Scrapping jury trials is an affront to the very foundations of our democracy. From the moment this government was elected, it has come after the civil liberties we all hold dear. This is yet another outrageous assault on our fundamental freedoms. I will be voting against it.

The House of Lords Digital & Communications Committee just published their report on AI, copyright & the creative industries, and their conclusions could not be clearer. 🧵 1/5

They're HERE!!!

Also today, apparently, it’s exactly 60 years since the Evening Standard published the interview in which John Lennon said The Beatles were more popular than Jesus, and nobody in the UK batted a fucking eyelid

This is interesting.

That's, like, Greg Egan or Peter Watts

Iranian Hackers Are Using Elon Musk’s Starlink To Stay Online

I’m not sure “we’re trying to end the world” is a great message for improving morale.

fuck, I’m sorry, I can’t compete with this

I thought the title was meant to entice one to read the piece, not contain the entire piece.

That's one way to find out that the US and Israel might have had slightly different war aims post-Khamenei, I guess.

First question to look for is: what do they call “social media”? After all, the OSA was five years of fighting cynically drafted attempts to chuck any site/service on the open internet under the Facebook bus. And they are still trying with separate legislation. www.newscientist.com/article/2516...

Ohh.... #biology #lego

Not Excited, Not Outraged open.substack.com/pub/konstant...

RIP. Dan Simmons, Author of Hyperion, Dies at 77 open.substack.com/pub/fandompu...

Free Iran from the tyranny of this regime 🇮🇷 www.indiatoday.in/world/story/...

India experienced a general strike, nearly 300M workers ✊🏽🇮🇳 #GeneralStrike #GSUS inspiration.

Course in the good old days Andrew wouldn’t have waited around to be arrested, he would have fled somewhere like Ghent a few years back, built up a court in exile by welcoming disaffected sorts - Lord Mandelson, Prince Harry, Baroness Mone, ex-Mayor Johnson - then launched an invasion via Wales.

Here we go. It's Friday, and this dropped.

Okay, this is quite outstanding from Bedford Council.

Oh God are we doing this again? A LARGE SWATHE OF YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD BEFORE THE AGE OF FIVE. SCARLET FEVER WOULD HAVE CARRIED YOU OFF IN DROVES

All judgements of political or moral value aside, there was never any such thing as a single civilisation stretching from Socrates, through Caesar and Christ, to Donald Trump. The idea is the most pitiful gibberish. It is a concept that debunks itself. It is less than meaningless.

This government is becoming quite expert in having bad ideas and then having to drop them.

If you've never watched B5, now's the time to start. And as you do, you'll start to realise you're seeing TV transform from 20th to 21st century standards.

Husband is watching Future Shock: The Story of 2000AD and oh dear me this clip has not aged well. The last line. #NeilGaiman

Reminder that there was a perfectly competent woman already doing the job perfectly well

When you’re crapper than the Tories, you should really worry.

Hold on, this Anas Sarwar? Surely not.

MoJ orders deletion of UK’s largest court reporting archive. Courtsdesk, which supports the media in monitoring records, is an important tool for journalists and the move raises concerns over open justice archive.today/7JsJ8

Why the Labour Party loathes the pub www.spiked-online.com/2026/02/08/w...

Yet this is a government with three years left to run and an enormous Commons majority. For all the problems, there is an enormous opportunity there for someone with the political nous to take it and use it.

Peter Mandelson issues secret notice demanding press leave him alone – read in full www.thenational.scot/news/2583451...

Best take on Epstein I've read so far. open.substack.com/pub/helendal...

Entering the final countdown to the release of the 22nd book, the standalone adventure JITTERBUG from @titanbooks.bsky.social. Preorders available from all reputable Earth bookshops (light speed restrictions may apply). Please share.

I suppose because the Westminster lot only seem to hang out with each other (I'm talking the politicians themselves, their staff, the political journalists) it makes sense that they'd think all of this was fine for the past decade or so. The rest of us are like:

Not sure I’ve seen a single piece of 70s science fiction that aged as well as this PSA on the end of an episode of The Rockford Files.

i am trying not to joke about the Epstein stuff because it's so horrible but there's also this ridiculous element where it's like... discovering Dracula is real, he's taken over human society at the highest levels, he's involved in tons of evil and also he's a huge dipshit

I don’t think following someone on social media is a statement of support for someone as opposed to a pragmatic statement that there is some reason you want to know if that person posts. And I should hope that the reason that’s true of Neil Gaiman for me is obvious.

This took me fucking ages

Can’t see any good reason why Mandelson shouldn’t go on trial for treason tbh. Pour encourager les autres, if nothing else.

New findings challenge assumptions about men’s reading habits www.psypost.org/new-findings...

...they told her no, didn't they

This:

How to Reboot Blake’s 7 reactormag.com/how-to-reboo...

“What needs to be avoided is ethnic diversity which looks forced and tick box, and we found our interviewees of colour as emphatic on this point as those who were white.” deadline.com/2026/01/bbc-... via @Deadline

Only 5 weeks until @titanbooks.bsky.social officially publishes my novel JITTERBUG, and I'm getting excited. This is a special book, and I think you're going to love it. Give yourself a little treat and preorder it today from your favourite bookshop!

Hah! It is here…! @cstross.bsky.social