Luke Cooper

Breathtaking statement from Carney.
Basically that Iran's regime is evil and therefore Canada stands with US and Israel's war of aggression.
So much for the "middle powers" leading a nonaligned post-American world order. @katemac.bsky.social

A party that is resolutely anti-bourgeois while being staffed and supported by the bourgeoisie is an intriguing and inevitably impossible strategy.

Anyway good luck attracting those Reform voters who hate you.

Though the defeated Reform candidate Matthew Goodwin and party leader Nigel Farage have taken ill-tempered swipes at the electoral process, in truth this was a remarkably strong showing by Reform in a seat that is not demographically favourable to the party. Goodwin’s 28.7% vote share is the sixth-best showing yet by either Ukip, the Brexit Party or Reform, and the 14.6% rise in the Reform vote is also in the top 10 byelection showings by any of these parties. Though the party was comfortably beaten by the Greens, this was an impressive performance by Reform in a seat with many graduates, students, young people and Muslims – all groups who tend to shun the party.

While by no means understating the Green's achievement, my #BGE2024 co-author, @robfordmancs.bsky.social, provides a really important reminder here (observer.co.uk/news/politic...) that, actually, Reform's performance shouldn't be dismissed either.

Its doubly galling because Starmer and Labour have (and not without reason) spent years insisting Reform curious voters should be respected and taken seriously. Then with the Greens they're all "LOL you've been taken in by those nutters, U morons, don't be daft." Its playground level ignorance.

This is not a reasoned political response. Labour has spent two years making all the voting groups who backed the Greens feel unwelcome and unheard, and now attacks them for daring to back someone else. They believe Labour isn’t listening and Starmer seems determined to prove them right

On the latest episode of COUNTER·POWER, our director @nickdearden.bsky.social is joined by @seemasyeda.bsky.social and @lukecooper100.bsky.social to discuss how the far right went global - and how we build resistance.

Watch now on counterpower.uk or wherever you get your podcasts from 👇🏼

Last time a Reform politician said the minimum wage should be cut we looked into his businesses & found three of his former employees had won employment tribunal claims against him.

But despite what the tribunal ordered, he didn't pay a single judgment
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...

Yes Mandelson oversaw fees. I won't publish on X. This is from my Intro to FIGHT BACK, editor @danhancox.bsky.social you can read here: felixcohen.co.uk/FightBack/ @nicholasguyatt.bsky.social, @jemgilbert.bsky.social and even Alan Finlayson

Grammarly Revisited - Carleton College A close look at Grammarly's new AI tools

This (about the 'new' Grammarly AI toolset) is absolutely terrifying, not because the tool is good, but because it is an easy, all-in-one, way to avoid thinking any thoughts or doing any work at all *and 3000 universities say its OK to use*.
www.carleton.edu/ai/blog/gram...

Transnational Legal Theory The Promise and Perils of Human Rights for Governing Digital Platforms. Volume 16, Issue 4 of Transnational Legal Theory

New special issue of Transnational Legal Theory on The Promises and Perils of Human Rights for Governing Digital platforms now available in full www.tandfonline.com/toc/rtlt20/1... - inc a piece from @joeatkinson.bsky.social and me on human rights and realising decent work for platform workers

Over 50 Academics Warn That Voting System Is Not Fit For Multi-Party Politics Dozens of academics have written to the government to warn that the current voting system risks producing distorted results on an 'unprecedented' s...

I never really sign stuff. But this was different. It's not about trying to facilitate or block a particular party's route to power. It's about an electoral system that's unsuited to the political realities we face today and risks giving us government after government with no convincing mandate.

Britain’s Democracy Is in Genuine Peril A bitterly divided democratic camp, a constitutional setup with few guardrails and a surging extreme right spell trouble ahead for Britain’s political institutions.

The stakes really could not be higher - it’s looking increasingly like electoral reform or bust:

www.thenation.com/article/worl...

As a proud serial signer of letters I had forgotten about this one (and I’m told I was the first to sign - so it was a little while ago tbf!). Britain’s electoral system cannot handle the present scale of political fragmentation and could easily turn up a bizarre result.

Time for change!

ICE to begin detaining immigrants inside Social Circle warehouse in April Homeland Security plans to build warehouse detention facilities in other cities being met with opposition.

ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps.

If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...

I’m at an event in Westminster where a certain Andy Burnham has said it it “time to call to an end this era where politics got too close to wealth, too seduced by the notion that deregulated markets would provide the solution, when in fact they have been the problem.”

YouTube video by COUNTER•POWER How the far right went global

The new Counter Power podcast is out. I’m with @seemasyeda.bsky.social and @lukecooper100.bsky.social discussing how the far right has transformed and become a global force… and how we fight it 👇

m.youtube.com/watch?v=C112...

Parliament is right now debating a motion proposed by the opposition Conservatives to release govt documents related to Mandelson's appointment as ambassador.

But Starmer's govt has proposed an amendment to stop any releases that could compromise "national security or international relations".

NEW: Our investigation for @thenerve_news reveals not only that Peter Thiel’s Palantir is completely enmeshed in our critical national infrastructure.

It’s also the ‘cloud support’ for our nuclear weapons system 🤯
1/

www.thenerve.news/p/palantir-t...

The Mayor versus the Machine Keir Starmer’s procedural victory over Andy Burnham only leaves the prime minister more exposed

The quickfire, backroom vote to keep Andy Burnham out of Westminster was a classic triumph of machine politics

The twist? It’s now plain that just one lonely man is operating the machine

And Starmer’s brittle command of it could easily crack

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/722...

Two things can be true:
1. Reform drifting down from their late 2025 peak
2. Reform still as strong or stronger than they were in May 2025, when they swept the board in locals.

Polling like this would mean a lot of Reform (and Green) councillors elected on very low vote share. FPP electoral chaos.

Europe can’t defend itself without the US, NATO’s Rutte warns The EU should stop dreaming of creating a European pillar for NATO and continue to build ties with the U.S. despite Trump, the alliance secretary-general said.

🚨🚨 #NATO SG Mark #Rutte is to my mind massively undermining European #unity and efforts to build up their #defence and #security in what I see as a statement which only plays in the hands of #Putin and #Trump. 🧵https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-defense-nato-mark-rutte-us-politics-threats-gdp/

For those who missed it yesterday, this thread contains a detailed analysis of the Alex Pretti killing, clearly showing he was holding a phone when attacked by ICE, and had a gun removed from him shortly before being shot to death by ICE officers.

EU moves closer to using its trade bazooka against the US Capitals are backing a more forceful response to Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

🚨🚨 EU moves closer to using its #tradebazooka against the US as Germany has joined France in saying it will ask @ec.europa.eu to explore unleashing the #Anti-CoercionInstrument at the emergency EU leaders' summit in Brussels on Thursday evening.🧵
www.politico.eu/article/eu-b...

Carney: "American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, a stable financial system... this bargain no longer works. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition... recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as a weapon. Tariffs as leverage ... "

Reminder of the spectacularly poor judgement of these people

Time for Europe to say "Very well, alone!".

Russia is running out of money Go behind the propaganda, and the intensifying strain is evident

@martinsandbu.ft.com on the state of RUS economy

"The picture is clear. The RU economy is under enormous strain, & is running out of resources. ... The message for the west — what remains of it — is that the medicine (sanctions) is working, but the dose should be increased."

100%

#UkrainianView

Reuters reports that U.S. officials have discussed offering lump sum payments of $10,000 to $100,000 to Greenland residents as an incentive to secede from Denmark.

It might cover two or maybe even three hospital visits in the U.S., depending on coverage plan, networks, and luck

A real possibility. Musk has already organised ‘payment for votes’ in a US election and that wasn’t stopped, so there’s no possibility that winning an election by bribery in another country would be sanctioned by any US body.

During Fiona Hill's testimony to Congress on Oct 14, 2019, she described how Trump and Putin discussed exchanging Ukraine for Venezuela. The quid pro quo was if Trump refuses to help Ukraine fight off a Russian invasion, Putin would not help Venezuela (a Russian ally) resist a US takeover.