Color Scheme

Robin Monotti: Nato expansion ‘would provoke Russians’…

Nato expansion ‘would provoke Russians’, UK understood A March 1997 briefing for prime minister John Major outlined UK support for a “small first group” of countries to join the Nato alliance. “Too many at once would strain Nato structures, antagonise Russia”, read the briefing, which was intended for Major’s upcoming meeting with Nato secretary general Javier Solana. Further decisions on which states would join and when “would provoke Russians”, it added." MARK CURTIS 15 April 2026

Moazzam Begg: Despite being a self-confessed kafir…

Despite being a self-confessed kafir and wannabe crusader, the reformed alcoholic woman abuser, once condemned by his own mother, US @SecWar who revels in taking part in #Iraq, #Afghanistan and #Guantánamo war crimes, is leading religious services in the Pentagon. He’s been quoting verses from the Bible. But like much of his confused beliefs, it’s fiction. In this case, Pulp Fiction. https://youtube.com/live/ih3Ld_F5htY?si=QLfOa2IYuRY-JPgX
17, April

Andy Ngo: This person has come forward…

This person has come forward with knowledge and experience dealing with a network of right-wing adjacent AI slop accounts on X who were making $15k–50k per month without disclosing that they were getting paid for advertising. I see a lot of people, including my followers, sharing and engaging with these types of accounts. Please consider who is deserving of your attention and time. cc: @nikitabier , I think better metrics should be in place for those who are eligible for monetization. The old verification system was helpful in that it was more vigorous. Now, anonymous foreign accounts are among those who are able to buy verification.

Alex Wickham: BREAKING…

BREAKING: Sources say Olly Robbins felt bound by the rules of the security vetting process NOT to tell the PM, No10 or the foreign secretary about the concerns raised about Mandelson That means it appears No10 WERE in fact unaware he had issues with his vetting And sources say in fact Mandelson DID NOT simply fail his vetting. Instead issues were raised and the FCDO security team and ultimately Robbins had to make a decision on whether to grant him DV clearance. It was their decision and there was no “overturning,” sources say As @SamCoatesSky reports via former security official Ciaran Martin, Robbins was prohibited from sharing information about what happened with anyone outside the FCDO security team Sources say the point of the vetting process is that it is extremely invasive and people who go through it must be confident they can tell the whole truth and not have highly embarrassing information about their personal lives leak or be spread around colleagues That means the circle of people allowed to know about what happens in each vetting case is very small and the information is highly privileged The decision on whether to approve Mandelson’s clearance, according to the vetting rules, is taken by a small team of FCDO security officials and ultimately Robbins, sources say Under no circumstance is Robbins or that team able to share the details of the vetting case with No10 or anyone else, sources say. Robbins felt he could not share it with any minister or private office, sources say It appears the PM and No10 were unaware of how these rules were perceived by Robbins and FCDO, and think he should have told them. Allies of Robbins think it is unfair he was sacked But crucially it appears right now that Robbins did not tell No10 and they were actually in the dark about all this until Tuesday. What an unbelievable mess

Bushra Shaikh: So Trump tore up the 2018 Iran Nuclear deal…

So Trump tore up the 2018 Iran Nuclear deal (JCPOA) just to negotiate a similar nuclear deal in 2026. All while spending U.S $55 billion tax payer money, sending U.S soldiers to die, killing 178 school girls and 2,000 civilians in Iran, and sending the global economy into chaos. But it's okay because he will celebrate ending a war he started on his truth social - what an absolute idiot. If at this point anyone supports this lunatic, I urge them to have their head tested.

Alex Wickham: EXCLUSIVE…

EXCLUSIVE: A team of Cabinet Office officials accessed a highly secure portal last Friday to review UK Security Vetting conclusions on Peter Mandelson as part of the Humble Address motion. What they found was conclusions of a top secret report showing security officials had raised objections about Mandelson’s appointment. On making further enquiries it then became clear to them that Olly Robbins had been presented with the conclusions of the UKSV process by a senior Foreign Office security official who Bloomberg has agreed not to name. It appeared Robbins had not necessarily seen the full details of Mandelson’s vetting, only the conclusions and what are internally called “residual issues”, sources say. Nonetheless, Robbins and the senior FCDO security official had agreed that despite the negative conclusions they would go ahead and grant him DV clearance, sources say. The senior FCDO security official has since left the Foreign Office. It means the government was left in an extraordinary situation this week where not a single member of staff still in post at FCDO had seen Mandelson’s full vetting report. When Starmer found out on Tuesday he was furious and then on Thursday sacked Robbins. A source described the situation as so opaque it was Kafkaesque. However an ally of Robbins points to the 2010 Constitutional Reform and Governance Act which states that ministers do not have powers over national security vetting. People familiar with the matter who spoke to Bloomberg today described an internal mess bordering on farce. The crux of the problem, some sources argue, is that Starmer had made clear he wanted Mandelson to be appointed and that he was relaxed about the publicly available information about his links to Epstein, Russia and China. That created a climate in which Robbins felt he was doing the PM’s bidding by clearing Mandelson. Ironically, Robbins’ defence against Starmer’s decision to sack him also appears to help the PM because it tallies with Starmer’s position that he was unaware of Mandelson’s vetting issues and therefore could not have intervened. Cabinet ministers are tonight reserving judgment on whether Starmer can survive this. First he needs to get through next week, then the locals. Most political sources we spoke to think Starmer can tough it out to the locals, but think it will factor into ministers’ and MPs’ calculations afterwards.

Moazzam Begg: In #Guantánamo in 2003…

In #Guantánamo in 2003, FBI agents tried to convince me that the upcoming US military commissions, a legal system created just for Gitmo, would be fair and just. They evidenced their claim by quoting Hollywood. “Haven’t you seen ‘A Few Good Men’? It’s based in Guantanamo. See how committed the military lawyers were?” I had seen the film. It’s with Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore and Tom Cruise. “It’s a film”, I thought. And it’s fiction. But the agents were sincere in their beliefs. I was freed in 2005 without even seeing a courtroom. But, after quarter of a century, not a single person out of 779 prisoners has ever been convicted for taking part in he 9/11 attacks, the reason why Gitmo was set up to begin with. Much of America has been subliminally indoctrinated to substitute reality with Hollywood fiction. But when these clowns hold the keys to your freedom or become the most powerful men in the world, you know something has gone terribly wrong. When you understand who controls institutions like Hollywood, then you’ll know why.
Read more