Tom Farrell
@tomfarrellpm.bsky.social
Adopted Scouser. Grew up in Africa with Americans. Studied Politics & International Relations with a focus on Global Security. Arsenal fan. Views my own.
Reposted by Tom Farrell
And I think liberals should stop taking the bait and ceding ground on immigration.
Immigration is good. Multiculturalism is good. Free trade is good. Stop being embarrassed to say so.
Immigration is good. Multiculturalism is good. Free trade is good. Stop being embarrassed to say so.
December 31, 2025 at 11:31 PM
And I think liberals should stop taking the bait and ceding ground on immigration.
Immigration is good. Multiculturalism is good. Free trade is good. Stop being embarrassed to say so.
Immigration is good. Multiculturalism is good. Free trade is good. Stop being embarrassed to say so.
Reposted by Tom Farrell
Important point: university isn't just for posh kids; Erasmus+ gives non-posh kids same chance as posh kids to study abroad, which they otherwise wdn't have; & covers vocational & other non-university training & education exchanges. And if more students come to the UK, that increases UK soft power.
I wish the Brexit dinosaurs would stop this "Erasmus is for posh kids" crap. Half the young population goes to university, these days, in UK and most of EU. And most of the half that doesn't is also eligible for Erasmus+, which covers schools, further education, adult learners and in-work training.
December 18, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Important point: university isn't just for posh kids; Erasmus+ gives non-posh kids same chance as posh kids to study abroad, which they otherwise wdn't have; & covers vocational & other non-university training & education exchanges. And if more students come to the UK, that increases UK soft power.
Reposted by Tom Farrell
A “Reform vs Not Reform” strategy is only going to work for Labour if they are seen as credibly “not Reform” by LD/Green curious voters. Every hardline intervention on immigration weakens that credibility but without persuading Reform curious voters.
December 12, 2025 at 12:35 PM
A “Reform vs Not Reform” strategy is only going to work for Labour if they are seen as credibly “not Reform” by LD/Green curious voters. Every hardline intervention on immigration weakens that credibility but without persuading Reform curious voters.
Reposted by Tom Farrell
‘The challenge of bloc politics is primarily around maximising strength within your own bloc… while staying moderate enough to avoid scaring voters in the other bloc into coordinating themselves more effectively & turning out in higher numbers.’ @samfr.bsky.social
samf.substack.com/p/six-lesson...
samf.substack.com/p/six-lesson...
Six lessons from the 2024 election
And what they mean for the next one
samf.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:49 AM
‘The challenge of bloc politics is primarily around maximising strength within your own bloc… while staying moderate enough to avoid scaring voters in the other bloc into coordinating themselves more effectively & turning out in higher numbers.’ @samfr.bsky.social
samf.substack.com/p/six-lesson...
samf.substack.com/p/six-lesson...
Reposted by Tom Farrell
If people become insecure, we find they’re three times more likely to desert Labour than if they become more concerned about immigration. Around one-third of Britons felt economically insecure as of April 2025.
Focusing on immigration is a ‘red herring’ when financial security is so foundational.
Focusing on immigration is a ‘red herring’ when financial security is so foundational.
November 24, 2025 at 11:02 AM
If people become insecure, we find they’re three times more likely to desert Labour than if they become more concerned about immigration. Around one-third of Britons felt economically insecure as of April 2025.
Focusing on immigration is a ‘red herring’ when financial security is so foundational.
Focusing on immigration is a ‘red herring’ when financial security is so foundational.
Reposted by Tom Farrell
Utterly surreal that a key part of the pre Budget narrative from the government hasn’t been ‘Russian planes keep buzzing the Essex coast, US support for NATO is looking shaky, and thanks to the Tories our army fits in Old Trafford - that’s why we need to raise taxes’.
November 26, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Utterly surreal that a key part of the pre Budget narrative from the government hasn’t been ‘Russian planes keep buzzing the Essex coast, US support for NATO is looking shaky, and thanks to the Tories our army fits in Old Trafford - that’s why we need to raise taxes’.
Reposted by Tom Farrell
If every leak were 'the Chancellor wants to do three big fiscal consolidations in her 2024, 2025 and 2026 budgets, so that by 2029 debt, interest rates, NHS waiting lists and the court backlog will be falling'....fine and good!
November 25, 2025 at 5:01 PM
If every leak were 'the Chancellor wants to do three big fiscal consolidations in her 2024, 2025 and 2026 budgets, so that by 2029 debt, interest rates, NHS waiting lists and the court backlog will be falling'....fine and good!
Reposted by Tom Farrell
The obvious best reply is to launch an EU-Ukraine negotiated peace deal w a return to 2000 borders and that Russia disarms and gives up its nukes
FT: 'The Trump administration has told Ukrainian and European officials there is little room to negotiate on its plan to end Russia’s war. "We are not negotiating details", US army secretary Daniel Driscoll told European ambassadors and western officials at a volatile meeting in Kyiv late on Friday.
November 22, 2025 at 10:36 AM
The obvious best reply is to launch an EU-Ukraine negotiated peace deal w a return to 2000 borders and that Russia disarms and gives up its nukes
Reposted by Tom Farrell
I just revisited Tony Blair's 'forces of conservativism' conference speech in 1999 - two years into office. It's such a clear headed narration that balances people's continued frustration and what the government had delivered.
November 17, 2025 at 12:35 AM
I just revisited Tony Blair's 'forces of conservativism' conference speech in 1999 - two years into office. It's such a clear headed narration that balances people's continued frustration and what the government had delivered.
Reposted by Tom Farrell
The Prime Minister said in September that we are at a fork in the road. These asylum proposals suggest we have taken the wrong turning.
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Asylum system in UK ‘out of control’ and dividing country, home secretary says
Shabana Mahmood to unveil new proposals modelled on Denmark’s controversial system
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
The Prime Minister said in September that we are at a fork in the road. These asylum proposals suggest we have taken the wrong turning.
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Tom Farrell
Once again for those at the back - morally repugnant, politically catastrophic. It won't work, won't happen and will lose Labour even more support. Masterful.
Shabana Mahmood has vowed to end Britain’s “golden ticket” for asylum seekers by forcing people arriving illegally to wait 20 years before they can apply for permanent settlement
Shabana Mahmood: ‘Illegal migration is tearing Britain apart’
The home secretary is planning to introduce a 20-year wait for permanent stay to end a ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers
www.thetimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Once again for those at the back - morally repugnant, politically catastrophic. It won't work, won't happen and will lose Labour even more support. Masterful.
Reposted by Tom Farrell
I didn't say Trump is easy to beat. Presidential races are now close due to increasing partisan polarization. I said that Trump, the most unpopular president on record, is a bad politician who has been carried by external factors and, per data, has underperformed relative to normal Republicans.
Generally the dumbest political analysis you’ll ever see this deep into the Trump years will be from someone claiming “Trump is easy to beat”
Insane disqualifying cope to say he is a bad politician. How many times do you need to see him survive several things every week that would destroy every other politician’s career? External factors/bad opposition can’t explain that.
November 7, 2025 at 5:40 AM
I didn't say Trump is easy to beat. Presidential races are now close due to increasing partisan polarization. I said that Trump, the most unpopular president on record, is a bad politician who has been carried by external factors and, per data, has underperformed relative to normal Republicans.
Reposted by Tom Farrell
“every time theres a republican president the economy collapses” feels like pretty easy messaging on the economy
Congrats to everyone who put Republicans in charge "for the economy," the first three quarters of 2025 already had more layoffs than any of the years in which Biden or Obama was President except 2009 (when Dems were still cleaning up the prior Republican mess).
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
November 3, 2025 at 12:39 PM
“every time theres a republican president the economy collapses” feels like pretty easy messaging on the economy
Reposted by Tom Farrell
If Labour cannot denounce mass deportation of permanent residents, Idi Amin style, what is the point of them?
October 20, 2025 at 8:21 PM
If Labour cannot denounce mass deportation of permanent residents, Idi Amin style, what is the point of them?
On Labour's immigration announcement this afternoon...
Things it won't do...
- tangibly reduce immigration by the 2029 General Election
Things it will do...
- harm Labour's growth prospects
- continue to raise the salience on migration
- normalize the migration policy of Labour's main rivals
😬
Things it won't do...
- tangibly reduce immigration by the 2029 General Election
Things it will do...
- harm Labour's growth prospects
- continue to raise the salience on migration
- normalize the migration policy of Labour's main rivals
😬
In addition to the normative points, I am once again tapping the sign marked 'net immigration to the UK in 2029 will still be, in relative terms, very high, and the government needs to have a position that allows it to defend what the Actually Existing UK looks like'.
Just fuck off with this. How about start the conversation by highlighting how much immigrants contribute to the UK - not least by propping up the NHS and social care system!
Also - forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour.
Also - forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour.
September 29, 2025 at 5:28 PM
On Labour's immigration announcement this afternoon...
Things it won't do...
- tangibly reduce immigration by the 2029 General Election
Things it will do...
- harm Labour's growth prospects
- continue to raise the salience on migration
- normalize the migration policy of Labour's main rivals
😬
Things it won't do...
- tangibly reduce immigration by the 2029 General Election
Things it will do...
- harm Labour's growth prospects
- continue to raise the salience on migration
- normalize the migration policy of Labour's main rivals
😬
Reposted by Tom Farrell
Is it a surprise that voters question what Starmer really believes in when he says <picture 1> in the evening after having said <picture 2> in the morning?
September 26, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Is it a surprise that voters question what Starmer really believes in when he says <picture 1> in the evening after having said <picture 2> in the morning?
Reposted by Tom Farrell
A rally organised by Tommy Robinson should be a slam dunk for a Labour government.
Most people will recognise it as being led by the far right (and will not identify themselves as such). Violence is predictable too.
The PMs and ministers should have been ready to respond immediately.
Most people will recognise it as being led by the far right (and will not identify themselves as such). Violence is predictable too.
The PMs and ministers should have been ready to respond immediately.
September 14, 2025 at 12:53 PM
A rally organised by Tommy Robinson should be a slam dunk for a Labour government.
Most people will recognise it as being led by the far right (and will not identify themselves as such). Violence is predictable too.
The PMs and ministers should have been ready to respond immediately.
Most people will recognise it as being led by the far right (and will not identify themselves as such). Violence is predictable too.
The PMs and ministers should have been ready to respond immediately.
Reposted by Tom Farrell
Reposted by Tom Farrell
A Manifesto for Starmerism 2.0
What's the big idea? I have an answer.
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
September 5, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Reposted by Tom Farrell
Farage is there for the taking. He's not popular. His policies poll atrociously. His mates are detested. Everyone would *hate* his actions once in office. Almost everything he says is false. He lives in a fantasy world. Demographically, he's pushing water uphill. Just needs someone to get at him.
September 3, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Farage is there for the taking. He's not popular. His policies poll atrociously. His mates are detested. Everyone would *hate* his actions once in office. Almost everything he says is false. He lives in a fantasy world. Demographically, he's pushing water uphill. Just needs someone to get at him.
Reposted by Tom Farrell
It took a huge amount of work for Labour to get people to stop bringing up Salisbury in focus groups (didn’t vanish until *2023*). If your political opponent gives you an opportunity to attack them on national security: take it!
August 31, 2025 at 5:21 PM
It took a huge amount of work for Labour to get people to stop bringing up Salisbury in focus groups (didn’t vanish until *2023*). If your political opponent gives you an opportunity to attack them on national security: take it!
Reposted by Tom Farrell
Labour should brand its polices and programmes like Apple brands its features.
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/an-apple-a...
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/an-apple-a...
August 29, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Labour should brand its polices and programmes like Apple brands its features.
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/an-apple-a...
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/an-apple-a...
Reposted by Tom Farrell
It's a simple choice. Would you rather learn from the New Labour government, which won successively, or the governments of the old right, which could win one-off victories against knackered Conservative governments but could not sustain themselves in power?
August 26, 2025 at 12:49 PM
It's a simple choice. Would you rather learn from the New Labour government, which won successively, or the governments of the old right, which could win one-off victories against knackered Conservative governments but could not sustain themselves in power?