@richposting.bsky.social
The former Director of Public Prosecutions had but one weakness - when criminals lied.
February 11, 2026 at 5:15 PM
The former Director of Public Prosecutions had but one weakness - when criminals lied.
Genuinely think the moderate ask is for Mandelson/Andrew etc to have all their wealth confiscated and they claim back the bits they can prove they gained fairly. We are all way too generous in demanding resignations and apologies. No other criminals are treated like this!
February 10, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Genuinely think the moderate ask is for Mandelson/Andrew etc to have all their wealth confiscated and they claim back the bits they can prove they gained fairly. We are all way too generous in demanding resignations and apologies. No other criminals are treated like this!
Reposted
If you are baffled by why the jury refused to convict the Palestine Action defendants, it's because – unlike them – you didn't hear the actual evidence. You heard what the media wanted you to know.
Here, I explain what the jury learnt from the trial: jonathancook.substack.com/p/barristers...
Here, I explain what the jury learnt from the trial: jonathancook.substack.com/p/barristers...
Barrister's powerful speech at Filton Trial reminds jury of its right to defy judge
Starmer and the media need convictions to justify Palestine Action's proscription as a terrorist group. Rajiv Menon KC spells out to the jury why it is a vital last defence against government tyranny
jonathancook.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:21 PM
If you are baffled by why the jury refused to convict the Palestine Action defendants, it's because – unlike them – you didn't hear the actual evidence. You heard what the media wanted you to know.
Here, I explain what the jury learnt from the trial: jonathancook.substack.com/p/barristers...
Here, I explain what the jury learnt from the trial: jonathancook.substack.com/p/barristers...
Reposted
Hell of a set of top BBC politics stories for the government
February 3, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Hell of a set of top BBC politics stories for the government
Reposted
someone came to you in person to raise concerns about Mandelson over 12 years ago. his connections to Epstein had already been reported in some of the UK's biggest papers, and he was several times disgraced beyond that.
you chose to mock yr constituent's concern publicly to your large following
you chose to mock yr constituent's concern publicly to your large following
February 2, 2026 at 10:53 PM
someone came to you in person to raise concerns about Mandelson over 12 years ago. his connections to Epstein had already been reported in some of the UK's biggest papers, and he was several times disgraced beyond that.
you chose to mock yr constituent's concern publicly to your large following
you chose to mock yr constituent's concern publicly to your large following
Reposted
Imagine doing a PhD in electricity, just so you knew how to blow up nuclear power plants and heavy water-producing facilities.
“I learned from them very early that what one does with Nazis is kill them... I am not a pacifist.”
A profile in absolute courage.
“I learned from them very early that what one does with Nazis is kill them... I am not a pacifist.”
A profile in absolute courage.
January 15, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Imagine doing a PhD in electricity, just so you knew how to blow up nuclear power plants and heavy water-producing facilities.
“I learned from them very early that what one does with Nazis is kill them... I am not a pacifist.”
A profile in absolute courage.
“I learned from them very early that what one does with Nazis is kill them... I am not a pacifist.”
A profile in absolute courage.
'Shooting political opponents in the head' is not actually the major shift we're living through - it's the consensus that this is either good or factually inscrutible that is new and dangerous.
January 9, 2026 at 1:48 PM
'Shooting political opponents in the head' is not actually the major shift we're living through - it's the consensus that this is either good or factually inscrutible that is new and dangerous.
The root of all this is powerful people realising they can do whatever they want and until people get serious about reimposing direct accountability on their representatives they will be proven correct.
January 3, 2026 at 11:00 AM
The root of all this is powerful people realising they can do whatever they want and until people get serious about reimposing direct accountability on their representatives they will be proven correct.
Evolution of Starmer's Labour
- We need to ignore our unreasonable members and listen to voters
- We need to ignore our unreasonable voters and listen to lobbyists
- We need to ignore our unreasonable lobbyists and listen to ???
- We need to ignore our unreasonable members and listen to voters
- We need to ignore our unreasonable voters and listen to lobbyists
- We need to ignore our unreasonable lobbyists and listen to ???
January 2, 2026 at 11:36 AM
Evolution of Starmer's Labour
- We need to ignore our unreasonable members and listen to voters
- We need to ignore our unreasonable voters and listen to lobbyists
- We need to ignore our unreasonable lobbyists and listen to ???
- We need to ignore our unreasonable members and listen to voters
- We need to ignore our unreasonable voters and listen to lobbyists
- We need to ignore our unreasonable lobbyists and listen to ???
Reposted
New blogpost: Hate and (Class) War - The commentariat's bafflement at Starmer's unpopularity is an attempt to create some distance between themselves and a doomed individual, to deny all knowledge of his origins and elevation.
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/12/hate...
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/12/hate...
Hate and (Class) War
Politicians are usually assessed by the public in two ways: what they have done and what they stand for. The two are not necessarily in harmony.
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:40 PM
New blogpost: Hate and (Class) War - The commentariat's bafflement at Starmer's unpopularity is an attempt to create some distance between themselves and a doomed individual, to deny all knowledge of his origins and elevation.
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/12/hate...
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/12/hate...
Politics aside, it's that their characters (joyless, arrogant, patronising and incompetent) are familiar to anyone with a senior manager, and arguably they personify something Brits know about our wider ruling class but struggle to articulate.
Glad the FT is asking the question. Even if I’m not convinced they found a compelling answer.
I get that Starmer & Reeves are unpopular, I really don’t understand the extent of the dislike.
www.ft.com/content/1995... ‘There’s a real dislike, even loathing’: why voters hate Starmer and Reeves
I get that Starmer & Reeves are unpopular, I really don’t understand the extent of the dislike.
www.ft.com/content/1995... ‘There’s a real dislike, even loathing’: why voters hate Starmer and Reeves
‘There’s a real dislike, even loathing’: why voters hate Starmer and Reeves
Allies concede the prime minister and chancellor have made mistakes yet the level of disdain towards them is still striking
www.ft.com
December 31, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Politics aside, it's that their characters (joyless, arrogant, patronising and incompetent) are familiar to anyone with a senior manager, and arguably they personify something Brits know about our wider ruling class but struggle to articulate.
This may be true [citation needed] but the problem is we currently have a single shared source of untruth.
A single shared source of truth is essential for a functioning democracy.
Without it you’re left with fragmentation, polarisation and a perpetual culture war where the discourse focuses on what divides us rather than what we have in common.
My column from last week: www.ft.com/content/5060...
Without it you’re left with fragmentation, polarisation and a perpetual culture war where the discourse focuses on what divides us rather than what we have in common.
My column from last week: www.ft.com/content/5060...
Why American-style polarisation is spreading across the west
New research shows how incentives in the modern media ecosystem help explain rising division and negativity
www.ft.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:43 AM
This may be true [citation needed] but the problem is we currently have a single shared source of untruth.
The BBC thing is perfect in that it represents not just the threat the right poses to democracy, and the role of establishment cowardice *but also* the role of lazy, incurious liberal groupthink that did actually cause the BBC to libel Trump in a way that left them vulnerable.
November 10, 2025 at 9:34 PM
The BBC thing is perfect in that it represents not just the threat the right poses to democracy, and the role of establishment cowardice *but also* the role of lazy, incurious liberal groupthink that did actually cause the BBC to libel Trump in a way that left them vulnerable.
For me the key lesson from Mamdani is it's not actually hard to win elections, what's hard is breaking through the party apparatuses to do it.
November 3, 2025 at 5:06 PM
For me the key lesson from Mamdani is it's not actually hard to win elections, what's hard is breaking through the party apparatuses to do it.
Reposted
RIP Kaleb Horton
kalebhorton.ghost.io/2025-so-far/
kalebhorton.ghost.io/2025-so-far/
September 27, 2025 at 1:01 PM
RIP Kaleb Horton
kalebhorton.ghost.io/2025-so-far/
kalebhorton.ghost.io/2025-so-far/
Farage poses an existential threat to Labour's core values (Ministerial posts and donor connections for a small in-group of freaks)
This is first time I’ve heard the govt making the Labour argument for controlling immigration.
Mahmood argues that controlling our borders is good for race relations, because uncontrolled immigration is feeding far right rhetoric and tensions.
Expect to hear a lot more of that.
Mahmood argues that controlling our borders is good for race relations, because uncontrolled immigration is feeding far right rhetoric and tensions.
Expect to hear a lot more of that.
September 24, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Farage poses an existential threat to Labour's core values (Ministerial posts and donor connections for a small in-group of freaks)
It's honestly macabre to recognise a state purely to advance its destruction www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Starmer announces formal UK recognition of Palestinian state
Canada, Australia and Portugal also announced the move on Sunday, with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu accusing leaders of giving a
www.bbc.co.uk
September 22, 2025 at 1:31 PM
It's honestly macabre to recognise a state purely to advance its destruction www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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I can't sit for too long cuz of my back
September 1, 2025 at 12:46 PM
I can't sit for too long cuz of my back
Abuse of MPs is now nbd 👍
In which I argue that:
a) The Paul Ovenden messages about Diane Abbott are really repugnant, and
b) We might want to be careful about deciding anything bad anyone has ever said online, however long ago, even in a private message is grounds for resignation
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
a) The Paul Ovenden messages about Diane Abbott are really repugnant, and
b) We might want to be careful about deciding anything bad anyone has ever said online, however long ago, even in a private message is grounds for resignation
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
Who will be the next Paul Ovenden?
The messages from Starmer’s ousted aide are repugnant. But digital skeletons have become almost inevitable
www.newstatesman.com
September 16, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Abuse of MPs is now nbd 👍
Its so jarring that what brings down PMs is not the media reporting new information, but the repeating known information in a different tone of voice.
September 16, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Its so jarring that what brings down PMs is not the media reporting new information, but the repeating known information in a different tone of voice.
Does anyone actually think this though? The non-strawman is that racism is activated and sharpened by (inter alia) economic hardship, and that crucially, we have better structural control of the economy than people's souls.
Agree. This is a misdiagnosis that does not fit the evidence at all well, and one which gets in the way of useful responses
The myth that racism is primarily driven by economic conditions must die, especially on the left. It is a misdiagnosis and a kind of excuse
September 15, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Does anyone actually think this though? The non-strawman is that racism is activated and sharpened by (inter alia) economic hardship, and that crucially, we have better structural control of the economy than people's souls.
Here too, the problem is not just the Republicans saying "the radical left are murderers" (bad as that is) but that there isn't a media or opposition party saying "that's an insane fucking lie"
September 12, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Here too, the problem is not just the Republicans saying "the radical left are murderers" (bad as that is) but that there isn't a media or opposition party saying "that's an insane fucking lie"
Reposted
The principle that Israel is pioneering (or reviving) for the rest of "the West" is a sharp line between us -- the white, civilized nations -- among whom rules are followed and agreements can be made, and the rest, who are just bodies that can be killed freely.
BREAKING: Israel Defense Force claims responsbility for an airstrike on Doha, the capital of Qatar.
September 9, 2025 at 1:48 PM
The principle that Israel is pioneering (or reviving) for the rest of "the West" is a sharp line between us -- the white, civilized nations -- among whom rules are followed and agreements can be made, and the rest, who are just bodies that can be killed freely.
Reposted
wrote a little bit about the greatest to ever do it
Thank You, Melvyn Bragg | Defector
Melvyn Bragg, host of the BBC Radio 4 programme In Our Time since its very first episode back in 1998, has greeted me in the same delightfully brusque manner hundreds and hundreds of times. Hello. In ...
defector.com
September 8, 2025 at 3:56 PM
wrote a little bit about the greatest to ever do it
This is legitimately interesting and smart research - but the practical problem is that Labour and Euro SD parties are ambivalent as to whether right-accommodation is successful. We aren't going to evidence them out of this.
V. interesting. The "island of strangers" speech happened serendipitously (in one sense) during a panel survey. Paper uses this natural experiment to see the effect of such migrant-sceptic interventions on individual perceptions and voter intentions.
Upshot: it harmed Labour for no obvious benefit.
Upshot: it harmed Labour for no obvious benefit.
Using a triple-differences model, we show that the biggest negative effect of turning right was among the party’s own supporters
September 5, 2025 at 9:10 AM
This is legitimately interesting and smart research - but the practical problem is that Labour and Euro SD parties are ambivalent as to whether right-accommodation is successful. We aren't going to evidence them out of this.