Philippe Legrain

www.gov.uk/government/s...

I see it's now fine for Conservative MPs to lie not just about the facts, but about their own party's stated policy.

Most "foreigners" on benefits have entitlement via the EU Settlement Scheme and withdrawing those rights would breach the Withdrawal Agreement (and is not Conservative policy)

I ran an experiment, simultaneously posting articles on Bluesky and X, and then testing to see how many people actually clicked and read them. The numbers on Bluesky are higher, both because the X algorithm downranks journalism, and because Bluesky attracts readers, not just shitposters.

Agreed. He often makes me question my views

Trump on Ukraine's attack on russian airbases and russia’s attack on Ukrainian cities:

“They gave Putin a reason to go and bomb the hell out of them… When I saw it, I said, here we go, now it’s going to be a strike…”

(Russia has been bombing Ukraine nonstop for over 3 years.)

Europe needs to rearm much faster How to overcome the three constraints: fiscal rules, financial borrowing power and political feasibility

Done right, eg @bruegel.bsky.social‬ EDM proposal, this could also help streamline military procurement, better integrate Europe’s fighting forces and provide a much-needed lift to Europe’s struggling economies.

Read my latest Substack essay for more.

philippelegrain.substack.com/p/europe-nee...

The best way forward is for a coalition of willing governments, both EU and non-EU (eg UK), to borrow collectively.

As investors seek alternatives to dollar assets, there's huge appetite for safe, euro-denominated bonds...

But three big constraints

1. fiscal rules (now OK in the #EU, not in the #UK)

2. financial borrowing power (fine for #Germany, less so for #France and UK)

3. political feasibility (OK for Germany & France, less so for UK; #Hungary veto at EU level)..

Three immediate priorities:

1. defend #Ukraine

2. deter #Putin

3. reduce dependence on #Trump

While this will eventually require tax rises and/or spending cuts, the best way to fund a big emergency boost to defence spending is by borrowing more for a few years...

Europe needs to rearm much faster How to overcome the three constraints: fiscal rules, financial borrowing power and political feasibility

Later this month, #NATO is set to agree targets for higher #defence spending, by some future date.

But Europe needs to rearm massively, right now.

The threat from Putin is imminent, as is the risk that Trump abandons #Europe, or betrays it. 🧵

philippelegrain.substack.com/p/europe-nee...

Merz getting out of Washington with Trump too distracted to target Brussels, Berlin or Kyiv with stupid shit is a win for Germany

Elon Musk is going to end up getting deported.

The case for using the Anti-Coercion Instrument against Russia The EU sanctions regime against Russia is threatened by a Hungarian veto. The Anti-Coercion Instrument would allow the EU to bypass Budapest.

The EU has an extensive sanctions regime against Russia - but it is constantly under threat of a veto from Hungary and Slovakia as it requires unanimity to be extended .In my latest piece I argue that the EU can overcome this by accusing Russia of economic coercion 1/n) www.cer.eu/insights/cas...

Yes, this was very powerful. This woman facing deportation after living 20 years in a Missouri town told me about cleaning an older man's house for free when his wife was sick. She spoke powerfully about her relationships with Trump voters. Now she's in jail and facing removal:

Poland’s War Against Itself | by Sławomir Sierakowski - Project Syndicate Sławomir Sierakowski considers the implications of the right-wing presidential candidate’s narrow victory.

Poles seem to have forgotten that their country once disappeared from the map of Europe; that their national security depends on competent, responsible government, @sierakowski.bsky.social writes.

There's a v big difference between US and UK/EU DEI. US used to allow/encourage positive discrimination in favour of members of disadvantaged minorities. The EU's Race Equality Directive doesn't. It permits only positive action to help members of disadvantaged groups achieve equality of opportunity

Russia shatters drone record, launches 472 UAVs at Ukraine night before Kyiv's strike on Russian airfields The mass aerial attack breaks Russia's previous record, set just last week on May 26, by over 100 drones.

This is getting somewhat lost. The night before Ukraine's drone raid, Russia conducted what was the largest drone attack on Ukraine in the war to date—and, I guess, ever—with 472 Shahed-type attack drones. Broke last week's record by 100 drones.
kyivindependent.com/russia-shatt...

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent insists US will ‘never default’ on its debt Trump administration official seeks to assuage growing investor concern over the country’s public finances

Not the most reassuring message from Scott Bessent on the risks of a US default: “We are on the warning track and we will never hit the wall”

on.ft.com/4ju6see

Let’s be real, some people prefer the artificial Biggest shock about AI is not the dire poetry it produces, but that many favour it precisely for the ways it isn’t human

I wrote this about AI. We hear a lot about the importance of the "human touch" in the age of of machine intelligence. But the depressing truth is a lot of people just love AI slop.

www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

#Trump 's global impact in one chart

It's all so farcical. Nobody could seriously believe that there's some plan here which goes step 1: cancel all foreign student visas at Harvard, step 2: ?????, step 3: increase replication rates in biology. The lie is so transparent as to be insulting.

One issue is that the Eu is offering a first class top of the line FTA. No tariff barriers. But Trump is not interested in traditional FTAs. He wants discriminatory, sectoral deals and purchases. /1

Trump’s attack on Harvard won’t make America great again- a personal FT oped from @jasonfurman.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/da83...

The #EU should stay calm and ignore the blowhard's bullying. If #Trump wants to inflict pain on Americans by taxing those who buy EU products, let him suffer the consequences. He'll eventually back down #TradeWar

Tuesday's @thetimes.com cartoon times.newsprints.co.uk/morten-morla...

🚨 My book "In Our Interest: How Democracies Can Make Immigration Popular" is finally out today with
@ColumbiaUP! 🚨

It tackles one of the biggest challenges today: How can we make freer human mobility between countries more politically sustainable? 🧵

What are migrant "dependants" doing?

Last week's fascinating Home Office research has some answers - confirming that most are working (as @migobs.bsky.social & I have been pointing out for some time).

[NB these are *minimum* estimates]

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Tidligere utenriksminister: Vi trenger en nordisk forsvarsunion med atomvåpen - Altinget En nordisk forsvarsunion med atomvåpen er ikke bare en drøm – det er en strategisk nødvendighet som kan avskrekke fiender, stabilisere Norden og sementere Nordens posisjon som en sterk, selvstendig ak...

Not only has the idea of a Nordic bomb become a casual topic on Swedish morning radio, but now also a Danish ex-foreign minister calls for a Nordic defence union with own nuclear weapons - as strategic necessity.

"directly decreases GDP per capita" in the same way that Bill Gates walking into a bar directly increases the average income. This kind of elementary arithmetic fallacy should have no place in public life