Reposted by Bill Poster
1/ James Meek has a brilliant long piece in the LRB about Blyth – ex-mining town in Northumberland, turned Reform stronghold. The puzzle? Blyth’s economy increasingly depends on green energy investment (offshore wind, cable factories, renewables R&D), yet it’s voting for an anti-net-zero party.
‘Reform isn’t just the anti-immigration party. It’s also the anti-net-zero party. Rather than a green industrial revolution mellowing the small boats paranoia in Blyth, the outcome now forecast by the polls is the opposite.’
@jamesmeek.bsky.social on the North-East.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@jamesmeek.bsky.social on the North-East.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
James Meek · Ten-Foot Chopsticks: The North-East Transition
The ghost of the industrial revolution haunts Britain. The language of today’s politicians, of unlocking and...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 5, 2025 at 9:22 AM
1/ James Meek has a brilliant long piece in the LRB about Blyth – ex-mining town in Northumberland, turned Reform stronghold. The puzzle? Blyth’s economy increasingly depends on green energy investment (offshore wind, cable factories, renewables R&D), yet it’s voting for an anti-net-zero party.
Reposted by Bill Poster
Big move in the budget to lower energy bills by £1bn a year - by scrapping the energy efficiency tax. It’s welcome. But it comes in the same month that a new tax was added to our energy bills - a nuclear tax to pay for Sizewell C - and it’s also £1bn. Kinda standing still aren’t we..:)
November 28, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Big move in the budget to lower energy bills by £1bn a year - by scrapping the energy efficiency tax. It’s welcome. But it comes in the same month that a new tax was added to our energy bills - a nuclear tax to pay for Sizewell C - and it’s also £1bn. Kinda standing still aren’t we..:)
I agree
“If you go back a million minutes, you reach 2023. Go back a billion minutes, you reach the Roman Empire — that’s the scale of inequality we’re living with.”
Zack Polanski on #BBCLauraK discussing inequality and why a wealth tax should be in the budget
Zack Polanski on #BBCLauraK discussing inequality and why a wealth tax should be in the budget
November 23, 2025 at 10:59 AM
I agree
Reposted by Bill Poster
The federal criminal justice system is being systematically dismantled and destroyed piece by piece and turned into a mob boss’s network of corrupt consiglieres and thugs, where good people simply doing their jobs are rooted out and eradicated.
October 29, 2025 at 3:19 PM
The federal criminal justice system is being systematically dismantled and destroyed piece by piece and turned into a mob boss’s network of corrupt consiglieres and thugs, where good people simply doing their jobs are rooted out and eradicated.
Reposted by Bill Poster
@mrjamesob.bsky.social devoted the last 10 mins of his LBC show today to examining the similarities between what Nathan Gill said & what Nigel Farage said in the EU parliament about Russia and Ukraine. James was very clear that only the former has been charged with accepting Russian bribes though.
October 29, 2025 at 1:17 PM
@mrjamesob.bsky.social devoted the last 10 mins of his LBC show today to examining the similarities between what Nathan Gill said & what Nigel Farage said in the EU parliament about Russia and Ukraine. James was very clear that only the former has been charged with accepting Russian bribes though.
Reposted by Bill Poster
🗞️ Covered by @bylinetimes.bsky.social, @nation.cymru, @scotnational.bsky.social - but ignored by most UK media.
At a moment when hostile states are shaping elections, that silence is part of the story.
bylinetimes.com/2025/10/22/u...
At a moment when hostile states are shaping elections, that silence is part of the story.
bylinetimes.com/2025/10/22/u...
UK Government's 'Failure to Investigate Foreign Interference' Challenged in Europe's Highest Court
The group of former MPs warn that UK elections are “still at risk” over the Government’s failure to investigate "credible evidence" of Russian interference
bylinetimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:53 PM
🗞️ Covered by @bylinetimes.bsky.social, @nation.cymru, @scotnational.bsky.social - but ignored by most UK media.
At a moment when hostile states are shaping elections, that silence is part of the story.
bylinetimes.com/2025/10/22/u...
At a moment when hostile states are shaping elections, that silence is part of the story.
bylinetimes.com/2025/10/22/u...
Reposted by Bill Poster
Michael Gove personally intervened to ensure that a Conservative donor's firm was awarded a multimillion pound covid contract.
Private correspondence reveals that Ciga Healthcare’s Brexit-supporting owner had pushed Gove to “take control” of the process.
The contract was awarded just days later
Private correspondence reveals that Ciga Healthcare’s Brexit-supporting owner had pushed Gove to “take control” of the process.
The contract was awarded just days later
Michael Gove Lobbied Government Officials to Hand Conservative Donor Multimillion Pound Covid Contract
Private correspondence seen by Byline Times reveals that Ciga Healthcare's Brexit-supporting owner had pushed Gove to "take control" of the process
bylinetimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Michael Gove personally intervened to ensure that a Conservative donor's firm was awarded a multimillion pound covid contract.
Private correspondence reveals that Ciga Healthcare’s Brexit-supporting owner had pushed Gove to “take control” of the process.
The contract was awarded just days later
Private correspondence reveals that Ciga Healthcare’s Brexit-supporting owner had pushed Gove to “take control” of the process.
The contract was awarded just days later
Reposted by Bill Poster
More disturbing reporting from The Nerve.
How can a scrappy startup in 3 weeks leave BBC trailing in its coverage of Russian interference in our politics?
How can a scrappy startup in 3 weeks leave BBC trailing in its coverage of Russian interference in our politics?
If you share this thread or images, please credit @thenerve_news.
We are only 3 weeks old (!!) & can only do this work with your support.
And if there was ever a story that proves why Britain needs fiercely independent news outlets, it’s this.
8/
🙏🙏🙏
www.thenerve.news/p/nathan-gil...
We are only 3 weeks old (!!) & can only do this work with your support.
And if there was ever a story that proves why Britain needs fiercely independent news outlets, it’s this.
8/
🙏🙏🙏
www.thenerve.news/p/nathan-gil...
The glamorous TV host, the web of influence and a mysterious trip to Moscow – inside the downfall of Reform’s disgraced MEP
Ahead of a critical Welsh byelection for Reform next week, part two of our investigation into Nathan Gill uncovers the web of Russian influence that encircled him – and asks why it took so long to cha...
www.thenerve.news
October 18, 2025 at 9:01 AM
More disturbing reporting from The Nerve.
How can a scrappy startup in 3 weeks leave BBC trailing in its coverage of Russian interference in our politics?
How can a scrappy startup in 3 weeks leave BBC trailing in its coverage of Russian interference in our politics?
@thenerve.news good work on the Russia Report.
October 22, 2025 at 11:48 AM
@thenerve.news good work on the Russia Report.
@bbe5.bsky.social . Reds defensive was shaky, forwards wasteful and whilst unlucky hitting the woodwork it was all a little frantic when pushing for a goal in the second half.
October 19, 2025 at 5:35 PM
@bbe5.bsky.social . Reds defensive was shaky, forwards wasteful and whilst unlucky hitting the woodwork it was all a little frantic when pushing for a goal in the second half.
@bbc5live.bsky.social neither side look like finding a goal to win the match. #TOTVIL
October 19, 2025 at 2:36 PM
@bbc5live.bsky.social neither side look like finding a goal to win the match. #TOTVIL
No second season 🏆for Ange then. @bbc5live.bsky.social
October 18, 2025 at 1:50 PM
No second season 🏆for Ange then. @bbc5live.bsky.social
You have to feel a little sympathy for Forest today. If only they could shoot. #FORCHE @bbc5live.bsky.social
October 18, 2025 at 1:06 PM
You have to feel a little sympathy for Forest today. If only they could shoot. #FORCHE @bbc5live.bsky.social
Reposted by Bill Poster
Latest from the champions of free speech…
September 13, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Latest from the champions of free speech…
Reposted by Bill Poster
When I posted that I was the "lesbian staffer" that quit Duffield's office, Linehan went for me and I had days and days of abuse (Duffield did nothing natch). It was probably the most online homophobia I've ever experienced, and he called me a disgrace to gay rights.
September 4, 2025 at 6:30 AM
When I posted that I was the "lesbian staffer" that quit Duffield's office, Linehan went for me and I had days and days of abuse (Duffield did nothing natch). It was probably the most online homophobia I've ever experienced, and he called me a disgrace to gay rights.
Reposted by Bill Poster
So Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives, who have repeatedly pledged to fight for "free speech" and a free press have just banned me and Byline Times from attending their conference.
Has never happened before under any previous leader
bylinetimes.com/2025/09/04/k...
Has never happened before under any previous leader
bylinetimes.com/2025/09/04/k...
Kemi Badenoch's 'Free Speech' Conservatives Ban Byline Times From Party Conference
The ban on covering the party's annual gathering came despite Badenoch's repeated commitment to "fight" for free speech and a free press
bylinetimes.com
September 4, 2025 at 10:26 AM
So Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives, who have repeatedly pledged to fight for "free speech" and a free press have just banned me and Byline Times from attending their conference.
Has never happened before under any previous leader
bylinetimes.com/2025/09/04/k...
Has never happened before under any previous leader
bylinetimes.com/2025/09/04/k...
@mrjamesob.bsky.social - 🇭🇷 has id, which you must carry at all times. Sometimes you are asked in shops for proof if identity. But no issues for me.
August 4, 2025 at 9:26 AM
@mrjamesob.bsky.social - 🇭🇷 has id, which you must carry at all times. Sometimes you are asked in shops for proof if identity. But no issues for me.
@knoxharrington.bsky.social - Neil, is there a scenario where Ekitiki plus cash swop for Isak. Or Isak still comes to LFC but they keep Hugo?
July 24, 2025 at 10:40 AM
@knoxharrington.bsky.social - Neil, is there a scenario where Ekitiki plus cash swop for Isak. Or Isak still comes to LFC but they keep Hugo?
@mrjamesob.bsky.social - listening to the show re racism in football. Prejudice exists in society and to change thinking you have to begin in the education system. PS-you could relate this phone in to disability prejudice for example.
July 21, 2025 at 10:35 AM
@mrjamesob.bsky.social - listening to the show re racism in football. Prejudice exists in society and to change thinking you have to begin in the education system. PS-you could relate this phone in to disability prejudice for example.
Reposted by Bill Poster
It drives me nuts. The Telegraph, Mail, Sun etc and the politicians they sponsor like Johnson, Farage, Cameron & Truss got everything they wanted for fourteen of the last fifteen years & only now, with Labour in power for *less than one*, do they acknowledge the damage they have done. It’s sick.
June 15, 2025 at 8:01 AM
It drives me nuts. The Telegraph, Mail, Sun etc and the politicians they sponsor like Johnson, Farage, Cameron & Truss got everything they wanted for fourteen of the last fifteen years & only now, with Labour in power for *less than one*, do they acknowledge the damage they have done. It’s sick.
Reposted by Bill Poster
It is extraordinary, but grimly inevitable, that the people most responsible for hobbling the UK have become the loudest & whiniest critics of the consequences of their own actions. A big part of the process lies in people like ‘Lord’ Hannan actually being *rewarded* for their ignorant delinquency.
June 15, 2025 at 8:01 AM
It is extraordinary, but grimly inevitable, that the people most responsible for hobbling the UK have become the loudest & whiniest critics of the consequences of their own actions. A big part of the process lies in people like ‘Lord’ Hannan actually being *rewarded* for their ignorant delinquency.
Reposted by Bill Poster
This is, for me, where the Nazi/fascist parallels work best. ‘Good’ people did nothing as the awfulness escalated because they were justifiably terrified of getting their heads kicked in or killed. It’s about comparing similar points in the process as opposed to comparing end days with early ones.
You can't understand the behaviour of US elites - Democrats being too timid, Republicans debasing themselves, bureaucrats who behave like pushovers - without reference to the constant threat of political violence that has come with MAGA. Every day is January 6. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06...
June 15, 2025 at 8:14 AM
This is, for me, where the Nazi/fascist parallels work best. ‘Good’ people did nothing as the awfulness escalated because they were justifiably terrified of getting their heads kicked in or killed. It’s about comparing similar points in the process as opposed to comparing end days with early ones.
Reposted by Bill Poster
Starting a war in order to divert political and diplomatic attention away from a genocide. Doesn't get much worse than this.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
Strikes on Iran ease pressure on Israel to end starvation in Gaza
Critics of war will be more reluctant to press for its end while missiles from Tehran are killing people in Tel Aviv
www.theguardian.com
June 14, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Starting a war in order to divert political and diplomatic attention away from a genocide. Doesn't get much worse than this.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
June 8, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Call from Mark was very good. @mrjamesob.bsky.social
May 21, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Call from Mark was very good. @mrjamesob.bsky.social