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
Not strictly qualified for most arguments, but I do read a lot.
Stockport, UK
"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
"Acting" is better than it might have been.
"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)
(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
"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)
(from Sue Gray's first report on dysfunction Johnson's No 10)
Reposted by Ed Wilson
Rumours about Louise Casey being new CoS. She might as well given she's already doing all the other jobs.
February 8, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Rumours about Louise Casey being new CoS. She might as well given she's already doing all the other jobs.
Reposted by Ed Wilson
February 8, 2026 at 1:41 PM
What Trump needs is parental controls.
Applied to him.
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
What Trump needs is parental controls.
Applied to him.
Applied to him.
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
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.
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...
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
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...
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...
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.
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
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.
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.
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?
How did our intelligence services fail to pick this up? Or were their reports and investigations suppressed?
February 8, 2026 at 12:25 PM
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?
How did our intelligence services fail to pick this up? Or were their reports and investigations suppressed?
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
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
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
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 1:06 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
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
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
The real Nick Buckley (on the right) is campaigning on yet another public inquiry into grooming gangs.
#BBCPNW
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
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
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
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
We've slowly absorbed the 1970s New Right idea that the state is inherently useless, and our enemy. It makes terrible mistakes, but this idea is a disaster.
Latest for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social (based on my @futuregovforum.bsky.social report, Power Failure)
www.thenewworld.co.uk/phil-tinline...
Latest for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social (based on my @futuregovforum.bsky.social report, Power Failure)
www.thenewworld.co.uk/phil-tinline...
The fundamental challenge for Starmer – and Britain
Somewhere along the line people got the idea that the state was the enemy of the people. But that’s dead wrong and the government needs to prove it
www.thenewworld.co.uk
February 8, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Does Steve Wright think the Labour party rule book could manage a leadership election before May?
#BBCLauraK
#BBCLauraK
February 8, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Does Steve Wright think the Labour party rule book could manage a leadership election before May?
#BBCLauraK
#BBCLauraK
Quacking Treason
Public profiles of Jeffrey Epstein going back 20+ years present a near perfect description of a massive, hostile foreign intelligence operation directed at the USA and NATO and other allies.
Why was this so widely ignored? What was Mandelson’s involvement? What next?
A 🧵 /1.
Public profiles of Jeffrey Epstein going back 20+ years present a near perfect description of a massive, hostile foreign intelligence operation directed at the USA and NATO and other allies.
Why was this so widely ignored? What was Mandelson’s involvement? What next?
A 🧵 /1.
February 8, 2026 at 9:15 AM
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
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 9:12 AM
February 8, 2026 at 9:05 AM
"Epstein has given us an extraordinary portal through which we can now see how hostile state influence, criminality and the impunity of the billionaire class are intimately enmeshed... But we can’t understand any of this until we realise that Epstein isn’t just a doorway, he’s also a mirror."
We all live in Jeffrey Epstein's world
The most disturbing revelation so far
broligarchy.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 7:44 AM
"Epstein has given us an extraordinary portal through which we can now see how hostile state influence, criminality and the impunity of the billionaire class are intimately enmeshed... But we can’t understand any of this until we realise that Epstein isn’t just a doorway, he’s also a mirror."
🇲🇩🇺🇦 Moldovan President Sandu said that she is against her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, because there are more worthy candidates - Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Sandu emphasized that it is Ukrainians who are truly sacrificing themselves for the sake of peace and security in Ukraine and the EU.
Sandu emphasized that it is Ukrainians who are truly sacrificing themselves for the sake of peace and security in Ukraine and the EU.
February 8, 2026 at 6:53 AM
"This is what elite impunity looks like, and it is coming directly from the so-called Department of Justice."
#BBCLauraK #R4Today
#BBCLauraK #R4Today
"It’s hard not to read these files and come to the conclusion that Epstein helped engineer the ultimate elite impunity — in which our society has been totally destroyed so the richest and most powerful men in the world can do whatever they want." — @lopatto.bsky.social
How the men in the Epstein files defeated #MeToo
The emails show the “anti-woke” crusaders are afraid of accountability.
www.theverge.com
February 8, 2026 at 6:24 AM
"This is what elite impunity looks like, and it is coming directly from the so-called Department of Justice."
#BBCLauraK #R4Today
#BBCLauraK #R4Today
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
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 12:55 AM
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
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
Reposted by Ed Wilson
Watergate, but if someone was killed.
NYT confirming MS NOW reporting:
Prosecutors began investigating Renee Good's killing, then Washington told them to stop.
Federal prosecutors had a warrant to collect evidence from Good's vehicle, but Trump leaders said to drop it. About a dozen prosecutors have since departed.
Prosecutors began investigating Renee Good's killing, then Washington told them to stop.
Federal prosecutors had a warrant to collect evidence from Good's vehicle, but Trump leaders said to drop it. About a dozen prosecutors have since departed.
Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 12:22 AM
Watergate, but if someone was killed.