Alexander Clarkson
@aphclarkson.bsky.social
Lecturer for European Politics and History at King's College London. Opinions my own. RT not always endorsement.
Also to be found at @APHClarkson
https://www.ullstein.de/werke/die-macht-der-diaspora/hardcover/978354910
Also to be found at @APHClarkson
https://www.ullstein.de/werke/die-macht-der-diaspora/hardcover/978354910
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Here we go….
Trump: "These people were brought to our country to vote, & they vote illegally. The Republicans should say, we should take over the voting in at least 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that I won that show I didn't win. You're gonna see something in Georgia"
February 2, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Here we go….
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Three parties - SNP, Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru - now asking for the police to investigate Mandelson.
Hard to recall a worse public scandal than a cabinet minister allegedly colluding with foreign bankers to share market sensitive info and encourage threats against Chancellor
Hard to recall a worse public scandal than a cabinet minister allegedly colluding with foreign bankers to share market sensitive info and encourage threats against Chancellor
February 2, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Three parties - SNP, Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru - now asking for the police to investigate Mandelson.
Hard to recall a worse public scandal than a cabinet minister allegedly colluding with foreign bankers to share market sensitive info and encourage threats against Chancellor
Hard to recall a worse public scandal than a cabinet minister allegedly colluding with foreign bankers to share market sensitive info and encourage threats against Chancellor
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
the mad thing is that when Mandelson went on the BBC earlier this month for a grand Sunday geopolitical interview, he knew that the FT knew about the Epstein payments to his husband, and that they were about to come out
February 2, 2026 at 2:42 PM
the mad thing is that when Mandelson went on the BBC earlier this month for a grand Sunday geopolitical interview, he knew that the FT knew about the Epstein payments to his husband, and that they were about to come out
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
NEW: Emily Thornberry, Labour chair of foreign affairs committee, says police should investigate emails.
"Surely this is not a matter of whether Mandelson should be in the Lords [but]... of whether the police should be involved."
SNP, Lib Dems and PC have all already called for police involvement
"Surely this is not a matter of whether Mandelson should be in the Lords [but]... of whether the police should be involved."
SNP, Lib Dems and PC have all already called for police involvement
February 2, 2026 at 5:11 PM
NEW: Emily Thornberry, Labour chair of foreign affairs committee, says police should investigate emails.
"Surely this is not a matter of whether Mandelson should be in the Lords [but]... of whether the police should be involved."
SNP, Lib Dems and PC have all already called for police involvement
"Surely this is not a matter of whether Mandelson should be in the Lords [but]... of whether the police should be involved."
SNP, Lib Dems and PC have all already called for police involvement
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
One thing I encountered in my 2024 election coverage was that while people at Trump rallies were wildly pro mass deportation, some rural Republicans I met, including party officials, remained broadly pro migration. They just thought the mass deportation stuff was all bluster and wouldn't happen
Remarkable: 55% of noncollege whites and even 50% of rural whites say ICE is too aggressive, per new Fox News poll.
And 71% of independents disapprove of Trump on immigration.
This is digging deep into Trump's base.
We detail these numbers on today's pod:
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
And 71% of independents disapprove of Trump on immigration.
This is digging deep into Trump's base.
We detail these numbers on today's pod:
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
Trump Tirade over Protests Goes Off Rails as Crushing Fox Poll Hits
As Trump grows more delusional about how hated his ICE raids have become, a longtime pro-immigrant organizer explains why this may be a watershed moment in terms of public opinion on the issue.
newrepublic.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:08 PM
One thing I encountered in my 2024 election coverage was that while people at Trump rallies were wildly pro mass deportation, some rural Republicans I met, including party officials, remained broadly pro migration. They just thought the mass deportation stuff was all bluster and wouldn't happen
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
They did the same shit as this in DC, and the reason they do it is because kids are vulnerable and parents will take risks for them. ICE is a predator agency trying to prey on its victims' most vulnerable positions
Maybe more than anything else - even the killings - the harassment of schools has radicalized me against this agency. Within hours of Renee Good’s murder, Border Patrol was tear gassing Minneapolis schools. They seem fixated on lurking around the schools. It’s beyond comprehension.
February 2, 2026 at 4:01 PM
They did the same shit as this in DC, and the reason they do it is because kids are vulnerable and parents will take risks for them. ICE is a predator agency trying to prey on its victims' most vulnerable positions
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
On Warsh it is *definitely* worth reading @crampell.bsky.social’s brutal assessment in the NYT. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/o...
February 2, 2026 at 12:30 PM
On Warsh it is *definitely* worth reading @crampell.bsky.social’s brutal assessment in the NYT. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/o...
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
making tulsi gabbard DNI is itself a watergate level scandal
Exclusive: A U.S. official has alleged wrongdoing by U.S. spy chief Tulsi Gabbard in a complaint that is so highly classified it has sparked months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress, according to people familiar with the matter.
Classified Whistleblower Complaint About Tulsi Gabbard Stalls Within Her Agency
Congress hasn’t seen the complaint, which was filed eight months ago with the U.S. intelligence community watchdog’s office.
on.wsj.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:17 PM
making tulsi gabbard DNI is itself a watergate level scandal
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
The thing where ICE parks masked men in school lots is something I would not have believed unless I saw it with my own two eyes. They do it constantly. It’s purely a terror tactic and they’ve done it to schools over the region. Our schools are collapsing - often at 50% attendance or less.
Columbia Heights (Liam's school district) cancelled school today because of a credible bomb threat at Liam's elementary and multiple ICE vehicles parking in the high school staff parking lot at 6:15am.
February 2, 2026 at 3:57 PM
The thing where ICE parks masked men in school lots is something I would not have believed unless I saw it with my own two eyes. They do it constantly. It’s purely a terror tactic and they’ve done it to schools over the region. Our schools are collapsing - often at 50% attendance or less.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Draghi: 'Europe must choose to become a federation in order to be a power. The global order is dead; the threat is what will replace it.'
www.ansa.it/sito/notizie...
www.ansa.it/sito/notizie...
Draghi, 'l'Europa scelga, diventi una federazione per essere una potenza' - Notizie - Ansa.it
'L'ordine globale è defunto, la minaccia è ciò che lo sostituirà' (ANSA)
www.ansa.it
February 2, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Draghi: 'Europe must choose to become a federation in order to be a power. The global order is dead; the threat is what will replace it.'
www.ansa.it/sito/notizie...
www.ansa.it/sito/notizie...
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Yeah no shit
I have spoken with several senior FBI counterintelligence officers who believe that there is a reasonably strong prospect that Tulsi Gabbard is a foreign intelligence asset.
As you read WSJ's piece on the super-secret abuse complaint about Tulsi Gabbard, remember that she tried unsuccessfully to wring counterintelligence function away from FBI last year.
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
February 2, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Yeah no shit
It also distracts from potentially more likely scenarios surrounding how an increasingly desperate and radicalised Trump administration responds to a Dem-dominated Congress after January 2027
i think if you post like this without offering concrete steps people can take to prepare for and respond to interference or without any acknowledgement of the success (or lack thereof) of this strategy then you are basically engaged in voter suppression.
February 2, 2026 at 2:00 PM
It also distracts from potentially more likely scenarios surrounding how an increasingly desperate and radicalised Trump administration responds to a Dem-dominated Congress after January 2027
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
An interesting example here is Elon Musk's blatant attempt to buy the Wisconsin judicial election last year. It seems he did succeed in boosting Republican turnout. The state GOP chair was giddy when I interviewed him. But they didn't account for how much farther it boosted Democrat turnout
well then it hasn’t been a very successful one
February 2, 2026 at 1:55 PM
An interesting example here is Elon Musk's blatant attempt to buy the Wisconsin judicial election last year. It seems he did succeed in boosting Republican turnout. The state GOP chair was giddy when I interviewed him. But they didn't account for how much farther it boosted Democrat turnout
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Bari Weiss darling CBS's Peter Attia skipped out on visiting his baby son in the ICU so he could meet with Jeffrey Epstein.
How many times are we going to discover something about someone in conservative circles and think, "That would never make it out of a writers' room. It's too over-the-top."
How many times are we going to discover something about someone in conservative circles and think, "That would never make it out of a writers' room. It's too over-the-top."
February 1, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Bari Weiss darling CBS's Peter Attia skipped out on visiting his baby son in the ICU so he could meet with Jeffrey Epstein.
How many times are we going to discover something about someone in conservative circles and think, "That would never make it out of a writers' room. It's too over-the-top."
How many times are we going to discover something about someone in conservative circles and think, "That would never make it out of a writers' room. It's too over-the-top."
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Alistair Darling and the official Treasury were always aware that investment banks had an inside track to Number 10. But the brazen nature of that inside track is rather breath-taking.
Who leaked this Number 10 discussion to Jeffrey Epstein? And are there consequences for the leaker?
It’s an internal discussion re. getting markets moving in the aftermath of the financial crisis. No doubt of great interest to Epstein and his financial market clients.
It’s an internal discussion re. getting markets moving in the aftermath of the financial crisis. No doubt of great interest to Epstein and his financial market clients.
February 2, 2026 at 10:33 AM
Alistair Darling and the official Treasury were always aware that investment banks had an inside track to Number 10. But the brazen nature of that inside track is rather breath-taking.
And then imagine scenarios where someone like Warsh shatters the Fed's credibility in the face of financial markets that assumed it would be eternal
FWIW I thought this comment from Neel Kashkari was probably one of the most interesting ones — and one that we should still be thinking about today.
February 2, 2026 at 1:10 PM
And then imagine scenarios where someone like Warsh shatters the Fed's credibility in the face of financial markets that assumed it would be eternal
This does open up questions too over Mandelson's links to other powerbrokers in and around financial markets
BREAKING on ft website:
Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans
www.ft.com/content/fdf7...
Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans
www.ft.com/content/fdf7...
Mandelson leaked sensitive UK government tax plans to Epstein
Former ambassador forwarded memo from special adviser to Gordon Brown to late sex offender in 2009
www.ft.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:58 PM
This does open up questions too over Mandelson's links to other powerbrokers in and around financial markets
Everyone will focus on Russia or Iran, but Gabbard's background in one of the weirder religious guru cults around have led to some links with the BJP too
Exclusive: A U.S. official has alleged wrongdoing by U.S. spy chief Tulsi Gabbard in a complaint that is so highly classified it has sparked months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress, according to people familiar with the matter.
Classified Whistleblower Complaint About Tulsi Gabbard Stalls Within Her Agency
Congress hasn’t seen the complaint, which was filed eight months ago with the U.S. intelligence community watchdog’s office.
on.wsj.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:56 PM
Everyone will focus on Russia or Iran, but Gabbard's background in one of the weirder religious guru cults around have led to some links with the BJP too
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
building up to The Waco Trade?
Robert Armstrong of @financialtimes.com: "For 15 years Warsh has been able to criticise the Fed from the outside, with nothing at stake. Now he has to put his money, and ours, on the table." www.ft.com/content/057a...
Kevin Warsh: you have to make a bet
What comes after data dependence?
www.ft.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:18 PM
building up to The Waco Trade?
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Since his first term, Trump has been *desperate* to do a deal with Iran. He wants it so badly. Khamenei was too proud and too dumb to exploit this, unlike basically every other dictator (Xi, Putin, Kim etc).
February 2, 2026 at 12:19 PM
Since his first term, Trump has been *desperate* to do a deal with Iran. He wants it so badly. Khamenei was too proud and too dumb to exploit this, unlike basically every other dictator (Xi, Putin, Kim etc).
*cough*...
There have been a lot of issues around clumsy comms and strategic confusion around Labour even before their election victory, but the Mandelson appointment is the first time I started wondering about the Starmer team's basic competence
February 2, 2026 at 12:15 PM
*cough*...
*cough*
I'm not sure Peter Mandelson is going to be the guy who provides Downing Street with a clear-eyed view of the liabilities and financial crash risks building up within the US system
www.ft.com/content/c088...
www.ft.com/content/c088...
A fiscal fight is brewing in the court of Donald Trump
America’s debt pile and the case for tax cuts will be flashpoints inside the new administration
www.ft.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:14 PM
*cough*