It's the pauses that make this. Absolutely captures less experienced local activists speaking in the hall at party conference, for what they hope will be the first time of many, but will truthfully be the first and last for obvious reasons. Back when I used to have to go to the things.

Michael Fry@bigdirtyfry.bsky.social · last wk.

Live from DUP HQ

Piddington, you reap what you sow

Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 6d ago

‘Danny Tommo’, leader of the balaclava-clad blackshirt rallies, says he will travel to Piddington “in the coming days” following the Parish Council’s stunt referendum: “I want to hear about safety concerns for their women and children.” Tommo was jailed for two years in 2016 for a knifepoint kidnap.

90 years ago, Parliament responded to the rise of Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts by passing the Public Order Act, which banned political uniforms, private militias and the threat of force for political objects. The debates make very resonant reading today. Here's the Liberal Robert Bernays. (Short 🧵)

Shameful and saddening from Simon Schama. What is happening in Gaza is not the Holocaust. But it *is* genocidal, perpetrated by an explicitly and openly genocidal government, and he knows that. This denialism demeans him and his record as a great historian. www.jewishnews.co.uk/simon-schama...

Simon Schama: Anybody accusing Israel of committing genocide should be ashamed - Jewish News

In speech at HET appeal dinner, the historian and professor says 'We, the victims of the greatest genocide the world has ever seen, are being called perpetrators of genocide'

jewishnews.co.uk

On paper I think binning off token consultations is exactly right. I've responded to enough over the years. But government has no culture of earlier, participatory engagement to shape policy. Still less does it have expertise in it. So... brace for a ton of avoidable policy blunders, I guess.

Richard Hebditch@richard.hebditch.org · 2w ago

Chancellor & First Sec of State letter: "We will end this [consultation culture] trend by reasserting that there is no general duty of consultation, and that the default position should be that ministers reach decisions and proceed to act on them." www.gov.uk/government/p...

I can’t *believe* we had to, still have to, listen to all that talk about how competent and ruthless Shabana Mahmood is, and then we get a day like today and we don’t have a Home Secretary

The true face of Reform: violent, hateful, thuggish, criminal.

Dave Vetter@davidrvetter.bsky.social · 3w ago

Content warning: Multiple men violently assault a female protester at Reform's conference at the Birmingham NEC, to the visible delight of Nigel Farage.

It's craven, it's politically stupid, and it's morally wrong. Number 10 does not struggle to get Andy Burnham in front of a camera when it wants him to be there. Every minute he's not on show over this is the result of a deliberate decision.

Jonn Elledge@jonnelledge.bsky.social · 2w ago

I simply do not understand what's going on in Labour that renders its leaders incapable of finding a TV camera and speaking out against street violence. Even if you assume they agree about immigration, violence is wrong, unpopular AND against the interests of any even vaguely left wing govt.

A paramilitary blockade of a British port requires a televised address to the nation tonight, detailing the emergency measures that have been taken @andyburnham.bsky.social

A paramilitary blockade of a British port requires a televised address to the nation tonight, detailing the emergency measures that have been taken @andyburnham.bsky.social

"Zip merging"? Seriously?? BBC News describes completely standard merge-in-turn, exactly how it's supposed to operate, as some sort of transgressive innovation. I can't decide if it's a worse reflection on BBC News or contemporary driving standards. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What is 'zip-merging' on a motorway and when should you do it?

How should motorists in the UK merge lanes to ensure safe and smooth driving conditions?

bbc.co.uk

I wonder if all the people at the BBC will regret what they've done if and when Reform UK throws them all on the dole. Maybe not. 🤷‍♂️

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · last mo.

BBC website leading with small boats I see, despite numbers down 43%. Just unacceptable.

I'm impressed the figure is that low. Would be interesting to see change over time - from working on the issue in the voluntary sector, I suspect it was higher 10-15 years ago.

Miranda Green@greenmirandahere.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Kings Fund - 33% of the public believe in error that social care is free at the point of use

Azumas at Bedford is quite exciting, but bizarrely Bedford-Newcastle will be quicker and easier than normal throughout this weekend, as rail replacement buses will be running direct between Bedford and Peterborough. Using one of them will be slightly quicker (on paper) than the direct train.

Modern Railways@modernrailways.keypublishing.com · 2mo ago

FREE: LNER diverts trains to Bedford during ECDP works in new trial: www.modernrailways.com/article/lner...

I actually think this is quite revealing. In areas that have become heavily car-dependent and public transport has gone down a death spiral, buses are seen as either irredeeemably low status, or (perhaps increasingly?) a big city / metropolitan liberal elite mode. It's a huge challenge.

Dan Kaszeta FRHistS@dankaszeta.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Buses, famously for the richer classes and upper orders.

This speaks, indirectly, to something I've wondered for a while: how independent of DfT will GBR be once it exists as a statutory body in its own right? On its first day as a statutory org, the NHS Commissioning Board re-branded itself NHS England. Will GBR also reset its external presentation?

Thomas Ableman@freewheeling.info · 3mo ago

I feel sorry for the future CEO of GBR - there are crucial decisions already being made that will make a fundamental difference to their chances of success. One of the most important decisions already being made (or not being made!) is brand strategy. This is why it's so crucial.

Sad to hear this. I remember Prof Hatcher's lectures being much more entertaining and engaging than I ever expected economic history to be, and also his excitement as Arsenal clinched the title in 2002.

Cambridge University History Faculty@camhistory.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We are very sad to announce the death of Professor John Hatcher, Emeritus Professor of Economic and Social History and Life Fellow of @corpuscambridge.bsky.social (7 January 1942 - 13 June 2026). Colleagues and former students pay tribute to a brilliant scholar: www.hist.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...

In other words - our body politic retains an admirably efficient discharge system, it is the diet which is at fault.

The Empty City@davidallengreen.bsky.social · 3mo ago

NEW at the Empty City Getting rid of 6 Prime Ministers in 10 years is a sign of a working political system It is that we keep appointing poor Prime Ministers that is the problem, not that we are deft at getting rid of them: an input issue not an output issue emptycity.substack.com/p/getting-ri...

Unpopular opinion, but today is a great illustration of the British Constitution working well. Having appointed a Prime Minister who turned out not to be able to lead a Government or a country, our flexible system found a way to replace him with someone who can. The system working as it should.

Catastrophic fails from both BBC and Sky News. Sky perhaps have the fig leaf that they're not specifying what post he's resigned from, but the BBC's completely false report that Starmer has resigned as Prime Minister will fuel misinformation and yet more ill feeling towards politicians.

This is really glib. For starters, FPTP elects the legislature, but the resignations have been as head of the executive. Bar May, all those PMs had majorities. But sure, the problem is the electoral system...

Lewis Baston@lewisbaston.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Seven resignation speeches in just (two days) under ten years. Stability, that’s the thing about First Past the Post…

I've remarked in conversation recently that I worry we could be getting an Asquith when we need a Lloyd George. Reminded of that by today's news.

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Andy Burnham is sounding more and more like Starmer 2.0 - which increases the chances that 81 MPs will decide in the end to back a death or glory leadership challenge. Today's note:

Ban X (Twitter) X has continuously been used by foreign state actors to incite violence throughout the UK. We cannot allow this to continue. Sign the petition: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/77...

Support Isaac Marovitz’s petition - Petitions

Find, sign or create petitions calling for the UK Parliament or UK Government to act

petition.parliament.uk

The argument for the BBC appears to be that we need a hypothetical BBC to protect against the risk of getting the kind of media which the BBC actually is

Alan Lester@alanlester.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The BBC 10 o’clock news says the right wing idea of ethnic minorities being given preferential treatment in criminal justice is likely to become a “growing fault line in our politics” WITHOUT POINTING OUT THAT IT IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE. What’s the point of the news if it doesn’t correct disinformation?

I think this can be stated even more strongly. Our 2-party parliamentary (and latterly democratic) system was the product of 'broadcast' media in the broadest sense: first the printing press, then over the airwaves. Atomised digital media create a profoundly different political environment.

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Indeed. I think it's hugely underrated that broadly speaking, the era of democracy is the era of radio and television, and of shared cultural references and understanding. Becoming a billion tiny villages talking past each other about curated news and niche shows is not good!

As a treat this morning I got to go to East Midlands Railway's event to launch their refurbished class 360s; looking forward to the refurb rolling out across the whole fleet, as they will offer the most pleasant ride from Bedford to London that's been available since I moved here over a decade ago.

The wildest part of this is that the widow successfully gave the model railway collection away to attendees at the event. I bet she did: that stuff notoriously costs cash money and would have fetched a tidy sum if sold. The really stupid bit was thinking it had no value and needed to be given away!

Ian Kikuchi@curatorian.bsky.social · 4mo ago

This story, insofar as it deals with the National Railway Museum, is utterly absurd. If you rock up to a museum event expecting to dump a load of stuff on the staff, and are then surprised to be politely refused, then you clearly have no idea what museums are for. www.cityam.com/a-state-of-t...

Oh is it 2019 again?