William Cullerne Bown
@williamcb.bsky.social
Technology and politics.
Newsletter https://bit.ly/3AELZDu
Foundations of AI https://bit.ly/3WiYJab
Law https://bit.ly/40YL1fU
Research Fortnight https://bit.ly/4i0
https://signal.me/#eu/xNzjw2P7XIGjBfdQicHbMp0V5SuVpgCQOeUZNpDRqH-mkt2Tan9G6Y0ZitEKsVkN
Newsletter https://bit.ly/3AELZDu
Foundations of AI https://bit.ly/3WiYJab
Law https://bit.ly/40YL1fU
Research Fortnight https://bit.ly/4i0
https://signal.me/#eu/xNzjw2P7XIGjBfdQicHbMp0V5SuVpgCQOeUZNpDRqH-mkt2Tan9G6Y0ZitEKsVkN
Pinned
Trump, Starmer and the populist tide
Old concepts such as left vs right, trust and class aren't enough to explain the trouble we're in
open.substack.com
Today I argue Keir Starmer can only be understood in the context of deep shifts in the character of our politics that are still hard to grasp
open.substack.com/pub/williamc...
open.substack.com/pub/williamc...
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
GBNews’s alignment with Trump’s foreign policy also aligns with its owner’s financial interests in US oil companies such as Chevron: www.desmog.com/2023/10/30/g...
GB News Owner’s Hedge Fund Has $2.2 Billion Fossil Fuel Investments
One of the owners of GB News runs a hedge fund that has a major financial stake in more than 100 oil and gas firms, DeSmog can reveal. This news comes after former prime minister Boris Johnson was an...
www.desmog.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:22 PM
GBNews’s alignment with Trump’s foreign policy also aligns with its owner’s financial interests in US oil companies such as Chevron: www.desmog.com/2023/10/30/g...
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
All of these people - Mogg, Farage, Carswell, Jenrick, Hannan and the rest need to be forever reminded of what they backed and supported
January 18, 2026 at 5:41 PM
All of these people - Mogg, Farage, Carswell, Jenrick, Hannan and the rest need to be forever reminded of what they backed and supported
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Farage has bottled it.
January 18, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Farage has bottled it.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
every provocateur who wangs on all the time about Britain being “broken” should be sent to an actual failed state or autocracy for a month as a learning experience, there’s no shortage of them
January 17, 2026 at 3:12 PM
every provocateur who wangs on all the time about Britain being “broken” should be sent to an actual failed state or autocracy for a month as a learning experience, there’s no shortage of them
The more we see stuff like this, the more ludicrous Britain's current geostrategic position will look. Here we are defending Greenland, defending Ukraine, defending the whole of the EU with our nuclear deterrent and yet we are cut off from the economic benefits of European integration.
Trump says he'll impose a 10% tariff (rising to 25% in June) on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland, because they've sent people to Greenland, until the US can buy Greenland.
January 17, 2026 at 5:32 PM
The more we see stuff like this, the more ludicrous Britain's current geostrategic position will look. Here we are defending Greenland, defending Ukraine, defending the whole of the EU with our nuclear deterrent and yet we are cut off from the economic benefits of European integration.
In 2011, I warned on student loans that we were "...in the early days of another great British mis-selling scandal to add to the various pensions and insurance debacles. Only this time the victims have had their legal redress taken away in advance."
Today I have two things to say:
Today I have two things to say:
I left university in 2019 with £49,600 of debt. A few months later, I became an MP and have since received a salary that puts me in the top 5% in the country. 6 years on, the repayments from my salary have brought this total to down to £48,600 - just £1,000 less.
January 17, 2026 at 3:19 PM
In 2011, I warned on student loans that we were "...in the early days of another great British mis-selling scandal to add to the various pensions and insurance debacles. Only this time the victims have had their legal redress taken away in advance."
Today I have two things to say:
Today I have two things to say:
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
So many members of the British Right right now are unmasking and telling us fairly clearly where they would've stood in 1938
January 17, 2026 at 12:58 PM
So many members of the British Right right now are unmasking and telling us fairly clearly where they would've stood in 1938
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
CAN I HAVE YOUR LITTLE LEAGUE TROPHY?
January 17, 2026 at 12:41 PM
CAN I HAVE YOUR LITTLE LEAGUE TROPHY?
So Blair is doing the Gaza thing for Trump. He’s also in bed with the Ellisons, who are starting to rival Musk for the title of Trump’s top propagandists. At some point, Brits are going to have to acknowledge the continuities between Blair’s brand of populism and Trump’s.
January 17, 2026 at 12:29 PM
So Blair is doing the Gaza thing for Trump. He’s also in bed with the Ellisons, who are starting to rival Musk for the title of Trump’s top propagandists. At some point, Brits are going to have to acknowledge the continuities between Blair’s brand of populism and Trump’s.
100 per cent true.
Three generations of law professors making history up is enough.
Scholars spend decades researching and writing history with nuance and care.
American law professors will take a couple of months to relearn all of science to explain why the world is, in fact, flat.
Scholars spend decades researching and writing history with nuance and care.
American law professors will take a couple of months to relearn all of science to explain why the world is, in fact, flat.
January 17, 2026 at 12:15 PM
100 per cent true.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
1/ Donald Trump isn't the first person to be given someone else's Nobel Prize medal. The last recipient of an unearned Nobel medal was none other than Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, at the instigation of Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. ⬇️
January 16, 2026 at 6:35 PM
1/ Donald Trump isn't the first person to be given someone else's Nobel Prize medal. The last recipient of an unearned Nobel medal was none other than Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, at the instigation of Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. ⬇️
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Can also watch my conversation with @writesbright.bsky.social about dark money and hidden influence on the Democracy for Sale YouTube channel
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP0O...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP0O...
Who Really Funds the Free Speech Union?
YouTube video by Democracy for Sale
www.youtube.com
January 17, 2026 at 10:08 AM
Can also watch my conversation with @writesbright.bsky.social about dark money and hidden influence on the Democracy for Sale YouTube channel
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP0O...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP0O...
This is terrific.
The article by @alondra.bsky.social about “deregulation” of AI but applies I think to control of every industry under populist governments.
The article by @alondra.bsky.social about “deregulation” of AI but applies I think to control of every industry under populist governments.
January 17, 2026 at 10:08 AM
This is terrific.
The article by @alondra.bsky.social about “deregulation” of AI but applies I think to control of every industry under populist governments.
The article by @alondra.bsky.social about “deregulation” of AI but applies I think to control of every industry under populist governments.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
January 16, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Over the last year the entire "free speech on campus" beat has been revealed as an utter fraud. Years of punditry puked out in ignorance and bad faith.
Yet even as the fraud becomes undeniable we still get stories about wide-eyed idealists who just wanted 'ideological diversity' and 'open debate'.
Yet even as the fraud becomes undeniable we still get stories about wide-eyed idealists who just wanted 'ideological diversity' and 'open debate'.
January 16, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Over the last year the entire "free speech on campus" beat has been revealed as an utter fraud. Years of punditry puked out in ignorance and bad faith.
Yet even as the fraud becomes undeniable we still get stories about wide-eyed idealists who just wanted 'ideological diversity' and 'open debate'.
Yet even as the fraud becomes undeniable we still get stories about wide-eyed idealists who just wanted 'ideological diversity' and 'open debate'.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Big piece on how the UK is not getting the data it needs and how this is affecting policymaking. A key issue seems to be that the shift from surveys to admin data has not worked well as govt departments have not allowed the ONS access to the data it needs
on.ft.com/3WSCN6h
on.ft.com/3WSCN6h
How flawed data is leaving the UK in the dark
Trouble at the Office for National Statistics means policymakers cannot rely on key economic numbers, including on employment
on.ft.com
February 7, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Big piece on how the UK is not getting the data it needs and how this is affecting policymaking. A key issue seems to be that the shift from surveys to admin data has not worked well as govt departments have not allowed the ONS access to the data it needs
on.ft.com/3WSCN6h
on.ft.com/3WSCN6h
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
I kind of get what Eaton is saying here, but it's important to remember that:
a) many Liberals *did* join the Labour Party
b) the Labour platform wasn't much of a departure from that of the left of the Liberal Party (in fact, in some respects it was *less* radical)
a) many Liberals *did* join the Labour Party
b) the Labour platform wasn't much of a departure from that of the left of the Liberal Party (in fact, in some respects it was *less* radical)
January 16, 2026 at 1:39 PM
I kind of get what Eaton is saying here, but it's important to remember that:
a) many Liberals *did* join the Labour Party
b) the Labour platform wasn't much of a departure from that of the left of the Liberal Party (in fact, in some respects it was *less* radical)
a) many Liberals *did* join the Labour Party
b) the Labour platform wasn't much of a departure from that of the left of the Liberal Party (in fact, in some respects it was *less* radical)
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
I mean, and as Stephen Bush so capabily demonstrated it was largely a illusion of competance with Sunak.
This govt, for its flaws, has achieved far more in a similar space of time
This govt, for its flaws, has achieved far more in a similar space of time
January 16, 2026 at 1:20 PM
I mean, and as Stephen Bush so capabily demonstrated it was largely a illusion of competance with Sunak.
This govt, for its flaws, has achieved far more in a similar space of time
This govt, for its flaws, has achieved far more in a similar space of time
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Any strategy for dealing with Trump's projection of power outside the US needs to consider how to undermine his power inside the US for two reasons:
1. Trump is primarily focussed on consolidating rule within the US and any threat to that will hit home
2. Our many friends in the US need our help.
1. Trump is primarily focussed on consolidating rule within the US and any threat to that will hit home
2. Our many friends in the US need our help.
This is the first thing I have seen anywhere that effectively integrates the external and the internal in dealing with Trump. 👏👏👏
Full article here conservativehome.com/2026/01/08/g...
January 16, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Any strategy for dealing with Trump's projection of power outside the US needs to consider how to undermine his power inside the US for two reasons:
1. Trump is primarily focussed on consolidating rule within the US and any threat to that will hit home
2. Our many friends in the US need our help.
1. Trump is primarily focussed on consolidating rule within the US and any threat to that will hit home
2. Our many friends in the US need our help.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
I am not remotely Blue Labour but it now feels like there is no one on BlueSky prepared to Stan for Starmer on anything. Can I just remind you all that, however lacking you think he is in political skill, he has actually rescued us from this shower of shit. We have a functioning government.
This intro to David Frost's Telegraph column sums up so much that is wrong with British politics.
January 16, 2026 at 11:05 AM
I am not remotely Blue Labour but it now feels like there is no one on BlueSky prepared to Stan for Starmer on anything. Can I just remind you all that, however lacking you think he is in political skill, he has actually rescued us from this shower of shit. We have a functioning government.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
🚨🚨"Surprise, surprise": X has continued to allow users to post highly sexualised videos of women in bikinis generated by its AI tool Grok, despite the company’s claim to have cracked down on misuse. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
X still allowing users to post sexualised images generated by Grok AI tool
Despite restrictions announced this week, Guardian reporters find standalone app continues to allow posting of nonconsensual content
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2026 at 8:19 AM
🚨🚨"Surprise, surprise": X has continued to allow users to post highly sexualised videos of women in bikinis generated by its AI tool Grok, despite the company’s claim to have cracked down on misuse. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
"I wonder what David Frost thinks about this" will be that post I do to tell you I've been kidnapped.
This intro to David Frost's Telegraph column sums up so much that is wrong with British politics.
January 16, 2026 at 8:48 AM
"I wonder what David Frost thinks about this" will be that post I do to tell you I've been kidnapped.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
The total NSF budget was 9 billion. I doubt they spend 89% of it on quail.
January 15, 2026 at 9:21 PM
The total NSF budget was 9 billion. I doubt they spend 89% of it on quail.