/story/bluesk...

This was always going to be the most damaging legacy of the 2022 mini-budget: that any and every subsequent attempt to challenge the fiscal masochism that has laid waste to the public realm since 2010 would henceforth be derided as "Trussite".

The Labour Party is completely lost if it repeatedly tells itself in public that it can’t do anything. It’s an invitation to be bullied. If it is to be Burnham then maybe a good idea would to be reclaim the idea of “sovereignty”

This is quite interesting, since it suggests the Reform chair thinks the UK state should be more wary of bond markets. Regardless of the validity of his view, it would give Burnham a way to present himself as more of a radical & Reform as more craven in the face of financial markets.

Oh dear, after Reich Said Fred another dimly-remembered pop band turns to the Right. Carol Decker of T’Pau going a bit nuts. “Give a little bit of blood and soil”

North Norfolk, MR James, old churches (despite being an atheist)

Really interesting onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Very interesting reading

Just to log that Tesla is not dead in new car sales. Tend to only hear the bad news. www.reuters.com/world/uk/tes...

Foreign policy not my bag, but judging from reactions I’ve seen, not a lot of people happy with recognition of Palestine. Either doesn’t go far enough or goes too far. I’ve no capacity to judge, but can see an assumption of “bad faith” on government’s part on both sides of this one.

Reform: if we deport 2 million people, we will "save" 200 billion pounds Liberals: check your sums, it is only 100 billion

Elon Musk is no friend of our United Kingdom. He should be held to account for allowing truly vile and illegal child abuse content on his platform.

Putting up flags is just harmless patriotism x.com/LozzaFox/sta...

Suspect we won’t be waiting much longer for the first favourability / leaders head-to-head forced choice poll including Andy Turnham

Huge danger for Labour in Wales is that the ‘popular front’ argument gets flipped - Voting Labour rather than Plaid risks letting Reform in.

A few thoughts about “fairness” on the Substack open.substack.com/pub/tompowdr...

"But now we shall both surely drown", said Sultana. "lol" said Corbyn, "Imao".

An older result but a classic of the genre. A win is a win but less than a quarter of the vote.

Found this paper v interesting. Different conceptions of fairness seems to me to be a pretty important topic to address in building a response to the radical Right

One of the leading experts on the far-Right is pretty clear here - Labour loses by chasing anti-immigration votes. (FWIW Mudde’s The Far Right Today is a great overview, though he’s going to need to update it now things have got worse) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Just a thought, but I wonder if what triggered Trump was the “ballroom grief” part of Jimmy Kimmel’s bit. Did make him look a bit ahem narcissistic

Pretty impressive if they split even before launch. Early indications (not just this latest one) suggest it’s going to go the way of previous attempts to set up left-of-Labour party. I think a populist left party needs a broad, simple message. Not purity on every point. news.sky.com/story/row-br...

Enough whinging from me, I’m in @mainstreamlabour.bsky.social www.mainstreamlabour.org/get-involved

Wonder if local results look a lot like what British politics for the foreseeable. Five parties doing ok to *quite* well, no party with a commanding lead, seat level results could go multiple ways

Random point, but Albert Hirschman’s book was Exit, Voice *and Loyalty* Understandably most attention is usually paid exit & voice, but Hirschman did not treat loyalty as only downstream of this (ie costs of entry/difficulty of exit might create a sort of loyalty). Loyalty also influences E&V

This bit from the last retweet is interesting to me

Just a shame that this is what he should have said to the public two days ago. Saying it now to an internal audience is quite a different thing (and could be interpreted as having different motivations) bsky.app/profile/jess...

This is disrespectful to CEOs, especially when their pay has been approved by shareholders & therefore is objectively fair. Would love to see what KPIs this guy needs to hit to get his bonus - bet it’s all ESG crap. He should focus on improving performance in his own biz! www.ft.com/content/be72...

Observer: 10 refused to comment on the Robinson march, on Musk's call to bring down the government (OK) or for his "fight back or die" declaration that violence is inevitable and necessary (not OK) The home secretary criticised those arrested for violence.

good that Keir has broken his silence this morning to ... continue posting on a website run by a man who yesterday addressed a far right rally to call for his overthrow, while not in any way addressing said far right rally

Shot, chaser Young men more likely to vote Green than Reform. Young men second most progressive group of any demographic. Combined right-wing vote barely bigger than Green vote alone for young men

Hat tip @clownf1st.bsky.social

More positively, I ran an ultra today and didn’t die, although the cramp at the end was agony!

Our democracy is too precious to be a plaything for foreign tech barons. Elon Musk doesn’t care about the British people or our rights. He only cares about himself and his ego.

Can anyone explain why the Government is still doing most of its communications through a website whose owner is now openly rallying the far right to trigger a violent insurrection on our streets?

Elon, speaking at the Tommy Robinson march today: “This is a government against the people and not for the people, this is why everyone is gathered here today…we don’t have another four years…there’s got to be a dissolution of parliament” And the government just…continues to use X.

I have very low expectations of Starmer now but perhaps this might be a good time to take on Elon Musk.

Trump Renames White House Fridge Department Of Ham https://theonion.com/trump-renames-white-house-fridge-department-of-ham/

How many divisions does the FT editorial board have? www.ft.com/content/0b58...

One can be crystal clear that political violence is utterly out of bounds, mourn a human being's death, mourn his children's loss of their father, condemn his murder, without actively sanitising the far right at a time when the far right itself poses a severe, violent threat to people everywhere.

I don’t shoot people I disagree with and I don’t think others should.

🤮

Substack snippet: Phantom fixed income open.substack.com/pub/tompowdr...

Nerdsville, but this is kinda nuts. At one point >99% by AUM of the holdings in an iShares bond ETF I looked at were out on loan. And the average on loan in year to end June 2025 was 90%.

Tube strikes are always illuminating about attitudes to technology. Very common to see “just automate the trains & sack the drivers” Wonder how/if this is going to change now that AI is eating middle class jobs.

Good example of the belief that politics consists primarily of saying stuff that sounds good

🤮 bsky.app/profile/maya...