Anoosh Chakelian

The Mandelson affair: inside the scandal of a century Mandelson's fall from grace reveals a very Labour weakness

Great report by @pronouncedalva.bsky.social revealing the influence of Mandelson on this Labour operation:

How has Donald Trump escaped the Epstein files? When I met Jeffrey Epstein in 2010, I could see his stink had spread across Manhattan high society

"Mega-wealth so often erodes a moral compass. Epstein’s appeal was an insidious gift of permission. Girls, tax evasion, private places to play. An underground railway of upper-echelon decadence."

Devestating from Tina Brown

www.newstatesman.com/internationa...

“without a compass in a maze of realpolitik… justifying the means for ends you never achieve. Our government is stuck at the dead-end of this pragmatic political era, finding the “dirty hands” theory of leadership etched on its own palms.” Excellent on #Mandelson from @anooshc.bsky.social

The Epstein files expose the rot of Mandelson’s Britain New Labour’s dead-end of pragmatism over everything else – including morality

"We no longer live under New Labour, and Starmer’s cabinet is very different from those in Mandelson’s day. But that impulse for pragmatism – voiced by many suffering nostalgia for the Blair years – still pulses through the political ether"

@anooshc.bsky.social
www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

thanks for sharing Rachel!

The Epstein files expose the rot of Mandelson’s Britain New Labour’s dead-end of pragmatism over everything else – including morality

Labour is lost in the twilight of this pragmatic political era, finding the “dirty hands” theory of leadership etched on its own palms:

Can Labour REALLY solve Britain’s housing crisis? | ITV News YouTube video by ITV News

Missed this at the time but very interesting and revealing bit on Steve Reed's philosophy re council housing in this interview by @danielhewittitv.bsky.social - thinks it isn't aspirational and just for the neediest (with no aim to change that). Opposite of Rayner's "social housing revolution":

Great piece by @georgeeaton.bsky.social on how Labour has been unable to quit Mandelson:

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Great titbit exposing the latest in non-devolution:

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Thank you so much, very kind

The Epstein files expose the rot of Mandelson's Britain New Labour’s dead-end of pragmatism over everything else – including morality

Labour needs to bake morality into how it campaigns and governs.

My @newstatesman1913.bsky.social column on the Epstein-Mandelson story, and the hangover of a post-ideological age:

The Epstein files expose the rot of Mandelson's Britain New Labour’s dead-end of pragmatism over everything else – including morality

Labour needs to bake morality into how it campaigns and governs.

My @newstatesman1913.bsky.social column on the Epstein-Mandelson story, and the hangover of a post-ideological age:

The hidden cost of "deplaytion" Ban social media for kids all you like – but don't ignore their crap playgrounds

"Tick-box" playgrounds, rising numbers of "no ball games" signs, play curfews...

My column in this week's @newstatesman1913.bsky.social on "deplaytion" - inspired by the Chernobyl-like property developer-run playground on my street:

The hidden cost of "deplaytion" Ban social media all you like – but don't ignore their crap playgrounds

The hidden cost of "deplaytion"

Ban social media for kids all you like – but don’t ignore their crap playgrounds

🖊️ @anooshc.bsky.social

The hidden cost of "deplaytion" Ban social media for kids all you like – but don't ignore their crap playgrounds

Good to see mainstream coverage of “deplaytion” - the loss and decline of neighbourhood playgrounds, and of a tolerance of children’s neighbourhood play.

It’s critical that this issue is taken as seriously - in terms of children’s mental health - as social media.

Thanks @anooshc.bsky.social.

thank you so much for this!

How to save the English diet Try this one weird trick

'Once a man three years my senior – no, not two children in a trench coat – offered me “dippy” eggs and “soldiers” for lunch.'

So well-observed on English food vernacular by @finnmcredmond.bsky.social:

thanks for reading and sharing - have definitely felt that way abroad!

This. Every time I go to the Netherlands I weep, because it is perfectly possible to have lots and lots of playgrounds for children, well kept.

Picture of rubbish play park in Lancashire with bin in foreground overflowing with dog poo bags.

Great piece. This is the developers’ sorry attempt at a new play park near my parents’ house in Lancashire today. (Cc @mayaellismp.bsky.social)

wow that's bleak - and thanks for reading!

The hidden cost of "deplaytion" Ban social media for kids all you like – but don't ignore their crap playgrounds

If kids are over-exposed online then they are under-served by our rubbish play culture.

My column on the other side to the under-16s social media ban now concerning parents and politicians:

The hidden cost of "deplaytion" Ban social media for kids all you like – but don't ignore their crap playgrounds

If kids are over-exposed online then they are under-served by our rubbish play culture.

My column on the other side to the under-16s social media ban now concerning parents and politicians:

This is excellent by @robfordmancs.bsky.social - read this before you look at any polling or briefings re this by-election!

bsky.app/profile/robf...

Do leasehold reforms go far enough? | Daily Politics from the New Statesman

Will leasehold reform go far enough? @willdunn.bsky.social and I discuss the policy, social and political implications of the government's plans on the latest Daily Politics podcast from the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social:

IMO both traditional main parties have struggled because they haven't been seen to focus on what voters elect them for - for Tories top is economic stability, for Labour it's looking after working class and public services.

I know it wouldn't always - but in our case an assessment was made that found it would've been! But yes environmental and social cost of course would've been huge

What we learnt from PMQs: David Lammy is saved by Andrew Griffith “He’s not going to get this gig again, let’s face it,” Lammy jeered

Normally with PMQs, I try to review not just the drama and spectacle but what we actually learnt in terms of government policy.

Today, alas, I can only give you one takeaway: what a mess

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

How a single call sealed Andy Burnham’s fate Keir Starmer applied a personal touch when he blocked his rival’s return to parliament

Excellent behind-the-scenes report by @pronouncedalva.bsky.social which also reveals the strange bathos of being PM - a Teams meeting with Labour apparatchiks sandwiched between a call with Zelensky and trip to China.

Must-read!

Inside Reform's vetting process in Gorton and Denton The Pygge has seen the questionnaire used to select the party's by-election candidate

"Your Positive Story (Optional)"