Jonathan McHugh
@beepencil.bsky.social
Editorial illustrator, mostly. Financial Times. New Statesman...
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
A lovely essay. Saw Paul in Paris about a year ago and all of this rings true. Also highly recommend @ianleslie.bsky.social’s John & Paul, which he’ll be discussing at the bookshop this week…
November 23, 2025 at 1:31 PM
A lovely essay. Saw Paul in Paris about a year ago and all of this rings true. Also highly recommend @ianleslie.bsky.social’s John & Paul, which he’ll be discussing at the bookshop this week…
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
Net migration IS coming down quite fast, and we will soon know who was right about whether it was a good or a bad idea economically and politically.
November 13, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Net migration IS coming down quite fast, and we will soon know who was right about whether it was a good or a bad idea economically and politically.
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
The more you look into the Prescott memo, the worse it gets
The remarkable story we discussed this morning. (No paywall but do consider subscribing.) www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...
EXCLUSIVE: Michael Prescott himself doctored Trump quote in his anti-BBC report
A report alleging Panorama broadcast misleading Trump quotes contains misleading quotes itself
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 12:54 PM
The more you look into the Prescott memo, the worse it gets
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
It’s time to stop passing the parcel on welfare on.ft.com/47JqttD | opinion
It’s time to stop passing the parcel on welfare
A lack of political will has turned the problem of too many out of work into a system that fails everyone
on.ft.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:20 PM
It’s time to stop passing the parcel on welfare on.ft.com/47JqttD | opinion
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
My column in the @ftweekend.com: Keir Starmer is in trouble because he has not been serious about governing, and the best way for him to turn things around is for him to become serious:
Starmer needs to get serious about governing — and quick
The prime minister has to change or his party will seek a change of its own
www.ft.com
October 25, 2025 at 11:28 AM
My column in the @ftweekend.com: Keir Starmer is in trouble because he has not been serious about governing, and the best way for him to turn things around is for him to become serious:
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time as climate crisis warms country
Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time as climate crisis warms country
Three specimens discovered in what was previously one of the only places in the world without the insects
Mosquitoes have been found in Iceland for the first time as global heating makes the country more hospitable for insects.
The country was until this month one of the only places in the world that did not have a mosquito population. The other is Antarctica. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
October 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time as climate crisis warms country
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
It is interesting that Jeremy Corbyn has been an MP for 42 years and led the opposition for 5 years.
He's been on Question Time once.
Nigel Farage, 44 times.
Our Media is corrupt, corrupt to the core.
He's been on Question Time once.
Nigel Farage, 44 times.
Our Media is corrupt, corrupt to the core.
October 12, 2025 at 8:21 PM
It is interesting that Jeremy Corbyn has been an MP for 42 years and led the opposition for 5 years.
He's been on Question Time once.
Nigel Farage, 44 times.
Our Media is corrupt, corrupt to the core.
He's been on Question Time once.
Nigel Farage, 44 times.
Our Media is corrupt, corrupt to the core.
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
Brilliant, clear eyed view of far right thinking seeping into all manner of life now. It's too late to stop this tide. Progressives continue to fight amongst themselves as money + extremism takes over.
Lord Glasman "sought out, and was sought after, by some of the most important Trumpworld movers and shakers" JD Vance, Steve Bannon... Curtis Yarvin and "as @bylinetimes.bsky.social can reveal – the tech baron and Palantir data firm founder, Peter Thiel"
bylinetimes.com/2025/09/25/b...
bylinetimes.com/2025/09/25/b...
'Blue Labour' and the Thiel Effect: How MAGA Is Making In-Roads Into British Politics
The ideology of the ‘Make America Great Again’ movement, which has transformed politics in the United States, is having an impact in the UK. But how is this influence being transmitted?
bylinetimes.com
September 25, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Brilliant, clear eyed view of far right thinking seeping into all manner of life now. It's too late to stop this tide. Progressives continue to fight amongst themselves as money + extremism takes over.
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
Watch | A man was arrested in London for holding up The New World magazine, featuring the "sign of the times" with the words:
"I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action"
"I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action"
October 8, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Watch | A man was arrested in London for holding up The New World magazine, featuring the "sign of the times" with the words:
"I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action"
"I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action"
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
Lords Heseltine & Kinnock seem more alive to these self-evident truths than most members of the Commons. Similarly, I find thinkers with direct lived experience of far right dictatorship, Greeks of a certain age for example, crystal clear about what’s happening now.
“You described Reform and other parties across Europe today as among the 'right wing equivalents of the fascists in the 1930s'. Why?”
“Because that’s what they are”
@vicderbyshire.bsky.social asks Lord Heseltine about remarks he made at Conservative Party Conference.
#Newsnight
“Because that’s what they are”
@vicderbyshire.bsky.social asks Lord Heseltine about remarks he made at Conservative Party Conference.
#Newsnight
October 8, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Lords Heseltine & Kinnock seem more alive to these self-evident truths than most members of the Commons. Similarly, I find thinkers with direct lived experience of far right dictatorship, Greeks of a certain age for example, crystal clear about what’s happening now.
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
There's only one reason you can't have nice things, and that is so billionaires can have infinite wealth they have no intention of ever spending
October 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
There's only one reason you can't have nice things, and that is so billionaires can have infinite wealth they have no intention of ever spending
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
Reform conference was the same
Feels under reported on but a sizeable amount of politicos (and I think voters) think IMF-style crisis is coming fast. Assume it’s a meme somewhere?
Feels under reported on but a sizeable amount of politicos (and I think voters) think IMF-style crisis is coming fast. Assume it’s a meme somewhere?
It’s striking how many Tory fringe events I’ve been at where people have confidently predicted a major fiscal or markets crisis for the government in the next 12ish months. I have no idea if that has any credibility, but it’s notable how much perhaps misplaced confidence it gives some Conservatives.
October 6, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reform conference was the same
Feels under reported on but a sizeable amount of politicos (and I think voters) think IMF-style crisis is coming fast. Assume it’s a meme somewhere?
Feels under reported on but a sizeable amount of politicos (and I think voters) think IMF-style crisis is coming fast. Assume it’s a meme somewhere?
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
Three cheers for Helen Miller, the new head of the Institute of Fiscal Studies who offers sound advice and a wise tone in this piece, strikingly different from the usual IFS output.. @theIfs.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/d425...
www.ft.com/content/d425...
Clear visions for tax reform exist — Reeves just needs to back one
Our system is a mess but experts have already set out what would make it coherent, efficient and equitable
www.ft.com
October 5, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Three cheers for Helen Miller, the new head of the Institute of Fiscal Studies who offers sound advice and a wise tone in this piece, strikingly different from the usual IFS output.. @theIfs.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/d425...
www.ft.com/content/d425...
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
Every single one of the former Soviet republics would rather sink into the Earth's core than be annexed by the Russian Federation.
Yet here we are, on the brink of electing Nigel Farage, Putin's towel boy.
Yet here we are, on the brink of electing Nigel Farage, Putin's towel boy.
Looks like Putin's attempt to bully Moldova has failed. With 90% of votes counted, the pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) has a 20 point lead over the Russian-funded Patriotic Bloc open.substack.com/pub/arthursn...
Has Russia lost Moldova?
Why the bitterly contested election in a "faraway country, between people of whom we know nothing", matters a lot
open.substack.com
September 29, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Every single one of the former Soviet republics would rather sink into the Earth's core than be annexed by the Russian Federation.
Yet here we are, on the brink of electing Nigel Farage, Putin's towel boy.
Yet here we are, on the brink of electing Nigel Farage, Putin's towel boy.
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
And there you have it.
Netanyahu’s “battlefield” is not just with Palestinians, Lebanese, Houthis and the rest of the Middle East.
It’s with us - Western democratic nations and our free speech. That’s what he wants to colonise and dominate.
Netanyahu’s “battlefield” is not just with Palestinians, Lebanese, Houthis and the rest of the Middle East.
It’s with us - Western democratic nations and our free speech. That’s what he wants to colonise and dominate.
September 27, 2025 at 4:17 PM
And there you have it.
Netanyahu’s “battlefield” is not just with Palestinians, Lebanese, Houthis and the rest of the Middle East.
It’s with us - Western democratic nations and our free speech. That’s what he wants to colonise and dominate.
Netanyahu’s “battlefield” is not just with Palestinians, Lebanese, Houthis and the rest of the Middle East.
It’s with us - Western democratic nations and our free speech. That’s what he wants to colonise and dominate.
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
Presumably Palantir got exactly what Thiel wanted from that state visit...identity cards.
September 25, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Presumably Palantir got exactly what Thiel wanted from that state visit...identity cards.
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
I have just submitted an FOI to the Home Office demanding FULL TRANSPARENCY on Palantir’s role in tomorrow’s “Brit Card” mandatory digital ID scheme 🚨
WHY THIS MATTERS: Palantir already has its surveillance tentacles deep in UK infrastructure with 24+ government contracts including:
Thread
WHY THIS MATTERS: Palantir already has its surveillance tentacles deep in UK infrastructure with 24+ government contracts including:
Thread
September 25, 2025 at 9:08 PM
I have just submitted an FOI to the Home Office demanding FULL TRANSPARENCY on Palantir’s role in tomorrow’s “Brit Card” mandatory digital ID scheme 🚨
WHY THIS MATTERS: Palantir already has its surveillance tentacles deep in UK infrastructure with 24+ government contracts including:
Thread
WHY THIS MATTERS: Palantir already has its surveillance tentacles deep in UK infrastructure with 24+ government contracts including:
Thread
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
Ian McEwan and fiction’s problem with climate change
In the acclaimed author’s new novel, What We Can Know, Britain has sunk beneath the waves – but literature remains buoyant
📕 Christopher Tayler
In the acclaimed author’s new novel, What We Can Know, Britain has sunk beneath the waves – but literature remains buoyant
📕 Christopher Tayler
Ian McEwan and fiction’s problem with climate change
In the acclaimed author’s new novel, What We Can Know, Britain has sunk beneath the waves – but literature remains buoyant
www.newstatesman.com
September 25, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Ian McEwan and fiction’s problem with climate change
In the acclaimed author’s new novel, What We Can Know, Britain has sunk beneath the waves – but literature remains buoyant
📕 Christopher Tayler
In the acclaimed author’s new novel, What We Can Know, Britain has sunk beneath the waves – but literature remains buoyant
📕 Christopher Tayler
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
From Kate Bush to Pentangle to T-Rex, the late Danny Thompson’s musical brilliance knew no bounds
From Kate Bush to Pentangle to T-Rex, the late Danny Thompson’s musical brilliance knew no bounds
The bassist, who has died aged 86, was an extraordinary and wildly versatile presence in British music, bringing his personality into everything he played
www.theguardian.com
September 25, 2025 at 5:48 AM
From Kate Bush to Pentangle to T-Rex, the late Danny Thompson’s musical brilliance knew no bounds
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
For 56 minutes Sky News and BBC News interrupted everything else and carried a Reform UK feed live, uninterrupted, unchallenged. The stream spluttered, froze, pixelated - dozens of times - still they stuck with it. FOR ONE HOUR.
This is an editorial choice. No other party gets this coverage. ~AA
This is an editorial choice. No other party gets this coverage. ~AA
September 22, 2025 at 11:01 AM
For 56 minutes Sky News and BBC News interrupted everything else and carried a Reform UK feed live, uninterrupted, unchallenged. The stream spluttered, froze, pixelated - dozens of times - still they stuck with it. FOR ONE HOUR.
This is an editorial choice. No other party gets this coverage. ~AA
This is an editorial choice. No other party gets this coverage. ~AA
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
That time Michael Crick shredded Theresa May for celebrating Nelson Mandela now, but not supporting him back then
September 22, 2025 at 7:59 AM
That time Michael Crick shredded Theresa May for celebrating Nelson Mandela now, but not supporting him back then
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
Everyone should cancel Disney plus and Hulu streaming right now, right after reading this. I also would boycott the movies and product and Disney visits until they turn this around. They can cave to fascism, we don’t have to.
September 18, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Everyone should cancel Disney plus and Hulu streaming right now, right after reading this. I also would boycott the movies and product and Disney visits until they turn this around. They can cave to fascism, we don’t have to.
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
You mean Disney. Everything Disney. Your kids will survive w/o it, but not without freedom of speech
September 18, 2025 at 5:57 AM
You mean Disney. Everything Disney. Your kids will survive w/o it, but not without freedom of speech
Reposted by Jonathan McHugh
WGA Statement on ABC’s Decision to Pull Jimmy Kimmel Live!
September 18, 2025 at 2:41 AM
WGA Statement on ABC’s Decision to Pull Jimmy Kimmel Live!