Reposted by John KellRobert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I understand the desire to speak well of the dead, and am sure that Archer, like all of us, was a mix of good and bad. But the tendency to indulge dishonesty, so long as it's by a loveable scamp, has done real damage to British politics. We should be a bit wary of the "isn't he a card?" thing. 1112222
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 05/10/2026This piece sets out how the political party currently hovering around fourth or fifth place in the opinion polls has adopted a position in line with current and past positions of Hamas, the USSR and the National Front. everydayhate.substack.com/p/the-green-...everydayhate.substack.comThe Green Party descends into disgraceAs expected, the Green Party has today passed its motion declaring Zionism to be racism, and calling for Israel to be replaced by a single state of Palestine. 000
Reposted by John KellKate Bevan @katebevan.com · 25/09/2026FFS. Really important infrastructure projects shouldn't be subject to the whims of whoever happens to be in Downing Street. HS2 is a clusterfuck because twats just keep changing their minds. We should commit to big, important projects and see them through, not faff about every time we get a new PM. 158515
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 16/09/2026(Applies across multiple parties. Albeit not ones so small the leadership candidates are drawn from that cohort.) 001
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 16/09/2026It's the pauses that make this. Absolutely captures less experienced local activists speaking in the hall at party conference, for what they hope will be the first time of many, but will truthfully be the first and last for obvious reasons. Back when I used to have to go to the things. 100
Reposted by John KellStephen Gallagher @stephengallagher.co.uk · 16/09/2026Piddington, you reap what you sow 0104
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Do you happen to know how much of the Act is still on the statue book? Political uniforms and private militias surely haven't been decriminalised in the meantime... have they? 201
Reposted by John KellRobert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 07/09/202690 years ago, Parliament responded to the rise of Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts by passing the Public Order Act, which banned political uniforms, private militias and the threat of force for political objects. The debates make very resonant reading today. Here's the Liberal Robert Bernays. (Short 🧵) 4123711265
Reposted by John KellJonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Shameful and saddening from Simon Schama. What is happening in Gaza is not the Holocaust. But it *is* genocidal, perpetrated by an explicitly and openly genocidal government, and he knows that. This denialism demeans him and his record as a great historian. www.jewishnews.co.uk/simon-schama...jewishnews.co.ukSimon Schama: Anybody accusing Israel of committing genocide should be ashamed - Jewish NewsIn speech at HET appeal dinner, the historian and professor says 'We, the victims of the greatest genocide the world has ever seen, are being called perpetrators of genocide' 29395125
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 07/09/2026On paper I think binning off token consultations is exactly right. I've responded to enough over the years. But government has no culture of earlier, participatory engagement to shape policy. Still less does it have expertise in it. So... brace for a ton of avoidable policy blunders, I guess. 010
Reposted by John KellMichael @michaeljsc.bsky.social · 05/09/2026I can’t *believe* we had to, still have to, listen to all that talk about how competent and ruthless Shabana Mahmood is, and then we get a day like today and we don’t have a Home Secretary 832790
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 05/09/2026The true face of Reform: violent, hateful, thuggish, criminal. 000
Reposted by John KellJames Ball @jamesrball.com · 05/09/2026It's craven, it's politically stupid, and it's morally wrong. Number 10 does not struggle to get Andy Burnham in front of a camera when it wants him to be there. Every minute he's not on show over this is the result of a deliberate decision. 32809210
Reposted by John KellJohn Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 05/09/2026A paramilitary blockade of a British port requires a televised address to the nation tonight, detailing the emergency measures that have been taken @andyburnham.bsky.social 001
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 05/09/2026A paramilitary blockade of a British port requires a televised address to the nation tonight, detailing the emergency measures that have been taken @andyburnham.bsky.social 001
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 11/08/2026"Zip merging"? Seriously?? BBC News describes completely standard merge-in-turn, exactly how it's supposed to operate, as some sort of transgressive innovation. I can't decide if it's a worse reflection on BBC News or contemporary driving standards. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukWhat is 'zip-merging' on a motorway and when should you do it?How should motorists in the UK merge lanes to ensure safe and smooth driving conditions? 120
Reposted by John KellGlen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 10/08/2026I wonder if all the people at the BBC will regret what they've done if and when Reform UK throws them all on the dole. Maybe not. 🤷♂️ 610621
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 29/07/2026I'm impressed the figure is that low. Would be interesting to see change over time - from working on the issue in the voluntary sector, I suspect it was higher 10-15 years ago. 010
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Azumas at Bedford is quite exciting, but bizarrely Bedford-Newcastle will be quicker and easier than normal throughout this weekend, as rail replacement buses will be running direct between Bedford and Peterborough. Using one of them will be slightly quicker (on paper) than the direct train. 010
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 22/07/2026I actually think this is quite revealing. In areas that have become heavily car-dependent and public transport has gone down a death spiral, buses are seen as either irredeeemably low status, or (perhaps increasingly?) a big city / metropolitan liberal elite mode. It's a huge challenge. 020
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Of course, a bold and independent-minded GBR could sharpen up the passenger offer, only to find it goes the same way as NHS England: abolished by an insecure and inept centre that sees it as a rival for power, or just an irritant, rather than a valuable partner. A risk for the future CEO to weigh. 010
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 06/07/2026The GBR visuals are very conventional, and carry on cues from recent trends in livery design. There's nothing innovative; it's just a paint job (/vinyl) to go on the existing engineering endeavour. Speaks volumes about the lack of vision for how things will actually be transformed for passengers. 100
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 06/07/2026I think it's worth reading that post in conjunction with @thebeautyoftransport.com on the initial British Railways identity: thebeautyoftransport.com/2015/02/18/l... - conservative, backward-looking, trying to slap a single identity on what were still the old Big Four companies underneath.thebeautyoftransport.comLions and Wheels (British Railways’ lion emblems, 1949-1964)On 1st January 1948, British Railways was born. It would go on to be one of the most infamous of British institutions, loved by some and reviled by many. Its corporate identity and “double arrow” l… 110
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 06/07/2026This speaks, indirectly, to something I've wondered for a while: how independent of DfT will GBR be once it exists as a statutory body in its own right? On its first day as a statutory org, the NHS Commissioning Board re-branded itself NHS England. Will GBR also reset its external presentation? 121
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 29/06/2026Sad to hear this. I remember Prof Hatcher's lectures being much more entertaining and engaging than I ever expected economic history to be, and also his excitement as Arsenal clinched the title in 2002. 010
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 26/06/2026You can send it direct - he's on here @andyburnham.bsky.social. Been a bit quiet over the last month, but at least prior to that I know he was using the account personally. If you do see this Andy, this is probably as helpful a 5-minute read as anyone's going to send you.☝️ 110
Reposted by John KellThe Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 23/06/2026In other words - our body politic retains an admirably efficient discharge system, it is the diet which is at fault. 710826
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 22/06/2026What do you feel is the link between the recent high turnover in PMs and the voting system? Are there structural problems with the legislature that are causing this? 100
Reposted by John KellThomas Ableman @freewheeling.info · 22/06/2026Unpopular opinion, but today is a great illustration of the British Constitution working well. Having appointed a Prime Minister who turned out not to be able to lead a Government or a country, our flexible system found a way to replace him with someone who can. The system working as it should. 092
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Catastrophic fails from both BBC and Sky News. Sky perhaps have the fig leaf that they're not specifying what post he's resigned from, but the BBC's completely false report that Starmer has resigned as Prime Minister will fuel misinformation and yet more ill feeling towards politicians. 001
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 22/06/2026This is really glib. For starters, FPTP elects the legislature, but the resignations have been as head of the executive. Bar May, all those PMs had majorities. But sure, the problem is the electoral system... 000
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Were they not covered by the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act? 100
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 11/06/2026I've remarked in conversation recently that I worry we could be getting an Asquith when we need a Lloyd George. Reminded of that by today's news. 000
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Hm, yes - see the point. Still slightly wonder whether it's over-extrapolating from a small dataset. If Disney had committed would Ncuti really still have walked? 131
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Don't think this is true pre-Ncuti. Matt Smith made his name in it, and in that context did a perfectly decent length in the role. Capaldi came back for a final special even though his contract had expired. Jodie was out of contract but turned down big work to do her final season. 010
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 10/06/2026I'd say "finally forced the serious rethink about format and storytelling that, truthfully, was probably needed by the end of the Moffat era" rather than "killed the franchise." We've been here before. It'll be back. 020
Reposted by John KellIsaac @isaacmarovitz.com · 10/06/2026Ban X (Twitter) X has continuously been used by foreign state actors to incite violence throughout the UK. We cannot allow this to continue. Sign the petition: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/77...petition.parliament.ukSupport Isaac Marovitz’s petition - PetitionsFind, sign or create petitions calling for the UK Parliament or UK Government to act 69232
Reposted by John KellDan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 08/06/2026The argument for the BBC appears to be that we need a hypothetical BBC to protect against the risk of getting the kind of media which the BBC actually is 10409145
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 08/06/2026I think this can be stated even more strongly. Our 2-party parliamentary (and latterly democratic) system was the product of 'broadcast' media in the broadest sense: first the printing press, then over the airwaves. Atomised digital media create a profoundly different political environment. 000
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 05/06/2026As a treat this morning I got to go to East Midlands Railway's event to launch their refurbished class 360s; looking forward to the refurb rolling out across the whole fleet, as they will offer the most pleasant ride from Bedford to London that's been available since I moved here over a decade ago. 020
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 21/05/2026The wildest part of this is that the widow successfully gave the model railway collection away to attendees at the event. I bet she did: that stuff notoriously costs cash money and would have fetched a tidy sum if sold. The really stupid bit was thinking it had no value and needed to be given away! 011
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 11/05/2026Ha, accidentally managed a more acute remark than I thought! 000
John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 11/05/2026Another comparison I've seen: he reminds people of a not-very-good middle manager, which a lot of folk have had experience of working for at some point in their lives... 180