Jonathan Potts
@uccellolirico.bsky.social
I post mainly about politics, especially immigration and asylum, and the arts, especially music and sometimes poetry. Ex-civil service and volsec. HO Asylum Director 1996-2000, plus ça change.
Pinned
Jonathan Potts
@uccellolirico.bsky.social
· Jul 15
This may seem strange, but working on policy in the UK Home Office in my twenties and thirties taught me that everyone should have rights under the law no matter how society views them, and that many who society despises are themselves survivors of trauma and deprivation in one way or another.
Four Illustrations for the Legend of Rhiannon: II. The Nuptial Feast
open.spotify.com
January 31, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
Hoping Matt Goodwin loses Gorton and Denton for many reasons, not least because we can deploy the headline, and resulting nickname, Matt Badloss
January 31, 2026 at 10:10 AM
Hoping Matt Goodwin loses Gorton and Denton for many reasons, not least because we can deploy the headline, and resulting nickname, Matt Badloss
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
Settlement is a right that should not take decades.
Please read our full statement and sign on in solidarity to raise your voice against these racist and classist "proposals".
jcwi.org.uk/updates/stat...
Please read our full statement and sign on in solidarity to raise your voice against these racist and classist "proposals".
jcwi.org.uk/updates/stat...
January 30, 2026 at 12:53 PM
Settlement is a right that should not take decades.
Please read our full statement and sign on in solidarity to raise your voice against these racist and classist "proposals".
jcwi.org.uk/updates/stat...
Please read our full statement and sign on in solidarity to raise your voice against these racist and classist "proposals".
jcwi.org.uk/updates/stat...
Interesting deep dive here
New Swingometer post now out - my look at the Gorton and Denton by-election, taking place down the road from me swingometer.substack.com/p/the-gorton...
The Gorton and Denton by-election: a tale of two Manchesters?
Unpopular incumbent + fragmented opposition + unusual seat = unpredictable contest
swingometer.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 11:54 AM
Interesting deep dive here
Lol
It is all a bit confusing for the AI which concludes he must be two different people!
January 27, 2026 at 11:07 PM
Lol
Wait, Philip Glass is on his *fifteenth* symphony? I don't know about highly anticipated - I can't help thinking it might be possible to imagine it without hearing it, if you know what I mean ...
... but hey look, respect to him for (not) doing this
... but hey look, respect to him for (not) doing this
Breaking news: Composer Philip Glass withdrew his highly anticipated Symphony No. 15 from its scheduled Kennedy Center performance, saying “the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony.”
Philip Glass pulls world premiere from Kennedy Center
The pioneering composer announced that “the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message” of his Symphony No. 15: “Lincoln.”
wapo.st
January 27, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Wait, Philip Glass is on his *fifteenth* symphony? I don't know about highly anticipated - I can't help thinking it might be possible to imagine it without hearing it, if you know what I mean ...
... but hey look, respect to him for (not) doing this
... but hey look, respect to him for (not) doing this
How long before people learn that "private messaging" and "platform" don't go together if you are a holder of public office?
January 27, 2026 at 2:55 PM
How long before people learn that "private messaging" and "platform" don't go together if you are a holder of public office?
A bit surprised tbh that Reform are right wing enough for Goodwin
January 27, 2026 at 2:50 PM
A bit surprised tbh that Reform are right wing enough for Goodwin
The combined Green, LD and Workers Party vote in Gorton and Denton at GE2024 was 27.3%. Reform had 14.1% and Labour 50.8.
January 27, 2026 at 2:39 PM
The combined Green, LD and Workers Party vote in Gorton and Denton at GE2024 was 27.3%. Reform had 14.1% and Labour 50.8.
Strange, I can only see 30% progressive in this poll result
January 27, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Strange, I can only see 30% progressive in this poll result
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
Help us make hope normal again.
Join the Green Party now.
Join the Green Party now.
January 22, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Help us make hope normal again.
Join the Green Party now.
Join the Green Party now.
A United States of Europe doesn't sound so alarming now, does it? (Won't happen but it's a tempting fantasy.)
January 22, 2026 at 5:48 PM
A United States of Europe doesn't sound so alarming now, does it? (Won't happen but it's a tempting fantasy.)
Why is PM interviewing Lord Glasman of all people on current world events??
January 22, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Why is PM interviewing Lord Glasman of all people on current world events??
Not sure this Lord with the social media amendment quite realises what he's getting into ("if new companies spring up ... just ban them too) #Today
January 21, 2026 at 7:44 AM
Not sure this Lord with the social media amendment quite realises what he's getting into ("if new companies spring up ... just ban them too) #Today
It's a popular view, I know, and I understand the argument. But I'm not sure people do vote for party over person, especially in this age of tactical voting. And what of the MP who has the whip withdrawn, or who leaves their party to sit independently? Or whose party effectively leaves them?
PETITION: By-elections to be called automatically when MPs defect to another party
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...
Petition: By-elections to be called automatically when MPs defect to another party
When an MP decides they want to defect to another party a by-election should be automatically triggered to allow the constituents the opportunity have their democratic right to agree or not with their...
petition.parliament.uk
January 18, 2026 at 10:04 AM
It's a popular view, I know, and I understand the argument. But I'm not sure people do vote for party over person, especially in this age of tactical voting. And what of the MP who has the whip withdrawn, or who leaves their party to sit independently? Or whose party effectively leaves them?
A song that is very special to me has the line "and the world's alright with me" and this is also how I feel about this genius creation of the wonderful Manuel de Falla
open.spotify.com/track/3mG7Ux...
open.spotify.com/track/3mG7Ux...
Fantasia baetica
open.spotify.com
January 17, 2026 at 7:38 PM
A song that is very special to me has the line "and the world's alright with me" and this is also how I feel about this genius creation of the wonderful Manuel de Falla
open.spotify.com/track/3mG7Ux...
open.spotify.com/track/3mG7Ux...
I don't read threads, or articles, that begin "Here's why". My immediate reaction is "here probably isn't why" and "if you deign to lecture me like this, I'm out".
January 17, 2026 at 7:30 PM
I don't read threads, or articles, that begin "Here's why". My immediate reaction is "here probably isn't why" and "if you deign to lecture me like this, I'm out".
Done 👍
January 17, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Done 👍
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
A useful take, from a Dutch perspective, on the Maccabi gospel.
whispering.media/the-maccabi-...
whispering.media/the-maccabi-...
The Maccabi Gospel - Whispering Media
West Midlands Police chastised for acting on information that challenged orthodoxy Yesterday, the UK’s Home Secretary declared the findings were “damning”. But […]
whispering.media
January 16, 2026 at 4:28 PM
A useful take, from a Dutch perspective, on the Maccabi gospel.
whispering.media/the-maccabi-...
whispering.media/the-maccabi-...
The 2024 election was generally a rather downbeat experience for me, but perhaps the greatest disappointment was Nick Timothy managing to get elected amid the general laying waste of his awful party. He has a comfortable but far from unassailable majority of 3247 in West Suffolk; Labour came second.
January 16, 2026 at 3:56 PM
The 2024 election was generally a rather downbeat experience for me, but perhaps the greatest disappointment was Nick Timothy managing to get elected amid the general laying waste of his awful party. He has a comfortable but far from unassailable majority of 3247 in West Suffolk; Labour came second.
Toying with starting, for fun, a new conspiracy theory in which Greenland actually *is* the size of Africa (have *you* traversed it end to end?) and is moving south not from warming but because an uncontacted indigenous people in the Far North have magic powers and are set to conquer America ...
January 16, 2026 at 11:46 AM
Toying with starting, for fun, a new conspiracy theory in which Greenland actually *is* the size of Africa (have *you* traversed it end to end?) and is moving south not from warming but because an uncontacted indigenous people in the Far North have magic powers and are set to conquer America ...
I assume this applies equally to classical tracks on Spotify, many of which have no hope of reaching 1k views I imagine? Or maybe I'm underestimating how small 1k is in the scheme of things? I now subscribe to @prestomusic.bsky.social but still use Spotify eg to post links on here
In April 2024, Spotify implemented a new scheme: songs with less than 1k streams per year would no longer receive royalties.
The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.
Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.
Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
January 16, 2026 at 11:27 AM
I assume this applies equally to classical tracks on Spotify, many of which have no hope of reaching 1k views I imagine? Or maybe I'm underestimating how small 1k is in the scheme of things? I now subscribe to @prestomusic.bsky.social but still use Spotify eg to post links on here
Reposted by Jonathan Potts
Praise be! It is the 277th anniversary of the ‘appearance’ of the Bottle Conjuror at London’s Haymarket. He promised to insert himself into a quart (two pint) bottle, and didn’t turn up, leading to a riot in which the theatre’s fixtures and fittings were torn out and thrown on a bonfire 🧵
January 16, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Praise be! It is the 277th anniversary of the ‘appearance’ of the Bottle Conjuror at London’s Haymarket. He promised to insert himself into a quart (two pint) bottle, and didn’t turn up, leading to a riot in which the theatre’s fixtures and fittings were torn out and thrown on a bonfire 🧵
A draft speech left lying around, you say? More to this that encounters the eye, mon cher Inspector Jupp ... 👀
January 15, 2026 at 1:12 PM
A draft speech left lying around, you say? More to this that encounters the eye, mon cher Inspector Jupp ... 👀
Of course the answer constitutionally is that Ministers decide these cases. In practice they get involved where a case is politically sensitive, or has (or could have) a high profile. Where the politics meets the law head on, the only option may be delay, but that too is subject to challenge.
In the background to this decision is a revealing argument between Ministers and officials as to who decides individual asylum applications. Ministers dislike being told the law won't allow them to do what politically seems obligatory. They'd do it anyway, but for judicial oversight.
🎉Our client has won! In a landmark case, he is the first Palestinian born in Israeli-occupied Palestine to be granted asylum in Britain, despite sinister ministerial intervention. 🧵[1/5]
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
January 15, 2026 at 9:49 AM
Of course the answer constitutionally is that Ministers decide these cases. In practice they get involved where a case is politically sensitive, or has (or could have) a high profile. Where the politics meets the law head on, the only option may be delay, but that too is subject to challenge.