Matt
@matthiasschreiber.bsky.social
I once asked Elvis how he has his Mint Juleps and he wouldn’t say, so could we really ever have been friends?
Is that the sun asleep under a duvet?
November 14, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Is that the sun asleep under a duvet?
Thing is, he’s not stupid. And he’s good at doing the one thing he has to do to be successful in this context: lie shamelessly and stoke partisan instincts that will let him get away with lying shamelessly.
September 3, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Thing is, he’s not stupid. And he’s good at doing the one thing he has to do to be successful in this context: lie shamelessly and stoke partisan instincts that will let him get away with lying shamelessly.
And my point was that we’re objectively not a centre-right country, if you look at who we actually vote for.
July 30, 2025 at 9:15 AM
And my point was that we’re objectively not a centre-right country, if you look at who we actually vote for.
In every election since 1987 more people have voted for parties to the left of the Tories than for them.
Our electoral system rewards incumbency. In every election since 1987 the governing party needed up to 100k fewer voters per MP than their opposition.
Our electoral system rewards incumbency. In every election since 1987 the governing party needed up to 100k fewer voters per MP than their opposition.
July 30, 2025 at 8:16 AM
In every election since 1987 more people have voted for parties to the left of the Tories than for them.
Our electoral system rewards incumbency. In every election since 1987 the governing party needed up to 100k fewer voters per MP than their opposition.
Our electoral system rewards incumbency. In every election since 1987 the governing party needed up to 100k fewer voters per MP than their opposition.
The thing is, that framing doesn’t resonate most people.
Few everyday voters think “I wish we’d been nicer to Corbyn five years ago because then the situation in Gaza that is the defining lens through which I view politics would be different somehow”.
Few everyday voters think “I wish we’d been nicer to Corbyn five years ago because then the situation in Gaza that is the defining lens through which I view politics would be different somehow”.
July 30, 2025 at 8:12 AM
The thing is, that framing doesn’t resonate most people.
Few everyday voters think “I wish we’d been nicer to Corbyn five years ago because then the situation in Gaza that is the defining lens through which I view politics would be different somehow”.
Few everyday voters think “I wish we’d been nicer to Corbyn five years ago because then the situation in Gaza that is the defining lens through which I view politics would be different somehow”.
On the one hand, it would be good for our increasingly sclerotic electoral landscape if Labour had a credible political force to their left. On the other hand, nothing about this lectern activist initiative suggests this is it.
July 30, 2025 at 8:07 AM
On the one hand, it would be good for our increasingly sclerotic electoral landscape if Labour had a credible political force to their left. On the other hand, nothing about this lectern activist initiative suggests this is it.
They can’t help themselves. If he’d restricted himself to the (factual) statement that you can claim PIP in some instances without a formal diagnosis of the condition you claim, he could have had a sensible debate about that. But no: something Reddit something, just for shits and giggles.
Abject.
Abject.
June 30, 2025 at 12:05 PM
They can’t help themselves. If he’d restricted himself to the (factual) statement that you can claim PIP in some instances without a formal diagnosis of the condition you claim, he could have had a sensible debate about that. But no: something Reddit something, just for shits and giggles.
Abject.
Abject.
It’s tempting to assume this is just some increasingly desperate, shamelessly insincere attempt to remain relevant; then you remember all the anecdotes about her from former colleagues and it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that she’s actually tipped over into madness.
Intervention needed.
Intervention needed.
June 1, 2025 at 8:17 AM
It’s tempting to assume this is just some increasingly desperate, shamelessly insincere attempt to remain relevant; then you remember all the anecdotes about her from former colleagues and it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that she’s actually tipped over into madness.
Intervention needed.
Intervention needed.
Such an odd focus now, the best part of 4 years from that choice having to be made.
May 29, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Such an odd focus now, the best part of 4 years from that choice having to be made.
Name of my first album, that
May 18, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Name of my first album, that
I sense you might be using a popular cultural event to make some sort of political point here. But maybe not I dunno.
May 17, 2025 at 9:46 PM
I sense you might be using a popular cultural event to make some sort of political point here. But maybe not I dunno.
This presupposes that the problem with high levels of immigration is the sentiment it provokes, not the high levels of immigration. In reality, both bad faith actors AND the situation they are manipulating are part of the problem.
May 17, 2025 at 8:46 AM
This presupposes that the problem with high levels of immigration is the sentiment it provokes, not the high levels of immigration. In reality, both bad faith actors AND the situation they are manipulating are part of the problem.
Yes, it’s established fact that anti-immigration sentiment is strongest in areas with low immigration. But none of that means such sentiment isn’t real and doesn’t have a solid footing in our politics.
We can’t wish it away, nor dismiss it as ignorance.
We can’t wish it away, nor dismiss it as ignorance.
May 17, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Yes, it’s established fact that anti-immigration sentiment is strongest in areas with low immigration. But none of that means such sentiment isn’t real and doesn’t have a solid footing in our politics.
We can’t wish it away, nor dismiss it as ignorance.
We can’t wish it away, nor dismiss it as ignorance.
Not sure it will work, but that strikes me as the logical explanation for their behaviour.
May 17, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Not sure it will work, but that strikes me as the logical explanation for their behaviour.
I’m not sure we’ve properly established what “it” is in this conversation but the notion that immigration is not a factor seems fanciful.
May 16, 2025 at 9:50 PM
I’m not sure we’ve properly established what “it” is in this conversation but the notion that immigration is not a factor seems fanciful.
Agreed. And yet the well-known dichotomy applies: while all racists resent immigration, not everyone who resents immigration is a racist.
I just think time spent attributing characteristics - overt or otherwise - to people is time and effort better applied to discussing the problem.
I just think time spent attributing characteristics - overt or otherwise - to people is time and effort better applied to discussing the problem.
May 16, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Agreed. And yet the well-known dichotomy applies: while all racists resent immigration, not everyone who resents immigration is a racist.
I just think time spent attributing characteristics - overt or otherwise - to people is time and effort better applied to discussing the problem.
I just think time spent attributing characteristics - overt or otherwise - to people is time and effort better applied to discussing the problem.
If saying “hey, it’s not the immigrants, let’s go after the wealthy” actually worked, Prime Minister Corbyn would be at least a year into his second term.
The rhetoric is grim, but the sentiment they’re trying to address is real.
The rhetoric is grim, but the sentiment they’re trying to address is real.
May 16, 2025 at 4:17 PM
If saying “hey, it’s not the immigrants, let’s go after the wealthy” actually worked, Prime Minister Corbyn would be at least a year into his second term.
The rhetoric is grim, but the sentiment they’re trying to address is real.
The rhetoric is grim, but the sentiment they’re trying to address is real.
I think the calculation is simple. The next election will be Labour vs Reform. A good chunk of Reform voters are ex Labour. He needs them back more than he needs to keep metropolitan progressives. Doing nasty shit for the former now gives him 4 years to do stuff that wins the latter back.
May 16, 2025 at 4:14 PM
I think the calculation is simple. The next election will be Labour vs Reform. A good chunk of Reform voters are ex Labour. He needs them back more than he needs to keep metropolitan progressives. Doing nasty shit for the former now gives him 4 years to do stuff that wins the latter back.
Sure - but we can’t have that conversation if we start with “well, it’s mainly racists and the ill-informed”. I’m not suggesting we normalise the rank bigotry that does exist, nor am I endorsing Starmer’s rhetoric, but he’s not aiming off here.
May 16, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Sure - but we can’t have that conversation if we start with “well, it’s mainly racists and the ill-informed”. I’m not suggesting we normalise the rank bigotry that does exist, nor am I endorsing Starmer’s rhetoric, but he’s not aiming off here.
Lads, current polling shows 70% of the British public think immigration is too high and 75% think the government is handling it badly. This isn’t (only) about a closet racists, media cacophony and misguided nostalgia.
May 16, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Lads, current polling shows 70% of the British public think immigration is too high and 75% think the government is handling it badly. This isn’t (only) about a closet racists, media cacophony and misguided nostalgia.
Surely if we’ve learnt anything about politics in the last decade or so, it’s that any assumption that we’re witness a game of 4D chess is woefully wrong and we’re actually watching a particularly bad game of chequers.
May 16, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Surely if we’ve learnt anything about politics in the last decade or so, it’s that any assumption that we’re witness a game of 4D chess is woefully wrong and we’re actually watching a particularly bad game of chequers.
It’s 4chan for people who demand to see the manager.
April 20, 2025 at 7:52 AM
It’s 4chan for people who demand to see the manager.
He’s a trained graphic designer who has illustrated childrens books. I know this because I am one of what I suspect is a very small number of people who has one of the books.
March 9, 2025 at 8:08 AM
He’s a trained graphic designer who has illustrated childrens books. I know this because I am one of what I suspect is a very small number of people who has one of the books.