James Holderness 🇺🇦

Political nerd | Banker | Ketchup enthusiast

[Nick Tyrone @NicholasTyrone]

I find this viewpoint on Polanski baffling. From my view, I mostly see Polanski attacking other politicians in vitriolic terms, constantly. Fair enough, that’s politics, but pretending he has this pure message of love just seems out of touch with reality.

[Luke Tryl @LukeTryl]

So much of the analysis of should Starmer stay vs go or who should replace him starts from Kremlinology or factionalism rather than what are the public looking for from government and what could restore the public's confidence in government's ability to do good stuff, that improves people's lives

Whoever the individual in No10, most broadly want three things:

1. To know Government is in control, run with determination to address the big challenges they face and that Britain faces - Affordability (above all else), decent services, controlled immigration, an ability to manage geo politics and threats.

Part of the reason u-turns have been damaging is not that people never want govt to change it's mind - but because it's made govt look like it isn't in control

2. To know there's a vision for a better Britain, that struggles and stagnation since the financial crash aren't the new normal. That the system can be 'derigged', that contribution can and will be rewarded.

It's the reason the now forgotten Rose Garden speech hurt because it looked like more of the same, ditto freebies and Mandelson scandal just seems to confirm everything most people thought about rigged system

3. An end to the politics of chaos/drama and a realisation of a 'politics that treads more lightly' and is focused on the things that people care about. A sense govt is a team united behind 1 and 2.

Right now most think politics is as chaotic as its been and it won't ever go back to normal.

As I said yesterday faith in government to actually do this stuff is at a low. But for the public they're the basic expectations of what government should be able to do - and rebuilding that confidence is vital to faith in the system more broadly.

For that reason rather than Kremlinology answer to Starmer's future imo should be first and foremost can he now deliver on those or can someone else?

[Kamala Harris @KamalaHarris]

I am deeply disturbed by the shooting in Utah. Doug and I send our prayers to Charlie Kirk and his family.

Let me be clear: Political violence has no place in America. I condemn this act, and we all must work together to ensure this does not lead to more violence.

[Gavin Newsom @GavinNewsom]

The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.

[Tom Wilson 🇺🇦 @feedthedrummer]

The Government needs to hold its nerve in the Lords and push forward with the Planning Bill the Commons passed. There is too much riding on the Government hitting its ambitious housing targets and unlocking planning to make concessions that would block house building.

[James Holderness 🇺🇦 @JamesHolderness]

Look forward to Boris Johnson’s latest missive on how Trump is actually a friend to Ukraine and the west.

[James Holderness 🇺🇦 @JamesHolderness]

Similarly, we cannot in 2025 continually embolden evil actors to further their wicked aims solely to “avoid war” and not acknowledge the cost that action may bring.

[James Holderness 🇺🇦 @JamesHolderness]

Very few people want that to happen again.

But the counterfactual of not fighting WW2 is even worse to imagine - a continent subjugated under genocidal Nazi rule.

Sometimes we have to choose the least bad option.

We cannot act as if only war has downsides.

[Eleanora (Stats for Lefties) 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ @LeftieStats]

To follow up on this: the last time that the European powers went to war, 85 million people were killed.

I do not want that to happen again.

[James Holderness 🇺🇦 @JamesHolderness]

I would hope most people, particularly a self-described “Leftie”, would see Allied participation WW2 as the right course of action, despite its cost.

[David Frum @davidfrum]

Can we also keep in mind that while Zelenskyy like Churchill 1940-45 postponed elections, Trump in peacetime tried to overturn by violence an election he lost - and has since pardoned all the co-conspirators in his attempted coup?

[preLights @preLights]

Stepping back in time: using machine learning to classify dinosaur footprints 🐾🦖

Highly entertaining preLight from Ryan Harrison covering recent work from @IvoSiekmann & team @ljmufet @dcc_ufmg @LJMU_BES.

Includes a discussion with the authors! ⬇️ 👀

https://t.co/owdDhBO5zP

[Selina Wang @selinawangtv]

Donors, surrogates, and campaign aides I’ve spoken to this morning have told me they’re “shocked”, calling the results a “bloodbath”, “awful” and “pretty f****** brutal.”

Several have said that there’s nothing Harris could’ve done differently – that she did the best she could’ve with the cards she was dealt.

One campaign aide telling me the fundamentals were “really bad”. The swing towards Trump was so large that “this clearly wasn’t about individual campaign decisions.” This source adding that most incumbent parties in the world lost post-covid.

[Lewis Goodall @lewis_goodall]

Ironies abound with Trump, as ever. Mitch McConnell has been one of the most stalwart GOP supporters of Ukraine in the Senate. That aid will likely stop now. McConnell could have moved to convict Trump post Jan 6th and bar him from office forever more. He chose not to do so. Kyiv will pay the price.

[William Hague @WilliamJHague]

Trump is a serious danger and we all need him to lose.

[George Eaton @georgeeaton]

Don’t focus on tuition fees, focus on the 37% marginal rate paid by graduates earning £27k and the 57% rate paid by those earning £50k (plus interest).

[James Holderness 🇺🇦 @JamesHolderness]

@McDonaldsUK why is it your policy that if you miss out key items of my order you won’t send them but instead expect me to pay a second set of delivery fees?

[Downton Abbey @DowntonAbbey]

A true British icon. Thank you for everything, Dame Maggie Smith.

[Robert Saunders @redhistorian]

Labour should certainly do this. Allowing a few thousand unelected, unaccountable party members - who are democratically answerable to nobody - to appoint a prime minister is fundamentally anti-democratic.

The power should be restored to elected representatives, where it belongs

[Robert Saunders @redhistorian]

On the "legitimate concerns" thing: it's not about the concerns, it's about the methods.

In a democracy, we pursue our concerns by voting, talking, arguing & campaigning.

Not by burning buildings & launching pogroms.

That's terrorism. And democracy must always stand against it

[James O'Malley @Psythor]

As an extremely rich crypto guy, I've discovered that I don't like being regulated, so I've decided to rationalise my naked self-interest and throw my lot in with the authoritarian kleptocrat.