Neil Atkinson
@knoxharrington.bsky.social
Turns meetings into pints and pints into meetings. Host of The Anfield Wrap and occasional writer of things. Author of Transformer for the good people at Canongate.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
It wasn't "appalling journalism". It was people doing what they were paid to do. If you want journalists to serve the public interest they must be paid by the public and not by billionaire cranks.
Having Johnson & Cummings in Downing Street when Covid struck was, just like Brexit, an entirely avoidable disaster caused largely by utterly appalling journalism. And now exactly the same clowns, arses & bigots with bylines are rolling out the red carpet for Farage.
www.thetimes.com/article/1b15...
www.thetimes.com/article/1b15...
Covid inquiry live: ‘Inexcusable’ delays under Johnson led to 23,000 deaths
Lockdowns may have been avoided if Boris Johnson’s government had acted faster, damning report finds
www.thetimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:27 PM
It wasn't "appalling journalism". It was people doing what they were paid to do. If you want journalists to serve the public interest they must be paid by the public and not by billionaire cranks.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
This seems like a good time to remind people that everyone in politics and media knew very well that Johnson was a bent, disastrous imbecile and that he was made Tory leader *specifically because* he was the candidate the Mail, the Sun, the Times, the Telegraph and the Express would all get behind.
November 20, 2025 at 6:15 PM
This seems like a good time to remind people that everyone in politics and media knew very well that Johnson was a bent, disastrous imbecile and that he was made Tory leader *specifically because* he was the candidate the Mail, the Sun, the Times, the Telegraph and the Express would all get behind.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
While it feels like I'm repeatedly slamming my head against a brick wall repeating this massively simple concept. Saying "Reform would be worse" doesn't make what Labour is doing better. Labour is now the most anti-immigration, anti-any marginalised group, government we have seen in decades. 1/
Very long thread: As with many of Labour's anti-immigration policies, this isn't new. British police have been stationed in other countries for this purpose for a long time
It does however show how Labour is pushing more on anti-immigration than previous governments. 1/
www.lbc.co.uk/article/shab...
It does however show how Labour is pushing more on anti-immigration than previous governments. 1/
www.lbc.co.uk/article/shab...
Home Secretary orders police and border 'hit squads' to Albania to stamp out people smugglers | LBC
Shabana Mahmood will send hit squads of police and border force teams to Albania in a fresh drive to stamp out people-smuggling gangs upstream.
www.lbc.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 5:36 PM
While it feels like I'm repeatedly slamming my head against a brick wall repeating this massively simple concept. Saying "Reform would be worse" doesn't make what Labour is doing better. Labour is now the most anti-immigration, anti-any marginalised group, government we have seen in decades. 1/
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
Consultation closes 12th Feb, so even if they take a month to look at responses.... You get the feeling that this might be a forgone conclusion and they have already made their minds up?
November 20, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Consultation closes 12th Feb, so even if they take a month to look at responses.... You get the feeling that this might be a forgone conclusion and they have already made their minds up?
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
November 17, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
There are two options here: 1) Go back to 2004 in a Time Machine and enforce strict boundaries on politicians and media intentionally inflaming public fear and hate, and 2) Admit what you’ve done, beg forgiveness and then *fuck off*.
November 20, 2025 at 10:15 AM
There are two options here: 1) Go back to 2004 in a Time Machine and enforce strict boundaries on politicians and media intentionally inflaming public fear and hate, and 2) Admit what you’ve done, beg forgiveness and then *fuck off*.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
Either you support a tax on wealthier people or you don’t.
on.ft.com/44azcE6 Rachel Reeves under pressure to scale back Budget raid on expensive homes
on.ft.com/44azcE6 Rachel Reeves under pressure to scale back Budget raid on expensive homes
November 20, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Either you support a tax on wealthier people or you don’t.
on.ft.com/44azcE6 Rachel Reeves under pressure to scale back Budget raid on expensive homes
on.ft.com/44azcE6 Rachel Reeves under pressure to scale back Budget raid on expensive homes
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
Q: How do we know Farage is racist, always has been racist and always will be racist?
A: Every racist thing he’s said over the last 50 years.
And every racist thing he’s done or proposed as a politician.
The huffing and puffing about calling him what he is can stop any time it likes.
A: Every racist thing he’s said over the last 50 years.
And every racist thing he’s done or proposed as a politician.
The huffing and puffing about calling him what he is can stop any time it likes.
November 19, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Q: How do we know Farage is racist, always has been racist and always will be racist?
A: Every racist thing he’s said over the last 50 years.
And every racist thing he’s done or proposed as a politician.
The huffing and puffing about calling him what he is can stop any time it likes.
A: Every racist thing he’s said over the last 50 years.
And every racist thing he’s done or proposed as a politician.
The huffing and puffing about calling him what he is can stop any time it likes.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
Please share. If anyone is to be quoted after Trumps despicable speech, minimizing Jamal Kashoggi's torture and execution, its her.
Thank you.
Thank you.
My first piece for @theguardian.com on MBS’s visit to the U.S., seven years after Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
Trump’s America is beginning to look like MBS’s Saudi Arabia— which Jamal warned me about.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Trump’s America is beginning to look like MBS’s Saudi Arabia— which Jamal warned me about.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Saudification of America is under way | Karen Attiah
Jamal Khashoggi’s plight and murder was a warning sign for the US, of the impending loss of freedom and censorship that would sweep the country
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Please share. If anyone is to be quoted after Trumps despicable speech, minimizing Jamal Kashoggi's torture and execution, its her.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
"It would mean more people could benefit from those frequent Central Line services. It is exactly what I hoped this Labour government might do.
"And I almost missed it, because they instead won’t shut up about being horrible to foreigners."
"And I almost missed it, because they instead won’t shut up about being horrible to foreigners."
The Weekly Howl
The British government just did something I agree with, and it feels almost gross to mention it. Also: who invented the week? And some Beeching-themed maps.
jonn.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:41 AM
"It would mean more people could benefit from those frequent Central Line services. It is exactly what I hoped this Labour government might do.
"And I almost missed it, because they instead won’t shut up about being horrible to foreigners."
"And I almost missed it, because they instead won’t shut up about being horrible to foreigners."
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
If you saw Shabana Mahmood’s idiotic and insulting display in the Commons this week and wondered: what kind of slack-jawed ignoramus would fall for this abysmal bullshit about how her ethnicity means you can’t tell her not to do migrant crackdowns? Well, the answer is: Guardian columnists.
November 20, 2025 at 8:37 AM
If you saw Shabana Mahmood’s idiotic and insulting display in the Commons this week and wondered: what kind of slack-jawed ignoramus would fall for this abysmal bullshit about how her ethnicity means you can’t tell her not to do migrant crackdowns? Well, the answer is: Guardian columnists.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
You’d never see this level of propaganda from *my* country’s state broadcaster 😏
November 19, 2025 at 10:22 AM
You’d never see this level of propaganda from *my* country’s state broadcaster 😏
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
Not long now till Christmas.
Imagine the joy on their faces if they open a biography of the Charltons on Christmas morning…
www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Brothers...
Imagine the joy on their faces if they open a biography of the Charltons on Christmas morning…
www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Brothers...
November 18, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Not long now till Christmas.
Imagine the joy on their faces if they open a biography of the Charltons on Christmas morning…
www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Brothers...
Imagine the joy on their faces if they open a biography of the Charltons on Christmas morning…
www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Brothers...
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
The core aim of the Terf movement - a tiny number of newspaper columnists who melted the brains of middle aged reactionaries - was always to encourage maximum public hostility against transgender people, and give them the impunity to act upon it.
November 20, 2025 at 7:50 AM
The core aim of the Terf movement - a tiny number of newspaper columnists who melted the brains of middle aged reactionaries - was always to encourage maximum public hostility against transgender people, and give them the impunity to act upon it.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
Mahmood really is a disingenuous nasty piece of work. Look, people don't risk their child's life crossing the channel to boost their own claim. Mahmood's own policies of restricting family reunion does mean more children will be making channel crossings though.
November 20, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Mahmood really is a disingenuous nasty piece of work. Look, people don't risk their child's life crossing the channel to boost their own claim. Mahmood's own policies of restricting family reunion does mean more children will be making channel crossings though.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
the gulf between the swift brutality with which places like harvard treated students protesting genocide and the endless, endless latitude those same institutions have given people like larry summers tells you everything you need to know
November 20, 2025 at 1:36 AM
the gulf between the swift brutality with which places like harvard treated students protesting genocide and the endless, endless latitude those same institutions have given people like larry summers tells you everything you need to know
Re-reading @joeydurso.bsky.social's book tonight in preparation for next week.
Really looking forward to it @waterstoneslpl.bsky.social
Next Thursday if you can make it at 6.30pm.
www.waterstones.com/events/joey-...
Really looking forward to it @waterstoneslpl.bsky.social
Next Thursday if you can make it at 6.30pm.
www.waterstones.com/events/joey-...
Joey D'Urso discusses More Than A Shirt - How Football Shirts Explain Global Politics, Money & Power - in conversation with Neil Atkinson of The Anfield Wrap | Events at Waterstones Bookshops | Water...
Events at Waterstones get you closer to the books and authors you admire most. Find information and tickets about Joey D'Urso discusses More Than A Shirt - How Football Shirts Explain Global Politics,...
www.waterstones.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Re-reading @joeydurso.bsky.social's book tonight in preparation for next week.
Really looking forward to it @waterstoneslpl.bsky.social
Next Thursday if you can make it at 6.30pm.
www.waterstones.com/events/joey-...
Really looking forward to it @waterstoneslpl.bsky.social
Next Thursday if you can make it at 6.30pm.
www.waterstones.com/events/joey-...
You'll be delighted to learn the new Skrillex with 100 Gecs's Dylan Brady and Caroline Polachek is an absolute belter though obviously not as good as the title and cover of Skrillex's last album.
November 19, 2025 at 4:12 PM
You'll be delighted to learn the new Skrillex with 100 Gecs's Dylan Brady and Caroline Polachek is an absolute belter though obviously not as good as the title and cover of Skrillex's last album.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
The UK isn’t a “soft touch” on asylum.
UK asylum seeker benefits are similar to European neighbours
No right to work before 12 months (it’s 6 months in France, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands)
UK settlement after 5 years (it’s 3 or 4 in Germany)
Let’s cut out the alarmist rhetoric.
UK asylum seeker benefits are similar to European neighbours
No right to work before 12 months (it’s 6 months in France, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands)
UK settlement after 5 years (it’s 3 or 4 in Germany)
Let’s cut out the alarmist rhetoric.
November 19, 2025 at 11:52 AM
The UK isn’t a “soft touch” on asylum.
UK asylum seeker benefits are similar to European neighbours
No right to work before 12 months (it’s 6 months in France, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands)
UK settlement after 5 years (it’s 3 or 4 in Germany)
Let’s cut out the alarmist rhetoric.
UK asylum seeker benefits are similar to European neighbours
No right to work before 12 months (it’s 6 months in France, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands)
UK settlement after 5 years (it’s 3 or 4 in Germany)
Let’s cut out the alarmist rhetoric.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
Behr et al didn't just support Starmer because he wasn't Corbyn, but because he appeared to match their ideal politician: a business-like administrator who mouthed conventional platitudes and had no interest in challenging the neoliberal orthodoxy. It is that worldview that has failed, not one man.
November 19, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Behr et al didn't just support Starmer because he wasn't Corbyn, but because he appeared to match their ideal politician: a business-like administrator who mouthed conventional platitudes and had no interest in challenging the neoliberal orthodoxy. It is that worldview that has failed, not one man.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
*sad trombone noise*
November 19, 2025 at 9:59 AM
*sad trombone noise*
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
There are entire books about this! And the answer is “bragging to journalists about how cleverly they had shitehoused their own party to defeat”, “sending Times journos pissy WhatsApps” and “fretting in case someone shouted ‘LOL you suckup wankers’ when they unveiled the sixty foot Union flag”.
November 19, 2025 at 11:15 AM
There are entire books about this! And the answer is “bragging to journalists about how cleverly they had shitehoused their own party to defeat”, “sending Times journos pissy WhatsApps” and “fretting in case someone shouted ‘LOL you suckup wankers’ when they unveiled the sixty foot Union flag”.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
I know people assume I am exaggerating about this stuff. I am not exaggerating: all this was based on interviews with the key players.
November 19, 2025 at 11:17 AM
I know people assume I am exaggerating about this stuff. I am not exaggerating: all this was based on interviews with the key players.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
The conflation of asylum seeker and illegal migrants isn't an accident.
November 19, 2025 at 10:38 AM
The conflation of asylum seeker and illegal migrants isn't an accident.
Reposted by Neil Atkinson
it is quite darkly funny that for all the attempts to put clear water between the last labour government's immigration policy and this sort of thing, Blair and his main press cheerleader are usually on board whenever something horrifying is proposed, if they're not doing so themselves
When they tell you they think this shit is brilliant, you should believe them. It’s what people like John were always shouting for and it’s the reason why they behave like that.
November 19, 2025 at 9:33 AM
it is quite darkly funny that for all the attempts to put clear water between the last labour government's immigration policy and this sort of thing, Blair and his main press cheerleader are usually on board whenever something horrifying is proposed, if they're not doing so themselves