James O'Malley
@jamesomalley.co.uk
@Psythor on Twitter. Freelance writer covering politics/tech/nerd stuff.
Read my content: takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
Yes, I inevitably have a podcast too: abundancepod.com
Free the Postcode Address File!
Read my content: takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
Yes, I inevitably have a podcast too: abundancepod.com
Free the Postcode Address File!
Maybe I just haven't noticed this before, but it's interesting that the BBC has created a "BBC News Live" studio, to presumably spin-up ad-hoc live UK coverage that BBC World doesn't want to take.
January 15, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Maybe I just haven't noticed this before, but it's interesting that the BBC has created a "BBC News Live" studio, to presumably spin-up ad-hoc live UK coverage that BBC World doesn't want to take.
If I know anything about Nigel Farage, it's that he always plays nice with ambitious internal rivals, and it never ends badly at all.
January 15, 2026 at 12:06 PM
If I know anything about Nigel Farage, it's that he always plays nice with ambitious internal rivals, and it never ends badly at all.
Reposted by James O'Malley
Robert Jenrick is off to spend more time pretending he doesn't like other people's families.
Robert Jenrick is off to spend more time pretending he can’t see white people.
January 15, 2026 at 11:39 AM
Robert Jenrick is off to spend more time pretending he doesn't like other people's families.
Reposted by James O'Malley
Badenoch has missed a trick not doing her sacking Jenrick video like his fare dodging one. Chasing him through Portcullis House saying 'you're bang to rights'.
January 15, 2026 at 11:24 AM
Badenoch has missed a trick not doing her sacking Jenrick video like his fare dodging one. Chasing him through Portcullis House saying 'you're bang to rights'.
Hope this means the normal Tories no longer have to play the "actually my racist colleague makes a fair point" game.
January 15, 2026 at 11:18 AM
Hope this means the normal Tories no longer have to play the "actually my racist colleague makes a fair point" game.
Reposted by James O'Malley
Every line in this piece is so pitch-perfect I'm half-wondering if it's a brilliant pisstake of the Terminally Online. amycharlottekean.substack.com/p/are-you-to...
Are you too scared to talk to your family about Gaza?
Two thirds of people won't discuss social issues with their friends and family, and I'm not surprised.
amycharlottekean.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:44 AM
Every line in this piece is so pitch-perfect I'm half-wondering if it's a brilliant pisstake of the Terminally Online. amycharlottekean.substack.com/p/are-you-to...
Super interesting @ianvisits.co.uk article on how phone signal on the tube actually works:
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/how...
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/how...
How London finally cracked mobile phone coverage on the Underground
Dotted around London, there are a number of private hotels that aren’t the sort of hotel you might expect – they’re needed to make mobile phones work on the London Underground.
www.ianvisits.co.uk
January 15, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Super interesting @ianvisits.co.uk article on how phone signal on the tube actually works:
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/how...
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/how...
Imagine if this is the start of the big turnaround and we’ve all just spent the last 18 months impatient, when actually the government’s entire theory of the case is vindicated.
(Not sure I actually believe this…)
(Not sure I actually believe this…)
UK economy beat expectations to grow 0.3% in November ft.trib.al/SltxClB
UK economy beat expectations to grow 0.3% in November
Figure marks rebound from previous month’s contraction
ft.trib.al
January 15, 2026 at 8:19 AM
Imagine if this is the start of the big turnaround and we’ve all just spent the last 18 months impatient, when actually the government’s entire theory of the case is vindicated.
(Not sure I actually believe this…)
(Not sure I actually believe this…)
I predict the next few days in Britain are going to be dithering on Britain joining this, then inevitably we'll join late in a way that will make no one happy.
France says will take part in European military mission to Greenland
January 14, 2026 at 7:39 PM
I predict the next few days in Britain are going to be dithering on Britain joining this, then inevitably we'll join late in a way that will make no one happy.
Enjoyably punchy but this should be a slickly produced vertical video.
Neil Coyle MP has written a brutal takedown letter to Nigel Farage for his breach of parliamentary protocol, because Farage visited Coyle's London constituency without notifying him. 10/10 no notes.
(H/T @simonpegg.bsky.social)
(H/T @simonpegg.bsky.social)
January 14, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Enjoyably punchy but this should be a slickly produced vertical video.
Let's not lose our minds about this as, whatever you think of Blair, he supports a two-state solution and has broadly sensible opinions about the conflict, which can't be taken as given for literally anyone else involved.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to take up a role in making decisions on Gaza’s future, according to three people familiar with the plans.
Tony Blair poised for role in Gaza governance
The former British leader will join an executive committee attached to a larger Board of Peace that will include sitting heads of state.
www.politico.eu
January 14, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Let's not lose our minds about this as, whatever you think of Blair, he supports a two-state solution and has broadly sensible opinions about the conflict, which can't be taken as given for literally anyone else involved.
Not the most important thing, but if Trump does annex Greenland this is going to be absolutely devastating for the Masters thesis I wrote 17 years ago on Democratic Peace Theory.
January 14, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Not the most important thing, but if Trump does annex Greenland this is going to be absolutely devastating for the Masters thesis I wrote 17 years ago on Democratic Peace Theory.
It's absolutely mental that Greenland is now (correctly) described as a "hotspot" along with Iran.
January 14, 2026 at 7:02 PM
It's absolutely mental that Greenland is now (correctly) described as a "hotspot" along with Iran.
Sorry officer, can you stop beating me up for a moment and hold still so I can scan your QR code?
I am introducing the Quick Recognition (QR) Act, which requires ICE and CBP officers to wear uniforms featuring QR codes. When scanned, the code would generate a digital ID displaying the officer’s name, badge number, and law enforcement agency.
ICE should be unmasked both physically and digitally.
ICE should be unmasked both physically and digitally.
January 14, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Sorry officer, can you stop beating me up for a moment and hold still so I can scan your QR code?
ICYMI, this week's pod is a good one.
Big news from me and @mjrobbins.com - The Abundance Agenda podcast has a new name!
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
YIMBY Pod – formerly The Abundance Agenda | James O'Malley | Substack
A podcast about growth and progress. Click to read YIMBY Pod – formerly The Abundance Agenda, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
yimbypod.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:36 PM
ICYMI, this week's pod is a good one.
Reposted by James O'Malley
*UK FIVE-YEAR GILT YIELD FALLS TO 3.83%, LOWEST SINCE OCT. 2024
January 14, 2026 at 3:22 PM
*UK FIVE-YEAR GILT YIELD FALLS TO 3.83%, LOWEST SINCE OCT. 2024
Reposted by James O'Malley
Very curious about this as I'd heard that Streeting is the most abundance-curious of the possible successors.
Streeting says: "Bafflingly, some on my own side [...] complain about the civil service. They blame stakeholder capture. This excuses culture does the centre-left no favours. If we tell the public that we can’t make anything work, then why on earth would they vote to keep us in charge?"
January 13, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Very curious about this as I'd heard that Streeting is the most abundance-curious of the possible successors.
Reposted by James O'Malley
Starmer should try this as the communications strategy after the next relaunch.
The interview with Legend in the Radio Times is absolutely brilliant
January 13, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Starmer should try this as the communications strategy after the next relaunch.
Feel like I’m taking crazy pills as no one seems to actually know what Digital ID is or how it works.
Here’s an explanation:
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/how-the-uk...
Here’s an explanation:
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/how-the-uk...
How the government's new digital ID will work
And why I've changed my mind on ID cards
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 9:13 AM
Feel like I’m taking crazy pills as no one seems to actually know what Digital ID is or how it works.
Here’s an explanation:
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/how-the-uk...
Here’s an explanation:
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/how-the-uk...
Today on the BBC News app, the government making essentially a long term £45bn spending commitment is considered less important than Kiefer Sutherland getting arrested.
January 14, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Today on the BBC News app, the government making essentially a long term £45bn spending commitment is considered less important than Kiefer Sutherland getting arrested.
“It is understood” here ironically reveals that the political reporters here don’t really understand the system they are writing about.
January 14, 2026 at 8:51 AM
“It is understood” here ironically reveals that the political reporters here don’t really understand the system they are writing about.
Reposted by James O'Malley
It’s like if you legally required proof that you could drive, but didn’t want a driving licence, so instead carried around an iPad containing videos that evidence that you know how to drive a car.
January 13, 2026 at 6:43 PM
It’s like if you legally required proof that you could drive, but didn’t want a driving licence, so instead carried around an iPad containing videos that evidence that you know how to drive a car.
Reposted by James O'Malley
Suspect the digital ID climbdown will mean that eventually 98% of people just use the GOV.UK app to prove their right to work (aka ‘digital ID’), and the remaining 2% will be the weirdos who opt for convoluted alternative checks.
January 13, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Suspect the digital ID climbdown will mean that eventually 98% of people just use the GOV.UK app to prove their right to work (aka ‘digital ID’), and the remaining 2% will be the weirdos who opt for convoluted alternative checks.
Somehow months of Mamdani discourse have taken place without anyone pointing out that his mum is an Oscar-nominated director and his dad is also famous enough to have a Wikipedia page.
TIL: In his previous incarnation as a hip-hop artist, Zohran Mamdani managed to talk the incredibly grand Madhur Jaffrey (I have met her; she is VERY grand) to star in one of his videos and I'm not sure my brain can cope with this www.theguardian.com/music/2019/m...
How Mr Cardamom convinced 85-year-old Madhur Jaffrey to swear
A tribute to his maternal grandmother, Nani’s foul-mouthed celebrity connection has transformed the rapper’s career
www.theguardian.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Somehow months of Mamdani discourse have taken place without anyone pointing out that his mum is an Oscar-nominated director and his dad is also famous enough to have a Wikipedia page.
Starmer should try this as the communications strategy after the next relaunch.
The interview with Legend in the Radio Times is absolutely brilliant
January 13, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Starmer should try this as the communications strategy after the next relaunch.