Peter Holmes
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pholmes8.bsky.social
Peter Holmes
@pholmes8.bsky.social
4.6K followers 1.8K following 470 posts

Semi-retired trade economist, Emeritus @ UKTPO Sussex. Posts about Brexit, Freeports, WTO and anything else that catches my fancy. Migrating across from other place. Tweeted as @pholmes8. Blogs with others at https://blogs.sussex.ac.uk/uktpo/blog/ .. more

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Economics 44%
Political science 25%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Peter Holmes

bigsister.bsky.social
BigSister @bigsister.bsky.social · 4h
An utter hypocrite.

Reposted by Peter Holmes

mikegalsworthy.bsky.social
Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 6h
😡 Four former defence insiders hired by Palantir in a single year.

A £240m MoD contract awarded without competition.

A “strategic partnership” announced soon after.

The revolving door between defence and big tech is spinning fast.
The great Ministry of Defence-to-Palantir pipeline
Senior defence officials are moving into Palantir roles as the company secures ever-deeper footholds across government
eastangliabylines.co.uk

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Peter Holmes

jessicaelgot.bsky.social
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 6h
Much the same as with Karen Pierce and the US ambo appointment, Starmer actually had someone who could have been director of comms, Steph Driver, who gave years of hard work and professionalism in opposition but then got a succession of people promoted over her for no apparent reason

Reposted by Peter Holmes

adamdrummond.bsky.social
Adam Drummond @adamdrummond.bsky.social · 1d
Labour's structural position is bad (terrible inheritance etc + unwillingness to grasp certain nettles) but has been hugely damaged by an obsession with winning over people who will never vote for them, based on a misread of the 2024 election

Reposted by Peter Holmes

alexhh.bsky.social
Alex Hall Hall @alexhh.bsky.social · 1d
McSweeney is gone. Time for Starmer to try to salvage his government by launching long overdue proper action to address all the flaws in our political system - peerages, patronage, cronyism, party finances, MPs revolving door, appointments, ministerial code, business interests, Leveson, etc etc.

Reposted by Steve Peers, Lesley A. Hall, Peter Holmes , and 1 more

mrrobertbob.bsky.social
Mr RobertBob @mrrobertbob.bsky.social · 1d
This is not a sane person.

fortune.com/2026/02/04/p...
Peter Thiel warns the Antichrist and apocalypse are linked to the ‘end of modernity’ currently happening—and cites Greta Thunberg as a driving example | Fortune
The Gen Z Swedish climate activist is a legionnaire of the Antichrist, Thiel claims, a “Luddite” who wants to halt technological progress in its tracks.
fortune.com

pholmes8.bsky.social
Peter Holmes @pholmes8.bsky.social · 1d
Has anyone looked up Johnson's name in the Epstein files?

Reposted by Peter Holmes

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d
I agree, but especially with this:

Reposted by Peter Holmes

groomb.bsky.social
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 1d
John Ruskin, art critic and reformer, was born on this day 1819. His communitarian Guild of St George created a museum of art and other treasures in Sheffield. He bought Brantwood, a house by Coniston in the Lake District.

Reposted by Peter Holmes

grahambs.bsky.social
Graham Simpson @grahambs.bsky.social · 1d
So, bosses of failing privatised water companies continue to pay themselves millions in bonuses despite illegally dumping toxic water and failing to provide reliable water supplies to residents. Also despite rules saying they shouldn’t! Privatisation has failed!
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Water bosses in England exploiting bonus loophole face crackdown
Exclusive: Ministers to act after last year’s legislation ‘outwitted’ by failing firms paying millions to executives
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Patrick Dunleavy, Steve Peers, Andrew Scott , and 7 more

whoa-magic.lol
Áine ☽𖤐☾ @whoa-magic.lol · 1d
Peter Thiel warns the Antichrist and apocalypse are linked to the ‘end of modernity’ currently happening—and cites Greta Thunberg as a driving example

fortune.com/2026/02/04/p...

*Not satire.
Peter Thiel warns the Antichrist and apocalypse are linked to the ‘end of modernity’ currently happening—and cites Greta Thunberg as a driving example | Fortune
The Gen Z Swedish climate activist is a legionnaire of the Antichrist, Thiel claims, a “Luddite” who wants to halt technological progress in its tracks.
fortune.com

Reposted by Peter Holmes

roaringmeg.bsky.social
Meg @roaringmeg.bsky.social · 1d
#Photography Lee Miller exhibition at Tate Britain - I was full of admiration for her after seeing her photos of the aftermath of WW2. She even went inside two concentration camps to show the world what had been going on,

Reposted by Will Jennings, Peter Holmes

columnist.bsky.social
Dr Stylite @columnist.bsky.social · 1d
The current fashion for leading a party or being talked about leading a party while vocally backing policies that are anathema to your voter base is truly bizarre.

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Peter Holmes

statuscoupnews.bsky.social
Status Coup News @statuscoupnews.bsky.social · 1d
🚨BREAKING: “Days after Renee Good's murder, FBI Director Kash Patel and other senior Trump officials STOPPED FBI agents from continuing to investigate." @JonFarinaPhoto LIVE on breaking news of Renee Good murder cover up.

LIVE NOW ⬇️

Reposted by Peter Holmes

laurenmeidasa.bsky.social
Lauren Ashley Davis @laurenmeidasa.bsky.social · 2d
NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump

Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump
Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Peter Holmes

patrickdunleavy.bsky.social
Patrick Dunleavy @patrickdunleavy.bsky.social · 2d
news.sky.com/story/i-neve...
Trump sharing racist image of Obamas shows something has changed
The dehumanisation of black people in this way is a trope dating back hundreds of years. It's something which had, for many years, been confined to the dustbin of history, while still very much a part...
news.sky.com

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Margot C. Finn, Michael H. Whitworth

pickardje.bsky.social
Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 2d
the perils of being a commentator

Reposted by Peter Holmes

alexhh.bsky.social
Alex Hall Hall @alexhh.bsky.social · 2d
Options include more transparency on party financing, ending revolving door, putting political roles and ministerial codes on statutory footing with independent oversight, reform Hse of Lords, and many more - drawn from cross-party Commission on Political Power commissionpoliticalpower.uk

Reposted by Mel Bartley, Peter Holmes

peterjukes.bsky.social
Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 2d
The problem with so many of our top politicians - from Johnson, Mandelson, Farage - is that they all want to join the oligarch class. Whatever you think of Gordon Brown he is financially unbiddable www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
We owe it to Epstein’s victims and to British democracy to demand historic change | Gordon Brown
The abuse of women by figures such as Epstein, and of political power by the likes of Mandelson, must be confronted. As far as I am able, I will play my part, says former UK prime minister Gordon Brow...
www.theguardian.com

pholmes8.bsky.social
Peter Holmes @pholmes8.bsky.social · 2d
Many important issues raised here.
UK-US EPD is worthless (NB beware of new demands from Trump - see Politico on this).
And UK is choosing not to align with EU on Fin Services and Tech. But there seems too little scrutiny of new "light touch" US style rules.
chrisgrey.bsky.social Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 3d
Count to one hundred. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog reflecting on a frenetic fortnight of domestic and international news, the state of the reset, the significance of the latest calls for 'proper Brexit', and the anger suffusing our politics: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/02/coun...

Reposted by Peter Holmes

peterjukes.bsky.social
Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 2d
The other extraordinary thing that appears in the Epstein Files evidence (so far) is that it is Mandelson who introduces Epstein to Deripaska circa 2009, and thence to Belyakov and the whole Russian orbit

Reposted by Peter Holmes

sundersays.bsky.social
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 2d
More geographical confusion. Nigel Farage said Reform's new leader in Wales had "come back to the Valleys", so his children could grow up Welsh. Nation Cymru report he had moved from London to Bath in the west of England, about 50-60 miles from Islwyn, across the border
nation.cymru/news/the-new...
The new leader of Reform UK Wales lives in Bath, not Wales
Martin Shipton The newly appointed leader of Reform UK in Wales hasn’t moved back to his home town in the Valleys, but has bought a £1m house near Bath, we can reveal. Dan Thomas, the former Conservat...
nation.cymru

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Tom Griffin

peterwalker99.bsky.social
Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 2d
NEW: Gordon Brown has said he deeply regrets bringing Peter Mandelson into his government, saying Mandelson alleged actions as business secretary were “a betrayal of everything we stand for as a country”.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Gordon Brown ‘deeply regrets’ bringing Peter Mandelson into his government
Former prime minister says revelations about Epstein’s influence on UK politics caused him revulsion
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Andrew Scott, Peter Holmes

chrisgrey.bsky.social
Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 2d
A good moment to recall that bitcoins are a, if not the, central plank of Farage's economic policy. It's an order of magnitude madder than Trussonomics: www.cityam.com/farages-cryp...

Reposted by Peter Holmes

seanjones.org
Sean Jones KC @seanjones.org · 2d
It’s beyond irritating that these smarmy liars expect you to get drawn into a bad faith argument about whether the clear message their supporters have received is nevertheless technically deniable.

Reposted by Leigh Sparks, Peter Holmes, Christina Pagel

lauraewebster.bsky.social
Laura Webster @lauraewebster.bsky.social · 2d
BREAKING: Peter Mandelson just sent this secret notice to all UK media, demanding they leave him alone.

He uses IPSO clauses designed to support grieving families in a bid to stop scrutiny of his relationship with Epstein

We have published it in full.

www.thenational.scot/news/2583451...
Peter Mandelson issues secret notice demanding press leave him alone – read in full
LATE on Friday evening, this notice was circulated from representatives of Peter Mandelson, via press regulator IPSO and the Press Association news…
www.thenational.scot

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Tom Griffin

robfordmancs.bsky.social
Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 3d
Leaflet wars just stepped up a gear: Mill reveal Reform UK have broken electoral law manchestermill.co.uk/exclusive-re...
Exclusive: Reform UK just broke electoral law in Gorton and Denton
People across the constituency thought they were getting a letter from a concerned pensioner, they didn’t know she was working for Reform
manchestermill.co.uk

Reposted by Peter Holmes

direthoughts.com
Henry Dyer @direthoughts.com · 3d
Exclusive: Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons was provided with intelligence files gathered on journalists (including me) who had reported on Labour Together, the thinktank he chaired at the time (before he became an MP), sources say.

Know more about this story? Contact me, Signal: henrydyer.01
Labour minister was provided with intelligence files on journalists
Exclusive: Material gathered was personally given to Josh Simons when chair of pro-Starmer thinktank, say sources
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Pepper D. Culpepper

financialtimes.com
Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 3d
Counting the cost of money in politics ft.trib.al/sAx2W1p | opinion
Counting the cost of money in politics
Revelations of Mandelson’s cabinet leaks spotlight the symbiotic relationship between government and bankers
ft.trib.al

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Federico Ortino

rooseveltinstitute.org
Roosevelt Institute @rooseveltinstitute.org · 3d
The tax law passed by Congress last year let Amazon pay just $2.8B in federal income taxes—down from more than $7B in each of the prior two years.

All while its profits jumped 44.5% to $89.5B.

This is the same company that announced 16k layoffs last month.
Amazon Saved Billions Under Trump’s New Tax Law
Breaks for investment and research lowered the company’s payments to the U.S. government.
www.wsj.com