R Phelps
@greygosling.bsky.social
Stronger In lead volunteer Tooting. #Rejoin Donating to Ukraine since 2014. Blue Wall destruction enjoyer
Barry Eichengreen: Bottom line is that Washington, fearing the consequences for US financial markets, is reluctant to see foreign central banks use their dollar reserves. This is telling us that the dollar is not the attractive reserve currency it once was. www.ft.com/content/86db...
The real message in the yen intervention
The dollar’s status as a reserve currency is not what it used to be
ft.com
I have no idea what “Hard Right” means! We have established terms: Far Right, Extreme Right, Radical Right. Why invent a new one? Bizarre how UK journos have adopted a term that no-one else in the world uses or understands. Pathetic parochialism I guess 🤷♂️ www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
The events at Ceuta show how Europe’s hard right now set the tone on immigration
The narratives of the right are seeping into mainstream EU policy, and Spain finds itself increasingly isolated in its humanitarian stance on borders
theguardian.com
Btw those Antonov planes in Leipzig are the "Strategic Airlift International Solution" of alot of NATO and EU militaries because they lack any organic Strategic Airlift capacities... de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strateg...
In 2026, Kyiv is facing more ballistic missiles in a single night than it did during the entire year of 2024. I can't wrap my head around the hell we're being forced to endure. And there is still no light at the end of the tunnel.
Unless we do something, even if Putin loses we'll have given him a free hand to reduce Ukraine to ruins
Europe, inc the UK, continually put off serious investment in new artillery barrels, shells, armoured vehicles & air defence. It got lucky the war changed so the first 3 of those weren't needed & the Ukrainians invented drone interceptors, but Ukraine is defenceless against ballistic missiles now.
Pascal@pascallth.bsky.social · 16h agoRussia is carrying out massive waves of ballistic missile strikes, destroying more civilian infrastructure and driving up civilian deaths With Ukraine having no effective air defences left, we're all standing by and watching this catastrophe kyivindependent.com/russian-ball...
Rob hints at this but it’s worth reiterating that a major failure of the Starmer government was their inability to convey a consistent antiracist message or uphold norms. They confused anger about ‘the boats’ with generalised racism and since they couldn’t denounce the former they avoided the latter
Rob Ford@robfordmancs.bsky.social · yesterdayThis is what happens when anti-racism norms erode, and elites bear a lot of the responsibility for norm erosion, as they have disproportionate power to set and enforce norms
The micro bulletin on 6 Music leads with Farage followed by vox-pops with boomers saying the hot weather is glorious. Anyone defending this trash because it's the BBC is in love with their childhood.
@nathalietocci.bsky.social has an important point here: '"A stronger Europe in a stronger Nato”, is misleading. Yes, Europeans will become militarily stronger, but as the US partly disengages, Nato overall will weaken.'
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2d agoWith Russia at the door and the US backing away, Europe has to build its own ‘way of war’
‘The war leaked into every lesson’: learning Ukrainian in a country under siege
‘The war leaked into every lesson’: learning Ukrainian in a country under siege
The long read: Soon after my first visit to Ukraine four years ago, I began language lessons. It taught me more than I ever expected
theguardian.com
2,5 days passed, yet firefighters still struggle to put out a fire in the warehouses of Ukraine's publishing house Ranok and the bookstore Knygoland in Kharkiv. The russian army targeted them on August 1, burning 8M books, incl school textbooks — just weeks before the start of a new school year.
Binface getting 20% would be the most humiliating result ever and don't let anyone tell you/set expectations otherwise. 4x retention of his deposit!
Election Maps UK@electionmaps.uk · 2d agoClacton By-Election Voting Intention: ➡️ RFM: 73% (+27) 🗑️ CBF: 20% (New) 🟥 REC: 2% (New) ⚫ Others: 5% (-49) Via @survation.bsky.social, 16-24 Jul. Changes w/ GE2024.
Not for the faint-hearted, but excellent as ever
Simon Nixon@nixonsimon.bsky.social · 3d agoHow Europe lost the Battle of Ceuta; the four horsemen of the summer apocalypse; why Europe faces a climate sovereign doom loop; and why the Clacton by-election is not a joke - latest edition of Wealth of Nations just published open.substack.com/pub/nixons/p...
Vance, Farage and Weidel posted fear-mongering messages about a Spanish migrant crisis that weren't true. They haven't retracted them. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The Far Right Is Distorting Ceuta
We’ve seen this before.
theatlantic.com
Essential read, and act on it to improve the info friends and family get where you can.
Florian Neuhof@florianneuhof.bsky.social · 3d ago"European leaders have chosen to respond to an episode that raises profound questions about the security and stability of the continent not with solidarity and restraint, but with partisan politics that only underlines their fragmentation and weakness and gives succour to the pan-European far right"
@gabrielpogrund.bsky.social: ‘EXCLUSIVE Nigel Farage struck secret deal for return as Reform leader months before election — challenging claim he wasn't involved in politics so didn't need to report gifts. In May 24 he showed deal to treasurer, who tonight acknowledged its existence’
Nigel Farage struck Reform comeback deal long before election
Supervised by the convicted fraudster George Cottrell, the agreement undermines Farage’s claim about when he decided to return to politics
thetimes.com
me, being forced to exist in this moment in history
Useful summary by @luketryl.bsky.social Labour round 1 vote share -17 on Burnham re-elect May 2024 +23 on May 2026 locals (Labour 24, Reform 31) But also +5 on Labour in GE 2024 (43%) (Labour 43, Reform 17)
I think looking for a concrete decision maker in Morocco is wrong. The king is sick, frail and never was as omnipotent as Hassan before him. The next kid will be weaker still The lack of one dominating resource industry like oil also means the oligarchy is way more diffuse and vaguer
Must be nice to be part of an organisation with the power to set regulation in the face of global companies.
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 5d agoAI’s ‘cookie banner’ moment: EU labels come for the bots ft.trib.al/wH8l3vj
Spain get a great return from backing Morocco over illegally occupying Western Sahara.
Burnham Down The House@corncobanalysis.bsky.social · 5d agopeople learning about how evil Morocco is [first time buster scruggs meme dot jpg]
Within 24 hours, we're already seeing a massive reduction in illegal migrants in *Ceuta*, let alone in mainland Europe, where the running total remains 0 from this incident bsky.app/profile/jorg...
Jorge Liboreiro@jorgeliboreiro.bsky.social · 5d agoUpdate: over 37,500 people have already returned from Ceuta to Morocco, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry. This represents 75% of all arrivals. Death toll rises to 57.
We should stop talking of "Europe" and "Brussels" like its a monolith and see the concrete coalitions and networks of power. The EU is not an anthropomorphized entity but institutions filled with political actors
Mihnea@miyhnea.bsky.social · 5d agoThe EPP dominates the institutions of the EU in a de facto coalition with ECR. It has every desire to see PP in power and PSOE removed. Who are the people attacking Sanchez most? M - EPP. FI - EPP. PO - EPP
And the problem lower down is even more stark. Without getting into relitigating the 2010-16 government, the Tories came back to power because they had a crop of smart, youngish candidates who wanted to drag them back to electability. Those sorts of people aren't even *voting* Conservative now
Not enough attention has been paid to just how destructive Kemi Badenoch’s plan to withdraw from the ECHR would be. It wouldn’t just be internationally damaging but would have profound domestic consequences too. My latest open.substack.com/pub/nixons/p...
Looking forward to hearing more about this tomorrow from the PM. Tax sharing is a very substantial pro-growth reform that will help reverse one of the biggest mistake of the Thatcher era.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 6d agoBurnham to free mayors from ‘Treasury death grip’ with new devolved powers
Happy 6th month anniversary to the 3 day special military operation to denuclearize Iran to all those who celebrate!
