Sign in

James Alan Anslow

@journodoc.bsky.social
691 followers 1.1K following 392 posts

Writer and researcher (Not posting here for now)

PostsRepliesMedia
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Odd to write 'no one much complained about the electoral system' after the 1951 general election which kept the party with the biggest popular vote out of power.
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
No words: news.sky.com/story/robert...
news.sky.com
Robert F Kennedy Jr tells anti-vaccine activists they have a 'friend in the White House'
The US health secretary was speaking at a conference of the Children's Health Defense, a group that Mr Kennedy used to chair.
010
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
@mrjamesob.bsky.social Regarding part of today's monologue: trickstertrade.substack.com/p/journalist...
trickstertrade.substack.com
Journalists and the F word
Should we stop semantically tiptoeing when reporting what is staring us in the face?
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
How ironic that Reform UK is defending donations from two immigrants. You couldn't make it up etc.
010
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Why do journalists not report that Scotland and Northern Ireland MPs killed the England and Wales assisted dying bill? Northern Ireland MPs voted against it by 9-0 and Scotland's by 28-14 - a combined net opposition of 23 votes, exceeding the bill’s 16-vote defeat.
021
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Assisted dying bill dies. Another example of England's failure to progress. Depressing.
020
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Characteristically rational. I share his bewilderment. > www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Is Burnham trying to appease Trump? Or Reform? What other reason is there for these North Sea oil plans? | George Monbiot
Climate catastrophe is on our doorstep – yet Labour’s impending approval of further drilling will bring more pain for negligible gains, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
010
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I edit for a living and completely concur. Also compared to/with and further/farther.
030
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
..and cricketers now!!
010
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Hospitality whingers already moaning about England's proposed 'tourist tax'. Scotland, Wales and most of Europe already have similar. And regional mayors would be able to set level. English exceptionalism rears its head yet again #GripeBritain
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The brilliant Natalie Haynes pours all her intellectual and emotional intelligence into her commentary on Euripides' Medea www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics - Series 12 - Medea - BBC Sounds
Natalie tells the tragic story of Euripides' Medea to a rapt audience at the Hay Festival.
010
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
@news.sky.com You should make it clear your Defence Insider app is not available on Android.
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I see the fascists are targeting the RNLI now. Shameful. Don't vote for their parties.
110
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This strange guy is intellectually bankrupt. He expects us to take his conversations with proven grifter 30p Lee seriously and still appears to idolise Nigel Farage. He will soon be as forgotten as Brexit Hard Man Steve Baker > Commentator Tim Montgomerie quits Reform following suspension.
bbc.co.uk
Tim Montgomerie quits Reform following suspension
The political commentator, who defected from the Tories 18 months ago, was suspended from Reform UK last month.
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
It will play well at the Labour Party conference in three weeks' time and the upcoming London by-election - and I'm sure they contributed to the timing.
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
But it will take nine months to implement. After waiting years, why jeopardise a crucial and finely balanced election by not delaying just a few more weeks?
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Not really. I simply referred to it and added my response.
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I couldn't summarise the complex issues here. But there is a convincing argument that acting before Israel's election will strengthen extreme candidates' popularity over that of moderate ones. Labour's unwillingness to wait a few more weeks after being in Governmen over two years is self-interested.
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
He certainly looked and sounded the part when replying to the Foreign Secretary's announcement on trade with the West Bank. (BTW I have never voted Tory, although I may have kissed one once..)
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Not in this instance IMHO.
101
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
UK Government should have waited until after Israel's general election a mere seven weeks away before making its announcement on trade with the West Bank. This new Labour leadership has once again put party interests ahead of the greater good.
310
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I know it makes good copy but I really don't care about Prince George's first day at Eton. Maybe it's because I think the Restoration was Britain's greatest mistake, even beating Brexit.
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
trickstertrade.substack.com/p/journalist...
trickstertrade.substack.com
Journalists and the F word
Should we stop semantically tiptoeing when reporting what is staring us in the face?
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
What a rubbish country the UK is. It can't make anything happen. Unitary councils, digital ID, assisted dying, axing House of Lords and stopping well-off people like me getting winter fuel allowance were all obvious must-haves..until they weren't. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Plans for major overhaul of councils halted
Proposals to merge smaller councils to form larger authorities have been paused or withdrawn in a number of areas.
110
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Counterintuitively, I hope you're right. But I fear you're not.
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Labour should've stuck with Starmer & Reeves until 2029. It let soft-left opportunists weaponise media noise & week polls to stage a shameless coup. Streeting, Healey & Sarwar were rewarded for their clearly orchestrated performative outrage. Corbyn cost us Brexit. They could cost us a fascist govt.
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I said he's perceived as left-wing. Burnham will get a chance to prove he 'appeals to a broader range than Starmer' at the next general election. I guarantee he won't get close to the number of seats that Keir won in 2024. And that's the stat that will matter. Not polls. Not impressions. Not vibes.
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
History records votes not polls. Three years is eons in politics. No one could have predicted how Starmer would have fared in 2029. UK electorate has very short memory.
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Starmer's victory was broad but shallow: a point or two among reluctant voters prepared to give him a go. Burnham's perceived as too left-wing for them to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he goes early he'll throw away Labour's huge majority. If he waits to 2028/29 his shine will have worn off.
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Data v anecdote. The future will count the numbers. And I fear Labour will not win an overall majority again. In any event, the victories of Blair and Starmer will remain unmatched by any party.
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Its new backbenchers did.They didn't realise that, at the general election, floating voters needed an unfrightening centrist in a suit to nudge them to vote Labour. Burnham wouldn't have cut it. He would've frightened too many Home Counties horses. Streeting won his seat by 528 votes thanks to Keir.
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
What's untrue?
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Elephant in the room for UK Labour government is it cannot credibly advocate stability when it blew up a leadership founded on the second biggest Parliamentary majority since WW2. My hunch is that will never be matched. People will soon ask why Labour panicked three years out from a general election
110
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Black shirts. We've seen them before > www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
010
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
History will still record him as one of Labour's rare winning leaders. When all the noise has been forgotten, heads will be scratched about why he was ditched with three long years to go.
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I'm on the left..and I agree.
010
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
😂
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Various Labour politicians have today been invited to suggest what the party will most remember Sir Keir Starmer for. It's shameful but unsurprising that I heard none reply: 'Getting us elected.'
110
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Starmer announced he was stepping down as an MP just a couple of hours before his successor addressed the Commons for the first time as PM. I don't blame him. He was stitched up by Burnham and accomplices since appointed Chancellor, Defence Secretary, de facto deputy PM and a minister in the Lords.
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Has Kemi Badenoch just appointed her successor in Tom Tugendhat?
110
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
It was 52.8 vs 47.2 against talks about joining EU.
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
@mrjamesob.bsky.social Iceland has its EU vote tomorrow (Aug 29). Recent poll showed 51.3% support and 48.7 oppose. Where have we seen that before? 🤔
100
Reposted by James Alan Anslow
Jason Wilson @jasonaw.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Since I filed this story the same cvompany, Piro Inc, has launched a new site along similar lines called IsraelFact israelfact.com
israelfact.com
IsraelFact
Israel’s official record: what Israel’s own bodies publish, with the issuing body, the date and the method attached.
0267
Reposted by James Alan Anslow
Jason Wilson @jasonaw.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
New from me today - lobbyists employed by Israel have published voluminous material under the banner of a non-existent thinktank in an apparent attempt to game the information people get from AI chatbots www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
theguardian.com
Fake US thinktank set up and funded by Israel sought to game AI for propaganda
In effort to prime chatbots to make pro-Israel arguments the site published 124 reports, over 560,000 words in nine days, Guardian analysis shows
9424214
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
But he didn't pass vetting??
100
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Hope so. Vance seems to have gone very quiet 🤔
200
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Who knew? Thanks Will Hutton in the surprisingly (to me) still excellent Observer. Another example of Government's poor storytelling. Journalists still allow to go unchallenged the false narrative that the UK should be drilling more of 'our' oil out of the North Sea. IT IS NOT OURS. It's the markets
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
So tired hearing privileged parents guilting three-job mums and dads about the length of time they let their kids spend on screens #moralpanic
000
James Alan Anslow @journodoc.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
I'd like to see UK rejoin Efta which it helped createbtgree years later.
000