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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · 4d

Only ever said *in public*

Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 4d

I'm in Manchester for the Conservative conference, where some of the views on show are likely to be fairly extreme. As one example, these quotes from a Kemi Badenoch interview in the Telegraph are the sorts of things which not very long ago would have only *ever* been said by the racist far right.

Tony Diver Associate Political Editor. Ben Riley-Smith Political Editor. Aaron Newbury
Related Topics

Kemi Badenoch, Conservative Party Conference, Migrant crisis, Reform UK, Nigel Farage, Conservative Party

04 October 2025 9:00pm BST
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Kemi Badenoch arriving at the Conservative Party conference on Saturday
Kemi Badenoch, pictured arriving for the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Saturday, has unveiled a seven-point plan to tackle migration Credit: Eddie Mulholland for The Telegraph

Kemi Badenoch has pledged to deport 150,000 illegal migrants a year with new Trump-style immigration squads.

The Conservative Party leader will use this year’s conference in Manchester to announce how she would reform Britain’s migration system after leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Mrs Badenoch has unveiled a seven-point plan to “secure Britain’s borders”, including a commitment to deport small boat arrivals within a week, refuse any asylum claims by illegal migrants, deport all foreign criminals and remove immigration powers from judges.
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In an interview with The Telegraph, Mrs Badenoch pledged to stop “silly arguments” about human rights from preventing the government from doing the “right thing”.

She said she was “ashamed” Britain’s immigration system had allowed the emergence of grooming gangs, with “foreigners raping our little girls”.

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The Ineffable Horror of Joe Muggs @joemuggs.bsky.social · 5d

A great pice by @ehgillett.bsky.social that captures the bittersweet nature of the moment. It is OK to celebrate the fact Corsica goes out on a high, and I hope Adrian gets to enjoy the pressure being off for a bit. Mission accomplished indeed.

‘We can leave knowing we left a mark’: how Corsica Studios transformed London nightlife – and why it’s closing

The beloved south London club has announced it will shut next year as redevelopment of the site goes ahead. Founder Adrian Jones, DJs and promoters look back

www.theguardian.com

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Minnie Rahman @minnierahman.bsky.social · 7d

In all honesty, it’s not rhetoric any more. It’s not narrative. I’ve experienced more racism in the last 4 months than I can ever remember. The wheels are off in the UK and it’s being led by 3 political parties.

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performative male @milesklee.bsky.social · 7d

This is the biggest, toughest article I’ve done about so-called “AI psychosis.” It’s the story of a man who committed a horrific crime in his youth but served his time and against all odds found love and a new life—one that completely unraveled after he started talking to Google’s Gemini chatbot.

He Grew Obsessed With an AI Chatbot. Then He Vanished in the Ozarks

Jon Ganz committed a terrible crime in his youth, but he survived prison, fell in love, and started over. His new life unraveled in a way nobody could have predicted.

www.rollingstone.com

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · 7d

Whenever anyone asks me about my favourite clubs in London, Corsica Studios is my go-to answer. It’s given me some of the best nights of my life, I’m gutted to see it close, and I’m very grateful to them for trusting me to tell the full story in the Guardian:

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

‘We can leave knowing we left a mark’: how Corsica Studios transformed London nightlife – and why it’s closing

The beloved south London club has announced it will shut next year as redevelopment of the site goes ahead. Founder Adrian Jones, DJs and promoters look back

www.theguardian.com

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · 10d

He’s incredible. Maxinquaye gets all the plaudits, and is as good as everyone says, but Pre Millenium Tension is the one for me: deeply sinister but also bleakly beautiful, and completely singular.

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · 16d

Sure, but I think Oasis are about as close as you can get to a properly universal UK-wide cultural event in 2025, which is sort of the whole point of the piece. Like I say, if you disagree with the premise then fair enough.

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Luke Turner @luketurner.bsky.social · 17d

Oasis' reunion has been the musical event of '25 (never knew I had so many pals into them *Larry David Stare*), thanks to @ehgillett.bsky.social for a thoughtful essay on how they fit into the current British political landscape and what aspects they helped usher in:

thequietus.com/opinion-and-...

Why Oasis' Reunion is the Perfect Soundtrack to Britain in 2025 | The Quietus

It’s high summer in the middle of the decade. An increasingly unpopular and authoritarian government languishes in the polls, England put four past the Netherlands in the group stage of the Euros, and...

thequietus.com

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · 16d

Also - as the piece points out - a lot of today’s fans weren’t even alive in the 90s! I was 10 years old when Definitely Maybe came out, and completely missed the debate at the time. For as long as Oasis continue to dictate pop culture, I reckon it’s worth having these conversations!

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · 16d

People can enjoy what they like, and the piece is pretty clear that people’s enjoyment of the reunion shows has generally been a good thing. I haven’t seen much (any?) other writing putting the gigs in a wider context though. Fair enough if you disagree!

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · 16d

Oasis reflect both the best and worst aspects of modern Britain, which makes the wholly uncritical response to their reunion quietly unsettling. I’ve tried digging into the knottier realities of their legacy for @thequietus.com.

thequietus.com/opinion-and-...

Why Oasis' Reunion is the Perfect Soundtrack to Britain in 2025 | The Quietus

It’s high summer in the middle of the decade. An increasingly unpopular and authoritarian government languishes in the polls, England put four past the Netherlands in the group stage of the Euros, and...

thequietus.com

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Gareth Watkins @garethwatkins.bsky.social · 19d

Dam been writing a book about this and she just TikToked it in 90 seconds.

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J. C. Cantwell 🌻 @segfaultvicta.aludel.xyz · 26d

last night as i was trying to wind down for bed i had a unified theory of what the fuck just happened, and i wrote it down, and filed it under "well, i can't talk about this on main without sounding insane until and unless the perp gets caught and is provably a groyper"

anyways, great news! (1/X)

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Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 28d

I know jumping to politically-advantageous conclusions is just what we do now, but its still striking how many right wing folks have immediately jumped to "violent leftist," as if there hasn't been a sustained, decadelong hate campaign against Charlie Kirk from those to his right.

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · Sep 3

Of course they’re not exactly the same. But in both cases there’s an assumption of an alternative course being available, which in reality isn’t there to be taken. Starmer, McSweeney et al can’t change because the current approach genuinely reflects their values.

Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · Sep 3

It’s similar to the old canard that Blair would have loved to be more left-wing but knew the electorate wouldn’t wear it, when he said multiple times he’d have adopted exactly the same stance even if it wasn’t popular. What we’re seeing now is that precise sentiment in action.

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · Sep 3

Right, because it’s ideology rather than strategy. It’s not that they don’t see the alternatives, it’s that they’re making a deliberate choice to pursue this approach, because it’s what they genuinely believe in.

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · Sep 3

Those “credible policy commitments” in full: mandatory flag-shagging twice a week, refugees and trans people can go fuck themselves, more austerity, every other big decision ducked. And they wonder why people seek out alternatives!

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · Aug 14

Everyone has their own fantasy land, as you put it, and they’re all basically correct to some degree. There have been particular regressions with austerity, Brexit and Covid, clearly, but each of those were merely building on the declines and compromises of preceding years or decades.

Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · Aug 14

My general suspicion is that the UK as a whole has been steady, gradually collapsing for at least 40 years, even if each of us has a period of our lives where we’re insulated from / ignorant of that wider trend to some degree.

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · Aug 11

This is both correct, and not radical enough: we should ban 99% of all privately-owned cars from inner cities. Blue badge holders, emergency services, finite number of permits for commercial deliveries, buses, bikes, and that’s it. No able-bodied person in Zone 1 actually needs a Land Rover, sorry.

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · Aug 9

My least popular (and most correct) view is that cars should be automatically limited to the local speed limit. Put the pedal to the floor and you still can't go over 25mph in a residential area.

(15 in Manhattan btw)

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · Aug 9

There is no possible justification for limiting e-bikes to 15mph but not cars.

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · Aug 11

Yep, the superfence was later but I thought 97 had seen some improvements? Maybe I’m misremembering. 95 was definitely the big year for break-ins though. 97 was insanely rainy & muddy, which might have dampened demand.

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · Aug 11

I think 94 and 95 were the really bad ones for crime weren’t they? Fallow year in 96, then they came back with a much bigger fence.

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · Aug 11

Yeah for all of Glastonbury’s qualities it’s not exactly tranquil is it. I love the insane scale of it, but I can see how something like Houghton does that smaller, more manageable side of things much better.

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Ed Gillett @ehgillett.bsky.social · Aug 11

There are a few more spots like that now I think: the woods / tree stage, shady bits in silver hayes, redesigned shangri-la, strummerville, green fields obviously. Definitely more needed though, and only going to become more of an issue with climate change.

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