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Jolyon Agar

@joelyagar.bsky.social
73 followers 20 following 318 posts

BA (1) (QUB) politics; PhD (QUB) political philosophy. Author of 2 books with Routledge, plus many articles: www.researchgate.net/profile/Jolyon…

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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 8h
Jamie Bryson has given Unionism enough ammunition to not just shoot itself in the foot, but blow its leg off. Throwing red meat to the base only works for those who prefer chewing to thinking. If Unionism is to survive, it must develop the capacity for strategic thinking.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Another week when the Trump administration takes a hatchet to the US Constitution reminds us that while MAGA whines about "civilisational erasure" by immigration, "Euro taken over by Islam" etc, it is Trumpism that is at war with the Enlightenment & western values. Every accusation is a confession
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
It would actually be a better look if Andy Burnham just said "Sorry, can't do anything about fuel duty" (he can do plenty, btw) than engage in these patronising, meaningless stunts. Good grief.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Andy Burnham's speech was full of the right sentiment - a clarion call for dismantling the neoliberal experiment. He will not be judged on sentiment, but rather on action. I remain hugely sceptical that anything substantive will change. #Labour #Liverpool
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The Belfast Fleadh and its vision of what might be possible for Northern Ireland was just too much for those whose only setting is backwards, whose bigotry short circuits logic. Their fear of what they saw that week has led to this. We must defeat them. We *will* defeat them. #Drumcree #OrangeOrder
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Poor Jim Ratcliffe seems rather perturbed by Andy Burnham's new govt. I can assure Jimbo that any suggestion of tackling increasing inequalities or the decrepit neoliberal model that produces them (& is designed with his interests in mind) is just waffle. Burnham has his back.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Neoliberalism takes misanthrope to levels even I didn't imagine. I always thought it simply oppresses human beings in the name of market "freedom". Turns out its aversion to regulation could end up unleashing an AI arms race that will kill us all.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
If you think Trade Unions (who represent workers' interests & have delivered rights we all benefit from) are the moral equivalent of crypto-billionaires buying political parties then you're a danger to yourself & those around you. False consciousness in a nutshell.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Donald Trump was a narcissistic dimwit before he declared his support for Irish reunification. He's still a narcissistic dimwit. What makes this intervention newsworthy is why Unionists ever thought this guy was worth their time. Another example of "all tactics, no strategy".
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
PMQs serve no useful function other than to demonstrate how UK politics has become performative twaddle. I'm with the late great Tony Benn who retired from the Commons so that he could "devote more time to politics". The assembled clapping seals of today's MPs aren't fit to lace his shoes.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Andy Burnham correctly identifies neoliberalism (or "Thatcherism") as the principal cause of UK decline. It's one thing to make this observation. Much more important is what Burnham plans to do about it, which, I suspect, will be very little beyond soundbites & empty promises.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The revolution set in motion in 1979 - "Thatcherism" or more accurately "neoliberalism" - transcends the personality of Thatcher herself. In its transformative impacts, it marks every aspect of life even to this day. I suspect Kemi Badenoch knows this & if she doesn't, she isn't fit ever to be PM.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
So Scott Bessent is threatening to destroy the world economy. And for what? So Israel can continue to wage war & invade everyone around them. No one needs to wonder why support for Israel has tanked across the West. That's the only good thing to come out of Trump's madness.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
New levels of economic illiteracy to compliment political & strategic illiteracy from the Trump administration. Scott Bessent essentially declaring that Trump is out of options. The "no more forever wars" President just made the Iran war *indefinite* & only Israel is happy. Oh, & Moscow & Beijing
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Just a reminder that "false consciousness" is very much alive in post-Brexit Britain. Reform voters from a working class background need protecting from themselves.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
COBRA meets to discuss mounting evidence of the climate catastrophe as the UK burns in record heat. It urges BBQ companies to stop selling disposable BBQs. WTF? Is this what passes for leadership? Our politics is failing us at a time of existential planetary crisis.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Sailors trying to kill themselves onboard USS Abraham Lincoln after record 250 days at sea in intolerable conditions, due to Trump's idiotic war. Trump abandons *his own* staff to their fate on Air Force One. And yet MAGA still insist Trump isn't a raving narcissistic sociopath.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
The success of democratic socialism in the DNC, and Corporate Democrats' hysterical reaction to it, demonstrate two things: (1) The DNC has functioned for decades to represent elite wealth & can't handle real democracy. (2) They'd rather have Trumpian post-fascists in power than socialists.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
They've moved to the next step of eco-fascism. When science can no longer be denied, they shift to "let's embrace the Mediterranean lifestyle". The next step is to shut the borders to climate refugees. Then kill them if necessary. This is where our public discourse is heading.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
George, the word "newspaper" has long since ceased to apply to the Daily Telegraph. It is the Daily Sport with bigger words for dim-witted former public schoolboys.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
A crowdfund to keep him there? I'd put in a tenner right away.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Labour's "Burnham bounce" will be short lived if the new PM thinks tinkering around the edges of a broken system will see off Nigel Farage. The structural problems that destroyed his predecessors in No.10 still exist & so far I've seen no proof he can meaningfully address them.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Perhaps the only good thing to come from this mess is that it has demonstrated beyond all doubt just how inadequate and incompetent Donald Trump is as a politician. He's out of his depth & should be removed from office before he causes any more damage.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Where did I say I didn't support net zero?
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
As always in opinion polls, it depends on how the question is framed. "Do you support net zero to halt climate change?" - YES! "Do you support net zero if it means lowering your standard of living & curtailing your freedoms?" - BOO! No way. Burnham's advisors know this, as I suspect do you.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Argentina encapsulate all that's wrong with football in one team. On the pitch: negative anti-football. Off the pitch: disgusting thugs who can't take losing. If FIFA weren't Trumpian (i.e. bunch of corrupt crooks) they'd take stern action against them. Well done Spain #EspañaArgentina #ESPARG
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Andy Burnham will fail. The driver of populist revolt (I call it postfascism - see my article in CPT) is socio-economic dislocation. He shows no sign he'll tackle accelerating inequality & the increased poverty it creates. The slide to postfascism (or even worse) continues.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Trump's purpose was to protect the wealth & power of the neoliberal order in an age of populist anger. It's now clear that his hyper-hubris & insatiable drive for self-enrichment mean he is no longer serving the interests of the economic elites who made him into a politician. What will they do now?
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
This retreat to abstractions can be traced to the abandonment of the working class by Leftists like those in the Frankfurt School. Workers were deemed lost to a capitalist order that exploits them & so intellectuals sought bogus compensations of cultural revs & the myopic policing of language.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
It would be in keeping with Nigel Farage's distain for democratic processes of accountability & his utter contempt for the electorate in Clacton if his political career was ended by a man wearing a bin on his head. Please let it happen. #CountBinFace #FarageBung
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
To be fair, James is almost always on holiday so he misses most important political events.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Hannah Arendt:‘Hobbesianism is the theoretical foundation for those naturalistic ideologies which hold nations to be tribes, separated from each other by nature...unconscious of the solidarity of mankind, having in common only the instinct of self-preservation which man shares with the animal world’
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Hobbesian "war of all against all" will also shape the fascism now emerging - Mann & Wainwright call this "Climate Behemoth" in *Climate Leviathan*, a world of chaotic national selfishness, a refusal to acknowledge climate science or adopt mitigation Hobbes' utility to the Right has been remarkable
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The heatwave statistics are truly scary & remind us of the importance of facing down right-wing populism. Its anti-net zero irrationalism is not just lazy anti-science drivel. It is dangerous politics that must be defeated at all costs.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Thanks to Darren Jones for reminding us that our democracy is a façade. When deciding on whether to run, not a thought is given to actual voters. It's all about the bond markets. This is the sort of attitude I'd expect from the Tories. Not a so-called "Labour" politician.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Keir Starmer went out of his way to emphasise how Labour under his leadership regained its sense of decency on the world stage.. ..which apparently includes defending the right of Israel to starve civilian populations to death. And some people think our politics *isn't* broken.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
10 years ago today the UK became the first nation in history to impose economic sanctions on *itself*. Until this country is ready to accept this, the economic and political damage that this idiotic decision has done cannot be repaired. #Brexit
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
There is a perfect Brexit. You just have to *believe* more.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Northern Ireland braces itself for another night of violent protests to demand protection of women & girls. With the conviction for child rape and sexual abuse of 2 children of *checks notes*....Jeffrey Donaldson.... Oh wait....never mind. As you were.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Those who expect Andy Burnham to tackle the crises crippling the UK are about to be spectacularly disappointed. He's Starmer with the common touch. That's it.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Larry's seen another one off. Good days. #Starmer #Burnham
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Tackling far-right thuggery & racism will ultimately require tackling its socio-economic roots. But it begins with govt forcing regulation of rancid online sewers like Twitter. Disinformation morons need to be expunged, far right, racist accounts banned. #Belfast #riots
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
The same trends of societal breakdown that has brought Trump to power in your country. An exhausted & angry populace in a broken economic model, encouraged by bad actors to scapegoat people even poorer than they to distract from the real causes of their misery. It's happening everywhere.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
These people have had their brains boiled by a slew of bullshit on Elon Musk's platform. The damage that man has done to societies on both sides of the Atlantic is incalculable. All part of his plan to subjugate us in his techno-feudal dystopia.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Since 2020, 30 women - THIRTY - have been murdered in Northern Ireland. All by white men. But there's no issue with white men. One man is attacked by a deranged pyscho from Sudan. We've got to stop all foreigners coming into NI. This is the "mindset" of masked-up fuckwits in Belfast & on Twitter.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
In the 1970s loyalist savages roamed these streets hacking random Catholics to death with machetes. Is that an argument for deporting all white Irish protestants? Most Sudanese are as appalled at the knife attack in North Belfast as anyone else. The problem isn't race. It is ideology.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I wonder how long it will take the markets to realise Donald Trump has lost control of events in the Middle East & is simply trying to bump stocks before the bell? When will this madness end? Not before Congress is in a position to impeach. Global recession will hit long before that.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Cenk Uyghur's ban simply crystalizes how bent the "Labour" party has become under Starmer. No longer a vehicle for progressive, anti-imperialist causes, it is a miserable instrument of elite power. It must be destroyed. Corbyn's error was not to destroy these people when he had the chance.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Aside from Thatcher herself, I can think of no-one more culpable than Tony Blair for creating the social and economic conditions for populism. Yet here he is offering pungent opinion on how to fix the mess. Like an arsonist giving a lecture at a fire fighting convention.
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Jolyon Agar @joelyagar.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
A Wes Streeting premiership turns the 50/50 prospect of a majority Reform government at the next GE into a certainty. Those who say Labour would have to be tin-eared to go down that road forget that destroying the Left of their own party means more to them even than power.
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