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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 19h

Too many voters just don't pay attention until it's too late! It was obvious from a country mile away that Trump was planning an authoritarian presidency. Same with Brexit. Buyers' remorse there, too. Will be the same story of regret if somehow Farage squeezes into Downing Street in 2029. Sigh!!

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 1d

The irony of these charges, instigated by a president (contrary to the rule of law) who is himself a pathological liar (or else has little contact with reality).

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Ex-FBI director James Comey pleads not guilty on lying to Congress charge

Case marks significant step in Trump’s efforts to politicize the justice department and punish political enemies

www.theguardian.com

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 1d

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery. But when it involves sacrificing a distinctive identity, as in the case of Badenoch's Conservatives with Reform, it spells disaster. And Heseltine is absolutely right. It is all too reminiscent of sinister, 1930s-style, far right politics.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 2d

The absurd idea that Trump should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to keep him engaged with developments in the Middle East and to sustain a child-like sugar rush. For goodness sake!! Aren't US presidents meant to be grown-ups.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 2d

Should an EU Referendum be held today, Remain would comfortably win over Leave. Paradoxically, Farage leads in the polls with a percentage support roughy correlating with this much diminished support for Brexit. Simply testimony to the current fragmented state of UK politics.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 3d

Yes, but hardly a tiny slither between them under Badenoch.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 3d

The last remnants of what was the most successful historical force in British politics being systematically destroyed by Badenoch. The Conservative Party: RIP.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 5d

Peaks can be very low!

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 5d

The Tory Party and Reform are essentially fighting for the same segment of the electorate. Remnants of the more centrist tendency in the Conservative Party are rapidly being extinguished and with that any prospect of rekindling a wider appeal. Badenoch proving to be a disastrous Opposition leader!

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 6d

Starmer has been thanked by the Hillsborough campaigners for being the one political leader to keep his promises to them on the Hillsborough Law.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 6d

As such, we are getting heartily sick of the real perpetrators of hate and division unconvincingly playing the role of victim.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 6d

Let's not beat around the bush. The kind of society Starmer placed his stake in the ground for in his Conference Speech is a civilised opposite of the rhetoric and policy adopted by Reform. It is they who are providing cover for thuggery and violence in our society.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 7d

We're seeing exactly the descent into chaos in US federal government that is the hallmark of the populist Right.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 12d

The drip feed of Epstein Files will expose the shocking hypocrisy of appropriating family and Christian values for naked political manipulation by those in and around the Trump camp.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 13d

The net is closing in.

BBC News - Elon Musk and Prince Andrew named in new Epstein files
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Elon Musk and Prince Andrew named in new Epstein files

The documents by the estate of convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein were released by Congressional Democrats.

www.bbc.com

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 13d

As do the rest of us. We just see the tip of the iceberg

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 13d

Never let us forget the crucial distinction between nationalism and patriotism. The former is a destructive ideology; the latter celebrates all that is best in a country's values. The difference between hate and violence on the streets of London and Last Night of the Proms!

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 14d

Every time Farage is challenged over his financial affairs or lack of due diligence in his constituency, he comes up with feeble excuses around privacy or security, implying he alone should be immune from proper public scrutiny and accountability. The real explanation is that he has much to hide!

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 15d

There's no point shaming Farage in grounds of morality. Like Trump, a concept alien to his DNA. His Achilles Heel is shambolic policy. Every policy launch requires clarification; brings denial it means what it does; followed by screeching U-turns; attached to phoney costings.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 16d

Trump's speech to UN General Assembly. A stream of misinformation and delusional nonsense.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 16d

Spot on.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 16d

Is there anything coming out of Trump's catastrophic White House that his clone, Farage, is not willing to imitate?! Is he incapable of thinking independently about which public policies are appropriate to solve Britain's long-standing structural problems?!

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Nigel Farage roundly condemned over plan to abolish indefinite leave to remain

Cross-party criticism after Reform UK leader threatens hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants with deportation

www.theguardian.com

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 17d

Published during Trump's first presidency, Timothy Snyder's primer, On Tyranny, now compulsory reading. Virtually every lesson from 20th C on rise of authoritarianism is being compromised during second Trump presidency. US citizens need to take heed in mid-terms, before point of no return reached.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 18d

Just a reminder, in view of recent events. It was Trump who poisoned public discourse in the United States, going all the way back to his 2015-16 presidential campaign. His back story will always haunt him - in every conceivable way.

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Professor Christopher Painter @prfchrispainter.bsky.social · 19d

Trump making utter fools of MAGA free speech evangelists, whether over suppression of the Epstein files or censorship of talk show hosts. They thought they were signing up to libertarianism, instead of which they're getting large dollops of authoritarianism.

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