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Sean Kemp

@seankemp.bsky.social

1.2K followers 310 following 220 posts

Advised the Lib Dems during coalition. Somehow still able to get work

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Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 14h

Slightly amazed at his description of this as a ‘low-level mistake’. Just a completely untrue implication of Government corruption on prime-time TV. No biggie! www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

BBC airing false claim about Euan Blair blamed on young producers ‘marinated in social media’

Broadcaster apologised after Have I Got News For You falsely said former PM’s son had won digital ID contract

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Sean Kemp

Zack Fox 🦊 @zjfox.bsky.social · 2d

It'll be wild when Charlotte Church reveals she's been pretending to be Welsh this entire time #TheTraitorsUK #CelebrityTraitors

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 9d

Have had it up to here with people who think telling you off for pointing out racist things are racist makes them the modern day equivalent of Philip Gould.

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 9d

We have another “Let Keir Be Keir” quote by a cabinet member doing the rounds. As any student of politics knows, the moment this appears the politician in question is doomed

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 13d

If Labour MPs really are approvingly sharing the essay here then maybe the problem isn’t Starmer

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 14d

Come for the really good essay by Patrick Maguire, stay for the really bad one being shared (approvingly!!) by some Labour MPs: www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

There’s a void at the heart of Labour: it needs a battle of ideas

A withering analysis shared among Keir Starmer’s MPs says his vague incrementalism and absence of critical thinking is steering the party to disaster

www.thetimes.com

Reposted by Sean Kemp

Disappointed Optimist @disappoptimism.bsky.social · 16d

There is huge market share for the Lib Dem’s to run with the motto of “enough of this American nonsense let’s be sensible British people
Again” and not sure anyone’s weird arguments that specific voters should be chased is needed at all.

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 16d

Glee Club more boisterous than usual?

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 26d

Now I feel old. They weren’t exactly a Westminster powerhouse before the 2024 election though were they?

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 26d

I assume they think the party should be leading in the polls? We were nearly obliterated a few years back. Enjoy it!

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 26d

Totally agree

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 26d

He literally got an insane amount of cut through at the election and has still done pretty well since. These people do my head in.

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 26d

I imagine they are all grossly overestimating how attractive journalists find it to just be reminded how many MPs you have and how worthy your policies are.

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 26d

Lib Dem MPs having literally no idea how hard it is to get ‘cut through’. Part of an endless series that has been going on since the party was founded.

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 26d

Exclusive @theipaper.com: Sir Ed Davey has been told to raise his game by Liberal Democrat MPs amid growing concerns that the party is failing to cut through with the public inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Ed Davey told by his MPs to raise game and drop ‘bullsh*t stunts’

Dissatisfaction has been fuelled by a feeling that the party have not received the media attention that many MPs expected after their election performance

Reposted by Sean Kemp

Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 29d

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · Sep 4

I find it all a bit baffling. I know he can be a bit of a penny pincher etc, but it’s a well-run club. It used to be a total basket case!

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · Sep 3

It’s more I don’t think they need to. They’ll be getting their Rayner hits/coverage anyway and there’ll be more opportunities. So banking those and using PMQs for other stuff is a totally reasonable approach and something many others have done in the same position

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · Sep 3

I am not convinced that getting Keir Starmer to say the same thing about Angela Rayner six times is the open goal some people seem to think it is

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · Sep 2

Rule of thumb is the person who looks happier has lost and is plastering on a fake grin

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · Sep 2

The fact they said this just as the school holidays ended implies that they may genuinely have been panicking that the last lot all had to get back to class.

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · Sep 2

“Fancy working in Downing Street? The hours are brutal and it’s high stress.”

“Is there much job security?”

“Most people last a year before being sacked.”

“And will I get a reference?”

“Oh yes. After you get kicked out we’ll tell the newspapers you were shit.”

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · Aug 25

Yeah, I wasn’t wild about the way she was discussed as a HF writer when Beyond Black for example is incredible.

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · Aug 23

The coverage has been weird. The BBC also treated it like it was a devastating blow equivalent to the starting XI all getting injured.

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · Aug 14

Sometimes when dealing with the comms around a bad story you put down the blunt reasoning for a decision to help begin the process of turning it into something palatable. Here they just… used that as the statement?

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · Aug 14

I kinda love that Alex Beard's argument is explicitly 'but look, you have to understand. When we said that, it was really easy'.

The Royal Opera House and Netrebko declined to comment. Earlier this month the RBO pulled its production of Tosca at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv after almost 200 Royal Opera and Ballet members signed an open letter criticising the organisation’s stance on Gaza.

The RBO’s chief executive, Alex Beard, explaining his decision, denied accusations of double standards, after the opera house confiscated a Palestinian flag in July from a performer. In 2022 it showed the Ukrainian flag as a symbol of solidarity after Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

Beard said last week: “Our support for Ukraine was aligned with the global consensus at the time. As the world’s geopolitics have become more complex, our stance has changed to ensure that our actions reflect our purpose and values.”

Reposted by Sean Kemp

LRB Bookshop @londonreviewbookshop.co.uk · Aug 13

it's time for the most fiendish literary quiz of the year. "Who said it - John Wycliffe or Wyclef Jean"

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · Aug 13

One week of lines at the petrol stations and a woman suffering burns after decanting fuel in the kitchen later: ‘oh *that*, that’s what could possibly go wrong.