What could the current Labour government learn from the Blair years?
In this talk @gsoh31.bsky.social discusses his new book 'New Labour, New Britain?: How the Blair governments reshaped the country' at @yorkstjohn.bsky.social. Watch it on YouTube here:
As the analysis starts of the Gorton and Denton result, I wanted to flag some aspects that my experience yesterday suggests are being over or under-played
(Caveats - I went to Longsight, Gorton and Denton town centres and spoke to as many people as I could, but it was mostly during the working day)
Legal expert @davidallengreen.bsky.social...
'If an illiberal radical government obtains a firm majority at the next general election, and is competent, then as the law currently stands nothing would hamper them in what they want to do and much would help them.'
open.substack.com/pub/emptycit...
Nigel Farage in answering Nick Robinson's question about why he believes Britain is broken gave an analysis of falling net migration that is demonstrably factually inaccurate. "It is so broken and its declining so quickly that anybody with a dispassionate view can see it. It is quite interesting. Just look at the net migration numbers. 'Oh isn't it good net migration is coming down?' But do you know why? It is because there is an exodus. There is now an exodus.Those who are of a situation and a financial position to have a choice are now fleeing the country in numbers". This is factually incorrect. Net migration fell year on year by 465,00 in the most recent Official of National Statisitcs figures: the year to June 2025. This was not because of an "exodus" (an increase in emigration). It is because immigration fell by 401,000 (to 898,000 from 1.299 million the previous year). That accounts for 90% of the big drop in net migration. The increase in emigration by 41,000 was a minor component. Most of the increase in emigration was of non-EU nationals. British citizens made up a third of emigrants, but there was no significant increasse in British emigration, which was at very similar levels in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025: it is not a significant cause of the drop in net migration. Nick Robinson did tell Mr Farage that he was exaggerating the number of people who don't speak English - and BBC Verify did produce an analysis showing that was a five-fold exaggeration. But this central incorrect claim about immigration and net migration was not caught in the programme, or before broadcast. It should at least be scrutinised and corrected afterwards - so that an accurate account of why net migration fell (primarily a reduction in immigration visas to the UK) can be communicated to the audience.
I have asked the BBC to scrutinise + correct the factually inaccurate claims made by Mr Nigel Farage about why net migration fell in 'Political Thinking with Nick Robinson'
Here is the link if you want to do something like this.
www.bbc.co.uk/contact/comp...
Most politicians and advisers seem to way underestimate the stakes they're playing with. The fantasists, conspiracists and wreckers of Reform UK deeply sympathise with the dictators we face. Idea of them with executive power and access to the panoply of state functions dwarfs most else we've faced.
After a certain point the sanity of Palantir's leadership does matter to the national security of the UK and other European states buying its software
Young men are the second most liberal group in the country after young women.
The gender gap among the young is not about economics.
It is about culture, identity, and how these issues are framed and politicised. Great piece by @jonwheatley.bsky.social
My book on New Labour and the Blair years is out in just over two weeks... And it's now **ON SALE** for just £12! Come on, you can't say fairer than that when it comes to the bargains. Roll up and/ or repost! It's just twelve quid!
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526146328/
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Remember that the UK has far, far weaker protections against state power than did the US. And the latter folded up like a pack of cards. The US is a warning from the British future.
If that is the case, the Gorton and Denton by-election risks becoming a two-horse race - between Reform UK and the Greens.
Please watch PM Carney's speech. Powerful, and in my view as a political scholar, 100% accurate. We must stop living within the lie.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=fV5f...
So it was Badenoch *personally* who stabbed Britain in the back during the Greenland crisis! Simply unbelievable. Ought to be a resignation matter.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
in the present context the South Caucasus is less important for Russia’s imperial idea than it used to be. Russian imperialism today focuses on the Slavic core and on geopolitical competition with the West www.balcanicaucaso.org/en/cp_articl...
Also this by Scarlett Maguire
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
And this by Gaby Hinsliffe
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Check out my recent article on this: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
"Trump is so deeply unwell that it's time to stop blaming [him]..responsibility rests with his enablers."
As Krugman says, some are monsters, some narcissists, some amoral opportunists, some just cowards.
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/its-sundow...
Wow! 🔥 No punches pulled by President Steinmeier of Germany in his scathing analysis of the Trump administration.
"Today it's about preventing the world from turning into a den of thieves in which the most unscrupulous take what they want."
#c4news
The ideological gender gap among young voters in the UK is confined to issues of culture and identity. Read more. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Two social media posts. The first is from Keir Starmer and reads: “The UK has long supported a transition of power in Venezuela. We regarded Maduro as an illegitimate President and we shed no tears about the end of his regime. I reiterated my support for international law this morning. The UK government will discuss the evolving situation with US counterparts in the days ahead as we seek a safe and peaceful transition to a legitimate government that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people.” Below it is a post from Ed Davey that reads: “This cop out isn’t good enough. Standing up for international law means condemning leaders when they break it, whether that’s Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump.”
Still astonished and horrified by yesterday's intervention from the Leader of the Opposition. In a normal country, at any normal time, it would be a resigning matter - immediately. Yet it just blows past, like everything else. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
When Farage uses his millions to promote hate, we all pay the price.
UK politics followers, these graphs are in a paper by @jamesdgriffiths.bsky.social and co (inc. me).
There's so much useful info in them.
The long-term context for the politics of our time, how the 'Brexit elections' differed, though note the Y axes may need to be bigger for the next election!!
Net migration IS coming down quite fast, and we will soon know who was right about whether it was a good or a bad idea economically and politically.
Lots of stuff here that you won't read in most of the legacy media which seems completely uninterested in the backgrounds, associations and possible motivations of those behind the BBC crisis.
Why was the BBC having its homework marked by a lobbyist who hasn't worked as a journalist for 20 years?
Brilliant to speak with so many residents during my advice surgery on Friday. Thank you to Oxford Brookes for hosting me!
✍️ If you ever need my support, please contact me and my team at anneliese.dodds.casework@parliament.uk
Tbilisi metro. #GeorgiaProtests
📷 Mariam Darbaidze
Bertrand Russell to Oswald Mosley. Perfection.
