@scottgmcleod.bsky.social
Reposted
I’ve been quieter than usual this week due to a weird mix of work commitments and falling asleep on the sofa at every opportunity.
In my defence, I may have overcorrected by writing the mother of all year-end posts.
This is fair warning, it is long - but, then again, so was 2025.
In my defence, I may have overcorrected by writing the mother of all year-end posts.
This is fair warning, it is long - but, then again, so was 2025.
2025: The Year We Got Used To It
A final long read for 2025, charting how we got used to cruelty, incompetence and farce - and how 2026 will need us all to be much noisier.
www.bearlypolitics.co.uk
December 30, 2025 at 12:06 PM
I’ve been quieter than usual this week due to a weird mix of work commitments and falling asleep on the sofa at every opportunity.
In my defence, I may have overcorrected by writing the mother of all year-end posts.
This is fair warning, it is long - but, then again, so was 2025.
In my defence, I may have overcorrected by writing the mother of all year-end posts.
This is fair warning, it is long - but, then again, so was 2025.
Reposted
There seems to be some *confusion*
among Reform supporters over Nathan Gill being one of them
“But, but, Reform didn’t exist when he took his Russian bribes”
“But, but he was in UKIP”
“But, but it has nothing to do with Farage, he barely knew the guy”
So here’s a little history lesson 👍🏼🧵
1/14
among Reform supporters over Nathan Gill being one of them
“But, but, Reform didn’t exist when he took his Russian bribes”
“But, but he was in UKIP”
“But, but it has nothing to do with Farage, he barely knew the guy”
So here’s a little history lesson 👍🏼🧵
1/14
September 27, 2025 at 1:43 PM
There seems to be some *confusion*
among Reform supporters over Nathan Gill being one of them
“But, but, Reform didn’t exist when he took his Russian bribes”
“But, but he was in UKIP”
“But, but it has nothing to do with Farage, he barely knew the guy”
So here’s a little history lesson 👍🏼🧵
1/14
among Reform supporters over Nathan Gill being one of them
“But, but, Reform didn’t exist when he took his Russian bribes”
“But, but he was in UKIP”
“But, but it has nothing to do with Farage, he barely knew the guy”
So here’s a little history lesson 👍🏼🧵
1/14
Reposted
[writing the constitution]
Benjamin Franklin: Write down "no dumb fucks as president"
Alexander Hamilton: Stop saying that
Benjamin Franklin: I'm tellin' you. You're gonna regret not writing that down
Benjamin Franklin: Write down "no dumb fucks as president"
Alexander Hamilton: Stop saying that
Benjamin Franklin: I'm tellin' you. You're gonna regret not writing that down
August 15, 2025 at 10:54 PM
[writing the constitution]
Benjamin Franklin: Write down "no dumb fucks as president"
Alexander Hamilton: Stop saying that
Benjamin Franklin: I'm tellin' you. You're gonna regret not writing that down
Benjamin Franklin: Write down "no dumb fucks as president"
Alexander Hamilton: Stop saying that
Benjamin Franklin: I'm tellin' you. You're gonna regret not writing that down
Reposted
Wrote about how the UK's online age verification requirements are already proving to be a disaster (as UK regulators were clearly warned it would be) and how unhelpful the UK's response to this mess has been, including their tech minister saying anyone who complains supports predators.
Didn’t Take Long To Reveal The UK’s Online Safety Act Is Exactly The Privacy-Crushing Failure Everyone Warned About
Well, well, well. The “age assurance” part of the UK's Online Safety Act has finally gone into effect, with its age checking requirements kicking in a week and a half ago. And what…
Well, well, well. The “age assurance” part of the UK's Online Safety Act has finally gone into effect, with its age checking requirements kicking in a week and a half ago. And what…
Didn’t Take Long To Reveal The UK’s Online Safety Act Is Exactly The Privacy-Crushing Failure Everyone Warned About
Well, well, well. The “age assurance” part of the UK's Online Safety Act has finally gone into effect, with its age checking requirements kicking in a week and a half ago. And what do you know? It's turned out to be exactly the privacy-invading, freedom-crushing, technically unworkable disaster that everyone with half a brain predicted it would be. Let's start with the most obvious sign that this law is working exactly as poorly as critics warned: …
www.techdirt.com
August 5, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Wrote about how the UK's online age verification requirements are already proving to be a disaster (as UK regulators were clearly warned it would be) and how unhelpful the UK's response to this mess has been, including their tech minister saying anyone who complains supports predators.
Reposted
✍️ This week in Pecksniff's Diary:
"If East Anglia Bylines can find the evidence that the protests in Epping and Diss are merely organised right wing thuggery, how is it the rest of the media haven’t done so?"
@eastangliabylines.co.uk @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social
"If East Anglia Bylines can find the evidence that the protests in Epping and Diss are merely organised right wing thuggery, how is it the rest of the media haven’t done so?"
@eastangliabylines.co.uk @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social
Pecksniff: Exclusive! We reveal far right plot behind Epping riots
In which Mr Pecksniff lays before his readers for their approval certain observations and speculations reflecting on the political life
eastangliabylines.co.uk
July 26, 2025 at 3:05 PM
✍️ This week in Pecksniff's Diary:
"If East Anglia Bylines can find the evidence that the protests in Epping and Diss are merely organised right wing thuggery, how is it the rest of the media haven’t done so?"
@eastangliabylines.co.uk @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social
"If East Anglia Bylines can find the evidence that the protests in Epping and Diss are merely organised right wing thuggery, how is it the rest of the media haven’t done so?"
@eastangliabylines.co.uk @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social
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From my friend, Nabil, in Gaza. How can our govts be more focused on suppressing criticism of Israel, than acting to stop these war crimes? I’m filled with despair, anger, outrage and frustration, and deeply, deeply anguished for the people of Gaza.
July 20, 2025 at 1:06 PM
From my friend, Nabil, in Gaza. How can our govts be more focused on suppressing criticism of Israel, than acting to stop these war crimes? I’m filled with despair, anger, outrage and frustration, and deeply, deeply anguished for the people of Gaza.
Reposted
The Ministry of Justice doesn’t even track how people in prison entered the UK. So how exactly did the Tories measure small boat crime? Answer: they didn’t.
@eastangliabylines.co.uk
@eastangliabylines.co.uk
A crime wave in small boats: why worry about facts?
Conservatives claim that small boat arrivals are 24 times more likely to be in prison than the average British citizen. Are they?
eastangliabylines.co.uk
July 16, 2025 at 8:13 PM
The Ministry of Justice doesn’t even track how people in prison entered the UK. So how exactly did the Tories measure small boat crime? Answer: they didn’t.
@eastangliabylines.co.uk
@eastangliabylines.co.uk
Reposted
When excellent MPs stand up for what’s right and then get suspended by their party we should be very worried. Chris Hinchliff has been a staunch defender of nature and is far closer to the public view than the prime minster. Such arrogance 😡. Great quote here from Craig Bennett, agree 💯 .
July 16, 2025 at 4:34 PM
When excellent MPs stand up for what’s right and then get suspended by their party we should be very worried. Chris Hinchliff has been a staunch defender of nature and is far closer to the public view than the prime minster. Such arrogance 😡. Great quote here from Craig Bennett, agree 💯 .
Reposted
A damning report into the faulty Post Office IT system that preceded Horizon has been unearthed after nearly 30 years - and it could help overturn criminal convictions
news.sky.com/story/crucia...
news.sky.com/story/crucia...
Post Office scandal: 'Hugely significant' evidence unearthed in computer expert's garage
The "lost long" Capture documents were discovered by a retired computer expert who came forward after a Sky News report into the case of Patricia Owen, a convicted sub-postmistress who used the softwa...
news.sky.com
June 19, 2025 at 7:44 AM
A damning report into the faulty Post Office IT system that preceded Horizon has been unearthed after nearly 30 years - and it could help overturn criminal convictions
news.sky.com/story/crucia...
news.sky.com/story/crucia...
Pleasant surprise as I walk into Bridlington North Library!
June 6, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Pleasant surprise as I walk into Bridlington North Library!
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I didn’t get here overnight.
There were days I could
barely move. Days I felt stuck.
Unmotivated. But I stayed
committed. Slow progress
is still progress. I kept going.
And that’s what matters.
There were days I could
barely move. Days I felt stuck.
Unmotivated. But I stayed
committed. Slow progress
is still progress. I kept going.
And that’s what matters.
May 29, 2025 at 11:35 PM
I didn’t get here overnight.
There were days I could
barely move. Days I felt stuck.
Unmotivated. But I stayed
committed. Slow progress
is still progress. I kept going.
And that’s what matters.
There were days I could
barely move. Days I felt stuck.
Unmotivated. But I stayed
committed. Slow progress
is still progress. I kept going.
And that’s what matters.
Reposted
🧵 1/ Not enough people are linking Reform & MAGA.
It’s time to correct that by talking about Nigel Farage, MAGA money, and a US PR firm with direct ties to Bannon.
It’s not patriotism and pints it’s a shared plan and international far-right coordination.
Grab a cup of tea and strap in👇
It’s time to correct that by talking about Nigel Farage, MAGA money, and a US PR firm with direct ties to Bannon.
It’s not patriotism and pints it’s a shared plan and international far-right coordination.
Grab a cup of tea and strap in👇
May 29, 2025 at 4:13 PM
🧵 1/ Not enough people are linking Reform & MAGA.
It’s time to correct that by talking about Nigel Farage, MAGA money, and a US PR firm with direct ties to Bannon.
It’s not patriotism and pints it’s a shared plan and international far-right coordination.
Grab a cup of tea and strap in👇
It’s time to correct that by talking about Nigel Farage, MAGA money, and a US PR firm with direct ties to Bannon.
It’s not patriotism and pints it’s a shared plan and international far-right coordination.
Grab a cup of tea and strap in👇
Reposted
@stuzipants.bsky.social must be true it's on the Internet
May 29, 2025 at 5:38 PM
@stuzipants.bsky.social must be true it's on the Internet
Reposted
Well said indeed.
Keir Starmer is my MP. This is the letter I wrote to him today.
Subject: Island of Strangers?
Mr Starmer,
Let me tell you about this ‘stranger’.
Subject: Island of Strangers?
Mr Starmer,
Let me tell you about this ‘stranger’.
May 15, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Well said indeed.
Reposted
Bylines Cymru’s Henry Morris satirises Musk’s successful “Coup Klux Klan” /1
@bylines.cymru
@bylines.cymru
The Papua New Guinea Courier’s overseas correspondent on America’s Coup Klux Klan
To America, where Elon Musk – the world’s most economically wealthy and spiritually impoverished man – is staging a coup
bylines.cymru
April 30, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Bylines Cymru’s Henry Morris satirises Musk’s successful “Coup Klux Klan” /1
@bylines.cymru
@bylines.cymru
Reposted
🚨TARIFFS🚨
Here's a story that tells you lots about the reality of tariffs: both for those paying them & those hoping to benefit from them.
A story of ships, storms, bad luck and bad policy.
It begins a week and a bit ago, with a man frantically refreshing his web browser...
Here's a story that tells you lots about the reality of tariffs: both for those paying them & those hoping to benefit from them.
A story of ships, storms, bad luck and bad policy.
It begins a week and a bit ago, with a man frantically refreshing his web browser...
March 21, 2025 at 11:09 AM
🚨TARIFFS🚨
Here's a story that tells you lots about the reality of tariffs: both for those paying them & those hoping to benefit from them.
A story of ships, storms, bad luck and bad policy.
It begins a week and a bit ago, with a man frantically refreshing his web browser...
Here's a story that tells you lots about the reality of tariffs: both for those paying them & those hoping to benefit from them.
A story of ships, storms, bad luck and bad policy.
It begins a week and a bit ago, with a man frantically refreshing his web browser...
Reposted
All sorts of debate around Donald Trump's chaotic actions.
What is the master of the "art of the deal" up to?
What's his strategy?
What's his thinking?
Alternative hypothesis - what if he's just dangerously stupid?
Welcome to Carlo Cipolla's 5 Basic Laws of Human Stupidity:
What is the master of the "art of the deal" up to?
What's his strategy?
What's his thinking?
Alternative hypothesis - what if he's just dangerously stupid?
Welcome to Carlo Cipolla's 5 Basic Laws of Human Stupidity:
March 12, 2025 at 10:33 PM
All sorts of debate around Donald Trump's chaotic actions.
What is the master of the "art of the deal" up to?
What's his strategy?
What's his thinking?
Alternative hypothesis - what if he's just dangerously stupid?
Welcome to Carlo Cipolla's 5 Basic Laws of Human Stupidity:
What is the master of the "art of the deal" up to?
What's his strategy?
What's his thinking?
Alternative hypothesis - what if he's just dangerously stupid?
Welcome to Carlo Cipolla's 5 Basic Laws of Human Stupidity:
Reposted
“The last heavyweight leader of the party was Margaret Thatcher, ironically also the leader who has ultimately destroyed it.”
So observes Pecksniff, East Anglia Bylines’ acerbic political diarist in his last of the year. Read this and other snippets from him here ⤵️
So observes Pecksniff, East Anglia Bylines’ acerbic political diarist in his last of the year. Read this and other snippets from him here ⤵️
Pecksniff: The Tories’ brave new world: scrap workers’ rights
In which Mr Pecksniff lays before his readers for their approval certain observations and speculations reflecting on the political life
eastangliabylines.co.uk
December 22, 2024 at 10:39 AM
“The last heavyweight leader of the party was Margaret Thatcher, ironically also the leader who has ultimately destroyed it.”
So observes Pecksniff, East Anglia Bylines’ acerbic political diarist in his last of the year. Read this and other snippets from him here ⤵️
So observes Pecksniff, East Anglia Bylines’ acerbic political diarist in his last of the year. Read this and other snippets from him here ⤵️
Reposted
The first rule of Pedant's Club is that if anyone else ever joins, I'm going to have to move that apostrophe.
December 18, 2024 at 10:54 AM
The first rule of Pedant's Club is that if anyone else ever joins, I'm going to have to move that apostrophe.
Reposted
Y'days post: The politics of stupid mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-...
If believing that doing what right wing populists ask for will reduce populism’s appeal is dumb, then aping what they say is worse still. It misinforms the public in a way that helps the populist!
If believing that doing what right wing populists ask for will reduce populism’s appeal is dumb, then aping what they say is worse still. It misinforms the public in a way that helps the populist!
The politics of stupid
I had a conversation on social media recently that went a bit like this (and I’m paraphrasing): ‘I want massive reductions in immigrat...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com
December 11, 2024 at 9:56 AM
Y'days post: The politics of stupid mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-...
If believing that doing what right wing populists ask for will reduce populism’s appeal is dumb, then aping what they say is worse still. It misinforms the public in a way that helps the populist!
If believing that doing what right wing populists ask for will reduce populism’s appeal is dumb, then aping what they say is worse still. It misinforms the public in a way that helps the populist!
Reposted
I want to tell a story. In 2023, I was leaked never-before-seen interrogation videos re: the bribery and fraud case of Benjamin Netanyahu. The tapes shed light on Bibi's corruption - from expensive gifts to the way he has ruthlessly embarked on a forever war in Gaza. I asked Alexis Bloom...
December 4, 2024 at 3:24 AM
I want to tell a story. In 2023, I was leaked never-before-seen interrogation videos re: the bribery and fraud case of Benjamin Netanyahu. The tapes shed light on Bibi's corruption - from expensive gifts to the way he has ruthlessly embarked on a forever war in Gaza. I asked Alexis Bloom...
Reposted
🔴The Sheer Scale of the Conservative Local Government Auditing Scandal Is Only Now Becoming Clear
Billions of pounds in spending remains unaccounted for, with the National Audit Office unable to sign off the nation’s accounts, reports @davidhencke.bsky.social
bylinetimes.com/2024/11/27/t...
Billions of pounds in spending remains unaccounted for, with the National Audit Office unable to sign off the nation’s accounts, reports @davidhencke.bsky.social
bylinetimes.com/2024/11/27/t...
The Sheer Scale of the Conservative Local Government Auditing Scandal Is Only Now Becoming Clear
Billions of pounds in spending remains unaccounted for, with the National Audit Office unable to sign off the nation's accounts
bylinetimes.com
November 27, 2024 at 8:58 AM
🔴The Sheer Scale of the Conservative Local Government Auditing Scandal Is Only Now Becoming Clear
Billions of pounds in spending remains unaccounted for, with the National Audit Office unable to sign off the nation’s accounts, reports @davidhencke.bsky.social
bylinetimes.com/2024/11/27/t...
Billions of pounds in spending remains unaccounted for, with the National Audit Office unable to sign off the nation’s accounts, reports @davidhencke.bsky.social
bylinetimes.com/2024/11/27/t...