Dr. Dan Lomas
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sandbaggerone.bsky.social
Dr. Dan Lomas
@sandbaggerone.bsky.social
Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham. Writes on 🇬🇧 intelligence.

Remains an opinionated Northerner & Mancunian. ✍ Vetting, 'Friends' & UK intelligence 📚 🇺🇦 Views my own.

🔗 https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/politics/people/daniel.lomas
Pinned
⁉️ What is UK national security vetting, and how has the current system evolved to meet insider threats?

Really pleased to see this political, social, and cultural history of British vetting finally reach Bloomsbury's website.

🗓 Out June 2025

www.bloomsbury.com/uk/secret-hi...
Reposted by Dr. Dan Lomas
NYT - Kash Patel's inexperience, his dismissals of top FBI officials and his shift of resources from thwarting spies and terrorism have heightened concerns among the other Five Eyes nations that the bureau is adrift. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/wo...
F.B.I. Director Is Said to Have Made a Pledge to Head of MI5, Then Broken It
The episode has contributed to concerns among intelligence allies that Kash Patel, brash and partisan, is also unpredictable and even unreliable.
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Russian activist held in Poland admits he worked as FSB agent, court papers say

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Russian activist held in Poland admits he worked as FSB agent, court papers say
Igor Rogov, who left Russia in 2021, due to go on trial accused of informing on other Russian opposition activists
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:39 PM
BBC News - British man Howard Phillips jailed after trying to spy for Russia - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
British man Howard Phillips jailed after trying to spy for Russia
Howard Phillips's ex-wife said he dreamt of being like James Bond and was infatuated with MI6.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Dr. Dan Lomas
How do experts measure military power? 🪖
Michael Hilliard is the Director of Defence & Security Analysis for the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs. Join us on Thursday, 5pm CET/11am EST, as we unpack their work mapping the armed forces of Central Asia. 🎧 discord.gg/bellingcat?e...
November 4, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Reposted by Dr. Dan Lomas
Pleased to be talking with @patrickbriansmith.bsky.social and Miglė Bareikytė about my book at @salforduni.bsky.social' Emergent Nonfiction Lab on 3 December at 16:00 Stockholm time.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/war-in-the...
War in the Smartphone Age, book talk and discussion with Matthew Ford
Matthew Ford on his new book War in the Smartphone Age: Conflict, Connectivity and the Crises at Our Fingertips + respondent Miglė Bareikytė
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by Dr. Dan Lomas
I checked the reference list on this now-retracted article, and almost NONE of the referenced articles actually exist! Total AI slop!

Who were the peer reviewers? Did an editor look at the article?

It was published online 30 April, and the retraction didn't happen until 3 November. Yikes.
November 3, 2025 at 8:55 PM
"Following publication, concerns were raised by a third party regarding the accuracy and validity of many of the references in this article ... the Editor and the Publisher no longer have confidence in the content presented".

www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Retracted Article: Strengthening Caribbean Intelligence: Education and Training for Enhanced Intra- and Inter-Agency Collaboration
We, the Editor and Publisher of International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, have retracted the following article:Smith, T., & Short, A. (2025). Strengthening Caribbean Intelligen...
www.tandfonline.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:32 PM
👀 If you're a postdoc and interested in areas including intelligence, covert action, hybrid activity and other security related topics, check this out ⏬️
📢 Are you interested in applying for a postdoc? We are delighted to be inviting expressions of interest for the @leverhulme.ac.uk Early Career Fellowship Scheme

Full details can be found here 🔗 tinyurl.com/4huyxc2f

🗓️EOI to be submitted by 03.12.2025 (full details in 🔗)
November 3, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Dr. Dan Lomas
“Propaganda operations in the Cold War were designed to undermine authority, chip away at orthodox ideas, and encourage questioning"

@rorycormac.bsky.social reveals to @telegraphnews.bsky.social how the CIA once tried to recruit Sir Winston Churchill 🔗➡️ tinyurl.com/mvp47n4h

Image cc: The Telegraph
October 29, 2025 at 2:00 PM
"The documents she obtained showed the university "had negotiated directly with a foreign intelligence service to trade my academic freedom for access to the Chinese student market," she told the BBC".

www.bbc.com/news/article...
China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show
Sheffield Hallam University apologises to Professor Laura Murphy for restricting her academic freedom.
www.bbc.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:06 AM
CIA chief quietly meets EU officials to soothe US intel-sharing fears www.politico.eu/article/cia-...
CIA chief quietly meets EU officials to soothe US intel-sharing fears
Trump administration’s volatile foreign policy has shaken Europe’s confidence in Washington’s intelligence cooperation.
www.politico.eu
November 1, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Dr. Dan Lomas
Children tear-gassed. Teenagers tackled to the ground. Bellingcat analysed footage of clashes between federal officers and civilians after a judge issued a restraining order on crowd-control tactics in Illinois: www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/10...
Tear Gas, Pepper Balls Among Weapons Deployed Against Illinois Protesters
A judge issued a restraining order on crowd-control tactics by federal agents, including those involved in Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago region.
www.bellingcat.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:15 PM
"Andrei is one of many people employed by Russia’s FSB after scrolling through job adverts offering sabotage work on social media. The security service is paying as much as $5,000 (£3,800) for arson attacks against targets such as an SBU building".

share.google/m0UQonDL1vF7...
Access Restricted
share.google
November 1, 2025 at 3:26 PM
"According to prosecutors, Gill accepted cash on at least eight occasions to make specific statements and opinions benefiting Russia".

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
Reform UK, the Russian spy and rolls of Kremlin cash: the inside story of Nathan Gill
How did a former Mormon bishop end up pleading guilty to taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia in the European parliament?
www.theguardian.com
November 1, 2025 at 8:50 AM
For the record, it's not my house. I would have insisted getting agent and officer right
October 31, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Dr. Dan Lomas
The FBI says a proposal by House lawmakers to strip the bureau of its authority over counterintelligence efforts and hand it over to DNI Tulsi Gabbard would create confusion and undermine national security. www.nbcnews.com/politics/nati...
FBI slams House proposal to grant Tulsi Gabbard leading role on counterintelligence
The CIA and other intelligence officials share many of the FBI’s misgivings about the House proposal, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
www.nbcnews.com
October 30, 2025 at 6:50 PM
👀 Mapping of German beach defenses near Ostend, drawn by an SIS/MI6 network in June 1944.
October 30, 2025 at 12:38 PM
BBC News - How China really spies on the UK in 2025 - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
How China really spies on the UK in 2025
The national security threats China poses today go beyond traditional notions of espionage - in this new world, threats are far more complex
www.bbc.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Australian man living in Washington DC pleads guilty to selling trade secrets to Russian broker

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Australian man living in Washington DC pleads guilty to selling trade secrets to Russian broker
US department of justice says Peter Williams, 39, stole material over three-year period working for US defence contractor
www.theguardian.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:34 PM
BBC News - British man accused of spying for Russia arrested in Ukraine
www.bbc.com/news/article...
British man accused of spying for Russia arrested in Ukraine
The unamed Briton passed information to Russia while working as a military instructor, prosecutors say.
www.bbc.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:35 PM
"Christopher Berry, the man at the heart of a controversial and now-abandoned Chinese espionage case, appeared to be aware that he was supplying information to a non-commercial client".

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
China spy row: Berry knew some of his contacts were non-commercial, messages suggest
Man at centre of abandoned spy case has said he reported to Chinese company with clients that wanted ‘to develop trading links with UK’
www.theguardian.com
October 27, 2025 at 11:15 PM