Lot of misleading shite knocking around about refugees atm. Here are some facts. 1/
Refugees don’t have to stay in the ‘first safe country’ they reach. The concept of ‘first safe country’ is bollocks. Doesn’t exist in law. It’s basically shorthand for telling the world you don’t know what you’re talking about. 2/
Sep 27, 2019 • 19 tweets • 3 min read
Every nation gets the government it deserves. It’s important to remember that as a nation, this situation is entirely our own fault. Bear with me. 1/
I don’t think I’m alone in making all the way through primary and secondary education without the first idea of what it means to be a citizen. It was never taught. 2/
Jun 27, 2019 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Some thoughts on balance, which is the opposite of Twitter most days. Balance, or an attempt to strive for it, is a good thing. 1/
Striving for balance demonstrates that you have the intellect to overcome your baser instincts and rationally judge an issue on its relative merits. 2/
Feb 21, 2019 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
Only an idiot would try and predict how this current Brexit debacle will end. Here goes.
Hard Brexit, it seems, is all but inevitable if you look at the strategies the two sides have pursued so far.
Feb 8, 2019 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
With all the chat over about a return to the Troubles in Northern Ireland, it’s easy to assume that the EU has something of a track record as a peacemaker in Europe. It really doesn’t. 1/
There’s little doubt that the EU has been instrumental in promoting ever-closer relationships between member nations, but when the shit hits the fan and the men of violence do their thing, the EU’s record is actually pretty terrible. 2/
Jan 31, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Anyone looking for a great primer on why the indictment of Roger Stone is such incredibly bad news for Trump, then ‘Get Me Roger Stone’ (Netflix, 2017) is essential viewing.
Stone was the self-described jockey to Trump’s “prime political horseflesh”. Charismatic, flamboyant and utterly corrupt, he’s been the Dirty Trickster since he started his political life running errands for Ol’ Dick Nixon back before Watergate.
Jan 28, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
In 2004, I worked on the series ‘Auschwitz: The Nazis & The Final Solution’ for the 60th anniversary of the liberation. The trauma of that awful place is unfathomable, even as you sift the vast evidence. It’s there in front of you, yet you still can’t begin to comprehend.
Even though we can’t possibly know what it was like, as Elie Wiesel wrote, we should try to understand. Speaking of the sense of duty he personally felt, he said: “For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living...
Jan 24, 2019 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
Lots of people correctly pointing out that I should have mentioned Russia and campaign spending violations in my Brexit ‘megathread’. Think I didn’t because, while it clearly matters, I don’t think it changed the result. Bear with me. 1/
We know two things for certain. Russia interfered and Vote Leave spent over its limits by channelling money to a front campaign called BeLeave. 2/
Jan 22, 2019 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
The irony of the Leave campaign's 'big lie' is that they could have painted the *actual* amount we send to the EU every week on the side of their bus and it would have had exactly the same effect. 1/
Human beings are really bad at big numbers. This is due to the fact that our cognitive functions are limited by perception. We have great intuition for small numbers because we see them all the time. Big numbers all look the same. 2/
Jan 18, 2019 • 13 tweets • 2 min read
“Intensity of purpose.” That’s what Richard Holbrooke created when he brokered an agreement between the warring parties in Bosnia, ending 3.5 years of war. We need some intensity of purpose now. #Brexit 1/
First, he brought all the warring parties together in isolation on an airbase in Dayton, Ohio. There’s literally nothing to do in Dayton. Whatever reason you’re there, you get it done and get out. It focused minds. 2/
Jan 16, 2019 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
This Brexit business is a marvel. Genuinely. It’s borderline miraculous. Bear with me. 1/
As a culture, we focus on those finely balanced moments when, against all odds, the stars align perfectly and great things are achieved. You know, Miracle on the Hudson type stuff. 2/
Dec 16, 2018 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
Bloody refugees, coming over here with their talent and music, making a lovely Christmas single that you should buy immediately. Proceeds to the BigLeaf Foundation, a charity that helps unaccompanied kids get a start in their new home. ispeakmusic.bandcamp.com/track/whatever…#refugeeswelcome
This was made in just two days at Surrey ACM and features the combined talents of Persian drummers, Syrian violinists, volunteers and lovely locals. #christmas#talent
Nov 22, 2018 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Twitter on Brexit is really depressing. Both sides default to ad hominem attacks, impugning the intellect and integrity of the other, rather than debate each other. There’s a great deal of intelligence and integrity on both sides.
At the heart of the debate is a legitimate, fascinating and difficult question about how we should be governed and the type of relationships we should have as a nation. Neither side has all the answers.
Nov 9, 2018 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Proposing some new emojis for marketing professionals to enable them to communicate on Twitter with greater efficiency. The ‘superiority’s burden’, the ‘bullshit soufflé’ and the ‘hopeful reacharound’.
The ‘superiority’s burden’ is an eye rolling smiley with finger wag rampant. To be used by long suffering marketing luminaries in lieu of tweets explaining how everything would be so simple if we weren’t all so hopelessly shit.
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