@tonythecat123.bsky.social
Reposted
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
Reposted
This as not simply populism, it's an extreme assault on public institutions and structures. The last week has been about the BBC, but comes alongside mounting attacks on judicial independence/the European Court of Human Rights. Treating each issue in isolation will see them killed off one by one.
What you’re witnessing is a populist assault on the BBC.
This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
November 10, 2025 at 11:32 AM
This as not simply populism, it's an extreme assault on public institutions and structures. The last week has been about the BBC, but comes alongside mounting attacks on judicial independence/the European Court of Human Rights. Treating each issue in isolation will see them killed off one by one.
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A great point. If you read the UK press, spend time on X and fall prey to elite radicalisation, you can very easily fool yourself into thinking you represent the silent majority when in fact you are an increasingly extreme minority. It's funny when conservatives scold liberals about their "bubbles"
This latest defeat may exemplify a broader ecosystem/bubble problem for the right: so used now to preaching to the converted in media outlets and online that it struggles to understand how this language (the NT as run by or capitulating to "woke terrorists") might be received by the median member
November 9, 2025 at 11:49 AM
A great point. If you read the UK press, spend time on X and fall prey to elite radicalisation, you can very easily fool yourself into thinking you represent the silent majority when in fact you are an increasingly extreme minority. It's funny when conservatives scold liberals about their "bubbles"
Reposted
Incredibly sobering post but do bear this section in mind when you hear Chris Philp and Robert Jenrick getting on their high horse...
November 9, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Incredibly sobering post but do bear this section in mind when you hear Chris Philp and Robert Jenrick getting on their high horse...
Reposted
The UK is not the destination of choice for asylum seekers in Europe, according to the UK Home Office summary of the comparative asylum data.
bsky.app/profile/sund...
bsky.app/profile/sund...
The UK is not the destination of choice for asylum seekers in Europe. It is behind Germany & France and is 17th, or 5th at a stretch, of 28
www.gov.uk/government/s...
www.gov.uk/government/s...
November 7, 2025 at 12:10 PM
The UK is not the destination of choice for asylum seekers in Europe, according to the UK Home Office summary of the comparative asylum data.
bsky.app/profile/sund...
bsky.app/profile/sund...
Reposted
Home Sec describes a widely held public perception (UK is the destination of choice for asylum seekers in Europe) + endorses it as true. Home Office data shows it is not true. Whatever merits of her policy change, should not make false factual claims
www.thesun.co.uk/news/3709465...
www.thesun.co.uk/news/3709465...
Migrants come to Britain because they think we're Europe's most generous country
TODAY’S small boat numbers are shameful, and the British people deserve better. They contain a lesson: we must go further and faster to secure our borders. Under the last Conservative Government, t…
www.thesun.co.uk
October 23, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Home Sec describes a widely held public perception (UK is the destination of choice for asylum seekers in Europe) + endorses it as true. Home Office data shows it is not true. Whatever merits of her policy change, should not make false factual claims
www.thesun.co.uk/news/3709465...
www.thesun.co.uk/news/3709465...
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I have a new blog post out with The UK In A Changing Europe on how lower migration will be bad for the UK economy: ukandeu.ac.uk/lower-migrat...
Lower migration is bad news for the UK economy - UK in a changing Europe
Lauren Gilbert argues that migrants to the UK are net fiscal contributors, adding much more to the economy than they take out, and that the recent collapse in immigration will harm the UK's economic p...
ukandeu.ac.uk
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
I have a new blog post out with The UK In A Changing Europe on how lower migration will be bad for the UK economy: ukandeu.ac.uk/lower-migrat...
Reposted
You mean that Timothy, Colville, Dot O’Brien, Lam and her (hugely insulting) jelly beans and one apparent basis of the anticipated ILR changes all are… completely wrong? Shurely not?
"There is simply no sign of a fiscal catastrophe from the 'Boriswave'. Recent migrants are very likely to be employed, paying tax and seem to be contributing to British society..it will help, rather than hurt, Britain’s fiscal position."
Analysis by @lgilbert.co
ukandeu.ac.uk/lower-migrat...
Analysis by @lgilbert.co
ukandeu.ac.uk/lower-migrat...
Lower migration is bad news for the UK economy - UK in a changing Europe
Lauren Gilbert argues that migrants to the UK are net fiscal contributors, adding much more to the economy than they take out, and that the recent collapse in immigration will harm the UK's economic p...
ukandeu.ac.uk
November 6, 2025 at 4:44 PM
You mean that Timothy, Colville, Dot O’Brien, Lam and her (hugely insulting) jelly beans and one apparent basis of the anticipated ILR changes all are… completely wrong? Shurely not?
Reposted
As context to freeing of an Algerian man, here's some info about HMP Wandsworth, where he was:
• Built for 900 prisoners. Holds 1,600.
• Daily roster of prison officers c.70. Up to 15 staff on long-term sick leave.
• 36% of officers have >3yrs service.
• 12% of prison staff leave *each year*.
• Built for 900 prisoners. Holds 1,600.
• Daily roster of prison officers c.70. Up to 15 staff on long-term sick leave.
• 36% of officers have >3yrs service.
• 12% of prison staff leave *each year*.
November 5, 2025 at 2:10 PM
As context to freeing of an Algerian man, here's some info about HMP Wandsworth, where he was:
• Built for 900 prisoners. Holds 1,600.
• Daily roster of prison officers c.70. Up to 15 staff on long-term sick leave.
• 36% of officers have >3yrs service.
• 12% of prison staff leave *each year*.
• Built for 900 prisoners. Holds 1,600.
• Daily roster of prison officers c.70. Up to 15 staff on long-term sick leave.
• 36% of officers have >3yrs service.
• 12% of prison staff leave *each year*.
Reposted
Embarrassing.
BBC Radio 4 this morning joined Trump in describing Zohran Mamdani as a "radical leftist".
November 5, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Embarrassing.
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What the Tucker/Nick Fuentes fiasco really reveals is that the "white nationalist wing of the GOP" is "a major force within internal GOP politics," says @davidaustinwalsh.bsky.social.
On the pod, David is so good on the GOP's 50-year refusal to police its extremists:
newrepublic.com/article/2026...
On the pod, David is so good on the GOP's 50-year refusal to police its extremists:
newrepublic.com/article/2026...
MAGA Rages at Tucker Carlson after “Nazi” Shocker Reveals Too Much
As Tucker faces criticism for hosting white nationalist Nick Fuentes, an expert on conservatism decodes how this tells the bigger story of the American right’s refusal to police its extremists for the...
newrepublic.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:36 PM
What the Tucker/Nick Fuentes fiasco really reveals is that the "white nationalist wing of the GOP" is "a major force within internal GOP politics," says @davidaustinwalsh.bsky.social.
On the pod, David is so good on the GOP's 50-year refusal to police its extremists:
newrepublic.com/article/2026...
On the pod, David is so good on the GOP's 50-year refusal to police its extremists:
newrepublic.com/article/2026...
Reposted
Reposted
Government's proposals are not as obnoxious as Tories'/Reform. But equally obviouy ill-thought out/confused, and those who wrote them didn't understand them/who they would impact.
And as @robfordmancs.bsky.social has pointed out once explained they are unpopular.
ukandeu.ac.uk/immigration_...
And as @robfordmancs.bsky.social has pointed out once explained they are unpopular.
ukandeu.ac.uk/immigration_...
Immigration is down, should the government be happy? - UK in a changing Europe
Jonathan Portes analyses the latest ONS immigration statistics. He argues that net migration has dropped significantly, but that this will expose the...
ukandeu.ac.uk
October 28, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Government's proposals are not as obnoxious as Tories'/Reform. But equally obviouy ill-thought out/confused, and those who wrote them didn't understand them/who they would impact.
And as @robfordmancs.bsky.social has pointed out once explained they are unpopular.
ukandeu.ac.uk/immigration_...
And as @robfordmancs.bsky.social has pointed out once explained they are unpopular.
ukandeu.ac.uk/immigration_...
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I’ve been travelling all day but had been meaning to check this. I don’t know if anyone else picked up the report but Matt Goodwin was amplifying this misleading statistic a few weeks ago.
It is innumerate to compare the % of adverts containing any black person with the % of the population: unless adverts contained 1 person each.
This massively exaggerates the (actual) "over-representation" of black voices and flips the actual under-representation of South Asians in TV advertising
This massively exaggerates the (actual) "over-representation" of black voices and flips the actual under-representation of South Asians in TV advertising
October 26, 2025 at 8:17 PM
I’ve been travelling all day but had been meaning to check this. I don’t know if anyone else picked up the report but Matt Goodwin was amplifying this misleading statistic a few weeks ago.
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The Prefect of Naples decision to prevent Napoli selling tickets to Eintracht Frankfurt away fans looks like it is going to stick. Eintracht have had a bid to get the game moved to a neutral ground turned down by UEFA. There was no UEFA sanction on the German club.
www.reuters.com/sports/socce...
www.reuters.com/sports/socce...
www.reuters.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:10 PM
The Prefect of Naples decision to prevent Napoli selling tickets to Eintracht Frankfurt away fans looks like it is going to stick. Eintracht have had a bid to get the game moved to a neutral ground turned down by UEFA. There was no UEFA sanction on the German club.
www.reuters.com/sports/socce...
www.reuters.com/sports/socce...
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The Tel Aviv derby between Maccabi and Hapoel could not be played today in Tel Aviv as the Israeli fans injured rival fans and the police. The game was abandoned at half-time in January. The Israeli police & authorities have struggled to contain the conduct of fans
www.jpost.com/israel-news/...
www.jpost.com/israel-news/...
Bloomfield chaos forces suspension of Tel Aviv derby | The Jerusalem Post
The decision to suspend the Tel Aviv derby came after extensive use of pyrotechnics by fans led to injuries among both supporters and police officers.
www.jpost.com
October 19, 2025 at 8:33 PM
The Tel Aviv derby between Maccabi and Hapoel could not be played today in Tel Aviv as the Israeli fans injured rival fans and the police. The game was abandoned at half-time in January. The Israeli police & authorities have struggled to contain the conduct of fans
www.jpost.com/israel-news/...
www.jpost.com/israel-news/...
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Don’t let the frogwater that’s boiling us alive let you skip over this: we murdered another country’s citizens in cold blood, and when their leader objected, we called him a drug dealer and cut off aid to his country. That’s freakish.
Petro objected to the US bombing a Columbian fishing vessel that had the emergency beacon on because they were broken down, that we subsequently bombed. One Columbian fisherman survived the attack.
This is the official US response to Petro's comments.
This is the official US response to Petro's comments.
October 19, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Don’t let the frogwater that’s boiling us alive let you skip over this: we murdered another country’s citizens in cold blood, and when their leader objected, we called him a drug dealer and cut off aid to his country. That’s freakish.
Reposted
NEW - UPDATE POST
Did the CPS make a fundamental mistake with the charging decision in the Chinese spying case?
How the CPS may have asked the wrong legal question and so made a wrong charging decision
By me
emptycity.substack.com/p/did-the-cp...
Did the CPS make a fundamental mistake with the charging decision in the Chinese spying case?
How the CPS may have asked the wrong legal question and so made a wrong charging decision
By me
emptycity.substack.com/p/did-the-cp...
October 16, 2025 at 3:56 PM
NEW - UPDATE POST
Did the CPS make a fundamental mistake with the charging decision in the Chinese spying case?
How the CPS may have asked the wrong legal question and so made a wrong charging decision
By me
emptycity.substack.com/p/did-the-cp...
Did the CPS make a fundamental mistake with the charging decision in the Chinese spying case?
How the CPS may have asked the wrong legal question and so made a wrong charging decision
By me
emptycity.substack.com/p/did-the-cp...
Reposted
NEW
What the Chinese spying case witness statements reveal
The Crown Prosecution Service appears to have made at least one serious error, while the government's position now makes sense
By me
emptycity.substack.com/p/what-the-c...
What the Chinese spying case witness statements reveal
The Crown Prosecution Service appears to have made at least one serious error, while the government's position now makes sense
By me
emptycity.substack.com/p/what-the-c...
October 16, 2025 at 9:54 AM
NEW
What the Chinese spying case witness statements reveal
The Crown Prosecution Service appears to have made at least one serious error, while the government's position now makes sense
By me
emptycity.substack.com/p/what-the-c...
What the Chinese spying case witness statements reveal
The Crown Prosecution Service appears to have made at least one serious error, while the government's position now makes sense
By me
emptycity.substack.com/p/what-the-c...
Reposted
Someone send this to Fraser Nelson please (who keeps talking about a workless crisis)...
October 16, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Someone send this to Fraser Nelson please (who keeps talking about a workless crisis)...
Reposted
Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.
And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.
And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.
October 16, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.
And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.
And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.
Reposted
If we must do a comparison of which American president did a better job securing the release of Israeli hostages, the answer is Joe Biden.
Biden's cease-fires got 135 living hostages released. Trump's got 20 (which is less than it would have been had he enforced the continuation of the January cease fire).
October 13, 2025 at 4:28 PM
If we must do a comparison of which American president did a better job securing the release of Israeli hostages, the answer is Joe Biden.
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Holy shit go off John Oliver youtu.be/gieTx_P6INQ?...
Bari Weiss: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
YouTube video by LastWeekTonight
youtu.be
October 13, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Holy shit go off John Oliver youtu.be/gieTx_P6INQ?...
Reposted
This (& subsequent in this thread) is, quite literally the Liz Truss view - that fiscal constraints are somehow invented as part of a conspiracy by the deep state against the people, rather than reflecting how the economy/markets actually work..
bsky.app/profile/mcdu...
bsky.app/profile/mcdu...
You can say this all you want, but the chancellor is out here saying that's how it works and telling the papers that black holes need to be filled, so in reality it's exactly how it works, isn't it?
This from Andy Haldane gets some basic stuff wrong, notably this:
"A £30bn will need to be filled in this year’s Budget,e ven though a stalled economy needs a 1% of GDP fiscal tightening like a hole in the head."
Just wrong. Not how the fiscal framework works at all.
www.ft.com/content/1c4d...
"A £30bn will need to be filled in this year’s Budget,e ven though a stalled economy needs a 1% of GDP fiscal tightening like a hole in the head."
Just wrong. Not how the fiscal framework works at all.
www.ft.com/content/1c4d...
October 11, 2025 at 7:46 AM
This (& subsequent in this thread) is, quite literally the Liz Truss view - that fiscal constraints are somehow invented as part of a conspiracy by the deep state against the people, rather than reflecting how the economy/markets actually work..
bsky.app/profile/mcdu...
bsky.app/profile/mcdu...
Reposted
Latest stats on greenbelt land published today - I think people are always surprised by this map, which shows that the large majority of land across England is neither built up, nor greenbelt. Most of it's just ordinary, unprotected farmland. www.gov.uk/government/s...
October 9, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Latest stats on greenbelt land published today - I think people are always surprised by this map, which shows that the large majority of land across England is neither built up, nor greenbelt. Most of it's just ordinary, unprotected farmland. www.gov.uk/government/s...