John Oxley
@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk
Commentator, writer, corporate/political strategy. Undertaking an MSc in International Security and Global Governance at Birkbeck.
The only Tory on Bluesky, but that's why you love me.
Newsletter at: www.joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk
The only Tory on Bluesky, but that's why you love me.
Newsletter at: www.joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk
Pinned
John Oxley
@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk
· Mar 9
And just think, you can read me being right about everything for less than a central London pint a month..
www.joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk
www.joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk
Can't even cottage now, because of woke.
November 10, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Can't even cottage now, because of woke.
Reposted by John Oxley
@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk you were right about the poppies.
November 10, 2025 at 5:47 PM
@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk you were right about the poppies.
Got so hopeful before that line break.
Lavrov’s absence sparks speculation he has fallen from favour with Putin
Lavrov’s absence sparks speculation he has fallen from favour with Putin
Veteran foreign minister missed key Kremlin meeting, and is not part of Russia’s G20 delegation
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Got so hopeful before that line break.
Kind of fascinated by the implication from this advert that there is a cohort of people who'd be on the fence about seeing The Hunger Games on stage until they learn that John Malkovich appears via screen.
November 10, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Kind of fascinated by the implication from this advert that there is a cohort of people who'd be on the fence about seeing The Hunger Games on stage until they learn that John Malkovich appears via screen.
Another one - and important to remember when people talk about mental health in the past vs today. The reality is back then, people just died.
November 10, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Another one - and important to remember when people talk about mental health in the past vs today. The reality is back then, people just died.
Also, if you think safeguarding is bad in *youth* wings, just wait until you see the average wider party.
Ultimately, parties have to accept that youth wings will attract a volatile combination of the bullyable and the bullies and spend active time defusing that.
Ultimately, parties have to accept that youth wings will attract a volatile combination of the bullyable and the bullies and spend active time defusing that.
Like I'm sorry but the average 20 year old wants to hang out with other 20 year olds, not old people. This is a societally universal phenomenon that has to be adjusted to, not "why won't people just"-ed
November 10, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Also, if you think safeguarding is bad in *youth* wings, just wait until you see the average wider party.
Ultimately, parties have to accept that youth wings will attract a volatile combination of the bullyable and the bullies and spend active time defusing that.
Ultimately, parties have to accept that youth wings will attract a volatile combination of the bullyable and the bullies and spend active time defusing that.
Ah, but at least we saved the Conservative Party and kept Farage away from power, and got immigration down, right?
November 10, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Ah, but at least we saved the Conservative Party and kept Farage away from power, and got immigration down, right?
Think the two things I would do to be an extremist on the nation's information diet, beyond axing X, would be banning rolling news and blocking smart TVs from accessing YouTube.
Has ITV's News coverage gotten worse since they ditched ITV News? No.
So would BBC News 24 being axed in favour of some actual coverage of Parliament, devolved and local government be a bad thing?
So would BBC News 24 being axed in favour of some actual coverage of Parliament, devolved and local government be a bad thing?
November 10, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Think the two things I would do to be an extremist on the nation's information diet, beyond axing X, would be banning rolling news and blocking smart TVs from accessing YouTube.
A fun other one is the International Football Association Board
One exciting thing about the BBC Board is it is one of the few places where each constituent kingdom of the UK gets an equal vote - power-sharing in action! Oh, and residents of England? Your representative is Sir Robbie Gibb <ducks for cover>
Seeing so many posts about who “Starmer and Nandy” will appoint as director general. Easy mistake but the government does not appoint the director general! The BBC board, whose members are appointed for rolling terms by the culture secretary, appoints the director general.
November 9, 2025 at 9:40 PM
A fun other one is the International Football Association Board
Reposted by John Oxley
twitter being bought and turned into a propaganda machine for fascism, which is directly pumped into every journalist in the world's brain, is one of the worst things to happen in the last few years. we might not survive it.
I'm guessing the BBC 'scandal' has been big on X this week as this was the first I had heard of it...
November 9, 2025 at 8:17 PM
twitter being bought and turned into a propaganda machine for fascism, which is directly pumped into every journalist in the world's brain, is one of the worst things to happen in the last few years. we might not survive it.
Good to see some actual accountability from the BBC over this.
HMK is also not wearing a "formal tuxedo", because (1) a tuxedo is a semi-formal outfit and (2) what he is wearing is not a tuxedo, it is a tailcoat THE VERY THING A TUXEDO WAS INVENTED NOT TO BE.
November 9, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Good to see some actual accountability from the BBC over this.
My mother grew up in a moderately comfortable working class household in the 50s and you'd get ice on the inside of the windows in winter.
My dad was from an extremely middle class vicarage family and he still used to love going to stay at his godmothers in the 1960s because she had central heating
November 9, 2025 at 8:07 PM
My mother grew up in a moderately comfortable working class household in the 50s and you'd get ice on the inside of the windows in winter.
Exclusive look at the favourite for the DG job:
November 9, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Exclusive look at the favourite for the DG job:
International membership would allow Ukrainian working classes to do the funniest thing...
One of Sultana’s major demands being letting 14 year olds join is tipping decisively into self parody lol
November 9, 2025 at 2:02 PM
International membership would allow Ukrainian working classes to do the funniest thing...
Said at the time that the re-election of Trump was one of the worst things that could have happened for the British right, because they will latch on to it as a route to success and a flow of funds, largely blind to how even most right leaning voters can't stand the man.
The attention the Tory party in the media and in the Commons are giving to this story is a reflection of just how far off the deep-end both have gone in recent times. Sure, they have a long-term vested interest in trying to undermine faith in the Beeb. But this is such a non-issue for most voters.
The BBC is apologising for its Panorama edit. It shouldn’t. First, the narrative is true: Donald Trump *did* incite the Capitol riot. Second, the apology won’t appease those attacking it. So why not at least stand for something?
Wrote this on it earlier this week:
inews.co.uk/news/world/b...
Wrote this on it earlier this week:
inews.co.uk/news/world/b...
November 9, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Said at the time that the re-election of Trump was one of the worst things that could have happened for the British right, because they will latch on to it as a route to success and a flow of funds, largely blind to how even most right leaning voters can't stand the man.
This on the right is one of worst elements of legacy Thatcher brain, as if there is no difference between cutting tax from a top rate of 83% and of 45%
"Waah we're taxed enough already, they've frozen the personal allowance for the past few years" OK, but what happened to the personal allowance in the ten years before that. And also what happened to income tax rates in general in the thirty years before *that*
November 8, 2025 at 2:12 PM
This on the right is one of worst elements of legacy Thatcher brain, as if there is no difference between cutting tax from a top rate of 83% and of 45%
This government is, at least, going to be a great case study for policy and business schools for decades in how your culture can lead you to just ignoring what every observable metric tells you that you have to do.
“Nobody thought a Labour government would have to raise taxes by more than £70bn,” claims one insider in this excellent piece. Shows the problem of the climate of fear in meetings created by some of Starmer’s aides, in that plenty of Labour insiders, did, in fact, think this!
The politics of breaking manifesto promises
The history of politicians who go back on their words has lessons for Rachel Reeves as she mulls raising taxes
www.ft.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:44 AM
This government is, at least, going to be a great case study for policy and business schools for decades in how your culture can lead you to just ignoring what every observable metric tells you that you have to do.
Reposted by John Oxley
Read this. Please.
I wrote a piece about Movember and how I'm not a mental health advocate.
www.threeredkings.com/when-novembe...
www.threeredkings.com/when-novembe...
When November Ends – Three Red Kings
www.threeredkings.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Read this. Please.
Think there's something particularly dispiriting about the Greek governments various moves against climate change initiatives because if your country routinely bursting into flames each summer doesn't drive it home, what will?
November 7, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Think there's something particularly dispiriting about the Greek governments various moves against climate change initiatives because if your country routinely bursting into flames each summer doesn't drive it home, what will?
Reposted by John Oxley
This is very good from @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk, and gets to the heart of the turmoil engulfing the Conservatives.
open.substack.com/pub/joxleywr...
open.substack.com/pub/joxleywr...
Closing Time
A new political divide could make the centre-right redundant
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:37 AM
This is very good from @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk, and gets to the heart of the turmoil engulfing the Conservatives.
open.substack.com/pub/joxleywr...
open.substack.com/pub/joxleywr...
Reposted by John Oxley
An Irishman went for a job interview on a building site. The foreman asked him "Do you know the difference between a joist and a girder?"
The Irishman replied, "Goethe wrote Faust and Joyce wrote Ulysses."
The Irishman replied, "Goethe wrote Faust and Joyce wrote Ulysses."
November 7, 2025 at 5:35 PM
An Irishman went for a job interview on a building site. The foreman asked him "Do you know the difference between a joist and a girder?"
The Irishman replied, "Goethe wrote Faust and Joyce wrote Ulysses."
The Irishman replied, "Goethe wrote Faust and Joyce wrote Ulysses."
Also find this debate/discussion interesting as having done about as much history as one can do in English schooling, the Empire basically never featured (tho I think the other class did the Decolonisation paper).
This debate always makes me worry there’s something a bit wrong with me in that I don’t think the past is something you should draw pride or shame from. I have benefited from the British empire more than most Brits, but ultimately I am *not* my maternal great-great-great-grandfather!
On binary questions about Britain's colonial past, the median is Neither/Don't Know. (There are more constructive conversations than this which can unlock 75% common ground: teach it all, including the complexity and controversy)
November 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Also find this debate/discussion interesting as having done about as much history as one can do in English schooling, the Empire basically never featured (tho I think the other class did the Decolonisation paper).
Bringing back the stocks is such an insane position I almost respect it.
Support for bringing back corporal punishment, by 2024 vote
The stocks
Reform: 43%
Con: 28%
Labour: 12%
Lib Dem: 12%
Green: 13%
Flogging
Reform: 39%
Con: 22%
Labour: 10%
Lib Dem: 8%
Green: 5%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
The stocks
Reform: 43%
Con: 28%
Labour: 12%
Lib Dem: 12%
Green: 13%
Flogging
Reform: 39%
Con: 22%
Labour: 10%
Lib Dem: 8%
Green: 5%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
November 7, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Bringing back the stocks is such an insane position I almost respect it.