Pete Miles

Photo of a huge crowd.

Members of the House of Lords arriving for work.

Is the tide turning? New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog. Renewed talk of a customs union may well come to nothing, but rapidly changing geo-politics mean the UK needs urgently to face up to the failure of the entire Brexit ‘strategy’: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2025/12/is-t...

I wrote this before the new US National Security Strategy was published but it feels even more relevant now buff.ly/EYyDshG

Number crunching: Individuals arrested within five days for suspected manslaughter after fire apparently related to building materials ripped through seven Hong Kong apartment blocks v individuals arrested over Grenfell

From the new Private Eye, out now.

The important question is whether this year’s flu season will peak soon (and so we have a ‘normal’ serious flu wave, shifted earlier) or whether it will keep going up and only peak towards end of the year in which case it will be a terrible flu season - i.e. are we in scenario A or scenario B. 6/10

This is a year-by-year comparison of hospital admissions with flu using the latest data up to 30 Nov.

Yes, this year’s flu season started a few weeks earlier than normal. But otherwise, its pattern looks very similar to 2022/23 and 2024/25. 3/10

Super interesting reporting on Palantir‘s efforts to be used in Swiss governmental services and the military. They decided against it, because they worried Palantir was giving information to CIA and NSA and feared a loss of national sovereignty.

www.republik.ch/2025/12/08/w...

Okay, hive mind! I'm doing a foresight review on the safe adoption of AI in engineering - am planning a research trip to the Bay Area in Feb, and am looking to speak to folk working on
- transparent approaches to the full AI supply chain, inc data, labour practices, environmental footprint (1/2)

Video: Opinion | Are We Losing Our Democracy? While the United States is not yet close to a full-on autocracy, the New York Times editorial board outlines some of the warning signs of democratic erosion already taking place, thanks to the efforts...

Are We Losing Our Democracy ? - by The Editorial Board

www.nytimes.com/video/opinio...

😯

Ah, ok. Makes more sense than bacon really (only linguistically ofc)

Fuller version of Trump security strategy reportedly calls for "pulling Poland away from EU"

🚨🚨This is worse than we could have imagined: Full version of #Trump's national #securitystrategy reportedly calls for “pulling Poland away from #EU”. 🧵 notesfrompoland.com/2025/12/10/f...

What? What are American blankets?

I hope you're right.

(And that's me now banned from entering the USA)

How to get housebuilding moving...

YouTube video by Josep Castanyer Alonso "All I want for Christmas is you", but in the style of 6 classical composers 🎹🎄

Take a few minutes to listen all the way through. Delightful pastiche, wry commentary, great playing. It will brighten your morning! youtu.be/yZi4Z1e5KO8

Toad sits up in bed, enthusiastically making a list. From "A List" In *Frog and Toad Together*

One morning Toad sat in bed. “I have many things to do,” he said. “I will write them all down on a list so that I can remember them.”

Almost a quarter of this century done with, thank God.

What are those seminal truths that supply essential context to the daily news report? Here’s my list: That the United States has become an authoritarian state, with armed soldiers on city streets; immigrant neighbors abducted and disappeared by masked agents; the state seizing stakes of companies; political opponents targeted with criminal probes; educational institutions extorted into obedience; media organizations paying tribute to the ruler. This is reality. That Trump is personally deranged and debilitated. That he operates almost entirely in a bubble world of lies and fantasies. That he makes things up, is misled by his staff, and often doesn’t know what they are doing. That white Christian nationalism and virulent racism are primary drivers in this administration. That misinformation and lies are not coincidental to the Trump agenda, they are essential to it. That Trump is engaged in a massively corrupt scheme to enrich himself, his family, and his oligarch friends. That Trump is leading what is effectively a criminal enterprise – openly violating the law at almost every turn. That the Trump administration is systemically diminishing hard-fought civil and human rights for women, for immigrants, for brown people, and for trans people. That the Republican Party of the past no longer exists. It is no longer serious or credible. That the nation’s historic checks and balances, through the separation of powers, have collapsed. That the federal government – especially the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security – has been so weaponized against Trump’s political opponents that nothing it says can be trusted without evidence. That Trump’s cruelty and racism have been fully embraced by the MAGA movement and by federal agents terrorizing and abducting immigrants.

Here's my list of the essential truths about our current crisis that are routinely missing from New York Times coverage: presswatchers.org/2025/12/new-...

I liked it

Printout. Large wheelie suitcase.

He was the baddie of all baddies

This is now out in front of @theverge.com paywall for 24 hours (cool experiment!).

Please do give it a read: it’s the story of how the White House is leading a global crackdown on news outlets and disinfo research.

"AI should be in your battle rhythm every single day"

Not suggesting he's involved in bad stuff now, but his history has caught up with him hasn't it. Presumably gone from the next series (again!)

But what about Billy?!?

Ah, I was thinking we had one more.

(I think you're right on the solution btw)

Is it the last in the series?

Oh...

Subject to approval by President Trump