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Mike Gapes

@mikegapes.bsky.social
1.1K followers 326 following 925 posts

Internationalist. Retired. Joined Labour 1968. Left 2019 on kamikaze mission. Rejoined Labour 2023. 15 years Party HQ including head of International. MP for Ilford South 1992-2019. Hammers season ticket holder. Cricket at Lords. Blues and Jazz. Rotarian.

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Reposted by Mike Gapes
Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 9h
Andy Burnham suggests Labour could not do a deal with the Greens in the wake of their 'Zionism is racism' policy motion, telling Tory MP Harriet Baldwin: "We cannot support a partnership with a party that holds [the] position that has recently been adopted."
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 9h
Good to hear Andy Burnham at PMQs ruling out Labour cooperation with the racist antisemitic Green Party.
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Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 15h
Trump and Musk going all out to protect Putin
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The News Agents @thenewsagents.co.uk · 12/10/2026
“The amount of oil you are buying you could have easily bought from Canada. “But it’s easier to be nice to Putin than Mark Carney?!” Trump’s US-Russia diesel deal has left Jon Sopel with one question: What does Putin have on him?
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Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
New IMF forecasts tell you 2 things about UK economy. Firstly, the British economy has proved resilient in face of the Iran conflict: IMF have UK growth as joint second fastest in G7 this year (forget forecasts, in hard data we’ve seen the fastest growth in G7 so far this year)
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Wordle 1,942 3/6 ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Sagal Abdi-Wali has taken her seat as MP for Holborn and St Pancras, becoming the first Somali-born MP elected to Westminster. A former child refugee and Camden Council leader, she swore her oath of allegiance with her hand on the Quran.
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Trump lies on behalf of Putin and Xi. The weakest American president ever.
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Rafael Behr @rafaelbehr.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
I was on the telly.
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Pete Miles @petermiles.eurosky.social · 13/10/2026
'Let's talk about Krasnov' A reminder from @snellarthur.bsky.social of the allegations of Trump/Putin collusion made in the 'Steele dossier', every one of which has been independently verified by independent sources. Plenty more to speculate on of course. arthursnell.substack.com/p/lets-talk-...
. That Donald Trump had a longstanding business relationship with Russian money

. That Russia chose to interfere in the US election on Trump's side

. That Vladimir Putin made this choice to interfere on Trump's side

. And that Trump knew about it and was happy for it to happen
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Wordle 1,941 5/6 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟨 ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Kaja Kallas @kajakallas.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Today, we will adopt nearly 1,600 new sanctions listings targeting Russia’s military-industrial complex. This will be the single largest expansion of our sanctions list since Russia started its war.
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Wordle 1,940 3/6 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Prospect Magazine @prospectmagazine.co.uk · 11/10/2026
“Sagal Abdi-Wali has not just defeated the Greens in a local byelection. She has defied history”, writes Peter Kellner
prospectmagazine.co.uk
Losing Holborn and St Pancras is catastrophic for Zack Polanksi
Ignore the Greens’ misleading claims
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OSINTRadar @osintradar.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Norway’s former Chief of Defence, General Sverre Diesen: “Under the current Trump administration, we cannot consider the United States our ally. Trump’s America is a hostile actor that, in the event of a conflict in Europe, would side with Russia rather than with us and other European countries.”
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
That is harsh. Liverpool were the better team. But the Cheats get that red card in their favour and then they score.
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Alina Pereverzieva 🇺🇦 @perevaa.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
And now the best part: Bot traffic from the #Yandex network has plunged to near zero following the strike on its Vladimir data center. Bot traffic includes automated requests from search crawlers, scrapers and other online services. Twitter must be a ghost town by now.
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Jooooohhhh No! @josefoshea.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
What a weird world we live in - Ukraine hits a data centre deep in Russia - Irish twitter users see racist posts about IPAS centres in Offaly fall off a cliff
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Average Labour lead now almost 5 points ahead of Reform....
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Opinium/Observer (7th-9th October fieldwork) has these party standings + leader approval results. 🌹 LAB 29% (-1) ➡️ REF 23% (-2) 🌳 CON 20% (+3) 🌍 GRN 9% (-2) 🔶 LD 9% (n/c) 🌹 Burnham +8 (n/c) 🌳 Badenoch 0 (n/c) 🔶 Davey -6 (n/c) ➡️ Farage -26 (-4) 🌍 Polanski -29 (-7)
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Trump is furious that he hasn’t got the Nobel Peace Prize. Perhaps Norway could give him the Quisling Prize for Treachery instead.
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Trump betrays Ukraine. Trump is Putin’s useful idiot.
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Disappointing and frustrating performance by Hammers tonight. We could have won it at the end but a saved penalty meant that the points were shared. But on balance QPR probably deserved a point. And it was perhaps fitting that both teams that Ludo played for got something from the game. COYI.
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Wordle 1,938 4/6 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Labour's candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali was a clear asset to Labour in the by-election: on her personality and approach. Voters felt she had strong local connections to the area - as she of course did, having lived in the area since she was a child, after being born 4000 miles from Camden in Somalia
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
“Hey Big Boy What’s Your Name?” Fantastic tribute to Ludek Miklosko before West Ham v QPR match tonight.
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peterkellner.bsky.social @peterkellner.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Ignore the Greens’ misleading claims. It was a catastrophic night for Zack Polanski, and a remarkable victory for Sagal Absi-Wali kellnerp.substack.com/p/the-figure...
kellnerp.substack.com
The figures that make Sagal Abdi-Wali’s victory remarkable
Ignore the Greens’ misleading claims. It was a catastrophic night for Zack Polanski
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
NEW: Kemi Badenoch’s flagship party conference policy document, The Right Way, overestimated the cost of net zero by nearly £500bn, seemingly after someone accidentally double-counted figures on a spreadsheet. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Tories overstate net zero cost by nearly £500bn in apparent spreadsheet error
Exclusive: Badenoch’s flagship conference policy document cites £957bn estimate, twice the total in climate advisers’ data
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I’m delighted at the result from Holborn and St Pancras I was able to help with some canvassing last weekend and knocking up GOTV for Labour yesterday. Especially pleased that the racist antisemitism of the Greens was resoundingly defeated.
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Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This does in fact seem obvious to everyone apart from the people who came up with the policy.
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Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Kemi Badenoch wants to exempt the family home from inheritance tax. But that creates a perverse incentive for elderly people to *upsize* to save IHT. That could double the cost of the policy, and push £100bn+ from savings into housing. A 🧵 on bad tax cuts.
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Wordle 1,937 6/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨 🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜ 🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜ ⬜🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩phew
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
it transpires that billionaire David Reuben moved his tax residence to Monaco under the Tories www.theguardian.com/news/2026/oc...
theguardian.com
‘I reside in Monaco’: billionaire said to have quit UK over potential wealth tax had already left
TaxWatch contradicts claims about David Reuben’s departure and questions stories of super-rich exodus
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Wordle 1,936 6/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟨🟨🟨 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 phew
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David Aaronovitch @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
A free 2000 word post on the sad irrelevant history of the 'Zionism is racism' debate davidaaronovitch.substack.com/p/the-anti-z...
davidaaronovitch.substack.com
The anti-Zionism of fools
On the Corbynising of the Green party
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Luke Tryl @luketryl.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
In our latest voting intention, Labour hit 29% their highest since 2024, Reform move to 2nd & Greens fall to lowest since August 2025 🌹 LAB 29% (+2) ⏩ REF 24% (+3) 🌳 CON 21% (-1) 🔶 LIB DEM 10% (-1) 🟢 GREEN 7% (-2) ⚫ RES: 4% (-2) N 2,088 | Dates 3-5/10 | Change w 29/09
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Andrew Harrop @andrewharrop.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Kemi Badenoch has just KILLED downsizing in retirement Welcome to millions of frail, single pensioners, in homes far too big for them, refusing to move for fear of the tax hit giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
Tory conference live: Kemi Badenoch pledges to scrap inheritance tax on family homes
Conservative leader pledges to slash levies while accusing Andy Burnham of ‘spending money we don’t have’
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
To be clear, we're going straight back to Brexit chaos if the Conservatives or Reform are in power, and that is because of their commitment to withdraw from the ECHR, which would almost certainly mean parts of the TCA suspended and huge US diplomatic pressure. www.ft.com/content/f923...
ft.com
Tory plan to rip up UK-EU food deal risks ‘huge uncertainty’, producers warn
Food and drink industry fears it may be forced to comply with different regulatory regimes every few years
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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
“Whether policies, polls or performances, the gulf between the reality I think I inhabit and the world according to Kemi seems almost inconceivably enormous, and yet so complete is her belief in her own brilliance that I frequently find myself checking whether my own memory of events is accurate.”
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Anthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Bit of a risk asking the Conservative conference "has anyone here ever received a £5m gift?"
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Long tribute from Kemi Badenoch in her conference speech to Jeffrey Archer, complete with round of applause. The world is a "less colourful" place without him, she says, which is one way to describe a serial fraudster, fantasist and liar who wrecked several lives in the process.
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Wordle 1,935 5/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Badenoch says her air defence plan "is not going to be exactly like the Irone Dome. We haven’t called it an Iron Dome." Except this is what it said in the press release. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
As well as a Britannia Magic Dome, Tories will build a Halo Array, a Stargate, a Dark Tower, and a Death Star - named respectively Spirit of the Blitz, Maggie's Opening, Boris-Dûr, and Churchill's Clacker - funded by sales of a new wellness smoothie made with carrot, ginger, and poor people's tears.
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Stephen Graham @stephengraham.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I had this bit about Jeffrey Archer from the 1995 HIGNFY video memorised for whenever I needed a handy fact about him.
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Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
What does it mean to be a member-led party when the Greens have 230,000 members but only 1835 voted on the Zionism Is Racism motion? Doesn't seem like you can claim the result as the iron-clad democratic will of the membership while dismissing the concerns of actual democratically elected MPs
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Mike Gapes @mikegapes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Wordle 1,934 3/6 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Robert Jenrick’s handling of donations to his failed 2024 Tory leadership campaign has come under fresh scrutiny, after the UK donor at the centre of the row claimed that the politician and his senior campaign staff knew about the involvement of an overseas donor. www.ft.com/content/38a5...
ft.com
Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick faces fresh accusation from campaign donor
British businessman Phillip Ullmann says the politician was aware of his relationship with potentially illicit US donor
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The News Agents @thenewsagents.co.uk · 05/10/2026
Zack Polanski’s absence from the ‘Zionism is Racism’ vote “doesn’t look like leadership, it looks like cowardice”, says Jon Sopel. "If Polanski wants to lead the party, he should lead in support of the motion. "If he opposes the motion, why isn't he leading in opposition to it?"
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