James Moules
@jamesmoules.bsky.social
Journalist covering politics and foreign affairs • ✍️ LabourList, Big Issue, PoliticsHome, Byline Times, Telegraph, New Statesman, Foreign Policy, The New European & more • Moules rhymes with roles, not rules • DM for email/WhatsApp/Signal • Views own etc.
Reposted by James Moules
It's not just that these professional politics observers somehow failed to spot the obvious rise of American nativist thuggery.
It's how much energy they devoted to arguing the real problem was the volume, tone, and vocabulary of those raising the alarm about it.
It's how much energy they devoted to arguing the real problem was the volume, tone, and vocabulary of those raising the alarm about it.
January 25, 2026 at 10:24 PM
It's not just that these professional politics observers somehow failed to spot the obvious rise of American nativist thuggery.
It's how much energy they devoted to arguing the real problem was the volume, tone, and vocabulary of those raising the alarm about it.
It's how much energy they devoted to arguing the real problem was the volume, tone, and vocabulary of those raising the alarm about it.
As someone who lives in Sutton, it does feel eternally odd that my area is London borough when its vibe has more in common with places like Epsom and Esher than even somewhere like Wimbledon.
So I’m all here for pushing Greater London’s southern border down to the M25.
So I’m all here for pushing Greater London’s southern border down to the M25.
I do think a vast swathe of Surrey between the border and the M25 *should* be in Greater London, mind.
January 25, 2026 at 8:07 PM
As someone who lives in Sutton, it does feel eternally odd that my area is London borough when its vibe has more in common with places like Epsom and Esher than even somewhere like Wimbledon.
So I’m all here for pushing Greater London’s southern border down to the M25.
So I’m all here for pushing Greater London’s southern border down to the M25.
I can’t help but feel that even if the US did have a form of PMQs, Trump would just refuse to show up most (if not all) weeks.
I wish we had a tradition of PMQ in the United States. Drag the president down to the House and have an adversarial setting for weekly examinations.
January 25, 2026 at 2:35 PM
I can’t help but feel that even if the US did have a form of PMQs, Trump would just refuse to show up most (if not all) weeks.
Reposted by James Moules
Seems team Starmer have decided to risk the backlash. news.sky.com/story/politi...
January 25, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Seems team Starmer have decided to risk the backlash. news.sky.com/story/politi...
On a related note, I’m often incredulous at how many people further to my left favour X over BlueSky on the grounds this place is “too centrist”.
Given the political centre of gravity on Twitter these days, anyone who says something to this is effect is really telling on themselves.
Given the political centre of gravity on Twitter these days, anyone who says something to this is effect is really telling on themselves.
Sorry I know this sounds like a shitpost but it is so mental that a portion of the UK hard left has gone from “no platform for fascists” to “pay a fascist to share a platform with fascists” in like five years
January 24, 2026 at 9:25 AM
On a related note, I’m often incredulous at how many people further to my left favour X over BlueSky on the grounds this place is “too centrist”.
Given the political centre of gravity on Twitter these days, anyone who says something to this is effect is really telling on themselves.
Given the political centre of gravity on Twitter these days, anyone who says something to this is effect is really telling on themselves.
If he wants it, Burnham essentially needs to make the case that he’s the only Labour candidate who can win in Gorton & Denton - and that winning this one by-election is more important than the copious resources needed for a GM mayoral contest.
It’s a tough sell, to put it mildly.
It’s a tough sell, to put it mildly.
👇 My experience also. And not just a factional thing: as one Starmer critic on the NEC said ‘we really are broke, it really isn’t an unreasonable ask that we not have a GMCA byelection”. (paraphrasing)
Have asked a number of NEC members to tell me the chances Andy Burnham has of being selected to fight a by-election.
Every single one says zero.
Every single one says zero.
January 22, 2026 at 8:58 PM
If he wants it, Burnham essentially needs to make the case that he’s the only Labour candidate who can win in Gorton & Denton - and that winning this one by-election is more important than the copious resources needed for a GM mayoral contest.
It’s a tough sell, to put it mildly.
It’s a tough sell, to put it mildly.
Reposted by James Moules
Correction: Charisma doesn't matter, which is why the new mayor of New York is Brad Lander
The centre-left's determination to thwart anyone with charisma is a real superpower. bsky.app/profile/jess...
Have asked a number of NEC members to tell me the chances Andy Burnham has of being selected to fight a by-election.
Every single one says zero.
Every single one says zero.
January 22, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Correction: Charisma doesn't matter, which is why the new mayor of New York is Brad Lander
This will be a by-election to watch regardless of whether Burnham is the Labour candidate or not.
Both Reform and the Greens will be eyeing it with great interest, especially if Burnham is out of the running.
Both Reform and the Greens will be eyeing it with great interest, especially if Burnham is out of the running.
BREAKING: Andrew Gwynne announces he is stepping down as MP for Gorton & Denton in Greater Manchester.
January 22, 2026 at 3:56 PM
This will be a by-election to watch regardless of whether Burnham is the Labour candidate or not.
Both Reform and the Greens will be eyeing it with great interest, especially if Burnham is out of the running.
Both Reform and the Greens will be eyeing it with great interest, especially if Burnham is out of the running.
There’s also the small question of who Labour’s candidate to replace Burnham as GM mayor might be (and, for that matter, whether they would actually win given the dire state of Labour’s national polling).
Have asked a number of NEC members to tell me the chances Andy Burnham has of being selected to fight a by-election.
Every single one says zero.
Every single one says zero.
January 22, 2026 at 2:48 PM
There’s also the small question of who Labour’s candidate to replace Burnham as GM mayor might be (and, for that matter, whether they would actually win given the dire state of Labour’s national polling).
Reposted by James Moules
This from Carney is a version of the “progressive realism” that David Lammy and his adviser Ben Judah championed at the Foreign Office but that Starmer never embraced as his own. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
January 21, 2026 at 11:09 AM
This from Carney is a version of the “progressive realism” that David Lammy and his adviser Ben Judah championed at the Foreign Office but that Starmer never embraced as his own. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
Absolutely. If the US continues to gleefully torch the transatlantic alliance, then European nations are going to be driven deeper into China’s arms.
And if we don’t like the way our leaders trip over themselves to avoid irking the Americans, wait and see how the CCP operates…
And if we don’t like the way our leaders trip over themselves to avoid irking the Americans, wait and see how the CCP operates…
The biggest winner of the US setting fire to its relationships with the West is not Russia, but China
January 20, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Absolutely. If the US continues to gleefully torch the transatlantic alliance, then European nations are going to be driven deeper into China’s arms.
And if we don’t like the way our leaders trip over themselves to avoid irking the Americans, wait and see how the CCP operates…
And if we don’t like the way our leaders trip over themselves to avoid irking the Americans, wait and see how the CCP operates…
Reposted by James Moules
We just visibly are not a country where either the public or the political class has clocked that every couple of months a member of the defence establishment goes 'there is a war going on and we are, at present, losing'.
January 20, 2026 at 12:23 PM
We just visibly are not a country where either the public or the political class has clocked that every couple of months a member of the defence establishment goes 'there is a war going on and we are, at present, losing'.
BREAKING: China’s proposed new “super-embassy” in London has been approved by the UK government.
January 20, 2026 at 11:05 AM
BREAKING: China’s proposed new “super-embassy” in London has been approved by the UK government.
Ultimately, one of the main reasons the European far-right has shelved the idea of their countries leaving the EU is they’ve realised that EU institutions can be weaponised to further their own ends.
A category error that there is less of in UK debate now but still pops up occasionally as relic of 2010s Brexit debate is the claim that European integration is by default a liberal project
In reality EU resilience rests on how aspects of it have an appeal to every part of the ideological spectrum
In reality EU resilience rests on how aspects of it have an appeal to every part of the ideological spectrum
January 19, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Ultimately, one of the main reasons the European far-right has shelved the idea of their countries leaving the EU is they’ve realised that EU institutions can be weaponised to further their own ends.
Here’s one big question to ask ourselves to this end. Let’s say Trump successfully seized Greenland by force this year - if the Democrats win in 2028, would they commit to handing it back to Denmark?
Policy makers need to decide whether it’s just Trump that is the problem or he’s a symptom of a deeper American problem. I’m thinking it’s the latter and the US has now become - for the foreseeable future - an unreliable ally which is no ally at all.
January 19, 2026 at 6:38 AM
Here’s one big question to ask ourselves to this end. Let’s say Trump successfully seized Greenland by force this year - if the Democrats win in 2028, would they commit to handing it back to Denmark?
Reposted by James Moules
If I were a military superpower concerned my geostrategic adversaries might seize Greenland, I think what I'd do is enter into a military alliance with Denmark, and build a base on the island, so there would be no way for an enemy to take the place without starting a war with me they can't win.
January 18, 2026 at 9:50 AM
If I were a military superpower concerned my geostrategic adversaries might seize Greenland, I think what I'd do is enter into a military alliance with Denmark, and build a base on the island, so there would be no way for an enemy to take the place without starting a war with me they can't win.
Reposted by James Moules
Starmer’s most unambiguous criticism of Trump: “Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is completely wrong.”
January 17, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Starmer’s most unambiguous criticism of Trump: “Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is completely wrong.”
Not only that, but relieving Streeting of cabinet collective responsibility would be a great way to help him set out his stall for a leadership challenge.
Genuinely baffling. Focus is onTory-Reform fighting, giving Labour breathing space and opportunity to look like grown ups in the room - so some Labour cabinet members decide better strategy is to brief and mimic infighting - to what? Wrest the chaos narrative back? 🤦♂️
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Cabinet allies urge Keir Starmer to sack Wes Streeting for disloyalty
Ministers say the Labour leader should learn from Kemi Badenoch’s decisive action against Robert Jenrick and dismiss his outspoken health secretary
www.thetimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 8:57 PM
Not only that, but relieving Streeting of cabinet collective responsibility would be a great way to help him set out his stall for a leadership challenge.
Wait, you’re telling me that if the US antagonises its traditional allies, it’s going to drive them into Beijing’s arms?
If only literally everyone saw this coming…
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
If only literally everyone saw this coming…
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Canada PM hails new partnership with China in wake of ‘new global realities’
Mark Carney held talks with Xi Jinping on Friday during rare Beijing trip as Canada seeks to diversify trade links away from Trump’s America
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2026 at 6:32 AM
Wait, you’re telling me that if the US antagonises its traditional allies, it’s going to drive them into Beijing’s arms?
If only literally everyone saw this coming…
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
If only literally everyone saw this coming…
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Reposted by James Moules
Nigel Farage is currently unveiling Robert Jenrick as a defector at his 430 press conference.
Nigel Farage says “hand on heart” he wasn’t going to unveil Robert Jenrick as a defector at his second press conference of the day, planned at 430.
January 15, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Nigel Farage is currently unveiling Robert Jenrick as a defector at his 430 press conference.
And now for 2026’s most predictable development…
Trump’s tariffs are now being passed on to American consumers, businesses warn
Trump’s tariffs are now being passed on to American consumers, businesses warn
Trump’s tariffs are now being passed on to American consumers, businesses warn
www.independent.co.uk
January 15, 2026 at 3:40 PM
And now for 2026’s most predictable development…
Assuming it’s true that Jenrick was planning to defect, it says to me he’s considerably less confident he could mount a successful leadership challenge against Badenoch than conventional wisdom would suggest.
BREAKING Kemi Badenoch has sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership.
She says she was "presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect" to Reform
She says she was "presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect" to Reform
January 15, 2026 at 11:42 AM
Assuming it’s true that Jenrick was planning to defect, it says to me he’s considerably less confident he could mount a successful leadership challenge against Badenoch than conventional wisdom would suggest.
Reposted by James Moules
It's absolutely mental that Greenland is now (correctly) described as a "hotspot" along with Iran.
January 14, 2026 at 7:02 PM
It's absolutely mental that Greenland is now (correctly) described as a "hotspot" along with Iran.