Elaine Barber
@elaineb-vs7.bsky.social
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Reposted by Elaine Barber
They are very weird people, and it will be their downfall.
Performative religious nationalism might work in America, but most British people - including most Christians - think it's weird.
Performative religious nationalism might work in America, but most British people - including most Christians - think it's weird.
Charlie Downes (Restore Britain, campaign director): "More than anything, it is Christian faith. Ancestry and it is Christian faith"
Alex Phillips: "So if you are not a Christian, you can't be British?"
CD: "Well. You are certainly less British if you are not a believer in Christian principles".
Alex Phillips: "So if you are not a Christian, you can't be British?"
CD: "Well. You are certainly less British if you are not a believer in Christian principles".
February 16, 2026 at 10:30 PM
They are very weird people, and it will be their downfall.
Performative religious nationalism might work in America, but most British people - including most Christians - think it's weird.
Performative religious nationalism might work in America, but most British people - including most Christians - think it's weird.
Reposted by Elaine Barber
An age of insecurity reflected in so many stories today... sometimes tipping over into fear... starting with a story that I first heard last year, fears for other economies if a Trump administration tampered with payment systems... www.theguardian.com/business/202...
UK bank bosses plan to set up Visa and Mastercard alternative amid Trump fears
Exclusive: First meeting to be held over domestic payments system aimed at reducing reliance on US networks
www.theguardian.com
February 17, 2026 at 7:22 AM
An age of insecurity reflected in so many stories today... sometimes tipping over into fear... starting with a story that I first heard last year, fears for other economies if a Trump administration tampered with payment systems... www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Check facts - this delay in council elections has been done before under the Tories- don’t remember an outcry .
February 16, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Check facts - this delay in council elections has been done before under the Tories- don’t remember an outcry .
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Yup.
We are going to end up with 2 elections at 2 different levels this year now (county and borough/district). Then elections for the new unitary council next year!
It's pathetic.
Fuck off Farage for your pathetic meddling!
We are going to end up with 2 elections at 2 different levels this year now (county and borough/district). Then elections for the new unitary council next year!
It's pathetic.
Fuck off Farage for your pathetic meddling!
February 16, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Yup.
We are going to end up with 2 elections at 2 different levels this year now (county and borough/district). Then elections for the new unitary council next year!
It's pathetic.
Fuck off Farage for your pathetic meddling!
We are going to end up with 2 elections at 2 different levels this year now (county and borough/district). Then elections for the new unitary council next year!
It's pathetic.
Fuck off Farage for your pathetic meddling!
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Outstanding quote from Casement.
Roger Casement: “A nation is a very complex thing. It never does consist; it never has consisted solely of men of one blood or one single race – it is like a river, rising in the hills with many sources, many converging streams, that become one great stream.” (1905)
February 16, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Outstanding quote from Casement.
Reposted by Elaine Barber
“Labour was elected under a banner of change. On student loan interest, it is defending continuity.
"Reeves cannot afford to be wrong on this issue because, for her and Labour, compound interest is not simply growing balances; it is growing anger," writes Cal Roscow.
"Reeves cannot afford to be wrong on this issue because, for her and Labour, compound interest is not simply growing balances; it is growing anger," writes Cal Roscow.
Time for a Reeves resit on student loans
By Cal Roscow
bestforbritain.substack.com
February 16, 2026 at 10:30 AM
“Labour was elected under a banner of change. On student loan interest, it is defending continuity.
"Reeves cannot afford to be wrong on this issue because, for her and Labour, compound interest is not simply growing balances; it is growing anger," writes Cal Roscow.
"Reeves cannot afford to be wrong on this issue because, for her and Labour, compound interest is not simply growing balances; it is growing anger," writes Cal Roscow.
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Cheers, Chris Mason is crying now
Reform are now averaging 28% rather than 31% in the Autumn, as @samfr.bsky.social notes & looks at why
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/w...
@markpackuk.bsky.social shows it is a real dip in Reform support, not an artifact of Don't Knows moving around
open.substack.com/pub/theweeki...
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/w...
@markpackuk.bsky.social shows it is a real dip in Reform support, not an artifact of Don't Knows moving around
open.substack.com/pub/theweeki...
Is the fall in Reform's poll ratings a mirage?
Welcome to the 195th edition of The Week in Polls (TWIP), which dives into the data to see if it is true that the apparent fall in Reform’s support in the polls is simply a mirage caused by changing l...
open.substack.com
February 15, 2026 at 11:07 PM
Cheers, Chris Mason is crying now
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Matt Goodwin said in a post on X: “Welcome to the UK. Where you go to prison for 18 months for anti-immigration tweets. This is insane.”
No. What is insane is shrugging off incitement to racial murder.
Put this man in the bin, not the House of Commons.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
No. What is insane is shrugging off incitement to racial murder.
Put this man in the bin, not the House of Commons.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Reform candidate called it ‘insane’ to jail man who said ‘burn asylum hotels’
Exclusive: It comes after The Independent revealed that Matt Goodwin called for ‘young girls’ to be given ‘biological reality’ check
www.independent.co.uk
February 16, 2026 at 7:32 AM
Matt Goodwin said in a post on X: “Welcome to the UK. Where you go to prison for 18 months for anti-immigration tweets. This is insane.”
No. What is insane is shrugging off incitement to racial murder.
Put this man in the bin, not the House of Commons.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
No. What is insane is shrugging off incitement to racial murder.
Put this man in the bin, not the House of Commons.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Putin murdered Alexei Navalny in the most disgusting and performative way.
He's a psychopath and a monster.
Now look at politicians in Britain, Europe, and America who are either looking the other way - or engaging in abject whataboutery.
He's a psychopath and a monster.
Now look at politicians in Britain, Europe, and America who are either looking the other way - or engaging in abject whataboutery.
February 15, 2026 at 7:23 PM
Putin murdered Alexei Navalny in the most disgusting and performative way.
He's a psychopath and a monster.
Now look at politicians in Britain, Europe, and America who are either looking the other way - or engaging in abject whataboutery.
He's a psychopath and a monster.
Now look at politicians in Britain, Europe, and America who are either looking the other way - or engaging in abject whataboutery.
Reposted by Elaine Barber
The Leave campaign's divisive rhetoric around immigration had real-life consequences.
Research shows that young people from ethnic minorities living in areas with strong support for Brexit felt excluded and their mental health declined.
Research shows that young people from ethnic minorities living in areas with strong support for Brexit felt excluded and their mental health declined.
How did Brexit affect the mental health of ethnic minority youth? - Economics Observatory
Research evidence suggests that the UK referendum on whether or not to remain in the European Union had uneven social co
www.economicsobservatory.com
February 15, 2026 at 4:00 PM
The Leave campaign's divisive rhetoric around immigration had real-life consequences.
Research shows that young people from ethnic minorities living in areas with strong support for Brexit felt excluded and their mental health declined.
Research shows that young people from ethnic minorities living in areas with strong support for Brexit felt excluded and their mental health declined.
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Is Lowe the one that thinks fascism is too woke?
February 14, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Is Lowe the one that thinks fascism is too woke?
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Note how he's not presenting any ideas, nor telling people why they should vote for him.
He's just insulting everyone else.
He's just insulting everyone else.
When I lived in Japan, far-right parties used to drive around blaring out propaganda from loudspeaker vans. People saw them as public nuisances at best, dangerous nutters at worst. Interesting to see Matt Goodwin adopt the same strategy.
February 15, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Note how he's not presenting any ideas, nor telling people why they should vote for him.
He's just insulting everyone else.
He's just insulting everyone else.
Reposted by Elaine Barber
The radical right lies about London. They can't fathom that a city anyone can call home can also be successful and vibrant. Londoners know better.
https://www.ft.com/content/05b8e8ba-5763-46f1-a2e5-9820bbe4d053
https://www.ft.com/content/05b8e8ba-5763-46f1-a2e5-9820bbe4d053
Why Maga loathes London
Trump and his supporters see the UK capital as the symbol of a Europe facing ‘civilisational erasure’
www.ft.com
February 15, 2026 at 10:50 AM
The radical right lies about London. They can't fathom that a city anyone can call home can also be successful and vibrant. Londoners know better.
https://www.ft.com/content/05b8e8ba-5763-46f1-a2e5-9820bbe4d053
https://www.ft.com/content/05b8e8ba-5763-46f1-a2e5-9820bbe4d053
Reposted by Elaine Barber
My old pal @mortenmorland.bsky.social celebrating my 15th anniversary in Downing Street in style
Sunday’s @thetimes.com cartoon times.newsprints.co.uk/morten-morla...
February 15, 2026 at 11:06 AM
My old pal @mortenmorland.bsky.social celebrating my 15th anniversary in Downing Street in style
Reposted by Elaine Barber
15 years ago today I arrived on Downing Street in a cage.
I've seen off Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak and I'm still going strong.
Only two Prime Ministers have ever done longer stints here: William Pitt the Younger and Sir Robert Walpole.
Bill and Bob - I'm coming for you...
(Photos AP)
I've seen off Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak and I'm still going strong.
Only two Prime Ministers have ever done longer stints here: William Pitt the Younger and Sir Robert Walpole.
Bill and Bob - I'm coming for you...
(Photos AP)
February 15, 2026 at 11:07 AM
15 years ago today I arrived on Downing Street in a cage.
I've seen off Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak and I'm still going strong.
Only two Prime Ministers have ever done longer stints here: William Pitt the Younger and Sir Robert Walpole.
Bill and Bob - I'm coming for you...
(Photos AP)
I've seen off Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak and I'm still going strong.
Only two Prime Ministers have ever done longer stints here: William Pitt the Younger and Sir Robert Walpole.
Bill and Bob - I'm coming for you...
(Photos AP)
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Dear Gorton & Denton,
Something you might want to hear...
Something you might want to hear...
February 15, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Dear Gorton & Denton,
Something you might want to hear...
Something you might want to hear...
Reposted by Elaine Barber
yeah, Brussels should stop invading Ukraine /s
🇭🇺❗️🇪🇺 Orban: We must get used to the idea that those who love freedom should not fear the East, but Brussels, and should turn their concerned eyes toward Brussels.
Putin-bashing is primitive and unserious. Brussels, however, is a tangible reality and a direct source of danger.
Putin-bashing is primitive and unserious. Brussels, however, is a tangible reality and a direct source of danger.
February 15, 2026 at 11:40 AM
yeah, Brussels should stop invading Ukraine /s
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Tech bro cultists believe that people earning an income is a "burden of employment red tape"
Quite apart from the panelists’ un evidenced views that AI controlled cars will reduce congestion and support growth by “reducing the burden of employment red tape”.
Small nod to the impact on cabbies’ and private hire drivers’ jobs and a simplistic expectation that driverless cars are safer. 😬
Small nod to the impact on cabbies’ and private hire drivers’ jobs and a simplistic expectation that driverless cars are safer. 😬
February 15, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Tech bro cultists believe that people earning an income is a "burden of employment red tape"
Reposted by Elaine Barber
I like the government pivot to reminding voters that Farage is an avowed enemy of NATO & Europe & an ardent admirer of Vladimir Putin, who routinely orders the murders of critics & opponents. It is politically effective & morally essential.
February 15, 2026 at 12:47 PM
I like the government pivot to reminding voters that Farage is an avowed enemy of NATO & Europe & an ardent admirer of Vladimir Putin, who routinely orders the murders of critics & opponents. It is politically effective & morally essential.
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Reads to me like politics as (bad) parlour game with participants in dire need of someone who will show some leadership / appreciation of real life.
Also because average voters don't think about politics 99% of the time, which is the bit usually missed.
Also because average voters don't think about politics 99% of the time, which is the bit usually missed.
🧵In today’s Times @joshglancy.bsky.social has a brilliant write up of our focus groups he sat in on. Definitely read it in full! But I want to focus on two voters: Kylie & Eve I think have outsized importance in explaining today’s politics
www.thetimes.com/article/b75e...
www.thetimes.com/article/b75e...
February 15, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Reads to me like politics as (bad) parlour game with participants in dire need of someone who will show some leadership / appreciation of real life.
Also because average voters don't think about politics 99% of the time, which is the bit usually missed.
Also because average voters don't think about politics 99% of the time, which is the bit usually missed.
Reposted by Elaine Barber
Most Britons have never heard of the ridiculous Lowe or his party.
Who did they poll?
Who did they poll?
"Yesterday, Rupert Lowe MP launched a political party named Restore Britain. If there were a General Election tomorrow, how would you vote in that election?"
RFM: 25%
GRN: 20%
LAB: 15%
CON: 13%
RES: 10%
LDM: 10%
Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 14 Feb.
RFM: 25%
GRN: 20%
LAB: 15%
CON: 13%
RES: 10%
LDM: 10%
Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 14 Feb.
February 14, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Most Britons have never heard of the ridiculous Lowe or his party.
Who did they poll?
Who did they poll?