@simonpease.bsky.social @lostindisco.bsky.social
Not unreasonable now to say that the world is at war. Perhaps it always will be but peacemakers should try again to establish a rule based order that might limit conflict. PM is right to oppose regime change by bombardment. We all should.
So, Johnson, Farage, Badenoch, the Telegraph… howl about the UK being “an irrelevance on the world stage”.
Remind me again who decided to isolate us with a strategically and economically idiotic Brexit, relying on a trade deal with the US to save us from exactly the kind of weakness they now bemoan.
Cloudless, calm and cool
7th March 2026 06.44
Wise words from Lord Ricketts on BBC R4 just now. No “preemptive” justification for this military action. Huge uncertainty about what happens next; frightening, deeply disturbing.
Technology changes faster than we can keep up but human nature doesn’t change at all.
All donations to political parties should be strictly limited. Wealthy donors ‘expect something in return’, Sir John Major, One Nation Oration, Westminster Abbey. Can’t remember the date off hand
People who speak like this under oath to our elected Representatives in the People’s House should face actual legal & professional consequences
![That which is for me through the medium of money - that for which I can pay (i.e., which money can buy) - that am I myself, the possessor of the money. The extent of the power of money is the extent of my power. Money's properties are my - the possessor's - properties and essential powers. Thus, what I am and am capable of is by no means determined by my individuality. I am ugly, but I can buy for myself the most beautiful of women. Therefore I am not ugly, for the effect of ugliness - its deterrent power - is nullified by money. I, according to my individual characteristics, am lame, but money furnishes me with twenty-four feet. Therefore I am not lame. I am bad, dishonest, unscrupulous, stupid; but money is honoured, and hence its possessor. Money is the supreme good, therefore its possessor is good. Money, besides, saves me the trouble of being dishonest: I am therefore presumed honest. I am brainless, but money is the real brain of all things and how then should its possessor be brainless? Besides, he can buy clever people for himself, and is he who has [In the manuscript: "is. - Ed.] power over the clever not more clever than the clever? Do not I, who thanks to money am capable of all that the human heart longs for, possess all human capacities? Does not my money, therefore, transform all my incapacities into their contrary?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:givg3amslsq46o3f25ga5esh/bafkreig4odpf2rmnmzzaiw45dbmsiiltel6wiv4sv32o7ojwdz3vpuf34q)
That which is for me through the medium of money - that for which I can pay (i.e., which money can buy) - that am I myself, the possessor of the money. The extent of the power of money is the extent of my power. Money's properties are my - the possessor's - properties and essential powers. Thus, what I am and am capable of is by no means determined by my individuality. I am ugly, but I can buy for myself the most beautiful of women. Therefore I am not ugly, for the effect of ugliness - its deterrent power - is nullified by money. I, according to my individual characteristics, am lame, but money furnishes me with twenty-four feet. Therefore I am not lame. I am bad, dishonest, unscrupulous, stupid; but money is honoured, and hence its possessor. Money is the supreme good, therefore its possessor is good. Money, besides, saves me the trouble of being dishonest: I am therefore presumed honest. I am brainless, but money is the real brain of all things and how then should its possessor be brainless? Besides, he can buy clever people for himself, and is he who has [In the manuscript: "is. - Ed.] power over the clever not more clever than the clever? Do not I, who thanks to money am capable of all that the human heart longs for, possess all human capacities? Does not my money, therefore, transform all my incapacities into their contrary?
A bit long but here’s Marx from the 1844 manuscripts providing an exposition of Goethe and Shakespeare on the power of money that all happens to sum up exactly where we are right now. (Reminded of this passage by Epstein’s capture of prominent academics.)
MSM should stick to reporting facts and refrain from expressing opinion. The current right wing ‘pile on’ is undignified and unhelpful.
There is a systematic problem in the UK’s majoritarian political system. Parties and factions within have lost the ability to build consensus.
"In eight years we’ll be commemorating the 200-year anniversary of the fire that burned down parliament. And MPs will probably still be arguing about how to prevent it burning down again."
Some personal thoughts on the plans for the restoration of parliament
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
What would be wrong with a PM speaking on behalf of a Cabinet that had considered options presented by an elite and trusted civil service and reached consensus on the best possible option for addressing an issue?
Whoever becomes PM next, she or he will be destroyed in a matter of weeks. That is how corrosive the majoritarian political party system has become in the UK. We need to think carefully about the system as a whole (our constitution) not just so-called charismatic leaders.
We have seen several in our area of Somerset; working hard and doing a great job.
This. I'm not a BBC-basher but IMO Mason is a poor political journalist. It's not that he's 'biased' per se, it's that he reports politics as a kind of giggly spectator sport and as such is preoccupied with spectacle, talking up 'exciting' events rather than analysing them. 1/2
Full EU membership should be put to the public at the next election. It's time to return home.
inews.co.uk/opinion/rejo...
New - Nigel Farage has been found by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to have made 17 standards breaches, adding up to over £380,000 in late declarations.
He’s apologised, so no further investigation (which seems unusual for a breach this large)
NEW: NEW: Standards commissioner finds Nigel Farage committed seventeen breaches of MPs code of conduct.
He failed to declare £333,000 in outside interests (more than 3x MPs annual salary)…
It would be quite amusing if Farage now said 'nope, we don't want him either'
Rothkoesque 👏
open.substack.com/pub/emptycit...
Important food for thought.
ECHR reform: a danger of contagion in relation to Article 3 constitution-unit.com/2025/12/09/e...
NEW BLOG: ECHR reform: a danger of contagion in relation to Article 3
@profveronika.bsky.social argues that the ECHR is at a tipping point, and urges the Starmer government not to seek a reinterpretation of Article 3, a policy that she views as undermining the very core of the human rights system.
🔴Crypto Investor Donates £9 Million to Reform UK After Nigel Farage Plugs His Company and Tells Industry ‘I Am Your Champion’
The Reform leader recently used media interviews to back Christopher Harborne’s company while promising to cut taxes and regulations on crypto firms
As Sir John Major said, funding of political parties needs to be thought about carefully. Rich donors “expect something in return”. The current system is wide open to corruption.
The super-rich rightwing are pouring money into Reform. Do ordinary voters really think their aim is to even out social inequality and make their lives better? Do they think they’re doing it so Farage invests in infrastructure and public services? Ffs. Democracy being beaten to death in plain sight.
Mason does a lot of bleating, innuendo, sowing seeds of doubt to increase contention and scandalous rumour mongering. Should stick to facts.
What a wonderful story - and a beautiful illustration of the power of the arts.
Great writing expands our imagination. It helps us to see the world in new ways.
And that has consequences that can never be measured by "average starting salaries" or "contribution to GDP".
EXCL: The UK is hoping to secure an agreement within weeks to rejoin the EU’s flagship student mobility programme, as part of a drive to pursue closer relations with Brussels after a setback on defence @ecourea.bsky.social & @kiranstacey.bsky.social report www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Absolutely right, all parties do it, short term tactics to gain/retain power. It is a function of the UK’s majoritarian political system which needs structural and cultural change. See:
francisbebbington.wordpress.com
Constitutionalism in Britain
