Ian Wiggett

Great thread. The 90s had much more violence, including terrorist attacks on a regular basis. Ten people being stabbed was still newsworthy, but just one story among many. Today, the UK is much safer and the Huntingdon stabbings stand out more.

Among the things that the shutdown is laying bare is this: so many federal employees live paycheck to paycheck while doing crucial, stressful work. The same may be said, of course, of so many other working Americans. While our oligarch class rakes in money hand over fist. This is not sustainable.

A third of inspected law firms breach anti-money laundering rules The Solicitors Regulation Authority imposed fines totalling £1.5m but the watchdog is having responsibility for monitoring compliance stripped from it

Nearly a third of solicitors’ firms have breached anti-money laundering rules over the past year, the profession’s watchdog has reported, and fines totalled £1.5 million.

The men who raised the flags Nigel Farage says this summer’s movement was led by ‘ordinary people’ expressing their patriotism. That’s not what we found

"it is striking how many of the key players we have looked into — the people who have gone out of their way to put up hundreds of flags — seem anything but ordinary."

manchestermill.co.uk/the-men-who-...

‘I try to make them feel as ignorant as possible’: German museum’s ‘grumpy guide’ is surprise hit Performance artist’s aggressive art historian shouts at visitors and insults curators – and his tours are sold out

The museum advertises Langelinck’s tours, which cost €7, as “grumpy” and “highly unpleasant”, though that might still be an understatement.

The ‘eye-watering’ costs of children in care in one Teesside area Out of the 408 kids in the care of Redcar and Cleveland Council in September 2025, a quarter of them were living in an in-house foster care arrangement

Eye-watering’ costs of children in care being paid by Cleveland & Redcar Council to private companies, and children being moved hundreds of miles away

www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teessid...

I wonder how many other IDs like 'skinheadlad1488' conceal such outwardly respectable figures? And vice versa, no doubt.

Why more young Americans are cheering for violence A generation shaped by the internet has increasingly come to believe that murder suspects like Tyler Robinson and Luigi Mangione are heroes. Here’s why

“Social media platforms create a real extreme form of this binary thinking. Spectrum thinking looks at nuance and the grey area in between. So if your brain is developing in the social media landscape — which thrives on polarity and extremes — everything becomes black and white.”

Drone-blocking technology ‘urgently’ required at jails in England and Wales Ability to maintain control in prisons ‘critically undermined’ by scale of illicit drug use and trade, MPs say Drone-jamming technology must be rolled out urgently across jails in England and Wales to help stem the endemic use and trade of drugs by organised gangs, MPs have concluded. The Commons justice select committee has found that the Prison Service’s ability to maintain safety and control is being “critically undermined by the scale of the trade and use of illicit drugs”. Continue reading...

Drone-blocking technology ‘urgently’ required at jails in England and Wales

Where to find drugs Just get yourself sentenced to prison and they’ll find you

Drug use in prisons has become normalised, the House of Commons justice committee says in a report published this morning. MPs call on the government to reintroduce regular testing in order to restore accountability and assess the extent of drug use.

rozenberg.substack.com/p/where-to-f...

Man jailed after burgling Damien Hirst’s London studio while wearing GPS ankle tag Liam Middleton-Gomm, 36, receives 32-month sentence for stealing £5,000 of goods after police traced his movements

A man has been jailed for burgling one of Damien Hirst’s studios after police traced the movements of his GPS-enabled ankle tag

There is a Chief Coroner, and I once attended a national Coroners committee (overseen by, but of course independent of, MoJ). But if these are systemic failings, their notices need to go to those responsible for the systems. Not those applying the systems.

"New data from the UK’s HM Revenue & Customs shows that the number of non-doms leaving the UK is in line with or below official forecasts, dispelling claims that recent revenue-boosting tax reforms have triggered a massive non-dom exodus"

taxjustice.net/press/hmrc-d...

#PoliticsLive

US begins troop drawdown in Romania It’s the first official acknowledgment from a NATO ally that Washington is scaling back forces on the continent.

The United States has begun downsizing its military presence in Europe, Romania’s defense ministry confirmed today.

Sterling, important work here by the estimable @mentalhealthcop.bsky.social on "Preventing Further Death" coronial reports.

British Council ‘selling everything it can’ to survive Cultural body plans more job cuts, sale of assets and closure in 35 countries to stave off ‘financial peril’

Literally one of the greatest soft power brands on planet earth driven into the ground by successive British governments that embrace failure, decline and irrelevance.

on.ft.com/3Wq1XIT

A memento of his time in the marines, a skull and crossbones, where’s the harm in that? Just not that particular design of skull and crossbones- and while posted to the Balkans too

Companies supplying asylum housing on track for record profits Three accommodation suppliers hired by Home Office have already made £383 million in profits since their contracts were signed in 2019

The companies contracted by the Home Office to provide asylum accommodation are on course for another record-breaking year of profits ⬇️

Your daily reminder that the government continues to commercially support an individual who wants to destroy it through fascist violence.

Some seem to be so obscurely coded that the only appeal can be because they know what the code means

In the last few days, the Times has had to delete two stories. One because someone pretended to be former Mayor Bill de Blasio to a reporter and one because they wrote up nonsense about Torsten Bell's expenses.

Needs a new editor badly.

Danny Shaw and the Institute for Government point out that Theresa May's splitting of operations and policy in the Home Office is now not seen as a good idea. Nick Timothy (now a critic too) was her special adviser.

#R4Today

‘Do you have any friends in the IRA?’: how Russia’s hybrid war is sowing chaos across Europe The trail from a Normandy pig farm has helped expose Russia’s campaign of sabotage across Europe aimed at inflaming division, spreading fear and weakeing support for Ukraine

A fascinating long read by @naomiohreally.bsky.social

www.irishtimes.com/world/europe...

Tattoo fixers on removing Nazi symbols: ‘You don’t know if they’re changing or hiding’ Senate hopeful Graham Platner covered up his tattoo once he learned of its Nazi associations. It’s a problem so common there are free programs for it

“There’s a big concern of: [are they] changing or hiding?”

Judge ramps up pressure on Bart De Wever over fragile rule of law in Belgium Underfunding of the Belgian judicial system must be fixed to fight drug-fueled violence and corruption, Antwerp justice warns in blunt intervention.

Prime Minister Bart De Wever needs to get serious about the fraying rule of law in Belgium, a top judge said today.

Organised crime making millions from illegal waste dumping in UK, says committee Peers say ‘woeful’ record on prosecutions has led to a ‘low-risk, high-reward’ criminal culture

As a result of the lack of effective enforcement, organised criminals were well established in a sector they see as a “low-risk opportunity to make large sums of money” and where “there is little chance of criminals being brought to justice”

It's 23 April 1940 ... and the House of Commons is debating whether refugees fleeing Hitler should be interned oh ... and whether Oswald Mosley.... the leader of the British Union of Fascists....is a fascist.

After all - he had once been a minister of the Crown.

USA 11th Province of Canada anyone?

MI5 and MI6 fail to co-operate, redacted Home Office report found An inquiry that prompted Shabana Mahmood to say department is ‘not fit for purpose’ also warned GCHQ and security services were failing to keep pace with threats

‘The report also found the home secretary spent “an hour a day” considering an estimated 4,000 warrants to allow MI5 and the National Crime Agency (NCA) to use invasive powers such as phone tapping and internet tracking’

Chart showing the number of prisoners released in error per year The number fluctuates between about 30 and 70 from 2006-2007 to 2021-2022. Explanatory text Releases in error A prisoner is released in error if they are wrongly discharged from a prison or court when they should have remained in custody, where the prisoner has not deliberately played a part in the error (i.e. the prisoner had no intent of escaping). Examples include misplaced warrants for imprisonment or remand, recall notices not acted upon, sentence miscalculation or discharging the wrong person on escort. The data source for this measure and more detailed information can be found in the HM prison and probation service annual digest publication - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmpps-annual-digest-april-2024-to-march-2025

Chart showing the rise and fall in the numbers of prison staff and prisoners in public sector prisons in England and Wales The number of prison staff falls sharply between 2010 and 2014, rises quickly between 2017 and 2019, then rises again in 2024, but remains lower than it was in 2010. The number of prisoners remains fairly constant between 2010 and 2017, falls slowly until 2021, then rises to be a little above the 2010 level in 2024.

Chart showing the changing level of experience in prison staff in England and Wales The basic message is that there are fewer experienced staff (ten or more years) and more inexperienced staff (three years or less) in 2024 than there were in 2010.

Two charts showing the number of prisoners in England and Wales 1. Scotland, and England and Wales have the highest imprisonment rates in Western Europe - nearly three times the rate in Norway, for example. 2. The prison population in England and Wales has risen by 93% in the last 30 years, to 86,038 in 2024. It is predicted to rise by around 10,000 people by 2027.

England and Wales

1. Prisoners released in error
data.justice.gov.uk/prisons/addi...

2. Number of prisoners and prison staff
3. Changing experience of prison staff
4. Imprisonment rates
prisonreformtrust.org.uk/wp-content/u...