Ian Wiggins
@itswiggins.bsky.social
International Affairs for The Royal Society. Science Diplomacy via a bit of both science and diplomacy at the Foreign Office and then Uni of York. Also Chair of Trustees for Excel Learning Trust. (He/Him)
I’d not been following the test today, thought this was ironic. Checked score. Died a little inside.
Duncan Weldon@duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2mo agoMy tactical advice to the England team at the moment is that they should consider taking a wicket. Or ideally, multiple wickets.
Only one possible song for today, being as we are like seven inches from the midday sun
Pretty sure Yorkshire had some views the last time Lancashire became a centre of political power for the UK
George Parker@georgewparker.bsky.social · 2mo agoas.ft.com/r/04eaab0f-3... Andy Burnham looking to create new “No10 in the North” in Manchester as part of radical devolution drive
Have just finished ‘Blood and Treasure’ by @duncanweldon.bsky.social which was excellent. And have just started on ‘The Coming Storm’ by Odd Arne Westad… so I’m doing just fine thanks for asking.
Hats off to @politico.com London playbook for their The Day Today reference this morning.
Chris Morris Says YES! on The Day Today
Alt: Chris Morris Says YES! on The Day Today
static.klipy.com
I find myself this morning thinking a lot about Prophet Song by Paul Lynch which is an excellent and terrifying novel about how yes this can in fact happen here. Between flags and riots, it feels like we’re currently living some of the early chapters.
This is no more about the details of immigration policy than the progroms my great great grandparents fled were about Jews committing crimes. It's straightforward racist violence and it needs the strongest possible response.
Everyone on X and elsewhere who called for a violent response should be charged with incitement. Everyone involved in the pogrom should be locked up with exemplary sentences. Govt should make it clear that will be the response in future anywhere else. Enough.
The racism we're seeing across the right today is vile and dangerous but it's also a sign of desperation. Three parties all fighting over the votes of aging authoritarians.
As ever @stephenkb.bsky.social gets to the actual issue, past the noise. Well worth reading www.ft.com/content/aa94...
What Henry Nowak’s murder does — and does not — tell us about policing
Kemi Badenoch says his killing needs to be seen as a ‘Stephen Lawrence moment’ but the failures in both cases differ
ft.com
When I lived in Moscow it was fairly common knowledge that the police would rent out radar guns from more senior officers so that they could in turn extract fines from motorists. So these developments feel somewhat unsurprising…
George Pearkes@peark.es · 3mo agoDire scenes h/t @leftoutside.bsky.social www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/ukra...
This piece by @stephenkb.bsky.social and the one @robertshrimsley.bsky.social are vital reads this morning. I’ll link to both below. As others have said, it is time to Make Racists Embarrassed Again
Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 3mo agoCore argument
This is really important. There's a tendency to conflate 'free speech' with 'uncurated speech' but they're different. Social signalling is how we avoid having to criminalise and enforce many difficult to define but terrible behaviours. The choices reputable institutions make shape that signal.
Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 3mo agoCore argument
How BBC Radio York covered York City's title-winning equaliser.
What. A finish. Rochdale score 90+5. York equalises 90+13!!! The BBC Radio York commentary is just a joy to listen to
Jim Waterson@jim.londoncentric.media · 4mo agoI’m done. cooked. Over.
Two very important games going on right now for my original hometown and my adopted one
There was a non-zero chance yesterday that the US president was thinking about using nuclear weapons. The most optimistic interpretation was that he was planning the catastrophic destruction of civilian infrastructure. Diplomacy seems like the sensible approach in that situation.
This is an excellent summation of what was an impossibly mad 24 hours.
Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR)@hcrichardson.bsky.social · 4mo agoApril 7, 2026
The events of the last few hours, written down in one place, by the great chronicler of the US @hcrichardson.bsky.social
Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR)@hcrichardson.bsky.social · 4mo agoApril 7, 2026
I feel like I’m a fairly seasoned (and therefore jaded) Trump watcher, including time up close in DC. But this latest post is a new level of shocking and horrifying.
Trump may not carry out the threat. But the fact he even made such a threat means he should immediately be removed from office. For that is the purpose of a constitution with checks and balances.
Top tip: setting this as your desktop wallpaper and staring at it for a while can tune out the news for at least a few mins.
![Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater has terraced edges and a flat floor interrupted by central peaks. Central peaks form in complex craters when the lunar surface, liquefied on impact, splashes upwards during the crater’s formation.
[alt text from NASA]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dy2tywitrnssyuqnricgp4i6/bafkreiaycbaia7unyvzbnm4dbfazncoezghbph4czs2wvc6qpdj3abiday)
This is the ultimate test for a constitutional order. Either constitutional mechanisms are used to check and balance this, and remove him from office, or they are not. For there can be no greater test for any constitution.
Reid Wiseman on #Artemis II: "We have Earth out window 4 and Moon out window 3... the Moon is about 3-4 times the size of the Earth and it is almost full, and the Earth is just a small crescent out there... it's magnificent... such a majestic view out here" Mission Control: "Amaze, amaze, amaze!"
This also sums up a lot of how I’ve been feeling this weekend. It really does set an edge to the phenomenal achievements of Artemis
Katie Mack@astrokatie.com · 4mo agoDuring this incredible, unifying moment of inspiring international cooperation and spectacular technological achievement, I would really appreciate it if the US president would stop threatening to murder an entire country with bombs.
This is an excellent thread from a prof who I wouldn’t say is know for hyperbole. For @profsaunders.bsky.social to say “terrified” is, well, a bit terrifying tbh
Elizabeth N. Saunders@profsaunders.bsky.social · 4mo agoDon't think I've ever been as terrified in all the Trump security crises. As @pkrugman.bsky.social said, "It’s the most astonishing, awful thing that I’ve ever seen, and we’ve all seen a lot of awful things." Mainly as cope, and to teach it, I keep asking why. 1/ open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...