Hi all!
I’ll be running the Hackney Half Marathon in support of @RSPB to help fund their vital work protecting birds and wildlife across the UK.
If you would like to support this cause, please click here to donate: rspb.enthuse.com/pf/runwithbi.... Any contribution makes a difference.
Thank you!
London’s got a global viral video malaise www.londoncentric.media/p/london-cri...
Ah yes, the famous authoritarian coup of Ukraine in 2014 that occurred after...errr several years of democratic collapse and was followed by several years of improvement.
The untold story that is told constantly and isn’t really true
This is how you lead from the left
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...
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)…
The British government is preparing a bill that will give overarching powers to allow the U.K. to align with the EU over a wide suite of areas to give legal shape to their “reset” deal with the bloc.
Britain could have joined Erasmus five years ago; an agreement on funding was completed between negotiators but vetoed “at the very last minute” by Boris Johnson. From Stefaan de Rynck’s book
A notable step forward for UK-EU relations and a win for the UK’s pro-EU movement who have campaigned on the issue for some time.
For any interested folks in London tomorrow at 18:15, I so appreciate @govandopp.bsky.social's selection and invitation to give the Leonard Schapiro Memorial lecture this year: www.kcl.ac.uk/events/illib...
The levy on foreign students is an export tax. Has anyone in government wondered why countries don't usually impose export taxes?
It is crucial to understand that a tragic number of people dangerously believe that the word "freedom" means not the expansion of freedom for others, but the freedom for themselves to oppress others, to control others, and to force their beliefs on others.
My first piece is out now: I argue Reform are the natural conclusion of 80 years of regressive immigration politics in Britain
Check it out, subscribe, and let me know what you think 😄: mikebankole.substack.com/p/reform-uk-...
Reform often make their racism explicit, but racism isn’t just a Reform problem. From Jenrick’s complaints about a “lack of white faces” in Handsworth to Starmer’s “island of strangers” speech, racism is being mainstreamed across British politics
Me on @lbc.co.uk earlier
Anna Turley MP, Labour Party Chair, said: “It’s utterly grotesque that Tories want to deport people with the lawful right to be here to achieve ‘cultural coherence’. “This policy would mean tearing families apart and ripping out our neighbours from communities. “That’s Tory Party policy and shows how far the party has fallen. The Tories haven’t learned a thing.”
NEW: Labour condemn Tory plan to strip people of indefinite leave to remain:
“It’s utterly grotesque that Tories want to deport people with the lawful right to be here to achieve ‘cultural coherence’.
“This policy would mean tearing families apart and ripping out our neighbours from communities."
Speakers in conversation in lecture theatre
A great discussion and insightful analysis of the UK-EU Strategic Partnership at @jmce-kcl.bsky.social following a speech by Nick Thomas-Symonds from @pmdfoster.bsky.social @jannikewachowiak.bsky.social @jreland.bsky.social and @anandmenon.bsky.social
Those beads are people. Families. Friends. Neighbours. Children. Doctors and nurses. Teachers and carers. Millions of them.
FIFTEEN THOUSAND!! 🤯
Whether the causes are financial mismanagement by megalomanic administrators, declining number of students, or lacking state funding, it is clear that this crisis requires government action and vision.
Join me, @stijntvankessel.bsky.social & Isabelle Hertner next week as we present "Populist Radical Right Parties in Action" (Oxford University Press), available Open Access here:
academic.oup.com/book/60532
If you or your library prefer a printed copy, you can find a discounted code below.
Meta ends (at least for now) political ads in the EU today. Per their ad library data, they've run nearly 11,000,000 different political, social and issue ads in the EU since 2018 and made around €800m from them.
Every time this man opens his mouth nowadays something extremely unpleasant and largely misleading comes out. What fresh hell is a ‘golden ticket’ - it’s a basic human right to family reunion you [redacted]
Politics is not like selling biscuits, where the task is to find out what people like & flog it to them.
It's a moral activity. It's about arguing for the things you believe in. It's about *shaping* the "median voter".
Farage has moved the centre-ground of politics. His opponents can move it back.
I may have said this once or twice previously, the way to counter Reform is on their *weak* issues. People are still struggling with crap public services and high inflation. This is supposed to be Labour's strength, show what you are doing about it.
“Facebook’s own researchers found that “64% of all extremist group joins are due to our recommendation tools”, an internal report in 2016 found.”
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
How is this not a bigger scandal?! There is no way we should rely on charity to provide this necessary equipment to disabled children!!!
We’re still one of the richest countries in the world- absolutely beggars belief?! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
After years of making the running on immigration, Farage may this week have handed the initiative back to his opponents'. @robfordmancs.bsky.social for @ukandeu.bsky.social on the unpopularity of Reform's proposals on ILR ukandeu.ac.uk/reforms-radi...
spokesperson for Sadiq Khan:
“We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response.
“London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here.”
On the one hand, better late than never.
On the other hand: why so late?
The case for doing this was just as obvious in May as it is in September.
An actual quote from the Secretary of State for Business and Trade
Too often people go to university to ‘explore research and knowledge’
Look forward to Wes S saying 'too often people go to hospital to have operations' or Heidi Alexander saying 'too often people go to the station to catch a train'
