Tom Elliot

Great thread. Very succinctly explains the growing issue of public distrust of democratic institutions.

Original painting here:

Interestingly, the first person to die in the Revolution was removed from this painting: Crispus Attucks. He was commemorated in the original painting, but was removed in subsequent ones because he was black.

So, the Revolution began with the killing of a black protestor.

@eliothiggins.bsky.social can I drop you a DM about some research I am doing for my MA thesis at KCL?

In short, part of the thesis is about societal resilience and the need for greater digital education and disinformation awareness (comparing Nordics and Baltics to UK). Love your work🙏

For my sins, I went back to Twitter for a while (it is better for OSINT and war studies content, sadly).

It is scary how much engagement farming there is on there. It is just endless manufactured outrage by anonymous Bluetick accounts. On any subject, too.

A "defence levy" wealth tax would be popular. I'm fed up with hearing that to increase defence spending we must take from other places such as education or social care. It's untrue.

MAGA are mad at Zelenskyy for not wearing a suit for an official White House meeting.

Meanwhile:

Fuck this guy.

Fuck all the snivelling apologists for the far right. Toadying little creeps trying to ingratiate themselves to the big bully boys.

I will confess, I did not anticipate this happening quite so quickly. It was clearly coming, but my lord that was fast.

A terrifying question I've asked myself a few times recently:

"If the internet randomly goes down, how much do I actually OWN?"

The answer is basically nothing. Digital subscriptions aren't ownership. The only things you really own these days are books and clothes😬

It genuinely doesn't help that they have co-leaders.

They also lack any big 'attack dog' personalities, so I wonder how effective they'd be at winning the fights if they decided to pick them.

Back on the grind tomorrow

Landlords at odds with Rayner over rent controls - but not in the way you might think Ministers are resisting introducing a blunt rent cap but say they are empowering tenants to appeal unreasonable rent rises

New polling shows 75% of people back rent caps, including 44% of landlords!

"The polling found there was also support among the general public for higher capital gains tax on second homes (68 per cent) and buy-to-let properties (62 per cent)"
inews.co.uk/news/politic...

God Herself could take physical form, float down to Streeting's constituency office, and deposit there a tablet inscribed "The Cass Review is pseudo-scientific bunkum" and still @rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social would not shift.

Because it's not about the truth - it's about what's good for Wesley. 🧵

Good to see people like Scholz make statements like this, but it will make for a more effective & meaningful political agenda when it comes with a recognition that the threat to democracy isn't just Musk himself but the concentration of wealth & power he has been enabled to accumulate

Going to the cinema by yourself is class and I won't hear otherwise

I fear there is deep truth here.

Yet another reason why Britain needs to make military expansion, particularly in reserve forces, a key priority.

The future is very, very unpredictable and preparation is key.

I would say I'm looking forward to it (I'll certainly watch), but I feel sorry for you more than anything! What a way to spend the day

The thing about Goodwin, is that he absolutely crumbles when faced with in-person debate. He was a disaster when he debated Medhi Hassan.

I suspect it would be the same if he did a live debate with @zoejardiniere.bsky.social

I don't want my fridge to have a camera or Wi-Fi. I don't want my dishwasher to be smart. I don't want my washing machine to text me.

In fact, I kinda miss knobs and dials and knowing big appliances would last 20 years and could still be repaired.

good sources of news from Ukraine

Now that Ukraine has become very active in the Kursk region, we would like everyone that hasn't found us on BlueSky, to be aware of the latest updates.

Therefore, we would like to ask you to share this post in order to reach as many people as possible. Let's aim for 75.000 followers 👍

UK studies pricing plan for selling NHS patient data Access to information could be increased by centralising anonymised records

Wes Streeting plans for your private medical data, held by Palantir, to be sold. https://buff.ly/40i76Wa

Urgent referrals of children in mental health crisis in England rise 13% in year Charity says NHS failure to help more young people sooner is a ‘shocking betrayal’

Mental health support systems, in general, are beyond broken.
With young people, we need and immediate shift to "needs led support", over "diagnosis led", but we also need support to be available in the first place. That takes more investment and better training.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Starmer asks UK regulators for ideas to boost growth The prime minister writes to regulators including Ofgem and Ofwat for ideas to boost economic growth.

If you were scouting around for ideas of how to boost growth, Britain’s docile and toothless regulators would be the last people you’d call on.

But isn't this also an admission that Labour's much-fabled "Plan for Growth" doesn't actually exist?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Great news!

Ah, I see the DNC has learned absolutely nothing

I'm sure my already very poor contract will be in safe hands🫠