David Timoney
@fromarsetoelbow.bsky.social
Autonomous vehicle. Self-assembly required. May contain traces of critical theory. Retweets not necessarily a WTF
Blog: fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.co.uk
Blog: fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.co.uk
The irony is that while the far-right casts immigrants as "invaders", Labour are working hard to fully integrate them into the imagined community of Britain. It's just that they see them now as the epitome of the welfare-scrounger. So, yes. They'll probably get the blame for the budget too.
Labour’s “we have to do it, or racism will get worse” argument is striking. Any other public policy failures British ethnic minorities should be on the hook for? Can we be blamed en bloc for Rachel Reeves’ budget next week too? www.ft.com/content/37b0...
Defence of Labour asylum policy reveals backsliding on racism
Home secretary’s framing of failures is partly low politics, but also a result of ministers’ poor approach to race relations
www.ft.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:08 PM
The irony is that while the far-right casts immigrants as "invaders", Labour are working hard to fully integrate them into the imagined community of Britain. It's just that they see them now as the epitome of the welfare-scrounger. So, yes. They'll probably get the blame for the budget too.
The Sun readership has plummeted in recent years and even in its heyday most didn't read the political news. Propaganda isn't subtle. It works through overwhelming background noise, not careful exegesis. Also, has No 10 recently shown any aptitude for cunning news management?
Labour is going to introduce safe routes for those claiming refugee status while everybody here is talking about ‘jewellery theft’ proposals. I strongly suspect the latter was meant to divert Sun readers’ attention from clocking the former while you are meant to be welcoming the former. 🫤
November 18, 2025 at 12:02 PM
The Sun readership has plummeted in recent years and even in its heyday most didn't read the political news. Propaganda isn't subtle. It works through overwhelming background noise, not careful exegesis. Also, has No 10 recently shown any aptitude for cunning news management?
There are a number of factors driving the current salience of immigration generally and asylum-seekers specifically, from the demographic ageing of society to the intellectual bankruptcy of neoliberalism. But one that doesn't get enough attention is the legacy of austerity.
November 18, 2025 at 11:50 AM
There are a number of factors driving the current salience of immigration generally and asylum-seekers specifically, from the demographic ageing of society to the intellectual bankruptcy of neoliberalism. But one that doesn't get enough attention is the legacy of austerity.
Legally, the state can seize your assets if a) they are deemed the proceeds of crime, or b) under bailiff powers for the repayment of debts (e.g. unpaid tax).
November 17, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Legally, the state can seize your assets if a) they are deemed the proceeds of crime, or b) under bailiff powers for the repayment of debts (e.g. unpaid tax).
"There is an irony in the fact that as the Tory party has fallen apart as a political force since 2015 so its grip on the BBC has tightened". More ...
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...
The End of the BBC
As in so much of her policy, Margaret Thatcher paved the way for the americanisation of British life.
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:57 AM
"There is an irony in the fact that as the Tory party has fallen apart as a political force since 2015 so its grip on the BBC has tightened". More ...
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...
Ironic that the Observer article on the BBC dodgy editing scandal has a picture of the wrong David Grossman.
November 16, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Ironic that the Observer article on the BBC dodgy editing scandal has a picture of the wrong David Grossman.
"Partisans are so keen to attack the BBC for having a leftist or rightist bias that they don’t notice that basic standards are slipping. And the BBC is so keen to pacify the loudest that it thinks impartiality is sufficient, to the detriment of honesty."
chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-incompe...
chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-incompe...
On incompetence
Much of our political culture is fundamentally incompetent.
chrisdillow.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:02 PM
"Partisans are so keen to attack the BBC for having a leftist or rightist bias that they don’t notice that basic standards are slipping. And the BBC is so keen to pacify the loudest that it thinks impartiality is sufficient, to the detriment of honesty."
chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-incompe...
chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-incompe...
New blogpost: The End of the BBC - The significance of Trump's $1bn threat to the BBC is that the breakup of the Corporation will be driven by Americans, but not Rupert Murdoch. The person you can blame for this is ultimately Margaret Thatcher.
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...
The End of the BBC
As in so much of her policy, Margaret Thatcher paved the way for the americanisation of British life.
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:34 AM
New blogpost: The End of the BBC - The significance of Trump's $1bn threat to the BBC is that the breakup of the Corporation will be driven by Americans, but not Rupert Murdoch. The person you can blame for this is ultimately Margaret Thatcher.
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...
fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...
Charles Kennedy Appreciation Society here.
Of course, the joke then was that the LDs only looked progressive because Blair had moved so far to the right. Today they are trying to occupy the same conservative space that Labour are targeting & that the Tories have stupidly vacated.
Of course, the joke then was that the LDs only looked progressive because Blair had moved so far to the right. Today they are trying to occupy the same conservative space that Labour are targeting & that the Tories have stupidly vacated.
Except it isn't broadly split between left and right flanks unless you position the LibDems to the right.
Half of voters who backed Labour in 2024 have deserted the party, according to internal polling shared with Labour MPs, reports PolHome's Harriet Symonds
The figures suggest Labour's lost vote is broadly split between its left and right flanks, demonstrating the electoral challenge facing the party
The figures suggest Labour's lost vote is broadly split between its left and right flanks, demonstrating the electoral challenge facing the party
November 13, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Charles Kennedy Appreciation Society here.
Of course, the joke then was that the LDs only looked progressive because Blair had moved so far to the right. Today they are trying to occupy the same conservative space that Labour are targeting & that the Tories have stupidly vacated.
Of course, the joke then was that the LDs only looked progressive because Blair had moved so far to the right. Today they are trying to occupy the same conservative space that Labour are targeting & that the Tories have stupidly vacated.
Angling for a gig ...
BBC5: The new BBC channel devoted solely to programmes about the BBC
November 13, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Angling for a gig ...
In which Kettle spends almost an entire article waffling on about Starmer before admitting that "the real lesson may be that both of the old parties that have dominated British politics for the past century are now disintegrating irreversibly."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A word of warning to the hounds circling Starmer: be careful what you wish for | Martin Kettle
With this level of unpopularity, the question of the PM’s future may seem simple. Yet what comes next could be nastily complicated, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:43 AM
In which Kettle spends almost an entire article waffling on about Starmer before admitting that "the real lesson may be that both of the old parties that have dominated British politics for the past century are now disintegrating irreversibly."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Obviously the financial markets don't give a shit about Morgan McSweeney and they don't consider Reeves to be another Truss. This is more a case of argumentative children insisting each other be quiet for fear of angering the parents.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Labour infighting puts chancellor’s budget plan to reassure bond markets at risk
It was hoped manifesto-breaking tax rises might bring down borrowing costs – but party turbulence is likely to spook investors
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Obviously the financial markets don't give a shit about Morgan McSweeney and they don't consider Reeves to be another Truss. This is more a case of argumentative children insisting each other be quiet for fear of angering the parents.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
The thing that has always distinguished the Blairites is the intense personalistion of their beef. There is no more an ideological difference between McSweeney and Streeting than there was between Blair and Brown. Real rats in a sack stuff.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Pressure grows on Starmer to sack chief of staff over briefing row
Growing calls for Morgan McSweeney to go after extraordinary briefing operation against Wes Streeting
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:27 AM
The thing that has always distinguished the Blairites is the intense personalistion of their beef. There is no more an ideological difference between McSweeney and Streeting than there was between Blair and Brown. Real rats in a sack stuff.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
There's an element of "No shit, Sherlock" to this given that any party that commands a plurality of the vote will necessarily be a coalition of diverse interests. That has always been the case with Labour and the Tories, after all.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The real Reform voters have been revealed – it’s a slapdash coalition Farage will struggle to hold together | Aditya Chakrabortty
This is no single bloc marching under one ideology, or even a mass of ‘red-wall’ voters. What unites them is a desire for something different, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:21 AM
There's an element of "No shit, Sherlock" to this given that any party that commands a plurality of the vote will necessarily be a coalition of diverse interests. That has always been the case with Labour and the Tories, after all.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
4 things to remember. "No 10" means McSweeney, who is a Blairite (cf Liz Kendall's ill-fated leadership bid). Starmer was always just a clean skin with no Blairite baggage. Streeting is the Blairite pick. And the "soft left" doesn't exist.
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Labour MPs Say No 10 Briefing Has Increased Wes Streeting’s Chances Of Becoming PM
Labour MPs have told PoliticsHome that Wes Streeting’s stock has increased among members of the Parliamentary Labour Party, particularly its soft l...
www.politicshome.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:57 AM
4 things to remember. "No 10" means McSweeney, who is a Blairite (cf Liz Kendall's ill-fated leadership bid). Starmer was always just a clean skin with no Blairite baggage. Streeting is the Blairite pick. And the "soft left" doesn't exist.
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
"Its enemies hate the BBC with the same venom they detest the NHS, as publicly owned and popular social endeavours." What the right wants is to expand the market, hence the vision for the BBC is a high culture backwater & for the NHS pauper wards.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
If you care about the BBC, stand up and defend it: this could be the beginning of the end | Polly Toynbee
Replacing the TV licence with a means-tested alternative may help disarm the right of one of its most effective weapons, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:42 PM
"Its enemies hate the BBC with the same venom they detest the NHS, as publicly owned and popular social endeavours." What the right wants is to expand the market, hence the vision for the BBC is a high culture backwater & for the NHS pauper wards.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"The more obviously qualified Keir Starmer". If there is one thing the last year has disproved, it is the centrist idea that managerialism is a guide to political competence.
November 11, 2025 at 1:20 PM
"The more obviously qualified Keir Starmer". If there is one thing the last year has disproved, it is the centrist idea that managerialism is a guide to political competence.
You could read this as an excoriating denunciation of the Labour right, but it actually concludes with the claims that Lucy Powell is a good thing and that the only acceptable left is the Labour (soft) left. It is guilty of the factionalism it denounces.
www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
The Starmer-McSweeney tendency is sinking Labour
Their tiny faction is dragging social democracy into an abyss
www.newstatesman.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:52 PM
You could read this as an excoriating denunciation of the Labour right, but it actually concludes with the claims that Lucy Powell is a good thing and that the only acceptable left is the Labour (soft) left. It is guilty of the factionalism it denounces.
www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
There's an irony in the fact that as the Tory party has fallen apart so its grip on the BBC has tightened. Farage & co have always been happy with the Corporation: the disproportionate coverage, the lack of real scrutiny etc. It's the Tories who remain its implacable foe.
November 10, 2025 at 11:41 AM
There's an irony in the fact that as the Tory party has fallen apart so its grip on the BBC has tightened. Farage & co have always been happy with the Corporation: the disproportionate coverage, the lack of real scrutiny etc. It's the Tories who remain its implacable foe.
A fine example of the conflation of City sources with "bond investors". The people who buy bonds are traders, but the people who invest in bonds, through pensions and other savings, are you and me. Thus we are assured that what the market wants is what we want: less welfare.
November 10, 2025 at 11:23 AM
A fine example of the conflation of City sources with "bond investors". The people who buy bonds are traders, but the people who invest in bonds, through pensions and other savings, are you and me. Thus we are assured that what the market wants is what we want: less welfare.
It is now routine in the media to occlude 2017 entirely from political history. This isn't simply because it undermines the narrative of fragmentation and the replacement of class interests with "identity", but because it was an election that the media spectacularly called wrong.
November 10, 2025 at 11:18 AM
It is now routine in the media to occlude 2017 entirely from political history. This isn't simply because it undermines the narrative of fragmentation and the replacement of class interests with "identity", but because it was an election that the media spectacularly called wrong.
You cannot hope to bribe or twist, thank God! the British journalist.
November 6, 2025 at 5:50 PM
You cannot hope to bribe or twist, thank God! the British journalist.
Duncan Robinson has turned in a classic Bagehot column in the Economist. His claim is that the left are against broad-based tax rises, such as on the base rate of income tax or VAT. Tbf, he does concede that this is because the left prefers to tax wealth rather than work.
November 6, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Duncan Robinson has turned in a classic Bagehot column in the Economist. His claim is that the left are against broad-based tax rises, such as on the base rate of income tax or VAT. Tbf, he does concede that this is because the left prefers to tax wealth rather than work.
Accidentally released from jail, but pre-emptively.
Double fraud - first the PPE deal was dud stuff and corrupt, now they’ve defaulted on paying taxes — but still the right kind of person to sit in the House of Lords, apparently. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Mone-linked firm PPE Medpro owes £39m in tax
Administrator's report shows firm owes £39m to HMRC on top of £148m owed to Department of Health
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Accidentally released from jail, but pre-emptively.
Reposted by David Timoney
You don’t raze entire towns and cities street by street with controlled demolitions and bulldozers for any military objective. You do it because the aim is to wipe those places out of existence forever, and it’s not like they’ve been hiding this.
Inside Gaza, BBC sees total devastation after two years of war
With endless rubble and destroyed streets as far as the eye can see, any plans for Gaza's future are a far cry from where it is today, writes Lucy Williamson.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 8:41 AM
You don’t raze entire towns and cities street by street with controlled demolitions and bulldozers for any military objective. You do it because the aim is to wipe those places out of existence forever, and it’s not like they’ve been hiding this.