Tom Roberts
@tpgroberts.bsky.social
One of the most consistent principles in his life is to become unbelievably partisan in every conflict he encounters, and then to win the conflict using a barrage of extreme verbal force.
He/Him
https://www.instagram.com/tpgeats
He/Him
https://www.instagram.com/tpgeats
Pinned
Tom Roberts
@tpgroberts.bsky.social
· Jun 23
Going to keep plugging this for now, but after years of just food posting into the ether I have made an Instagram of my food pictures as well as tips for recipes etc.
www.instagram.com/tpgeats
Some example photos here, but please follow if of interest:
www.instagram.com/tpgeats
Some example photos here, but please follow if of interest:
Look, all I'm saying is this does just become more true every day
The thing about Mandelson, is that we've all known what he is since about 1998 and every time he resigns or gets sacked in disgrace it is just the same thing again.
the fact it’s even a question whether Mandelson should still be a Labour member is kind of crazy making. do you take this stuff seriously or not? get rid!
February 2, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Look, all I'm saying is this does just become more true every day
Oh Mandy,
You went and you leaked information,
To a man locked away!
Oh Mandy,
You can't help but abuse your high station,
For your personal gains...
Oh Mandy.
You went and you leaked information,
To a man locked away!
Oh Mandy,
You can't help but abuse your high station,
For your personal gains...
Oh Mandy.
BREAKING on ft website:
Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans
www.ft.com/content/fdf7...
Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans
www.ft.com/content/fdf7...
Mandelson leaked sensitive UK government tax plans to Epstein
Former ambassador forwarded memo from special adviser to Gordon Brown to late sex offender in 2009
www.ft.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Oh Mandy,
You went and you leaked information,
To a man locked away!
Oh Mandy,
You can't help but abuse your high station,
For your personal gains...
Oh Mandy.
You went and you leaked information,
To a man locked away!
Oh Mandy,
You can't help but abuse your high station,
For your personal gains...
Oh Mandy.
Yes, but what does the soothsayer say?
Betting market now suggesting Hannah Spencer, Green, more likely to win Gorton & Denton than not, 51% probability; Matthew Goodwin, Reform, 32%; Angeliki Stogia, Labour, 18% www.oddschecker.com/politics/bri...
British Politics Gorton & Denton By-election Betting Odds | Politics
British Politics - Gorton & Denton By-election Betting Odds. Get the best available British Politics odds from all online bookmakers with Oddschecker, the home of betting value.
www.oddschecker.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:59 AM
Yes, but what does the soothsayer say?
Reposted by Tom Roberts
“There’s something uniquely American about stablecoins”
Make of that what you will
as.ft.com/r/a6803534-2...
Make of that what you will
as.ft.com/r/a6803534-2...
The stablecoin war: Wall Street vs crypto over the future of money
[FREE TO READ] Banks say rules governing the digital currency are a risk to financial stability. Are they just trying to stamp out competition?
as.ft.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:45 AM
“There’s something uniquely American about stablecoins”
Make of that what you will
as.ft.com/r/a6803534-2...
Make of that what you will
as.ft.com/r/a6803534-2...
Stablecoins, are, at heart a way to try and avoid the losses or gains from a crypto transaction from ever crystallising by keeping the value of your speculative asset in something that looks like money, but isn't quite money, and in the process avoiding the potential capital gains tax that ensues.
“There’s something uniquely American about stablecoins”
Make of that what you will
as.ft.com/r/a6803534-2...
Make of that what you will
as.ft.com/r/a6803534-2...
The stablecoin war: Wall Street vs crypto over the future of money
[FREE TO READ] Banks say rules governing the digital currency are a risk to financial stability. Are they just trying to stamp out competition?
as.ft.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Stablecoins, are, at heart a way to try and avoid the losses or gains from a crypto transaction from ever crystallising by keeping the value of your speculative asset in something that looks like money, but isn't quite money, and in the process avoiding the potential capital gains tax that ensues.
Also, the government provided government time to the bills such that they could be passed. They couldn't time out like this one might, it was why we say the Wilson government passed them even if they were PMBs.
Yes, Harold Wilson’s government passed major social reforms through PMBs. But crucially they worked out the details *first*, through parliamentary inquiries or commissions. This could’ve been done for assisted dying, but instead it was just skipped for a thrown together bill. 3/?
February 2, 2026 at 8:24 AM
Also, the government provided government time to the bills such that they could be passed. They couldn't time out like this one might, it was why we say the Wilson government passed them even if they were PMBs.
Spectacular reference to One Day, one of the worst books I've ever read.
What's that? Peter Mandelson resigning from something again? FIRE UP THE (OLD) SKETCH! thecritic.co.uk/oh-m...
February 1, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Spectacular reference to One Day, one of the worst books I've ever read.
Reposted by Tom Roberts
What's that? Peter Mandelson resigning from something again? FIRE UP THE (OLD) SKETCH! thecritic.co.uk/oh-m...
February 1, 2026 at 10:50 PM
What's that? Peter Mandelson resigning from something again? FIRE UP THE (OLD) SKETCH! thecritic.co.uk/oh-m...
Imagine being too crooked for Weight Watchers.
my last Epstein scoop for the weekend:
Jeffrey Epstein wired $150,000 to Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, in 2001, according to newly released financial records, after helping her to cash in share options earned from her work for Weight Watchers.
www.ft.com/content/8623...
Jeffrey Epstein wired $150,000 to Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, in 2001, according to newly released financial records, after helping her to cash in share options earned from her work for Weight Watchers.
www.ft.com/content/8623...
Sarah Ferguson received $150,000 from Jeffrey Epstein after share sale
Transaction is latest evidence of extent of friendship that former Prince Andrew’s ex-wife forged with the sex offender
www.ft.com
February 1, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Imagine being too crooked for Weight Watchers.
The thing about Mandelson, is that we've all known what he is since about 1998 and every time he resigns or gets sacked in disgrace it is just the same thing again.
the fact it’s even a question whether Mandelson should still be a Labour member is kind of crazy making. do you take this stuff seriously or not? get rid!
February 1, 2026 at 9:37 PM
The thing about Mandelson, is that we've all known what he is since about 1998 and every time he resigns or gets sacked in disgrace it is just the same thing again.
Reposted by Tom Roberts
the fact it’s even a question whether Mandelson should still be a Labour member is kind of crazy making. do you take this stuff seriously or not? get rid!
February 1, 2026 at 9:19 PM
the fact it’s even a question whether Mandelson should still be a Labour member is kind of crazy making. do you take this stuff seriously or not? get rid!
"It's not the day someone dies that's the worst, at least you have something to do, it's all the days they stay dead" is a really good insight into the pale succor of pretending it hasn't happened, and also now, apparently, a business model.
AI “deadbots” aim to replace the dead—and raise plenty of ethical issues, Charley Burlock argues. “Perhaps the biggest question is how such a product might shift our experience of personal grief and collective memory.”
The AI Companies Trying to Make Grief Obsolete
You can buy an AI version of your lost loved one. But should you?
bit.ly
February 1, 2026 at 9:16 PM
"It's not the day someone dies that's the worst, at least you have something to do, it's all the days they stay dead" is a really good insight into the pale succor of pretending it hasn't happened, and also now, apparently, a business model.
An absolutely delightful little piece, perfect dressing for a book case (fittingly), and loads of NPU and clever SNOT.
February 1, 2026 at 9:14 PM
An absolutely delightful little piece, perfect dressing for a book case (fittingly), and loads of NPU and clever SNOT.
Reposted by Tom Roberts
Ah absolutely spectacular mess of a film, a plot that you'd assume I'd made up and the single worst Bond theme ever created.
February 1, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Ah absolutely spectacular mess of a film, a plot that you'd assume I'd made up and the single worst Bond theme ever created.
I do envy John, truly one of the easiest jobs in politics, barely even needs to go Anywhere but Westminster just write "the people here (at midday on a tuesday) are angry and disappointed that things have changed."
In Gorton and Denton, I found a long-festering sense of fury that Labour has no idea how to tackle | John Harris
In Gorton and Denton, I found a long-festering sense of fury that Labour has no idea how to tackle | John Harris
The people I met were disconnected and angry at the same time. Even if Labour somehow wins this byelection, how does it arrest the slide into hopelessness, asks Guardian columnist John Harris
www.theguardian.com
February 1, 2026 at 8:04 PM
I do envy John, truly one of the easiest jobs in politics, barely even needs to go Anywhere but Westminster just write "the people here (at midday on a tuesday) are angry and disappointed that things have changed."
Reposted by Tom Roberts
Weird glitch on the supermarket till where it says "customer must have been born after 01/02/2008 to buy alcohol?"
February 1, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Weird glitch on the supermarket till where it says "customer must have been born after 01/02/2008 to buy alcohol?"
Yes, what is it about the campaign primarily made up of middle class retirees with a lot of time, resources and contacts that meant they managed to get so much time with MPs?
Genuinely curious to understand why so many Labour MPs backed the Waspi cause - one with such limited merit - other than that being the kind of thing one does in opposition. I’d love to read a long read on the campaign and how the cause became so widespread…
February 1, 2026 at 3:57 PM
Yes, what is it about the campaign primarily made up of middle class retirees with a lot of time, resources and contacts that meant they managed to get so much time with MPs?
I am eternally curious what you could do tax wise if you didn't have NI effectively drop above a certain point. A truly arbitrary tax.
Marginal tax rates for graduates with student loans – add interest and another 6% for postgrads.
£25,000: 37%
£50,270: 51%
£100,000: 71%
£25,000: 37%
£50,270: 51%
£100,000: 71%
February 1, 2026 at 3:21 PM
I am eternally curious what you could do tax wise if you didn't have NI effectively drop above a certain point. A truly arbitrary tax.
Harsh but fair
NGL this description of Bsky in Vulture cracked me up
February 1, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Harsh but fair
So, my media training story.
A decade ago, doing an investment round for a co-op and get sent on a course with someone who is now a GBeebies presenter (see Dan's comment below).
I do the first interview, answer candidly, we watch it back and she turns to the room "see the mistake?" No one can.
A decade ago, doing an investment round for a co-op and get sent on a course with someone who is now a GBeebies presenter (see Dan's comment below).
I do the first interview, answer candidly, we watch it back and she turns to the room "see the mistake?" No one can.
I think he gets called "charismatic" because we have got so used to seeing people who have done maybe a week's desultory media training with an underemployed TV producer, that we forget that training to be a performer at an actual drama school actually takes years
I haven't got a strong opinion on Polanski, except that he's doing better than I thought he would, but a part of why he keeps getting called "charismatic" is that he does just answer questions with the sort of answers you and I might say. This gotcha only works if you think he's going to duck it.
February 1, 2026 at 12:44 PM
So, my media training story.
A decade ago, doing an investment round for a co-op and get sent on a course with someone who is now a GBeebies presenter (see Dan's comment below).
I do the first interview, answer candidly, we watch it back and she turns to the room "see the mistake?" No one can.
A decade ago, doing an investment round for a co-op and get sent on a course with someone who is now a GBeebies presenter (see Dan's comment below).
I do the first interview, answer candidly, we watch it back and she turns to the room "see the mistake?" No one can.
Look, it's a very good answer because it's a very bad question, but are we 100% sure that Laura K doesn't think "high office" means you have to be high up?
#bbclaurak tries to get a gotcha. Zack, you refuse to fly. How can you be a candidate for high office if you'd refuse to ever get on a plane?
Well Laura, in that situation I'd get on a plane.
Well Laura, in that situation I'd get on a plane.
February 1, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Look, it's a very good answer because it's a very bad question, but are we 100% sure that Laura K doesn't think "high office" means you have to be high up?
2 years younger than Nadal, just spectacular
February 1, 2026 at 12:16 PM
2 years younger than Nadal, just spectacular