David S. Moon
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daimoon.bsky.social
David S. Moon
@daimoon.bsky.social
990 followers 850 following 360 posts
Senior Lecturer in Politics, teaching and writing about politics, ideology and pro-wrestling, with a bit of Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 when I can. https://www.davidsmoon.co.uk
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daimoon.bsky.social
David S. Moon @daimoon.bsky.social · Sep 15
New article out in @bjpir.bsky.social that investigates the #WWE + Welsh Government 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 deal to host “Clash at the Castle 2002” in Cardiff.

Mixing nation branding & pro-wrestling literature it analyses how WWE fit the Cymru Wales Brand into its broadcasts. (1/?)

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
National gimmicks as soft power strategy: WWE’s Clash at the Castle and the performance of the Cymru Wales Brand This article introduces the concept of the national gimmick – a performative, stylised persona derived from professional wrestling – as an effective lens for analysing government nation branding and soft power strategies. Using WWE’s Clash at the Castle and its 2022 partnership with the Welsh Government as a case study, the article demonstrates how governments employ entertainment spectacles to project curated national identities to global audiences. It argues that professional wrestling’s emphasis on stereotype, performance, and narrative makes it an especially potent medium for understanding how states simplify and disseminate nation brands. By examining the portrayal of the Cymru Wales Brand through WWE media, and the tensions surrounding Welsh representation at the event, the article highlights both the potential and the limitations of such partnerships. This interdisciplinary contribution bridges political communication and pro-wrestling studies to advance the study of government’s soft power strategies and the politics of branding.
Reposted by David S. Moon
dannyhinduk.bsky.social
It's incredible watching widely reported facts become Urgent Public Business as soon as a handful of media outlets decide to start noticing them. Meanwhile Paul Holden has set out in detail how Labour Together went to war on the left, in a campaign that the media are still keeping quiet about.
February 16, 2026 at 3:17 PM
daimoon.bsky.social
Any time Priti Patel expresses *any* opinion about Palestine or Israel it should come with a reminder she was forced to resign in disgrace for holding 14 secret meetings w. Israeli ministers, businesspeople and a senior lobbyist while a member of the UK government www.theguardian.com/politics/201...
Conservatives support government's intention to appeal against Palestine Action high court ruling Shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, said she was “appalled” by the high court’s ruling on Friday that the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful and supports the government’s intention to appeal against the decision (see post at 09.35 for more details). Speaking to Sky News this morning, Patel, a former home secretary between July 2019 and Septmeber 2022, said: I’m pretty appalled by that ruling, and clearly it’s now going to be subject to a legal appeal. And I think it’s right that it should be appealed … Priti Patel forced to resign over unofficial meetings with Israelis This article is more than 8 years old Theresa May loses second cabinet minister in a week as pro-Brexit international development secretary departs Priti Patel’s resignation letter and Theresa May’s response – in full Rajeev Syal and Anushka Asthana Wed 8 Nov 2017 20.57 GMT
February 15, 2026 at 11:20 AM
Reposted by David S. Moon
brendelbored.bsky.social
Beginning to think the people in charge don’t understand how wrestling fans work
February 12, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by David S. Moon
daimoon.bsky.social
Anyone feeling sympathy for Keir Starmer’s media treatment, recall: (1) he failed to charge News Corp phone hackers, (2) was found ‘culpable’ for hacking due to his failures, (3) wound up subsequent prosecutions early, and (4) rejected Leveson Stage 2.

This is the media environment he helped save.
No charges in News of the World phone-hacking probe 6 December 2010 Updated 10 December 2010 No charges will be brought following a probe into phone hacking at the News of the World, prosecutors have confirmed. The director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer said there was no admissible evidence to support claims public figures' phones were hacked. John Yates And And Keir Starmer 'Culpable' For Phone Hacking, Say MPs Scotland Yard And Crown Prosecution Service 'Culpable' For Phone Hacking, Say MPs PA 01/05/2012 11:19am BST Updated 2012-07-01T06:12:24+01:00 A top Scotland Yard officer and the head of the Crown Prosecution Service both "bear culpability" for failing to review evidence of phone hacking, the MPs found. The select committee said ex-Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism chief John Yates and Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer should have ensured that the material held by police was properly investigated in the years after the original prosecutions. Time to wind up phone hacking probe, says top prosecutor Sir Keir Starmer calls for 'exit strategy' to investigation into tabloid journalism, saying unlimited prosecutions 'unhealthy' 29 June 2014 • 8:10pm Keir Starmer confirms he has no plans to revive second stage of Leveson inquiry This article is more than 1 year old Press regulation campaigners accuse prime minister of lacking courage to stand up to newspaper owners Thu 25 Jul 2024 16.50 BST
February 9, 2026 at 9:00 AM
daimoon.bsky.social
Anyone feeling sympathy for Keir Starmer’s media treatment, recall: (1) he failed to charge News Corp phone hackers, (2) was found ‘culpable’ for hacking due to his failures, (3) wound up subsequent prosecutions early, and (4) rejected Leveson Stage 2.

This is the media environment he helped save.
No charges in News of the World phone-hacking probe 6 December 2010 Updated 10 December 2010 No charges will be brought following a probe into phone hacking at the News of the World, prosecutors have confirmed. The director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer said there was no admissible evidence to support claims public figures' phones were hacked. John Yates And And Keir Starmer 'Culpable' For Phone Hacking, Say MPs Scotland Yard And Crown Prosecution Service 'Culpable' For Phone Hacking, Say MPs PA 01/05/2012 11:19am BST Updated 2012-07-01T06:12:24+01:00 A top Scotland Yard officer and the head of the Crown Prosecution Service both "bear culpability" for failing to review evidence of phone hacking, the MPs found. The select committee said ex-Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism chief John Yates and Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer should have ensured that the material held by police was properly investigated in the years after the original prosecutions. Time to wind up phone hacking probe, says top prosecutor Sir Keir Starmer calls for 'exit strategy' to investigation into tabloid journalism, saying unlimited prosecutions 'unhealthy' 29 June 2014 • 8:10pm Keir Starmer confirms he has no plans to revive second stage of Leveson inquiry This article is more than 1 year old Press regulation campaigners accuse prime minister of lacking courage to stand up to newspaper owners Thu 25 Jul 2024 16.50 BST
February 9, 2026 at 9:00 AM
daimoon.bsky.social
August 2023

The conversation about Mandelson and Epstein also needs to put the disinformation via omission by the political media class front and centre.

They’re going to try and make it about Starmer’s moral failures alone. Not their’s.

This stuff was just sitting there, being ignored.
daimoon.bsky.social David S. Moon @daimoon.bsky.social · Oct 10
The guy photographed numerous times hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein, to zero ramifications, has some thoughts that he gets printed verbatim. Very cool political journalism we have. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Peter Mandelson calls for Labour caution in improving workers’ rights
Peer warns party against over-zealous labour market reforms while dismissing former leaders as ‘weak, weak, weak’
www.theguardian.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:44 PM
daimoon.bsky.social
Peter Mandelson invited Lady Victoria Harvey to a party at the British Embassy in Washington, April 2025, where she bragged about Virginia Giuffre’s death.

open.substack.com/pub/jessicar...
cupidsmolotov.bsky.social Cupid's Molotov @cupidsmolotov.bsky.social · 10d
I hate everything about this

"Lady Victoria Hervey, ex girlfriend of Andrew Windsor who previously claimed that the picture of him and Virginia Guiffre was fake and she could prove it. Is now calling people who are not in the Epstein files "losers." "

www.reddit.com/r/AbolishThe...
February 7, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Reposted by David S. Moon
flyingrodent.bsky.social
FT Jim talking to the NS is actually quite helpful this week, and worth your time. These aren’t the bits he’d pick out, but they’re my beat, so
I was a bit disappointed that people in the broadcast world never asked Mandelson about this. They were the ones who had the opportunity in the full glare of public viewers in the Sunday shows, other radio shows that Mandelson was on all the time. No one ever seemed to say, what was this stay in Manhattan all about? Keir Starmer just said, you know more about this than I do. He tried to shrug it off. Bear in mind that, I think it's been quite understated, probably just how important Mandelson was to Keir Starmer's team in opposition. I get the impression that he was talking to Morgan McSweeney, the chief of staff, practically every other day. Providing the strategic advice on what to do in policy terms, what decisions to make, how Keir Starmer should attack towards the center to win the election, which of course he did. Although you could argue that that's as much due to a failure of the Tories. It was in January 2024. So I guess it was half a year before the election, and about a year before he gave Peter Mandelson the job as Washington ambassador. Yeah, that's extraordinary to think back. And he was able to shrug it off. I guess, as you say, for a lot of us in the media, sometimes you're kind of overwhelmed by evidence or what we used to call sort of cuttings. Hasn't this story been done? Haven't we heard this? Don't we know this already? And that's a kind of perennial response. And sometimes it's a tactic, right? From government or from press offices where they say, oh, you know, if you ask somebody about something, they will say, oh, that's old information. Obviously, we did a story yesterday about how Labour together had paid £30,000 to some kind of public affairs company to basically investigate journalists, including Gagel Pogroms, who had written critical stuff about the Electoral Commission finding them. Someone in government I'm afraid I don't really care about that because obviously, questions around Labour Together, founded by Morgan McSweeney, are quite pertinent when McSweeney's future is in question right now. And that, for listeners, I guess, that they should understand how the media works and how politics works. That's a good window into why these stories can have a certain momentum, when stories can come out, and then there can be a sense of avalanche. And maybe some people will think, oh, has the media sat on all of this for a long time, and then suddenly they kind of reveal things when the tide is turning. It's not always about that. It's about the fact that there are questions that are pertinent at a certain time. And facts and figures that we knew before then start to come together, and they have more of a relevance at that moment.
February 6, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by David S. Moon
atrupar.com
Wow! What sounded like the entire AEW Dynamite audience in Las Vegas tonight chanted "Fuck ICE! Fuck ICE!" in unison before the main event
February 5, 2026 at 3:31 AM
daimoon.bsky.social
Emily Thornberry seems to have made the first public claim (with Parliamentary privilege) that Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein may have gone beyond securing *monetary* gain: “One of the suggested answers might be that this is not just about young women.”

hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026...
I would like to start by acknowledging the victims of Epstein and the powerful men around him: vulnerable, abused women and girls who were sold and traded. Since the publication of Epstein’s papers, we have learnt so much more. An email from Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Mandelson, dated 28 October 2009, reads as follows: “new york? brown? cuban-american…have you made any decisions?” A few minutes later, Peter Mandelson responds: “why are you awake. these questions are all related – desp for CuAm but can only get to NY at a time when people feel G” —that may be Gordon Brown— “won’t have some sort of breakdown…still working on it, therefore”. There are so many questions to be asked about that. One of the suggested answers might be that this is not just about young women.
February 4, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by David S. Moon
daimoon.bsky.social
This is NOT what [Peter Mandelson] is about. [Peter Mandelson] is about *opens history book* Uh oh
February 4, 2026 at 11:41 AM
daimoon.bsky.social
Looking for an academic article that opens with an MP hitting another MP in the head with a steel chair? Look no further … 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🤼
bjpir.bsky.social BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 12d
📝 Don't miss this #openaccess article from the current issue of #BJPIR - Volume 28, Issue 1

'National gimmicks as soft power strategy: WWE’s Clash at the Castle and the performance of the Cymru Wales Brand' by @daimoon.bsky.social

🔗 buff.ly/QlKbKbM

@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social
February 4, 2026 at 2:42 PM
daimoon.bsky.social
🚨 This has finally been raised in the House of Commons chamber by the Conservatives front bench 🚨

People finally deciding to notice things!
daimoon.bsky.social David S. Moon @daimoon.bsky.social · Nov 7
On Palantir

April: Ambassador Peter Mandelson arranged for Keir Starmer to have an “informal visit” (unminuted) to Palantir, a client of his lobbying firm Global Counsel

11 Sept: UK Gov announced a strategic partnership with Palantir

18 Sept: Mandelson sacked 🤷🏻

goodlawproject.org/mandelsons-e...
Business Insider article: Palantir CEO Alex Karp declared his company 'anti-woke' on Monday's earnings call. Karp also scrutinized border policies and said Palantir works with ICE and Israel.
February 4, 2026 at 1:13 PM
daimoon.bsky.social
This is NOT what [Peter Mandelson] is about. [Peter Mandelson] is about *opens history book* Uh oh
February 4, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by David S. Moon
flyingrodent.bsky.social
1 And lo, there came upon the land a time of great Noticing, and many things were Noticed which had gone unseen 2 And the Hacks spake, saying, Whom could’ve known the taking bribes and wrecking his party with bullshit terror adviser guy was a Mandelson plant 3 And, it is a show, that is made of shit
Oli Dugmore ® INS @OliDugmore • 1h Mandelson was mentoring McSweeney From the aftermath of the Hartlepool by-election to everything that followed - from the reshuffles and internal feuds to the candidate selections and Downing Street manoeuvrings - Mandelson has been there, available to advise the Starmer operation. As one person who worked with McSweeney in opposition puts it, "Morgan wouldn't breathe without consulting Mandelson first." "They talked all the time," observes another. Mandelson was a frequent visitor at McSweeney's home in rural Scotland. The once-close pair have not seen each other since Mandelson's sacking, according to two people familiar with the matter, and are no longer in regular contact.
February 4, 2026 at 10:36 AM
daimoon.bsky.social
I do wish my proposed PSA conference paper on how academics in political studies could study a phenomenon like Jeffrey Epstein hadn’t been rejected 🤷🏻.

I submitted it in October and it feels like the question has only become more important. The number one issue in British Politics - predictably.
Rejection email for “In Defence of Paranoia: Addressing Political Studies’ Jeffrey Epstein Problem”
February 4, 2026 at 8:58 AM
daimoon.bsky.social
Jesse Ventura: “Donald Trump wants to be a fascist dictator, and for those that don’t believe me, read your history.”

nodq.com/news/jesse-v...
Jesse Ventura: "Donald Trump wants to be a fascist dictator, and for those that don’t believe me, read your history" - NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage
The latest WWE and AEW backstage wrestling news, rumors, opinions, and special features.
nodq.com
February 3, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Reposted by David S. Moon
zoewithasword.bsky.social
Absolutely losing my mind over Ava, THE ROCK'S DAUGHTER, quitting WWE despite them offering her a raise to keep working a pretty cushy kayfabe general manager gig and then the day after her contract ends she posts this
and now that i can say this with mY full chest, ice and that entire administration.
February 1, 2026 at 7:28 PM
daimoon.bsky.social
I like to think Jesse would have said no to this had it ever happened

www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
2011 Email to Epstein from redacted: Was just sitting here...working on my talk...and de=ided I would rather think of a really fun dinner with you. Do you know wh= I would invite? 1. Paul Patterson — Caltech,=l like his idea about "stuck in your neural tube = screwed*=8* 2. Saif Qadafi — son of, but=also supposedly smart, activities against everything but good Africa ties=— wants to make money not fix poverty 3. Jesse Ventura — wrestler,=former , governator, Navy Seal 4. Paul Greengard — Nobel but=political nutcase 5. Oliver Sachs — neurologist=but nutjob Oh and you and me. I know I am dreaming but still it would be fun.
February 1, 2026 at 7:39 PM
daimoon.bsky.social
Emails where Epstein told JP Morgan’s Jes Staley that Darling would meet him, and he had “set up you and peter to meet in Davos with Darling” (and Staley reporting meetings) have been public since 2023. But despite Mandelson’s role in this, Starmer made him Ambassador 🤷🏻

www.ft.com/content/2710...
Epstein emails Staley 22 January telling him “the chancellor of the exchequer, Darling is willing to sit with you and discuss these issues in Davos, I think you should decline, and set a real meeting” Epstein emailed Staley 25 January saying “I’ve set up you and Peter to meet in devo with darling” Epstein emails Jes Staley on 29 January asking “schedule?” And Staley replies “Saw Peter last night. Darling in 20 minutes. Will talk again with Peter this AM”
February 1, 2026 at 11:58 AM
daimoon.bsky.social
Even if Jeffrey Epstein was not a notorious pedophile, think we can all agree that this is not how political access to the Chancellor of the Exchequer should work in a formally democratic system.

www.justice.gov/epstein/file...

And

www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
Email from Jes Staley to Jeffrey Epstein on the 27 January 2010 asking “Were you able to arrange a meeting with Mandelson or Darling? Thanks, Jes” Email from Epstein to Mandelson on 17 December 2009 asking “should Jamie call darling one more time, ? they said that him alone was over the 500 million said to be needed.”
February 1, 2026 at 11:02 AM
daimoon.bsky.social
It really is remarkable the Prime Minister has been given such a pass on this
daimoon.bsky.social David S. Moon @daimoon.bsky.social · Oct 20
Keir Starmer’s position is essentially summed up in this incredible exchange with his spokesperson:

“You seem to be saying it’s fine to stay in a convicted paedophile’s property if you think they are guilty, but not if you think they are innocent?”
January 31, 2026 at 11:40 PM
Reposted by David S. Moon
daimoon.bsky.social
Since we’re all discussing Epstein now, here’s a nice vignette that says a lot about how politics works:

In 2003 Peter Mandelson, the current UK Ambassador to the US, attended a meal with Donald Trump, the current US President, and Jeffrey Epstein (& other luminaries).

nymag.com/nymetro/news...
Where: East Side townhouse Table seats: 30 Guest list: Mort Zuckerman, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, David Blaine, Donald Trump, Leslie Wexner of the Limited, disgraced British Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson, Bill Clinton aide Doug Band Menu: Private chef, though last month Rocco DiSpirito cooked dinner after Epstein bid $50,000 for his services at a Hamptons charity. Make it MY place: Epstein hates restaurants, so he often entertains at home. “The dialogues are so engaging that serving even the most extraordinary food sometimes seems inappropriate, like eating pizza at the ballet,” he says. “I had rich shock!” one stunned guest says about Epstein’s house, which the owner claims is the largest private dwelling in the city. At a recent dinner organized by Ghislaine Maxwell, Blaine amused a group of barely clad models with card tricks. Alas, Clinton—around whom the evening had been organized—never showed, though his Secret Service would have appreciated Epstein’s numerous security cameras
July 18, 2025 at 8:05 AM
daimoon.bsky.social
Skimming the files released today: While together in Paris in January 2011, Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein arranged a meeting with Rigobert Andeley - presumably the former former Vice-Governor of the Bank of Central African States & Congolese government minister www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
www.justice.gov
January 30, 2026 at 9:05 PM
daimoon.bsky.social
To double down on this, any contest of Starmer vs Streeting would also be *discussed* by the media the same way as The Rock vs The Undertaker - not as if it is a legitimate contest, but what it would mean for future storylines, rumours of behind the scenes ‘heat’ & booking decisions - aka, Kayfabe.
flyingrodent.bsky.social flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 19d
Britain absolutely deserves and extremely pissy fight between Sir Keir and Streeting but I straight up don’t believe that would be an actual fight, any more than The Rock vs The Undertaker was an Olympian contest for victory
But even those who voted with their leader don't believe Starmer is in the clear. "I don't think this makes a leadership challenge any less inevitable," one member who voted to block Burnham told me after that fateful Teams meeting. Indeed, as another Labour figure puts it, "Keir has taken out one enemy, but emboldened another." Wes Streeting is still the obvious candidate waiting in the background. The calculation behind Starmer's brute use of political force is that he would rather face Streeting than Burnham in a contest. Starmer's supporters argue privately that, if it came to it, the Prime Minister could beat the Health Secretary in a ballot of Labour members.
January 28, 2026 at 11:10 AM