Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Will Hazell

@whazell.bsky.social

1.1K followers 79 following 67 posts

Whitehall Correspondent @ the i inewspaper. Story? [email protected]

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 13h

The collapse of a case involving two men accused of spying for China is a “mess” which is “damaging” to Keir Starmer, an ex-head of MI6 has said.

Sir Richard Dearlove told @theipaper.com that if the Govt had “caved” to Chinese pressure then it was “absolutely outrageous” inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Former head of MI6: Starmer is damaged by spy trial row - China is a threat to UK

Sir Richard Dearlove, who led MI6 between 1999 and 2004, told The i Paper that China was indisputably a national security threat

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 1d

Jenrick is on his best behaviour in Manchester. But Tory insiders think he is playing a long game, knowing that any explicit show of disloyalty could fatally damage his reputation among the membership inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Jenrick is a picture of loyalty. But Tory insiders insist Badenoch should be worried

The shadow Justice Secretary is a popular draw amid the struggles of the party leader

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 3d

House sellers will be forced to disclose problems with their homes before sale under plans by the Government to cut costs for buyers and speed up purchases inews.co.uk/news/politic...

House sellers will be forced to list problems with their homes before sale

The Government wants to speed up sales and cut costs of house buyers

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 3d

The Home Office is looking at introducing outright bans on protests which risk intimidating minorities or threaten serious disruption, @theipaper.com understands inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Home Office could outright ban protests that risk ‘intimidation’ or ‘serious disruption’

The Home Secretary is considering giving police new powers to ban protests

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 4d

As Kemi Badenoch prepares for the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Tory MPs have warned she is “in the last chance saloon”.

Here’s our @theipaper.com weekend long read inews.co.uk/news/politic...

‘It’s f**king serious’: Badenoch's last chance as Jenrick coronation threat looms

Some Tories preparing for their conference are contemplating 'amalgamation' with Reform UK after a series of dire poll ratings

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 24d

Exclusive @theipaper.com: Sir Ed Davey has been told to raise his game by Liberal Democrat MPs amid growing concerns that the party is failing to cut through with the public inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Ed Davey told by his MPs to raise game and drop ‘bullsh*t stunts’

Dissatisfaction has been fuelled by a feeling that the party have not received the media attention that many MPs expected after their election performance

Reposted by Will Hazell

The i Paper @theipaper.com · Aug 5

Some Labour MPs have backed proposals to tax private healthcare, but the industry has hit back

🔴 @whazell.bsky.social reports trib.al/xIjDnqF

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · Jul 25

EXCLUSIVE: Tory to Reform switcher David Jones has told
@theipaper.com he is talking to current Conservative MPs who are thinking about defecting too inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Reform defector says senior Tories want to join him - in blow for Badenoch

Nigel Farage is bolstering his party with defections - but it's a strategy not without risks

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · Jul 25

Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out granting a Bank Holiday if the Lionesses win the Euros in Switzerland on Sunday, @theipaper.com understands inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Starmer rules out bank holiday if Lionesses win Euros

The England women's team is likely to get an open-top bus parade through central London instead if they triumph against Spain

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · Jul 19

Our latest @theipaper.com weekend long read is on the fallout from Starmer’s strike against Labour rebels and the apparent refusal of the UK economy to play ball with Reeves’ growth plans inews.co.uk/news/politic...

‘We’re told to eat s**t’: Resentment builds on Labour benches as economy stalls

Fears among MPs of a slide towards populist authoritarianism unless living standards are raised and backbenchers say they're treated like 'robots'

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · Jul 12

Labour MPs knew a VIP was imminent in Parliament’s old smoking room because when they turned up Mini Cheddars had been left out in advance.

Sure enough, the PM arrived to schmooze them.

Our @theipaper.com long read is on Starmer's bid to reset his troubled government inews.co.uk/news/politic...

‘Ministers are f**king sh*t’: Inside divided Labour as MPs prepare to rebel again

Starmer's on a charm offensive. But his rank and file think No 10's 'a mess' and are contemptuous of their frontbench colleagues

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · Jun 23

My latest @theipaper.com read is on Putin’s “shadow fleet” of sanction-dodging oil tankers.

Is the fleet being used for sabotage and hybrid warfare operations?

How can it be stopped?

And could it trigger a clash between Russia & NATO? inews.co.uk/news/politic...

How Putin's shadow fleet of ageing oil tankers could trigger a war with Nato

The foreign ships Russia uses to evade sanctions on oil exports are already suspected of sabotage. Now it is feared they could spark a major conflict

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · Jun 20

Exclusive: One of the frontrunners to be the next Chancellor of Cambridge has said he fears Reform could launch a Trump-style assault on UK universities.

Lord Chris Smith, Blair's first culture secretary, said: “Populism is always driven by a wish to kick the elite" inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Reform 'could launch a Trump-style assault on UK universities'

Labour peer Chris Smith, one of the favourites in the contest to be chancellor of Cambridge University, talks to The iPaper about Farage's threats, tuition fees and free speech

Reposted by Will Hazell

Robert Shrimsley @robertshrimsley.bsky.social · Jun 2

Everything you need to know about the British voting public

Reposted by Will Hazell

Oleksandr Shepotylo @shepotylo.bsky.social · May 30

It is certainly positive news for UK universities. The question is still how substantial it is going to be

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · May 30

Could Trump's decision to go to war with US universities inadvertently save the UK's cash-strapped higher education sector?

UK uni sources have told me they are already seeing foreign students who had intended to go to the US coming here instead inews.co.uk/news/politic...

My @theipaper.com read:

Trump's 'act of self-harm' could accidentally save UK universities

The US President’s clampdown on foreign students could rescue British universities facing tighter restrictions on their own overseas recruits

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · May 30

Could Trump's decision to go to war with US universities inadvertently save the UK's cash-strapped higher education sector?

UK uni sources have told me they are already seeing foreign students who had intended to go to the US coming here instead inews.co.uk/news/politic...

My @theipaper.com read:

Trump's 'act of self-harm' could accidentally save UK universities

The US President’s clampdown on foreign students could rescue British universities facing tighter restrictions on their own overseas recruits

Reposted by Will Hazell

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · May 28

The case for using "global majority" by institutions should be rejected unless + until it can be shown
- most people understand what it means (most don't)
- most people it is about would like it used (most don't)

I find it a deeply incoherent fiction + a highly regressive term in some many ways

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · May 27

Nigel Farage’s plan to slash tax and increase benefits would cause a market shock up to twice the size of Liz Truss’s mini-budget, independent economists have told @theipaper.com inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Farage's policies would risk Truss-style mini-Budget market chaos, economists warn

Independent economists predict that Farage's policies could cause a market shock up to twice the size of the former PM's mini-Budget

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · May 25

Can Nigel Farage really become PM? I took a look for @theipaper.com at what he’d need to poll, target seats, what Reform has to do over the next 3-4 years, as well as the obstacles (including his proximity to Trump and tactical voting) inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Can Farage really become PM? Why electoral chaos could mean power for Reform

Reform's big poll lead suggests first past the post may flip to work to the party's advantage. But many obstacles still lie in the way

Reposted by Will Hazell

Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · May 25

It's worth emphasising the existential problem for the Tories right now - they no longer lead among older Britons, in the South of England or among the middle classes, while holding a 17pt deficit among Leave voters. Their islands of strength are gone and they're becoming a party for nobody.

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · May 24

Excellent thread. The extent to which explicit racism, antisemitism etc has become ubiquitous on social media (I see it most on X but that’s one of the main platforms I use) is shocking and horrific.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · May 24

"Katwala's paradox of racism"

In a demonstrably less prejudiced society (attitudes shifted, esp across generations), I am in receipt of much more racism

Minorities in 2020s have more equal opps than ever before - esp at very top - yet an increasingly unequal experience of more equal opportunities

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · May 16

Rachel Reeves is pinning her hopes on planning reforms unlocking extra fiscal headroom to avoid raising taxes again this year, @theipaper.com understands inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Treasury has 'things up sleeve' in desperate bid to avoid tax hikes

Labour insider says changes to planning system among possible measures to buy extra headroom for the Budget

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · May 12

Starmer pointedly didn't mention Reform in his immigration speech & the White Paper has been in the works for months, but Farage's rise is of course the context to all this.

I took a look here at whether Reform could take Wales next year inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Labour in fight of its life as Reform sets sights on running Wales

Nigel Farage hopes winning Wales next year will be a springboard to No 10 - but can he really win it?

Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · May 6

Well worth a read

Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · May 6

Britain Isn't Working: Understanding the Rise of Reform.

The first in a three-part series looking at why people are seeking an alternative, any alternative, to the failing status-quo.

www.edrith.co.uk/p/britain-is...