Professor Christopher Painter
@prfchrispainter.bsky.social
Politics and statecraft. Beware of blind alleys serving nefarious interests. Emeritus Professor, BCU. Posts in a personal capacity, as an academic and citizen.
Too few voters take heed of well-founded warnings until too late. True of Brexit; Johnson in Number Ten; and Trump in the White House. It would apply to Farage should that come to pass. They are in politics for personal enrichment, with no compunction about acting unconstitutionally or unlawfully.
January 8, 2026 at 7:38 AM
Too few voters take heed of well-founded warnings until too late. True of Brexit; Johnson in Number Ten; and Trump in the White House. It would apply to Farage should that come to pass. They are in politics for personal enrichment, with no compunction about acting unconstitutionally or unlawfully.
This is the man who campaigned on grooming gangs in the UK, when his own digital platform allows sexualised images of children. Hypocrisy is not the half of it.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Grok AI still being used to digitally undress women and children despite suspension pledge
Degrading pictures being posted on Elon Musk’s site despite the platform pledging to suspend people who generate them
www.theguardian.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
This is the man who campaigned on grooming gangs in the UK, when his own digital platform allows sexualised images of children. Hypocrisy is not the half of it.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Trump is so overstretched with his policy upheavals, both domestically and internationally, that behind the rhetorical bluster there will be an endless trail of chaotic unfinished business. Don't be fooled by egotistical rambling. It's why so many of his businesses finished up in bankruptcy courts!
January 6, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Trump is so overstretched with his policy upheavals, both domestically and internationally, that behind the rhetorical bluster there will be an endless trail of chaotic unfinished business. Don't be fooled by egotistical rambling. It's why so many of his businesses finished up in bankruptcy courts!
Some observers are clearly having great difficulty comprehending why Starmer would keep a cool head in international crises and co-ordinate his responses with other like-minded European and Commonwealth leaders.
January 5, 2026 at 6:50 AM
Some observers are clearly having great difficulty comprehending why Starmer would keep a cool head in international crises and co-ordinate his responses with other like-minded European and Commonwealth leaders.
However odious the Venezuelan règime, Trump has acted not only in clear violation of international law but also in breach of his own country's constitution. Impeachment is only a matter of time.
January 3, 2026 at 5:34 PM
However odious the Venezuelan règime, Trump has acted not only in clear violation of international law but also in breach of his own country's constitution. Impeachment is only a matter of time.
On a day when Trump's erratic Presidency becomes even more chaotic.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
From Donald Trump to Benjamin Netanyahu, let 2026 be a year of reckoning | Jonathan Freedland
These malign figures will do anything to avoid paying for the harm they have done, but accountability must eventually come to both, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland
www.theguardian.com
January 3, 2026 at 3:26 PM
On a day when Trump's erratic Presidency becomes even more chaotic.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Maybe, up to a point. But it would be a mistake for the Government's strategy to be completely dictated by countering Reform. The fixation of Democrats with Trump and MAGA didn't exactly pay dividends for them!
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What is Keir Starmer doing to push back the populists? Not nearly enough. We have a plan to take them on | Chris Powell
There is much to learn from the New Labour playbook. We were disciplined, innovative, robust and proactive – and we won, says elections strategist Chris Powell
www.theguardian.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:31 PM
Maybe, up to a point. But it would be a mistake for the Government's strategy to be completely dictated by countering Reform. The fixation of Democrats with Trump and MAGA didn't exactly pay dividends for them!
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Putin cannot abide the idea of democratic contagion on his doorstep, catastrophic threat to his autocratic règime that it would be. As Trump doesn't have a democratic value in his bones, not difficult to work out why these two aging men are on the same wavelength.
January 2, 2026 at 7:59 AM
Putin cannot abide the idea of democratic contagion on his doorstep, catastrophic threat to his autocratic règime that it would be. As Trump doesn't have a democratic value in his bones, not difficult to work out why these two aging men are on the same wavelength.
Happy New Year.
The Year in which TRUMP THE STRONGMAN (!) becomes TRUMP THE LAME DUCK.
The Year in which TRUMP THE STRONGMAN (!) becomes TRUMP THE LAME DUCK.
December 31, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Happy New Year.
The Year in which TRUMP THE STRONGMAN (!) becomes TRUMP THE LAME DUCK.
The Year in which TRUMP THE STRONGMAN (!) becomes TRUMP THE LAME DUCK.
Those on manoeuvres for a Labour leadership challenge in 2026 may come to regret it, given the high-risk stakes attached to the consequences.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Conditions may feel rife for a coup within Labour – but a change of leader alone isn’t going to fix things | Polly Toynbee
For all the talk of coups, this much is clear: without a strong vision, Labour will face a fresh crisis of legitimacy, says Polly Toynbee
www.theguardian.com
December 30, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Those on manoeuvres for a Labour leadership challenge in 2026 may come to regret it, given the high-risk stakes attached to the consequences.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Possessed of the knowledge that he is easily manipulable, Putin is feeding Trump with increasingly outrageous levels of disinformation.
December 30, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Possessed of the knowledge that he is easily manipulable, Putin is feeding Trump with increasingly outrageous levels of disinformation.
Because of the time difference with the UK, it's common to fall to sleep wondering what that damn fool (Trump) will have said or done by morning.
December 29, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Because of the time difference with the UK, it's common to fall to sleep wondering what that damn fool (Trump) will have said or done by morning.
A simple post for this last Monday of 2025. The Trump Administration is such a disgusting stain on the American Republic, it will take a generation for the damage to be fully erased.
December 29, 2025 at 8:11 AM
A simple post for this last Monday of 2025. The Trump Administration is such a disgusting stain on the American Republic, it will take a generation for the damage to be fully erased.
Peace and joy this Christmas, irrespective of who you are (the real Christian message). But special thoughts to those going through difficult times.
December 24, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Peace and joy this Christmas, irrespective of who you are (the real Christian message). But special thoughts to those going through difficult times.
We are beginning to get the true measure of the scale of the attempted cover up of the Epstein Files by the Trump White House.
December 24, 2025 at 7:14 AM
We are beginning to get the true measure of the scale of the attempted cover up of the Epstein Files by the Trump White House.
Once upon a time there was a towering kingdom, beacon of democratic freedom and land of opportunity for talent from wide and far. But it lost its way, so much so that this kingdom bequeathed power to a paedophile and a prostitute, courting the same folly as earlier fallen civilisations.
December 23, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Once upon a time there was a towering kingdom, beacon of democratic freedom and land of opportunity for talent from wide and far. But it lost its way, so much so that this kingdom bequeathed power to a paedophile and a prostitute, courting the same folly as earlier fallen civilisations.
"The UK has rare alignment: world-class scientific inputs, deepening innovation outputs, domestic capital, international trust and a regulatory system that can enable safe experimentation. It's time to invest...and put the doom and gloom behind us."
observer.co.uk/news/science...
observer.co.uk/news/science...
Amid the economic gloom, the UK's tech firms give us a re...
With more unicorns, thoroughbreds and colts than most other European countries, Britain is a world leader in the sector, providing an opportunity that must be grasped
observer.co.uk
December 21, 2025 at 6:24 PM
"The UK has rare alignment: world-class scientific inputs, deepening innovation outputs, domestic capital, international trust and a regulatory system that can enable safe experimentation. It's time to invest...and put the doom and gloom behind us."
observer.co.uk/news/science...
observer.co.uk/news/science...
As objective analysts of the British business, economic, scientific and technological communities are increasingly observing, it's time to put the doom and gloom behind us as we transition to 2026.
December 21, 2025 at 12:49 PM
As objective analysts of the British business, economic, scientific and technological communities are increasingly observing, it's time to put the doom and gloom behind us as we transition to 2026.
Turns out that since 2015 Trump has not been talking to the American people, let alone the international community, but instead playing out a psycho-drama in his own head.
December 19, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Turns out that since 2015 Trump has not been talking to the American people, let alone the international community, but instead playing out a psycho-drama in his own head.
More than time for these US social media companies to be held legally accountable for the enormous harm caused by their reckless lack of effective safeguarding policies.
BBC News - Parents of sextortion victim sue Instagram owner Meta
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - Parents of sextortion victim sue Instagram owner Meta
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Parents of sextortion victim sue Instagram owner Meta
Murray Dowey from Dunblane was 16 when he became a victim of sextortion in 2023.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 18, 2025 at 9:22 AM
More than time for these US social media companies to be held legally accountable for the enormous harm caused by their reckless lack of effective safeguarding policies.
BBC News - Parents of sextortion victim sue Instagram owner Meta
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - Parents of sextortion victim sue Instagram owner Meta
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A constructive piece of advice for Keir Starmer in 2026: be bolder and less risk-averse. That's how to kill stone dead leadership speculation.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A warning for Keir Starmer: Brexit is falling apart, but if you are not bold on Europe, your Labour rivals will be | Tom Baldwin
Leave support is falling. That’s an opportunity the PM should seize before pro-Europe challengers for the Labour leadership do, says Tom Baldwin, author of Keir Starmer, The Biography
www.theguardian.com
December 18, 2025 at 6:41 AM
A constructive piece of advice for Keir Starmer in 2026: be bolder and less risk-averse. That's how to kill stone dead leadership speculation.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The intelligence and defence communities are becoming more outspoken in their inferences about those who contol the White House; how their recklessness, gullibility, transactionalism and conflicts of interest are putting Western security at grave risk.
December 16, 2025 at 7:33 AM
The intelligence and defence communities are becoming more outspoken in their inferences about those who contol the White House; how their recklessness, gullibility, transactionalism and conflicts of interest are putting Western security at grave risk.
Musk's Department of GOvernment Efficiency (DOGE) has been closed less than a year into Trump's Presidency, having caused more chaos than eliminated waste. Blindly copied by ReformUK, there are few better examples of how Farage's outfit is liitle other than a feeble offshoot of Trump's fading MAGA.
December 14, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Musk's Department of GOvernment Efficiency (DOGE) has been closed less than a year into Trump's Presidency, having caused more chaos than eliminated waste. Blindly copied by ReformUK, there are few better examples of how Farage's outfit is liitle other than a feeble offshoot of Trump's fading MAGA.
Lest anyone forget: Cameron landed us with a damaging Brexit referendum; May was a rabbit caught in the headlights over the implementation of Brexit; Johnson gave us the hardest possible Brexit whilst corrupting his Office; Truss unleashed a financial meltdown and has since gone completely bonkers;
December 12, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Lest anyone forget: Cameron landed us with a damaging Brexit referendum; May was a rabbit caught in the headlights over the implementation of Brexit; Johnson gave us the hardest possible Brexit whilst corrupting his Office; Truss unleashed a financial meltdown and has since gone completely bonkers;
Farage has long hitched himself to Donald Trump's bandwagon. With Trump putting his signature to latest US National Security Strategy it means Farage is now closely associated with policy positions that undermine UK's vital national interest against Putin's nefarious designs. There is a word for it!
December 11, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Farage has long hitched himself to Donald Trump's bandwagon. With Trump putting his signature to latest US National Security Strategy it means Farage is now closely associated with policy positions that undermine UK's vital national interest against Putin's nefarious designs. There is a word for it!