Tom Blackburn
@tomblackburn.bsky.social
You wouldn't even know the sun was up unless there was a press release on it
ICYMI
Wrote this for Tribune on the new left party, its prospects, tasks and challenges:
The unpopularity of Keir Starmer’s reactionary Labour government has created a generational opportunity in British politics. Rebuilding the Left will be difficult — but this could be a start.
August 15, 2025 at 11:27 AM
ICYMI
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
Based on sign-ups, the new Corbyn-Sultana party may soon have the largest membership base of any political party in the country. Read Tom Blackburn on the new left-wing party.
Party Time
The unpopularity of Keir Starmer’s reactionary Labour government has created a generational opportunity in British politics. Rebuilding the Left will be difficult — but this could be a start.
tribunemag.co.uk
August 14, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Based on sign-ups, the new Corbyn-Sultana party may soon have the largest membership base of any political party in the country. Read Tom Blackburn on the new left-wing party.
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
The U.K. Online Safety Act was (avowedly, as revealed in a recent High Court case) “not primarily aimed at protecting children” but at regulating “services that have a significant influence over public discourse.”
August 15, 2025 at 7:14 AM
The U.K. Online Safety Act was (avowedly, as revealed in a recent High Court case) “not primarily aimed at protecting children” but at regulating “services that have a significant influence over public discourse.”
Starmer and McSweeney are zealots and they're killing that party
Westminster Voting Intention:
RFM: 31% (-1)
LAB: 19% (-1)
CON: 19% (+3)
LDM: 12% (=)
GRN: 10% (+1)
Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 13-14 Aug.
Changes w/ 6 Aug.
RFM: 31% (-1)
LAB: 19% (-1)
CON: 19% (+3)
LDM: 12% (=)
GRN: 10% (+1)
Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 13-14 Aug.
Changes w/ 6 Aug.
August 14, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Starmer and McSweeney are zealots and they're killing that party
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
Wrote this for Tribune on the new left party, its prospects, tasks and challenges:
The unpopularity of Keir Starmer’s reactionary Labour government has created a generational opportunity in British politics. Rebuilding the Left will be difficult — but this could be a start.
Party Time
The unpopularity of Keir Starmer’s reactionary Labour government has created a generational opportunity in British politics. Rebuilding the Left will be difficult — but this could be a start.
tribunemag.co.uk
August 14, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Wrote this for Tribune on the new left party, its prospects, tasks and challenges:
Wrote this for Tribune on the new left party, its prospects, tasks and challenges:
The unpopularity of Keir Starmer’s reactionary Labour government has created a generational opportunity in British politics. Rebuilding the Left will be difficult — but this could be a start.
Party Time
The unpopularity of Keir Starmer’s reactionary Labour government has created a generational opportunity in British politics. Rebuilding the Left will be difficult — but this could be a start.
tribunemag.co.uk
August 14, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Wrote this for Tribune on the new left party, its prospects, tasks and challenges:
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
Robustly listening to Joy Division to signal my commitment to lawful speech while shaking my head to show I disapprove on the grounds of taste
Its lawful speech to have an offensive/shock value band name like "Kneecap". I would disapprove of calling a band Kneecap, Suicide Vest, Lynch Mob, Pogrom, Nail Bomb, or Punishment Beating or White Hoods on taste/ethics. I guess Guillotine or Executioner/Hangman might be more defensible in context.
June 30, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Robustly listening to Joy Division to signal my commitment to lawful speech while shaking my head to show I disapprove on the grounds of taste
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
I wrote this on Tony Benn's life, ideas, career and legacy to mark his centenary:
Having been vilified and spied on when he was an active politician, Tony Benn was patronizingly dismissed in his later years.
A new collection of Benn’s writings shows why his democratic socialist vision was such a powerful threat to the status quo.
A new collection of Benn’s writings shows why his democratic socialist vision was such a powerful threat to the status quo.
The British Establishment Still Fears the Ideas of Tony Benn
Having been vilified and spied on when he was an active politician, Tony Benn was patronizingly dismissed in his later years. A new collection of Benn’s writings shows why his democratic socialist vision was such a powerful threat to the status quo.
jacobin.com
June 28, 2025 at 11:03 AM
I wrote this on Tony Benn's life, ideas, career and legacy to mark his centenary:
I wrote this on Tony Benn's life, ideas, career and legacy to mark his centenary:
Having been vilified and spied on when he was an active politician, Tony Benn was patronizingly dismissed in his later years.
A new collection of Benn’s writings shows why his democratic socialist vision was such a powerful threat to the status quo.
A new collection of Benn’s writings shows why his democratic socialist vision was such a powerful threat to the status quo.
The British Establishment Still Fears the Ideas of Tony Benn
Having been vilified and spied on when he was an active politician, Tony Benn was patronizingly dismissed in his later years. A new collection of Benn’s writings shows why his democratic socialist vision was such a powerful threat to the status quo.
jacobin.com
June 28, 2025 at 11:03 AM
I wrote this on Tony Benn's life, ideas, career and legacy to mark his centenary:
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
I have to say, if you need proof that there is absolutely no basis for ever allying with liberals, all you need to do is read this thread. The levels of mutual hatred between the left and the centre are *staggering* and only getting more intense with every day.
I'm seeing a lot more of my far left friends posting things like "both parties aren't the same after all" and "there are meaningful ideological divisions even amongst capital/the right/etc". which is good! We should move with the times. but I'm seeing less contrition about it than I'd hope
April 18, 2025 at 4:38 PM
I have to say, if you need proof that there is absolutely no basis for ever allying with liberals, all you need to do is read this thread. The levels of mutual hatred between the left and the centre are *staggering* and only getting more intense with every day.
It really is the world's town square
March 27, 2025 at 2:39 PM
It really is the world's town square
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
Worth your time:
“Leaving the means of production firmly in private hands was precisely what enabled capital to unpick Labourist reforms when a crisis of sufficient magnitude presented the opportunity.”
“Leaving the means of production firmly in private hands was precisely what enabled capital to unpick Labourist reforms when a crisis of sufficient magnitude presented the opportunity.”
March 14, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Worth your time:
“Leaving the means of production firmly in private hands was precisely what enabled capital to unpick Labourist reforms when a crisis of sufficient magnitude presented the opportunity.”
“Leaving the means of production firmly in private hands was precisely what enabled capital to unpick Labourist reforms when a crisis of sufficient magnitude presented the opportunity.”
Profoundly repulsive
March 16, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Profoundly repulsive
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
It's been 15 years since Tony Judt's Ill Fares the Land was first published, so I wrote this for New Socialist on how the book still stands up (not well) newsocialist.org.uk/the-last-soc...
The Last Social Democrat
by Tom Blackburn // <p>Tony Judt’s <em>Ill Fares the Land</em>, 15 years on</p>
newsocialist.org.uk
March 15, 2025 at 10:24 AM
It's been 15 years since Tony Judt's Ill Fares the Land was first published, so I wrote this for New Socialist on how the book still stands up (not well) newsocialist.org.uk/the-last-soc...
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
An update on what we've published this week, featuring
Lauren Taylor & @tomblackburn.bsky.social, some other recent pieces, featuring @garethwatkins.bsky.social & Ravachol Mutt, and some brief thoughts on @redpeppermag.bsky.social www.patreon.com/posts/124433...
Lauren Taylor & @tomblackburn.bsky.social, some other recent pieces, featuring @garethwatkins.bsky.social & Ravachol Mutt, and some brief thoughts on @redpeppermag.bsky.social www.patreon.com/posts/124433...
This Week on New Socialist | New Socialist
Get more from New Socialist on Patreon
www.patreon.com
March 15, 2025 at 5:52 PM
An update on what we've published this week, featuring
Lauren Taylor & @tomblackburn.bsky.social, some other recent pieces, featuring @garethwatkins.bsky.social & Ravachol Mutt, and some brief thoughts on @redpeppermag.bsky.social www.patreon.com/posts/124433...
Lauren Taylor & @tomblackburn.bsky.social, some other recent pieces, featuring @garethwatkins.bsky.social & Ravachol Mutt, and some brief thoughts on @redpeppermag.bsky.social www.patreon.com/posts/124433...
It's been 15 years since Tony Judt's Ill Fares the Land was first published, so I wrote this for New Socialist on how the book still stands up (not well) newsocialist.org.uk/the-last-soc...
The Last Social Democrat
by Tom Blackburn // <p>Tony Judt’s <em>Ill Fares the Land</em>, 15 years on</p>
newsocialist.org.uk
March 15, 2025 at 10:24 AM
It's been 15 years since Tony Judt's Ill Fares the Land was first published, so I wrote this for New Socialist on how the book still stands up (not well) newsocialist.org.uk/the-last-soc...
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
ok sorry . my lawyer has advised me to say that drinking israeli diarrhea is good actually no matter how many kindergartners they murked
March 13, 2025 at 9:45 PM
ok sorry . my lawyer has advised me to say that drinking israeli diarrhea is good actually no matter how many kindergartners they murked
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
Starmer taking money away from the sick, elderly and disabled so he can hand it over to ultra-reactionary American military-industrial companies with links to the Trump administration.
Look forward to seeing liberal journalists describe this as a Masterful Gambit
Look forward to seeing liberal journalists describe this as a Masterful Gambit
🔴 NEW: UK’s £32m Investment in Peter Thiel-backed Autonomous Weapons Firm Revealed Amid Deepening Ties to Trump Administration.
Me, for @bylinetimes.bsky.social:
bylinetimes.com/2025/03/05/u...
Me, for @bylinetimes.bsky.social:
bylinetimes.com/2025/03/05/u...
UK's £32m Investment in Peter Thiel-backed Autonomous Weapons Firm Revealed Amid Deepening Ties to Trump Administration
The contracts, seen by Byline Times, include £7 million for a fleet of near silent 'ghost drones'
bylinetimes.com
March 6, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Starmer taking money away from the sick, elderly and disabled so he can hand it over to ultra-reactionary American military-industrial companies with links to the Trump administration.
Look forward to seeing liberal journalists describe this as a Masterful Gambit
Look forward to seeing liberal journalists describe this as a Masterful Gambit
Review coming soonish
February 28, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Review coming soonish
Pointless discussing this on the other place (unless you want to be bombarded by statue pfp Nazis) but I've always thought reactionaries hate Brutalism's functions - as public housing, universities etc - more than its aesthetic, and that it has the temerity to be unapologetic and strident about them
February 22, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Pointless discussing this on the other place (unless you want to be bombarded by statue pfp Nazis) but I've always thought reactionaries hate Brutalism's functions - as public housing, universities etc - more than its aesthetic, and that it has the temerity to be unapologetic and strident about them
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
I've reviewed Brigitte Studer's masterful recent history of the Comintern and the "professional revolutionaries" who dedicated their lives to its service, 'Travellers Of The World Revolution' (@versobooks.bsky.social) for @jacobinmag.bsky.social.
jacobin.com/2025/02/comi...
jacobin.com/2025/02/comi...
The Communist International’s Failure Still Haunts the Left
Although it ended in tragic defeat, the Communist International was one of the most ambitious exercises in transnational political activism ever conceived. Its rise and fall gives us a crucial window ...
jacobin.com
February 21, 2025 at 12:03 PM
I've reviewed Brigitte Studer's masterful recent history of the Comintern and the "professional revolutionaries" who dedicated their lives to its service, 'Travellers Of The World Revolution' (@versobooks.bsky.social) for @jacobinmag.bsky.social.
jacobin.com/2025/02/comi...
jacobin.com/2025/02/comi...
Reposted by Tom Blackburn
Every member of the Cabinet has some kind of competition going on for who can be the most reactionary and regressive.
Protests and boycotts are killing off the arts in Britain | Lisa Nandy www.independent.co.uk/voices/lisa-...
Lisa Nandy: Protests and boycotts are killing off the arts
The arts are central to our chance to live richer, larger lives – but they’re at risk from self-defeating virtue signalling that has become a feature of our times, says culture secretary Lisa Nandy
www.independent.co.uk
February 21, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Every member of the Cabinet has some kind of competition going on for who can be the most reactionary and regressive.
Social murder in a red rosette
C4News, "People are disappointed that Labour are continuing with the £3 billion of cuts that the Conservative government committed to regarding disability benefits. Will some disabled people lose access to those benefits?"
Disability Minister Stephen Timms, "Yes"
Disability Minister Stephen Timms, "Yes"
February 21, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Social murder in a red rosette
