Occasional publisher, writer, and podcaster.

England
Joined August 2010
The BBC is slowly dying. If we don't come together to demand a BBC that truly belongs to us, and that truly serves our interests, then it - and the potential of public media - will be lost, perhaps forever.
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Sure, but was this ultimately all that much sillier than Bojo Bongs Great British Brexit or Forensic Sir Keir Gets The Good Vibes Started, or whatever. Were any of these things notably more or less actively malicious than another one was?
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Serbia's university/democracy movement has forced the state broadcaster to apologise. How can anyone see this, look at the BBC, and not want to do what they did there here?
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Me at my James Bond screen test, looking suave af: "fifty thousand francs on the opposite of what Matt Yglesias just said"
This can hardly be called an original point, but Matt Yglesias is wrong.
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Dan Hind retweeted
this message is essentially correct, however much you dislike the messenger. The Bank of England has enormous gilt powers, it deployed them to pressure Truss into fiscal orthodoxy, and it did a U-turn last month that helped the Burnham government mainstreamlabour.org/publica…
The Bank of England bailed out Burnham and sabotaged me. Read all about it in Bank Job.
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Conditions in Serbia are very different but English leftists ought to explain why they are so determined not to use something like this approach to build collective agency. Why are we still hellbent on ensuring that power remains the sole possession of those who want it most?
Sırbistan'da öğrenciler doğrudan demokrasi yöntemini seçim siyasetine taşıdılar. Liderlere dayalı, yukarıdan aşağıya bir örgütlenme yerine, herkesin söz alabildiği öğrenci genel kurulları (plenum) oluşturdular. Kararlar tartışılarak, mümkün olduğunca uzlaşmayla alındı. Bu yöntemi üniversitelerin dışına da taşıdılar. Mahallelerde, kentlerde ve köylerde yurttaş meclisleri (zborovi) kuruldu. İnsanlar kendi sorunlarını tartışmak, çözüm önermek ve birlikte karar almak için toplandı. 250 kişilik milletvekili aday listesini de şöyle oluşturdular: 1- Önce 250 adaylık kontenjanı, öğrenci sayılarına göre altı üniversite kenti arasında paylaştırdılar. Belgrad'ın listeye hâkim olmaması için diğer kentlerin de üst sıralarda temsil edilmesini sağladılar. Ardından her kentin kontenjanını fakülteler arasında dağıttılar. 2- Ülke genelinde 80'den fazla fakültede öğrenci genel kurulları toplandı. Öğrenciler kendileri aday olmadı ama her biri aday önerebildi ve neden o kişiyi önerdiğini açıkladı. İsimler tartışıldı, önce uzlaşma arandı, gerektiğinde oylama yapıldı. 3- Mevcut siyasi kadrolara kapıyı kapattılar. İktidar partilerinin mevcut ve eski üyelerini, iktidar adına görev yapmış siyasetçileri ve bürokratları, muhalefet partilerinin üst düzey yöneticilerini aday göstermediler. Böylece hem iktidardan hem de yerleşik muhalefetten bağımsız bir liste oluşturdular. 4- Fakülteler birbirlerinin adaylarını da denetledi. Önerilen bütün isimler ortak bir listede toplandı ve tüm fakültelerin incelemesine açıldı. İtirazlar öğrenci kurullarında tartışıldı. Adayın elenmesi için kurulların yarısından fazlasının veto etmesi gerekiyordu. Tek bir fakültenin itirazı yeterli değildi. 5- Elenen veya çekilen adayların yerine yedekler getirildi. Böylece profesörlerin, doktorların, bilim insanlarının, işçilerin, sanatçıların ve aktivistlerin yer aldığı 250 kişilik liste ortaya çıktı.
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The combination of general participation and random selection is right there, waiting to be picked up and used to develop a mass movement strong enough to end Thatcherism, and to manage the inevitable consequences. But we remain entranced by the bait and switch of representation.
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Rajiv Menon is being prosecuted for doing his job as a barrister For making a routine closing speech defending six protestors. I want to be clear: This attack on Rajiv is an attack on all of us.
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Then European countries have to turn their attention, strategies & money to the cause not the symptom: stop the violence, exploitation & extraction from the countries in the South & support for development of sustainable energy. If not the exodus will contain & likely increase
A country cannot do this without triggering a revolution or civil war. Democratic countries especially cannot do it without the regime in power losing all legitimacy in the eyes of the native population, which eventually triggers a revolt. This is what we’re watching play out in Europe right now.
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Labour opens a new front in its War on Niggles. I guess the idea is to appeal to comfortably off voters, who can see that everything is falling apart, and want the government to do something. But they don't want to think about things like climate emergency and imperial war.
🚨 NEW: Andy Burnham has announced changes to car parking fines - Drivers will have a 5-minute grace period to decide whether to park and 10 minutes to leave after a parking session ends - A £20 maximum charge on appeal for minor mistakes, such as entering the wrong number plate or not displaying a permit - Charges will also be cancelled on appeal for breakdowns, medical emergencies or broken ticket machines - The £100 cap on charges will remain - The rules will come into force as soon as possible and operators that break them will lose access to DVLA data
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Can the British middle class be fobbed off with footling bullshit in sufficient numbers to secure the economic status quo, while 80% of the country - including much of the middle class - sink into penury? That's the question Labour are keen to answer in the next general election.
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This opens up a space for the Greens to level with the electorate about just how completely all-party, full-spectrum Thatcherism has wrecked the national economy since 1979, and to set out a path to recovery that involves real sacrifice by the still comfortably off.
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We could be refurbishing and building houses. We could be developing technologies to improve the sector's productivity, and to enable the democratic co-design of places. But the money is being used to maintain the lifestyles of landlords. This should annoy us more than it does.
Just a quick reminder that we're spending a huge amount on housing; we're just not investing enough in building new housing. In 2024-25 we spent £36 bn on Housing Benefit and the housing element of Universal Credit and £2.84 bn on temporary accommodation for homeless families.
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It's really funny that it's just "a given" that Gen Z won't be listening to Radio 4 shows or reading print media. There's a huge value proposition here - we're anxious about "brainrot" and need slow, thoughtful sources of info. The execs have simply failed to market them to us
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Calling the cops on political opponents is a glimpse into the kind of world these authoritarian freaks want. They’d like all left-wingers arrested and thrown in prison for ideological crimes — and most of our media perversely cheers these idiots on. So much for free expression!
Today, with colleagues, I have written to Sussex police about potential antisemitic offences being committed at the Green Party conference in Brighton. And to the EHRC seeking an investigation into potential breaches of the equality act. I will update you when I hear back. This is important for our great country.
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A gothic wonder from Samreen in Kabul. She never loses her sense of humour - even in the darkest hour.
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It's such a shame that every time a political movement to challenge plutocratic domination starts to get some traction it turns out that everyone involved is a homicidal maniac, who must be driven from public life immediately.
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New poll! Will you buy my book with @TMChivers and @ta_mills, from @orbooks, about the future of public media in the digital age, and need for a radical democratisation of the information system?
6%Sounds boring, no.
94%Of course, count me in.
33 votes • Final results
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... And of course the question has a typo in it. However you vote, you can order early and often at the @orbooks website, where you will be treated to a generous, corporation defying, early bird discount of 15%. orbooks.com/catalog/the-bbc/
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Why does the Telegraph headline try to turn an adult political conversation into a false allegation? @ZackPolanski & others in the Greens made clear that if I was going to stand in Holborn & St. Pancras, where I’d done very well against Starmer in 2024, they would like me to consider seeking selection as a candidate for the Greens & the Camden Peoples Alliance (based on our successful cooperation agreement in the local elections). When I indicated that for a variety of health, personal & book publishing reasons I wasn’t in a position to stand this time round, Zack indicated that he would seek the selection & asked for my endorsement which I & the CPA enthusiastically gave. At no point did Zack try & get me to replace him! He wasn’t even a candidate yet when we spoke, as is reflected in the article. The mendacious headline is just an attempt to obfuscate & shit-stir for a progressive candidate, as is commonplace in the right wing media. The way in which the Greens & CPA cooperate is a testament to how progressive forces can work together for the greater good. So ignore the right wing nonsense & vote @ZackPolanski on Thursday. archive.is/2026.10.02-213630…
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