Sign in

Tim Burrows

@timburrows.bsky.social
686 followers 653 following 294 posts

Writer, Guardian and others. The Invention of Essex is published by Profile Books: bit.ly/3Bj9lLi Guardian profile: www.theguardian.com/profile/tim-bur… Linktree: linktr.ee/timburrows Agent: ZRoss@unitedagents.co.uk

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Luke Turner @luketurner.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I've banged on about it before but Michael Gillard's book Legacy, on corruption around land around London Olympics involving David Hunt, is a brilliant book. Hopefully this leads to prosecutions... and on the day that his top pal David Sullivan reveals he's suing the BBC too.
3112
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I feel like this should be bigger news (via fellow Long Fella Watcher @luketurner.bsky.social ) www.dailymail.com/news/article...
dailymail.com
Crime syndicate linked to suspected gangster targeted by police
A specialist tactical officer was stabbed in the leg as the force swooped on 24 properties and arrested 17 people across London and four counties.
021
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
He is not burning cash. He is investing money to shape political discourse and public opinion in line with his ideology and interests. And it's a successful strategy. Also, for a billionaire losing 10 million is like losing 1000 pounds for a middle class person.
111132
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Tobias Jones @tobiasjones.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is what ethnic cleansing looks like: the blanket cancellation of life and the infrastructure required to support it. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/...
aljazeera.com
Satellite images show Gaza in ruins three years into Israel’s genocidal war
Google Maps images show scale of Israel's destruction of Gaza, where more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed.
183
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Same eyes in fact
000
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Same energy
172
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Luke Turner @luketurner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I live in Chingford / Woodford. People move to Essex bc mugs like me have bought their mortgage-free homes, giving them a fat pile of £ to spend on a greige-painted new gaff and a West Ham themed shed pub in which to sit and moan about the death of the pie & mash shop that they never went to.
76581117
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Just a geezer saving for a holiday, doing what he needs to do.
021
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Obsessed with this detail in this resurfaced 1981 Guardian archive report on France banning the guillotine. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
140
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
So clean it smells filthy
131
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Blimey, soon they will be able to afford Sandro Tonali www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Donations of £72m make Reform’s prospects both rosier and riskier
Party can boost its campaign power with funds from billionaire backers, but it can also lose support from ordinary Britons
030
Reposted by Tim Burrows
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 11/09/2026
‘If you look at post-election analyses, the number one issue for citizens was not migration at all. It was the economic situation.’ @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on the AfD’s state election victory, on the podcast. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com
On Politics: Germany's Far-Right Future?
Podcast Episode · The LRB Podcast · 10 September · 1hr 4min
172
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I think I noted during the recent Belfast riots that a certain kind of man is not really interested in protecting women & girls; he's interested in protecting the exclusive right of his kind of man to abuse and control women and girls.
412795620
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
England's young people performing esp well, putting UK in the top ten for maths, reading and science. One driver of bucking trend is better integration: closing white/minority attainment gap for children of migrants, where west European countries lag www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
England’s teenagers outperform peers in most countries in maths, reading and science
OECD test sees results dip in almost all member nations and warns of ‘digital distractions’ eroding academic skills
918461
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Even leaving any politics at all aside: as general rule, no state can allow a group of masked men to be able to close down critical infrastructure. This is basic stuff.
112607504
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Danny Thomas is the latest public school alumnus pretending to speak on the behalf of "working class Britain" because he can affect a persona and maintain an accent to be seen as credible. See also Tom Skinner, whose political flirtations died down somewhat after meeting JD Vance last year
000
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Gill Tavner @gilltav.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Just Stop Oil protesters sitting peacefully outside Parl’t on Wed were escorted to police stations; masked thugs were escorted, still Masked, to train station. JSO protesters were released, mostly alone, in the early hours. Some had their return tickets, Oyster cards & railcards confiscated.
14020
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Luke Turner @luketurner.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This is very good:
1111
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Published the same weekend that Danny Tommo, mentioned in the piece for his role in encouraging far right unrest in Epsom, escalated his fascist flashmob skills by halting traffic at the ports of Dover and Portsmouth
000
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This is a fantastic essay on the uncanny (even by his standards) prescience of JG Ballard's last novel, Kingdom Come, by a writer who lives similarly in a Surrey motorway town
293
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
One hour!!!
110
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
It's good! (I need to invest in an industrial-kitchen-size extractor fan next time)
110
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Richard James Foster @richardjamesfoster.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
As my Lancashire gran would say, a Lummox. A clever stupid lummox. All the same these posh dons…
141
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I've had my tea so this is a pure Friday, er, indulgence - leftover tatties, mustard and plonk
130
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
An andouilette sausage frying in butter. Is good alt test doesn't require smell description, although the butter and offal are not entirely unpleasant at the moment
240
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
120
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I got talked into it in a boucherie in Arras a couple of days ago. Really torn over whether to open and cook it. (My wife is out for two hours)
230
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I wrote about the protest outside RAF Barnham and how it is affecting the town of Thetford, and about anger assimilation and political failure. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
The battle over RAF Barnham: how ominous anti-asylum protests engulfed a small Norfolk town
Thetford has a welcoming history. So why have there been so many demonstrations this summer over plans to house asylum seekers at a nearby military base – as well as nights of violent disorder ?
001
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I wrote about the protest outside RAF Barnham and how it is affecting the town of Thetford, and about anger assimilation and political failure. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
The battle over RAF Barnham: how ominous anti-asylum protests engulfed a small Norfolk town
Thetford has a welcoming history. So why have there been so many demonstrations this summer over plans to house asylum seekers at a nearby military base – as well as nights of violent disorder ?
001
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
hahahaha (I was channelling you when posting this, obviously)
010
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This looks like a sixth form drama production of a political satire called 'The Coalition', penned by the drama teacher who is also playing Nick Clegg (right), and starring the school's least popular prefect as David Cameron
Robert Jenrick looks like a boy and Richard Tice looks like a silly man. they are not real politicians are they. In suits
2112
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Something very 'London has changed' about the fact this megarich Essex drugs kingpin (arrested in Dubai) lives on Albion Drive, Hackney, a place I first read about 20 years ago as Iain Sinclair's address, "bought for a tenner with money lent by Renchi...' etc www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2647652...
echo-news.co.uk
Leader of Essex drugs trafficking gang jailed after being caught in Dubai
The leader of a major organised crime group has been jailed after spending nearly five years on the run and being caught in Dubai.
020
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Hacked Off @hackedoff.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The Express led on a "jaw-dropping" list of freebies given to asylum seekers in Thetford. The list: bedding, towels, one frying pan, one saucepan, one set of cutlery — and one toilet roll. www.hackedoff.org/blog-posts/g...
hackedoff.org
Guess what was on the "jaw-dropping" list?
How the bare basics, including one toilet roll, became a tabloid headline. A guest fact-check by Emma Monk of Monk Debunks.
34110
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Yes, visit in the morning and its role as a care home for widowed drinkers is laid bare
120
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I concur - my French friends in london used to *love* the Rochester Castle in Stoke Newington when we all lived around there in the 2010s. 'This *Abbots Ale* ... it is fantastic."
120
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Reform’s electoral record at parliamentary by-elections: win by five votes when the previous Labour MP had literally decked one of his constituents. Lose. Lose. Lose. Lose. Lose. Beat a novelty candidate with no ground game while doing worse than the Tories in the same seat in 2019.
13844226
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I was on BBC just after Farage's speech. He lied about the police and referred to himself in the third person. I called it the most arrogant political speech I'd ever seen, and then they brought in John Curtice and we discussed. It isn't on iPlayer so all I have is this grab of me looking knackered
A screengrab of me on the BBC. It was late
050
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Harry Taylor @harrytaylor.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Astonishing. The Press Association understands Essex Police did not tell Nigel Farage, or any other Clacton candidate, not to attend the count. This is after after his and Reform UK's claim Essex Police advised him against it due to a "credible threat".
691031303
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Incredible detail here on the formation of the Clacton constituency's seaside settlements of varying fortune, and how the quietly extreme facets of their demographic lend themselves to Faragism
010
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Luca spouted everything you might expect from a gen Z man who watched too much Joe Rogan – so why did it feel so haunting? Some notes from Clacton on a very modern voter (who might not even vote) timburrows.substack.com/p/luca-notes...
timburrows.substack.com
Luca – notes on a 21st-century Clacton voter
I saw a vision of the future at the end of my two-day journey through the constituency that is being contested by Nigel Farage.
193
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 13/08/2026
"High temperatures have meant London Ambulance Service (LAS) was busier in June than it was during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic." www.bbc.co.uk/news/a...
518579
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Clacton turnout benchmarks
1122
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
NB I am going to use this Substack for stuff I can't fit into my journalism and notes from the field, if anyone is interested. Very much a scrappy work in progress!
020
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Luca spouted everything you might expect from a gen Z man who watched too much Joe Rogan – so why did it feel so haunting? Some notes from Clacton on a very modern voter (who might not even vote) timburrows.substack.com/p/luca-notes...
timburrows.substack.com
Luca – notes on a 21st-century Clacton voter
I saw a vision of the future at the end of my two-day journey through the constituency that is being contested by Nigel Farage.
193
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
great stuff!
110
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Rachel MacGregor @anoldhand.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Really interesting thread. Having recently holidayed in both Kent and Essex and read @timburrows.bsky.social excellent book on Essex (bought in a shop mentioned in the book!) I’ve been thinking about this.
141
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Sven-Erik Volberg @volberg.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
The Moroccan government confirmed that the Ceuta migration wave was organized and amplified through social media. A similar campaign is currently being run on TikTok, where people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq are being encouraged to migrate through Belarus to EU via the Baltic states. 1/2
8196134
Reposted by Tim Burrows
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
The effective federal corporate income tax rate: 1950: 50% 1990: 25% 2020: 13% Stop asking "but how we will pay for it?" Restore the corporate tax rate. That is how we will pay for it.
670252238961
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
cheers Richard !
010
Tim Burrows @timburrows.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Ah, thanks Helen!
000