Tom Griffin
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tcgriffin.bsky.social
Tom Griffin
@tcgriffin.bsky.social
870 followers 3.1K following 190 posts

Author of State-Private Networks and Intelligence Theory (Routledge 2022). Writing on intelligence history on substack. https://intelligencehistory.substack.com

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Political science 30%
Sociology 27%
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Reposted by Tom Griffin

drjennings.bsky.social
Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 20h
I'm not sure what Finkelstein thinks Labour had a mandate for... are any of these really at odds with the 2024 election victory?
rentouljohn.bsky.social John Rentoul @rentouljohn.bsky.social · 21h
The party will be authentic but wrong

Reposted by Will Jennings, Tom Griffin, Gerry Hassan

rentouljohn.bsky.social
John Rentoul @rentouljohn.bsky.social · 20h
The party will be authentic but wrong

Reposted by Kori Schake, Tom Griffin

seva.bsky.social
Seva @seva.bsky.social · 1d
people born in america probably don’t realize how cool america used to be. the death of US soft power is going to have long term consequences we are only beginning to see

Reposted by Tom Griffin

politicshome.bsky.social
PoliticsHome @politicshome.bsky.social · 1d
Britain’s lobbying rules are so narrow they verge on parody, while it is far too hard to remove a disgraced peer

Ethics reform can't be seen as a secondary concern or a nice-to-have. For my party, it is existential – and the government must embrace it

writes Labour MP @philbrickellmp.bsky.social
The government must now make ethics reform a top priority
Ethics reform can't be seen as a secondary concern or a nice-to-have. For my party, it is existential – and the government must embrace it.
www.politicshome.com

Reposted by Tom Griffin, Ben Crum

nvondarza.bsky.social
Nicolai von Ondarza @nvondarza.bsky.social · 1d
As expected, all three votes today on the aspects of the 'safe third countries' list at EU level were carried by the EPP with the three far-right parties.

Each of the votes looked like a variation of this (data via @howtheyvote.eu):

Reposted by Tom Griffin

edwardluce.bsky.social
Edward Luce @edwardluce.bsky.social · 1d
“The myth of London as a third-world sinkhole is now central to Maga politics. Restoring Britain’s allegedly vanishing character is also an official goal of Donald Trump’s foreign policy.” My column. as.ft.com/r/5d92d208-8...
Why Maga loathes London
[FREE TO READ] Trump and his supporters see the UK capital as the symbol of a Europe facing ‘civilisational erasure’
as.ft.com

Reposted by Tom Griffin

georgeeaton.bsky.social
George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 1d
Keir Starmer's best hope of survival is a reshuffle that elevates the soft left. www.newstatesman.com/politics/lab...
How Keir Starmer survives
The Prime Minister’s best hope is to cut a deal with the soft left
www.newstatesman.com

Reposted by Steve Peers, Tim Bale, Ben Worthy , and 3 more

davidallengreen.bsky.social
dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 1d
NEW

Three reasons why the Mandelson disclosure exercise will be a shock for the government

Ministers and officials usually are in control of disclosure exercises - but here they will not be - and why that matters

A detailed post by me:
emptycity.substack.com/p/three-reas...

Reposted by Tom Griffin

janrosenow.bsky.social
Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 1d
Using hydrogen as a fuel to replace natural gas has been strongly promoted by vested interest groups.

Many including myself raised serious concerns about scalability, cost and efficiency.

The more time passes, the more it looks like those concerns were well-founded.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Steve Peers, Alison Phipps , and 1 more

alfdubs.bsky.social
Alf Dubs @alfdubs.bsky.social · 1d
Children need their families. Refugee children are no different.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
‘Pulling up the drawbridge’: Alf Dubs criticises Shabana Mahmood’s plans for child refugees
Exclusive: Labour peer, who came to UK as a refugee, says some ministers try to show they won’t ‘just do things because of their background’
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Steve Peers, Tom Griffin , and 1 more

james-bg.bsky.social
James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 2d
This is the key point that is lost in so much Westminster bubble talk on net zero. It is popular. It’s hugely popular with Labour’s base and with the progressive voters it needs to vote tactically to defeat Reform. And it’s even popular with Tories who Labour needs not to switch to Reform.
drsimevans.carbonbrief.org Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 2d
…as well as being supported by the vast majority of Lab/Lib/Gn voters, almost all Labour MPs, a 2-1 majority of voters overall and – even now – a healthy majority of Con voters

Reposted by Tom Griffin

petermiles.bsky.social
Pete Miles @petermiles.bsky.social · 3d
A timely warning here...
Today, the Big Tech bros have supplanted bankers as masters of the universe. Politicians are drawn to their power and hope some of the gold dust will rub off: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak interviewing Elon Musk comes to mind. Our constitution, as the historian Peter Hennessy has observed, relies on the "good chaps" theory of government. This week is a reminder that good chaps can turn bad. And, however well intentioned a government, it is always at risk of undue influence. The next time Big Tech persuades the government to water down a digital regulation or wins an NHS contract, the ordinary citizen can be forgiven for being just a little suspicious.

Reposted by Tom Griffin

markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social
Mark McGeoghegan @markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social · 3d
"uber-woke, net-zeroist, rejoinerism"

You mean being a fucking vaguely centre-left socdem?

Fucking inject it into my veins!
tpgroberts.bsky.social Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3d
Yes, god help we risk a floundering government that feels like no one is in charge.
Morgan McSweeney does have some fans in the Parliamentary Labour Party, of course. One MP says they are "devastated" he has left. Another warns it represents "full speed ahead to uber-woke, net-zeroist, rejoinerism". An MP who has been through several general elections when the tide was against Labour says of colleagues: "Good luck to all these careerists when they face an election without someone like Morgan at the helm. "Some of us are old enough to remember the Corbyn era with no one in charge and the party floundering."

Reposted by Tom Griffin

duncanweldon.bsky.social
Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 3d
Boring opinion: if people know the name of the Downing Street Chief of Staff, the CoS is not doing a good job.

Reposted by Tom Griffin

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 3d
Dumb question: This scandal, considered seismic in Britain, is really about Mandelson leaking confidential, market-moving govt information to Epstein amid the 2008 financial crisis, which Epstein in turn passed to JP Morgan, including advice to Jamie Dimon.

Why is this not hitting Jamie Dimon?
pippacrerar.bsky.social Pippa Crerar @pippacrerar.bsky.social · 3d
BREAKING: Morgan McSweeney quits as Keir Starmer's chief of staff amid fall-out from the Mandelson scandal

Reposted by Richard H. King, Tom Griffin, Federica Genovese , and 2 more

pippacrerar.bsky.social
Pippa Crerar @pippacrerar.bsky.social · 3d
BREAKING: Morgan McSweeney quits as Keir Starmer's chief of staff amid fall-out from the Mandelson scandal

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Tom Griffin

sundersays.bsky.social
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 4d
The government’s consultation on its proposed settlement proposals closes on Thursday. Over 130,000 responses had been received with a week to go & 232,000 people and 107,000 people signed two petitions about this debated in Westminster Hall on Mondsy
www.gov.uk/government/c...
A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: statement and accompanying consultation on earned settlement (accessible)
www.gov.uk

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Tom Griffin

peterwalker99.bsky.social
Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 4d
NEW: Gordon Brown has said he deeply regrets bringing Peter Mandelson into his government, saying Mandelson alleged actions as business secretary were “a betrayal of everything we stand for as a country”.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Gordon Brown ‘deeply regrets’ bringing Peter Mandelson into his government
Former prime minister says revelations about Epstein’s influence on UK politics caused him revulsion
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Tom Griffin

transparencyuk.bsky.social
Transparency International UK @transparencyuk.bsky.social · 4d
🆕"Mr Mandelson is a symptom and not the cause of the current rot and reform must go beyond just removing titles."

Head of Research & Investigations, @stevejgoodrich.bsky.social, on what needs to be done to save the UK’s battered reputation for good governance.
To save the UK’s battered reputation for good governance, the government needs to go big on political reform
The latest scandal to engulf Peter Mandelson shows how the UK Government needs to go harder and faster to stop the rot in politics.
www.transparency.org.uk

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Tom Griffin

robfordmancs.bsky.social
Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 5d
Leaflet wars just stepped up a gear: Mill reveal Reform UK have broken electoral law manchestermill.co.uk/exclusive-re...
Exclusive: Reform UK just broke electoral law in Gorton and Denton
People across the constituency thought they were getting a letter from a concerned pensioner, they didn’t know she was working for Reform
manchestermill.co.uk

Reposted by Tom Griffin

aphclarkson.bsky.social
Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 5d
Another datapoint that indicates how a Downing Street operation overseen by Sue Gray might have avoided some of the blunders that Morgan McSweeney has charged straight into
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Reposted by Daniel W. Drezner, Tom Griffin

judah-grunstein.bsky.social
Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 5d
The major flaw with the claim that Trump's foreign policy is "realist" is the fact that it is so deeply ideological. There is no "realist" case for driving South Africa into China's embrace, rather than competing for its partnership. The only reason Trump is doing so is based on racist memes.
Facing high Trump tariffs, Africa's leading economy says it's close to a new trade deal with China
China and South Africa have signed a framework agreement for a new trade deal. It shows how Africa’s leading economy is looking for other options following the high U.S. import tariffs imposed on it b...
apnews.com

tcgriffin.bsky.social
Tom Griffin @tcgriffin.bsky.social · 5d
New post - Mandelson case tests Westminster intelligence oversight
intelligencehistory.substack.com/p/mandelson-...
Mandelson case tests Westminster intelligence oversight
MPs give new mandate to Intelligence and Security Committee
intelligencehistory.substack.com

Reposted by Tom Griffin

transparencyuk.bsky.social
Transparency International UK @transparencyuk.bsky.social · 5d
🆕"Buried within the Mandelson case are uncomfortable but unavoidable questions about the proximity of wealth and power."

Duncan Hames in PoliticsHome on why we owe it to the victims of this story to challenge the power structuresthat meant their abusers thought they could carry on with impunity.
We must deal a corrupt system, not just a person who abused it
MPs must match their justified outrage over Peter Mandelson with meaningful action to break the link between wealth, power, and access.
www.politicshome.com

Reposted by Tom Griffin

robertscotthorton.bsky.social
Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 5d
Recognizing the centrality of Peter Thiel and Palantir to the Epstein files, Britons protest against Palantir and demand revocation of government contracts with the company. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Calls to halt UK Palantir contracts grow amid ‘lack of transparency’ over deals
Opposition MPs urge Labour to pause public contracts with the US tech firm after attempts to examine deals blocked
www.theguardian.com

tcgriffin.bsky.social
Tom Griffin @tcgriffin.bsky.social · 5d
One of the most striking facts of this Parliament is how independent-minded the PLP have been, more or less from the off.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Michelle Everson, Tom Griffin , and 1 more

philipjcowley.bsky.social
Philip Cowley @philipjcowley.bsky.social · 5d
Yet this is a government with three years left to run and an enormous Commons majority. For all the problems, there is an enormous opportunity there for someone with the political nous to take it and use it.
matthewholehouse.bsky.social Matthew Holehouse @matthewholehouse.bsky.social · 5d
Starmer's reported condition - incredibly unpopular, shorn of authority, probably un-reelectable and yet will stagger on for want of an alternative - is just the new normal of how Britain is governed. It was also true for two-thirds of May's premiership, half of Johnson's and all of Sunak's.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Hugh Pemberton, Anand Menon , and 4 more

matthewholehouse.bsky.social
Matthew Holehouse @matthewholehouse.bsky.social · 5d
Starmer's reported condition - incredibly unpopular, shorn of authority, probably un-reelectable and yet will stagger on for want of an alternative - is just the new normal of how Britain is governed. It was also true for two-thirds of May's premiership, half of Johnson's and all of Sunak's.

Reposted by Christian Odendahl, Colin Murray, Tom Griffin

tbenner.bsky.social
Thorsten Benner @tbenner.bsky.social · 5d
No reason to get too worked up about this.
Ultranationalist transnationalism is not an easy thing to pull off — and the trademark „MAGA-funded“ might hurt European forces more than help on balance.

Reposted by Tom Griffin

pickardje.bsky.social
Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 5d
great thread from him here:

🔴 BREAKING: Labour Together paid controversial PR firm £30k to investigate journalists digging into its undeclared funding

Reporters from Sunday Times, Guardian etc targetted

*And* Morgan McSweeney knew about it

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/exclusive-...
BREAKING: McSweeney’s think tank paid PR firm to investigate journalists
Labour Together put private investigators onto journalists writing about its funding. Starmer's right-hand man knew.
democracyforsale.substack.com