LeoCrusher

MELANIE PHILLIPS Peter Mandelson trawl risks becoming a witch-hunt Ugly impulse to expose anyone who had dealings with the disgraced politician rests on guilt by association Melanie Phillips Monday February 09 2026, 7.12pm GMT, The Times < Share W hen Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons that the information he could release about appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US was limited by protection of national security and international relations, there was uproar. The prime minister was subsequently forced to accept that all communications between Mandelson and the government should be handed to parliament's intelligence and security committee (ISC) to decide what to publish. The outrage was understandable. It is reasonable to assume that, by definition, the government can't be trusted to do the right thing on a matter like this. So the ISC route seemed an appropriate way of dealing with it. Several days on, however, and with the crisis continuing to accelerate, concerns about the scope of these disclosures are also increasing. Lord Ricketts, former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, has said that, while it is right to make public all documents relating to Mandelson's appointment, the IS's requirements include disclosure of all electronic communications between Mandelson, ministers, officials and special advisers during his time as ambassador.

Psycho Mel is first out with this one and she won’t even be the last at that paper, never mind elsewhere, but this should indicate how insulting and despicable it is.

I don’t want to jump to conclusions here but it sure does look like the government maliciously designated citizens as terrorists and then vexatiously detained hundreds of protestors on spurious political grounds, deliberately, as PR for continuing to facilitate the most serious war crimes. Seems bad

No one went to Stephen Hawking’s time traveller’s party because they didn’t want to end up in the Epstein files.

Where's your Sun-Ra and Fela Kuti?

Home Office @ukhomeoffice Follow Illegal migrants living in hotels have been banned from using taxpayer-funded taxis for medical appointments. Under new rules, taxi use for medical journeys will be restricted to individuals with physical disabilities and serious or chronic illnesses. ... TP + ILLEGAL MIGRANTS BANNED FROM USING TAXIS FOR MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS

Home Offi... @ukhomeoffi... • Feb 6 The largest number of illegal migrants and foreign criminals have been removed or deported off British soil in a decade. - NEARLY - 60000 ILLEGAL MIGRANTS CRIMINALS REMOVED OR DEPORTED

Any time I look to see what the Labour government is up to in the UK it turns out to be things like making posters that Alfonso Cuarón put in the background of the long tracking shot that opens “Children of Men”.

The kids are alright!

It is getting very boring being told that "the youth love reform on tiktok" with absolutely no evidence whatsoever.

Cory Doctorow: "America is not great. It has been gutted by the Epstein class, who robbed us blind, raped our kids, and are now selling us shitcoins and chatbots and the spectacle of protesters being shot in the streets."

Another banger here:

People currently spluttering that you can't criticise Starmer for things Peter Mandelson did are the same people who spent several years treating antisemitic tweets from anonymous 50-follower accounts like they were press releases direct from Labour head office.

They made you play Catan for 6 hours!!

Punk's Dead, You're Next!

Use your words

Oh no, I did know about the other thing... I'm going back to drinking...

I like the chubby little quar fellas - thankfully no idea what the other stuff is about...

An aside, but why the fuck are all these people still on X?

Yeah, surprisingly great this one!

A screenshot of a podcast player featuring an episode of "General Witchfinders." The cover art shows a close-up of a man in Victorian-style clothing wearing a metal contraption on his head, his face contorted in a grimace. Below the image, the text reads "General Witchfinders" in a stylized, gothic white font against a black background. The episode title displayed is "66 - The Asphyx (1972)" and the release date is listed as 7 February.

🎙️New Episode Day!

Scientists discover a way to capture spirits and contain them. No, it’s not Ghostbusters... it’s The Asphyx.

The only movie you’ll see this year featuring an immortal guinea pig that kills a woman with a guillotine.🐹👻

Help us spread the word! Please repost.

tinyurl.com/MyAsphyx

Well, someone's got to

They might have spent rather less time criminalizing grannies, plotting more punitive measures towards refugees, and so on...

It’s so cruel - and what next? People are housed in hotels (& barracks) often out of town, bus routes are scarce & the weekly allowance is pitiful. Charities can step in, but are people now just going to get sick? What is the plan here?

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Wild innit!

Sure, but the need for big L shapes or whatever descends from the way the terrain rules work. They could stop hanging on to true line of sight and half the issues would vanish.

There's nothing preventing the design team writing some decent terrain rules? They've been bad for a long time...

I'm old enough to remember when the mere suggestion Mandelson was doing anything remotely like this was unforgivably disgusting antisemitism.

It's not a good time for princes, that's for sure

I don't like to be judgemental, but being forced to resign in disgrace twice should bar you from any role that requires morals and judgement

i am trying not to joke about the Epstein stuff because it's so horrible but there's also this ridiculous element where it's like... discovering Dracula is real, he's taken over human society at the highest levels, he's involved in tons of evil and also he's a huge dipshit