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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 4h

When a system breaks down and no longer functions, maybe it is time to ask if the system needs to be changed. Does the "split" French system of president and parliament, designed by De Gaulle for his own ends, work today? I think not. Is there a politician radical enough to call for system change?

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 5h

Well, then kill it. A business that runs on theft is not a business.

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 12h

Of course, this does not include judges with right-of-center sympathies because that is the natural order of things. What he means is judges whose views do not coincide with his. Only "Big Brother Bob" gets to decide what is correct.

Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 16h

In the current climate of far right hostility, Jenrick is actively inciting violence against these judges with this. Badenoch may have defended his explicit racism yesterday, but this alone should see him lose both his position as shadow justice secretary and the whip immediately.

#r4today

Robert Jenrick names judges he would sack for ‘pro-migrant bias'

The shadow justice secretary has accused 'activists' within the judiciary of having links to political causes that compromise their independence

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 16h

I read this with interest, as an Irish person who lives in France and has no vote in the presidential election. The question occurred to me. Why does Ireland actually need a president? Would the political system be any worse if the office did not exist?

www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Maria Steen calls for presidential election to be cancelled over Jim Gavin’s departure

Conservative campaigner missed out on required signatures to make the ballot

www.irishtimes.com

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 17h

Does the UK have a Culture Secretary, with responsibility for this stuff, who might take an interest in how media regulation works? If there is such a person, does anyone know what she/he does all day?

Paul Marshall @pmarsha11.bsky.social · 1d

Someone please explain.
What is the point of Ofcom?
Utterly useless.

Ofcom to take no further action after finding GB News breached broadcasting code for "homophobic slur"

After more than six months of investigation, Ofcom has concluded that while GB News breached the broadcasting code when a presenter repeated "a homophobic slur" it will take no further action. On 22 ...

www.scenemag.co.uk

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 17h

Is this situation not a consequence of Brexit, of the UK leaving the EU? Did not Brexiters complain that the EU was a "protectionist racket"? Do they now complain that the US is also such a "racket"? Difficult to be on the outside of such "rackets".
www.theguardian.com/business/202...

EU plan to match Trump steel tariffs spurs ‘existential threat’ to UK steel industry

Starmer says UK in discussions with EU over Brussels plan to double import tariff to 50%, which unions warn could kill UK steel industry

www.theguardian.com

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 1d

I'm Irish, but I have lived outside Ireland, in France, for over 25 years. I follow Irish politics. But here is something I have never understood. Why does Ireland appear to need two finance ministers? Is the job so complicated that one person cannot do it?
www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

Budget unveiled with national minimum wage to rise and VAT rate for completed apartments cut

Budget 2026 is expected to contain an overall package of €9.4bn

www.irishtimes.com

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 2d

France is rapidly running out of political road. It is paying the price for Macron's impulsive calling of parliamentary elections after the European Parliament elections last year. New elections now upcoming? www.ft.com/content/d2d7...

French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu resigns

Macron ally quits after rightwing allies indicated they would withdraw from his government

www.ft.com

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 2d

I think it was Einstein who said that insanity was trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result ... same government, same policies, different PM. Not that they are necessarily wrong. It is that they cannot be delivered on. French politics are stuck in a crazy place.

Julien Hoez @julienhoez.eu · 3d

This week in The French Dispatch 🇫🇷

🆕New weekly format
🤝Lecornu pushes towards likely doomed government formation
🗳️Faure “We are heading straight for censorship”
👇Marine Le Pen threatens to bring down the government

www.frenchdispatch.eu/p/lecornu-go...

⏰The Lecornu Government is Collapsing Before it Forms

A new format, Prime Minister Lecornu works towards a political statement on Tuesday while forming his government, and has already been threatened with motions of censure by the left and far-right.

www.frenchdispatch.eu

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 3d

Just one problem with this. There is unlikely to ever be another Tory government.

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 3d

This week in Sunday Scribblings, I return to Brexit, or rather, I offer some thoughts on the issue of the UK and Europe, because Brexit is done and will not soon be undone.

hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

Sunday Scribblings

Revisiting Brexit

hayest.substack.com

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 4d

I cancelled my sub to the Post over a year ago. No regrets. Neither do I have a sub to Pravda.

Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 6d

I am in agreement with Michael McDowell in his principled refusal to nominate Steen. Why would you nominate someone to stand for public office when you disagree with their politics? It is not the job of a politician to help those to whom they are opposed. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Michael McDowell: Why I didn't nominate Maria Steen for the presidency

As a liberal, I felt Maria Steen’s election would have been a step backwards for the Ireland I believe in

www.irishtimes.com

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 8d

I agree with every word here. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Fintan O’Toole: Catherine Connolly should keep her inner Basil Fawlty under wraps

Accusing our EU allies of being proto-fascist warmongers is not a winning strategy

www.irishtimes.com

Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 8d

Nothing more than Mafia shakedown money. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

YouTube agrees to pay Trump $24.5m to settle lawsuit over account suspension

Platform suspended the US president’s YouTube channel in 2021 after the January 6 Capitol riot

www.theguardian.com

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 9d

No doubt, if the US had won, Trump would have turned up and claimed to have been the team captain. They didn't, and he didn't. Well done to Europe. www.irishtimes.com/sport/golf/2...

Shane Lowry produces moment of magic at Bethpage as Europe win the Ryder Cup

Lowry makes six-feet putt on the 18th to half match against Russell Henley

www.irishtimes.com

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 10d

This week, I was in both London and Dublin for labour relations meetings. Some thoughts after my visit to the two cities.

hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

Sunday Scribblings

On London and Dublin

hayest.substack.com

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 14d

A great example of "Dane Geld". Pay the Dane the gold, and he will be back for more. Pay him once, and you will never get rid of the Dane.

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 16d

Farage's Ferries

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 17d

Why is the so-called Culture Secretary allowing all this to happen? Does she actually exist?

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 17d

It's My Party and I'll sue if I want to,
I'll sue if I want to, sue if I want to
You'd sue too if it happened to you.

With apologies to Lesley Gore.

Julien Hoez @julienhoez.eu · 18d

Far-left populist party Your Party co-founder Zarah Sultana is suing her Your Party co-founder Jeremy Corbyn for defamation over the Your Party party membership confusion and the messy setting up of far-left political party Your Party.

The far-left continue their winning streak.

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 17d

Good morning. Some thoughts this week in my Sunday Scribblings on DEI on either side of the Atlantic. Two worlds drifting apart.

hayest.substack.com/p/sunday-scr...

Sunday Scribblings

Coming Back to Diversity and Inclusion

hayest.substack.com

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 19d

This reminds me of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, when students were encouraged to denounce professors and lecturers who deviated from the Mao/Party line. Apparently, there can now be only one ideology on US campuses: MAGAISM. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/u...

Texas A&M President to Step Down After Controversy Over ‘Gender Ideology’

www.nytimes.com

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 20d

Do you see much of your brother these days? I could tell you stories about him, and what we got up to in the old days. We were some rock 'n rollers back then.

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Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 20d

If you read this carefully, you will see that most of those striking today in France are public sector workers, of one type or another, demanding more money from a government that is struggling to make ends meet. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

France braces for day of strikes amid political crisis

About 800,000 people to demonstrate against budget plans, putting pressure on new prime minister

www.theguardian.com

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