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Jack Kessler

@jackkessler.bsky.social

8.3K followers 1.9K following 2.2K posts

I write the newsletter, Lines To Take, bringing you one big story of the day, every day. Sign up for free: https://www.linestotake.com/ I like human rights and French cuisine.

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · Mar 14

What it's like to go horribly, horribly viral.

That time I incurred the wrath of a continent (and the Daily Mail).

My new newsletter, Lines To Take, out now.

What it's like to go horribly, horribly viral

I incurred the wrath of a continent (and the Daily Mail)

www.linestotake.com

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Reposted by Jack Kessler

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 10h

There will be midterm elections in America. The Democrats might even win them. But it may not matter under competitive authoritarianism.

✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/donald-tru...

My newsletter, Lines To Take, out now.

Observing from afar the relentless attacks on the US constitution and actual Americans by the Trump administration, it’s tempting to declare something grand and final, like “there won’t be midterm elections next year” or “this is a fascist state”. Not because we know those things to be true, but because the alternative — waiting and wondering — feels worse.

The United States under Trump — and practically any Republican president at this point — is what academics call a “hybrid regime” or “competitive authoritarianism”. This ought not take too much imagination because these systems exist all over the world, including Turkey, Mexico and Tunisia. Even in autocracies such as Russia and Iran, there are elections. It’s just that they are neither free nor fair.

The 2026 midterms will not only go ahead, the Democrats could win them. Trump and the GOP are unpopular. The economy is slowing. Tariffs are hurting. Many (though not all) voters liked the idea of Trump 2.0 more than the reality. But the point about hybrid regimes is that, even if the opposition manages to scrape over the line in legislative elections, it may not matter all that much. A determined and unshackled executive could simply ignore or overrule the other branches of government.

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 5h

"You can’t just point at things and abolish the tax on them without an economically efficient replacement!"

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 5h

Property transaction taxes (ie not just SDLT) were forecast to raise £15bn in 2024-25, with receipts reaching £26.5bn in 2029-30. obr.uk/docs/dlm_upl...

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 5h

We are the party of fiscal responsibility but also the only housing tax you will have to pay is (Band D) £2,280.26pa*

* you may have to sell your home when you require social care

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 5h

Literally no one other than the Treasury things SDLT is a good tax! It distorts the housing market and reduces labour mobility! But come on.

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 5h

"I will abolish stamp duty" is good but not a complete sentence unless it finishes with "and replace it with xyz."

JP Spencer @jpspencer.bsky.social · 5h

£2.7bn of stamp duty receipts in 23-24 came from properties worth more than £1.5m.

SDLT may be a bad tax, but I don’t think a pure tax giveaway to multimillionaire property owners should be a priority.

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 7h

Prepare for hundreds of subeditors to steal this like it's a citizen journalist clip from a crime scene or natural disaster.

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 8h

Young enough to climb these, old enough to grow up on social media. What a generation.

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 9h

I like to think that Kenneth Baker personally signed them off.

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 9h

My shins bruise just thinking about it.

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 9h

I've been sitting on this since 2014, but 'Contracts for Difference' sounds like a children's book where two hedgehogs from opposite ends of the woods learn how to decarbonise the grid.

Reposted by Jack Kessler

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 11h

I have fulfilled my legal requirement as a journalist taking ozempic to write about it (and the Incident which prompted me to start taking it).

NB: it doesn’t fix your vision, alas, my glasses were just causing glare.

Janine Gibson @janinegibson.ft.com · 12h

When judgy people like to judge Ozempic users, I always cite my pal James who was *not well* and now is. (Also he thinks he looks hot, no question) www.thetimes.com/life-style/h...

I’ve lost 4 stone on Wegovy. Now I look like a weedy nerd

At 38 James Ball was overweight, suffering from sky-high blood pressure. Fifteen months later, he’s buying a new wardrobe — and has no plans to give up his jabs

www.thetimes.com

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 10h

Btw, the piece begins with a rant about home and away Champions League ties and specifically, this Tim Vine-esque line which I'm absurdly pleased with:

"I can’t stand two-legged affairs."

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 10h

Embarrassingly, this scene from Yes, Prime Minister is genuinely as good as any in setting out just how complicated and uncertain things can quickly become.

Yes, Prime Minister - Russian Tactics and Nuclear Deterrent

YouTube video by John Doe

www.youtube.com

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 10h

Similarly, Europe may not be at war with Russia but we're definitely not at peace.

But what if looks like something else. Missile strikes on critical infrastructure. A naval blockade. Economic strangulation. Sudden but also gradual, giving America and its allies a decision to make over how to respond. We are seeing this in real time with Russia’s use of drones, cyberattacks and exploding parcels against European targets, in order to raise the cost of support for Ukraine, and test just how much the US is really interested in the Nato alliance.

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 10h

It's not as if hybrid regimes are some novel phenomenon. Even full-on autocracies hold elections. They're just neither free nor fair, obvs. www.economist.com/interactive/...

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 10h

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 1d

Never a truer word spoken.

Reposted by Jack Kessler

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 1d

I did the Brighton to Eastbourne coastal walk and took some photos along the way. Like of this gate, which doesn't ask you how good you are at your job.

A gate in the middle of a field, but you could just, you know, walk around it. Seven Sisters cliffs in the background, about to break you.

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 1d

This piece is so rich and densely quotable — it’s like peak Taylor Swift (think 1989 or Folklore, not Life of a Showgirl) —except, of course, it’s heartbreakingly depressing in at least six different ways.

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 1d

My column this week: on a world in which your lifeboat seems ever more necessary- but ever more unappealing:

Israel seems more important — and less desirable — than ever for British Jews

Amid rising antisemitism at home, our lifeboat abroad seems less attractive

www.ft.com

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 1d

[With thanks to @simon-hunt.bsky.social]

Coastlines To Take:

✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/a-walk-on-...

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 1d

I did the Brighton to Eastbourne coastal walk and took some photos along the way. Like of this gate, which doesn't ask you how good you are at your job.

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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you.

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 1d

Yes! I feel like it's our maritime climate equivalent of like an all-time great but still relatively easy ski run from top to bottom of some vast mountain.

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 1d

This sign did not appear at the end and therefore made me unbelievably cross.

✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/a-walk-on-...

A sign mocking me because it reads "To the Pub"

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 1d

See, @jonnelledge.bsky.social isn't the only one who learned to walk.

Me in Eastbourne with a super long shadow

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