Vernon Baseley
LightNews LightNews
banner
vernonbaseley.bsky.social
Vernon Baseley
@vernonbaseley.bsky.social
620 followers 530 following 340 posts
Rail operations specialist. Editor of "Outre-Manche" blog.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
stephenkb.bsky.social
Labour’s shift away from “immigration is good but it needs to be managed” to “it is bad” is a gift to essentially everyone they compete with, because it means that they don’t have the right position to be able to attack *anyone*.
nwylabour.bsky.social N 🌹 @nwylabour.bsky.social · 17h
I'm sorry, but these attacks are just not going to convince Green-curious voters, because Labour is so visibly out of step with those voters' core values
jamesdaustin.bsky.social James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 17h
This by @umakumaran.bsky.social is good - and a example of exactly how Labour should be taking on the Greens; on values, direct and on Labour territory. Taking them seriously.
December 10, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
anneapplebaum.bsky.social
Also, this is an invitation to international criminals, just like these kinds of program are everywhere else
pbump.com Philip Bump @pbump.com · 12h
An insane political move. One of the recurring complaints about immigration in the U.S. is that those seeking asylum jump the line. This is line-jumping — but for rich people, not those in need.
December 11, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
stephenkb.bsky.social
To take my tongue out of my cheek*, it continues to be one of the more striking pressures facing Reform that their voters are the *least* religious in the UK and so many of their senior members and funders are really intensely religious.

*Je ne regrette rien
December 11, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
writesbright.bsky.social
🔴 REVEALED 🔴

The Institute of Economic Affairs – the anti-state, anti-climate pressure group that "incubated" Liz Truss – was bankrolled by oil giants and Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

📝 Exclusive findings from @desmog.com 👇
The Institute of Economic Affairs Banked £640,000 from Oil Giants and Murdoch
The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) – the anti-state, anti-climate pressure group – received more than £640,000 from fossil fuel companies and Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate between 1957 and ...
www.desmog.com
December 11, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
ogilvie.org.uk
🇸🇰 20 metres from disaster.
Freight & passenger train came within seconds of head on collision in Slovakia yesterday, 9/12 at Liptovský Hrádok.
Another shocking event on eastern Europe's railways, butittle to explain how .. so far... 🧵⏬️
December 11, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
iandunt.bsky.social
Imagine the right-wing reaction if Starmer or Biden had proposed something like this
pickardje.bsky.social Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 13h
Citizens of countries including the UK and France will have to disclose the past five years of their social media history to visit the US even though they are covered by visa waiver schemes, under new proposals by the Trump administration.

www.ft.com/content/683b...
US to require social media disclosure for visa-waiver requests
Change would affect visitors from countries including the UK, France and Australia
www.ft.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
ianbirrell.bsky.social
This man deserves a medal from the Kremlin for his unstinting pushing of Russian propaganda from even before the start of the full-scale invasion that he assured us would never take place
December 10, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
elwick70.bsky.social
How to plan your trips to the USA for 2026, 2027 & 2028:

1. Don’t bother
2. Sorted

🇺🇸
December 10, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
gabrielmilland.bsky.social
I must have visited the US fifty or so times. Work, pleasure, family. Got two degrees in American history. Lived there for a while.

Oh well. Canada is also nice.
clarajeffery.bsky.social Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 1d
This is INSANE www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/t...

and these are our closest allies!
Travelers visiting the United States from countries like Britain, France, Germany and South Korea could soon have to undergo a review of up to five years of their social media history, according to a proposal filed on Tuesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The change would affect visitors eligible for the visa waiver program, which allows people from 42 countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa as long as they first obtain electronic travel authorization. In a document filed on Tuesday in the Federal Register, C.B.P. said it plans to ask applicants for a long list of personal data including social media, email addresses from the last decade, and the names, birth dates, places of residence and birthplaces of parents, spouses, siblings and children. Under the current system, applicants from visa waiver countries must enroll in the Electronic System for Travel Authorization program. They pay $40 and submit an email address, home address, phone number and emergency contact information. The authorization is good for two years.
December 10, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
rolandmcs.bsky.social
Free speech latest
clarajeffery.bsky.social Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 1d
This is INSANE www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/t...

and these are our closest allies!
Travelers visiting the United States from countries like Britain, France, Germany and South Korea could soon have to undergo a review of up to five years of their social media history, according to a proposal filed on Tuesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The change would affect visitors eligible for the visa waiver program, which allows people from 42 countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa as long as they first obtain electronic travel authorization. In a document filed on Tuesday in the Federal Register, C.B.P. said it plans to ask applicants for a long list of personal data including social media, email addresses from the last decade, and the names, birth dates, places of residence and birthplaces of parents, spouses, siblings and children. Under the current system, applicants from visa waiver countries must enroll in the Electronic System for Travel Authorization program. They pay $40 and submit an email address, home address, phone number and emergency contact information. The authorization is good for two years.
December 10, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
goodclimate.bsky.social
Only fat, tatooed street brawlers and foreigners can be 'far right'. And it was ever so.
samfr.bsky.social Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 1d
Interesting that the BBC will call National Rally "Far Right" (in an article about Bardella meeting Farage) - when they would never use that term for Reform. Their policies are very similar. If anything Reform's are more authoritarian.
December 9, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
anneapplebaum.bsky.social
Conspiracy theorist Mike Benz will start looking for proof of non-existent plots at USAID. He won't find any. What then?
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
USAID Hired the Right-Wing Influencer Responsible for Its Decimation
Mike Benz was brought aboard to find evidence for his claims that the agency is secretly a spy operation.
www.theatlantic.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
atrupar.com
Wow -- Russia reportedly plotted last year to plant bombs on US-bound flights (gift link) giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
December 9, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
jamesmchapman.bsky.social
@biggive.bsky.social's Christmas Challenge has raised an incredible, record-breaking £57.4m in seven days, making it the UK's biggest public fundraiser for the second year running. Everyone at Soho Comms has loved playing a part in spreading the word about the power of match funding.
December 9, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
dhothersall.bsky.social
FIFA has an ethics committee?!
dailyherald.bsky.social Daily Herald #FBPE #NAFO @dailyherald.bsky.social · 1d
An official complaint has been filed with FIFA's ethics committee over the awarding of the prize to Trump and comments Gianni Infantino has made about the president.
December 9, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
stopfundinghate.bsky.social
Today's GB News TV advertisers include *PureCremation *MajesticWine *CelebrationOfLifeCremations *Sky *Lebara *SunLifeUK *AllClearTravel *ReclaimNation *TonicSurgery *HousingUnits *SelectSpecs *PolishTourismOrganisation *HafrenFurnishers *CandlelightUK *Boxt www.thenational.scot/news/2478417...
GB News is an 'anti-Muslim hate channel', two-year study into output concludes
GB News “accounted for almost 50 per cent of all mentions of Muslims or Islam on UK news channels” in a two-year period, a study has found ...
www.thenational.scot
December 9, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
roberthutton.co.uk
Do even Tories think that Brexit was a disaster? My SKETCH of a surprising admission from Kemi Badenoch.
thecritic.co.uk/regr...
There was, Badenoch went on, quoting Adam Smith, “a lot of ruin in a nation”. Britain could take the blows it was receiving. “For all that is going wrong now, and let’s be honest has gone wrong in the past, nations can absorb shocks,” she said. “The financial crisis, Brexit, Covid. Countries with strong institutions and productive people do not collapse overnight. Even foolish policies take time to do real, lasting damage.” Sorry, just go back a second there, Kemi. Those economic shocks you listed, the things that had gone wrong, what were they? The financial crisis, yes, Covid, yes, what was the other one?
December 9, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
davidheniguk.bsky.social
What we have never seen in the UK-EU relationship is the two sides treating this as a normal negotiation working with stakeholders on both sides to identify mutual benefits. That wasn't possible with previous UK governments - it is now, and time both sides updated their playbook accordingly.
December 9, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
nick-pettigrew.bsky.social
Isn't it the weirdest thing that he and his mob will never say this in court under oath and that the information proving their allegations is always due really soon but just not right now?
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d
Trump: "It was a rigged election. It's gonna come out over the next couple months too, loud and clear. Because we have all the information."
December 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
ottoenglish.bsky.social
Lovely tribute to The Lady Killers but what's striking is how much better almost everything looks today.

www.bfi.org.uk/features/70-...
70 years of The Ladykillers: how the locations look today
As the classic Ealing comedy turns 70, we went walking around King’s Cross to see whether Alec Guinness and his motley band of robbers would recognise it today.
www.bfi.org.uk
December 9, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
london.gov.uk
Once more for the haters...
London is #1 graphic.
December 9, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
coldwarsteve.bsky.social
Merry MAGA Christmas - High Resolution Download. £1 with whole amount going to Refugee Action Charity
👇👇👇
we.tl/p-R0X1uM5obu
December 9, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
sarahoconnorft.ft.com
Sure, we're the weak and decaying ones...
December 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
dailyherald.bsky.social
Hi Andrew Pierce, remember this article about Nigel Farage?
December 9, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Vernon Baseley
roberthutton.co.uk
Today's customs union vote is entirely symbolic, it's true. But what does it symbolise that no one is now arguing *for* Brexit?

thecritic.co.uk/regr...
The answer might seem obvious. To much of the country it is obvious: Brexit is an unpopular disaster. But those whose memories stretch back to the beginning of the decade will recall that politicians who muttered even in the privacy of their hearts that trade barriers might harm the economy found themselves denounced in newspapers. Here was a Conservative leader saying it. Oh Daily Mail, who now are the enemies of the people? Oh Telegraph, where is thy “Mutineers” front page? As it happened, the Liberal Democrats had a vote down on Tuesday afternoon calling for a customs union with the EU. It was a bit of procedure, binding no one to anything, so it didn’t matter, but it was notable that the Tory benches were empty, just 21 of them there. No Mark Francois, no Iain Duncan Smith. Who would speak for Brexit?
December 9, 2025 at 6:11 PM