Top recent posts by Global News and Politics Professionals on Bluesky

Absolutely incredible

I am sick and tired of hearing about that 'special relationship'. It never existed, really. And it should be put to bed latest now. It's humiliating for the UK. Always has been. As is Charles visit to Washington.

Voters without ID have just one day left to apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate to use at the upcoming local elections in England. To vote at a polling station, voters must present an accepted form of photo ID. A Voter Authority Cert. is a free form of ID for those who lack any.

Subsidising energy consumption in the face of both a short-term supply shock and the long-term need to decarbonise. Bad for the economy, bad for the planet, bad for the world's poor. And *if* you favour a wealth tax (I am sceptical but there's a case) spending it on *this" is just idiotic.

Anna Turley MP, Labour Chair, on news that police are to assess a donation to Robert Jenrick’s Tory leadership campaign: “Robert Jenrick is no stranger to donation scandals. As a Tory minister, he abused his government office by admitting he helped a donor swerve a staggering £45 million in tax."

The damage that austerity has done to people - and the strain it has shifted onto the NHS, social security system and councils - is probably the most under-discussed phenomenon of British politics ... because it disproportionately affects working class people. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Also, no one who supported Brexit - least of all one of its chief architects - can credibly still claim that they give a fuck about the economy

You have to laugh at the descriptions (still) of Morgan McSweeney and Keir Starmer as being 'ruthlessly focussed on winning'. So ruthless that they have chased winning all the way to the safest wards of inner London, where it is making a desperate last stand against his choices.

Some rather rare, uplifting tech news: "Ecosia, the search engine that directs 100% of its profits into climate action, has reached 250 million trees planted worldwide, marking the milestone on Earth Day 2026." www.energylivenews.com?p=361099#:~:...

"There is a profound contradiction between implementing progressive proposals for collective bargaining in social care while making hundreds of thousands of the sector's existing workers more economically and socially insecure." @guardianheather.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/business/202...

No, the Prime Ministers are the problem and a politics more widely that is built on believing in nothing but what’s expedient to win the next election.

Joel’s right and it’s part of how parochial the British political class has become that hardly anyone says this, and that hardly anyone points out that Labour’s ODA cuts have literally killed people.

My Dad has carers who come in three times a day - all overseas workers. They do amazing work; work I know I could never do. With tens of thousands of vacancies across social care, we fundamentally need people to come here and take these jobs. I wrote more here: open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...

Here are 3 ways the current system screws Wales. If politicians are not talking about these issues, they are not serious about fixing Wales' problems. The challenges Wales faces are not because of immigrants, they are because the system of funding we have is set up so that we can’t fail to fail.

Dominic Cummings wasn't talking to Tory MPs in 2019, when the government was trying to pass existential legislation without a majority. But sure, he was having long chats with them in 2020 when the government had a huge majority, a pandemic to handle, and face-to-face meetings were banned.

In addition, I can’t think why the (Conservative) MPs Dominic Cummings particularly were speaking to had no interest in talking about the economy and turned the topic to something else.

Poland's success is closely intertwined with its EU membership. This isn't complicated

It is truly a miserable job tbh, and it's kind of demoralising seeing new intakes of ambitious (and sometimes talented!) people enter parliament and realise that. This government pays virtually zero attention to its backbenchers. Opposition MPs have no sway when gov has a big majority.

The thing I will never understand is the large group of people who are clearly, sincerely upset about what they find after checking who has blocked them or the insane lists they’ve been put on.

Starmer now openly stating that his government is already soft left in policy terms – a fact most analysis has long missed.

I have somehow displeased the Catmittee.

What exactly is @antoniabance.bsky.social's evidence that 15 years of precarity/risk of deportation for care workers - which is what the "earned citizenship" proposals mean - is a "red line"? But clear she supports the biggest roll-back of workers' rights in the care sector in living memory.

Latest on solar panels for cars (still a while off from rollout, but interesting nonetheless): "A roof‑integrated silicon PV system typically provides 10 km to 15 km of daily range for an efficient electric vehicle under northern European conditions, according to Oxford PV."

Ah, one of the most wonderful summer smells: London pavements after it rains.

Fun to find this in my local corner shop this morning

"Electric vehicle ownership has reached a 'tipping point' that signals an irreversible shift away from petrol cars, not only in China but parts of south-east Asia and Europe despite stalling in the US, research finds" www.ft.com/content/ef33...

God, Six Feet Under is such a terrific show. Just got to “The Room”, the episode where Nate discovers a side to his father he never knew in life.

What genre of movie do you most want to hang out in? For me, it's post-60s LA noir: stoners and flakes getting in over their heads, convoluted crimes, a shaggy journey through the weirdness of the city. Even when a movie doesn't really work (Inherent Vice) I like to be in that world.

Btw, this is not meant as a snide dig at the King’s visit. If he can buy a bit of goodwill, great. But, it won’t last….

Sorry Google maps, but that absolutely is not Oxford Street.

Farage's policy chief peddles Great Replacement Theory. Needs sharing 👇 bylinetimes.com/2026/04/27/i...

I stomped through the swamps of the Daily Mail’s Meghan coverage.

It’s an undoubtedly bleak time in UK politics (and the world) So it was a genuine delight to speak to a new generation of mayors working to give young people hope that getting involved in public life makes a difference “If there is any time to get involved in politics, it’s now.”

Last week we published the vile views of a Merseyside Reform election candidate - who claimed the Holocaust was a ‘hoax’ and propaganda’ Sadly in the cesspit that is social media, there were a worrying amount of people who supported him in these sick views

NEW - Police are assessing evidence about donations to Robert Jenrick’s campaign to become Conservative leader in 2024 after a referral from the elections watchdog www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I know the ballroom discourse is clearly Very Important and all that, but can someone remind the president that the Strait of Hormuz is still, y'know, blocked? If it helps, remind him construction equipment needs oil, I guess?

This may not be a popular view, but the best way to restore UK-US relations would be to increase UK defense spending, so we have a credible military force again. More effective than any royal visit. www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/k...

I think where this falls down is while true, modern backbenchers are much less relaxed with “just” being a backbencher (it’s why the Tories had such a stupid China policy by the end) and they also use the bar less.

okay Ed Balls does look extremely silly in that clip doesn't he

erm, 76% of Reform voters say that it's unacceptable for MPs to drink before voting in parliament. I now question the value of such polls.

These local news website numbers are crazy in so many ways 1) brutal collapsing page views due to AI summaries etc 2) how we ever ended up with local papers for cities of 400,000 people getting 4m readers a month and not going “that doesn’t seem right” www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2026/news/pa...

I might be proved wrong, but for now I still think the Conservatives' insistence on pursuing the Mandelson case as, 'Starmer misled parliament' rather than, 'Why on earth did Starmer appoint this man at all?' feels like the mother of all political cul de sacs.

Not just demanding that someone gets sacked for their speech, but in this case that he's sacked for not psychically predicting an assassination attempt. Not just thoughtcrime but thoughtprecrime. Still, when Bari Weiss and the Free Press find out about this I bet they'll be FURIOUS!

Musculoskeletal, in large part because even if you get halfway there, spellcheck still won’t help you.

Fascinating exclusive by @rowenamason - the Electoral Commission has passed over evidence on Robert Jenrick's political donations to the Met Police. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I’m delighted that @thedialmag.bsky.social has excerpted a section from THE ASSET CLASS. It’s from one of the book’s most scandalous chapters, about what happened when fund managers went in search of returns below the equator: tinyurl.com/5c8r4jcy

Maybe one reason why 'Michael' is doing so well at the box office is so much else has that deeply unappealing 'the UK cinema in April' vibe of 'talky film for grown-ups with a script that needed another few drafts'.

Thinking a lot about relationships across political divides as I realise the biggest ideological split in my marriage is probably over voting reform. ((As in, reforming the UK’s voting system and bringing in some form of proportional representation, as opposed to, you know, voting Reform))

A certain type of Labour person has Corbyn era PTSD to the point that they are running interference for choices freely made by a majority of Conservative MPs and/or the Conservative party establishment.

George Michael could be slow, and perfectionist, but he could also be explosively quick, producing classics in a matter of hours. Tonight The Music Seems So Loud: The Meaning of George Michael, is published this summer. You can pre-order now and book spaces at live events. Sathnam.com/events

“They’re punishing us for the low wages that they themselves have set” - this week’s column on Labour’s settlement reforms: www.theguardian.com/business/202...

It's really exciting to see a BBC show as auteurish as Mint. Not just that the show itself is bold and original and takes risks but that the BBC took a risk on Charlotte Regan and said "Go for it. Do something different." I'm bored to death of generic crime dramas.

"Trump might have shown that he doesn’t fear assassins, but he showed us his weaknesses at the same time. He is still all too aware that Epstein could bring down his voting coalition, and he is too angry and thin-skinned to respond to it with anything other than irritation, peevishness or fury."

Waiting for the Out is both an incredible BBC drama mini-series, and also the longest ever advert for induction hobs

Good morning Bluesky

I'm struggling to understand how anyone would think "making a donation to Robert Jenrick's party leadership campaign" would be a good use of £40,000, whatever its origin.

In today's newsletter: on what I think the big problem with Parliament's stalled assisted dying legislation is, and why that makes it ill-suited to the 'just use the Parliament Act to ram it through' route:

"If we’ve learned anything from Starmerism it’s that, if there’s one thing worse than not telling the voters what they don’t want to hear, it’s never telling your voters anything else, because sooner or later they all stop voting for you."

Everything about how we provide 'free' childcare in England is silly. In addition to the incentive not to earn more, if you lose your job you have a race to find another or you lose your free childcare, meaning you might get stuck unemployed until the time you can enroll in a nursery.

"Consumers will pay a flat 20p deposit for all containers as part of the new Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) launching in 2027, non-profit and official DRS operator Exchange for Change has announced." Long overdue but welcome nonetheless www.edie.net/uk-deposit-r...

Farage’s policy chief pedal Great Replacement Theory. Needs sharing 👇 bylinetimes.com/2026/04/27/i...

In response to Keir Starmer's speech about shoplifting this morning, the Conservatives have said the PM is "part of the problem", which is quite a bold accusation.

Favourability of shadow cabinet ministers among Labour members shows Ed Miliband out in front. Mahmood, Kendall, Reeves & Starmer fairly toxic - deservedly. (data from @labourlist.bsky.social & @survation.bsky.social)

I first revealed the untraceable company behind Jenrick's donation 18 months ago www.tortoisemedia.com/2024/09/20/r...

Is detention of migrants and asylum-seekers under the Italy/Albania deal compatible with EU law? Analysis of a recent Advocate-General's opinion, by Dr @andreinadeleo.bsky.social eulawanalysis.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-...

Good to see Electoral Commission scrutiny of corporate donations resulting in a referral to the police. This should encourage the Government to go further in tightening up the laws around political donations. www.thetimes.com/article/cc62...

Absolutely this - not to mention the pastoral side of it: treating people with sensitivity, respect, dignity. Asking questions. Understanding that a person is so much more than a body that needs help.

Fantastic piece by @jessicaelgot.bsky.social, filled with insight and 'can these people hear themselves?' quotes:

This person left an egg on top of a polling card and it seems to have imprinted the "it is an offence to..." text from election law. It's quite poetic.

It's okay though because we'll all demand the government bail us out for the extra costs and that will all work out absolutely fine with no consequences at all!!

This discourse about Parliament's bars is, I'm afraid, just tiresome. Should Parliament have bars? Yes - they provide a space for MPs and their staff to unwind and/or entertain visitors as they'd do in any other job, but on the (relatively) secure Parliamentary estate.

I caught up with Andrew to better understand how filibustering (by a handful of unelected peers) rather than a vote, thwarted Kim Leadbeater’s Bill, and what comes next. 🎧👇

If only there were some way to legally formalise this kind of relationship www.thetimes.com/article/8aee...

This keeps getting retweeted into my feed and I've had the full cocktail of emotions: 1) secondhand embarrassment for this adult not handing it to the nearest child 2) contempt for the adult 3) deep mirth imagining another guy with a big beard and glasses watching this at home and going 'oh no'

These sorts of potholes should make the King feel at home...

Try not to gripe about personal stuff on here but how - HOW - did Capita get the contract to administer the civil service pension scheme? (Not mine, Mum’s, but falls into my lap and Kafkaesque doesn’t begin to describe it 🤬)

Americans are united in believing they are divided...

No, but I am in favour of the policy for Royals ...

I've now seen a few of the updated Lime bikes around London, and they look not just less leg break-y, but maybe easier for non-bulky and strong riders to use, which has been a real weakness of the current model. I'd love to think the brakes are better, too.

Politico: "76% of Brits say that MPs drinking before votes is unacceptable...Green MP Hannah Spencer recently criticized fellow MPs for drinking alcohol" pre-votes. Probably fair. MPs vote late but they do it max 3-4 days a week. No idea how you'd enforce it though. Breathalysers in the lobbies?

Can’t decide if this is a huge L or a massive W for my “all stories are about commodities, except for the ones that are about management” take.

I’ve got ‘Cocaine Salmon’ to the tune of ‘Mustang Sally’ in my head now. Guess you’d better slow that swimming down…

Oh fuck off. (If I were talking like the Daily Mail, I’d have starred that out)

Well this has perked me up! A Woman of No Importance has been chosen as one of the 14 best page turner non fiction books of.all.time! Wow!!! inews.co.uk/culture/book...

Politico: Tory "James Cleverly questioned the timing of Labour’s deal to end the Birmingham bin strike, telling the Tele “it can hardly be a coincidence that this capitulation comes so soon after Unite...slashing its funding for Labour." Illogical. Unite has *weakened* its leverage over Labour...

I don't have any crows or ravens, but if we're going corvid, here's one of my magpies. Don't worry, he's got six more buddies further up my arm, so he's not solo.

Reform schools: Suella's plan for your children. open.substack.com/pub/davidaar...

One dead and multiple overdoses as contaminated drugs bring tragedy to streets of Merseyside town

I don't know what middlebrow means anymore. For Virginia Woolf it meant consuming highbrow art in a shallow way as a signifier of status. But now? No idea. Stuff that's clever but popular? Stuff that's only pretending to be clever?

Because I clearly don't have enough animosity in my life, for this week's @newstatesman1913.bsky.social I have written about social care, council funding, and why your local leisure centre is a mess. Featuring fascinating but politically toxic think tankery! www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Someone should poll whether it's acceptable for politicians to eat before late night votes, just to give us a benchmark bsky.app/profile/debe...

I not surprised at all that neither Robbins or Collard relied on verbal briefings and never saw the entire PM vetting document.

This js a really great question. I’ve been very vaguely discussing with someone London based an avant garde writing and visual art magazine based out of London and Paris. Working title is BellesVilles ™️

Labour members on new leadership of the Labour Party ❌46% think Starmer should leave ⭕44% think Starmer should remain ❓9% unsure via @labourlist.bsky.social & @survation.bsky.social

My one bit of context for the 'MPs drinking in Westminster' debate would be to note that for the bulk of MPs, SW1 is less 'the office' than 'working away on a business trip', even if they do it three days a week for 40 weeks a year. Having a drink on a business trip is not unknown, I believe*.

Well yes of course they should. (n.b. best done without saying you're considering it, and now must be done retrospectively, i.e. at 1 April 2026 levels) And well done to the renters' unions, several Labour MPs, Green Party and trade unions that have pushed this. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Starmer says there must be no return to 'status quo' after Iran war crisis, because working people would 'pay the price' - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

No 10 publishes memo saying PM was assured after Mandelson sacked that 'appropriate processes followed' in his appointment - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Defend Our Juries on the Palestine Action ban: "More than 1700 people have signed a letter, led by legal professors, which Prof Peter Hallward, a Professor of Moral Philosophy, will hand-deliver to the Court of Appeal today "The letter simply reads: “We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action”