Midweek Update #7: The Most Corrupt War In US History Trump Is Passing The Initiative To Iran; Oil Markets, Watch Out If They Lose Their Optimism

Hi all, just sent out free midweek update on USA-Iran. Normally bad superlatives are used about war--the worst, the most destructive, etc. These are rarely warranted. However in this case we have one superlative, we are witnessing the most corrupt war in US history. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

Telegraph newspaper editorial on Mandelson's appointment in December 2024 versus editorial today

Sir Olly Robbins will have to have very good answers as to why he didn’t provide the PM with sufficient information to correct the record at the earliest opportunity.

Thanks @samfr.bsky.social for y’dad’s fascinating report on Ukraine drone evolution. Let’s hope Ukraine can keep the edge as it faces more technological twists and turns.

Brilliant talk this morning by @chloechallender.bsky.social on her excellent research on divorce by Act of Parliament, its voyeurism and theatricality, and experience of women inc as petitioners, respondents, witnesses.

Except they still depict him as a functional actor here.

If this were anyone else it'd be a 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 story about how the President can't or won't focus on the war he started, which narrative might force the GOP to do something about it.

I was already worried about Trump’s mental decline—it just got worse In the past week alone, the US president has depicted himself as Jesus and picked a row with the pope

Last week I suggested that maybe Donald Trump was not quite all there. I would like to revise that opinion. I think he may be what we used to call stark raving bonkers. app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/73055/...

MPs in World War I: Dr. John Esmonde (1862-1915) - The History of Parliament Today marks the 100th anniversary of the third MP who died fighting in the First World War, and the second this week. Continuing our series of short

Today marks 111 years since John Joseph Esmonde, MP for North Tipperary, died whilst serving in the First World War.

In an article for #HistParl, Dr Kathryn Rix reflected on his life and career as one of the few medical doctors in the Commons.

So now it's all about stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

PPOB: "[T]he US had an agreement negotiated by the Obama Administration (JCPOA) which had as its purpose delaying any Iranian nuclear program".

Remember NAFTA rebranded as USMCA and declared to be completely new and superior?

University of Exeter and University of Cambridge Libraries & Archives - Collections Connections Communities

Fantastic PhD studentship opportunity - Spitting Image: political satire in Britain in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Working across @exeter.ac.uk and @theul.bsky.social in partnership with the @camglamresearch.bsky.social and drawing on the Roger Law archive.

#PhDsky

"Batra was moved through various holding cells for 24 hours without food or water... she remains there without access to the consistent medical care she needs following surgeries she had in December. Within days of being in the facility, she caught a respiratory illness"

Peter McLagan (1823-1900): Scotland’s first Black MP This is the first article in a new series for the Victorian Commons on Peter McLagan (1823-1900), by Dr Martin Spychal, Senior Research Fellow on our House of Commons 1832-1868 project. McLagan was…

Later this month we will have a new article from @martinspychal.bsky.social as part of his series on Peter McLagan, Scotland's first Black MP. Here's a reminder of Martin's first article on McLagan and the process of researching his background: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2025/06/12/p...

ICYMI: 11 days left to apply for this fully funded PhD at UCL with me and @jameselder.bsky.social working on BT's extraordinary film collection – which records the birth of the information society. For details and how to apply: www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanit...

Excellent article.

David Gauke: If you're looking for radical economic reform from Reform, think again | Conservative Home For all the hope of bringing renewed dynamism to the British economy, Reform UK will not have assembled a pro-growth electoral coalition. The country may well need a brave and radical government, but ...

If you’re looking for radical economic reform from Reform, think again. My piece for ConHome. conservativehome.com/2026/04/13/d...

Long analysis of how Magyar rose ahead of Orbán - and what’s at stake for Putin & Trump if Magyar wins.

👉 mikegalsworthy.substack.com/p/why-an-orb...

The Iran War Showed a New Side of Pope Leo Don’t call him the quiet pope anymore.

Pope Leo “may not be Trump’s greatest opponent, as some of the president’s critics had hoped,” Francis X. Rocca argues. “But neither is he the quiet bystander that the president’s supporters might have wished him to be.”

Wonderful news

Mo Mowlam and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement - The History of Parliament 25 years ago this month the basis for peace in Northern Ireland – the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement – was signed after years of painstaking negotiations.

On 10 April 1998, the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement was signed, a major development in the Northern Ireland peace process. One of the crucial figures in the agreement was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam.

Read Dr Emma Peplow's article for more on Mowlam's impact.

He got the big one right And his critics got it wrong

He may be about to get hammered in the local elections but Starmer got the big one right.
open.substack.com/pub/davidaar...

I’m not so sure about the headline claim, though. The issue is not whether autocrats can be beaten electorally as whether they can be removed entirely from power, and post-2023 Poland shows that this is not easy. Hungary will be even harder.

The events of the last few hours, written down in one place, by the great chronicler of the US @hcrichardson.bsky.social

If Trump commits war crimes in Iran, he can be prosecuted | Kenneth Roth There is no question that Trump’s threats, if carried out, would amount to war crimes. The international justice system is positioned to act

If Trump commits war crimes in Iran, he can be prosecuted | Kenneth Roth

‘If he’d stayed on the golf course, we’d be in a better place’: experts on Trump’s tariffs, one year on Last April, the president unleashed a tidal wave of tariffs on ‘liberation day’. Analysts say the policy has failed, even by the Trump administration’s own terms

‘If he’d stayed on the golf course, we’d be in a better place’: experts on Trump’s tariffs, one year on

Trump Is Doing Structural Damage to American Intelligence The issue isn’t just his disregard for facts. It’s that he’s reshaping the government in his image.

Tremendously important article by @johnsipher.bsky.social in The Bulwark. The damage that Trump is doing to the US IC is deeper and more profound than you might understand. He is changing its very structure. www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-is-d...

The US-Israel war on Iran is accelerating de-dollarization and America’s decline | Ahmed Moor De-dollarization promises to reorder the world, reducing American power globally

The US-Israel war on Iran is accelerating de-dollarization and America’s decline | Ahmed Moor

Dressing the part: robes ancient and modern - The History of Parliament Dr Robin Eagles considers the symbolism of the robes worn by members of the House of Lords both in Parliament and at coronations...

New post from the Georgian Lords this morning by Robin Eagles (not an April Fool), on the role of robes ancient and modern in the House of Lords...
historyofparliament.com/2026/04/01/r...