Phil Tinline
@philtinline.bsky.social
Author, THE DEATH OF CONSENSUS (The Times Politics Book of 2022)
GHOSTS OF IRON MOUNTAIN ("riveting" - The New Yorker)
+ https://tinyurl.com/POWER-FAILURE (Future Governance Forum)
Last on Radio 4: Start the Week: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002q2qm
GHOSTS OF IRON MOUNTAIN ("riveting" - The New Yorker)
+ https://tinyurl.com/POWER-FAILURE (Future Governance Forum)
Last on Radio 4: Start the Week: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002q2qm
If they need that much help maybe they'd be happier at a secondary modern.
Tutoring agencies report increased demand as families priced out of private education try to ensure that their children can pass the 11-plus
Parents target grammar schools with tutoring from the age of six
www.thetimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 10:40 PM
If they need that much help maybe they'd be happier at a secondary modern.
Reposted by Phil Tinline
Cardinal Blase Cupich: Trump must make a formal complete apology for his racist social media post. And he must do it immediately.
February 9, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Cardinal Blase Cupich: Trump must make a formal complete apology for his racist social media post. And he must do it immediately.
MOVIE PITCH: A daring adaptation of something by the Marquis de Sade, but it's all done through subtext, half-finished sentences and awkward glances over cups of tea.
February 9, 2026 at 9:32 PM
MOVIE PITCH: A daring adaptation of something by the Marquis de Sade, but it's all done through subtext, half-finished sentences and awkward glances over cups of tea.
Maybe show up at the Commons now and then then
BREAKING: Nigel Farage calls for an end to working from home and the focus on work-life balance
"People aren't more productive working from home - it's a load of nonsense”
Whatever you do JUST DON’T VOTE REFORM!
"People aren't more productive working from home - it's a load of nonsense”
Whatever you do JUST DON’T VOTE REFORM!
February 9, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Maybe show up at the Commons now and then then
Isn't that a compliment, coming from 30p Lee?
Kyle called David Lammy "Calamity Lammy" and Anderson called Streeting a "poundshop Mandelson"
No mention of Lammy or Streeting's looks, of course
No mention of Lammy or Streeting's looks, of course
February 9, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Isn't that a compliment, coming from 30p Lee?
Billy Wilder, who lost family in the Holocaust, made two movies set in post-war Berlin - A Foreign Affair and One Two Three. In both, iirc, there's at least one German who protests that not only were they never a Nazi but neither was anyone they knew.
The annoying thing is, as a historian, looking at past societies recovering from bouts of tyranny...generally speaking you do have to get to a modus vivendi where they pretend they never supported this and you pretend to believe them (while ICE and Noem and Vance and Miller go to prison).
February 9, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Billy Wilder, who lost family in the Holocaust, made two movies set in post-war Berlin - A Foreign Affair and One Two Three. In both, iirc, there's at least one German who protests that not only were they never a Nazi but neither was anyone they knew.
Doubtless this will all be fixed when Elon moves to the moon
“Researchers from Johns Hopkins, Georgetown and Yale universities recently found that 60 FDA-authorized medical devices using AI were linked to 182 product recalls, according to a research letter published in the JAMA Health Forum in August.”
As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts
Medical device makers have been rushing to add AI to their products. While proponents say the new technology will revolutionize medicine, regulators are receiving a rising number of claims of patient ...
www.reuters.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:28 PM
Doubtless this will all be fixed when Elon moves to the moon
Still, on the upside, one more chirpy talk about AI by a man in a suit most people could never afford should make everything okay.
The pace of change is now very rapid, and unlike say the 60s many people feel there are no structures to help them. 'It's not my world any more' you hear a lot. And there's a lot of shame and self-blame involved in that which one might turn on others so as not to internalise too much of it. (2/3)
February 9, 2026 at 9:18 AM
Still, on the upside, one more chirpy talk about AI by a man in a suit most people could never afford should make everything okay.
As Americans are noticing, the response of the British government to this is rather at odds with theirs - but also with the near-silence from the private sector about those among it who were also involved with Epstein. How about grilling Silicon Valley?
Nick Robinson giving hell to [checks notes] Jacqui Smith about Epstein for 15 minutes is a good reminder that none of the guilty is having to pay for anything
February 9, 2026 at 8:31 AM
As Americans are noticing, the response of the British government to this is rather at odds with theirs - but also with the near-silence from the private sector about those among it who were also involved with Epstein. How about grilling Silicon Valley?
As the newsletters are busy guessing what might soon happen again this morning, here's my little pushback @theobserveruk.bsky.social against the addiction to 'could':
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
The media hedges its bets on the profits of doom
We don’t need our newsrooms to predict the future – just make sense of the here and now
observer.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 7:39 AM
As the newsletters are busy guessing what might soon happen again this morning, here's my little pushback @theobserveruk.bsky.social against the addiction to 'could':
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
More horrifying news of the crushing of free speech across Eur-oh.
FAMU can't use the word Black on anything posted around campus related to Black History Month, to stay in compliance with Florida state laws against DEI. Black students can't use the word Black at their Historically Black College during Black History Month.
February 9, 2026 at 6:39 AM
More horrifying news of the crushing of free speech across Eur-oh.
Reposted by Phil Tinline
This kind of smart, walkable, mixed-use urbanism is illegal to build in most American cities.
February 9, 2026 at 3:50 AM
This kind of smart, walkable, mixed-use urbanism is illegal to build in most American cities.
Reposted by Phil Tinline
Same is true for Super Bowl AI ads.
“You can just build things” while watching elite athletes, who spend decades honing their craft, play in their sport’s biggest game.
“You can just build things” while watching elite athletes, who spend decades honing their craft, play in their sport’s biggest game.
I love all the AI commercials telling viewers about shortcuts for life during the Olympics, a sporting event famously known for athletes who have put the hard work in for decades to get where they are.
Just perfect.
Just perfect.
February 9, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Same is true for Super Bowl AI ads.
“You can just build things” while watching elite athletes, who spend decades honing their craft, play in their sport’s biggest game.
“You can just build things” while watching elite athletes, who spend decades honing their craft, play in their sport’s biggest game.
um...
Epstein files are out but saga of Salmond-Sturgeon papers drags on
Epstein files are out but saga of Salmond-Sturgeon papers drags on
www.thetimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 12:44 AM
um...
Was there another one for FTX
Legit surprised it took three ad breaks for the first AI spot.
February 9, 2026 at 12:20 AM
Was there another one for FTX
A prime minister =/= a president
There’s a trend among recent PMs of having a poor relationship with and/or not really understanding what their backbenchers’ expectations are and how they view their role (and how that seems to have shifted among backbenchers of all parties in recent years)
Since Labour has been in government the lack of preparation and depth of thinking has been apparent but I think one of the biggest mistakes was going to war with the PLP so early. It stunned a lot of MPs to be told they could not even table amendments. This resentment is a massive part of the story.
February 8, 2026 at 8:56 PM
A prime minister =/= a president
Reposted by Phil Tinline
This was an inspiring blog six months ago from one of the new joint PM’s Chief of Staff
'Too often, government is looking for one answer to a problem that it can scale; the perfect pilot that can make a difference everywhere. It still sees change as an industrial process.' Electric blog from Vidhya Alakeson, Deputy Chief of Staff to the PM www.powertochange.org.uk/evidence-and...
The leaders who make things happen: lessons in governing from community business - Power to Change
Community businesses drive change where it matters most—locally. From leading Power to Change to advising Number 10, Vidhya Alakeson knows more than most th ...
www.powertochange.org.uk
February 8, 2026 at 7:37 PM
This was an inspiring blog six months ago from one of the new joint PM’s Chief of Staff
Reposted by Phil Tinline
I think many people have similar experience of her as a vg colleague to work with. Glad to see her do so well in a career primarily outside politics - leading Power to Change - until went into the Labour leaders LOTO team on external affairs in 2022, them to No 10. This is public info from LinkedIn
February 8, 2026 at 7:37 PM
I think many people have similar experience of her as a vg colleague to work with. Glad to see her do so well in a career primarily outside politics - leading Power to Change - until went into the Labour leaders LOTO team on external affairs in 2022, them to No 10. This is public info from LinkedIn
Reposted by Phil Tinline
I worked with Vidhya Alakeson 25 years ago for a year or so at the Foreign Policy Centre in 2000. Found her very impressive & organised then, among early cohort of interns at a new thinktank & then on the staff team. I think I was her first boss, albeit about 2 years older myself.
February 8, 2026 at 7:35 PM
I worked with Vidhya Alakeson 25 years ago for a year or so at the Foreign Policy Centre in 2000. Found her very impressive & organised then, among early cohort of interns at a new thinktank & then on the staff team. I think I was her first boss, albeit about 2 years older myself.
If only there were a fable about this involving, say, a hare - and maybe a tortoise.
“If I can generate a book in a day, and you need six months to write a book, who’s going to win the race?” God this is bleak
The New Fabio Is Claude
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:37 PM
If only there were a fable about this involving, say, a hare - and maybe a tortoise.
Reposted by Phil Tinline
Mandelson revelations show need for tougher UK constraints to resist rule of the rich | Heather Stewart
Mandelson revelations show need for tougher UK constraints to resist rule of the rich | Heather Stewart
Labour must protect democracy and learn lessons from Jeffrey Epstein’s efforts to influence government policy
www.theguardian.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Mandelson revelations show need for tougher UK constraints to resist rule of the rich | Heather Stewart
Looking forward to a well-paid Amazon comms professional explaining why this is brilliant actually
Former Washington Post journalists have launched a GoFundMe to help repatriate fired staff members who are effectively stranded in foreign countries.
One of the world's richest men didn’t even ensure they got home.
Donate here: www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
One of the world's richest men didn’t even ensure they got home.
Donate here: www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
February 8, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Looking forward to a well-paid Amazon comms professional explaining why this is brilliant actually
Reposted by Phil Tinline
I still cannot get over this detail reported by the Financial Times: www.ft.com/content/5fa6...
February 8, 2026 at 12:35 AM
I still cannot get over this detail reported by the Financial Times: www.ft.com/content/5fa6...
Precisely. Provided they don't quail before focus groups, strategists, the Daily Mail, the great and good, lobby gossip, guesswork dressed up as 'cost-benefit analysis', and over-cautious legal advice - but instead use their judgement, stick to their principles, and govern.
This! Labour’s leadership is being talked about as if it’s some kind of poisoned chalice.
In reality it’s a chance to take over the first term of a government with a huge majority. It’s the political opportunity of a lifetime.
In reality it’s a chance to take over the first term of a government with a huge majority. It’s the political opportunity of a lifetime.
Yet this is a government with three years left to run and an enormous Commons majority. For all the problems, there is an enormous opportunity there for someone with the political nous to take it and use it.
February 8, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Precisely. Provided they don't quail before focus groups, strategists, the Daily Mail, the great and good, lobby gossip, guesswork dressed up as 'cost-benefit analysis', and over-cautious legal advice - but instead use their judgement, stick to their principles, and govern.