Gaby Hinsliff
@gabyhinsliff.bsky.social
Guardian columnist & writer, author of Half a Wife, sometimes on telly/Guardian Politics Weekly podcast. No, I didn't write the headline. Event host & speaker https://www.specialistspeakers.com/?p=2705
will admit i don't fully understand this but POETRY OUTFOXES AI is the best case for preserving English degrees i have ever heard. 'all the teenage girls who were really into Sylvia Plath at one point vs tech bros' is the battle for civilisation we deserve
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 21, 2025 at 1:05 PM
will admit i don't fully understand this but POETRY OUTFOXES AI is the best case for preserving English degrees i have ever heard. 'all the teenage girls who were really into Sylvia Plath at one point vs tech bros' is the battle for civilisation we deserve
Guys, wait til you discover this thing called paying your taxes
The fear of not having enough money is familiar. But there’s a quieter struggle at the top: feeling uncomfortable with having too much, says money psychotherapist Vicky Reynal ⬇️
Why my ultra-rich clients are ashamed of their wealth
www.thetimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Guys, wait til you discover this thing called paying your taxes
Reposted by Gaby Hinsliff
Men will spend billions on building their own AI rather than go to therapy.
November 20, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Men will spend billions on building their own AI rather than go to therapy.
The Covid inquiry’s findings are shocking but unsurprising now, so the main thing it left me thinking is that without a vaccine we wd’ve been utterly screwed. & if you worked round the clock to make a thing that saved millions of lives globally, to see that legacy trashed by anti-vaxxers…
November 20, 2025 at 5:50 PM
The Covid inquiry’s findings are shocking but unsurprising now, so the main thing it left me thinking is that without a vaccine we wd’ve been utterly screwed. & if you worked round the clock to make a thing that saved millions of lives globally, to see that legacy trashed by anti-vaxxers…
Reposted by Gaby Hinsliff
BREAKING: The UK’s response to Covid was “too little, too late”, a damning official report on the handling of the pandemic has concluded, saying the introduction of a lockdown even a week earlier than happened could have saved more than 20,000 lives.
November 20, 2025 at 4:11 PM
BREAKING: The UK’s response to Covid was “too little, too late”, a damning official report on the handling of the pandemic has concluded, saying the introduction of a lockdown even a week earlier than happened could have saved more than 20,000 lives.
this week's Guardian Politics Weekly pod is about asylum reforms, moral outrage, and whether either of those things are going to make any tangible difference
Yes, it's the latest Politics Weekly UK, a rich & questioning chatfest with me, @kiranstacey.bsky.social, @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social & @rafaelbehr.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...
How dangerous are Labour’s asylum plans?
Podcast Episode · Politics Weekly UK · 19/11/2025 · 31m
podcasts.apple.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:54 PM
this week's Guardian Politics Weekly pod is about asylum reforms, moral outrage, and whether either of those things are going to make any tangible difference
this is a good profile of Rachel Reeves, in which arguably the most revealing thing is she could do this interview hours ahead of a screeching U-turn without giving any sign it was coming www.ft.com/content/346e...
Rachel Reeves’ gambit
A year after her last bombshell Budget, the chancellor is once again mired in political chaos. Could the fallout consume both her and Sir Keir Starmer?
www.ft.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:08 PM
this is a good profile of Rachel Reeves, in which arguably the most revealing thing is she could do this interview hours ahead of a screeching U-turn without giving any sign it was coming www.ft.com/content/346e...
Listening to Steve Reed explain on the radio today that he can't say what Mahmood's plan means for kids of people who give birth after they've been granted asylum because that's a hypothetical Q govt can't be expected to answer right now made me think these reforms are going to unravel quite fast
November 18, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Listening to Steve Reed explain on the radio today that he can't say what Mahmood's plan means for kids of people who give birth after they've been granted asylum because that's a hypothetical Q govt can't be expected to answer right now made me think these reforms are going to unravel quite fast
V interesting from @moreincommonuk.bsky.social with @alistrathern.bsky.social on middle aged male disillusionment and how it's shaping politics www.moreincommon.org.uk/our-work/res... (I wrote a column a couple of weeks ago about what's eating Gen X, and a lot of this resonates)
Out of reach? Men, masculinity and mainstream politics
New research lays bare the breadth of disillusionment across the British public, and identifies a key group of men who are increasingly disillusioned.
This research, drawing on polling of 3,000 Brito...
www.moreincommon.org.uk
November 18, 2025 at 9:50 AM
V interesting from @moreincommonuk.bsky.social with @alistrathern.bsky.social on middle aged male disillusionment and how it's shaping politics www.moreincommon.org.uk/our-work/res... (I wrote a column a couple of weeks ago about what's eating Gen X, and a lot of this resonates)
ps amid the chaos an actual good thing happened today, & this is the first Gen Z-friendly thing i can remember a govt doing since..i don't know when? so fair play www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
Reselling tickets for profit to be outlawed in UK government crackdown
Touts, and ordinary consumers, will no longer be able to charge anything more than price at which they bought ticket
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:34 PM
ps amid the chaos an actual good thing happened today, & this is the first Gen Z-friendly thing i can remember a govt doing since..i don't know when? so fair play www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
metaphor writers, give up and home now
And another exclusive: Kensington and Chelsea Council is investigating whether Lord Peter Mandelson committed an offence when he publicly urinated in the street last week www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Kensington Council Investigating Peter Mandelson For Urinating In The Street
Exclusive: Kensington and Chelsea Council is investigating whether Lord Peter Mandelson committed an offence when he publicly urinated in the stree...
www.politicshome.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:29 PM
metaphor writers, give up and home now
Six weeks since the PM said Britain faced a choice between decency or division and our bad, obviously, for not understanding that he was in fact Team Division
November 17, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Six weeks since the PM said Britain faced a choice between decency or division and our bad, obviously, for not understanding that he was in fact Team Division
So sorry to hear the sad news about Rachel, who was the most brilliantly versatile, warm, perceptive writer (& lovely colleague). And way too young for this. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Remembering Rachel Cooke | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 8:53 PM
So sorry to hear the sad news about Rachel, who was the most brilliantly versatile, warm, perceptive writer (& lovely colleague). And way too young for this. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
I think Luke's right: breaking tax pledge is foundational. But I also think 'raising tax revenues in any way BUT raising headline rate, & thinking ppl will buy that's not a breach' is delusional. The pledge was understood as 'Labour will fix things & it won't cost me'. You're breaking it, so own it
Too much analysis was still treating breaking the tax pledge as “just another unpopular decision” rather than recognising consequence of breaking a promise which defined an election for the public. If is correct the govt won’t now break it they may have avoided a deeply scarring loss of public trust
November 14, 2025 at 10:29 AM
I think Luke's right: breaking tax pledge is foundational. But I also think 'raising tax revenues in any way BUT raising headline rate, & thinking ppl will buy that's not a breach' is delusional. The pledge was understood as 'Labour will fix things & it won't cost me'. You're breaking it, so own it
PSA for former fans of the Observer Review section - I think you might like @thenerve.news, founded by & featuring a lot of writers/editors you’ll recognise (from @dorianlynskey.bsky.social to @johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social @carolecadwalla.bsky.social and more)
November 13, 2025 at 7:29 PM
PSA for former fans of the Observer Review section - I think you might like @thenerve.news, founded by & featuring a lot of writers/editors you’ll recognise (from @dorianlynskey.bsky.social to @johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social @carolecadwalla.bsky.social and more)
Reposted by Gaby Hinsliff
I have had to pop over to X to stop you posting that bloody Guardian screenshot about Starmer
November 13, 2025 at 6:06 PM
I have had to pop over to X to stop you posting that bloody Guardian screenshot about Starmer
This quote (from an interesting @politicshome piece on immigration policy) does feel like it sums up govt at the moment: we can see stuff going wrong but we’re not really sure what to do about it
November 12, 2025 at 1:30 PM
This quote (from an interesting @politicshome piece on immigration policy) does feel like it sums up govt at the moment: we can see stuff going wrong but we’re not really sure what to do about it
Useful summary of the plot that wasn’t yet, including the mad defence that no 10 ‘needed to show they knew’ what Streeting was supposedly up to. Even if true, why would you choose to show the nation your own colleagues think you’re toast? If you need to deliver a warning why not do it privately?
Why Labour MPs believe that No 10 has only weakened Keir Starmer and strengthened Wes Streeting. www.newstatesman.com/politics/mor...
Who wins from No 10 vs Wes Streeting?
Labour MPs warn that Downing Street’s dramatic intervention has only weakened Keir Starmer
www.newstatesman.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Useful summary of the plot that wasn’t yet, including the mad defence that no 10 ‘needed to show they knew’ what Streeting was supposedly up to. Even if true, why would you choose to show the nation your own colleagues think you’re toast? If you need to deliver a warning why not do it privately?
Reposted by Gaby Hinsliff
A selection of fury from Labour MPs, ministers and advisors - “This is batshit crazy” “they are f-ing deluded” “did we watch the Tories and think, let’s have a bit of that?” “why are you slagging off your main rival and then putting him on the morning round to show everyone how much better he is”
November 12, 2025 at 9:41 AM
A selection of fury from Labour MPs, ministers and advisors - “This is batshit crazy” “they are f-ing deluded” “did we watch the Tories and think, let’s have a bit of that?” “why are you slagging off your main rival and then putting him on the morning round to show everyone how much better he is”
Reposted by Gaby Hinsliff
What I most like in this graph from @britainelects.com is that they are all distinct journeys, albeit to roughly the same destination. Each graph tells a different story.
November 12, 2025 at 9:17 AM
What I most like in this graph from @britainelects.com is that they are all distinct journeys, albeit to roughly the same destination. Each graph tells a different story.
Operation Save Big Dog By Giving His Main Rival A Chance To Show He’s Better At Politics is going well www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Wes Streeting denies plotting to oust Keir Starmer as prime minister
Health secretary dismisses claims as ‘unhelpful’ and ‘self-defeating’ after reports that PM’s job could be under threat
www.theguardian.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Operation Save Big Dog By Giving His Main Rival A Chance To Show He’s Better At Politics is going well www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Gaby Hinsliff
We @connectedbydata.org are planning a conference next year (early March, in Manchester) about people, power and participation in (public sector) data and AI.
If you were coming, who would you really like to hear from as a keynote speaker to kick off the day?
If you were coming, who would you really like to hear from as a keynote speaker to kick off the day?
November 11, 2025 at 9:08 AM
We @connectedbydata.org are planning a conference next year (early March, in Manchester) about people, power and participation in (public sector) data and AI.
If you were coming, who would you really like to hear from as a keynote speaker to kick off the day?
If you were coming, who would you really like to hear from as a keynote speaker to kick off the day?
If there’s anyone who used to work for the BBC who has not yet done a Substack on The Robbie Gibb I Knew, can they please file by close of business tonight
November 11, 2025 at 8:24 PM
If there’s anyone who used to work for the BBC who has not yet done a Substack on The Robbie Gibb I Knew, can they please file by close of business tonight
been a *lot* of Labour chatter lately about this - what happens if the Budget bombs, Labour drops still lower in the polls (maybe even below the Greens, a scenario I wrote about yday), & MPs mutiny? This from @pippacrerar.bsky.social brings you up to speed
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Starmer allies issue warning to PM’s rivals as fears grow over leadership challenge
Exclusive: No 10 said to be in ‘full bunker mode’ over fears of attempt to oust him after budget or May local elections
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:53 PM
been a *lot* of Labour chatter lately about this - what happens if the Budget bombs, Labour drops still lower in the polls (maybe even below the Greens, a scenario I wrote about yday), & MPs mutiny? This from @pippacrerar.bsky.social brings you up to speed
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
This was a December ritual for us - get your kid involved in choosing what goes, and explain what you’re doing (in a believer-appropriate way obvs…)
Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round
November 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM
This was a December ritual for us - get your kid involved in choosing what goes, and explain what you’re doing (in a believer-appropriate way obvs…)