Nick Stone

Lots of politics, plenty of travel, public transport geek & delving into the Eurovision Song Contest. My views are my own. Retweets not always endorsements.

[Annette Dittert  @annettedittert]

Very good editorial by the Guardian.
Starmer needs to address the dangerous mechanism of far right violence being normalised online to then be spread on the streets. What happened in Belfast has nothing to do with protest against anything.
It's racist extremism.

[John Simpson @JohnSimpsonNews]

A depressing milestone: the First World War lasted 1568 days, but today (11 June) Putin’s invasion of Ukraine enters its 1569th day, with no sign of coming to an end.  Donald Trump thought it would be so easy to stop, he could do it on his first day as US President.

[David Henig 🇺🇦 @DavidHenigUK]

Well yes, the choices of government that nobody has wanted to make for many years. And this is Starmer, but it is also Sunak, Truss, Johnson, and Farage and Badenoch as well. All worship at the church of the magic money tree. A cult of collective denial hanging over UK politics.

[(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges]

OK, this is getting silly. Keir Starmer needs to set out a timetable for his departure, and he needs to do it now. This farce cannot continue.

[Chris Smith @renewablesmiffy]

@DamianLow3 Millions of Americans and English talking about a place they have no knowledge of and have never been to and never will do.

[Damian Low @DamianLow3]

Looking at the online reaction to the Belfast disorder, one thing stands out.

Some of the most influential voices shaping the conversation were not from Belfast, did not live in the affected communities and will not deal with the consequences of what happens next.

Tommy Robinson's posts have generated 8.4 million views.

An Elon Musk repost generated a further 6.9 million.

That's a huge amount of attention being directed by people with no meaningful connection to it. This is one of social media's most distorting effects.

What appears to be a national tragedy can quickly become am nternational outrage event, driven by people who have little stake in the outcome but every incentive to maximise engagement.

That doesn't mean concerns about crime, immigration or community tensions aren't real. It means we should be far more sceptical about who is shaping these debates and why.

Because increasingly, the people most responsible for inflaming tensions have no connection to the communities living with the consequences.

[Roger Ford @Captain_Deltic]

"Will passengers soon see the difference in ticketing, in reliability, in a railway that is easier to use? Most definitely" @Heidi_Labour
"Soon" is doing some heavy lifting here. Shall be generous and say, how about in a year's time?

[Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound]

Healey's resignation is far more consequential on an issue of war and peace than Michael Heseltine's over Westland. That was about contracts, this is about whether the Treasury is going to adequately protect the country. Starmer clearly hasn't the clout to deliver what the armed forces need.

[Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound]

Former cabinet minister: 'If Starmer has any authority left, he should sack Reeves'

[Lewis Goodall @lewis_goodall]

Consequences

1) makes even slimmer chance of PM surviving a Makerfield win for Burnham. Reeves surviving as Chancellor less probable too. Doesn’t get worse politically than your Defence Sec accusing you of leaving country vulnerable to attack, however fair.
2) places defence even higher up agenda. Pressure will be on Burnham to pledge more, placing even greater pressure on spending.
3) internationally deeply awkward for Starmer. Trump/White House certain to notice.
4) makes any discussion about the WHAT we need not just how much % of gdp even harder to have.

[Ben Riley-Smith @benrileysmith]

The impact of John Healey’s dramatic resignation in the short term is I think this…

- Much harder to see how the defence investment plan now gets published before Makerfield by-election on Thursday. Is Starmer really politically strong enough now to secure approval for a deeply controversial settlement plan before would-be PM Burnham’s election?

- The defence secretary job now risks being a poisoned chalice. A severely weakened PM now has to find someone to step into the role and sign up to proposals the predecessor has publicly said leave the UK vulnerable and insecure, while knowing the Starmer project might be over in a few weeks

- The likelihood of Starmer going if Burnham wins Makerfield just went up another notch. His allies are briefing he’ll fight Burnham and sack ministers who back his rival. But the PM has just lost one of his most senior cabinet ministers and stands accused of not doing enough to protect Britain - the most fundamental requirement for leading the country. So an already weakened PM just became even weaker.

- Rachel Reeves’s hopes of remaining Chancellor if Burnham wins, already slim given she is so closely associated with the Starmer premiership, also have just taken a big knock. Would a man who promises sweeping ‘change’ keep in the Treasury someone publicly accused by a cabinet colleague of slights of hand that will leave Britain unprotected? The argument would be she’s needed to placate markets and show fiscal responsibility but will that wash?

In short: A hammer blow for the credibility of a Prime Minister already hanging on to office by the fingernails.

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

BREAKING: John Healey resigns as defence secretary over military spending plans

[Nick Stone @EuropeanNick]

@sweety412527 The owners of Facebook need to stop this account from spreading their lies.

[Sophy Ridge @SophyRidgeSky]

Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley very strong on scenes in Belfast:

"I was watching a bit of the news last night, and I can't remember what channel it was, but a journalist was talking about 'these protesters.'

"I thought, that isn't a protest. People are setting fire to cars. That's not a protest. That's violent disorder, that's criminality. I really feel for Northern Ireland colleagues who are wrestling with that. It's really, really difficult.

"We live in these volatile times and, some of what goes on online whips up, sentiment on the street.

"We know that Russian state actors, Iranian state actors, they want to sow discord on the streets of the UK. So this is a really complex issue we're wrestling with. So you've got very polarised debates in the UK, and you've got other people overseas who want to drive wedge issues to create disorder, and you've got the great men and women of Police Service Northern Ireland on the streets in the middle of that, trying to sort of protect people and stop people burning down houses and things. It's awful."

[GB Politics @GBPolitcs]

🚨NEW: A leaked constituency-wide poll in Makerfield shows Andy Burnham leading with 35%, followed by Reform UK on 24% and Restore Britain on 13%

About 17% of voters remain undecided, according to the leaked poll

[@kitty_donaldson]

[Saffron Sniper @Saffron_Sniper1]

How quickly a tsunami can go from bad to worse 🤯

[Simon Kuestenmacher @simongerman600]

Force yourself to watch this 30 second animated map. We see four years of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

Map Source: https://t.co/9E4j49SLki

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

Keir Starmer’s fight for survival…

“He might be increasingly defiant, but it is like a dog barking in an empty room,” one insider said. “Eventually its owner is going to come back home and kick it out.”

My read with @jessicaelgot & @kiranstacey

https://t.co/NUZJQRytip

[The Transport Hub @transporthub21]

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of Network Southeast in 1986.

The new brand was under the leadership of former British Rail Scottish Region manager Chris Green, who aimed to deliver improved service quality and better presented stations and trains.

[Steven Swinford @Steven_Swinford]

Breaking:

Douglas Alexander has admitted that he asked Lord Mandelson to name a 'trade policy expert' who could assist him when he was minister of trade and security

Mandelson at the time was chairman of Global Counsel, the lobbying company he founded. Mandelson recommended a former official from the European Commission who now worked at... Global Counsel

Alexander met the indiviudal on 31st July, 2024. He says that the meeting covered global trade policy and there was 'no discussoin of named businesses or of any ongoing role for Global Counsel'

But the meeting was not publicly declared. Alexander says he delegated responsibility for this to his officials who did not do so.

We only know of the meeting because it came up in the Humble Address. Otherwise the only record of it would have remained buried in the bowels of Whitehall somewhere

Keir Starmer says that while the 'administrative oversight was regrettable', Alexander has acted 'appropriately' in flagging the issue. 'I consider no further action to be needed'