An important piece from Ben Gerstein for @justsecurity.org on the aggressive efforts of Russian-backed Bosnian Serb secessionist Dodik to court support among the international far right for his effort to destabilize Bosnia and the whole Western Balkans. www.justsecurity.org/136681/bosni...
Terrible news. Giles was an excellent person on housing law and always generous with his time. He'll be missed.
What a delight to guest on one of my favourite pods, @overunderpod.bsky.social with the brilliant @carysafoko.bsky.social. We talked Strait of Hormuz, Melania Trump, the maternity crisis and Telegraph sale. Prizes for guessing which were overs and which were unders
overunderpod.com/episodes/str...
I'm truly not sure which is worse. If Keir Starmer was informed and is lying about it or that he is so absent as PM that important decisions are taken for him by officials. At least lying about what he knew, while intolerable, would show there is someone in charge and taking an interest.
I'm most read on the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social site. Apparently prostate cancer policy is more interesting than yet more proof that the political system is broken:
www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/20...
Today's newsletter: although of the three scenarios that would explain 'he's failed his developed vetting - oh well!', only one is traditionally a resigning matter, all three reveal a man either unwilling or unfit to do the actual job of prime minister.
Anyone else finding the Palantir campaign in Playbook a bit on the nose?
It's @prospectmagazine.co.uk pod day, and this week @ellenhalliday.bsky.social and I spoke with
@trillingual.bsky.social about his excellent new book, which is all about how the British establishment made the far right respectable www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/podcasts/pro...
My analysis of the fiscal impact of the "earned settlement" proposals, based on government's own data.
The direct savings are a fraction of the Home Secretary's misleading claims, and likely to be offset by the substantial costs of lower work-related migration.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Journalists know that losing the Wayback Machine would be a nightmare: www.wired.com/story/the-in...
I know this is me still mourning a long dead world but it does feel remarkable that, not that long ago, British papers on the right would have run editorials and columns arguing that Hungary showed that only a solid, reliable centre-right party could defeat dangerous populists, but now? [crickets]
They say you notice doctors getting younger as you get older, well my (younger) friend's younger brother is now a therapist. He's basically short-circuited the standard Millennial career path.
A trial of controversial live facial recognition technology that scanned thousands of faces and cost tens of thousands of pounds produced no matches, The Detail can reveal.
Passengers travelling from Dublin to Holyhead were scanned in February as part of a UK immigration enforcement pilot.
This is no shade on the journos, who don't get to decide who sponsors a company product.
Palantir sponsoring Playbook this morning had me 👀
Greens are more electorally savvy, targeted (and ruthless) than you think. They‘re not going to give up a successful political strategy.
Post-Corbyn, those university towns came back into play, and since 2024, Labour-dominated inner cities.
Greens changed tactics and foused on advancing in Conservative areas in more rural areas, taking advantage of the Lib Dem 2015-17 collapse.
That strategy came under pressure once Labour went into opposition and moreso in the Corbyn era as those university towns went decisively Labour.
The “Greens ignoring their traditional core” critique both odd and (imo) seems bad faith. From the late 90s to 2010, Greens mostly expanded in Labour-voting university towns.
More people died in Israel's latest bombing of Lebanon than died in the 2020 Beirut port blast
Brilliant reporting by @rayajalabi.ft.com
as.ft.com/r/3d576d7b-9...
Public service announcement: Baban’s Naan now has a branch in Dalston called King Naan
Big Red Dwarf energy
youtu.be/LmHSPI7ZkRk
IF WE TOLERATE THIS is out on 30 April - just ahead of the elections. Come and see me talk about it...
5 May, Nottingham @fiveleavesbooks.bsky.social
fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk/events/if-we...
13 May, London
@londonreviewbookshop.co.uk
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/daniel-tri...
Hope to see you there!
This is a real cautionary tale for journalists thinking of using AI for editing/amending/adding text to their work www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...
Also, this is basically a plot point from Jo Nesbo's Occupied
