Bara D
@baradav.bsky.social
Became obsessed with politics during the Brexit disaster - despise corrupt Tory politicians - have hope for better from Starmer etc.
Recently retired - which overall I don't recommend!
Tango dancer - another obsession, but just a tad more enjoyable!
Recently retired - which overall I don't recommend!
Tango dancer - another obsession, but just a tad more enjoyable!
I find it hard to believe that a critical mass of people could really vote for Reform - surely many would actually look at their plans before voting, and reject them?
I often think about those non-voters and how they could have changed the outcome of the Referendum.
I often think about those non-voters and how they could have changed the outcome of the Referendum.
Here's a thing I did for the Observer yesterday looking at non-voters - the 'dark matter' of electoral politics- hard to observe, seldom discussed, yet potentially very influential
observer.co.uk/news/politic...
observer.co.uk/news/politic...
January 5, 2026 at 9:39 AM
I find it hard to believe that a critical mass of people could really vote for Reform - surely many would actually look at their plans before voting, and reject them?
I often think about those non-voters and how they could have changed the outcome of the Referendum.
I often think about those non-voters and how they could have changed the outcome of the Referendum.
This is only one of many things that the US will have to make up for, once the orange one has at last departed.
Did the United States really spend trillions of dollars on winning the Cold War, only for its president in 2025 take orders from a Russian dictator?
This is an earth-shattering humiliation for America of which its reputation may never recover.
This is an earth-shattering humiliation for America of which its reputation may never recover.
December 29, 2025 at 12:21 AM
This is only one of many things that the US will have to make up for, once the orange one has at last departed.
Reposted by Bara D
This is *incredibly* charming
this is a beautiful homage by my friend and colleague Claer Barrett to recently-departed FT reader Bruce Dalton, which she read at his funeral last week
December 28, 2025 at 7:39 PM
This is *incredibly* charming
Reposted by Bara D
Couldn't name a single Ed Sheeran choon, or a Stormzy one for that matter – and I'm not certainly not religious – but this is a beautiful moment...
youtu.be/DFTSK6CnECk?...
youtu.be/DFTSK6CnECk?...
STORMZY - BLINDED BY YOUR GRACE, PT. 2 [ACOUSTIC] FT. WRETCH 32, AION CLARKE & ED SHEERAN
YouTube video by Stormzy
youtu.be
December 28, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Couldn't name a single Ed Sheeran choon, or a Stormzy one for that matter – and I'm not certainly not religious – but this is a beautiful moment...
youtu.be/DFTSK6CnECk?...
youtu.be/DFTSK6CnECk?...
Reposted by Bara D
Ed Sheeran teaches Taylor Swift how to play
🎵 We found love right where we are 🎵
Fill your feed with kindness, happy Sunday night ☺️
🎵 We found love right where we are 🎵
Fill your feed with kindness, happy Sunday night ☺️
December 28, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Ed Sheeran teaches Taylor Swift how to play
🎵 We found love right where we are 🎵
Fill your feed with kindness, happy Sunday night ☺️
🎵 We found love right where we are 🎵
Fill your feed with kindness, happy Sunday night ☺️
Reposted by Bara D
2025: Liz Truss criticising Keir Starmer over the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah
2022: Liz Truss as Foreign Secretary trying to secure the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah
2022: Liz Truss as Foreign Secretary trying to secure the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah
December 28, 2025 at 9:36 PM
2025: Liz Truss criticising Keir Starmer over the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah
2022: Liz Truss as Foreign Secretary trying to secure the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah
2022: Liz Truss as Foreign Secretary trying to secure the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah
Reposted by Bara D
The UK Government is unlikely to see most of the £148m it is owed by a faulty PPE supplier linked to Baroness Michelle Mone after the company was wound up.
Who saw that coming?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Who saw that coming?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Michelle Mone-linked PPE firm liquidated and unlikely to repay £148m
The firm led by Baroness Mone's husband Douglas Barrowman breached a contract to supply surgical gowns during the Covid pandemic.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 21, 2025 at 1:07 PM
The UK Government is unlikely to see most of the £148m it is owed by a faulty PPE supplier linked to Baroness Michelle Mone after the company was wound up.
Who saw that coming?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Who saw that coming?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Bara D
Wow. I wonder did it give him pause to think?!
The Vanity Fair photographer from the Susie Wiles story.
Holy. Shit.
www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...
Holy. Shit.
www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...
December 18, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Wow. I wonder did it give him pause to think?!
Reposted by Bara D
Our Petty, Hollow, Squalid Ogre in Chief
We are led by the most loathsome human being ever to occupy the White House.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/o...
We are led by the most loathsome human being ever to occupy the White House.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/o...
Opinion | Our Petty, Hollow, Squalid Ogre in Chief
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Our Petty, Hollow, Squalid Ogre in Chief
We are led by the most loathsome human being ever to occupy the White House.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/o...
We are led by the most loathsome human being ever to occupy the White House.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/o...
Reposted by Bara D
Labour are launching an investigation into historical foreign interference in UK politics. But they are explicitly excluding the Brexit referendum from the investigation.
That's like pledging to investigate instances of arson while ignoring the wall of flames spanning the horizon.
That's like pledging to investigate instances of arson while ignoring the wall of flames spanning the horizon.
December 17, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Labour are launching an investigation into historical foreign interference in UK politics. But they are explicitly excluding the Brexit referendum from the investigation.
That's like pledging to investigate instances of arson while ignoring the wall of flames spanning the horizon.
That's like pledging to investigate instances of arson while ignoring the wall of flames spanning the horizon.
Reposted by Bara D
It’s not about toilets.
It’s not about safety.
And it certainly isn’t about evidence.
It’s about discomfort with trans people existing in public, dressed up as concern.
It’s not about safety.
And it certainly isn’t about evidence.
It’s about discomfort with trans people existing in public, dressed up as concern.
What a Wetherspoons Pub in Dorset Taught Us About the Trans Toilet Debate - Dorset Eye
Here’s my take, framed for a pub-table debate rather than a shouting match. What happened at The Swan in Weymouth neatly exposes the contradiction at the heart of the so-called “bathroom debate”. For ...
dorseteye.com
December 14, 2025 at 12:00 AM
It’s not about toilets.
It’s not about safety.
And it certainly isn’t about evidence.
It’s about discomfort with trans people existing in public, dressed up as concern.
It’s not about safety.
And it certainly isn’t about evidence.
It’s about discomfort with trans people existing in public, dressed up as concern.
Reposted by Bara D
i mean...
uh...
well...
lordy.
this defies summation. incredible story.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
uh...
well...
lordy.
this defies summation. incredible story.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
I asked the Pentagon about Pete Hegseth's mentor. Then the threats started.
Journalism in the second Trump administration gets personal.
www.motherjones.com
December 14, 2025 at 12:04 AM
i mean...
uh...
well...
lordy.
this defies summation. incredible story.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
uh...
well...
lordy.
this defies summation. incredible story.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Bara D
There has been a strong reaction to the antisemitism allegations levelled at Nigel Farage - except from those you might have expected to condemn it most loudly. My piece for @jewishnews.bsky.social on a strange silence
www.jewishnews.co.uk/jonathan-fre...
www.jewishnews.co.uk/jonathan-fre...
JONATHAN FREEDLAND: Why Britain’s Jewish leaders are silent on Farage’s schoolyard antisemitism
While the Reform UK leader and his allies smear accusers as liars, the Board, JLC and HET remain mute, fearing the wrath of a rising politician
www.jewishnews.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 1:41 PM
There has been a strong reaction to the antisemitism allegations levelled at Nigel Farage - except from those you might have expected to condemn it most loudly. My piece for @jewishnews.bsky.social on a strange silence
www.jewishnews.co.uk/jonathan-fre...
www.jewishnews.co.uk/jonathan-fre...
Reposted by Bara D
Or perhaps Rylan?
December 13, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Or perhaps Rylan?
Reposted by Bara D
The fact is no presenter has ever had to leave the BBC for expressing conservative views, or even explicitly endorsing a right-wing party.
Was never a problem for Jeremy Clarkson. Was never a problem for Andrew Neil. Was never a problem for Alan Sugar
Was never a problem for Jeremy Clarkson. Was never a problem for Andrew Neil. Was never a problem for Alan Sugar
Robin Ince reveals to last night’s audience at a recording of Infinite Monkey Cage that the BBC has forced him to resign over his support of trans people
December 13, 2025 at 4:36 PM
The fact is no presenter has ever had to leave the BBC for expressing conservative views, or even explicitly endorsing a right-wing party.
Was never a problem for Jeremy Clarkson. Was never a problem for Andrew Neil. Was never a problem for Alan Sugar
Was never a problem for Jeremy Clarkson. Was never a problem for Andrew Neil. Was never a problem for Alan Sugar
Reposted by Bara D
People retain their Brexit grudges on Twitter (as do I) although the reach of such surveys is much less now that so many Remainers left for BlueSky.
December 14, 2025 at 12:21 AM
People retain their Brexit grudges on Twitter (as do I) although the reach of such surveys is much less now that so many Remainers left for BlueSky.
Reposted by Bara D
I also don’t quite understand practically how NATO or Europe fights without the US. I don’t get how it’s supposed to work. All these countries just show up and it all works seamlessly. I really hope so. But Europe should be rushing to integrate its defense efforts and that requires the EU.
While he is at it, maybe he should warn Europeans about the very real and present dangers of a weak EU clinging to a transatlantic relationship that no longer exists. (But I suppose he doesn’t want to cross Daddy)
Mark Rutte's speech is a real wake-up call to Europeans. Within five years, he says, Russia will be ready to wage war with an intensity that parallels what our grandparents experienced in World War II. www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/nato...
December 14, 2025 at 12:31 AM
I also don’t quite understand practically how NATO or Europe fights without the US. I don’t get how it’s supposed to work. All these countries just show up and it all works seamlessly. I really hope so. But Europe should be rushing to integrate its defense efforts and that requires the EU.
Reposted by Bara D
Tyson is shutting down its Lexington, Nebraska plant in January 2026. That’s 3,200 workers gone in one shot, the largest plant shutdown in company history.
Blame Trump’s tariff chaos and the lowest cattle inventories in decades. Tariffs jack up costs. Supply shrinks. Plants close. Towns hollow out.
Blame Trump’s tariff chaos and the lowest cattle inventories in decades. Tariffs jack up costs. Supply shrinks. Plants close. Towns hollow out.
December 13, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Tyson is shutting down its Lexington, Nebraska plant in January 2026. That’s 3,200 workers gone in one shot, the largest plant shutdown in company history.
Blame Trump’s tariff chaos and the lowest cattle inventories in decades. Tariffs jack up costs. Supply shrinks. Plants close. Towns hollow out.
Blame Trump’s tariff chaos and the lowest cattle inventories in decades. Tariffs jack up costs. Supply shrinks. Plants close. Towns hollow out.
Reposted by Bara D
Always nice to hear the review of the year from Laura Kuenssberg.
Trump:
- moved into the White House
- asked Europe to increase defence spending
- moved to create a ceasefire in Gaza
- didn't create a global trade war
Hmm. I sort of thought he did more than that.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Trump:
- moved into the White House
- asked Europe to increase defence spending
- moved to create a ceasefire in Gaza
- didn't create a global trade war
Hmm. I sort of thought he did more than that.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
December 13, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Always nice to hear the review of the year from Laura Kuenssberg.
Trump:
- moved into the White House
- asked Europe to increase defence spending
- moved to create a ceasefire in Gaza
- didn't create a global trade war
Hmm. I sort of thought he did more than that.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Trump:
- moved into the White House
- asked Europe to increase defence spending
- moved to create a ceasefire in Gaza
- didn't create a global trade war
Hmm. I sort of thought he did more than that.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Bara D
This is the same group that seems to have an open invitation to appear on every single BBC political programme going, without ever declaring their funding
🔴 REVEALED 🔴
The Institute of Economic Affairs – the anti-state, anti-climate pressure group that "incubated" Liz Truss – was bankrolled by oil giants and Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
📝 Exclusive findings from @desmog.com 👇
The Institute of Economic Affairs – the anti-state, anti-climate pressure group that "incubated" Liz Truss – was bankrolled by oil giants and Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
📝 Exclusive findings from @desmog.com 👇
The Institute of Economic Affairs Banked £640,000 from Oil Giants and Murdoch
The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) – the anti-state, anti-climate pressure group – received more than £640,000 from fossil fuel companies and Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate between 1957 and ...
www.desmog.com
December 11, 2025 at 10:42 AM
This is the same group that seems to have an open invitation to appear on every single BBC political programme going, without ever declaring their funding
Reposted by Bara D
At this hearing, @padilla.senate.gov asked me whether mass deportation is making us more safe. Here was my response.
December 10, 2025 at 9:47 PM
At this hearing, @padilla.senate.gov asked me whether mass deportation is making us more safe. Here was my response.
Reposted by Bara D
A Mississippi photojournalist's unseen photos of the Civil Rights Movement, including photos of Rosa Parks, have been made public for the first time!
As a photojournalist, lover of civil rights and lover of history, this is like Christmas coming early.
As a photojournalist, lover of civil rights and lover of history, this is like Christmas coming early.
Mississippi Photographer’s Unseen Civil Rights Photos Revealed
Seven decades after Rosa Parks was thrust indelibly into American history, new photos of the Civil Rights Movement icon have been released.
www.mississippifreepress.org
December 11, 2025 at 2:30 AM
A Mississippi photojournalist's unseen photos of the Civil Rights Movement, including photos of Rosa Parks, have been made public for the first time!
As a photojournalist, lover of civil rights and lover of history, this is like Christmas coming early.
As a photojournalist, lover of civil rights and lover of history, this is like Christmas coming early.
Reposted by Bara D
As part of a longer rant Tuesday about how much better the country is now than under President Biden, Trump once again turned his ire on Somali immigrants, and that, “If they don’t go to jail? Scott Bessent is toast.”
Bessent, notably, doesn't have the power to put anyone in jail. trib.al/eWnC1sb
Bessent, notably, doesn't have the power to put anyone in jail. trib.al/eWnC1sb
Trump Threatens to Fire His Treasury Secretary Over ... Immigration?
Donald Trump warned Scott Bessent in the middle of a wildly racist rant.
trib.al
December 10, 2025 at 11:41 PM
As part of a longer rant Tuesday about how much better the country is now than under President Biden, Trump once again turned his ire on Somali immigrants, and that, “If they don’t go to jail? Scott Bessent is toast.”
Bessent, notably, doesn't have the power to put anyone in jail. trib.al/eWnC1sb
Bessent, notably, doesn't have the power to put anyone in jail. trib.al/eWnC1sb
Reposted by Bara D
Days after FIFA awarded Trump a fake peace prize, DOJ moves to drop charges in FIFA corruption case www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/n...
U.S. Moves to Drop Charges in International Soccer Corruption Case
www.nytimes.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Days after FIFA awarded Trump a fake peace prize, DOJ moves to drop charges in FIFA corruption case www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/n...