RDCK98
@comradekenobi.bsky.social
Writer/Researcher interested in
-Devolution and Celtic nationalism
-Empire and anti-colonialism
-International Relations
-Climate change and biodiversity
-Gàidhlig
-Palaeontology
All views are my own | he/him 🏴🇺🇦🇵🇸🇬🇱
-Devolution and Celtic nationalism
-Empire and anti-colonialism
-International Relations
-Climate change and biodiversity
-Gàidhlig
-Palaeontology
All views are my own | he/him 🏴🇺🇦🇵🇸🇬🇱
Tbf, they've been pretty clear their aim is to repeat the SNP's trajectory from winning a minority in 2007 to winning the right to a referendum off the back of the 2011 majority.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Senedd election: Plaid would take minority government over coalition
Polling suggests Plaid or Reform UK could win the Senedd election - but fall short of getting a majority.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 17, 2026 at 10:37 AM
Tbf, they've been pretty clear their aim is to repeat the SNP's trajectory from winning a minority in 2007 to winning the right to a referendum off the back of the 2011 majority.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by RDCK98
I think to write "the silence of the left on iran" stories is just profoundly silly for the rather trite reason that socialists are in fact fairly well represented in the category "life sentences in iranian jails"
January 17, 2026 at 10:16 AM
I think to write "the silence of the left on iran" stories is just profoundly silly for the rather trite reason that socialists are in fact fairly well represented in the category "life sentences in iranian jails"
Reposted by RDCK98
You occasionally see these claims like “fascism happens because conservatives become unmoored from traditional conservative things” but really fascism is largely conservative monarchism’s response to modern industrial economics, while still maintaining as much conservative ethos as possible
Mussolini seized power with the consent of the King Italy and Franco claimed to merely be the regent of a vacant throne!
And the Protocols of the Elders of Zion was Tsarist propaganda. Like there's more continuity than not there.
And the Protocols of the Elders of Zion was Tsarist propaganda. Like there's more continuity than not there.
January 17, 2026 at 2:20 AM
You occasionally see these claims like “fascism happens because conservatives become unmoored from traditional conservative things” but really fascism is largely conservative monarchism’s response to modern industrial economics, while still maintaining as much conservative ethos as possible
Reposted by RDCK98
Great piece overall— would add as an addendum that it's very informative who the US does *not^ encourage to rebel against oppression— the Palestinians, Lebanese, Egyptians, etc.
my new piece in FP: The US keeps telling people to rise up against their regimes, then leaving them to die. Hungary, Iraq, Syria...now Iran? I try to offer an explanation for this very consistent pattern. (gift link) foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/16/t...
A Long History of Betrayal
Why Washington keeps encouraging foreign uprisings—and then walking away.
foreignpolicy.com
January 17, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Great piece overall— would add as an addendum that it's very informative who the US does *not^ encourage to rebel against oppression— the Palestinians, Lebanese, Egyptians, etc.
Appointing Tony Blair to something called the Board of Peace in the Middle East is a lark I'll give him that
Trump names Tony Blair, Jared Kushner and Marc Rowan to Gaza ‘Board of Peace’ ft.trib.al/RxoVwVU
Trump names Tony Blair, Jared Kushner and Marc Rowan to Gaza ‘Board of Peace’
US president will chair executive body that he says will guide reconstruction of war-ravaged enclave
ft.trib.al
January 16, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Appointing Tony Blair to something called the Board of Peace in the Middle East is a lark I'll give him that
Reposted by RDCK98
"Actually, Starmer has delivered 70 manifesto commitments whilst the Tories only managed 3" lodging firmly in my brain as an example of the weirdest possible heuristic for judging government success.
January 16, 2026 at 5:05 PM
"Actually, Starmer has delivered 70 manifesto commitments whilst the Tories only managed 3" lodging firmly in my brain as an example of the weirdest possible heuristic for judging government success.
I must again ask why should I be grateful to a man who explicitly said my partner being here was causing great damage to the country, something that even Theresa May would have balked at.
I am not remotely Blue Labour but it now feels like there is no one on BlueSky prepared to Stan for Starmer on anything. Can I just remind you all that, however lacking you think he is in political skill, he has actually rescued us from this shower of shit. We have a functioning government.
This intro to David Frost's Telegraph column sums up so much that is wrong with British politics.
January 16, 2026 at 4:44 PM
I must again ask why should I be grateful to a man who explicitly said my partner being here was causing great damage to the country, something that even Theresa May would have balked at.
January 16, 2026 at 3:35 PM
In addition to being an absolute legal and policy mess, it's also a blatant Americanisation of the judicial system where we need to start interrogating the partisan and ideological views of judges to ascertain the likely way in which they will rule on cases.
It's not good, to put it mildly, that the outcomes of employment tribunals involving trans people now entirely come down to the ideological leanings of the judge involved. There is no clear law underpinning this at all. Everyone is improvising.
January 16, 2026 at 2:54 PM
In addition to being an absolute legal and policy mess, it's also a blatant Americanisation of the judicial system where we need to start interrogating the partisan and ideological views of judges to ascertain the likely way in which they will rule on cases.
Reposted by RDCK98
It's not good, to put it mildly, that the outcomes of employment tribunals involving trans people now entirely come down to the ideological leanings of the judge involved. There is no clear law underpinning this at all. Everyone is improvising.
January 16, 2026 at 2:48 PM
It's not good, to put it mildly, that the outcomes of employment tribunals involving trans people now entirely come down to the ideological leanings of the judge involved. There is no clear law underpinning this at all. Everyone is improvising.
Another win for the Legitimist Jacobite Republican movement
And, if we're being completely honest about Kings who feature heavily in the British consciousness: William III. Well some call him King. I call him usurper.
January 16, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Another win for the Legitimist Jacobite Republican movement
Reposted by RDCK98
One day I’m going to work out why everyone in Welsh Labour thinks they’re so much smarter than Mark Drakeford, who led the party to a landslide victory, when the party is polling fourth within two years of him leaving
Sorry I love her
BBC News - Wales' finance secretary not interested in the economy, says first minister
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - Wales' finance secretary not interested in the economy, says first minister
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Welsh finance secretary never interested in economy - Eluned Morgan
Eluned Morgan said there was a fundamental difference between her and Mark Drakeford, who handles Wales' £25bn budget.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 16, 2026 at 10:56 AM
One day I’m going to work out why everyone in Welsh Labour thinks they’re so much smarter than Mark Drakeford, who led the party to a landslide victory, when the party is polling fourth within two years of him leaving
Reposted by RDCK98
This intro to David Frost's Telegraph column sums up so much that is wrong with British politics.
January 16, 2026 at 8:46 AM
This intro to David Frost's Telegraph column sums up so much that is wrong with British politics.
Reposted by RDCK98
Meanwhile in the UK, a Palestinian *citizen* of Israel has won his asylum battle and has been deemed a refugee due to the "substantial evidence of systematic discriminatory practices against Palestinians in Israel: apartheid, forced removal, restrictions of rights and exclusion from society”.
Palestinian citizen of Israel wins UK asylum over ‘well-founded fear of persecution’
Exclusive: Refugee status granted despite attempt by former home secretary James Cleverly to block 26-year-old’s claim
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 11:41 PM
Meanwhile in the UK, a Palestinian *citizen* of Israel has won his asylum battle and has been deemed a refugee due to the "substantial evidence of systematic discriminatory practices against Palestinians in Israel: apartheid, forced removal, restrictions of rights and exclusion from society”.
When it comes to US accounts posting about how bad the UK is I find it helpful to read "the UK" in these posts as "England" and sentiment partly to be one of "can't we just join the cool countries in slagging the Brits".
January 15, 2026 at 11:12 PM
When it comes to US accounts posting about how bad the UK is I find it helpful to read "the UK" in these posts as "England" and sentiment partly to be one of "can't we just join the cool countries in slagging the Brits".
Reposted by RDCK98
multiple people almost starved themselves to death to stop an arms deal going through with elbit man you can't say "some russians are protesting their government" with no evidence of insurgency then ignore the fact thousands of brits are being charged with terrorism offences to oppose the genocide
January 15, 2026 at 10:18 PM
multiple people almost starved themselves to death to stop an arms deal going through with elbit man you can't say "some russians are protesting their government" with no evidence of insurgency then ignore the fact thousands of brits are being charged with terrorism offences to oppose the genocide
Reposted by RDCK98
Reassuring the people of Greenland and the international community that we will not be complicit in Trumps threats is the opposite of warmongering.
The Daily Express having a normal one as usual.
The Daily Express having a normal one as usual.
January 15, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Reassuring the people of Greenland and the international community that we will not be complicit in Trumps threats is the opposite of warmongering.
The Daily Express having a normal one as usual.
The Daily Express having a normal one as usual.
Reposted by RDCK98
While Robert Jenrick is getting most of the attention, don’t miss that today a Reform staff member grabbed a journalist in Scotland to try and get them to stop asking questions. This is what we’re dealing with
www.itv.com/watch/news/w...
www.itv.com/watch/news/w...
www.itv.com
January 15, 2026 at 6:07 PM
While Robert Jenrick is getting most of the attention, don’t miss that today a Reform staff member grabbed a journalist in Scotland to try and get them to stop asking questions. This is what we’re dealing with
www.itv.com/watch/news/w...
www.itv.com/watch/news/w...
Reposted by RDCK98
To get on my other horse for a second, Greenland-Denmark intergovernment relations during this crisis provides a pretty good example of how a responsible UK government that cares more about governing well than winning could behave wrt separatist admins in its own devolved territories just saying
January 15, 2026 at 4:27 PM
To get on my other horse for a second, Greenland-Denmark intergovernment relations during this crisis provides a pretty good example of how a responsible UK government that cares more about governing well than winning could behave wrt separatist admins in its own devolved territories just saying
Reposted by RDCK98
why would it be the Europeans triggering WWIII when the US would be the ones invading Greenland
this is akin to saying Poland triggered WWII because it did not surrender the moment the Germans fired on the Westerplatte
this is akin to saying Poland triggered WWII because it did not surrender the moment the Germans fired on the Westerplatte
Look, you can disagree with me about whether the Europeans are going to destroy the global economy and trigger WWIII fighting the United States in Greenland. I do not think so, but that's a disagreement we can have. It's one we can have without lying about my disposition towards Donald Trump.
January 15, 2026 at 1:50 PM
why would it be the Europeans triggering WWIII when the US would be the ones invading Greenland
this is akin to saying Poland triggered WWII because it did not surrender the moment the Germans fired on the Westerplatte
this is akin to saying Poland triggered WWII because it did not surrender the moment the Germans fired on the Westerplatte
Reposted by RDCK98
She is really really right wing but smart enough to try working inside the EU establishment rather than barking at it 24/7 like a circus chihuahua. Many establishment types find it reassuring but that kind of entryism makes me more uncomfortable tbh.
Don’t mistake her pragmatism for shared values.
Don’t mistake her pragmatism for shared values.
To Atlanticists who've insisted for years that Giorgia Meloni is not far right, I ask: why is she appearing in a video alongside 🇫🇷Le Pen, 🇩🇪Weidel, 🇮🇱Netanyahu & 🇪🇸Abascal?
And why is this supposed friend of Ukraine endorsing Orban for re-election so he can keep blocking 🇪🇺 aid to 🇺🇦?
And why is this supposed friend of Ukraine endorsing Orban for re-election so he can keep blocking 🇪🇺 aid to 🇺🇦?
Meloni e Salvini (con Le Pen e Netanyahu) nella clip elettorale di Orbán (che arranca nei sondaggi): «Dio vi benedica». Il Pd: «Inquietante» – Il video
January 15, 2026 at 4:00 PM
She is really really right wing but smart enough to try working inside the EU establishment rather than barking at it 24/7 like a circus chihuahua. Many establishment types find it reassuring but that kind of entryism makes me more uncomfortable tbh.
Don’t mistake her pragmatism for shared values.
Don’t mistake her pragmatism for shared values.
And perhaps, this is why European governments have decided to learn from their mistake in not doing more to defend Ukraine between 2014-2022?
Worth noting, because the comparison has been made, that there remain exactly zero NATO combat troops defending Ukraine from Russia given the risks of a direct confrontation. To believe they'd have one with the US for territory another administration might simply give back — this is online thought.
January 15, 2026 at 2:29 PM
And perhaps, this is why European governments have decided to learn from their mistake in not doing more to defend Ukraine between 2014-2022?
First Minister stated to Parliament that he was not informed by the UK Government regarding the movement of the seized Russian tanker into Scottish waters. The FM is focused on the Scots Law implications but safe to say the Scottish Government is starting to think along the below lines at least.
The UK is promising action in Russia's shadow fleet, how involved is the First Minister? Will he be privy to security briefings? What about US use of Scottish airfields etc, whom will the UK Government back in a situation where the Scottish Government forbid usage by the US?
January 15, 2026 at 12:48 PM
First Minister stated to Parliament that he was not informed by the UK Government regarding the movement of the seized Russian tanker into Scottish waters. The FM is focused on the Scots Law implications but safe to say the Scottish Government is starting to think along the below lines at least.
Listening into FMQs and caught Gillian MacKay asking the First Minister directly to prevent the US military using Scottish Government owned sites for any action against Greenland.
January 15, 2026 at 12:22 PM
Listening into FMQs and caught Gillian MacKay asking the First Minister directly to prevent the US military using Scottish Government owned sites for any action against Greenland.