@bobhudson.bsky.social
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bobhudson.bsky.social
@bobhudson.bsky.social
@bobhudson.bsky.social

Visiting Professor in Public Policy, Sunderland University. Sunderland AFC loyalist. Inveterate Remainer. Durham City, UK.
https://www.theguardian.com/profile/bob-hudson

Education 33%
Public Health 26%

If you didn’t laugh you’d cry…

Just terrifying!
A video of ICE agents conducting door-to-door searches today in Minneapolis

The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway

They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming

Kicked out the front door; they creep in through the back door. Unprincipled chancers, one and all. news.sky.com/story/politi...
Politics latest: Former Tory chancellor Nadhim Zahawi defects to Reform UK
The former Conservative MP and cabinet minister has just been introduced by Nigel Farage at a news conference in central London.
news.sky.com

Yes it’s genuine…how much longer do we have to appease this moron?

This is what courage looks like!

This is exactly the right time for Starmer to pin the Brexit catastrophe on Farage and show strategic boldness. Take him on!
A video of ICE agents conducting door-to-door searches today in Minneapolis

The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway

They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming

Wish she was an anchor on #r4today instead of the insufferable Emma Barnett.

Trump’s philistinism meets its match - he’s a gross embarrassment but too stupid to be aware of it…
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Washington National Opera to move out of Kennedy Center after Trump ‘takeover’
Artistic director of US’s national opera also cites ‘shattered’ donor confidence and box office revenue
www.theguardian.com

Teesside: ‘An unlawful, taxpayer-funded scheme to promote the political career of a Tory golden boy and vastly enrich a couple of local businessmen’ - stunning expose via @privateeyenews.bsky.social
www.private-eye.co.uk/special-repo...
Special Report: Stripped Tees
IT WAS to be the UK’s largest regeneration scheme in decades, a model for regional devolution and the flagship post-Brexit freeport. But the redevelopment of the former steelworks on the south bank of...
www.private-eye.co.uk

Is the country *really* ready to have Farage as PM? Alan Rusbridger has some questions… open.substack.com/pub/alanrusb...
Nigel Farage may be riding high in the polls, but he has no idea how to be a prime minister
The Reform leader undoubtedly has charisma, but lacks the judgement, gravitas or respect for truth needed to lead a country
open.substack.com

The real world is always more complicated than Trump’s simple mind… www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
US urges its citizens to flee Venezuela amid reports of paramilitaries
State department says armed ‘colectivos’ appear to be setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for Americans
www.theguardian.com

Don’t want you to choke on your toast and marmalade but…🫣

If this doesn’t turn the people against Trump and his malevolent gang then there’s no hope for America.
Yesterday, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good.
We know what we saw: A mother, a daughter, a wife, and a U.S. citizen killed in her own community.

Reposted by Bob Hudson

Yesterday, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good.
We know what we saw: A mother, a daughter, a wife, and a U.S. citizen killed in her own community.

I’m with Brian Bilston on this one…

Stephen Miller (and his wife) - the malevolent powers behind Trump's throne. A truly nasty piece of work.
theconversation.com/stephen-mill...
Stephen Miller: portrait of Donald Trump’s ideologue-in-chief
Miller is one of the few officials to serve in both of Trump’s terms of office.
theconversation.com

Electoral reform: Strong support for proportional representation among Labour members - C'mon Keir start thinking big!
labourlist.org/2026/01/elec... – via LabourList
Electoral reform: Strong support for proportional representation among Labour members - LabourList
Two thirds of Labour members would back change to UK voting system towards Proportional Representation, exclusive LabourList polling reveals.
labourlist.org

Murky stuff (as ever) in Ben Houchen’s Teesworks Ltd - revenues minuscule while dividends to a couple of businessmen rocket…
open.substack.com/pub/theteess...
Teesworks: Dividends increased to £30m despite plummeting income
Latest accounts for Teesworks Ltd show increase in payments to shareholders
open.substack.com

We’ll take that as a NO then…
Farage asked whether international law still matters:

“The concepts of international law, frightfully popular in Islington and Hampstead… [are] no longer, as they were intended originally, fit for purpose”.
Farage asked whether international law still matters:

“The concepts of international law, frightfully popular in Islington and Hampstead… [are] no longer, as they were intended originally, fit for purpose”.

40 years or so since the Wagner Report on enhancing residential care - RIP Gillian Wagner. A reminder of the days before social care was privatised… www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Dame Gillian Wagner obituary
Advocate for improvements in residential social care who served as the first female chair of Barnardo’s and wrote a revealing book about Thomas Barnardo, the charity’s founder
www.theguardian.com

Groan! Emma Barnett on #r4today telling Ed Davey he has ‘no democratic mandate’ to argue for rejoining the customs union because Lib Dems are polling poorly. She’s a shocker!

The future conjured up by these figures doesn’t bear thinking about.

The media narrative is unrelentingly negative. Everything has a cost, never a benefit. It’s destructive and divisive - just what they want.

‘The dominant narrative in British politics is destructive, focused on failure’ - front pages reinforce this ‘doom loop’ every day. Interesting piece 👇 theconversation.com/how-can-labo...
How can Labour escape the doom loop in 2026?
The dominant narrative in British politics is destructive, cynical and polarising. It focuses on failure and perpetuates the doom loop.
theconversation.com

A plea from Peter Kellner to Starmer - be bold, make us think ‘Wow’! Lots of candidates - EU, Venezuela, Netanyahu, social care etc. Worth a read but somehow feels unlikely…
open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...
Starmer's options in the last chance saloon
Resign, be removed, or find the "wow" factor
open.substack.com

Reform's leader on Durham County Council has some questions to answer - just like Farage himself. The 'rotten apples' theory is more like a rotten barrel.
leftfootforward.org/2026/01/refo...
Reform council leader’s companies collapse after owing £1.5m
So much for being “a business leader with a proven track record”
leftfootforward.org

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t…Brexit is an unending curse on our politics.