Sophy Antrobus
@sophyantrobus.bsky.social
Ex-X. Former Labour PPC, academic of air power and military culture. Glad to be exploring a new platform for debate.
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
UK Spacepower: Lessons from 2025
In this latest viewpoint, @allenant.bsky.social reflects on 2025 as the ‘year of promises for UK spacepower’ and explores the urgent steps that need to be taken in 2026 to secure the UK’s defence-space strategy.
Read here 👇
ow.ly/4y0m50Y81Rq
In this latest viewpoint, @allenant.bsky.social reflects on 2025 as the ‘year of promises for UK spacepower’ and explores the urgent steps that need to be taken in 2026 to secure the UK’s defence-space strategy.
Read here 👇
ow.ly/4y0m50Y81Rq
February 3, 2026 at 10:17 AM
UK Spacepower: Lessons from 2025
In this latest viewpoint, @allenant.bsky.social reflects on 2025 as the ‘year of promises for UK spacepower’ and explores the urgent steps that need to be taken in 2026 to secure the UK’s defence-space strategy.
Read here 👇
ow.ly/4y0m50Y81Rq
In this latest viewpoint, @allenant.bsky.social reflects on 2025 as the ‘year of promises for UK spacepower’ and explores the urgent steps that need to be taken in 2026 to secure the UK’s defence-space strategy.
Read here 👇
ow.ly/4y0m50Y81Rq
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
This is an absolutely incredible example of someone telling on himself, because for almost all of his life Matthew Goodwin craved nothing more than exactly this. He boasted for years of being the “youngest full professor of politics”, and then applied for post after post at more prestigious unis.
Reform politician Matthew Goodwin tells the Sunday Times that he would "rather shoot myself in the head" than be at dinner with Nick Robinson and Mary Beard, and the last thing the ex-acadenuc would ever have wanted would be to be a Professor at some Oxford college "backwater with zero influence"
You dont win 'em all! Reform's Matt Goodwin in Sunday Times: 'Most .. people criticising me are nerds.The last thing I want is to be at some dinner party table with Nick Robinson & Mary Beard. I'd rather shoot myself in the head'. Hang on, I'm not THAT bad!Nerds sometimes have a (thoughtful!) point.
February 1, 2026 at 12:07 PM
This is an absolutely incredible example of someone telling on himself, because for almost all of his life Matthew Goodwin craved nothing more than exactly this. He boasted for years of being the “youngest full professor of politics”, and then applied for post after post at more prestigious unis.
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
This is David Marsh. He went to my old school.
He is one of the small number of European troops who went to Afghanistan and never did much nor went to the front line according to Donald Trump.
He died in 2008 aged 23 in Afghanistan when the patrol car he was in was blown up in Helmand Province.
He is one of the small number of European troops who went to Afghanistan and never did much nor went to the front line according to Donald Trump.
He died in 2008 aged 23 in Afghanistan when the patrol car he was in was blown up in Helmand Province.
January 23, 2026 at 9:36 PM
This is David Marsh. He went to my old school.
He is one of the small number of European troops who went to Afghanistan and never did much nor went to the front line according to Donald Trump.
He died in 2008 aged 23 in Afghanistan when the patrol car he was in was blown up in Helmand Province.
He is one of the small number of European troops who went to Afghanistan and never did much nor went to the front line according to Donald Trump.
He died in 2008 aged 23 in Afghanistan when the patrol car he was in was blown up in Helmand Province.
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
Stephen was a great contestant. But also the daily game of betting whether he would be dressed as a) a suspect in a seaside Poirot mystery, b) Christopher Robin, or c) ABBA. #thetraitors
I love Stephen. The face of a doomed WW1 officer and the wardrobe of John Travolta. #thetraitors
January 24, 2026 at 10:08 AM
Stephen was a great contestant. But also the daily game of betting whether he would be dressed as a) a suspect in a seaside Poirot mystery, b) Christopher Robin, or c) ABBA. #thetraitors
Interesting article. ‘students show “strange deference” to AI — questioning classmates but accepting AI pronouncements’. I can see why this is especially pertinent in the PME environment for a number of reasons discussed here.
Professional military education was designed for a pre-AI world. Small fixes will not be enough.
Change or Just Cheating? Overhauling Professional Military Education for the AI Era
Thanks to AI, cheating in professional military education is becoming pervasive. Drawing on our perspectives as a uniformed instructor and as a recent
warontherocks.com
January 23, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Interesting article. ‘students show “strange deference” to AI — questioning classmates but accepting AI pronouncements’. I can see why this is especially pertinent in the PME environment for a number of reasons discussed here.
‘Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.’
Mark Carney's speech really is terrific: full text is here and very much worth your time.
The Carney doctrine
Open comment thread on the PM's Davos speech
paulwells.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:54 PM
‘Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.’
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
"European defence stocks are enjoying a blistering start to 2026, as US threats to take control of Greenland and tensions with Venezuela reignite a rally in one of last year’s hottest equity market sectors." www.ft.com/content/0bea...
European defence stocks surge as Greenland tensions mount
Sector has jumped nearly 15% this month as investors bet domestic military spending will have to keep rising
www.ft.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:19 PM
"European defence stocks are enjoying a blistering start to 2026, as US threats to take control of Greenland and tensions with Venezuela reignite a rally in one of last year’s hottest equity market sectors." www.ft.com/content/0bea...
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
What Europe could do is threaten to boycott the World Cup. It won't. But that might actually work. Trump wants his big show.
January 17, 2026 at 6:51 PM
What Europe could do is threaten to boycott the World Cup. It won't. But that might actually work. Trump wants his big show.
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
I would love to experience being in Dan Hannan's brain. Just for a little bit. What's it like to never worry about making a mistake? To just breeze merrily through a life where every wrong turn confirms your belief that you're smarter than the map?
January 17, 2026 at 10:43 PM
I would love to experience being in Dan Hannan's brain. Just for a little bit. What's it like to never worry about making a mistake? To just breeze merrily through a life where every wrong turn confirms your belief that you're smarter than the map?
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
📢 Lecture Series: Call for Papers
The @rafmuseum.bsky.social is seeking proposals from postgraduate students, early-career & established researchers for the 2026 air and space power research programme.
📅 Deadline: 23 Jan
❔ ResearchNews@rafmuseum.org
👇
www.rafmuseum.org.uk/news/raf-mus...
The @rafmuseum.bsky.social is seeking proposals from postgraduate students, early-career & established researchers for the 2026 air and space power research programme.
📅 Deadline: 23 Jan
❔ ResearchNews@rafmuseum.org
👇
www.rafmuseum.org.uk/news/raf-mus...
RAF Museum 2026 Lecture Series: Call for Papers - RAF Museum
www.rafmuseum.org.uk
January 12, 2026 at 11:58 AM
📢 Lecture Series: Call for Papers
The @rafmuseum.bsky.social is seeking proposals from postgraduate students, early-career & established researchers for the 2026 air and space power research programme.
📅 Deadline: 23 Jan
❔ ResearchNews@rafmuseum.org
👇
www.rafmuseum.org.uk/news/raf-mus...
The @rafmuseum.bsky.social is seeking proposals from postgraduate students, early-career & established researchers for the 2026 air and space power research programme.
📅 Deadline: 23 Jan
❔ ResearchNews@rafmuseum.org
👇
www.rafmuseum.org.uk/news/raf-mus...
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
This is a deeply depressing read by Rachel Hewitt and one that will feel frustratingly familiar to anyone trying to get a book published right now!! Also when she lists the big non fiction sellers - phew.
open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...
open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...
NO PLATFORM: something's rotten in the state of non-fiction
In the past, non-fiction writers built platforms by researching and writing books. Now, writers are expected to *already* possess substantial online platforms.
open.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 7:53 AM
This is a deeply depressing read by Rachel Hewitt and one that will feel frustratingly familiar to anyone trying to get a book published right now!! Also when she lists the big non fiction sellers - phew.
open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...
open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
✈️ How has the RAF's culture around safety and risk shifted and what is the right balance in the context of today’s threats?
Read as @sophyantrobus.bsky.social examines the RAF’s changing relationship with risk - its approach, attitude, and appetite.
Explore 👇
kcl.ac.uk/warstudies/a...
Read as @sophyantrobus.bsky.social examines the RAF’s changing relationship with risk - its approach, attitude, and appetite.
Explore 👇
kcl.ac.uk/warstudies/a...
January 5, 2026 at 10:05 AM
✈️ How has the RAF's culture around safety and risk shifted and what is the right balance in the context of today’s threats?
Read as @sophyantrobus.bsky.social examines the RAF’s changing relationship with risk - its approach, attitude, and appetite.
Explore 👇
kcl.ac.uk/warstudies/a...
Read as @sophyantrobus.bsky.social examines the RAF’s changing relationship with risk - its approach, attitude, and appetite.
Explore 👇
kcl.ac.uk/warstudies/a...
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
I don't begrudge Vance et al seeking to prioritise Asia over Europe. I'd make same choice in their shoes. But what's happened is not a prioritisation (we see a new chimerical long war in the Americas), it's a chaotic & short-termist approach to Ukraine, and a needles diplomatic war on Euro allies.
Yet more evidence in the NYT long read on Ukraine that JD Vance, a heartbeat away from the US presidency and probable 2028 Republican presidential nominee, would be a disaster for European security. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
December 31, 2025 at 11:57 AM
I don't begrudge Vance et al seeking to prioritise Asia over Europe. I'd make same choice in their shoes. But what's happened is not a prioritisation (we see a new chimerical long war in the Americas), it's a chaotic & short-termist approach to Ukraine, and a needles diplomatic war on Euro allies.
This is awesome. What amazing support from Salisbury FC www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Salisbury FC bar sales raise £10k for Wiltshire homeless charity
Alabaré says the money is going towards supporting people battling drug and alcohol misuse.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 28, 2025 at 8:31 PM
This is awesome. What amazing support from Salisbury FC www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
It’s weird that news organizations like the BBC are covering this as if it’s a real thing with a real process behind it—and not clearly some nakedly invented “participation trophy” by a corrupt organization to curry favor with a corrupt and easily manipulated man-child. www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
Donald Trump: US president named inaugural Fifa Peace Prize winner
US President Donald Trump receives the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize before the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
www.bbc.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:23 AM
It’s weird that news organizations like the BBC are covering this as if it’s a real thing with a real process behind it—and not clearly some nakedly invented “participation trophy” by a corrupt organization to curry favor with a corrupt and easily manipulated man-child. www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
It sure looks like Russian intelligence attempted to use military drones to assassinate the President of Ukraine inside an EU country.
Looking forward to more thoughts from Belgium on why freezing Russian assets is an escalatory move that might compromise the peace process.
Looking forward to more thoughts from Belgium on why freezing Russian assets is an escalatory move that might compromise the peace process.
Christ on a cracker — these seemingly hostile drones only missed Zelensky’s plane because he was unexpectedly early www.thejournal.ie/drones-dubli...
Four unidentified military-style drones breached no-fly zone to target Zelenskyy's arrival in Dublin
Gardaí are investigating whether the drones took off from land in Dublin or from an undetected ship.
www.thejournal.ie
December 5, 2025 at 9:22 AM
It sure looks like Russian intelligence attempted to use military drones to assassinate the President of Ukraine inside an EU country.
Looking forward to more thoughts from Belgium on why freezing Russian assets is an escalatory move that might compromise the peace process.
Looking forward to more thoughts from Belgium on why freezing Russian assets is an escalatory move that might compromise the peace process.
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
Chris Mason presuming to make a call on my behalf. I wouldn't have him queue for a shared lavatory on my behalf.
No that's not *your* on *our behalf*. Your job is to report the story, presenting all sides fairly and then *we* call it. What Mason is saying here is fundamentally not what the bbc is for!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
December 1, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Chris Mason presuming to make a call on my behalf. I wouldn't have him queue for a shared lavatory on my behalf.
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
#BookReview – Flight Culture and the Human Experience balloonstodrones.com/2025/12/01/b...
#BookReview – Flight Culture and the Human Experience
Reviewed by Dr Brian Laslie Scott W. Palmer (ed.), Flight Culture and the Human Experience. College Station, TX: Texas A&M Press, 2025. Hbk Photos. Bibliography. Index. 248 pp. Scott W. Palmer’…
balloonstodrones.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:08 PM
#BookReview – Flight Culture and the Human Experience balloonstodrones.com/2025/12/01/b...
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
Now that Roisin Agnew's doc "The Ban" is up on The New Yorker's website, here's a piece I wrote about it, and the broadcasting ban itself, on the 30th anniversary of its lifting last year, and which involved me quizzing Chris Morris about *that* sketch.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...
November 3, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Now that Roisin Agnew's doc "The Ban" is up on The New Yorker's website, here's a piece I wrote about it, and the broadcasting ban itself, on the 30th anniversary of its lifting last year, and which involved me quizzing Chris Morris about *that* sketch.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
✈️ ‘Gowns Flying’: The first one hundred years of University Air Squadrons
FASI's @sophyantrobus.bsky.social examines the development of the University Air Squadrons over the past century & explores how they remain a vital link between universities & the armed forces.
👇
ow.ly/OKeQ50XgYQx
FASI's @sophyantrobus.bsky.social examines the development of the University Air Squadrons over the past century & explores how they remain a vital link between universities & the armed forces.
👇
ow.ly/OKeQ50XgYQx
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
✈️ ‘Gowns Flying’: The first one hundred years of University Air Squadrons
FASI's @sophyantrobus.bsky.social examines the development of the University Air Squadrons over the past century & explores how they remain a vital link between universities & the armed forces.
👇
ow.ly/OKeQ50XgYQx
FASI's @sophyantrobus.bsky.social examines the development of the University Air Squadrons over the past century & explores how they remain a vital link between universities & the armed forces.
👇
ow.ly/OKeQ50XgYQx
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
My third and final edition of the Journal of the @rafhistorical.bsky.social as editor is in print. It's the proceedings of the RAF culture seminar at @rafmuseum.bsky.social , organised by @sophyantrobus.bsky.social , @rafhistory.bsky.social, wonderfully guest edited by @sophyhiggins.bsky.social.
August 13, 2025 at 6:41 PM
My third and final edition of the Journal of the @rafhistorical.bsky.social as editor is in print. It's the proceedings of the RAF culture seminar at @rafmuseum.bsky.social , organised by @sophyantrobus.bsky.social , @rafhistory.bsky.social, wonderfully guest edited by @sophyhiggins.bsky.social.
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
So assuming this story is correct -- and the WSJ reporter is excellent -- Trump's chief negotiator on Ukraine is meeting with Putin about how to end the war while also scouting sites for a possible Trump hotel in Moscow.
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
August 12, 2025 at 7:02 PM
So assuming this story is correct -- and the WSJ reporter is excellent -- Trump's chief negotiator on Ukraine is meeting with Putin about how to end the war while also scouting sites for a possible Trump hotel in Moscow.
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Excellent analysis
August 9, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Excellent analysis
Reposted by Sophy Antrobus
Dr Julia Balm, of the Freeman Air & Space Institute, shares insights into the increasing strategic relevance of space war
How should the UK respond to the growing threat of space conflict?
FASI's @nuclearbalm.bsky.social explains "The use of dual-use civilian space systems further complicates escalation, as interference may unintentionally draw private actors into conflict."
Read 👇
inews.co.uk/news/world/r...
FASI's @nuclearbalm.bsky.social explains "The use of dual-use civilian space systems further complicates escalation, as interference may unintentionally draw private actors into conflict."
Read 👇
inews.co.uk/news/world/r...
Russia and China could kick off war in space - here's how Britain can fight back
Maj-Gen Paul Tedman, the head of UK Space Command, says the threat of war in space is 'here, now' - and growing
inews.co.uk
July 30, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Dr Julia Balm, of the Freeman Air & Space Institute, shares insights into the increasing strategic relevance of space war