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Jon Bloomfield

@jonbloomfield.bsky.social

210 followers 94 following 210 posts

Rooted cosmopolitan. London, Arsenal, Birmingham. Writes on cities, EU, national populism,climate change. Latest The Little Black Book of the Populist Right with co-author David Edgar, a short accessible guide to today's dangers.

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · Nov 18

My Bluesky starter! David and I signing copies of The Little Black Book of the Populist Right. A short, accessible guide to the dangers of Trump, Farage, Orban et al. Buy at lnkd.in/dpbz5SFS A Xmas bargain for you and your friends.

Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 8h

A clear indication of Putin's thinking. Can't say he didn't tell us. ecfr.eu/article/enem...

Enemy number one: What Putin’s foreign policy speech says about Europe

At this year’s Valdai club, Vladimir Putin gave his most anti-EU speech yet, citing his determination to see new anti-establishment politicians to come to power and improve Europe’s relations with…

ecfr.eu

Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 8h

A brutal, accurate assessment of both leader and party. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Guardian view on Kemi Badenoch’s speech: following the path of denial, delusion and defeat | Editorial

Editorial: The Conservative leader offers no insight into her party’s past failure and no original ideas that might make it relevant to Britain’s future

www.theguardian.com

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 10h

@stephenkb.bsky.social calling out yet more racist garbage that fills the pages of our right-wing press these days.

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 16h

No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.

Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · 16h

Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 1d

It's my adopted city, but spot on by @lewisgoodall.com

Lewis Goodall @lewisgoodall.com · 1d

Birmingham, my home city, is a fantastic city, with fantastic people- a success story. It has its problems, like anywhere. But the obsession the online right has with it is as transparent as it gets.

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 2d

Fascinating. And shows the future for a pluralistic left. And for Macron, read also Starmer.

Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 2d

There's a fascinating case study to be done on the different strategies of Macron and Sánchez. Both emerged, against the odds, from centrist milieux in the mid-2010s to lead their countries since 2017/18. But their fates are totally different.

Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 2d

Genuinely insightful editorial. Also read the Pisani-Ferry piece. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Guardian view on the Tory conference: history’s revenge on Conservatism | Editorial

Editorial: Speeches from the conference floor reveal a party out of ideas. Its leadership team is mistaking slogans for policy and nostalgia for purpose

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jon Bloomfield

Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 4d

Nine jobs Nigel Farage hasn't updated his register of interests in months.

Potentially hundreds of thousands of ££££ from his many "outside interests" remain undeclared

observer.co.uk/news/politic...

‘Nine-jobs Nigel’ Farage denies not declaring extra earni...

Roles outside Parliament make Reform leader the highest-earning MP, but register of interests has not been updated since end of May

observer.co.uk

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 5d

Enough said.

Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 6d

not a serious person

George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 6d

Kemi Badenoch saying “the last time I checked, Northern Ireland did vote to leave” is so on-brand it hurts. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Reposted by Jon Bloomfield

Philippe Auclair @philippeauclair.bsky.social · 5d

Is this the first time that a penalty has to be retaken twice and a keeper (Berke Özer of Lille) stops all three attempts? www.reddit.com/r/soccer/com...

From the soccer community on Reddit: Roma awarded penalty. The Penalty had to be retaken twice. Lille goalkeeper Berke Özer saved all 3 attempts

Explore this post and more from the soccer community

www.reddit.com

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 6d

@AdityaChakrabortty.bsky.social dissects the Argentine miracle. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Farage, Trump, Musk: your boy Javier Milei just took one hell of a beating. Why so quiet? | Aditya Chakrabortty

The wild politics and chainsaw made Argentina’s president an economic hero for the right. And now, with his nation’s finances in chaos: silence, writes Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jon Bloomfield

Greg Davenport @gfazh.bsky.social · 9d

Yep since 2019 we’ve paid £10-£15k in visa fees including around £5k to the NHS during which time my wife had no access to public funds and was paying income tax and NI like everyone else. Stop pretending it isn’t already a massive rip off and overwhelmingly net positive for the country.

Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 9d

Migrants already "earn the right to settlement" through extortionate visa costs, which can run into tens of thousands of pounds. They prop up key services, including through the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Pushing the hostile environment on steroids helps no-one.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Mahmood demands migrants earn right to settlement in UK

New tests will include learning English to a high standard, paying National Insurance and not claiming benefits.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 9d

Labour was the party of integration. In my book 'Our City' I interviewed 50 migrants who've made their lives in Birmingham & contributed to its prosperity. None of them would have met Mahmood's criteria. This policy just plays into hands of far Right. It must change. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...

Migrants must earn right to live in UK, Mahmood says as she outlines tougher policy

The home secretary sets out changes to

www.bbc.co.uk

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 9d

"What happened here didn’t invent the tone of American life so much as reflect what’s been an incremental breakdown in public behavior." How Trump and MAGA debase and crucify all parts of US society. www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/s...

US fan ugliness at the Ryder Cup was merely a reflection of Trump’s all-caps America | Bryan Armen Graham

European players were subjected to slurs and crude insults about their families. They were no surprise as public discourse in America has broken down

www.theguardian.com

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 9d

The case for a wealth tax and its popular appeal. www.politico.eu/article/gabr...

France can’t stop talking about Gabriel Zucman — and his wealth tax

The 38-year-old economist has a recipe to save the EU’s second-biggest economy from a debt crisis — but will the government dare take it?

www.politico.eu

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 10d

Some rare good news. The 'cordon sanitaire', isolating the far right alive and well in Germany for both CDU and SPD.

Tom Nuttall @tomnuttall.bsky.social · 10d

The AfD qualified for three mayoral run-offs in cities in North Rhine-Westphalia today, and lost all by big margins. The lesson is not that we have overdone the AfD's rise, but that we do perhaps sometimes underestimate the counter-mobilisation effects - including in east Germany, incidentally.

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 10d

An editorial that explains the political divide between Starmer and Burnham and why the contrast embarrasses Starmer
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Guardian view on Labour conference: a clash of visions and direction, not egos and personnel | Editorial

Editorial: With his authority ebbing, Sir Keir Starmer offers continuity. Andy Burnham promises rupture. The choice is between Anglo-American orthodoxy and European-style interventionism

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Jon Bloomfield

Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 12d

Nigel Farage of course seems to have been very happy to do his pro-Russian propaganda for free

Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 12d

Anyone surprised? “Former Welsh leader of Reform has pleaded guilty to bribery charges”. Such a patriot he took money to talk pro-Russian propaganda www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Ex-Reform UK Wales leader Nathan Gill pleads guilty to bribery charges

Nathan Gill admits eight charges of bribery while being a Member of the European Parliament.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 11d

"Tragic era of conflict" is Jason Cowley. Jonathan Rutherford is another plausible alternative. Or newBL MP Jonathan Hinder.

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 12d

What a surprise. 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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Reposted by Jon Bloomfield

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 13d

(2/2)

So what *should* the government do? Some suggestions from me & colleagues ( @uofgvc.bsky.social @sjwrenlewis.bsky.social @mazzucatom.bsky.social @elerianm.bsky.social, Jim O'Neill, Gus O'Donnell) here:

archive.ph/M4r2Z

The only route to fiscal sustainability lies in finding a more sustainable growth model for the economy as a whole. This will not be achieved without a significant further increase in public investment. On the current trajectory, public investment is set to remain flat as a share of GDP over the course of this Parliament, substantially lower than both the OECD and the UK’s own post-war averages.
Having set out clear priorities across the missions, the Industrial Strategy and the Ten Year Infrastructure Plan, the government must now invest in these at the higher level needed to provide the foundations for a credible, serious plan for growth.
To deliver the stability you have rightly emphasised, you must find additional tax revenue at the coming Budget. There are progressive, pro-growth options available if the government is willing to undertake more fundamental reforms to the tax system. Above all, the tax and pension system needs to be rebalanced so that better-off older people, especially those with substantial property and pension wealth, make a much larger contribution to addressing the fiscal pressures that result from increasing spend on the NHS, social care and pensions. These and other pressures on public spending must also be managed in a more sustainable way.

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 13d

Rolling the pitch for the far Right. @bylinetimes.bsky.social show how Labour'sLord Gladman is linked to Thiel, Bannon, Yarvin, ARC & Civic Futures. Yet the guy is in denial about his role in facilitating nationalist and racist politics here. Don't believe him. bylinetimes.com/2025/09/25/b...

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 13d

A week after Windsor Trump's UN speech exposes his real beliefs. @martinkettle.bsky.social with a warning to the UK. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump’s UN rant revealed his true priorities – and Britain should watch out | Martin Kettle

Less than a week after his state visit, the president launched a surprise attack on the UK – and sent a clear signal about US power, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle

www.theguardian.com

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 16d

Absolutely.

British Future @britishfuture.bsky.social · 16d

“Threatening to revoke the settled status of millions who already have indefinite leave is morally wrong, beyond the legal chaos it would cause — it undermines the very idea of belonging in this country."
@sundersays.bsky.social on new Reform UK proposals
www.britishfuture.org/reform-attac...

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 16d

The thread linking Ukraine & Palestine is that both are people fighting for principle of self determination. Putin denies there is a Ukrainian people, Netanyahu denies there is a Palestinian people. Hence his hatred when countries recognise the right to a Palestinian state.https://on.ft.com/42Erm4T

How Ukraine and Gaza scrambled the ideological map

The two wars have divided the west — and not along the old left-right lines

on.ft.com

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Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 16d

Spot on. If you refuse to confront the beast, it goes for more.

Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 17d

Note how we’ve moved from concerns about people arriving irregularly in small boats to wrecking the lives of people who are by definition here entirely lawfully

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 17d

Should really say "Farage plans to tear up the Brexit deal he supported" since it would requiring reneging on the Withdrawal Agreement (most "foreign nationals" claiming benefits are EU citizens with settled status)

://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/2111398/nigel-farage-welfare-foreign-nationals

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