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TJM

@tjmarsden.bsky.social
145 followers 261 following 2.3K posts

Long term lurker, might actually post the odd thing here...

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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
And this is why Hungary was not thrown out of the EU.
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Anders Puck Nielsen @anderspucknielsen.dk · 22/07/2025
Exactly. The best way to help Ukriane's democracy is to give them the weapons they need to win the war so martial law can be lifted and there can be elections.
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
In the words of perhaps the greatest copper merchant in history, 'if you want to take them, take them; if you do not want to take them, go away'...
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
A vision of peace, order and good government, hopefully... Happy Canada Day to those who celebrate.
Diefenbaker declares, 'I have a vision'. 

Presumably it is a vision of peace, order and good government, but can we be entirely sure? 

From Kate Beeton's 'Hark A Vagrant' http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=16
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Two posts to summarise the UK political moment from @stephenkb.bsky.social
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Julianna 💎 @batariangal.eurosky.social · 29/04/2025
Almost forgot my obligatory posting of this clip
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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
One for the WWI geeks bonus panel here: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/estimate
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
Liz Truss was PM for just 49 days but her name will go down in history as a verb to describe both creating an economic crisis and killing an eldery and respected leader. Impressive.
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 15/04/2025
woooooo ladies, she's going to make some friends with this week's newsletter
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
My column in today’s paper: why the “it’s a Studio Ghibli filter!” is so depressing to me:
ft.com
Anime lessons in the limits of AI
Generative images show us the risks of endowing the technology with magical powers
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Helene von Bismarck @helenebismarck.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Seriously, if you worry that upholding the law might be politically bad for the 'optics‘, and could give a boost to the people you want nowhere near power, you have already given up on the principles you claim to be defending.
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
This is what actually worries me, although an actively hostile US would of course be worse, I fear the balance of probability is that at some point sooner rather than later the new administration kicks over something seriously loadbearing and the US spends a decade entirely focused on fixing that.
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Anders Östlund @andersostlund.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
“The paradox is that 500 million Europeans are asking 300 million Americans to defend them against 150 million Russians. We have to rely on ourselves, being fully aware of our own potential and believing that we are a global power”. - Donald Tusk, PM Poland
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Every single one of the Trump supporters sounds like a domestic abuser. "You should've let him hit you, you shouldn't have complained in public, you're never grateful, you never say thank you."
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Algorithmic Complacency and the effects of automation of the media space on, well, everything. Very much worth a watch.
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Ed Davey @eddavey.libdems.org.uk · 20/02/2025
So Nigel Farage has chosen to explain away Trump’s outrageous remarks about President Zelensky instead of doing the right thing and condemning them. Deeply disappointing but not at all surprising. He sounds like a spokesman for Trump. He certainly doesn’t speak for Britain.
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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
It is crucial for Europeans to realise that at the rate Musk and Trump are shredding US state capacity, by the summer the US might not be able to substantially help defend Europe even if it wants to.
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Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
About once every half-million years, Earth's magnetic poles switch. After day 1 of #MSC2025, I can't think of a better metaphor for the European politics of the transatlantic alliance: everything is reversing.
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Peter Ricketts @lordrickettsp.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Fifth and last point on Hegseth. ‘Overwhelming share of lethal and non-lethal aid’ to be provided by Europe. That’s the wake-up call. US is setting the terms then walking away. There’s no escaping the need for big increase in UK defence spending now and close UK/EU defence industrial cooperation 7/7
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
An army too busy trying to root out progressive social attitudes to fight, an administration that's more a heist than it is a government. In Europe, Canada and around the world we'll have to manage ourselves, or not at all...
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Well it Groundhog Day... Again.
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Donald Tusk @donald-tusk.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
If Viktor Orban really blocks European sanctions at a key moment for the war, it’ll be absolutely clear that in this big game for the security and future of Europe, he is playing in Putin’s team, not in ours. With all the consequences of this fact.
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
There is something to be said for a removals lorry in Downing Street in the early dawn of the day after the general election. A far better way to show the transfer of political power.
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Well, the answer is in. That should be the end of the topic now, unless and until the House Speaker starts lining up funding for an expedition.
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Glad to see this. Here's hoping the provisional government is able to implement a programme of transition from Russian backed dictatorship to a freer and safer society, and that all Europe has the geopolitical nous to back it up.
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Did we get Brexit done, Boris? Is it proper now? Are we at the sunlit uplands yet? Like hell we are. Anyway, now that we've wasted a decade on that, how about let's sort out a customs union, so we can help with the European defence industrial base for when the Americans really start withdrawing, hm?
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Gabrielius Landsbergis @glandsbergis.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
🧵There are five illusions about Ukraine that lead to flawed “peace” plans that are doomed to fail. I have listed the illusions here in the hope that reality-based discussions can soon become the norm.👇 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Slightly obvious, still interesting. Possibly the biggest hurdle, other than assembling a majority for new rules among people who were elected under the old rules, is then that there's a vast array of options for new rules and everyone's got a favourite...
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Helene von Bismarck @helenebismarck.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Excellent column. Unfortunately, there is no easy way back. But both sides should at least consider a customs union, and coordinate closely on security and defence. Most importantly, we need a sense of urgency. Some countries have it. Germany and the U.K. are both too complacent, in different ways.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
A terrific theory that pairs well with the Economist's terrific and terrifying chart of Musk's tweeting.
A chart showing Elon Musk's near-24 hour tweeting.
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Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
I feel like people have forgotten that the postwar international order was not designed by utopian idealists but by incredibly ruthless political leaders who'd watched one hundred million people die and the entire world be pushed the brink of annihilation twice in their adult lives.
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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 19/11/2024
The latest poll on Germany‘s parliamentary election is crazy. FDP, Linke, and BSW all below the threshold of making it into parliament. 🤯 I think it’s still too early to take polls seriously, but this just shows how uncertain the outcome is (parties not making it screws with seat allocation)
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Donald Tusk @donald-tusk.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
No-one will stop Putin with phone calls. The attack last night, one of the biggest in this war, has proved that telephone diplomacy cannot replace real support from the whole West for Ukraine. The next weeks will be decisive, not only for the war itself, but also for our future.
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
To an extent UK politics is always going to exist downstream of US media. Britain, for all its troubles, does after all remain one of the largest American-speaking countries. But it doesn't have to stay downstream of the absolute worst of it.
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
NEW: "Moving Off X: An Open Letter from UK Journalists" UK political journalists: "Twitter was, for a long time, the place to be for UK politics. We believe that time is now over... "We have taken the decision to move over to other platforms, in particular Bluesky" docs.google.com/document/d/1...
We have used Twitter – now X – for many years. It has been a resource for story-gathering, network-building, and a megaphone for getting public-interest stories to a wider audience. And it has been a well of ideas and discourse. 
Unfortunately that well is now poisoned.
All of us have seen X become more toxic and broken since Elon Musk took over in 2022. 
Feeds have become less useful. Engagement has plummeted, except for those who will pay. Replies gain traction not through merit, but through the corrupted blue-tick system. 
We have seen hate speech and abuse deliberately dialled up and amplified, boosted not just by the algorithm, but by the owner himself. 
And England’s racist summer riots were one of many factors suggesting to us that X is not a neutral platform, but a space that now seems to glorify misinformation at a great cost to our public sphere. 
Millions of people are ditching X, and we are doing so, too. We have taken the view that it is no longer a useful tool for objective reporting, but a weapon being wielded by a narrowing ideological set. 
A tipping point is coming. Perhaps we are already in it. 
After much consideration, we have taken the decision to move over to other platforms, in particular Bluesky. For some of us that means instantly deleting our X accounts, for others it is a more gradual process. 
But we are all putting the majority of our efforts into building more constructive online spaces elsewhere for political dialogue and reporting. 
Bluesky is becoming a new hub for political discussion, and we encourage other UK journalists to join and become active. We are already seeing far higher engagement on our posts there than we’ve seen recently on X. 
And importantly, the mechanisms to limit abuse actually work. 
We enjoyed Twitter while it lasted. It played an important role in shaping many of our careers. And it was, for a long time, the place to be for UK politics. We believe that time is now over. 
Twitter is dead. Long live Twitter
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Benjamin Tallis @bctallis.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Excellent article on Russia’s mounting economic & Defence industrial woes that - busts the myth of inevitable Russian victory - shows the need for ‘Competitive Strategies’ that turn the screws & exacerbate Russia’s weaknesses foreignpolicy.com/2024/11/14/r... Marc deVore & Alexander Mertens
foreignpolicy.com
Russia’s War Economy Is Hitting Its Limits
Key weapons are running out as Moscow tries to mobilize ever more labor and resources.
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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 14/11/2024
English translation of the paper: www.ifw-kiel.de/fileadmin/Da...
ifw-kiel.de
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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 14/11/2024
Reading this paper which tries to estimate how much more it would cost Germany to NOT support Ukraine, versus the current support. The authors estimate it’s 10 times the current support. www.ifw-kiel.de/fileadmin/Da...
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The Kyiv Independent @kyivindependent.com · 13/11/2024
For the second time in his life, Friedrich Merz is a step away from taking charge of Germany. Merz has called for an ultimatum to Moscow after which Ukraine could receive the much-desired Taurus missiles, powerful weapons that Scholz refused to provide.
kyivindependent.com
With Scholz's government in shambles, conservative rival touts more decisive Ukraine strategy
For the second time in his life, Friedrich Merz is a step away from taking charge of Germany. Losing the fight to control the Christian Democratic Union in 2002 to future Chancellor Angela Merkel and...
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
German federal elections in February? Too slow. Although I wonder what impact losing a confidence vote will have on who forms the caretaker administration in the interim?
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TJM @tjmarsden.bsky.social · 10/11/2024
???
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