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Richard Kavanagh

@richkav.bsky.social
115 followers 51 following 1K posts

After 30 great years there, I'll always be a bit of a Londoner, but very happy to be back in the EU, (wondering what the hell is happening to non-London England)

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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Patrick Freyne in today's Irish Times on RTÉ's The Traitors Ireland. A short sentence with a record number of truisms.
Photo of part of Patric Freyne's piece on The Traitors Ireland. It reads " RTÉ's version is better than the BBC's, because being a colonised people makes you sneaker"
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Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
You know who else was obsessed with dancing around on the pinheads of imagined classifications based on where great grandparents were born and what they believed? The Nazis.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Democracy is not indestructible.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Dr. of what?
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
La Suède devient encore plus sérieuse
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Dr Panti Bliss-Cabrera @pantibliss.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Everyone knows this guy is a prick, but imagine being English (and a Brexiteer) and buying a literal castle in Ireland and then telling local Irish people they can't visit their family graves. Imagines telling *any* Irish person they can't visit the family graves! My mother would feckin kill him
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European News @eunews.social · 04/08/2026
African states pressured by US to leave the ICC The Trump administration declared all-out war on the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, in mid-July, despite the fact that the US has never been a member.
lemonde.fr
African states pressured by US to leave the ICC
The Trump administration declared all-out war on the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, in mid-July, despite the fact that the US has never been a member.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Disgraceful - but it was not Ryanair's fault
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Good to hear caller Rachel calling Ali Miraj out on the "invasion" in Cueta on LBC today He does not accept official (Frontex's) figures on illegal crossing into the EU Also he thinks there were zero illegal crossings into US from Mexico - despite US's CBP saying there were 310000 in last 12 mths
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Bonne fête nationale ou digital (numérique) www.lemonde.fr/societe/arti...
lemonde.fr
Défilé du 14-Juillet : le Conseil d’Etat rétablit le QR code obligatoire pour accéder aux Champs-Elysées
Le tribunal administratif de Paris, saisi en urgence par l’association Vigie Liberté, avait annulé lundi l’obligation de présenter le QR code nominatif voulu par les autorités pour accéder au périmètr...
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Morning... (with apologies to @rolandmcs.bsky.social )
Screen grab of headline in Telegraph which reads "Ten years on from the Brexit vote, Europe is broken and weak"
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
View from Sydenham Hill. 20.49 on the 14/06/2026
Photo taken from Sydenham Hill on Sunday the 14th June. The Shard is in the distance contrasting beautifully with the red sky of the setting sun. Trees on the hill are in the foreground.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
As the 10th anniversary of that awful decision looms, a brief reminder of what a disaster it was and is but more importantly, how difficult it will be to fix. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Disaster of Brexit is a warning against simple solutions to hard problems | Richard Partington
Alan Milburn says youth unemployment has no quick fixes – an idea with an important lesson for those thinking about how to rejoin the EU
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Column A: UK becoming more creative in order to get closer to EU Column B: Same old pitch dressed up in different clothes* ... those "Red Lines" have got to go. *I was going to write 'Same old piss in a different shaped bottle', but thought it too rude www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
UK pitched single market for goods with EU in pursuit of deeper trade ties
Exclusive: Top British official presented idea in Brussels but sources say it was rebuffed
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Five billion pounds stg in exchange for £ fourty billion increase in treasury receipts? You should bite their hands off!
Daily Telegraph headline 19/05/2026. "Brussels would charge Britain (five) billion to rejoin EU"
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Spoiler alert! Frenchie is dead 😪
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Banana Toothache
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Effective 2025 federal tax rates paid by these corporations: Alphabet: 8.01% AT&T: 4.6% Meta: 3.57% General Motors: 3.09% Amazon: 1.37% Exxon Mobil: 1.31% Disney: -1.57% CVS Health: -3.88% Income tax rate paid by the typical American: 14.5% This is what a rigged system looks like.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
NO. IT'S NOT GOING TO THE MOON. It's like going to Cork city and just circulating around the Jack Lynch tunnel.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
If Australia comes back to France for their submarines, will they be told to F**k Right Off?
From the Guardian:  

"Australia will be left with no submarines if it abandons Aukus, senior defence official warns
Malcolm Turnbull asks defence department official what Australia would do if the promised Virginia-class and Aukus-class submarines don’t arrive"
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
There is so much wrong with this... Will the UK ever grow up?
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Happy St Patrick's day...
Photo of my breakfast this St Patrick's day, where I thought the colours resembled the flag of Ireland (kinda, sorta)
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
So, my (American) daughter in law has been going through the Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) process. Its a 5 year process where you have to prove your suitability (English speaking, minimum salary, no trouble with the law) to live in UK, specifically London. 1 of 8
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
How it was: This sceptered isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise. How it is: Preventing daughters from visiting dying mothers; doubling ILR qualification time, quadrupling if child benefits are taken; involuntary facial recognition at ports.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
O'Neill still looking for the next libtard to target, still trying to deflect, still trying to milk the alt Libertarian teat, still grifting, with a slice of misogyny on the side. ..
À screen grab of the Daily Telegraph showing Brendan O'Neill' column which tries to characterise the EU's foreign policy head as a "girl boss"
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Mark this day as the beginning of the end of Trumps power.
Headline from NYTimes informing the gentle reader that Trumps sweeping tariffs are anti constitutional.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Squires' best yet? Since he is consistently brilliant, that is some bar. www.theguardian.com/football/pic...
theguardian.com
David Squires on … Jim Ratcliffe’s comments and his need for some home truths
Our cartoonist reflects on the Manchester United co-owner’s recent statements and electioneering, via the prism of Cracker’s DCI Bilborough
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Is it me or has the Irish Sea gotten bigger?
Map of Europe showing satisfaction with EU by country. UK faded out from map giving an odd look to Ireland's position on the map
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Is Emma John the new Marina Hyde? In any event, she is spot on with this piece: www.theguardian.com/football/202...
theguardian.com
Infantino and Coventry backing Russia’s return shows sport’s soft power is in rotten hands | Emma John
The actions of Fifa’s fawning president as well as the Olympics leader’s coded call for ‘neutral ground’ underscores the hollowness of the global bodies’ values
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
I know Linehan composed some ludicrous situations on TV, but is he really calling for a Trumpian intervention in Ireland? Hopefully not in the style of his Venezuelan venture. I'm not sure Micheàl Martin would handle it as well as Maduro
Report in today's Irish Times which details the submissions of two Irish nationals to a US House of Representatives judiciary. 

One of the contributors was Graham Linehan who urged the US authorities to put pressure on the Irish Govt re the Gender Recognition Act 2015, law in Ireland, now 11 years in place.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
If some posts can be food for thought, here is a feast.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Only one life has been lost in one high speed crash in Spain before tonight. (Since 1992 launch of Ave) . This is horrific www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
theguardian.com
High-speed train crash in southern Spain leaves 10 dead, police report
Two trains derail near Adamuz, Cordóba province, leaving scores injured, state-owned broadcaster reports
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
Today, Russia's "3 day operation" in Ukraine reaches the same duration as the Great Patriotic War - the Soviet Union's participation in World War 2. So sad and in awe of Ukraine. And so angry at the "geopolitical genius", Putin
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
What he said.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
"essence of what the EU is about" Inflated sense of importance much? 🙄
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
So Trump feels he's on a roll. Greenland next, to be taken care of in 20 days. Haven't seen this in the anglophone press yet. www.lemonde.fr/internationa...
lemonde.fr
Groenland : Donald Trump réaffirme que les Etats-Unis ont « besoin » de l’île et appelle à s’en « occuper » dans vingt jours
Avant cette déclaration, la première ministre danoise avait demandé au président américain de « cessez les menaces » d’annexion du territoire, rappelant que le peuple groenlandais avait « clairement f...
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Fantastic new year thread...
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Wishful thinking is still all the rage at the top of the UK govt. But the UK paying €10-20bn per year and adhering to all relevant product, financial, transport and trade regs (with no say in their formulation) in return for participation in the single market may be enticing for some member states
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Another small pleasure of the Christmas period. Don't forget to get your copy!
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
I remember in 2015 Leavers were sure that being the 5th biggest economy would ensure great trade deals for the UK. They wouldn't listen to anyone (esp me): the top 3 economies were so big the UK would be like a chihuahua trying to mount a great dane, st Bernard and a Irish wolfhound.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
So, one reason Starmer may be shown the door is that the Labour decide to do a 180 degree on the issue of EU membership...Just add it to the pile.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
@davidheniguk.bsky.social May I just say I thought your contribution on the Matt Frei show was spot on. Clear and realistic.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Time for another A50?
Screenshot from the Guardian showing Orban and Putin plotting against the EU's interests.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
A great example of how Brexit weakens Europe. And to think some still think Russia did not interfere in the 2016 vote:
Today's Financial Times which outlines the breakdown of negotiations between the EU and UK over the SAFE réarmement program.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Not only does Behr illuminate with some excellent points he does so with a lovely metaphore which makes reading them a pleasure www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Rachel Reeves has many problems. She’s realising that her Brexit bind may be the biggest of all | Rafael Behr
Brutal economic realities are prompting a shift in Labour’s tone on Europe. But will it dare tell the whole truth about Britain’s predicament, asks Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
While (at last) there is a general acceptance that Brexit is causing huge economic damage, there is less realism as to what the UK needs to action if it wants to fix it As a start, the UK must stop trying to avoid hurting the feelings of Leave voters A little candour and honesty will go a long way
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
sad_trombone.wav
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
I think the market was heading this way already, but regulating the use of USB-C ports across a much wider range of electronic goods is a good thing. (And no doubt the UK will have to follow suit, in a clear demonstration of its new found sovereignty)
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Let's go all the way to the finals...
À parrot in the colours of Ireland, in homage to the magnificent Parrott.
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Richard Kavanagh @richkav.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
In the Guardian there is an of outline 6 candidate tax increases that Rachel Reeves could take. All of them are very politically difficult, and all of their tax raising potential added together... ... are still less than half the amount of tax take by which Brexit has reduced treasury tax take.
Photo of article in today's Guardian which tries to quantify 6 of the main candidate tax options for Rachel Reeves. They include pay per mile charges for EVs, tax on gambling and doubling of council tax for the top two bands. Even if all are implemented the increased tax take is only half of what has been lost through Brexit.
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