Graham Simpson

Trump national security strategy calls for ‘cultivating resistance’ in Europe and changing US’ role in Western Hemisphere | CNN Politics The White House quietly released President Donald Trump’s new national security strategy late Thursday, a 33-page document that elevates his “America First” doctrine and sets out the administration’s ...

Trump’s policy toward Europe prioritizes “cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations” It praises the growing influence of “patriotic European parties". - In other words parties of the far right! Trump is a threat to Europe!
www.cnn.com/2025/12/05/p...

Crafted for one man - this was a World Cup draw like no other This was a World Cup draw like no other. Crafted less for the teams but for one man.

“Trump was lavished with the adulation he craves by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and feels others unfairly deny him. Knowing how much being overlooked by the Nobel Committee hurt Trump, there was FIFA's newly-created Peace Prize and a medal for him to wear” 🤔
news.sky.com/story/crafte...

Donald Trump awarded FIFA peace prize at World Cup draw World football's governing body, which announced the annual award last month, said it would be given to "individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace".

A total joke!
news.sky.com/story/donald...

David Lammy on @newsagents.bsky.social:

"It's self evident that leaving the European Union badly damaged our economy, took us out of an important marketplace and created serious friction,"

"that untruths were being peddled, by those that thought exiting the EU would be a good thing."

UK-EU youth mobility scheme could let tens of thousands live and work abroad Ministers want to secure deal by end of 2026 as part of a broader reset of Britain’s relationship with Europe

When we were in the EU this was automatic! We could all live, work, retire in the whole continent we share! Brexit was an act of national self harm…
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Elon Musk's X fined €120m over 'deceptive' blue ticks The European Commission says the social media site is opening its users up to scams and impersonations.

The European Commission said by allowing people to pay for a blue verified check mark on their profile, X "deceives users" because the firm is not "meaningfully verifying" who is behind the account - They are right to fine Musk!
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Elon Musk's X fined €120m over 'deceptive' blue ticks The European Commission says the social media site is opening its users up to scams and impersonations.

More of this please EU 👍
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Starmer needs to find the courage to follow his arguments about the failures and costs of Brexit to their logical conclusion. His recent foreign policy speech fell short by continuing to gloss over hard truths, and pretend Britain can keep muddling through.

YouTube video by TNT The West Wing: Vinick Accepts the Republican Nomination [CLIP] | TNT

A universe away from current Trumpian politics.
youtu.be/WFrB48PUFeM?...

Ultimately we need a united Europe if we are to stand up to the likes of Trump and Putin. A geo political necessity.

Good points

Brexit ‘badly damaged’ our economy says David Lammy, the deputy prime minister also says rejoining the EU customs union would boost economic growth. More and more people are realising the sky doesn’t fall in when you tell the truth about Brexit!

The tide is turning. Let’s hope!

REP. HIMES: “The video was enormously disturbing… the example given in the DOD manual is of shipwrecked sailors. You do not kill them.”

Daisy Cooper, "In 2017 there was not a single asylum seeker that arrived on a boat"

"Today we have 46,000 a year"

"And do you know why?"

"Brexit"

"Pushed through by Boris Johnson and championed by Nigel Farage"

*audience erupts in applause" #BBCQT

Exclusive: Survivors clinging to capsized boat didn’t radio for backup, admiral overseeing double-tap strike tells lawmakers | CNN Politics The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications device...

No legal process, no evidence, just the American military murdering people on the high seas. Even survivors in the water were summarily killed.
www.cnn.com/2025/12/04/p...

As ever, a split progressive vote could hand the No 10 keys to Farage at the next GE. Unless, of course, Starmer finally realises we need to upgrade our democracy. #FairVotes

This is not trickle down economics!

Zia Yusuf - the unelected multimillionaire policy chief of Reform - makes his fourth Question Time appearance tonight.

The party has five MPs

All the Starmer sycophancy towards Trump has been rewarded with a 25% increase in the cost of new medicines costing the NHS billions.

Unfortunately Anand is probably correct. Labour under Starmer doesn’t appear to have anything meaningful to say about our future relationship with the EU beyond some tinkering at the edges.

Robert Ford of the University of Manchester calls FPTP “a destabilisation mechanism. It is a volatility amplifier.”

With lovely viz by @rospearce.bsky.social and analysis by @matthewholehouse.bsky.social.

Plus @robfordmancs.bsky.social's verdict on a creaking system: www.economist.com/interactive/...

Welcome to slot-machine Britain! Our cover this week is on First Past the Post, the voting system that turns multi-party politics into a lottery.

Featuring our new modelling of British elections: www.economist.com/interactive/...

Excellent to see this from The Economist. We are slow walking into a constitutional crisis driven by the electoral system, and very few people are taking it seriously enough yet.

Still trying to be relevant…

Our new model captures the lottery of Britain’s electoral system Similar results, our data analysis shows, can yield strikingly different outcomes

🎰 “When First Past the Post collides with multiparty competition, the electoral slot machine spins into operation”

⚠️ A stark warning from the @economist.com that the “unfairness of FPTP could undermine the legitimacy of the governments it produces”

Crypto investor donates record £9m to Reform UK The sum from Christopher Harborne is the largest ever single donation by a living person to a British political party.

Crypto investor donates record £9m to Reform UK - Naturally he doesn’t live or pay taxes in the UK…
www.bbc.com/news/article...

A decade of Brexit: Britain falls behind peers in trade and growth Economic analysis shows UK GDP per capita grew up to 10% less than similar nations as firms froze spending and productivity slipped.

We estimate that by the start of 2025, the UK economy was approximately 8% smaller than it would have been without Brexit, based on macro data, and 6% smaller using firm-level micro data”

www.euronews.com/business/202...

Trump uses the military and economic strength of the United States to bully other countries into silence when he commits illegal acts. If there was ever a lesson for Europe to learn this is it. We need to be strong to face down bullies in the White House, the Kremlin or elsewhere.