Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 10h

“Some people say choosing judges based on their political beliefs makes them politicians’ puppets - what do you think of that?”

“Rubbish!”

Andrew Graystone @andrewgraystone.bsky.social · 1d

The Wigs and the Tories.

Shadow Home Secretary Robert Jenrick is holding up a judge’s wig during a speech

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 22h

"While Britain was redefining what a woman is, China was building five nuclear reactors," says Kemi Badenoch.

I cannot be the only person curious about how these two things are related

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 1d

All these people really want is to pay no taxes and be treated with floor scraping deference. Everything else is just bullshit in pursuit of that goal.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 1d

Party donor Nick Candy says "I cherish the values we grew up with here in the West. But today you are more likely to find the values we grew up with in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.’

Via Sam Leith in the Spectator
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...

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Laura Miller @lauramille.bsky.social · 8d

slate.com/culture/2025...

If Any Writer Is Due for a Revival, It’s One of Literature’s Most Misunderstood Novelists

Rebecca author Daphne du Maurier was dismissed as merely a “romantic” novelist.

slate.com

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Renewal @renewaljournal.bsky.social · 10d

Labour Party conference's most stylish accessory - modelled here by @imogenshaw.bsky.social

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 11d

Paging @caitprowle.bsky.social

Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 11d

If you’re heading up to Labour Conference from Euston today, remember to say thank you Louise Haigh for getting the giant departure boards back 🙏

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Morgan Jones @morganj0nes.bsky.social · 12d

I've written about Mainstream, "The Starmer Symptom", and why the soft left getting organised is a good idea – if they can update themselves.

www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/0...

What do the Burnhamites believe?

The soft left are agitating against Starmerism – but are yet to provide a successor ideology

www.newstatesman.com

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Colm Murphy @colmpm.bsky.social · 12d

The evidence for this argument has grown and grown, and become increasingly convincing.

The policy remains difficult, unavoidably. But the rhetoric is clearly wrong. Critically, the centre left must directly challenge the slow normalisation of far right ideas for both moral and tactical reasons.

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 12d

For the Guardian, @turnbulldugarte.com and I discuss our research that clearly shows one thing: Labour's anti-immigration strategy will only strengthen Reform and weaken its own electoral prospects. It won't win voters back but ultimately normalizes the far right

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Our research makes it clear: by capitulating to the right, Labour is driving voters to Reform UK | Tarik Abou-Chadi and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte

Mimicking Farage on immigration is senseless. Labour voters feel betrayed; anti-immigration voters see through the ruse, say academics Tarik Abou-Chadi and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte

www.theguardian.com

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 16d

Lots of cats love shoes… but not many quite as much as Mordred.

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 16d

The good news: I finally have my Labour Conference pass.

The bad news: The party’s printer has done something to my photo which makes me look like a Halloween zombie 💀

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 17d

Retrospectively removing indefinite leave to remain would be immoral and economically damaging. It would tear families apart.
Attacking it as ‘potentially illegal’ is completely beside the point.
Argue with the (awful) idea. Don’t try ’well, actually you can’t do that’.

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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 16d

Thousands of Londoners have indefinite leave to remain.

They have legal rights and are our friends, neighbours and colleagues, contributing hugely to our city.

Threatening to deport people living and working here legally is unacceptable.

Farage vows to scrap indefinite leave to remain, placing thousands at risk of deportation

Reform UK plans to force non-citizens to apply for visas with high salary thresholds and no access to NHS services

www.theguardian.com

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 16d

Yet another example of the bot-filled, far-right X atmosphere shifting norms in mainstream journalism

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 17d

really dislike that "Boriswave" used to be something you'd exclusively see being used by racist Twitter accounts but it's now made its way to the political mainstream, including today's Playbook headline

Reposted by Imogen Shaw

Morgan Jones @morganj0nes.bsky.social · 17d

I wrote about the noticeable Vibe Shift around Keir Starmer's viability as PM:

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Where are Starmer’s friends?

Labour MPs have abandoned the Prime Minister

www.newstatesman.com

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 22d

Thanks, David!

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 22d

Me for SEC Newgate News:

‘What was forgivable in opposition, faced with a long-serving and unpopular Conservative administration, is not enough to carry a party through five years in government.’

www.secnewgate.co.uk/our-insights...

A row of matches, some of which are unused and some of which are burned out

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 22d

At a point where both following and working adjacent to UK politics was feeling depressing, this thread was a delightful read.

Sophie E. Hill @sophieehill.bsky.social · 22d

I've been wrangling some data on UK All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) recently, and I feel compelled to share my highly scientific ranking of APPG Vibes...

🧵

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 23d

It seems blisteringly obvious to say, but there is no reason that it should be like this. There are some hugely talented and dedicated people in No10 and across the Labour operation. Yet, we keep handing the reigns to people who demonstrate they lack the judgement to make a Labour government work.

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 23d

So now No10 Director of Strategy Paul Ovenden has quit over “lurid comments” made about Diane Abbott. Every time I think I could not rate the judgement on display at the top of government any lower, I’m proven wrong.

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 24d

Really pleased to see a Labour MP saying this. I hope it kicks off a proper conversation within government. Given Musk’s latest, the status quo is not sustainable.

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noahlawmp.bsky.social @noahlawmp.bsky.social · 24d

Our Government needs a revolutionary change... in the social media platforms it uses.

Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 24d

🔴‘My Government Must Quit Twitter and Call Out Elon Musk’s Far-Right Hate’

Labour MP @noahlawmp.bsky.social explains why it’s time for Keir Starmer to start treating the billionaire X owner as the ‘foreign extremist’ he now is

bylinetimes.com/2025/09/15/m...

'My Government Must Quit Twitter and Call Out Elon Musk's Far-Right Hate'

Labour MP Noah Law explains why it's time for Keir Starmer to start treating the billionaire X owner as the 'foreign extremist' he now is

bylinetimes.com

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 24d

It’s far from the only (!) problem with UK political discourse, but the government could do a lot worse than get off X. Journalists would adapt. It’s not widely used by members of the public. What‘s the remaining audience, apart from bots, fascists and a billionaire owner who does things like this?

Anthony Zacharzewski @anthonyzach.be · 25d

The owner of and absolute unquestionable algorithm controller of a preferred communications channel of the UK Government calling for violence and the overthrow of the Government. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Elon Musk addresses the ‘unite the kingdom’ march crowd via video link – UK politics live

Met Police believe 110,000 people attending rally, with one group in Whitehall throwing projectiles at officers

www.theguardian.com

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 24d

👇 Leadership matters and does change things. (A smaller scale version of this is watching people on here who have a red rosette where their own moral compass should be sharing a statement that only earlier this morning they thought it was Actually Wise Not To Make)

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 24d

Also shows the power the prime ministers office has!
One statement and the narrative of BBC website completed changed.
Earlier today it was far right rally turn out and more questions about Mandelson. One statement and the government has a chance to be on the front foot.

Bbe front page showing stories of Qe will never surrender our flag. Says Kier Starmer.

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Imogen Shaw @imogenshaw.bsky.social · 24d

At this point, I don’t even think the No 10 operation is listening to dissenting voices from the Labour *right*, let alone the middle and (soft) left of the party.

Edward @fornbirkibeinn.bsky.social · 25d

This is an incredibly Soft Left thing to say, but I do think Starmer's inability to manage his coalition or parliamentary party is downstream of the intolerance for internal dissent. We've gone from no enemies on the left to no hearing of the left and that means that early warning signs are ignored.

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