What A Circle With 5,000km Radius Centred On Paris Looks Like On A Mercator Map brilliantmaps.com/5000km-ra...
Jamie Gaskarth
@jamiegaskarth.bsky.social
Prof, Foreign Policy and IR, OU. Writes on British defence, intel and foreign policy. Associate Fellow, Chatham House. Views my own.
Chilling piece by @helenwarrell.bsky.social & @christopherjm.ft.com on how teenagers are being recruited by hostile states. ‘the states view the teens they employ as disposable. There is little risk for them if the operations fail, and only upside if they succeed.’ www.ft.com/content/58da...
The teenagers enlisted as agents of mayhem by Russia and Iran
Minors are being targeted to carry out hostile acts from Ukraine to western Europe and Israel
ft.com
We'll see more and more of this, a gig economy of assassins and saboteur...
Lizzie Dearden@lizziedearden.bsky.social · last wk.The person who wrote this was an 18-year-old boy planning an assassination for the Foxtrot network, a Swedish OCG that acts as an Iranian proxy He was one of several teenagers hired as contract killers by Foxtrot, including one caught in the UK Full story here (🎁): inews.co.uk/news/teenage...
One of the most fascinating posts I've read on AI recently...worth a look.
Garrett M. Graff@vermontgmg.bsky.social · last wk.The OpenAI/Hugging Face incident is worthy of your time—it's an important warning sign about the weird moment we're in with AI, with a side order of US-China rivalry. Most of all, though, it's a reminder that AI is a story about humans, not technology. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/welcome-to...
British commanders are still trained to prize the flash of intuitive brilliance. In an age of AI and autonomous systems, that instinct may prove actively regressive. The age of the genius general is over | @edstringer.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-a...
The age of the genius general is over
British commanders are still trained to prize the flash of intuitive brilliance. In an age of AI and autonomous systems, that instinct may prove actively regressive.
engelsbergideas.com
"British strategic defence reviews: The jellyfish model of policymaking" by @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social, Maeve Ryan & @anglo-japan45.bsky.social 🔗 buff.ly/oBPiZGd @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social
British strategic defence reviews: The jellyfish model of policymaking - Jamie Gaskarth, Maeve Ryan, William Reynolds, 2026
Britain’s strategic defence and security reviews are regularly characterised as failures. This article presents original empirical data from UK policymakers and...
buff.ly
Said it before, anyone arguing for an early election rather than to use one of the biggest parliamentary majorities in British history for the full term to get stuff done has no business being in politics.
Damin Toell Says Get Out
ALT: Damin Toell Says Get Out
static.klipy.com
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2w agoMy sense is they're thinking spring/summer next year *if* the polling is good enough.
I find it maddening how little the Labour government cares about higher education. I suspect it's the classic English disdain for anything intellectual. We need more Ministers from Wales, Ireland and Scotland in education posts.
Andrew McGettigan@amcgettigan.bsky.social · 2w agogovernment has responded to the Education Committee's report on insolvency. this is apparently the position on a university failing - Jacqui Smith is continuing as HE minister ...
RIP Kevin Keegan. The Newcastle side he built in the 90s was one of the most exciting ever assembled. Sadly my earliest football memory is him missing that header in 82, but he was one of the greats.
As the new Minister for the Cabinet Office, will @louisehaighmp.bsky.social reverse the decision to award the educational contract for the National School of Government (>£100m) without competition to KPMG & Ernst & Young? Not too late! @privateeyenews.bsky.social bidstats.uk/tenders/2026...
Centralised Civil Service Learning and Training Services [Award]
On 20 January 2026, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister announced that a new National School o... A Contract Award Notice by Cabinet Office. Value £114M-£266M.
bidstats.uk
As the new Minister for the Cabinet Office, will @louisehaighmp.bsky.social reverse the decision to award the educational contract for the National School of Government (>£100m) without competition to KPMG & Ernst & Young? Not too late! @privateeyenews.bsky.social bidstats.uk/tenders/2026...
Centralised Civil Service Learning and Training Services [Award]
On 20 January 2026, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister announced that a new National School o... A Contract Award Notice by Cabinet Office. Value £114M-£266M.
bidstats.uk
Phew. You'd rather be watching England or France than either of these two but at least the right team won tonight.
If you're a non-football fan wondering why that wasn't a goal...so is everyone else.
The 2026 3rd place play off is going in the vault of things that make me burst with patriotic pride, alongside the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, the Gloucestershirecheese rolling comp, and the 3 pin plug
What a game! That was silly and magnificent and everything the world cup should be about. To see all the French and English players in a huddle at the end was really touching. Doesn't matter who won when a game ends 6-4. Just enjoy it
The anti-English sentiment since yesterday is misplaced. Argentina are a very dirty team, borne of an abusive academy system, who behaved outrageously. England players campaigned to get kids free school meals. Good effort England and Viva Espana!
The key lesson Burnham should learn from Starmer's mission failure is: if you set out a priority, you need a designated individual to be responsible for delivery. www.politico.eu/article/andy...
Burnham suits up to battle the Whitehall blob — and neutralize Farage
The war on civil service consensus is deeply personal to Britain’s incoming prime minister — and aimed at seeing off right-wing populism.
politico.eu
When your brilliant PhD student @joeruffell.bsky.social gets an article accepted in a top journal....
Robert Redford as Jeremiah Johnson Nodding
ALT: Robert Redford as Jeremiah Johnson Nodding
static.klipy.com
The Odyssey! I have read, translated and compressed it into a handy half hour podcast for you. Here’s your quick guide on BBC Sounds. Infidelity and monsters aplenty… www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, Series 8, Homer: The Odyssey
Natalie retells Homer's epic story of homecoming, adventure and passion.
bbc.co.uk
UK is highly dependent on commercial and allies for space services. The UK armed forces seemingly only increase their reliance on space with this DIP and SDR. So more bold statements about the nature and consequences of that space setup would improve nature of debate, both in public and Whitehall.
Great piece...
UK in a Changing Europe@ukandeu.bsky.social · 4w ago"This lack of clarity is compounded by the gap between government commitments and the resources allocated to achieve them." 🪖 As the NATO summit kicks off in Ankara, William Reynolds unpacks some of the key issues with the UK’s Defence Investment Plan 🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/policy-versu...
Manchesterism begins with the recognition that global shocks are experienced locally. The manufacturing clusters of north-west England have felt the consequences of supply chain fragility more acutely than London.
Burnham should use a ‘Makerfield Test’ to ground UK foreign policy in real places
An international form of Andy Burnham’s ‘Manchesterism’ could strengthen UK foreign policy by making it inseparable from outcomes in UK regions.
chathamhouse.org
Wow. That was amazing by England. A team for the first time in the tournament. Ballsy substitutions by the manager too.
x1000. Too many UK politicos know nothing about their own political system and think in US terms with the PM as President. Some Labour loons are even calling for Burnham to have an election. Why would you when you've got 3 years of a massive majority?
Andrew Hickey@andrewhickey.500songs.com · last mo.People need to shut the fuck up about "mandates" generally. That's not how the system works. We live in a representative democracy and the Prime Minister is whoever can command the confidence of a majority of those representatives, who we vote for to make such judgements.
"...the head of UK Space Command has said British satellites are stalked and jammed weekly, and something up there follows something of ours around, and until recently the honest answer to what we do about it was watch and hope." ukdefencejournal.org.uk/the-lesson-f...
The lesson from Ukraine the Defence Plan left out
The Defence Investment Plan funds the drones but hesitates over the spine they depend on, writes Thomas Santini of Lodestar.
ukdefencejournal.org.uk