Stephen Baker

Yes. A pleasure. Hope to see the two of you again soon.

#OtD 30 Jan 1972 the Bloody Sunday massacre took place when British soldiers fired on unarmed civil rights protesters in the Bogside, Ireland, killing 14. Protesters had been opposing the policy of internment stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1028...

Untangling ‘identity’ and ‘identity politics’: an interview with Marie Moran

Niamh McCrea discusses "Identity and Capitalism" (2015) with Marie Moran in our January issue, and her subsequent research, which seeks to productively intervene in what Moran terms the ‘radical confusion’ within contemporary debates on identity politics across academia, activism and popular culture

Media Reform Coalition Media Reform coordinates the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in light of the Leveson Inquiry and Communications Review.

Public Media Ireland: a radical vision of PSM in a United Ireland
A new report asks: If Ireland was United, what Public Service Media system would it adopt? By Phil Ramsey and Roderick Flynn @mediareformuk.bsky.social

www.mediareform.org.uk/blog/psm-uni...

An Injury To All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class will be published by Verso in October!

Today I submitted responses to last comments from my editor and worked on the blurb. It's getting closer and closer!

What have we got to lose by opening up a debate about the media and how it might contribute to the achievement of a rich participatory democracy? Stephen Baker is a Lecturer at Ulster University  Earlier in January, a report was launched setting out proposals for a new public media organisation in the event of a united Ireland. Funded by progre...

What have we got to lose by opening up a debate about the media and how it might contribute to the achievement of a rich participatory democracy?

sluggerotoole.com/2026/01/28/w...

Rep Omar with the Glasgow pub rule response. Love to see it.

ok the full clip is way better than the little one going around. her whole team try to get her to bail on the event and she's like no, I came to speak. incredible example.

REP. OMAR after being attacked with liquid: “We will continue! These fucking assholes are not gonna get away with this! Here is the reality people like this ugly man don’t understand — we are Minnesota Strong. We’ll stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us.”

Reform's role is clearly to ingest all the most poisonous and insentient elements of the Conservative Party, and then regurgitate them for public consumption, again. That Reform are regarded as insurgent or novel, is just extraordinary. It is the bile and boke of the past.

Panorama - Post Office: Who’s to Blame? It’s been called the worst miscarriage of justice in British history. Hundreds of postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after money vanished from the Horizon computer system. But who’s really to blame?

Deirdre Connolly, survivor of the Post Office Horizon scandal, featured on BBC Panorama on one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history. Deirdre will speak at 'Punching Up - Working Class Struggles' this Saturday, hosted by the Bloody Sunday Trust.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Labour finds itself in "turmoil" and on the brink of "civil war" over the NEC's blocking of Andy Burnham standing as an MP in the Gorton and Denton by-election. My favourite take on this is from a Labour supporter who sees this as some sort of indictment of Corbyn. Let it go, ffs!

The Origins of Culture Wars How is the concept of culture wars rooted in the social and political struggles of nineteenth century Germany? Robert D. Priest explores.

How is the concept of culture wars rooted in the social and political struggles of nineteenth-century Germany?

Robert D. Priest explores these little-known origins.

The regular reassurances of fealty only highlight the precariousness of this relationship.

I am just gonna say it, these guys are completely emasculated by the knowledge that they have been out-organized by a group that is significantly made up of women, and all the bullshit call of duty nonsense is cope for their wounded egos bsky.app/profile/jeet...

It’s surreal how far it seems that the collapse of the Conservative Party has just been factored in and accepted as part if British politics. In terms of leadership quality, electoral support and the demise of their social base, the current Tory peril is historic and unprecedented.

My guess it's not for the love of working.

And isn't Nigel Farage the grandmaster of this?

I've read so much about the crisis in the UK's higher education sector and what might be done about it. But the bottom line surely is that if a state can't save or help itself, it isn't coming to the rescue of its universities.

Ex-Tory Home Secretary Suella Braverman defects to Reform UK The MP was unveiled as Reform's latest recruit by leader Nigel Farage at a rally, bringing the number of the party's sitting MPs to eight.

Not so much Reform as Regurgitate.

As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Look at you threatening me with a good time. You'll have to wait until I'm the other side of joyless Dry January.

Coddle looks like anaemic stew!

... I'm going to have to move now, aren't I.

Home of Microdisney, Sultans of Ping, Frank and Walters, Mick Lynch from Stump. We'll take Cork! What has Dublin ever given us? Bono... and coddle, apparently.

No northern school children involved. Just ones from Cork. Nothing to see here. Move along...

Suella Braverman standing on a dog

Suella Braverman standing on a dog

After Suella Braverman's defection, 12.5% of Reform UK MPs have been photographed stepping on a guide dog

Braverman on joining Reform: “I feel like I’ve come home.”

You have, Suella. So many of your old Tory muckers are in Reform already, so it must feel like a reunion? The old gang back together.

Braverman to Reform. Haven't seen a team pick up so many has-beens in the transfer window since West Ham in the summer of 2024.

Here's the meme again...

Jenny Maguire: Why the left needs to park ‘woke’ and focus on housing and the cost of a weekly shop Sequels get a bad reputation. Wicked: For Good was like a Guinness in an English pub. I guess it’s the same, but where’s the heart, and why is everyone no craic?

"If I cannot afford a weekly shop, no inclusion policy of that supermarket is going to help me"

In today's Indo, I write about the need to fight for both economic and social justice - not one or the other

www.independent.ie/opinion/comm...

#Spéirgorm

Photo of man in protective gear and goggles holding the US flag amid tear gas clouds, with sparks from flares on the pavement.

Photo by Jeff Wheeler of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Labour’s national executive committee has blocked Andy Burnham’s request to seek selection for the Gorton and Denton by-election.

There will be other parties the people in Gorton and Denton can vote for other than Labour.

Will student loans be the next mis-selling scandal? [FREE TO READ] Graduates are in uproar about Budget changes to loan repayment terms, and they have a point

The Public Policy Catastrophe of our student loans system rolls on. Young and middle-aged people are squeezed till the pips squeak while our university system collapses. Well done everyone! You stupid clowns. 🤡 www.ft.com/content/277a...