Philip Stephens
@philipstephens.bsky.social
Writer, historian, Contrib Ed, FT, Robert Bosch Fellow, Berlin, author These Divided Isles, and Britain Alone (both Faber), British, Irish and European. philipstephens.substack.com, philipstephens.net
Pinned
The book I always wanted to write. How Partition turned the Irish Question in British politics into the British Question in Irish politics. And the extraordinary mix of enmity and intimacy that finally mapped a path to a different future. Now open for advance orders:
linktr.ee/thesedivided...
linktr.ee/thesedivided...
Reposted by Philip Stephens
Even as the world changes dramatically, UK discussion of Brexit goes round the same old loops. I wrote a piece on the @ukandeu.bsky.social site in *2016* about the 'sector-by-sector' approach Starmer's now raising. Some details no longer hold, but the basic points do: ukandeu.ac.uk/is-a-sector-...
January 6, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Even as the world changes dramatically, UK discussion of Brexit goes round the same old loops. I wrote a piece on the @ukandeu.bsky.social site in *2016* about the 'sector-by-sector' approach Starmer's now raising. Some details no longer hold, but the basic points do: ukandeu.ac.uk/is-a-sector-...
Shaking a rhetorical fist at Trump would make Europeans feel better about themselves, but it is not going to solve anything. "Very long" this thread it may be but it's well worth reading. The best by some margin on Trump, Putin and Europe
It's New Year, so time to look back and forward. These are 10 things I think we need to recognise in 2026. It’s a response to what I think are profoundly damaging mistaken assumptions I’ve heard and read from practitioners, journalists, and analysts in 2025. Warning: very long🧵
January 6, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Shaking a rhetorical fist at Trump would make Europeans feel better about themselves, but it is not going to solve anything. "Very long" this thread it may be but it's well worth reading. The best by some margin on Trump, Putin and Europe
Reposted by Philip Stephens
"But the problem is that, while the UK might be changing its outlook on the relationship, the EU is not."
✍️ Following the strong rhetoric used by Starmer in his interview with @bbclaurak.bsky.social, @jreland.bsky.social explains why it isn't quite that simple
🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/new-year-sam...
✍️ Following the strong rhetoric used by Starmer in his interview with @bbclaurak.bsky.social, @jreland.bsky.social explains why it isn't quite that simple
🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/new-year-sam...
New year, same old Brexit trade-offs - UK in a changing Europe
Joël Reland argues that while the UK has indicated that it is keen to align more closely with the EU, the inherent tradeoffs remain the same as the EU will not allow the UK to 'cherry pick' further ac...
ukandeu.ac.uk
January 6, 2026 at 11:37 AM
"But the problem is that, while the UK might be changing its outlook on the relationship, the EU is not."
✍️ Following the strong rhetoric used by Starmer in his interview with @bbclaurak.bsky.social, @jreland.bsky.social explains why it isn't quite that simple
🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/new-year-sam...
✍️ Following the strong rhetoric used by Starmer in his interview with @bbclaurak.bsky.social, @jreland.bsky.social explains why it isn't quite that simple
🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/new-year-sam...
A poll worth looking at - as opposed to the how-would-you-vote in a general election today nonsense
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
It’s not just Britain — western voters united in despair over future
Large majorities believe governments are failing, democracy is weakening and life will be harder for the next generation, according to a poll
www.thetimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 11:13 AM
A poll worth looking at - as opposed to the how-would-you-vote in a general election today nonsense
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
This from before Christmas...it does not predict the defenestration of Maduro but......
philipstephens.substack.com/p/making-sen...
philipstephens.substack.com/p/making-sen...
Making sense of international disorder
…Or how Britain’s retreat from the Caribbean in 1905 maps the new geopolitical landscape
philipstephens.substack.com
January 4, 2026 at 5:14 PM
This from before Christmas...it does not predict the defenestration of Maduro but......
philipstephens.substack.com/p/making-sen...
philipstephens.substack.com/p/making-sen...
Presumably those charging European leaders with weakness in their response to the violent defenestration of Maduro think Starmer, Macron et all should repudiate Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado's stated view that it marks the return of freedom? It's complicated.
January 4, 2026 at 11:07 AM
Presumably those charging European leaders with weakness in their response to the violent defenestration of Maduro think Starmer, Macron et all should repudiate Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado's stated view that it marks the return of freedom? It's complicated.
Reposted by Philip Stephens
There's an awkward conundrum here. Trump's attack on Venezuela all but endorses Putin's great power gangsterism in his war on Ukraine. But opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado declares that in deposing Maduro, US has ensured "The time for freedom has come".
January 3, 2026 at 8:06 PM
There's an awkward conundrum here. Trump's attack on Venezuela all but endorses Putin's great power gangsterism in his war on Ukraine. But opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado declares that in deposing Maduro, US has ensured "The time for freedom has come".
Reposted by Philip Stephens
So it seems the Venezuela plan is a resources grab overseen by a puppet regime. And that's the best-case scenario.
www.reuters.com/world/us/liv...
www.reuters.com/world/us/liv...
Live: Trump says Maduro to face justice and US will run Venezuela until 'safe' transition
"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," Trump said at a news conference.
www.reuters.com
January 3, 2026 at 5:50 PM
So it seems the Venezuela plan is a resources grab overseen by a puppet regime. And that's the best-case scenario.
www.reuters.com/world/us/liv...
www.reuters.com/world/us/liv...
Reposted by Philip Stephens
The cynics think today's attack on Venezuela is staged and transactional. Maduro is allied with Putin, but in 2019 Putin offered Trump a swap: Russia cedes Venezuela and gets Ukraine. (See Fiona Hill's testimony in Trump's first impeachment trial, h/t @davetroy.com). Even Maduro may be in on it. 2/
January 3, 2026 at 4:22 PM
The cynics think today's attack on Venezuela is staged and transactional. Maduro is allied with Putin, but in 2019 Putin offered Trump a swap: Russia cedes Venezuela and gets Ukraine. (See Fiona Hill's testimony in Trump's first impeachment trial, h/t @davetroy.com). Even Maduro may be in on it. 2/
Reposted by Philip Stephens
There is, to my mind, no justification for the continued use by the UK Government of X as a platform for official comms. There hasn't been for some time, in fact, but if the latest developments around AI-generated image abuse and CSAM don't change the policy I really don't know what will.
NEW: People are using Elon Musk's chatbot, Grok, to alter images to depict real women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt, and even killed.
futurism.com/future-socie...
futurism.com/future-socie...
Grok Is Being Used to Depict Horrific Violence Against Real Women
People are asking Elon Musk's Grok chatbot to alter images to depict women being sexually abused, humiliated, and even killed.
futurism.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:18 PM
There is, to my mind, no justification for the continued use by the UK Government of X as a platform for official comms. There hasn't been for some time, in fact, but if the latest developments around AI-generated image abuse and CSAM don't change the policy I really don't know what will.
For once an interesting opinion poll. "I'm pretty much fine but the country is still going to the dogs". The big challenge for Starmer is somehow to close the gap.
How good a year do Britons say 2025 was for...
Themselves personally
Good: 36%
Average: 35%
Bad: 27%
The UK
Good: 6%
Average: 24%
Bad: 66%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
Themselves personally
Good: 36%
Average: 35%
Bad: 27%
The UK
Good: 6%
Average: 24%
Bad: 66%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
January 2, 2026 at 1:11 PM
For once an interesting opinion poll. "I'm pretty much fine but the country is still going to the dogs". The big challenge for Starmer is somehow to close the gap.
Reposted by Philip Stephens
Concerning.
just saw a billionaire pack all his things in a bindle and start leaving new york city on foot. he turned and looked at me with tears in his eyes and said “maybe one day when this city is safe we’ll return” before walking away
January 1, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Concerning.
Reposted by Philip Stephens
Reposted by Philip Stephens
Excellent piece with echoes of Dickens, perfect New Year reading:
Set out six months ago to investigative some dubious evictions. Ended up writing a sprawling story spread over 450 years about London property deals, the ethics of money lending, Tommy Robinson, Barbary pirates, Jacobean earls, and wealth in the capital. www.londoncentric.media/p/henry-smit...
A Tale Of One City And Two Henry Smiths
These two London landlords are separated by four centuries — but joined by a common name and business interests.
www.londoncentric.media
January 1, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Excellent piece with echoes of Dickens, perfect New Year reading:
Immigrants in general and Muslims in particular are intermediate targets for the far right. As ever, Jews remain the real "enemy" of the extremists. Nigel Farage's refusal to recant the anti-semitic views he once voiced publicly is instructive.
A neat example of why prominent Jewish voices boosting far right narratives are being unbelievably stupid. Have they never read a history book?
Yeah it's probably because you're talking about 'English-Jewish relations' and threatening to deport us all if we don't fall in line with your ramblings
January 1, 2026 at 11:46 AM
Immigrants in general and Muslims in particular are intermediate targets for the far right. As ever, Jews remain the real "enemy" of the extremists. Nigel Farage's refusal to recant the anti-semitic views he once voiced publicly is instructive.
Thoughtful and illuminating from @billemmott.bsky.social - the very best of all the year end reviews of our more dangerous world....
open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...
open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...
A year of destruction and speculation
Essay on 2025 published by Engelsberg Ideas today
open.substack.com
December 30, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Thoughtful and illuminating from @billemmott.bsky.social - the very best of all the year end reviews of our more dangerous world....
open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...
open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...
Something always puzzles me in the stories super-rich quitting UK for Dubai. With a billion in the bank I would be congratulating myself I could afford to pay a bit more tax to live in such a great country rather than share desert bling with a bunch of despots, oligarchs and assorted hucksters.
December 30, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Something always puzzles me in the stories super-rich quitting UK for Dubai. With a billion in the bank I would be congratulating myself I could afford to pay a bit more tax to live in such a great country rather than share desert bling with a bunch of despots, oligarchs and assorted hucksters.
Switched on the (analogue) TV to find BBC1 showing something called Pointless Celebrities ...apt description of programme and, sad to say, of the channel...
December 29, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Switched on the (analogue) TV to find BBC1 showing something called Pointless Celebrities ...apt description of programme and, sad to say, of the channel...
Quite a tribute to European conhesion...
Russian troops invading Ukraine are "main obstacle" to peace in Ukraine, says mostly everyone else
EU is ‘main obstacle’ to peace in Ukraine, says Russia’s foreign minister
Sergey Lavrov’s comments come ahead of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s talks with Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday.
Sergey Lavrov’s comments come ahead of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s talks with Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday.
December 29, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Quite a tribute to European conhesion...
Presumably, Farage is also disqualified by his own past, vile expressions of anti-semitism.
So the Hard Right position is that you should only have to suffer the consequences for tweets inciting racial hatred if you're name is...oh I don't know...Adbel Fattah? If your name is Lucy Connolly and you admit to doing it, you should get a parade actually.
December 29, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Presumably, Farage is also disqualified by his own past, vile expressions of anti-semitism.
Reposted by Philip Stephens
😂 This level of self-control has to be taught.
December 29, 2025 at 11:10 AM
😂 This level of self-control has to be taught.
So now it seems that objection to Israeli colonisation of Palestinian territory to create an apartheid state can be called anti-semitism.....
Israel has reacted furiously to a condemnation by 14 countries including Ireland, France and Britain of its approval of new settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the criticism discriminatory against Jews
www.rte.ie/news/middle-east/2025/1225/1550505-west-bank/
www.rte.ie/news/middle-east/2025/1225/1550505-west-bank/
Condemnation of new West Bank settlements 'wrong' - Saar
Israel has reacted furiously to a condemnation by 14 countries including Ireland, France and Britain of its approval of new settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the criticism discriminatory ...
www.rte.ie
December 25, 2025 at 10:29 AM
So now it seems that objection to Israeli colonisation of Palestinian territory to create an apartheid state can be called anti-semitism.....
Reposted by Philip Stephens
Have become quite critical of Macron lately. But for the EU's sole nuclear power this is an important response.
December 23, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Have become quite critical of Macron lately. But for the EU's sole nuclear power this is an important response.