George Simkin

Fairly liberal, centre-left(ish), Lib Dem.
Header picture is a sunset on Mars taken by NASA's Spirit Rover. Quote by Scroobius Pip.

[BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking]

Russia was behind arson attacks targeting UK PM Keir Starmer, BBC reveals
https://t.co/xTQuLCVNDa

[Scott Bryan @scottygb]

BBC: “What was your screen time?”

Student: “Nine hours.”

BBC: “You’re gong to have a lot more time to fill. What will you do?”

Student: “Stare at a wall.”

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Sky News has verified 152 of those killed when a US missile struck a primary school in Minab on the first day of the war.

Using a range of information sources, the faces of all the 120 students - aged 6 to 13 - and 26 teachers have been identified ⬇️

[Dad Jokes @Dadsaysjokes]

A photographer was tragically crushed when a massive block of cheddar fell on him.

In fairness, the people he was photographing tried to warn him.

[George Simkin @George_Simkin]

@JuliaHB1 What do you think the max UK population should be?

[PoliticsHome @politicshome]

Last month's local elections saw 23 of 136 councils up for grabs pushed into no overall political control, leading to the creation of rainbow coalitions

Birmingham is the prime example of this growing phenomenon, with its council now led by a group of Lib Dems, Greens and independents, despite Reform UK being the largest party

For The House mag, @zoenora6 looks at how fragmentation is forcing political parties into complex coalition-building
https://t.co/MKlLKGjWAk

[Mike Martin MP 🔸 @ThreshedThought]

The UK has a big problem …

The UK has a FRIGATE-GAP

A 🧵

[George Simkin @George_Simkin]

@piersmorgan Is spreading conspiracies theories classed as working?

[George Simkin @George_Simkin]

@Mancman10 You may very well be right about Labour winning by that much but I'd be careful about saying MIC are fixing their polls due to the views of those who run it. There are members of the British Polling Council and do have to be transparent about how they conduct their polls.

[Janis Kluge @jakluge]

Russian military spending surged by 30% in Q1 2026, reaching 5.9 trillion rubles. The amount of classified spending was absolutely massive (most of it goes to the military). Link to my latest analysis in the comments. 👇

[Election Maps UK @ElectionMapsUK]

Aggregate Result of the 9 Council By-Elections Since the 2026 Local Elections:

LDM: 4 (+2) | 21.0% (+1.4)
CON: 2 (-2) | 23.1% (-4.4)
GRN: 2 (+1) | 18.7% (+4.8)
RFM: 1 (+1) | 23.9% (+23.9)
LAB: 0 (-) | 9.6% (-11.3)
Ind: 0 (-1) | 2.9% (-8.9)
Loc: 0 (-1) | 0% (-4.8)

https://t.co/9hLSSJO6Po

[Institute for the Study of War @TheStudyofWar]

NEW: Ukrainian forces continue to interdict several bridges that support ground lines of communication (GLOCs) connecting occupied Kherson Oblast to Crimea.

Other Key Takeaways:

Russian occupation authorities are struggling to address worsening gasoline shortages in occupied Sevastopol, likely due to Ukrainian long- and intermediate-range strikes against Russian logistics and energy infrastructure.

Ukrainian forces appear to have achieved a tactical drone overmatch on the battlefield and are intensifying middle-range strike campaign, reportedly driving higher Russian casualties on the battlefield amidst declining recruitment rates.

Russia is establishing new and expanding existing military bases along its northern border with NATO likely in order to support future Russian force projection capabilities against NATO. ISW assesses that Russian forces remain unlikely to conduct ground operations in the near-term, however.

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) continues to fabricate evidence as part of its cognitive warfare effort to support false claims of advance.

Ukrainian forces continued their intermediate- to long-range strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure and military assets on June 10 and 11. Russian forces launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 221 drones against Ukraine overnight.

Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Oleksandrivka direction.

[George Simkin @George_Simkin]

@tomhfh @jakonian The 1993 treaty may have talked about an "ever closer union" but that phrase has no legal power. The majority of countries in the EU don't want that, and any EU country can block it from happening as it would require treaty changes.
It's just words with no power.

[LBC @LBC]

'It would have been better to just have a review and make some cuts.'

Sir Richard Barrons spent much of the last year on a strategic defence review, only to have to it rejected by the government, and @AndrewMarr9 thinks he sounds 'angry' about it.

[Deborah Haynes @haynesdeborah]

Extraordinarily - and this seems to demonstrate a complete disregard of the seriousness of defence at the heart of government - John Healey was only told what the offer was for additional defence funding on Monday afternoon.

I am told Number 10 then tried to rush and publish the Defence Investment Plan on Thursday.

Then a handbrake was applied by Mr Healey and his military chiefs. The (now ex) defence secretary made clear that racing to release the blueprint without a settlement that had been accepted by him and his team would be a risk for defence and for its soldiers, sailors and aviators.

You can only imagine the tone of the exchange that must have taken place - and I know that people were in the MOD until very late last night.

But John Healey firmly believes the settlement was inadequate and, if left unchallenged, would not enable the UK to keep the country safe or meet its international commitments - such as help defend Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.

A key detail is that Mr Healey believes defence spending must be increased to 3% of GDP by 2030, up from 2.3% now. This would guarantee tens of billions of additional pounds for defence.

But - despite the stakes and the position of the defence secretary - the Prime Minister and Chancellor agreed just to inch it up to 2.68% of GDP within that time frame, after hitting a new target of 2.6% next year (which is already being inflated by lumping in the 0.1% that is spent on the intelligence agencies).

Utterly incredible.

What must our allies and our adversaries be thinking, let alone everyone in the UK armed forces and, frankly, everyone in our country?

We all rely on a secure UK to live, work, go to school, enjoy holidays, access healthcare, spend time with friends and families.

This is not a divine right. It happens because we have security - something that might not be apparent until or unless it is compromised...

[George Simkin @George_Simkin]

It's difficult to look at the world and the state of our armed forces and think we don't need to spend more money on defence.

[Jeremy Corbyn @jeremycorbyn]

We do not need to spend more money on bombs and bullets.

We need to spend more on housing, schools and our NHS instead.

A roof over your head. Enough food to feed your children. A public health service you can rely on in your time of need.

That is what real security means.

[George Simkin @George_Simkin]

@Matt_VickersMP What happening to the defence budget as a % of GDP when the Tories were in power? It fell.

[George Simkin @George_Simkin]

@MrHrandomnumber @MrHarryCole I never said he wasn't allowed his opinion. He can say what he likes but Lewis and others have the same right to criticise what he says.

[George Simkin @George_Simkin]

@MrHarryCole the last free election in America. Talking about a white genocide in South Africa. Claiming 10 years ago he would land a man on Mars in 10 years.
We can applaud him for the good he's done but rightfully criticise him for the wrong he's done as well.

[George Simkin @George_Simkin]

@MrHarryCole Someone can be simultaneously a very successful businessman as well as a dangerous idiot.
There are countless examples of Musk making factually wrong and riddiculous statements about all sorts of subjects. E.g. He though if Kamala Harris was elected in 2024 they it would be...