Ed Wilson
eddwilson.bsky.social
Ed Wilson
@eddwilson.bsky.social
Lefty liberal by temperament, exasperated by experience.
Not strictly qualified for most arguments, but I do read a lot.
Stockport, UK

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Housing Conditions in the Social Rented Sector

committees.parliament.uk/publications...

#R4Today
February 9, 2026 at 6:07 AM
Much less interesting than Trump's culture war bletherings

#R4Today
The US embassy in London is preventing top-level business executives from travelling to America over minor criminal offences, as Donald Trump’s (who has 34 felony convictions and 90 pending felony charges) clampdown on immigration extends to the UK. www.ft.com/content/a38d...
US embassy in London denies visas to executives over minor offences
Immigration lawyers say top-level corporate figures and tech leaders among those barred from visiting America
www.ft.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:04 AM
Reposted by Ed Wilson
This report implies that 'Andrew' may have broken the Official Secrets Acts (& I wonder if the same could be possible of Mandelson?) and if so I wonder whether that, rather than 'Misconduct in Public Office' might, in both cases, form the basis of a prosecution?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Andrew shared confidential information with Epstein as trade envoy, files suggest
Under official guidance, trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality over sensitive, commercial, or political information.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 8, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Ed Wilson
ethics professor here, can confirm
"should the government kidnap 5 year olds and deport them? We asked seventeen ethics professors and they all just screamed"
February 8, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Reposted by Ed Wilson
Very good piece. At home, Starmer was pressured by McSweeney into behaving like somebody that he isn't; on trips abroad, Powell stands in the background, supports him & allows him to be himself (& impress other foreign leaders).
February 8, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Ed Wilson
Let God get this straight.

- In 2019 the Trump admin created a press release for Epstein’s death the day before he died.
- He allegedly died the next day.
- In 2026 the Trump admin released this info from the Epstein files.

Could it be any more obvious?
February 8, 2026 at 5:17 PM
"If this were Great Britain, he’d already be gone."
February 8, 2026 at 7:27 PM
More news about Citizen Andrew - 8 February 2026 and much longer ago

"Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor appears to have knowingly shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein from his official work as trade envoy in 2010 and 2011..."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
21 July 2011

Duke of York to step down as the UK trade envoy... friendship with US tycoon Jeffrey Epstein... lunching at Buckingham Palace with a "notorious" member of former Tunisian regime... taking a holiday with a Libyan gun smuggler... used an official trip to try to find a buyer for his home
Prince Andrew: Envoy career plagued with controversy
The Duke of York is to stand down as UK trade envoy, the BBC understands, ending a controversial time in the role after sustained criticism over his friendship with a US tycoon who was jailed for sex ...
www.bbc.co.uk
February 8, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Reposted by Ed Wilson
This is what Hess said: “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the US right now. I think it’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of. Just because I wear the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the US.”
February 8, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Ed Wilson
There's a lot of commentary on the Epstein files, to say the least, but this, by @mattcarr.substack.com, is well worth your time: mattcarr.substack.com/p/the-damp-s...
Epsteinland
When Patriarchy Meets Oligarchy
mattcarr.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 5:57 PM
"Acting" is better than it might have been.
NEW: An email has just gone round No 10 staff confirming that the PM has asked Jill Cuthbertson and Vidhya Alakeson to be acting chiefs of staff, with immediate effect.
February 8, 2026 at 5:59 PM
"Too much responsibility and expectation is placed on the senior official whose principal function is the direct support of the Prime Minister."

(from Sue Gray's first report on dysfunction Johnson's No 10)
How can Steve Barclay be No 10 chief of staff and remain a minister? - UK in a changing Europe
In this article, originally published in the New Statesman, Jill Rutter analyses the appointment of Steve Barclay as chief of staff.
ukandeu.ac.uk
February 8, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Ed Wilson
February 8, 2026 at 1:41 PM
What Trump needs is parental controls.

Applied to him.
Tom Massie: “Once you pass certain guardrails, like attacking a man’s spouse or getting into racist tropes, I think it’s somebody at the White House, maybe Susie Wiles, needs to go to the president and just ask him for his phone, and maybe ask him just to show him the tweet before he sends it out.”
Massie on Trump's rhetoric: 'He's gone too far'
The Kentucky Republican said somebody at the White House really should monitor what the president posts.
www.politico.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Ed Wilson
Reform UK are seeking to fob off blame for their illegal leaflet on a printer error. That won’t stand up with the police - responsibility for making sure the law is followed lies with the party commissioning and distributing the leaflets.
February 8, 2026 at 8:51 AM
For omitting the imprint from an election publication, the promoter, any other person by whom the material is published, and the printer
shall be... "liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5"
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/2...

Level 5
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/1...
February 8, 2026 at 4:11 PM
25 October 2008 Mandelson and tycoon met in 2004

Lord Mandelson has admitted meeting Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska two years earlier than previously revealed... allegations that the shadow chancellor George Osborne, who was also attending, attempted to solicit a £50,000 Tory donation from him.
BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Mandelson and tycoon met in 2004
news.bbc.co.uk
February 8, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Ed Wilson
Epstein was in and out of Russia every few months according to his travel documents, but Mandelson was partying in nightclubs in St Petersburg and regularly in Moscow.

How did our intelligence services fail to pick this up? Or were their reports and investigations suppressed?
February 8, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Dear Trump, Putin (and Zelenskyy),

Attacking civilian infrastructure, acting to make civilian life difficult or impossible contravene international law.

Sarah Rainsford of the BBC has started to remind us of that.

#WATO
February 8, 2026 at 1:09 PM
BBC sports reporter: Clearly in a lot of pain, some spectators applauded...

#WATO
February 8, 2026 at 1:06 PM
The Home Office now describes asylum seekers as "illegal immigrants [living in hotels]" with no reference to the reason that these people are in government-funded accommodation is that this government has taken & will process the asylum claim from them in 98-99% of cases of unauthorised entry.
February 8, 2026 at 1:02 PM
Politics North West confuses two candidates for the Gorton and Denton byelecton.

The real Nick Buckley (on the right) is campaigning on yet another public inquiry into grooming gangs.

#BBCPNW
February 8, 2026 at 10:33 AM
It's weird to imagine Reform's printer managing to crop the legally required party information off a letter to Gorton and Denton constituents.

Was it the same printer who did it in Caerfilli?

And Sarah Pochin says the printer sent the letters out. Using the full electoral roll.

#BBCPNW #BBCLauraK
February 8, 2026 at 10:13 AM
Josh Simons pulls out of Politics North West after...

#BBCPNW
Cabinet office minister used PR firm to investigate journalists' sources
Cabinet office minister Josh Simons commissioned APCO Worldwide for the investigation in 2023.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 8, 2026 at 10:06 AM