Tom King
@tallgeekychap.bsky.social
Seeking a future that isn't the end-point of where we are.
I believe in a more generous society: generoussociety.com
Political consultant running a small firm after many years of working for others.
I believe in a more generous society: generoussociety.com
Political consultant running a small firm after many years of working for others.
Pinned
Many people are saying the BBC's news values are a bit skew-whiff.
Reposted by Tom King
I do like how, in the bit of Prescott's memo where he criticises the BBC for editing together different parts of Trump's speech, his own quote of "what Trump actually said" is... edited together from different parts of his speech.
November 10, 2025 at 9:45 AM
I do like how, in the bit of Prescott's memo where he criticises the BBC for editing together different parts of Trump's speech, his own quote of "what Trump actually said" is... edited together from different parts of his speech.
You'll never guess what county the people who created this are from.
‘A new service called Objector is offering “policy-backed objections in minutes” to people who are upset about planning applications near their homes.’
Another reminder that AI can be used for things you don’t like as well as things you like…
Another reminder that AI can be used for things you don’t like as well as things you like…
Bloody hell www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
November 10, 2025 at 9:36 AM
You'll never guess what county the people who created this are from.
Reposted by Tom King
By my reading, it's hard to remember a more scandalous example of a social media company being negligent in their responsibility to users. It's so so bad, and deeper investigation and regulatory action must surely follow.
This piece suggests Meta is dragging its heels on reducing the (very large) number of scam ads on its services because they're concerned it will materially hurt revenue (the article estimates they make as much as $16bn a year from scam ads)
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:13 PM
By my reading, it's hard to remember a more scandalous example of a social media company being negligent in their responsibility to users. It's so so bad, and deeper investigation and regulatory action must surely follow.
It's a great song, but I cannot get over the fact that one of the long drawn out notes he sings sounds painfully flat to my ear. I am conscious this is disputed.
November 4, 2025 at 11:40 AM
It's a great song, but I cannot get over the fact that one of the long drawn out notes he sings sounds painfully flat to my ear. I am conscious this is disputed.
Brb, sending this to everyone I know
This New Yorker documentary about the 1988 UK government ban on broadcasting the voices of Sinn Féin and I.R.A. leaders is pretty good but they show *that clip from The Day Today with no explanation and no indicator that it is satire.
www.newyorker.com/video/watch/...
www.newyorker.com/video/watch/...
The Ban
www.newyorker.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Brb, sending this to everyone I know
Nigel Farage is currently giving a speech that is solely about defending the right of wealthy City boys and their international, borderless non-dom overlords to do whatever they want, whenever they want.
He wants them all to come back to London, a place where you apparently can't wear a watch.
He wants them all to come back to London, a place where you apparently can't wear a watch.
November 3, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Nigel Farage is currently giving a speech that is solely about defending the right of wealthy City boys and their international, borderless non-dom overlords to do whatever they want, whenever they want.
He wants them all to come back to London, a place where you apparently can't wear a watch.
He wants them all to come back to London, a place where you apparently can't wear a watch.
Reposted by Tom King
Rest In Peace Lia Smith.
You deserved a whole, full, beautiful life.
You deserved a whole, full, beautiful life.
Transgender Student-Athlete Lia Smith Remembered as a Friend and Fierce Advocate — Assigned
Lia Smith, a 21-year-old trans student-athlete in Vermont, took her own life last week. Her friends, family and community mourn, and remember her as a bright young woman who spoke on behalf of her com...
www.assignedmedia.org
October 29, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Rest In Peace Lia Smith.
You deserved a whole, full, beautiful life.
You deserved a whole, full, beautiful life.
Yes. Imagine what George Osborne would do to enable middle class tax cuts, then do it in reverse.
Increasingly I think the point of a wealth tax is not to raise money but to create space for raising income tax. The lethal thing in politics is when the compliant middle class feels like they have been taken for mugs; if you want to get money out of them, someone else needs to pay more too.
October 29, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Yes. Imagine what George Osborne would do to enable middle class tax cuts, then do it in reverse.
A lot of people asking whether the US's dictator will run for a third term are asking questions already answered by the US's dictator
Trump on running for a third term: "I would love to do it."
Q: "You're not ruling out a third term?"
Trump: "Am I not ruling it out? You'll have to tell me."
Q: "You're not ruling out a third term?"
Trump: "Am I not ruling it out? You'll have to tell me."
October 27, 2025 at 12:34 PM
A lot of people asking whether the US's dictator will run for a third term are asking questions already answered by the US's dictator
"Don't let MPs buy good office chairs!"
"Don't let people claim sickness disability for injuries incurred in the workplace!"
"Don't let the fact that £30bn represents 150 million office chairs get in the way of a shit headline!"
"Don't let people claim sickness disability for injuries incurred in the workplace!"
"Don't let the fact that £30bn represents 150 million office chairs get in the way of a shit headline!"
October 27, 2025 at 11:17 AM
"Don't let MPs buy good office chairs!"
"Don't let people claim sickness disability for injuries incurred in the workplace!"
"Don't let the fact that £30bn represents 150 million office chairs get in the way of a shit headline!"
"Don't let people claim sickness disability for injuries incurred in the workplace!"
"Don't let the fact that £30bn represents 150 million office chairs get in the way of a shit headline!"
Reposted by Tom King
In the UK, we have a government who will complain about peaceful protests taking up valuable police resources while simultaneously complaining that the police shouldn't ban far right football hooligans with a history of violence and disruption from attending a match.
October 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
In the UK, we have a government who will complain about peaceful protests taking up valuable police resources while simultaneously complaining that the police shouldn't ban far right football hooligans with a history of violence and disruption from attending a match.
Reposted by Tom King
How has the government got itself into the position of standing up for Israeli football hooligans, while criminalising peaceful supporters of Palestine Action?
October 17, 2025 at 2:38 PM
How has the government got itself into the position of standing up for Israeli football hooligans, while criminalising peaceful supporters of Palestine Action?
Reposted by Tom King
BY THE WAY
If you've updated to Windows 11 recently, you're probably on version 25H2.
There's a new setting in Settings: Privacy & Security.
Scroll aaaaaaaalll the way to the bottom and you'll see "Text and Image Generation."
TURN IT OFF.
If you've updated to Windows 11 recently, you're probably on version 25H2.
There's a new setting in Settings: Privacy & Security.
Scroll aaaaaaaalll the way to the bottom and you'll see "Text and Image Generation."
TURN IT OFF.
October 17, 2025 at 12:58 AM
BY THE WAY
If you've updated to Windows 11 recently, you're probably on version 25H2.
There's a new setting in Settings: Privacy & Security.
Scroll aaaaaaaalll the way to the bottom and you'll see "Text and Image Generation."
TURN IT OFF.
If you've updated to Windows 11 recently, you're probably on version 25H2.
There's a new setting in Settings: Privacy & Security.
Scroll aaaaaaaalll the way to the bottom and you'll see "Text and Image Generation."
TURN IT OFF.
Many people are saying the BBC's news values are a bit skew-whiff.
October 16, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Many people are saying the BBC's news values are a bit skew-whiff.
High-level 'reckons' breach
Not really the main point for these witnesses statements but this is unbelievably low grade stuff to be passing on.
Tugendhat did not in fact get a cabinet job and Jeremy Hunt endorsed Rishi Sunak. Did the Chinese realise how crap all this intelligence was?
Tugendhat did not in fact get a cabinet job and Jeremy Hunt endorsed Rishi Sunak. Did the Chinese realise how crap all this intelligence was?
October 16, 2025 at 8:04 AM
High-level 'reckons' breach
Reposted by Tom King
It's really telling that mainstream journalists are doing stuff about the *possibility* of the ADF or the Heritage Foundation starting to influence UK politics, when the reality is that they have been here for years, spending huge quantities of cash and succeeding in areas like trans rights.
"The ADF has chosen Nigel Farage to focus on, building up this ally who has the potential to be a JD Vance-like figure in the future."
Can the Christian group that influenced the overturning of Roe v. Wade bring its extreme views to the UK?
www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/is-n...
Can the Christian group that influenced the overturning of Roe v. Wade bring its extreme views to the UK?
www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/is-n...
Is Nigel Farage being used as a pawn by US Christian extremists? | The News Agents
A New York Times report suggests Nigel Farage is being backed by Alliance Defending Freedom – a conservative Christian group dedicated to rolling back rights of many groups in the US. What does this…
www.thenewsagents.co.uk
October 16, 2025 at 6:02 AM
It's really telling that mainstream journalists are doing stuff about the *possibility* of the ADF or the Heritage Foundation starting to influence UK politics, when the reality is that they have been here for years, spending huge quantities of cash and succeeding in areas like trans rights.
Wasabi (it's just the wrong kind of spicy for me, I'm afraid)
Possession (1981) - once is enough
Happy (Pharrell) - just awful
Possession (1981) - once is enough
Happy (Pharrell) - just awful
Introduce yourself using only one food you refuse to eat, one movie you’ll never watch again, and one song you can’t stand
October 13, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Wasabi (it's just the wrong kind of spicy for me, I'm afraid)
Possession (1981) - once is enough
Happy (Pharrell) - just awful
Possession (1981) - once is enough
Happy (Pharrell) - just awful
Reposted by Tom King
It's bloody exhausting living in grief and fear.
🧵⤵️
Grief because I used to be a citizen of a continent and now I'm trapped on a little island.
Fear because the vast majority of the media and political establishment in the UK are hell-bent on removing the human rights of my loved ones.
🧵⤵️
Grief because I used to be a citizen of a continent and now I'm trapped on a little island.
Fear because the vast majority of the media and political establishment in the UK are hell-bent on removing the human rights of my loved ones.
October 13, 2025 at 10:04 AM
It's bloody exhausting living in grief and fear.
🧵⤵️
Grief because I used to be a citizen of a continent and now I'm trapped on a little island.
Fear because the vast majority of the media and political establishment in the UK are hell-bent on removing the human rights of my loved ones.
🧵⤵️
Grief because I used to be a citizen of a continent and now I'm trapped on a little island.
Fear because the vast majority of the media and political establishment in the UK are hell-bent on removing the human rights of my loved ones.
Labour are incapable of treating people with dignity and sensitivity, because their conception of how society and policy work relies on humans being no more than interchangeable units.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Government to consult on digital IDs for 13-year-olds
There has been a backlash to the announcement a UK-wide digital ID scheme will be introduced by 2029.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 10, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Labour are incapable of treating people with dignity and sensitivity, because their conception of how society and policy work relies on humans being no more than interchangeable units.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Today in "you'll never guess what this is a response to"
We humans have lost so much do to Christianity. We have lost our ability to respect other lives, we've lost our ability to understand the other lives on this planet.
October 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Today in "you'll never guess what this is a response to"
Reposted by Tom King
if you’ve ever watched the apprentice, that’s the world without arts or humanities degrees
October 8, 2025 at 1:12 PM
if you’ve ever watched the apprentice, that’s the world without arts or humanities degrees
I keep thinking about this from @jonnelledge.bsky.social and might have to write about it. It combines so many problems facing the liberal/left of politics:
1) lack of emotive story
2) fear of hypocrisy
3) individualism (morality 'from within')
4) technocratic bias
1) lack of emotive story
2) fear of hypocrisy
3) individualism (morality 'from within')
4) technocratic bias
forgive the double quote tweet, but... I increasingly feel like a big problem is the loss of the language of morality in politics? We're scared of it because awful people have historically used moral condemnation to be awful, but I do feel like you sometimes have to just go "this is just wrong"
It's also worth noting that Torsten Bell - ex of this particular parish - knew this to his core, yet sat there on the flipping tellybox defending NOT lifting it.
If the people who do this research and lobby for this change then go into government and...do nothing...where do we stand? I don't know.
If the people who do this research and lobby for this change then go into government and...do nothing...where do we stand? I don't know.
September 25, 2025 at 1:06 PM
I keep thinking about this from @jonnelledge.bsky.social and might have to write about it. It combines so many problems facing the liberal/left of politics:
1) lack of emotive story
2) fear of hypocrisy
3) individualism (morality 'from within')
4) technocratic bias
1) lack of emotive story
2) fear of hypocrisy
3) individualism (morality 'from within')
4) technocratic bias
Ruin a book with a car
Much Silverado About Nothing
Much Silverado About Nothing
Ruin a book with a car
The 4.50 From Paddington Has Been Cancelled And The Rail Replacement Bus Is Stuck In A Traffic Jam Because Some Idiot In A Porsche Caused A Pileup On the A Road
The 4.50 From Paddington Has Been Cancelled And The Rail Replacement Bus Is Stuck In A Traffic Jam Because Some Idiot In A Porsche Caused A Pileup On the A Road
Ruin a book with a car
Jurassic Parking
Jurassic Parking
September 25, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Ruin a book with a car
Much Silverado About Nothing
Much Silverado About Nothing
Reposted by Tom King
I don’t think that this is just labour people, but, researching attitudes towards minorities for the book I am currently writing, I was surprised how deeply engrained the conviction is among experts & politicians that things could never take a very ugly turn in the UK.
A perilous form of certainty.
A perilous form of certainty.
Quite. So many Labour people on this website visibly have no idea of just how bad things have got for ethnic minorities since they came on, and how their visible indifference lands.
Also frankly I am quite desperate! A party that’s at best ambivalent on the question of whether I’m English and wants to deport my friends is 9 points ahead in the polls and the current leader is floundering and visibly out of his depth!
September 25, 2025 at 9:50 AM
I don’t think that this is just labour people, but, researching attitudes towards minorities for the book I am currently writing, I was surprised how deeply engrained the conviction is among experts & politicians that things could never take a very ugly turn in the UK.
A perilous form of certainty.
A perilous form of certainty.
You have to laugh, or you'll cry, etc.
In his newsletter this week ( open.substack.com/pub/jonn/p/w... ), @jonnelledge.bsky.social recalls of an old viral tweet, pictured below.
Which means I can’t now help but riff on how our current government would respond if Reform said something similar. So let’s imagine. 🧵
Which means I can’t now help but riff on how our current government would respond if Reform said something similar. So let’s imagine. 🧵
September 24, 2025 at 3:41 PM
You have to laugh, or you'll cry, etc.