Twlldun
@twlldun.bsky.social
Terrible what passes for a ninja these days.
Decriminalised homosexuality and campaigned to have Alice Cooper banned from touring in the U.K. because in his opinion he was playing “the music of Auschwitz”
February 10, 2026 at 10:54 PM
Decriminalised homosexuality and campaigned to have Alice Cooper banned from touring in the U.K. because in his opinion he was playing “the music of Auschwitz”
The last time a clip made me feel this murderous it was the Marsh family singing a little ditty about Gisele Pelicot
Tomorrow's episode of Bold Politics is so so rare in British politics: real people who are unafraid to just be themselves for an hour because they know they don't have to protect any vested interests.
It's time for a clearout of robots in Westminster.
It's time for a clearout of robots in Westminster.
February 10, 2026 at 10:46 PM
The last time a clip made me feel this murderous it was the Marsh family singing a little ditty about Gisele Pelicot
Does she get 80 nominations? She’s been pretty anonymous in this government and we’ve had a hell of a turnover since back in the day, are the numbers there for her?
February 10, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Does she get 80 nominations? She’s been pretty anonymous in this government and we’ve had a hell of a turnover since back in the day, are the numbers there for her?
Bevan was one of the architects of the consensus that Thatcher and Benn wanted to tear down (and no, thatcher didn’t “argue for a shift towards the rich and already powerful”, honestly, that was regularly the result of her policies but that wasn’t how they were *presented*).
February 10, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Bevan was one of the architects of the consensus that Thatcher and Benn wanted to tear down (and no, thatcher didn’t “argue for a shift towards the rich and already powerful”, honestly, that was regularly the result of her policies but that wasn’t how they were *presented*).
But also claiming that Bennites saw themselves as Bevanites at the time, which wasn’t remotely my experience of either school of thought during the era I have to say.
February 10, 2026 at 10:21 PM
But also claiming that Bennites saw themselves as Bevanites at the time, which wasn’t remotely my experience of either school of thought during the era I have to say.
Well, quite. Labour 74-83 was basically a very uneasy marriage of the Labour old right and the heirs of Bevanism and both sides held sway at certain points and Bennism was an uprising against them, and the “post-war consensus” milieu they inhabited (just as Thatcherism was)
February 10, 2026 at 10:08 PM
I mean I would say Benn and Thatcher had more in common than Benn and Bevan or Bevan and Thatcher and - again - it’s not even close.
February 10, 2026 at 10:06 PM
I mean I would say Benn and Thatcher had more in common than Benn and Bevan or Bevan and Thatcher and - again - it’s not even close.
There were pretty substantial differences and there were no continuities beyond the blandest pablum.
February 10, 2026 at 10:06 PM
There were pretty substantial differences and there were no continuities beyond the blandest pablum.
That’s just so vague as to be unbelievable, I’m sorry. On that measurement Margaret Thatcher was a Bevanite.
February 10, 2026 at 9:58 PM
That’s just so vague as to be unbelievable, I’m sorry. On that measurement Margaret Thatcher was a Bevanite.
We go back to “idiosyncratic” because none of the major players would have seen themselves as part of his tradition. Rightly!
February 10, 2026 at 9:53 PM
We go back to “idiosyncratic” because none of the major players would have seen themselves as part of his tradition. Rightly!
“He’s the most unpopular PM since records began”
“Not true”
I mean I don’t know what to do here. At least the “it’s all the fault of the media” people recognise there is actually a problem.
“Not true”
I mean I don’t know what to do here. At least the “it’s all the fault of the media” people recognise there is actually a problem.
February 10, 2026 at 9:52 PM
“He’s the most unpopular PM since records began”
“Not true”
I mean I don’t know what to do here. At least the “it’s all the fault of the media” people recognise there is actually a problem.
“Not true”
I mean I don’t know what to do here. At least the “it’s all the fault of the media” people recognise there is actually a problem.
Yeah I just got dragged into a Facebook argument with someone who said that he has “huge support from the public”
February 10, 2026 at 9:51 PM
Yeah I just got dragged into a Facebook argument with someone who said that he has “huge support from the public”
Sorry,I honestly don’t understand what you are trying to say here. You claimed that Bennites saw themselves as heirs to Bevan, I pointed out that’s untrue, and now you claim that…what, from 2026 we should see that is true because “continuities”? Such as?
February 10, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Sorry,I honestly don’t understand what you are trying to say here. You claimed that Bennites saw themselves as heirs to Bevan, I pointed out that’s untrue, and now you claim that…what, from 2026 we should see that is true because “continuities”? Such as?
He absolutely was more left wing by the end of the 1974 Parliament than he was at the beginning of it and it’s not even close. He didn’t even read Marx until 1976. You can track his change through his diaries!
February 10, 2026 at 9:34 PM
He absolutely was more left wing by the end of the 1974 Parliament than he was at the beginning of it and it’s not even close. He didn’t even read Marx until 1976. You can track his change through his diaries!
I can’t 100% meet the claim that *nobody* amongst the Bennite’s saw themselves as the heirs to Bevan because as tonight illustrates there will always be people out there with uh idiosyncratic versions of Labour history in their head, but suffice to say none of the major players in Bennism did
February 10, 2026 at 9:30 PM
I can’t 100% meet the claim that *nobody* amongst the Bennite’s saw themselves as the heirs to Bevan because as tonight illustrates there will always be people out there with uh idiosyncratic versions of Labour history in their head, but suffice to say none of the major players in Bennism did
The idea Benn didn’t change in position from 1974 onwards would be news to many people, most importantly, news to Benn
February 10, 2026 at 9:24 PM
The idea Benn didn’t change in position from 1974 onwards would be news to many people, most importantly, news to Benn
Well, quite. Labour 74-83 was basically a very uneasy marriage of the Labour old right and the heirs of Bevanism and both sides held sway at certain points and Bennism was an uprising against them, and the “post-war consensus” milieu they inhabited (just as Thatcherism was)
February 10, 2026 at 8:57 PM
Well, quite. Labour 74-83 was basically a very uneasy marriage of the Labour old right and the heirs of Bevanism and both sides held sway at certain points and Bennism was an uprising against them, and the “post-war consensus” milieu they inhabited (just as Thatcherism was)
Aside from having a different ideology, different concerns, different members and the remnants of the Bevanites literally being one of the two poles of the party establishment Bennism was standing against?
February 10, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Aside from having a different ideology, different concerns, different members and the remnants of the Bevanites literally being one of the two poles of the party establishment Bennism was standing against?
Honestly what the fuck are you talking about? Bevanism and Bennism were absolutely different factions, do you have no knowledge of party history?
February 10, 2026 at 8:29 PM
Honestly what the fuck are you talking about? Bevanism and Bennism were absolutely different factions, do you have no knowledge of party history?
Fair to say the party always had its share of Sui generis types. Leo Abse was always one of my personal favourites. Just awkward squad right the way through.
February 10, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Fair to say the party always had its share of Sui generis types. Leo Abse was always one of my personal favourites. Just awkward squad right the way through.
Yeah, it’s just from a different place and a different time - Bevanism is an industrial worker responding to the hungry 30s, Corbynism is post-68.
February 10, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Yeah, it’s just from a different place and a different time - Bevanism is an industrial worker responding to the hungry 30s, Corbynism is post-68.
I think it’s fair to say that Labour very regularly had “the left” in government - Stafford Cripps was quite far left both by our standards and by the party of the era for eg - but it’s also fair to say they have narrowed the spectrum quite a bit post 1989 and there are obvious reasons there
February 10, 2026 at 8:09 PM
I think it’s fair to say that Labour very regularly had “the left” in government - Stafford Cripps was quite far left both by our standards and by the party of the era for eg - but it’s also fair to say they have narrowed the spectrum quite a bit post 1989 and there are obvious reasons there
Also Benn *really* went left very late in his governmental career whereas Bevan very much came back in from the wilder edges to join government.
February 10, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Also Benn *really* went left very late in his governmental career whereas Bevan very much came back in from the wilder edges to join government.