Dinah Rose Simon Horobin I like the story of Betjeman complaining that Lewis had ruined Kubla Khan for him by asking whether he thought the 'pants' in the line 'As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing' were made of wool.

Since the Iranian missile attack on Israel, there's been a lot of debate about whether nuclear deterrence 'works'.

This is a thoughtful, clear-headed piece by Patrick Porter on the relationship between deterrence, discipline and self-restraint.
newstatesman.com/international-…

For anyone who has been interested in my lawsuit against the Sun, the news is that  I’ve had to settle my claim out of court before it gets to trial. A 🧵…

Nice to see Liz Truss confirming Esther Webber and my reporting from 2021 that she opposed the UK's hosting of COP26 — vigorously denied by the gvmt at the time.

One other cabinet member joined her rebellion: Rishi Sunak.

politico.eu/article/cop26-…

📅Thursday 25 April @ 11am📅

In our next webinar, Elizabeth Simon and Patrick Diamond will be looking ahead to May's #London Mayoral Election, unveiling our new polling and exploring the challenges that will be faced by the winning candidate. Sign up⬇️
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regist…

In my totally unbiased opinion, if you read one book about Labour before the general election, it should be this one - conveniently now available in paperback!

📆Thursday 9 May📅

Next month, the Mile End Institute will be joined by Yvette Cooper, David Ward and Richard Johnson to mark the 30th anniversary of John Smith's death in May 1994.

More speakers will be announced shortly so secure your place⬇️

🔗 qmul.ac.uk/mei/events/mei…

Agreed. Truss's eccentricities only mattered because Britain's biggest newspapers, richest donors & most vocal think-tanks cheered them on. And because unelected activists could appoint the PM.

This wasn't some drawing-room caper: it's about where power lies in British politics.

📅Tuesday 7 May at 6.30pm📅

Tickets for the launch of Karl Pike's Getting Over New Labour are still available but are going fast! Secure your place to hear Karl in conversation with Hannah Al-Othman about his Agenda Publishing book and today's #LabourParty ⬇️

🔗qmul.ac.uk/mei/events/mei…

Congratulations to the Queen Mary University of London men's football team, winners of the London University Football League for the first time ever!

It's not just Bayer Leverkusen making football history this year.

Join us to celebrate Gareth Stedman Jones's years School of History, Queen Mary University of London on 2 May 2024, 3-6pm. Social history, intellectual history, the history of political thought, history-politics-theory: qmul.ac.uk/history/news-a…… Royal Historical Society Institute of Historical Research Cambridge School Cambridge History @MileEndIn

Next month, the Mile End Institute is hosting several stellar events on British politics.

Placing academics and practitioners in conversation with each other and the public, they address critical issues and offer valuable space for reflection and perspective.

Details in the🧵👇

David Lloyd George on 'stupid' antisemitism in 1923.

'Of all the bigotries that savage the human temper there is none so stupid as the antisemitic'

Morning all.

This is extraordinary. Tax avoidance has become so expected for the super-rich that throughout his article about non-doms there’s only one thread missing; the idea they should stay here and pay the tax they owe like the rest of us theguardian.com/politics/2024/…

I couldn’t agree more. This is of course a temptation when taking over a partly damaged democratic system. But the worst idea ever is to use that in one’s own interest. It destroys everything you’ve been standing up against before.

Respectfully, I wholly disagree with John McTernan.

The Tories have shovelled power into the hands of the executive, which Labour *could* use for its own purposes. But in so doing, it would entrench & legitimise that power.

The ring must be destroyed. Its power can only corrupt

👌👌👇 . Also real insight into role of Europe Minister for bilateral relations (even more important since Brexit), for developing first hand political understanding of how other states view 🇪🇺 + amount of travelling! Suggests need for strategic thinking about role going forward

Here is a wide ranging interview with David Lidington and Robert Saunders via Mile End Institute. Watch for a great dollop of Conservative history and more.

youtu.be/2CqWUmDhXZ8?si…