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Becket McGrath

@bmcgrath.bsky.social
490 followers 793 following 174 posts

British European, competition lawyer and proud centrist dad

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Reposted by Becket McGrath
Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Good thing that this couldn’t have been predicted almost a year ago <runs bitter victory lap> and the government didn’t just blithely carry on doing the same thing. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/718...
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👻 Jack Djinn Wail 🧞 @jacktindale.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
About ten years ago, my "Britain Stronger In Europe" mug broke off at the handle as I was drinking from it, smashed onto the kitchen worksurface, and splashed tea all over my biography of Edward Heath. It was the most perfect metaphor for the Remain campaign imaginable.
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Niall Ó Conghaile @nialloconghaile.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
We need to hear contrition for Brexit's having shattered the West, the glee which so many of his colleagues greeted our suffering, and the rampant Europhobia still present And we need to see him say he will *support* Europe as the best hope for a critical mass of democracies working together Ends
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Nicola Kelly @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Danny Thomas where he belongs: in custody.
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Just as well those committing wrongs against the RNLI are not holding placards supporting a proscribed organisation, else they would really be in trouble.
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
What this says to me is that the wheels are falling off Reform. Rather than being able to stick to THE BOATS they have gone after legal migrants, permanent migrants and now non-white citizens. It’s a revolutionary spiral that they can’t escape and will chew them up.
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Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Why do people keep falling for russian propaganda? No, Ukraine’s self-defense isn't driving up oil prices, a war in Iran is. And it’s far worse for Ukraine than for any of you, because higher oil prices directly fund russia's ability to keep killing us.
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I would love to ask a prominent BBC journalist to give me an example of an illegitimate concern. Is seems to me that it has become a question not of fact, logic, or ethics but of volume. If a big enough proportion of a village was anxious about Bigfoot or Chemtrails, BBC would cover it in a way...
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Marie Goldman MP @mariecgoldman.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Completely unacceptable that the incredibly brave and dedicated RNLI volunteers are being treated in this way. They are the best of us and truly represent the country I know and love.
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It would be quite 'something' if, after all the talk of leaving the EU to create CANZUK, there ends up being CANZEU without the UK
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Political party opposed to the European Convention on Human Rights minded to rely on the European Convention on Human Rights before the the European Court of Human Rights.
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Gives me a chance to re-up my Andy Capp line though
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Sabina Ciofu of Tech UK launches their report with the clear message that Europe is stronger when we work together. The obvious message not nearly heard enough from UK politicians in Brussels (right now far too much "yours wrong over Made in Europe)
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Helene von Bismarck @helenebismarck.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I am sorry, I may have said this before, but there really are moments when British politics are astonishingly naive, and I really think this may have something to do with the fact that the British have not experienced occupation, tyranny, displacemen within living memory.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Here @stephenkb.bsky.social seeks to remind the Labour government, old & new, that the point + purpose of recognising "legitimate concerns" about immigration was to understand how to differentiate these from *illegitimate concerns* rooted in intimidation + xenophobia www.ft.com/content/2279...
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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Jonathan Jones @sirjjkc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
New guidance to ministers on • consultations: there are to be fewer of them • legal risk: ministers are to be “empowered to accept higher levels of legal risk” • judicial review: further limits to JR of big infrastructure projects www.gov.uk/government/p...
gov.uk
The Simplification and Agency of Government - Letter to all ministers
A joint letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the First Secretary of State, and the Attorney General to all ministers.
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Ed Davey @eddavey.libdems.org.uk · 03/09/2026
This is serious. If Reform blatantly, intentionally and knowingly broke election law, they should be held fully accountable. Liberal Democrats have asked the Police and the Electoral Commission to investigate.
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Rob Davies @byrobdavies.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
"I want your children's lungs to be smaller and less functional" is a bold electoral strategy.
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Andrew Cutting @andrewcutting.coe.int · 28/08/2026
Wow. If anyone asks what the European Convention on Human Rights has ever done for anyone, show them this👇 🔗 www.modernslaverypec.org/informing-th... Brilliant new explainer on how Hillsborough families have used the ECHR, through the Human Rights Act, to fight for truth and state accountability
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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
My LinkedIn is full of an endless stream of UK diplomats announcing they’ve left govt service. This due to extreme cuts to foreign aid and diplomacy (much of it spearheaded by Olly Robbins). It’s hard to look at the world today and think “this is a good time to be losing experienced diplomats.”
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
It’s just depressing. Further education has been cut to ribbons. Higher education is in crisis. Labour turns its eyes to the bit of the education system which is turning out the highest literacy rates in the western world and goes “that’s the bit that needs to change”
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Excellent piece by @samfr.bsky.social. If you're using the term "Boriswave", you're doing the work of the alt-right. The Starmer-McSweeney leadership took this up as an attack line. But as they so often discovered, if you adopt your opponents' diagnosis, it becomes hard to avoid their solutions.
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Tanja Bueltmann @tanjabueltmann.net · 06/08/2026
To stop it, we need 1) leaders to make better choices; 2) the media to recognise their enabling role in normalising this escalation cycle and stop doing so 3) a significant civil society effort in support of 1) and 2). In my view, we are failing on all three currently. /end
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Jonathan Hopkin @jonathanhopkin.eurosky.social · 02/08/2026
Few people understand that the UK university system is in crisis, but even fewer realise that many of the people losing their jobs are amongst the best in their fields
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
My sense from talking to insiders is that under the previous Starmer government HE’s concerns were ignored or indeed taken as a standard hippy-punching sign they were doing ‘something right’. Lads, you weren’t, and you had become widely hated. Time for a reset.
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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 24/07/2026
London is thriving. Crime is down, neighbourhoods are safer, and more people can enjoy everything our city has to offer. Thank you to the Met officers working every day to keep Londoners safe.
standard.co.uk
Neighbourhood crime plunges in London as mayor slams 'dystopian hellhole' narrative
‘Neighbourhood crime’ falls 14% with 35,000 fewer offences in a year
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Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu · 20/07/2026
A very good first discussion with @andyburnham.bsky.social. We are both committed to bringing the EU and the UK closer and closer. Together, we will work towards a successful Summit that delivers for our businesses, our young people and our shared security.
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Unlock Democracy @unlockdemocracy.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Over 160 MPs - including 88 Labour MPs from all parts of the party - have now put their name to the call for a commission on changing the voting system. The momentum is growing every day. As one Labour MP put it: "You don't have to be Harry Kane to see what an open goal this is."
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Is Labour about to scrap UK's 'first past the post' voting system?
Some 88 Labour MPs - more than a fifth of the party's presence in the House of Commons - have so far backed a bid to set up a body to investigate electoral reform.
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Danny Miller @danielmilleresq.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
This is so powerful. Inspired by the March of a Thousand Robes in Poland, retired and sitting judges in the United States walked down the streets of Columbus, Ohio to stand up for the Rule of Law. #JusticeinMotion
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
I mean credit where credit is due: "If he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won't stop him" is top tier posting
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Belgian Red Devils @belreddevils.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Overturn this! 😎
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Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
An extremely positive sign, along with recent briefing from Burnham camp about breaking UK reliance on US tech giants. This, not clinging to a hardline Brexit, is how you build real British sovereignty. www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
telegraph.co.uk
Burnham set to ditch Palantir from NHS
Left-wing critics have called for deal to be axed over US tech giant’s work with Israeli Defense Forces and US immigration
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Luigi di Angeli @luigidiangeli.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Brexit, in one headline. The EU is looking after its own industry. The UK is outside, pleading for special treatment. This isn't vindictiveness. It's the entirely predictable consequence of leaving the club. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
EU urged to exempt UK from car rules that could be worst Brexit impact yet
Bloc’s ‘made in Europe’ regulations risk shutting out British manufacturers in ‘most spectacular own goal in history’
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
What's that you say? You wanted to leave the EU to improve control of immigration...? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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Lewis Baston @lewisbaston.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
No further comment necessary really, but this is up there with Westferry Bob Jenrick ordering murals painted over. Nobody is going to be impressed Shabana. That voter you’ve made up in your head doesn’t exist.
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Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Apparently the incoming Burnham government is looking for "big ideas". Here are 10 of them:
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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
I’m not saying the debate in the U.K. has moved to the right, but Ed Miliband is basically seen as Pol Pot for aiming for a climate target first agreed to by…I think Theresa May’s government? Definitely Johnson’s. And this chat is going on during the middle of a record-breaking heatwave
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
One of the lessons of the last two years is that Labour urgently needs to stop being afraid of its own shadow. Burnham should appoint whoever he thinks would be the best Chancellor and throw his authority behind them. The Daily Mail will try to kill them anyway. So just govern.
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Tanja Bueltmann @tanjabueltmann.net · 24/06/2026
24 June 2016. The day after when EU citizens across the UK were told to ‘go home’; when the then PM said he would not protect our rights. Stories largely forgotten. BLEA - Brexit Lived Experience Archive - which I am launching today, is here to preserve this history. #Brexit brexit.migravox.org
brexit.migravox.org
Home - BLEA
BLEA. Brexit Lived Experience Archive Documenting experiences. Personal experiences provide valuable insights into how Brexit is lived and understood by those directly affected. Recording these accoun...
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
For the first time in 30 years, child deaths are now rising, in large part due to USAID cuts Lancet modelling shows USAID cuts will cause 14 million deaths including 4.5m children, by 2030. Independent CGDev research backs this up
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UK in a Changing Europe @ukandeu.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Remember the Barnier Staircase? To mark the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum, we've devised the new, improved 'UKICE staircase' - here modelled by Mr Barnier himself - mapping out the UK's future EU relationship options. Read all about it here: ukandeu.ac.uk/introducing-...
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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
So, so sad. BBC foreign correspondents are some of the best community assets we have, especially in places like Eastern Europe. Could write multiple posts about this - we lose our ability to understand the world if we don't have people to translate between our worldview and those of others.
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 23/06/2026
You already got one, and you didn't like it.
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Terry Reintke @terryreintke.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
🇪🇺 🇬🇧 The door to the EU will always remain open. The UK remains an important part of the European family, and together we are stronger. Last Saturday‘s National Rejoin March was a clear reminder that the hope for a closer future remains alive. 🇬🇧🇪🇺
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Probably true, but there's no point being shackled to a corpse. I'm not persuaded voters give a monkey's about the manifesto, as long as you get the economy going and public services improving - and show some tangible progress on stopping the boats and closing the hotels.
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Steve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
They’re calling it the quote on British politics that ended the need for all other quotes
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
The pathway to delivering a popular programme in UK politics is narrow if it even exists. We're an ageing society that in large part doesn't like the modern world. Government can't easily fix that. Over to you Andy.
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Ben Goldsborough MP @bengoldsborough.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
One department leaving is good. Now all must follow.
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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 18/06/2026
The fact that everyone on the Leave side was able to get away with an entire Campaign of promising to deregulate in some unspecified BUT AWESOME way because they didn't have a consensus plan was such a staggering failure of public discourse that it took me years to believe it.
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