Ian Catlow

In Brussels, representing London to the EU. Comments here are personal.

[Ian Catlow @icatlow1]

@TheProgressives @IratxeGarper @MChahim Good initiative, and I'm currently watching, but the camera only shows the audience, not the speakers...

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

Always the way. It's only a joke if he can't get away with it. Threaten outrageous, unconstitutional, even traitorous acts, then if the blowback is too harsh, say you were joking and try again later. Greenland, Trump 2028, cancelling 2026 elections, Insurrection Act, etc.

[Dave Troy @davetroy]

Expanding on my reporting from a couple of weeks ago, Ron Lauder was the one who prompted Trump to pursue acquisition of Greenland. What isn't reported here is Lauder's proximity to Putin and former KGB head Kryuchkov, who also recruited Trump.
https://t.co/xZqmsLQo4e

[Brian Allen @allenanalysis]

Mitch McConnell just said the quiet part out loud on Greenland:

We already have everything we need.
Greenland already cooperates.
Our Arctic access already exists.

What Trump is proposing isn’t strategy, it’s burning allied trust for nothing.

“Incinerating the hard-won trust of loyal allies” is not strength. It’s self-sabotage.

[Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla]

If you want to understand why this ‘partnership’ is so profoundly dangerous, please read my latest piece

https://t.co/SWRrx3kORt

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨 NEW: All of Reform's 12 councils will raise council tax this year despite pledging not to in campaigns

Some of the planned rises include:

Worcestershire - 10%
Derbyshire - 4.99%
West Northamptonshire - 4.99%
Kent - 3.99%
Staffordshire - 3.99%

[@thetimes]

[David Shuster @DavidShuster]

Vance’s claim re ICE agents having about “absolute immunity” is not merely wrong; it is ludicrous. There is no such doctrine in American law. None. It exists only in the fever dreams of fascist wannabes who mistake their own wishes for jurisprudence. https://t.co/mxB09XfnXq

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

NYT: “You promised $2,000 checks to Americans based off of your tariff revenues. When can —”

Trump: “I did do that? When did I do that?”

Trump can’t keep track of all his lies.

[Adam Parsons @adamparsons]

If Bev Turner wants to be an adoring & uncritical Trump acolyte, and if GB News are happy with that - it’s their choice, just like employing Neil Oliver and showcasing his nonsense.

Just don’t pretend this has anything to do with genuine journalism.

Sky News - proudly impartial

[Dave Troy @davetroy]

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Our investigation finds that Trump's actions in Venezuela and Greenland are the product of a long-running Russian influence campaign that began during his first term. Read + share the complete report.
https://t.co/fMYnQCi7WF

[Jo @JoJoFromJerz]

"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture repainted, every statue and street and building renamed, every date altered, and that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."
Orwell, 1984

[richard brooks @rbrooks45]

When Private Eye revealed the giveaway of Teesside regeneration land to local businessmen, mayor Ben Houchen said they kept £50m in the bank for investment in the project. New figures show they’ve extracted that as dividends while investing nothing. Story in new @privateeyenews.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME.

Yet more charlatans being exposed today this time a so called river charity The Rivers Trust.

Last year @Northhumberian was allowed by Ofwat to put up customers bills by a whopping 21% but that wasn't enough for this particular greedy water company oh no, they have appealed to the @CMAgovUK their corporate self-interest demanding that they be allowed to charge customers even more.

Northumbrian Water you will remember is a company that has paid out almost £4.5 BILLION in dividends since privatisation, has loaded with the company with almost £5 BILLION in debt and currently almost 20 pence of every pound of customer's bill is used to do nothing but pay interest on that steaming pile of debt.

In 2023 the company paid shareholders £396 for every hour they spent dumping sewage into the environment, the 4th highest rate in England.

To cap it all off last year the company was fined £15.7 MILLION for how it "operated and maintained some of its sewage works and networks, which has resulted in excessive spills from storm overflows", That is Ofwat speak for illegally dumping sewage due to corporate greed, simply paying their shareholders instead of investing in their infrastructure.

And here we have it The Rivers Trust, enthusiastically supporting Northumbrian Water's application to the CMA, to be allowed to fleece customers even more, to raise even more debt and send even more big fat dividends to waiting expectant offshore bank accounts.

WHAT A FRAUD.

[Dave Troy @davetroy]

Watching to see how long it takes for media (and the public) to catch up to the fact that Trump has once again cut a deal with Putin, and that this plan has been in the works for years. It’s really all right here.

[ian bremmer @ianbremmer]

british, french and german leaders’ statements on maduro capture reflect the weak and vulnerable position they occupy on matters of global security.

[Nick Barraclough @nmbarraclough]

@JakeBenRichards
I’m a barrister. My first jury trial of 2026 is not taking place on Monday because of a lack of court. Yet more than 30 courts locally sit unused on Monday due to funding cuts. This is what caused the backlog – not jury trials.

[George Foulkes @GeorgeFoulkes]

@RossKempsell @SimonDanczuk Reagan did NOT alert Thatcher to the invasion of Grenada.
I was an Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesperson covering The Americas at the time and asked the US Secretary of State why they didn’t even alert the Head of State of Grenada and she didn’t know it was The Queen!

[Mujtaba Rahman @Mij_Europe]

European weakness on full display by these horribly contorted responses from Merz, Macron and Starmer

[Lars Christensen @MaMoMVPY]

This is completely unreported. It is an internal coup. I believe it will very soon become clear that Maduro's vice president Delcy Rodríguez (@delcyrodriguezv) has made a deal with the Americans.

That's why it was possible for the Americans to capture Maduro so easily - Delcy Rodríguez simply betrayed him and made a backroom deal with the Americans that she becomes the new president.

Trump mentioned it explicitly at the press conference just held, but none of the journalists caught it.

This means the regime still holds power—and yes, this may also be the deal Trump has made with Putin. It is NOT regime change.

And there is no democracy. Maduro is out, but the regime remains.

And Delcy Rodríguez's payment: Venezuela's oil goes to Trump and perhaps Putin. The leader of Venezuela's democratic opposition, María Corina Machado @MariaCorinaYA, can forget about returning to Venezuela—and forget about democracy.

It honestly feels rather Vichy-like.

[Christopher Webb @cwebbonline]

More ramblings from a president who cares more about his vanity projects than our economy.

Trump claims his White House ballroom is “under budget” while he keeps raising the budget. He also insists “everyone wanted it.” Absolutely no one asked for the East Wing to be torn down so he could build an oversized ballroom. And he talks about it in the present tense, as if it’s done.

The budget:

• July: $200M
• Mid-October: $250M
• October 22: $300M
• December: $400M