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Ben Smith

@binsmuth.bsky.social
357 followers 432 following 835 posts
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Reposted by Ben Smith
James Ball @jamesrball.com · 11/10/2026
This is a truly grotesque "trial" of a vaccine known to be safe and effective. It will in practice randomly withhold that treatment from a percentage of children to see what happens. It is absolutely the reverse of good practice.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
We're already at war with Russia, exhibit 2342:
ft.com
Russia steps up bid to kill European defence chiefs, spy agencies warn
Companies increase personal security for top executives as Kremlin orders expansion of sabotage and ‘hybrid’ operations
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 16h
The correct response to this would be to make all the evidence used to draw the conclusion public, then challenge Farage to respond, otherwise people will just pick their opinions on the matter based purely on who they trust.
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Ben Coles @bencoles.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Can I tempt you with another Harlequins long-read? Spent the week talking to sources inside and outside the club about the obvious problems, the solutions, and just how deep this rebuild is. observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...
observer.co.uk
Struggling Quins must brace for more pain after bad results
The Londoners sit bottom of the Prem table following coaching upheaval and several key injuries
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
When I say the politics will become increasingly obvious... I mean look at this. If you want to unite the left/centre and split the Tories, without a big spending committment there's no better option.
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I mean, whilst I think the Kemi coverage is weird the reality is actually that both Kemi and Polanski are basically back to where they were a year ago and both should be facing questions about that!
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Jay Rayner @jayrayner1.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
For today’s @ftweekend.com I am at the restaurant inside the high end Mayfair furniture shop RH London. And it’s chaos. Warm water. Can’t mix cocktails. Run out of hamburgers. Dull food for bored oligarchs who don’t eat. Have a few quotes and a pic of a £22 baked potato. www.ft.com/content/5993...
Drift through its rooms admiring the oversized sculptures, the overstuffed seating and the passive-aggressive war on colour. I was tempted to give myself a quick nosebleed just to introduce a splash of red. While there, do take a look inside the utterly magnificent restaurant at the back of the ground floor, housed in what was once a banking hall. The cathedral-high ceilings are coated in gold leaf and dangle with giant golden chandeliers like crystal udders. There are pillars, acres of polished wood veneer and lots of soft curved seating, picked out by pools of light from dainty table lamps. Gawp at it. Gasp at it. But whatever you do, don’t book a table in it. On my recent visit, the whole operation was a bloody shambles.It starts in the second-floor cocktail bar, designed by Anouska Hempel, where the £16 Margarita comes from a bottle of pre-mix with a hand-scribbled label, and they can’t make any classic cocktails which aren’t on the list. Ask them for a Daiquiri then watch the panic flicker in their eyes. Online, the cheapest bottle of wine offered up here is a Riesling at £68. When you arrive, it turns out to be £86.Back downstairs in the restaurant a bottle of sparkling water is brought. It’s warm. We ask for ice. None comes. We ask again. None comes. Third time’s a charm. At least we get water quickly; the wait for food is interminable (if you don’t count the £56-worth of mini lobster rolls we didn’t order, that they tried to foist on us). We watch one of our dishes being offered to a nearby table. The diners look baffled. The waiter returns to the pass in the open kitchen where a row with the chef appears to ensue. He waves a ticket at her. Finally, 10 minutes later the plate comes to us. In a functioning restaurant you should be able to spot the person in charge immediately. There is no one in charge of this room. It’s chaos.Our missing dish is the cutely named “Parisian petite potato”. I wanted to see what a £22 baked potato was like. Small, is the answer, and topped with the now obligatory caviar. Honestly, there’s so much caviar washing around London at the moment, I’m convinced there’s some bloke with a lock-up in Camberwell who has got hold of a surplus that fell off the back of a knackered old sturgeon. Now he’s pushing it out to W1. Anyway, it’s a baked potato with fish eggs. I’m not sure which bit of it is Parisian but it’s definitely petite, I’ll give it that.
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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 09/10/2026
just to emphasize what's happening here: BMW (a company that used slave labor under the Nazis) refused to provide an official vehicle to the ultra right-wing AfD party, which is now asking Elon Musk to provide a Tesla instead Tesla literally becoming the Nazi car brand
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Ruck the WRU @ruckthewru.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
WRU: YOU CAN STOP COMPLAINING WE'VE PUBLISHED THE EVIDENCE THE EVIDENCE:
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Mark Wallace @wallaceme.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Absolutely damning comments on #Newsnight about Polanski, leadership and the Green Party’s “Zionism is racism” motion, from @carolinelucas.bsky.social
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Sathnam Sanghera @sathnam.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Dear tv and radio producers. Thankyou for the invitation. But, no, I do not want to appear on your show to defend the idea that I am English, after 50 years of living and working here, because the increasingly feral right want to turn this into a "debate" and you cannot see how you're being played
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Fundamentally, Palantir is a fairly boring piece of software that is quite good at consolidating old incompatible databases which the public sector is full of, but it is just visibly a national security concern to embed a hostile power into every bit of the public sector, come on.
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Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Cash-strapped Sunderland forked out £120,000 of taxpayers’ money on lobbying firms to “help the council to make a powerful case with government for economic regenerative support for the city”.
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Bevis Musson @bevismusson.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Most important bit of the BBC streaming reporting on the Fonagty report into mental health. #FuckWesStreeting
A photo of a section of the BBCs streaming reporting on the Fonagty report on mental health. It shows Professor Fonagy talking to the BBC with the headline "Wes Streeting 'completely wrong' about over-diagnosis, says review author"

The text below the photo says:
The author of today's report, Prof Peter Fonagy, has been speaking to Radio 4's Today programme.
He starts by saying that former Health Secretary Wes Streeting - who first commissioned the review - was "with respect, completely wrong" when he talked about an over-diagnosis of mental health disorders.
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Libero @liberopodcast.com · 09/10/2026
New Libero Liverpool v Manchester City: tactical preview @rorysmith.bsky.social @brewin.bsky.social @jackpittbrooke.bsky.social pod.fo/e/69e091
pod.fo
Libero: 165 | Liverpool v Man City: It Means Everything And Potentially Completely Nothing
Manchester City travel to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday in a game that marks the first appearance of the boys in sky blue since the Premier League verdict dropped and opened the public's eyes...
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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
This is very odd because engineers are usually known for their attention to detail.
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Kevin Maguire @kevmag.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Quelle surprise a super-rich exodus recent story is shown to be complete bollocks This billionaire said to have quit Britain over fears of a potential Labour wealth tax actually moved to Monaco in 2014 when the Conservatives were in power. Next. www.theguardian.com/news/2026/oc...
theguardian.com
‘I reside in Monaco’: billionaire said to have quit UK over potential wealth tax had already left
TaxWatch contradicts claims about David Reuben’s departure and questions stories of super-rich exodus
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Micah @rincewind.run · 08/10/2026
the reason “AI will create so much abundance we will have a utopian society” rhetoric falls so flat is that the people building it will never, ever share their bounty unless it is taken from them and we all know it
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Mollie Goodfellow @hansmollman.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 09/10/2026
oh my god I was going to joke "he's actually centre-left" and turns out he IS
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James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Are you alleging Zack was lying here? Because, you know, that'd be fraud
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
That Zack Polanski lives in Walthamstow was literally on the ballot paper.
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James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
One of the underdiscussed outcomes of the Green conferance was Greens4Palestine running a slate and getting members elected to key bodies - particularly disciplinary/disputes. They've got their candidates elected to both of those. And you already have stories like this:
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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Astounding Badenoching. Pure, liquid Kemi.
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Eric Levai @ericlevai.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Now THIS is how you write a story. Devastating.
Screenshot from this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/us/politics/fort-hood-execution-streamed-public.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HVE.Rw7O.Sj-0_s5YONzL&smid=nytcore-android-share
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Martin Calladine @uglygame.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Man who used his position to amplify false claims that other politicians had been paedophiles decrys "mob rule". www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Palantir’s Tom Watson says ‘mob rule’ must not dictate awarding of government contracts
Former Labour deputy leader says tech firm would work with a Reform UK government on immigration crackdowns
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Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Kemi Badenoch wants to exempt the family home from inheritance tax. But that creates a perverse incentive for elderly people to *upsize* to save IHT. That could double the cost of the policy, and push £100bn+ from savings into housing. A 🧵 on bad tax cuts.
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Dexerto @dexerto.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Amazon users are discovering a bizarre "About You" page that reveals what the company thinks it knows about them One woman found Amazon had determined she "has flat buttocks"
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 08/10/2026
If you don't know what folic acid does when added to flour, do look it up, and marvel at the fact Restore has decided to campaign against it.
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Ben Smith @binsmuth.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This is one of the bleakest things I've ever read.
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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
they did the thing
an october 11 2025 post from me reading: every single tech idea is like “soon our robots will be capable of playing catch with your kid, freeing you up to spend more time working on your employers’ spreadsheets”
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Cops are able to break into locked iPhones, including those that have been rebooted by Apple's own reboot security feature Watch more, subscribe here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpzC...
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Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
1 in 20 *white* adult Americans, per the article; about 1 in 7 white men under the age of 30:
Image text:
Asking Americans about white nationalism
We expected many Americans would be unfamiliar with the term “white nationalism,” so we defined it for survey respondents with a brief statement covering the movement’s major tenets: the purported need to maintain a white majority in the U.S., claims about the superiority of white culture, and calls for white people to hold more political and economic power than other groups. We measured endorsement of the movement’s ideology, not participation in the movement itself or approval of its tactics.

We randomly varied whether respondents saw the description before or after we asked whether they supported the white nationalist movement. Overall, nearly 5% of white adults – about 1 in 20 – said they did.

Those asked the question before seeing the description were less likely to express support at first, but their reported support rose after they read it. Along with several tests for possible response bias, this suggests that 5% is a reasonable lower-bound estimate of the true level of support.

Whether 1 in 20 white adults is a high or low number is a matter of interpretation. For context, it’s roughly the same as the share of American adults who identify as vegetarian or vegan.

Young white men

A number that jumped out to us was the share of white men under age 30 who support white nationalism: just over 13%, or about 1 in 7. This was more than twice the level of support for white nationalism among women in this age group: 6%. Endorsement of white nationalism among men significantly declined by age: Only 2% of white men age 65 and over registered support.
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Rachel Parris @rachelparris.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Hey folks. In total honesty my tour is NOT selling well. I’ve sold 30 tickets in a 400 seater in Birmingham, and not much more elsewhere. If you like musical comedy, if you like standup, then please come see my show! And spread the word! The Rachel Parris Songbook tour starts in Nov! Link in bio! 🎶
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
So apparently numerous celebrities have nonexistent children for whom AI is now hallucinating entire biographies.
youtu.be
Charity Nye Doesn't Exist
YouTube video by STRANGE ÆONS
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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 06/10/2026
Kemi is once again confronted by her arch-enemy, ANY DETAILS AT ALL. thecritic.co.uk/kane...
Unfortunately, like, I don’t know, the results of a charity fundraiser for the Kurds, the Tory claims for what they’re proposing grew a little in the telling. Newspapers everywhere were calling it a British “Iron Dome”, referring to Israel’s comprehensive – and expensive – system.

Nick Ferrari of LBC, a man who is to political weakness what Godzilla is to a Tokyo suburb, was doubtful that it would be possible to build a missile defence network that would defend the whole UK. “Well, because it’s mobile, it can,” Badenoch said, faltering slightly.

The LBC man closed in. “Is it moved by sea? By land? By air?”

“I do know that it would move,” the Conservative leader said. “I think certainly by sea.” She tried to explain. “It’s not one thing that’s sitting in one place.”

Ferrari wouldn’t let go. “How many units are there?” If the Daily Star’s barrister had been this good, Archer’s political career might have ended in 1987.

“How many units?” Badenoch repeated. “I can’t…” She resorted to
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 07/10/2026
as.ft.com/r/63034ed0-d... FT exclusive: HMRC opened probe into Man City’s tax affairs in 2018
as.ft.com
HMRC opened probe into Man City’s tax affairs in 2018
Investigation into whether English football club was underpaying tax began after its internal emails were leaked
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Ameobi’s Hokey Cokey @toonarmy2112.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I worked in wholesale energy markets for 15 years so know what I’m talking about… This is what we should be protesting about. Not boats.
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Michael Caley @michaelcaley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
the essay is a narrative written by Ronaldo in the purest notes app quasi-apology genre form depicting himself as the Real Victim Here, describing how he ended up leaving the national team camp the core of the story is (for real) about Jorge Jesus not reading the talking points Ronaldo gave him
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Badenoch, last month: Why is PM obsessed with Thatcher? SO WEIRD! I was not even born. He wants to take us back to the 70s. Badenoch, this week: I'm like Thatcher, a new Thatcher, possibly possessed by Thatcher, LOVE Thatcher, Thatcher was right, and I'll take us back to the 80s. Tory Conference:
Actual Thatcher outfits on display.Priti Patel displaying Thatcher merchandise.Limited edition Thatcher toby jug, £47.50Telegraph: "BADENOCH: I'LL TURN BRITAIN AROUND LIKE THATCHER"
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pete rogers, professional diaper changer @petemrogers.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
one of my favorite tweets of all time
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
According to a 2013 paper, almost 40% of female homicides globally are due to intimate partner violence www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I keep coming back to the Golders Green tweet, which was hardly the first poorly judged retweet on Zack Polanski's part, wasn't the first remark he had made either on issues of anti-Jewish racism or policing that was ill-judged...it just happened to be the one that did the damage.
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Lindsay Ellis @lindsayellis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Hard agree - if a claimant files a takedown/copyright strike on however many hundreds of channels but NEVER files suit, they get their right to claim revoked. End of. If there's a strike system for us the same should apply for claimants as well.
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James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Bristol Council's leader has disowned the Zionism is Racism motion. Is party policy party policy if none of its representatives will defend or enact it?
bristol247.com
Green council leader speaks out against Greens' 'Zionism is racism' motion
Council leader Tony Dyer says he feels "compelled to speak up on a personal level and on behalf of Bristol City Council"
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Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Archer’s resignation from the London mayoral race after it was revealed he lied in court was the thing that got Paul Foot up from his sickbed and contributing again, having first started chronicling Archer’s lies and misdemeanours in 1969. From the Private Eye archive. Issue 992, December 1999.
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InfoWars @realinfowars.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Guns are low-key powerful as hell.
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Ben Smith @binsmuth.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
🙄 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Reform MP raises concerns about second homes – then buys one for £800,000
Sarah Pochin bought Anglesey property two days after writing to minister about impact of second homes on rural communities
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