@johnw60.bsky.social
Reposted
"The Mandelson scandal is bad. Very bad indeed. And that therefore makes it comparable to an average Tuesday under the Johnson administration."
Why is every scandal existential for Starmer? Because he has actively worked to eradicate his own support base. And that, along with the Mandelson decision, can be laid at McSweeney's door iandunt.substack.com/p/starmers-m...
February 6, 2026 at 2:51 PM
"The Mandelson scandal is bad. Very bad indeed. And that therefore makes it comparable to an average Tuesday under the Johnson administration."
Reposted
Starmer finding that place in a Venn Diagram where he manages to annoy allies without defeating enemies
Keir Starmer attacks the racism of Reform and Matt Goodwin but then adds that "Britain has also been let down by a mindset on the left of politics that is too slow to defend core British values"
February 5, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Starmer finding that place in a Venn Diagram where he manages to annoy allies without defeating enemies
Reposted
Farage's lot will try to consolidate in the UK the same way at Trumpists. They have already captured the RW media.
NEW: Trump's coup is almost complete. And the attack on the press is a central piece of it. Bezos's gutting of the Washington Post cannot be allowed to be just another blip in the news cycle.
We are all going to have to fight for a free and independent press.
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
We are all going to have to fight for a free and independent press.
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
Fight!
Fuck Bezos. The Washington Post can and must rise again.
open.substack.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Farage's lot will try to consolidate in the UK the same way at Trumpists. They have already captured the RW media.
Reposted
Carry on with him, will lead to Reform winning the next election
February 7, 2026 at 10:17 AM
Carry on with him, will lead to Reform winning the next election
Reposted
The 8:10 Today interview with Gordon Brown is an utter tour de force. A towering intellect matched by the deepest integrity.
February 7, 2026 at 8:54 AM
The 8:10 Today interview with Gordon Brown is an utter tour de force. A towering intellect matched by the deepest integrity.
Reposted
I mean there was no competitive tender for this deal
February 7, 2026 at 10:31 AM
I mean there was no competitive tender for this deal
Reposted
That £240m contract Palantir won after Peter Mandelson took Keir Starmer to visit them? Government asserts "there were robust processes in place to ensure that government contracts are awarded fairly and transparently" but the award notice says it was a "directed award", ie without any competition.
February 7, 2026 at 9:45 AM
That £240m contract Palantir won after Peter Mandelson took Keir Starmer to visit them? Government asserts "there were robust processes in place to ensure that government contracts are awarded fairly and transparently" but the award notice says it was a "directed award", ie without any competition.
Reposted
And elsewhere in the press four years before that
February 6, 2026 at 2:15 PM
And elsewhere in the press four years before that
Reposted
Political drama aside, when a Prime Minister cannot carry the House of Commons on whether government can be trusted on national security, PM’s authority is over.
Do not underestimate significance of MPs insisting on a parliamentary committee, and not government, to decide on Mandelson disclosures.
Do not underestimate significance of MPs insisting on a parliamentary committee, and not government, to decide on Mandelson disclosures.
February 7, 2026 at 10:31 AM
Political drama aside, when a Prime Minister cannot carry the House of Commons on whether government can be trusted on national security, PM’s authority is over.
Do not underestimate significance of MPs insisting on a parliamentary committee, and not government, to decide on Mandelson disclosures.
Do not underestimate significance of MPs insisting on a parliamentary committee, and not government, to decide on Mandelson disclosures.
Reposted
Rishi Sunak has been understandably reluctant to give too much oxygen to racialised comments that he can't be English. He told cohesion commission this week it partly reflects incentives for "shock jockery"+provocative bigoted language in the "attention economy"
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
‘I’m British, English and British Asian’, says Rishi Sunak in riposte to racially charged debate over identity
Podcaster claimed former prime minister not English because he is ‘brown-skinned Hindu’
www.theguardian.com
February 6, 2026 at 10:57 PM
Rishi Sunak has been understandably reluctant to give too much oxygen to racialised comments that he can't be English. He told cohesion commission this week it partly reflects incentives for "shock jockery"+provocative bigoted language in the "attention economy"
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted
US broadcasters muted the booing apparently, otherwise ordinary Americans might have discovered for the first time just how much Trump has made the USA a pariah. .
When you show you hate Europe don’t expect a kiss on both cheeks.
What seemed like the whole stadium at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony booed JD Vance when he appeared on the big screen.
What seemed like the whole stadium at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony booed JD Vance when he appeared on the big screen.
JD Vance and wife booed at 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Milan
US Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha were met with loud boos when they appeared on the big screen at the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Milan
www.mirror.co.uk
February 7, 2026 at 10:07 AM
US broadcasters muted the booing apparently, otherwise ordinary Americans might have discovered for the first time just how much Trump has made the USA a pariah. .
Reposted
Wow, this speech from Mayor of NY Zohran Mamdani 👏💯
"I speak of Renee Good, whose final words to the man who murdered her moments later were: I'm not mad at you"
"I speak of Alex Pretti who died as he lived, caring for the stranger"
"Let us offer a new path: one of defiance through compassion"
"I speak of Renee Good, whose final words to the man who murdered her moments later were: I'm not mad at you"
"I speak of Alex Pretti who died as he lived, caring for the stranger"
"Let us offer a new path: one of defiance through compassion"
February 7, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Wow, this speech from Mayor of NY Zohran Mamdani 👏💯
"I speak of Renee Good, whose final words to the man who murdered her moments later were: I'm not mad at you"
"I speak of Alex Pretti who died as he lived, caring for the stranger"
"Let us offer a new path: one of defiance through compassion"
"I speak of Renee Good, whose final words to the man who murdered her moments later were: I'm not mad at you"
"I speak of Alex Pretti who died as he lived, caring for the stranger"
"Let us offer a new path: one of defiance through compassion"
Reposted
A lot of racists in UK media & politics are currently limbering up to hold Donald Trump to an infinitely lower moral standard than they did Gary Lineker.
Starting with Farage, inevitably…
Starting with Farage, inevitably…
February 7, 2026 at 9:09 AM
A lot of racists in UK media & politics are currently limbering up to hold Donald Trump to an infinitely lower moral standard than they did Gary Lineker.
Starting with Farage, inevitably…
Starting with Farage, inevitably…
Reposted
Hhhmmm.
Can’t see any of the likely successors making *major* changes to borrowing. You might get more taxes & more spending.
And don’t rule out a more pro-growth attitude to immigration.
www.ft.com/content/c855... Starmer camp warns leadership challenge risks economic chaos
Can’t see any of the likely successors making *major* changes to borrowing. You might get more taxes & more spending.
And don’t rule out a more pro-growth attitude to immigration.
www.ft.com/content/c855... Starmer camp warns leadership challenge risks economic chaos
Starmer camp warns leadership challenge risks economic chaos
Investors also signal concern at prospect of a more leftwing government
www.ft.com
February 7, 2026 at 9:08 AM
Hhhmmm.
Can’t see any of the likely successors making *major* changes to borrowing. You might get more taxes & more spending.
And don’t rule out a more pro-growth attitude to immigration.
www.ft.com/content/c855... Starmer camp warns leadership challenge risks economic chaos
Can’t see any of the likely successors making *major* changes to borrowing. You might get more taxes & more spending.
And don’t rule out a more pro-growth attitude to immigration.
www.ft.com/content/c855... Starmer camp warns leadership challenge risks economic chaos
Reposted
Trump is a racist piece of shit
February 7, 2026 at 3:43 AM
Trump is a racist piece of shit
Reposted
Scotland's only African elephant was 'gently put to sleep' after age-related complications
Scotland’s only African elephant dies aged 54
www.thenational.scot
February 7, 2026 at 4:58 AM
Scotland's only African elephant was 'gently put to sleep' after age-related complications
Reposted
Luxembourg Garden in Paris - 1887
https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/14097
https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/14097
February 7, 2026 at 5:25 AM
Luxembourg Garden in Paris - 1887
https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/14097
https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/14097
Reposted
The Russian economy is finally stagnating. What does it mean for the war – and for Putin?
The Russian economy is finally stagnating. What does it mean for the war – and for Putin?
A wartime boom in Russia has given way to sluggish growth, tax hikes and squeezed public services. Will it affect the conflict in Ukraine?
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:39 AM
The Russian economy is finally stagnating. What does it mean for the war – and for Putin?
Reposted
7 February 1926 | A German Jewish girl, Evelyn Kalmann, was born in Leipzig.
In September 1942 she was deported from Westerbork in the occupied Netherlands to #Auschwitz. She did not survive.
In September 1942 she was deported from Westerbork in the occupied Netherlands to #Auschwitz. She did not survive.
February 7, 2026 at 6:00 AM
7 February 1926 | A German Jewish girl, Evelyn Kalmann, was born in Leipzig.
In September 1942 she was deported from Westerbork in the occupied Netherlands to #Auschwitz. She did not survive.
In September 1942 she was deported from Westerbork in the occupied Netherlands to #Auschwitz. She did not survive.
Reposted
”It was the best of times; it was the worst of times...”
Charles Dickens, Victorian novelist born #OTD 1812; George Orwell noted “no English writer has written better about childhood...”
Portrait by Daniel Maclise, 1839, National Portrait Gallery, London | Cartoon Tom Gauld
@tomgauld.bsky.social
Charles Dickens, Victorian novelist born #OTD 1812; George Orwell noted “no English writer has written better about childhood...”
Portrait by Daniel Maclise, 1839, National Portrait Gallery, London | Cartoon Tom Gauld
@tomgauld.bsky.social
February 7, 2026 at 6:08 AM
”It was the best of times; it was the worst of times...”
Charles Dickens, Victorian novelist born #OTD 1812; George Orwell noted “no English writer has written better about childhood...”
Portrait by Daniel Maclise, 1839, National Portrait Gallery, London | Cartoon Tom Gauld
@tomgauld.bsky.social
Charles Dickens, Victorian novelist born #OTD 1812; George Orwell noted “no English writer has written better about childhood...”
Portrait by Daniel Maclise, 1839, National Portrait Gallery, London | Cartoon Tom Gauld
@tomgauld.bsky.social
Reposted
Donald Trump just lost in court again to Illinois.
He’s never had the right to withhold child care funds for Illinoisans — and the District Court’s preliminary injunction tonight has only affirmed that further.
He’s never had the right to withhold child care funds for Illinoisans — and the District Court’s preliminary injunction tonight has only affirmed that further.
February 7, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Donald Trump just lost in court again to Illinois.
He’s never had the right to withhold child care funds for Illinoisans — and the District Court’s preliminary injunction tonight has only affirmed that further.
He’s never had the right to withhold child care funds for Illinoisans — and the District Court’s preliminary injunction tonight has only affirmed that further.
Reposted
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
https://botfrens.com/collections/109/contents/28531
https://botfrens.com/collections/109/contents/28531
January 24, 2026 at 12:19 PM
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
https://botfrens.com/collections/109/contents/28531
https://botfrens.com/collections/109/contents/28531
Reposted
Starmer faces questions over visit to Palantir office alongside Mandelson ft.trib.al/Rr0SHnp
Starmer faces questions over visit to Palantir office alongside Mandelson
Former ambassador was also shareholder in lobbying group that counted US tech firm as a client
ft.trib.al
February 7, 2026 at 6:18 AM
Starmer faces questions over visit to Palantir office alongside Mandelson ft.trib.al/Rr0SHnp
Reposted
i don’t know if it’s the jaunty bow tie or what but i cannot stop laughing at this
February 7, 2026 at 6:19 AM
i don’t know if it’s the jaunty bow tie or what but i cannot stop laughing at this
Reposted
BBC Persian journalists say Iran monitoring them and targeting their families
BBC Persian journalists say Iran monitoring them and targeting their families
Reporters say relatives in Iran have been questioned and persecuted in an effort to curb coverage of unrest
Exiled Iranian journalists working for the BBC have been warned their movements are being closely monitored by the state, as they said their families in Iran were being interrogated and persecuted for their reporting.
Journalists said family members had been threatened with arrest and the seizure of their assets unless their loved ones stopped reporting on Iranian unrest. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 6:13 AM
BBC Persian journalists say Iran monitoring them and targeting their families