Tom Baldwin
@tombaldwin66.bsky.social
Journalist, once a senior Labour Party adviser, and author of the best-selling biography of Keir Starmer, now out in paperback with a new chapter on the election and first weeks in power.
Brace yourselves for some predictable howls of outrage in the media over new taxes on Britain’s most expensive homes. Suspect this will be a better reflection of the financial circumstances of newspaper editors and broadcast execs than those of their readers and viewers.
November 26, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Brace yourselves for some predictable howls of outrage in the media over new taxes on Britain’s most expensive homes. Suspect this will be a better reflection of the financial circumstances of newspaper editors and broadcast execs than those of their readers and viewers.
The repeated references by Rachel Reeves to submissions from backbench Labour MPs is more significant than it may seem. After a lot of idle damaging chatter over recent weeks, this is part of a big effort to bind them into this budget, telling them to own it and defend it.
November 26, 2025 at 1:33 PM
The repeated references by Rachel Reeves to submissions from backbench Labour MPs is more significant than it may seem. After a lot of idle damaging chatter over recent weeks, this is part of a big effort to bind them into this budget, telling them to own it and defend it.
FWIW, I do know Robbie Gibb, having met him almost 30 years ago when he was working for the Tories & always quite liked him. But the claim by this self-identifying “Thatcherite” to be a completely impartial BBC arbiter is as ludicrous as me claiming I’m not partial towards Labour.
November 24, 2025 at 10:32 PM
FWIW, I do know Robbie Gibb, having met him almost 30 years ago when he was working for the Tories & always quite liked him. But the claim by this self-identifying “Thatcherite” to be a completely impartial BBC arbiter is as ludicrous as me claiming I’m not partial towards Labour.
As an admirer of The Economist, sad to see it recycling garbage about chicken nuggets and the ECHR. The former wasn’t why a man’s deportation was halted. The latter worked well in the upper tribunal that decided he should be deported, after all.
November 22, 2025 at 9:26 PM
As an admirer of The Economist, sad to see it recycling garbage about chicken nuggets and the ECHR. The former wasn’t why a man’s deportation was halted. The latter worked well in the upper tribunal that decided he should be deported, after all.
Allowing the Daily Mail to strengthen its terrible grip on our media would be bad for democracy & bad for Britain. Neither the Mail nor the Telegraph covers this government with even a modicum of fairness, but I hope Lisa Nandy - very fairly - decides to block this deal. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Daily Mail owner agrees to buy Daily Telegraph for £500m
The publisher of the Daily Mail says it is in talks to buy the Daily and Sunday Telegraph for £500m.
www.bbc.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Allowing the Daily Mail to strengthen its terrible grip on our media would be bad for democracy & bad for Britain. Neither the Mail nor the Telegraph covers this government with even a modicum of fairness, but I hope Lisa Nandy - very fairly - decides to block this deal. www.bbc.com/news/article...
The role of two parents in the life of Rachel Reeves, from my interview with the chancellor in The Times today.
November 21, 2025 at 1:53 PM
The role of two parents in the life of Rachel Reeves, from my interview with the chancellor in The Times today.
A defiant Rachel Reeves talked to me about pressure, unpopularity, and why’s sick of “mansplaining”commentators. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Rachel Reeves: ‘I’m sick of the mansplaining’
As the chancellor prepares for a budget that may not only seal her fate but Keir Starmer’s too, she talks about public trust, the job’s pressures and her tears
www.thetimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:17 AM
A defiant Rachel Reeves talked to me about pressure, unpopularity, and why’s sick of “mansplaining”commentators. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
I’m at a loss to understand why anyone would think briefing this sort of thing will help KeirStarmer, the government or even themselves. Some people can’t resist, I guess, but it all a bit nuts.
November 11, 2025 at 9:50 PM
I’m at a loss to understand why anyone would think briefing this sort of thing will help KeirStarmer, the government or even themselves. Some people can’t resist, I guess, but it all a bit nuts.
The BBC has long since been tying itself up in knots appeasing a right wing agenda. Davie and Turness have now quit in the face of a new onslaught from Trump, the Daily Mail and the rest of them. None of this bodes well for a public broadcaster which we need now more than ever.
It’s not at all clear to me how the BBC can do any kind of serious journalism if its top two bosses can be forced to quit over such an obviously confected scandal. There is no substantive error here. How can the BBC report on Trump, or Farage, or anyone else, in these circumstances?
November 9, 2025 at 11:03 PM
The BBC has long since been tying itself up in knots appeasing a right wing agenda. Davie and Turness have now quit in the face of a new onslaught from Trump, the Daily Mail and the rest of them. None of this bodes well for a public broadcaster which we need now more than ever.
Reposted by Tom Baldwin
BBC News bulletins leading on the story of an Algerian man being mistakenly released by the prison service.
Funnily enough I don't remember these cases ever leading the bulletins when an average of ten prisoners were mistakenly released a month in the final year of the last Government
Funnily enough I don't remember these cases ever leading the bulletins when an average of ten prisoners were mistakenly released a month in the final year of the last Government
November 5, 2025 at 2:55 PM
BBC News bulletins leading on the story of an Algerian man being mistakenly released by the prison service.
Funnily enough I don't remember these cases ever leading the bulletins when an average of ten prisoners were mistakenly released a month in the final year of the last Government
Funnily enough I don't remember these cases ever leading the bulletins when an average of ten prisoners were mistakenly released a month in the final year of the last Government
Reposted by Tom Baldwin
BBC Radio 4 this morning joined Trump in describing Zohran Mamdani as a "radical leftist".
November 5, 2025 at 8:39 AM
BBC Radio 4 this morning joined Trump in describing Zohran Mamdani as a "radical leftist".
Reposted by Tom Baldwin
Totally untrue garbage from @thetimes.com & @dailymail.co.uk today - smear dressed up as journalism. Some facts:
- There is no “£900 desk”
- my constituency office has Ikea desks/chairs
- we significantly underspent the new MPs allowance to set up an office
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
- There is no “£900 desk”
- my constituency office has Ikea desks/chairs
- we significantly underspent the new MPs allowance to set up an office
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Treasury minister leading budget plans spent £900 on desk
Torsten Bell, who is working with Rachel Reeves to fill a £30 billion hole in finances, also used his parliamentary expenses to claim £600 for three chairs
www.thetimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Totally untrue garbage from @thetimes.com & @dailymail.co.uk today - smear dressed up as journalism. Some facts:
- There is no “£900 desk”
- my constituency office has Ikea desks/chairs
- we significantly underspent the new MPs allowance to set up an office
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
- There is no “£900 desk”
- my constituency office has Ikea desks/chairs
- we significantly underspent the new MPs allowance to set up an office
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Reposted by Tom Baldwin
Good to see @dailymail.co.uk @thetimes.com and @telegraphnews.bsky.social all delete their articles - sad the lies went up in the first place
Totally untrue garbage from @thetimes.com & @dailymail.co.uk today - smear dressed up as journalism. Some facts:
- There is no “£900 desk”
- my constituency office has Ikea desks/chairs
- we significantly underspent the new MPs allowance to set up an office
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
- There is no “£900 desk”
- my constituency office has Ikea desks/chairs
- we significantly underspent the new MPs allowance to set up an office
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Treasury minister leading budget plans spent £900 on desk
Torsten Bell, who is working with Rachel Reeves to fill a £30 billion hole in finances, also used his parliamentary expenses to claim £600 for three chairs
www.thetimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Good to see @dailymail.co.uk @thetimes.com and @telegraphnews.bsky.social all delete their articles - sad the lies went up in the first place
Reposted by Tom Baldwin
Farage: epic grifter
October 27, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Farage: epic grifter
Attacking Farage for the damage he has already done through Brexit - is one way - perhaps - Starmer can win back some of the votes Labour is losing to progressive parties. This is what I wrote for
@thenewworldmag.bsky.social
this week.
@thenewworldmag.bsky.social
this week.
October 11, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Attacking Farage for the damage he has already done through Brexit - is one way - perhaps - Starmer can win back some of the votes Labour is losing to progressive parties. This is what I wrote for
@thenewworldmag.bsky.social
this week.
@thenewworldmag.bsky.social
this week.
Reposted by Tom Baldwin
🗞️ Our latest issue is now on sale - The Addiction Economy
Featuring Joe Woof, Matthew d'Ancona, @sonia-sodha.bsky.social,
@tombaldwin66.bsky.social, Patience Wheatcroft, @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social and more
Get 10 weeks for £10: buff.ly/pWbQrh5
Featuring Joe Woof, Matthew d'Ancona, @sonia-sodha.bsky.social,
@tombaldwin66.bsky.social, Patience Wheatcroft, @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social and more
Get 10 weeks for £10: buff.ly/pWbQrh5
October 9, 2025 at 3:30 PM
🗞️ Our latest issue is now on sale - The Addiction Economy
Featuring Joe Woof, Matthew d'Ancona, @sonia-sodha.bsky.social,
@tombaldwin66.bsky.social, Patience Wheatcroft, @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social and more
Get 10 weeks for £10: buff.ly/pWbQrh5
Featuring Joe Woof, Matthew d'Ancona, @sonia-sodha.bsky.social,
@tombaldwin66.bsky.social, Patience Wheatcroft, @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social and more
Get 10 weeks for £10: buff.ly/pWbQrh5
Reposted by Tom Baldwin
If you want to understand the true depths of Labour’s electoral challenge, pay a visit to Hampstead
✏️ @tombaldwin66.bsky.social
✏️ @tombaldwin66.bsky.social
Starmer’s problem isn’t just Reform
If you want to understand the true depths of Labour’s electoral challenge, pay a visit to Hampstead
www.thenewworld.co.uk
October 10, 2025 at 9:26 AM
If you want to understand the true depths of Labour’s electoral challenge, pay a visit to Hampstead
✏️ @tombaldwin66.bsky.social
✏️ @tombaldwin66.bsky.social
Some really decent in depth and fact-based reporting from BBC which runs counter to a narrative swallowed whole by much of the media and politicians of all stripes (some of whom should know better). www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Would leaving the ECHR really 'stop the boats'?
The extent to which leaving the Convention would make a difference to immigration has been greatly exaggerated, argues Lord Sumption
www.bbc.co.uk
October 9, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Some really decent in depth and fact-based reporting from BBC which runs counter to a narrative swallowed whole by much of the media and politicians of all stripes (some of whom should know better). www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
My piece for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social on how Labour can still be a coalition which stretches from Hampstead to Hull. app.thenewworld.co.uk/story/143155...
Starmer’s problem isn’t just Reform
If you want to understand the true depths of Labour’s electoral challenge, pay a visit to Hampstead
app.thenewworld.co.uk
October 8, 2025 at 8:11 AM
My piece for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social on how Labour can still be a coalition which stretches from Hampstead to Hull. app.thenewworld.co.uk/story/143155...
Reposted by Tom Baldwin
The former political editor's YouTube show is struggling to pull in the viewers
✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀
✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀
Sun fails to sell Cole to Washington
The former political editor's YouTube show is struggling to pull in the viewers
www.thenewworld.co.uk
October 7, 2025 at 10:00 AM
The former political editor's YouTube show is struggling to pull in the viewers
✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀
✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀
Reposted by Tom Baldwin
David Gauke is just one of the many thoughtful, principled and decent Tories eviscerated from our politics by Johnson (and their mad old constituency parties) in what may well be the most damaging legacy of Brexit (the same happened to Labour under Corbyn).
October 6, 2025 at 7:18 AM
David Gauke is just one of the many thoughtful, principled and decent Tories eviscerated from our politics by Johnson (and their mad old constituency parties) in what may well be the most damaging legacy of Brexit (the same happened to Labour under Corbyn).
At least one Conservative still upholds his party’s traditional respect for human rights and the rule of law. He even still believes in evidence-based arguments. This week he will be the exception, not the rule. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Leaving the ECHR won’t fix illegal migration
Half-baked tales of rulings turning on chicken nuggets are no basis for cutting Britain adrift
www.thetimes.com
October 6, 2025 at 6:19 AM
At least one Conservative still upholds his party’s traditional respect for human rights and the rule of law. He even still believes in evidence-based arguments. This week he will be the exception, not the rule. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Reposted by Tom Baldwin
Reposted by Tom Baldwin
Just heard Chris Philp on BBC’s Today programme explaining why the Tories want to leave the ECHR. He claimed ECHR isn’t mentioned in Belfast Agreement - which is simply untrue. The UK govt agreed to incorporate it into NI law & give direct access to the courts (Strand 3). Why no BBC fact-check?
October 4, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Just heard Chris Philp on BBC’s Today programme explaining why the Tories want to leave the ECHR. He claimed ECHR isn’t mentioned in Belfast Agreement - which is simply untrue. The UK govt agreed to incorporate it into NI law & give direct access to the courts (Strand 3). Why no BBC fact-check?