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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 50m

Simon Calder's reporting on the travel impact of Brexit has been good, but the strangely-worded final line of this ("under the Brexit deal, Boris Johnson’s government negotiated for UK passport holders to become third-country nationals") suggests that, even now, Brexit isn't really understood.

LittleGravitas, →EU immigrant, UK→ emigrant, anti-Brexit @catanonim.me · 7h

~ New EU entry-exit warning: ‘Leave extra four hours’ for passing through new system | The Independent ~

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/eu-entry-exit-system-delay-arrival-flight-b2843028.html

New EU entry-exit warning: ‘Leave extra four hours’ for passing through new system | The Independent

A top travel industry figure has warned of bottlenecks at European airport from October 12

www.independent.co.uk

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dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 4h

This is a timely, excellent and important report on how "arms length" bodies in UK are vulnerable to political manipulation.

Kudos @chrischirp.bsky.social and @martinmckee.bsky.social for putting this together.

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 1d

🧵🚨

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news.

Today our report is published!
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

1/11

UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 8h

I see Robert Jenrick is supporting Hamit Coskun who is appealing his conviction by reference to the ECHR (which Jenrick wants to withdraw from).

Who knew that the ECHR could be useful, even to the anti-ECHR Hard Right?

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Alice Lilly @aliceolilly.bsky.social · 10h

Really interesting- and, I think, welcome- to see MPs sharing this kind of data about casework.

Casework is largely invisible (other than to the constituents it helps!) compared to what MPs do in the Commons chamber but is a huge part of MPs’ workload, and it’s really hard to get robust data on it

Dr Beccy Cooper MP @drbeccycoopermp.bsky.social · 11h

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Niall Ó Conghaile @nialloconghaile.bsky.social · 1d

1. This does not target the UK

2. This is clear evidence of being inside a customs union rather than floating alone

3. It was inevitable that Trump's actions at the head of such a large economy would result in dumping elsewhere.. Europe has to be able to take action to counter that.

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 1d

Aside from the obvious nonsense of this, it's striking that Farage is now talking as if it's a done deal that he is going to be the next PM. That might play badly with voters, even those minded to vote for Reform.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d

Nigel Farage says UK teachers are ‘poisoning our kids’ and predicts strikes as PM

Exclusive: Reform UK leader, speaking at event for private US college, also claimed the ‘Marxist left’ controls education Nigel Farage has predicted teachers would go on strike within weeks of a Reform UK government, and accused them of “poisoning our kids” by telling them that black children are victims and white children oppressors. The Reform UK leader set out his view on British schools in an event for a private US Christian college in Michigan, claiming the “Marxist left” was “now in control of our education system”. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 1d

The rules apply to any non-EU citizens not covered by free movement law, not just British citizens. All these possible penalties for overstay already exist.

Brexity folks are allowed to worship British border controls; but the EU is not supposed to enforce theirs against Brits.

Frédéric Moreau @goodclimate.bsky.social · 3d

People breaking immigration law can be deported. EVEN IF THEY'RE BRITISH.

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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 2d

I hope and believe that most of my fellow Jews will join me in saying that it is sickening that anyone should justify this outpouring of execrable racist bile by claiming that it's for our sake.

Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · 2d

Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 2d

Surely we need more not fewer anthropologists if we're going to have a proper culture war? And if it is to be a performative one about social integration into English language and culture, then the other disciplines she mentions will have their uses in the future she envisages, too.

Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 2d

Badenoch and Co see education only as a means to a massive income in some soul destroying career.

Devoid of imagination and the power of knowledge they view life entirely through the prism of the CV.

My advice always is to study what interests you and the rest will follow

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 2d

There's also something disgusting about a qualified solicitor, so it can't have been said from ignorance, suggesting, as Jenrick did today, that barristers' beliefs and values can be deduced from those of their clients.

Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 3d

It's dangerous and it's also incoherent: I heard Jenrick saying today that when judges don the wig it symbolizes the point they leave personal views & identifications aside. Fine, but this makes his claim (if even true) that some judges have 'links' with immigrants' charities utterly irrelevant.

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 3d

If you can't see how this will end, then you're not paying attention (not least to what's going on on the other side of the Atlantic).

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 2d

Dubai seems to have become the new Singapore for Brexiters, even as they flog the rest of us to show obeisance to 'British values'.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 2d

Party donor Nick Candy says "I cherish the values we grew up with here in the West. But today you are more likely to find the values we grew up with in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.’

Via Sam Leith in the Spectator
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 3d

Just listened to report on today's debates about 'integration' on R4 news. Fair enough as a report, but a depressing illustration of how those debates conflate & confuse issues of (undefined) values, culture, colour, religion, nationality, locality & birthplace. So the 'debate' never goes anywhere.

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 3d

And, even worse, describes them as a "hidden network", positing not just bias but conspiracy

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 3d

This really needs to be said and understood. What makes it worse, if possible, is that it is not coming out of any genuine crisis or emergency. It is a deliberate attempt to whip up anger and grievance in order to capitalise upon it & in Jenrick's case purely to advance his leadership ambitions.

Tanja Bueltmann @tanjabueltmann.net · 3d

I say this with the bluntness it requires: they will get people murdered if this continues. This is not just populism anymore either: it’s completely unhinged and a deliberate choice that does endanger lives. I am not saying this lightly at all.

Screenshot of an Express article; it says: Robert Jenrick lists 30 'activist judges' he vows to axe in war on UK's open border

In a bold move, Robert Jenrick is set to unveil a controversial plan targeting what he calls 'activist' judges, at the Conservative Party conference.

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 3d

Well, I think Jenrick is right about that, or certainly right that it is how it should be. My point is that, this being so, his criticism is irrelevant unless he can show bias in judgments made. Which I doubt, since he went on to cite the notoriously false 'chicken nuggets' case claim.

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 3d

The point isn't about anonymity, it's about the separation of personality and office, a basic principle of legal-rational authority.

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LittleGravitas, →EU immigrant, UK→ emigrant, anti-Brexit @catanonim.me · 3d

~ mainly macro: The uphill struggle to stop Reform ~

https://mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-uphill-struggle-to-stop-reform.html

mainly macro: The uphill struggle to stop Reform

Making political predictions is foolish, but I can only see two political parties that can stop a Reform government in the UK: Labour and ...

mainlymacro.blogspot.com

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 3d

It's dangerous and it's also incoherent: I heard Jenrick saying today that when judges don the wig it symbolizes the point they leave personal views & identifications aside. Fine, but this makes his claim (if even true) that some judges have 'links' with immigrants' charities utterly irrelevant.

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 3d

If you can't see how this will end, then you're not paying attention (not least to what's going on on the other side of the Atlantic).

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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 3d

Wow. Robert Jenrick doubles down by branding a black journalist's questions "ridiculous" and saying that the problem is not his comments, but "journalists like you who pop up and try to knock me down", adding that "this is the reason why terrorist attacks happen". ~AA

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Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 3d

EXC from @annaisaac.bsky.social

The finances of one of Nigel Farage’s key confidants are being examined by the UK’s tax and revenue authorities amid questions over his income from wealth and business activities, the Guardian understands.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Tax authorities examine finances of key Nigel Farage ally

Exclusive: HMRC conducts scoping exercise into Reform UK backer ‘Posh George’ Cottrell’s income from business and wealth

www.theguardian.com

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The Bear @bearlypolitics.co.uk · 4d

When I first heard about Project 2025, I thought it was conspiracy nonsense - too brazen, too cartoonishly evil to be real.

Then Trump called it “severe right”… and started enacting it.

Part One of my two-part deep dive into the authoritarian playbook now shaping the United States.

Project 2025: The Manual for Making America Obey Again (Part 1)

Heritage Foundation’s playbook for Trump 2.0 shows what happens when authoritarian ambition meets bureaucratic precision.

www.bearlypolitics.co.uk

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George Peretz KC @georgeperetzkc.bsky.social · 4d

Chris Philp on R4 yesterday making 3 false statements about the ECHR and the GFA.
1. “The ECHR is mentioned only in the Multi-Party Agreement not the UK/Ireland Agreement.”. Wrong: the latter agreement requires the UK to support the former: they can’t be pulled apart like that.

George Peretz KC @georgeperetzkc.bsky.social · 4d

Summary here by @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social of the so far unpublished but apparently “circulating” “legal advice” by Lord Wolfson to the Tory party. open.substack.com/pub/rozenber...

How UK could leave ECHR

Withdrawal would allow EU to end criminal law enforcement co-operation

open.substack.com

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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 4d

It breaks my mind that two British political parties have seen scenes like this and decided to try and replicate it in Britain. Thuggary, lawlessness, state brutality. Farage and Badenoch decided they liked the look of it.

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 5d

This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.

Community action works.

Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...

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Karl Pike @karlpike.bsky.social · 4d

Reform in local govt, latest:
www.ft.com/content/277c...

Reform likely to raise Kent council tax after cost-cutting drive falters

Nigel Farage’s party promised to revive local authority finances by slashing wasteful spending

www.ft.com

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 4d

Good example of how the claims are false but how unpicking them is fiddly & doing all of them would be time-consuming. One test of whether it's worthwhile will be how the author responds to Alan's expert commentary: retract, refute, double-down, insult, or ignore?
bsky.app/profile/alan...

Alan Beattie @alanbeattie.bsky.social · 4d

OK, let's take this seriously. I had an odd half an hour and via Apple Books had a quick look at the three claims I knew most about - two re the post-Brexit bilateral preferential trade agreements replicated from the EU versions and one about cheaper bananas. All are wrong or wildly implausible. 1/n

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