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Andrew Purcell

@andrewpurcell.bsky.social
418 followers 552 following 358 posts

Journalist turned human rights activist, creative project enthusiast, runner, father of two boys, exhausted shell of a man.

PostsRepliesMedia
Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 13h
"What we saw was the awful, ugly, indefensible reality of the death penalty."
theguardian.com
What do Britain’s death-penalty cheerleaders have to say about Christa Pike? | Maya Foa
Her harrowing botched execution is a reminder of why we must not even entertain the idea of restoring capital punishment, says Maya Foa, CEO of the human rights charity Reprieve
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The ability to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into a loss-making TV channel, bent on wrenching British politics sharply to the right, is yet another of the ways in which extreme wealth is trying to remake UK democracy. It needs to be part of any serious conversation about political funding.
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
*Of course* Meta has a thumb on the scales for Bolsonaro.
techpolicy.press
On Eve of Brazil Elections, Meta Content Moderation Decisions Raise Questions
Two recent moderation decisions—while later reversed—have raised concerns about the company's policies and practices, writes Laís Martins.
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Sean Jones KC @seanjones.org · 29/09/2026
The rush to speculate that asylum seekers are responsible for every crime in the news is a sort of opportunistic informational terrorism. Until it’s disproved it stokes fear and hatred. When it is disproved there are no adverse consequences and they know that they only have to be lucky once.
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Was feeling a bit daunted by the working week after a long and stressful Monday, but then found out that Stevie Wonder just dropped four tracks that didn't make the cut for Songs In The Key Of Life. They are, of course, amazing. Things are looking up.
open.spotify.com
Songs In The Key Of Life - The EP - EP by Stevie Wonder | Spotify
Stevie Wonder · EP · 2026 · 4 songs
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
as a satire on so-called late stage capitalism how could one beat investors pouring a trillion into a company offering to wipe out humankind
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Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
January 2025 🤷‍♀️
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Donald Campbell @dncampbell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I might also gently suggest to the BBC that when Jim Ratcliffe comes out with this garbage you could maybe say: "what about the half a billion plus pounds of backing you've received from UK taxpayers for just one project?" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
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Holger Hestermeyer @hhesterm.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
How is this news? billionaire oil person says uk needs to drill more and tax less, though, of course, he‘s actually in Monaco. And he would do more in the uk if the state subsidised him more. Dear BBC, that‘s like me saying the uk‘s problem is underpaid law profs. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Many people have worked very hard to secure this outcome, but none more so than Jagtar's brother Gurpreet. He has fought tirelessly for nine years. This is not justice: not until Jagtar is home with his family and the charges are dropped. But I am elated that he will soon be out of prison.
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Jason Kint @kint.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Eye popping. Court just unsealed Summary Judgment motions in New York Times v OpenAI / Microsoft. Easy to see why the AI companies had so many redactions (pink). Their own people wrote the lede for NYT, the "largest theft of labor in human history"... "more and more substitutive..." /1
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Hilarious argument that is as tissue-thin as Sydney's kecks. Boils down to "if you criticise sexualised images, why don't you support criminalising abortion?"
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Great thread. The video clip is worth scrolling down to watch as she is *so* good: knows what she wants to say, corrects the reporter when she brings the right wing framing, stays calm even when she's getting emotional about something that is causing huge distress to her family.
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Paul McNamara @mpaulmcnamara.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Pretty much this
Ed Sheeran: "I'm gonna side with oppressive colonizers. Literally everyone I'm touring with is Irish. Can't see any way this will go
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This epitomises the UK's utterly broken system for reviewing possible miscarriages of justice: an enquiry that assumes Lucy Letby is guilty, led by a judge who dismisses mountains of evidence that she may have been wrongfully convicted as "noise" and "comment".
theguardian.com
Thirlwall inquiry has left biggest questions around the Letby case unanswered
Decision not to pause proceedings means £18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse’s conviction
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 14/09/2026
Look at this photo we found from Donald Trump Jr.’s lavish Bahamas wedding. Can you spot the Russian oligarch close to Putin who bankrolled the event? 🧵
A group photo shows about 35 people, including Donald Trump Jr.; his wife, Bettina Anderson; Ivanka Trump; Jared Kushner; Tiffany Trump; and Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev.

Little Pipe Cay/Lux Hospitality Bahamas; Laura Gordon Photography via Instagram; Laura Gordon Photography
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This is completely on Andy Burnham Last week Labour could have stopped this. Now we have a single person giving more money than the entire general election spending limit for a political party www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
telegraph.co.uk
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 11/09/2026
How it started / How it's going
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
That interview within hours of the WTC falling in which Trump boasted (incorrectly) that he now owned the tallest building in the New York is the most Trumpian thing that has ever happened. It's his entire life, ethos, and purpose in one anecdote.
glennkessler.substack.com
Trump’s 9/11: Where He Cleared Rubble, Predicted bin Laden, and Lost ‘Hundreds’ of Friends
From exaggerating his role at Ground Zero to inventing cheering crowds, a review of Trump’s most misleading claims about September 11.
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 10/09/2026
‘One of the main differences between today’s far right and the fascism of the mid-20th century is the absence of a uniformed paramilitary street wing. The anti-migrant protests in Dover and Portsmouth at the weekend mark an attempt to create one.’ Daniel Trilling: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/se...
lrb.co.uk
Daniel Trilling | Masks Off
One of the main differences between today’s far right and the fascism of the mid-20th century is the absence of a...
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Dr Tess Machling @tessmachling.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
My brilliant, erudite, funny mum was forced to die in this horrible way because some people didn't think it was right for her to have a dignified death. That it was wrong for her to choose her own way to leave the world when *she was dying anyway*.
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
It is staggering how "hurrah for the blackshirts" this piece is. I'll hazard a guess the train didn't feel quite as "safe" for people with brown skin.
thetimes.com
We were on a day out. Then masked migrant protesters got on our train
Activists who brought Dover to a halt on Saturday refused to remove their balaclavas but were ‘very polite’, say fellow travellers
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
"It is hard not to draw the conclusion that the police and Home Office seem to be incapable of an appropriate response to the threat of far-right activity and violence."
nicklowles.substack.com
Did Kent Police ignore a 999 call?
Contrary to their public statement, HOPE not hate can exclusively reveal that Kent Police were tipped off about the Patriot Platform mobilisation – and seemingly did not act on the information.
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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 08/09/2026
@ stephenkb.bsky.social hitting the nail on the head of course. "the Labour Party has now produced two governments whose response to acts of thuggery and intimidation is to reiterate that perhaps the thugs have a point" - as.ft.com/r/97d33f08-a...
as.ft.com
Labour’s muddled migration policy won’t stop thuggery
A government that can’t distinguish between ‘legitimate concerns’ and open racism is only making things worse
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Typically sharp analysis of the Times front page from Mic Wright, in context of broader media coverage of the new blackshirts expressing #legitimateconcerns and the AfD's election win in Saxony. Concludes with a vital warning from history that our political establishment seems determined to ignore.
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Splashed on the front page, based on claims from a single anonymous "Home Office official," reported at length, unsupported by any evidence. This is shockingly irresponsible journalism and no doubt will be laundered by the Today programme before we've all had breakfast.
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
This is worth watching in full - it's superb, brave journalism. My main takeaway was... how old-school Tory it all is. The long lunches at Mayfair clubs, oysters and champagne, Boris Johnson's 'pollster' and his Telegraph front pages. The idea that these people are insurgents is risible.
youtube.com
My Year Undercover in Reform UK
YouTube video by Verbatim Investigations
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I gave up posting on X years ago, rarely check it, and now mostly get fed football. Much has been written about how it's overrun with Nazis and amplifies right wing voices, less on how it's saturated with slop like this: an obvious lie, written by AI. "That's not X: that's Y" Tell me more, Claude.
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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Me, just before I’m not about to get away with it:
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
It would also be interesting to learn if he thinks Reform member Nadhim Zahawi should be allowed to run for Parliament again given he came to the UK as a refugee.
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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I don’t think there’s really even a colorable argument that this isn’t mass murder. theintercept.com/2026/09/02/m...
theintercept.com
The U.S. Has Killed 227 Civilians in Boat Strikes During “A Year of Murders”
“The boat strikes are, perhaps, the most stark testament to the lawlessness of the Trump administration.”
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Foxglove Legal @foxglovelegal.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Foxglove is supporting the case of Abrham Meareg against Meta following the murder of his father after he was doxxed in a Facebook post promoted by Meta's algorithm. For four years, Meta has fought tooth and nail to avoid responsibility. Read more here: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
What could Meta’s US settlement mean around the world – and what now for other claims against firm?
Other governments could seek similar concessions, while separate legal action is pending in places ranging from Kenya to the Netherlands
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Protest that endures, I think, is moved by a hope far more modest than that of public success: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one's own heart and spirit that would be destroyed by acquiescence. Wendell Berry, What Are People For?
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
The obituary this racist, misogynist, homophobic pillar of the media establishment deserves, by Mic Wright, who has been keeping the receipts for many years.
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Nettlecake @nettlecake.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Brilliant letter from Stuart Thompson to Jeremy Clarkson about his comments that benefit claimants should write weekly thank you letters to tax payers detailing how they spend their benefits each week.
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Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
A Rube Goldberg machine masterpiece [📹 Hiratoshi Kubota / pitagora.maker] Original post
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Amnesty International UK @amnestyuk.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Is clapping illegal in the UK in 2026?
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👻👹 boo-rit 👹👻 @britculpsapp.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
christ if that’s not a metaphor for our times
reuters: 

Sunken Nazi warships resurface as water levels drop
Scuttled German WW2 warships have reemerged from the Danube in drought-hit Europe.
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Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The Supreme Court is to decide on the lawfulness of the Palestine Action ban The court has granted the group's co-founder permission to appeal the Court of Appeal ruling, which was in the government's favour It says the hearing will take place sometime between 1 October and 21 December
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Liliana Segura @lilianasegura.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Florida, where executions are out of control, plans to kill two men today, the first at noon, the second at 6pm. By @edpilkington.bsky.social, who has covered state killing for years.
theguardian.com
Alarm as Florida rushes to carry out ‘incredibly rare’ double execution
Rights groups condemn secrecy surrounding killings and say hurry to execute raises chance of ‘torturous’ deaths
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Stephen Kinsella @stephenstroud.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
This has to stop. Where is @ofcom.bsky.social ?
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Toby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
A machine for making us lonelier and stupider seems a little harsh, but then again www.ft.com/content/bdb3...
“Instead of thinking about Al itself, we should be thinking about its effects. It concentrates power; it obfuscates accountability; it further despoils nature and climate; it is a means of the wholesale expropriation of cultures, languages and lands for massive profit; and it will probably make us lonelier and stupider.”
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Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
When the story of why humanity didn't stop climate change is written, it will feature front pages like this. Even as the skies blacken with climate change-induced wildfires, right wing media continue their relentless crusade against measures to tackle it.
The Times: Net zero risks blackouts. Below a photo of French wildfires.
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
A very good point as usual from @jamesbowes01.bsky.social The main objective of Mahmood's proposals was always to kick out care workers (as she has more or less said). That was always an economically, politically and morally bankrupt policy. Without it, the whole package falls apart.
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Top story on Times app and website: net zero is scary and bad. (The report highlights some possible hitches in transition to renewables - the framing is a fossil fuel lobbyist's dream.)
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I invite you to consider what would be said if the Guardian’s comment section, or the New Statesman’s, was dominated by weirdos unambiguously cheering on (pick a terrorist at random, here) as a prophet and an inspiration.
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 22/07/2026
#OtD 22 Jul 2005 Brazilian commuter Jean Charles de Menezes was killed by armed London police at Stockwell tube station. Despite being restrained, he was shot seven times in the head and once in the torso. No officers faced charges related to his death stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9487...
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Andrew Purcell @andrewpurcell.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Posting this excellent article by @samirashackle.bsky.social again. We almost *never* hear from people who have been stripped of citizenship and their families, because the toxic media backlash against 'ISIS brides' makes it hard for them to speak safely. These unjust, secretive powers ruin lives.
prospectmagazine.co.uk
Britain’s citizens of nowhere
Hundreds of UK nationals have been made stateless, and left trapped in squalid refugee camps, without being convicted of any crime
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
such a good, sad window. these side quest conspiracies are just desperate attempts to protect an alternate reality they've been fed algorithmically. the utter popularity of this film is evidence that they live in a bubble of insanity. so they recruit new "evidence" so as not to confront that truth
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Josh Gabbatiss @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
As Ed Miliband leaves his post as energy and net-zero secretary, a final tally: There have been an incredible 251 newspaper editorials attacking him and his approach to net-zero since the start of 2024 That amounts to two editorials a week, mainly in the Sun, Daily Mail, Times and Daily Telegraph.
cumulative line chart showing that UK newspapers have published 251 editorials criticising Ed Miliband since the start of 2024
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