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Stephen Swan

@stephenswan.bsky.social
5.3K followers 6.9K following 7.1K posts

Lawyer (non practising). Constitutional law, criminal law, EU & international law. Legal history, Astronomy & astrophysics, planetary geology, climate science & biodiversity, classics & ancient history, the supernatural & folklore.

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Reposted by Stephen Swan
Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This mindset is the least we deserve from a leader. Of course it has to be turned into action. But this kind of ambition and love for the country, this kind of personal but positive vision is what takes people with you. How feeble-minded Farage and Badenoch seem. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Photo of Burnham waving to the audience in front of HOPE AGAIN backdrop Burnham was not going to die wondering. He knew he might be delivering one of the longest suicide notes in history, but he did it anyway. Because he couldn't not do it. Better to go down remaining true to his principles than being slowly airbrushed out of history like the previous six prime ministers. Failures all. Andy was prepared to burn through all his political capital right there in Liverpool, right then. Not just for his own legacy but for a country he wanted to rebuild. It was the only way he could look himself in the mirror.
Honour his parents.
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Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
President Macron, "Brexit has cost the UK 8% of GDP.. Brexit is the biggest lie of the last 30 years" My view: Brexit was sold as a route to greater prosperity: less bureaucracy, more money, new trade opportunities Instead, Britain put new barriers between itself and its largest trading market.
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Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The editors of The Express are utterly reprehensible. Andy Burnham teared up when having the courage to pay tribute to his dad, just two weeks after he died, in front of thousands of people. And they use it to attack him. They are devoid of basic decency and humanity. Poisonous for our discourse.
Express: It's a crying shame for our nation.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
George is quite right on this. I discovered via FOI requests that just 5% of all woodland creation grants go to support natural regeneration of trees, and 95% to tree planting. I’ll continue to push DEFRA to fix this. www.theguardian.com/environment/... bsky.app/profile/geor...
theguardian.com
Government ‘failing to support natural regeneration of trees in England’
Campaigners say targets for woodland creation are unlikely to be met because 95% of grants are for planting
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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 30/09/2026
This is promising. The UK could go "all the way" towards rejoining the EU, Burnham tells the BBC. 🚨 EU membership is the only option that delivers £92 billion of growth. The government needs to take us back to where we belong: at the heart of Europe.
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Bob Berwyn @bberwyn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There were about 16,000 heat-related deaths in Germany last summer, about double the mortality during the first Covid wave in early 2020. Extreme heat needs to be treated as an ongoing public health emergency.
insideclimatenews.org
Mass Heat Wave Deaths in Europe Show Climate Extremes Are Outpacing Adaptation Efforts - Inside Climate News
As preparedness lags, many regions around the world could be overwhelmed by rising temperatures, climate experts warn.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It’s a mark of the corruption of our whole way of thinking about the world that trying to meet a planetary emergency is routinely described as “ideological”, while continuing to accelerate it is presented as “pragmatic” and “economic”.
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Brexit revisited. New, unscheduled, post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog on why Burnham's conference speech was a significant development in the Brexit saga, the questions and concerns it raises, and why it might come to be seen as a historic moment: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/09/brex...
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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Esther Rantzen hosts Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved hundreds of children from the Holocaust youtu.be/OqqbM1B-mPY?...
youtu.be
Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton (That's Life - 1988)
YouTube video by Tops of the top
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Not sure how the triple lock change will ultimately play politically. But trapping the Tories and Reform into defending a policy literally none of them support in private is potentially a neat move.
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 30/09/2026
NEW ANALYSIS: Record wind and solar save UK from gas imports worth £5.9bn during Hormuz crisis 🌤️ wind/solar generation up 14% in 2026 to date 🏭 gas down ~10% 🚢 >100 LNG cargoes avoided
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This illustrates not just the hypocrisy but the self-defeating nature of Trump's policies. Under MAGA doctrine, he enacts protectionism, trashes the alliance with Europe, and demands Europe take more responsibility for its own defence, and then finds it has consequences the US dislikes.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
On the day after the referendum I remember saying to someone "the worst thing about this is we're going to leave and then we're going to spend the next 20 years trying to get back in and by then I'll be retirement age..."
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“The question is not whether we can afford to remain within the Convention [ECHR]. It is whether, in an increasingly dangerous world, we can afford not to” Political liars and lightweights, like Badenoch and Farage, must never be allowed to take that risk. www.lawgazette.co.uk/commentary-a...
The Law Society
Gazette

In short, if Britain were to leave the ECHR, it would not be
'taking back control. It would be surrendering influence over the rules and institutions that help keep us safe.
The debate about the ECHR is too often conducted as though it were a choice between national sovereignty and international law. That is a false choice.
The Convention advances British interests because it reflects British values: liberty under law, democratic government and the accountability of power.
Walking away would not make Britain freer. It would make Britain weaker.
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Kemi Badenoch condemned Reform's ban on critical journalists covering their conference as "authoritarian", saying her own party would never do the same as "we believe in free speech. We believe in a free press." Now the Conservatives have banned Byline Times from their conference
bylinetimes.com
Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives Ban Byline Times From Conference After Condemning Reform for Journalist Ban
The ban comes just weeks after the Conservative leader called Reform's barring of critical journalists from their conference an "authoritarian" attack on the free press
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 22h
The exact number will likely never be known But multiple studies have converged around a similar figure: around 700,000 people died as a result of Musk “putting USAID through the wood chipper” (his words), of whom 500,000 were kids Picture 500,000 tiny coffins in a row: that’s MAGA/MAHA’s impact😢
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Richard Haviland @rfhaviland.bsky.social · 22h
A true force for evil
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🔴 We asked Tony Blair's think tank about charging businesses £500k for political access at party conferences and why one of its sponsor's logos disappeared after our reporting last week on TBI's alleged cash for access scheme This is what they said
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Even worse, it's now being claimed that it's the hallmark of the superiority of "our race" to make such speculations. Beyond belief.
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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 21/09/2026
A thing bugging me: When I went to uni, the UK's IMF bailout was a dim and distant thing that happened around the time we were born. Never came up in conversation. Kids starting uni now are the cohort born in 2008 who presumably see the GFC the same way. Ancient history, ok boomer etc
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Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Man who migrated to another country to avoid taxes says Britain's problem is migration and taxes that he doesn't pay. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Jim Ratcliffe: UK is ‘on the slide’ from days when it had world’s ‘greatest empire’
Co-owner of Manchester United says Britain is in decline because of high taxes and immigration
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Germany is preparing hospitals for a possible Russian escalation with NATO, Bloomberg reports. Berlin estimates up to 1,000 casualties a day could require medical care.
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Holger Hestermeyer @hhesterm.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
How is this news? billionaire oil person says uk needs to drill more and tax less, though, of course, he‘s actually in Monaco. And he would do more in the uk if the state subsidised him more. Dear BBC, that‘s like me saying the uk‘s problem is underpaid law profs. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
My son told me a joke. Two cats have a swimming race. They're called "one two three" and "un deux trois". Which one wins? "One two three" because un deux trois quatre cinque.
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Sean Jones KC @seanjones.org · 19/09/2026
I feel like we’ve all let Jim Ratcliffe down and I hope we are all ashamed of ourselves.
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Samantha's Silver Earrings @samanthasearrings.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Anyone else smell blood? 🐺
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Stephen Swan @stephenswan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
www.instagram.com/p/DdQwCP-qMZ... A brilliant charity that protects lives on the sea whoever is in distress on the sea. Well done all RNLI staff and volunteers. Shame on those who would wish them ill. Please share this post widely.
instagram.com
Campaign to Rejoin the EU on Instagram: "Thank you to everyone who has donated to our fundraiser for the #RNLI so far - it's good to see that decent people recognise what the RNLI does! Our fundraise...
1,789 likes, 52 comments - rejointheeu on September 14, 2026: "Thank you to everyone who has donated to our fundraiser for the #RNLI so far - it's good to see that decent people recognise what the RNL...
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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 13/09/2026
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
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Anti-Reform @antireform.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
"You are the problem" meme via Expose Racism
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Stephen Swan @stephenswan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Thank you for sharing. No comment necessary from me. Please share far and wide.
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Hassinator @hassinator.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
a great letter in the times today. perhaps worth sharing in these troubled times. #RNLI #heroes
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Astonishing. And yet a door opening for the UK.... if we weren't still facing in the other direction, examining our navel, and hanging on the every utterance of a mustard-trousered bullshitter?
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Miaganga @miaganga.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Why the sour puss? A woman he can’t lunge at or insult? Holding it in is a real bitch, eh?
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
JARED KUSHNER CAN GO FUCK HIMSELF.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Neoliberals want to cut social security, silent on subsidies to banks. Since 2006, Bank of England has paid interest on central bank reserve deposits to commercial banks. The EU & the Swiss stopped similar practice in 2023. UK still paying, £100bn in last 3 yrs. There are better uses of £100bn.
leftfootforward.org
Here’s how the chancellor can raise the billions needed to improve the quality of life of millions
Prem Sikka is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, a Labour member of the House of Lords, and Contributing Editor at Left Foot Forward. Mi...
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
If you have a big story about Reform and approach them for comment it seems they go quiet and then quickly give the news to a friendly outlet (ie the Telegraph). Lesson seems to be: don’t approach Reform.
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Britain is just looking on as a handful of tax hating billionaires buy our political future.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I resigned from ExxonMobil today. I spent the last three years doing fossil fuel extraction research at both BP and ExxonMobil. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing to maximize extraction while the window to act closes, and gambling with our lives. More below.
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Oliver @oliver48.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Another police investigation to add to the others ..." 'London's Metropolitan Police has expanded an investigation into the financing of Reform UK after an undercover TV sting operation that alleged the rightwing populist party sought illegal funding from overseas' ft.trib.al/C1PDIyh
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Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The first arrest has been made in relation to Patriot Platform protests - for a 42-year-old man accused of violent disorder and assaulting a police officer in Portsmouth Hampshire Constabulary says detectives are still reviewing footage and "cross-referencing to identify offences committed"
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Victoria Derbyshire @vicderbyshire.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Reform UK has received a £36m donation from a British cryptocurrency billionaire called Ben Delo Last year Delo was given an unconditional pardon by President Trump over a breach of anti-money laundering laws at his crypto trading platform, BitMEX, to which he had pleaded guilty in 2022
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Andy Scollick @andyscollick.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Quite. That's like calling Mussolini's Voluntary Militia for National Security aka Blackshirts or Hitler's Sturmabteilung aka Brownshirts or Franco's Falange Militia aka Blueshirts "acitvists" when they are in fact a paramilitary volunteer militia. All they need now are more recruits and firearms.
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Stephen Swan @stephenswan.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I dare say that there will be another similar donation in the next few days or weeks, and still the Prime Minister will do nothing.
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Richard Haviland @rfhaviland.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Another way of saying this is ‘the English aristocracy should pay the English working class reparations for the Norman conquest’.
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Mike D London @mikedlondon.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Refuk and the Tories, who seem to base their policy platforms on what US far right crazies say, might be annoyed with their orange felon hero over this... Arguably Brexit makes reunification both more likely and easier, what with Boris Johnson's new Irish Sea border kick-starting things.
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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
A campaign for *MSF* to be banned as a terrorist group (on the paper thin basis of claims about 2 past employees) is the product of the UK Govt being willing to divorce any meaningful conception of societal threat from its use of proscription powers. Govt needs to wake up to the madness of this:
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
In case you missed it 👇
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Trump on the Falkland Islands: “I don't know if the British would be willing to travel that far. It's very far away. You are talking about weeks by boat. “I am sure I will be called into that potential disaster. “I will probably be able to settle that.”
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
First-rate investigation into the Far Right mouthpiece who calls himself Tommy Robinson and how he managed to capture so many Americans with his made-up stories about Britain - from The Economist’s @georgiabanjo.bsky.social Worth a listen.
podcasts.apple.com
The Weekend Intelligence: Shire folk
Podcast Episode · The Intelligence from The Economist · 12 September · 49min
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
A serious democratic society simply cannot allow this. That's £72 million from just two men. (Both, until lately, based overseas). The average UK earner (full-time) would have to work for over 1,800 years to raise that much. It's a nuclear strike on any pretence at the equality of political power
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