Rachel Haynes

Options include more transparency on party financing, ending revolving door, putting political roles and ministerial codes on statutory footing with independent oversight, reform Hse of Lords, and many more - drawn from cross-party Commission on Political Power commissionpoliticalpower.uk

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

There’s a v cynical media and political blindspot in the Epstein shitshow. A feeding frenzy to get rid of Starmer while red-carpeting Farage into No10. Who is named in the files. As is Candy, Reform’s treasurer. With Bannon. And Brexit.
Don’t cry about abuses of power and then do nothing about him.

Exactly this, the disproportionate focus on Starmer vs Farage's links with Bannon is an absolute disgrace. If the celebrating of Brexit & plotting the toppling of a UK PM isn't malignant interference I dont know what is. The UK MPs involved in the latter should also be investigated.

Doesn't seem like the best day for Starmer to reheat "you lefties [on the backbenches/in the Labour membership/in the Labour electorate] just don't get it" Blue Labour type arguments?

A screengrab from George Parker's profile on Mandelson from the FT, Feb 5 2025: We are on our way north, on a high-speed Avanti train, when I ask Mandelson about his relationship with Epstein. “I regret ever meeting him or being introduced to him by his partner Ghislaine Maxwell,” he says. “I regret even more the hurt he caused to many young women.” An icy chill descends in Carriage J. “I’m not going to go into this. It’s an FT obsession and frankly you can all fuck off. OK?”

A year to the day since Mandelson told the FT that their questions about Epstein were "an FT obsession and frankly you can all fuck off."

I wonder if the paper sent him a card, @pickardje.bsky.social?

Breaking:

Fulton County just announced it has filed a motion "seeking the return of all files from the 2020 Election that were confiscated by the FBI" last week.

Just a quick note to @greenparty.org.uk and @greenpartyhan.bsky.social - I was not consulted on being quoted on your leaflets and I have not endorsed your campaign (or any campaign in this seat). I think this note, like the bar chart next to it, is misleading and out of context.

Instead of conferring titles, gongs and baubles and then demanding those titles, gongs and baubles be removed…

…perhaps as a modern, mature polity we should have far fewer titles, gongs and baubles in the first place.

...they told her no, didn't they

friend of mine is an undocumented immigrant and has been hiding in Melania theaters bc he knows people assume no one is in there

@lewisgoodall.com and David Runciman on @newsagents.bsky.social is just a brilliant brilliant listen, thought provoking, and everyone interested should listen. The analysis of Starmer has got me thinking a lot

This is Georgia Fort as she’s being arrested by federal agents. Apparently, they had a grand jury indictment in hand. She was arrested for being an independent journalist who filmed the Cities Church protest.

NEW: The PNG Courier's overseas correspondent on Reform's limescale problem.

Check my Substack for more.

open.substack.com/pub/mrhenrym...

My attorney’s statement on the DOJ’s efforts to prosecute me.

"The idea that trans inclusion at the ponds is somehow imposed against the wishes of users simply does not survive contact with reality. Londoners have looked at the evidence... and overwhelmingly said: this works, this is fair, and this reflects our values."

celord.com/2026/01/29/h...

Lee Anderson wants to know why 500 pubs a year are closing under Labour. So pleased he decided not to ask them why an average of 700 pubs a year closed in the ten years before Labour came to power. 😀
#PMQs

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

I made a promise to Alex’s parents to continue to tell his story.

An ICU nurse at the VA, an outdoorsman, a deeply generous, compassionate friend and family member, and a true son of Minnesota. Rest in peace, Alex.

The Guardian is reporting that EHRC is looking again at its proposed code of practice for single-sex spaces.

Screenshot of an X post with large text at the top: “Keep America divided so they can loot the economy, gut healthcare, and funnel billions into ICE and surveillance contracts for companies like Palantir.” Below is a video thumbnail of a CNN split-screen: a male anchor on the left and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the right, with a “BREAKING NEWS” banner and a chyron that begins “DHS: MAN FATALLY SHOT ‘VIOLENTLY RESISTED’ ATTEMPTS TO BE DISARMED,” plus location “Austin, TX,” and a red “LIVE” indicator.

AOC lays it out for all to see.

The execution of Alex Pretti is playing so badly because you can look at his actions and life story - his last act was helping, boy scout, athlete, health care worker to veterans - and compare those to the men who killed him and know which you would want to be your son, brother, father, uncle.

‘All-out assault on our democracy:’ Bondi’s Minnesota blackmail letter draws righteous fury from state election leaders “This isn't leadership. This is blackmail," Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said. "This is the way organized crime works."

Missed this incredibly sinister story

Pam Bondi offering to withdraw ICE from Minnesota — in exchange for control of the state’s voter rolls

Presumably to purge them

US democracy really is on the brink (h/t @anneapplebaum.bsky.social)

www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Is liberal democracy in terminal decline? The old system worked under a set of conditions that are no longer present

Democratic politicians have, though, pursued growth in GDP at the expense of other values. One response to @jburnmurdoch.ft.com pessimistic scenario is refocus on those values, combined with egalitarianism, sufficiency and quality of life. Not "it's the economy, stupid" but "it's the the society"

The BBC coverage is absolutely terrible.

It leads on "sharply contested narratives"

It has a dramatic skew to the US government

It has posted the video but has failed to report on what it shows: it shows the US govt account is untrue

The task for political leadership now is not just to tell the truth, but to make people care about what is true and what is not.

They know what they say is untrue, they do not care it is untrue.

The media know that what they repeat is untrue, they do not care it is untrue.

Their supporters know what they are told is untrue, they do not care it is untrue.

Telling the truth is not enough, unless people care about the truth.

Media: do not lead with the false government framing of what happened