Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 14/09/2026can I be the first to congratulation Mary Lou on her promotion to UK regional leader. 001
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Mike Huckabee, Trump’s representative in Israel, was on Today pushing against sanctions on West Bank settlements. He just asked rhetorically where the sanctions are against North Korea and Russia. You can’t get out of Tesco nowadays without tripping over kimchi from Pyongyang. 010
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 04/09/2026The businessman Yorgen Fenech was acquitted on Wednesday of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Maltese investigative journalist. @juliettegarside.bsky.social's piece from Malta is a must-read on Fenech's contact with the man who hired the assassins. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...theguardian.comSabotage, leaks and political ties: the story of the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder trialMaltese businessman cleared of involvement in journalist’s death, but trial revealed challenges faced by those leading search for killers 100
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Andy Burnham said, perhaps a wee bit clumsily, that a border poll was "off the table". Harold Wilson, by contrast, had a plan to deliver a United Ireland by some time around 1986. What changed? marcusleroux.substack.com/p/how-nation...marcusleroux.substack.comHow nationalism lost Labour: a story in five quotesWilson had a plan to deliver a united Ireland by the mid-1980s; Burnham says a border poll is “off the table”. What changed? 020
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 06/08/2026In Northern Ireland, the union has long been more popular than unionism - "Neithers", unwedded by instinct to either constitutional position, lean to remaining in the UK. But what repels Neithers from unionism could over time repel them from the union. www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politic...belfasttelegraph.co.ukFormer UUP councillor: ‘If my future is in politics, it will be with the SDLP’Linzi McLaren, who quit over party’s failure to match its words about reaching out with actions, is now firmly in the camp of those seeking a ‘new Ireland’ 120
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 24/07/2026we're now at the "youth hosteling with Chris Eubank" and "arm-wrestling with Chas and Dave" stage of brainstorming justifications for drilling in the North Sea. 010
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 02/06/2026The latest Mandelson disclosures reminded me of this www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2k...youtube.com'Brian's Hat' Full Sketch - I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson Season 2YouTube video by Netflix Is A Joke 010
Reposted by Marcus LerouxDuncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 07/05/2026www.economist.com/britain/2026... Wrote about how the 1990s has a chokehold on Britain, whether it is a luvvies reminiscing at the Groucho or a Jim Davidson gig in Purfleet 127419
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 05/05/2026Thameslink Southern Great Northern... a name that screams "clear sense of direction". 000
Reposted by Marcus LerouxSourceMaterial @source-material.org · 24/04/2026At the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Essar owed $3.1 billion to VTB, the Kremlin-controlled Russian bank. Our latest story, with the Guardian, reveals that its response to sanctions on VTB was to shift the loans out of the EU from Cyprus to Mauritius. www.source-material.org/essar-stanlo...source-material.orgUK oil refiner shifted Russian loans offshore – SourceMaterialEssar shifted billions to tax haven following Ukraine invasion 101
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 18/03/2026this all sort of falls apart if you are aware that St Patrick was a Brit bsky.app/profile/mayo... 210
Reposted by Marcus LerouxAFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 16/03/2026INVESTIGATION: Indonesian firms targeted in a palm oil fraud probe supplied European firms, an investigation by AFP and SourceMaterial (@Source_Mat) has found. The European firms include Italian energy giant Eni and Finnish sustainable aviation fuel leader Neste u.afp.com/SLMh 084
Reposted by Marcus LerouxSourceMaterial @source-material.org · 16/03/2026New: Last month, Indonesian authorities arrested 11 people on suspicion of bribery and disguising palm oil as a less strictly regulated byproduct. SourceMaterial can reveal that exporters targeted in this probe supplied major international companies. www.source-material.org/indonesian-e...source-material.orgIndonesian exporters in palm oil probe supplied European fuel majorsIndonesian exporters targeted in a palm oil bribery probe supplied major international companies, a SourceMaterial investigation has found. 123
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 12/02/2026In fairness Jim Ratcliffe, of Monaco, and formerly of Zug, Switzerland, knows a thing or two about moving to a country for economic advantage. news.sky.com/story/the-uk...news.sky.com'UK has been colonised by immigrants', says INEOS boss and Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim RatcliffeIn an interview with Sky News's Ed Conway, Sir Jim says Britain faces profound political, social and economic challenges, among them an unprecedented rise in immigration in recent years. 100
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 30/01/2026The year before the EU referendum, the UK car industry was predicting record production of 2 million units a year by 2020. It's kind of mad how little political weather this makes. www.thetimes.com/business/com...thetimes.comUK car output at its lowest in 70 years, but there is a spark of hopeThe government’s target of getting production back up to 1.3 million by 2035 looks increasingly unlikely — unless the Chinese get involved 000
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 15/01/2026Rosa is ridiculously talented and lovely to work with. Sign her up before it's too late. 021
Reposted by Marcus LerouxGeorge Greenwood @georgegreenwood.bsky.social · 18/12/2025A major Tory donor has been sanctioned in the UK and EU for his alleged role in the Russian oil trade. The oil magnate Murtaza Lakhani was hit with a UK asset freeze and travel ban on the grounds that his activities were assisting Russia. www.thetimes.com/uk/law/artic...thetimes.comMajor Tory donor sanctioned over role in Russian oil tradeThe government sanctioning statement alleges that Murtaza Lakhani’s activities in the oil sector have supported the Kremlin 31711
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 08/12/2025I wonder has Boris Johnson ever seemed in need of assistance while boarding a flight. bsky.app/profile/flyi... 131
Reposted by Marcus LerouxPeter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 03/12/2025🔴 BREAKING: Our fake Chinese AI investor bought access to 10+ Labour MPs and minister Brand new investigation by Democracy for Sale and Led By Donkeys. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-o...democracyforsale.substack.comBREAKING: Our fake Chinese AI investor bought access into heart of Labour governmentEx-Tory MP facilitated meetings with 10+ Labour MPs and met ministers in “cash-for-access operation” 12399217
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 24/11/2025Amazon, the biggest data centre provider in the world, is actually *even bigger* than we thought. New investigation based on leaked documents by my colleague @lukewbarratt.bsky.social. www.source-material.org/amazon-data-...source-material.orgAmazon has twice as many data centres worldwide as previously reportedAmazon uses far more data centres across the globe—and has a bigger impact on the environment—than previously reported, leaked data reveals. 032
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 13/11/2025Coal-fired data centres at least sound a bit steampunk. Wood-fired data centres just sound deranged. finance.yahoo.com/news/drax-sh...finance.yahoo.comDrax Shares Surge on Data Center HopesDrax Group Plc shares surged to their highest level in over three years as investors bet that UK utilities could become major beneficiaries of the country’s rapidly expanding data center industry. 042
Reposted by Marcus LerouxLuke Barratt @lukewbarratt.bsky.social · 04/11/2025Can't recommend today's SourceMaterial offering enough, by @marcusleroux.bsky.social. It's the story of the son of a lorry driver from Calabria who has often struggled to distance himself from the Italian mafia and is now poised to buy 11 North Sea gasfields www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-v...source-material.orgNorth Sea Storm – SourceMaterialPoised to take control of ‘the backbone of the UK’s energy production’, Franceso Mazzagatti is defending allegations bribery, forgery and fraud 012
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 04/11/2025Francesco Mazzagatti is awaiting approval to buy a terminal that provides a fifth of Britain's gas. We took a close look at episodes in his career that experts say ought to be of interest to the regulator in charge of stewarding the UK's oil and gas. www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-v...source-material.orgNorth Sea Storm – SourceMaterialPoised to take control of ‘the backbone of the UK’s energy production’, Franceso Mazzagatti is defending allegations bribery, forgery and fraud 000
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 25/10/2025"Transparency is a one-way door". A leaked Amazon document reveals its anxiety over disclosing how much water their data centres use. 000
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 24/10/2025this is a dizzying yarn with a drunk Australian getting hit by a car in Paris at its centre and threads leading to the dictator of Congo-Brazzaville and a prominent Irish family via Monaco and Dubai. villagemagazine.ie/dubai-heir-c...villagemagazine.ieDubai Heir, Congo Air - Village MagazineWhen Paris police picked up a drunk Australian carrying €195,000 in cash, they uncovered an alleged money-laundering scheme led by a Dubai-based Irish horseracing heir linked to British royals. 010
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 11/09/2025I'd love to have attended the meeting where this came up. 000
Reposted by Marcus LerouxSourceMaterial @source-material.org · 21/08/2025At dawn in Accra, Ghana, Lydia Bamfo (51) sets out to collect plastic waste. For 25 years she’s battled the tide of rubbish overwhelming her city. Now she says the World Bank’s “solution” has done nothing to help workers like her. 🧵 111
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 16/07/2025William of Ockham: we're gonna need a bigger blade. 000
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 11/07/2025Some heartwarming football content from earlier in the week. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukIrish League and German clubs to fulfil European Cup tie, 65 years laterGlenavon's 1960-61 European Cup tie against East German champions Wismut failed to go ahead due to the Cold War. 100
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 28/06/2025On the Kneecap website you can buy a £25 “RUC not welcome tee”, in reference to a police force that was reformed and renamed before Mo Chara was in primary school. marcusleroux.substack.com/p/the-real-t...marcusleroux.substack.comThe real trouble with KneecapThe perils of the single transferable victim 000
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 19/06/2025A lie can be half way around the world before a preliminary crisis analysis has its trousers on. 084
Reposted by Marcus LerouxRosa Furneaux @rosafurneaux.bsky.social · 29/05/2025Fresnillo, one of the UK’s largest mining groups, has been told it should pay as much as $630 million to a Mexican community whose land it illegally mined for gold, according to documents obtained by SourceMaterial → www.source-material.org/fresnillo-so...source-material.orgFresnillo faces $630m demand to restore 'illegally-mined' gold – SourceMaterialThe goldmining giant lost access to a Mexican mine in 2013 — now a court-appointed review says it must return $630m of gold it mined there. 161
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 07/05/2025I wonder if this cross-examination is building up to the 1976 Republican News column where Adams wrote, cryptically: "I'm an IRA volunteer". www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/courts/...belfasttelegraph.co.ukGerry Adams denies under oath that he was the senior IRA figure released for talks in 1970sFormer Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has denied under oath that he was the senior officer of the Provisional IRA released from internment as a precondition for talks with British officials about a ceas... 000
Reposted by Marcus LerouxPeter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 01/05/2025Isobel Oakeshott is a Reform cheerleader - but in 2018 she said the Kremlin “struck gold” with Arron Banks, who Reform’s West of England mayoral candidate. The article is still online. New from @marcusleroux.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/does-isabe...democracyforsale.substack.comDoes Isabel Oakeshott still believe Arron Banks was “used by the Russians”?Oakeshott is a Reform cheerleader but in 2018 she said the Kremlin “struck gold” with the party’s West of England mayoral candidate. The article is still online. 12264155
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 23/04/2025this is why I take AI results with a pinch of bitumen. 100
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 28/03/2025When the White House and the Kremlin announced the Black Sea ceasefire deal, it was noted that the Kremlin statement had set specific conditions. Condition No.1: That Russia's state agricultural bank be removed from sanctions lists and reconnected to the global banking communication system. 🧵 110
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 04/03/2025If eclectic cricketing yarns is what you need to get through present madness, then the latest edition of The Nightwatchman is, as ever, packed with fascinating stuff - and includes something by me on the surprisingly deep roots of cricket in Porto. www.thenightwatchman.net/wp-content/u...thenightwatchman.net 030
Reposted by Marcus LerouxSarah Finch @sarahfinch.bsky.social · 21/02/2025"A system that ploughs ahead in wilful ignorance of human-caused mass extinction and climate change is only a solution in a particularly nihilistic sense of the word." Good piece on Starmer's aim to make it even harder for green groups to challenge bad infrastructure projects.marcusleroux.substack.comKeir Starmer has chosen the wrong hippy to bashThe PM picked a fight with one of the "virtue-signalling zealots" hobbling British growth. There's one small problem. 1107
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 14/02/2025Keir Starmer's unintentionally revealing choice of ecovillain. marcusleroux.substack.com/p/keir-starm...marcusleroux.substack.comKeir Starmer has chosen the wrong hippy to bashThe PM picked a fight with one of the "virtue-signalling zealots" hobbling British growth. There's one small problem. 083
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 31/01/2025Compelling work by my tenacious colleague Costanza Gambarini with Poline Tchoubar and @asiaballuffier.bsky.social of @lemonde.fr (French with English subtitles available). www.dailymotion.com/video/x9ct360dailymotion.comAu Mozambique, des civils séquestrés par des soldats financés par TotalEnergieDailymotion video by Le Monde 110
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 21/01/2025We’re looking for an investigative journalist to join us. Details below. www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...cisionjobs.co.ukSourceMaterial, Senior Investigative Journalist - London (Central), London (Greater) job with SourceMaterial | 111593SourceMaterial is looking for a senior investigative journalist. 000
Reposted by Marcus LerouxSourceMaterial @source-material.org · 09/01/2025We're hiring! If you're an investigative journalist with a nose for a story and a taste for collaborative working, we'd love to hear from you. www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...cisionjobs.co.ukSourceMaterial, Senior Investigative Journalist - London (Central), London (Greater) job with SourceMaterial | 111593SourceMaterial is looking for a senior investigative journalist. 021
Reposted by Marcus LerouxUlrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 10/01/2025Tomorrow starts the AFD party conference. They will decide on a final election programme. So let’s have a look at what the proposal says on security and defence policy. 1322365
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 09/01/2025Reminded of JK Galbraith's description of "private affluence, public squalor" in The Affluent Society. "The city of Los Angeles, in modern times, was the near-classic study in the problem of social balance." bsky.app/profile/pale... 000
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 06/01/2025Successive posters on window at a closed Blackwell’s bookshop suggest Waterstones never quite won hearts and minds on the shopfloor. 100
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 21/12/2024When I was last in Belfast I popped by the birthplace of Chaim Herzog, former president of Israel and father of current president Isaac Herzog. open.substack.com/pub/marcusle...open.substack.comWhitewash in BelfastA tale of two nationalisms and the shifting sands of international sympathy 200
Reposted by Marcus LerouxLuke Barratt @lukewbarratt.bsky.social · 16/12/2024This feels significant. Leaked documents show Ed Miliband has promised to pay out up to £6 billion if courts block controversial plans by oil giants BP and Equinor to store carbon dioxide under the North Sea. Great story by @marcusleroux.bsky.social www.source-material.org/bp-equinor-t...source-material.org'Reckless' UK risks billions on BP gas scheme – SourceMaterialGovernment could pay out £6 billion if courts block flagship carbon capture project that critics say won't help the climate 011
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 16/12/2024Last week the government announced that a landmark gas-power and carbon storage project in Teesside was getting the go-ahead. What it didn't announce was the £6bn bet against climate litigation that needed to get the deal over the line. www.source-material.org/bp-equinor-t...source-material.org'Reckless' UK risks billions on BP gas scheme – SourceMaterialGovernment could pay out £6 billion if courts block flagship carbon capture project that critics say won't help the climate 000
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 12/12/2024worth a follow in my slightly biased opinion 👇 000
Marcus Leroux @marcusleroux.bsky.social · 12/12/2024This is very good by @sjamcbride.bsky.social ky.social on how little Northern Ireland features in the UK media. It reminded me of a couple of moments when I was at The Times. When I joined as a trainee, the older reporters knew NI all too well. 1/3 email.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/H/2/v6000001...email.belfasttelegraph.co.ukLoop of ignorance sees hot takes by those who’ve never been to NI regurgitated by MPs who make the law 354