Ian Birrell

Ian Birrell

@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Foreign correspondent, columnist, campaigner, co-founder Africa Express, citizen of the world and a bit more besides…

2.8K followers295 following998 posts

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

It would be great to see Netanyahu and his far-right allies ousted but it’s wrong to claim this as the ‘most consequential vote’ in Israel’s history - more significant than 1977, 1992 or 1996 - given the similar hardline stance of the main opposition leader towards Palestinians

Ian Birrell reposted

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Former chief of defence staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin tells @ldfreedman.bsky.social that Boris Johnson was so uncertain whether to back Ukraine just days before the full-scale invasion he asked for papers to be drawn up on supporting Ukraine or 'looking the other way.'

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Former chief of defence staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin tells @ldfreedman.bsky.social that Boris Johnson was so uncertain whether to back Ukraine just days before the full-scale invasion he asked for papers to be drawn up on supporting Ukraine or 'looking the other way.'

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

'Reminiscent of the worst sort of saloon-bar bore, ranting in a corner while other patrons realise it’s time to go home' - delightfully-scathing Simon Heffer review of Liz Truss's latest nonsense book, awarding it no stars in a hit job on 'Bank Job'. www.telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fi...

telegraph.co.ukLiz Truss’s new book is the most deranged thing I’ve ever readLike an alcoholic who cannot admit they have a drinking problem, the former PM is convinced that everyone else is to blame for her failures

Ian Birrell reposted

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Hopeful sign: early voting is up 74% compared with 2022 in Texas

Ian Birrell@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Texas was Trump country but now many Republicans and swing voters want change. So can the Democrats really pull off a famous victory in the Lone Star State? My @theipaper.com report inews.co.uk/opinion/texa...

inews.co.ukTexas was Trump country. Now Republicans are telling me they've had enoughIan Birrell: The Lone Star State is on brink of turning blue
Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Remember how Jim Ratcliffe - the Brexit-supporting and anti-immigration billionaire tax exile who runs Manchester United - berated the failure of British politicians who ran the country badly and were scared of taking tough decisions?

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Utterly grotesque - US presidential envoy telling a war criminal and mass murdering dictator who is waging war on democracy that he is a 'humanitarian' Pass the sick bag!!

Ron Filipkowski@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff to Vladimir Putin today: “You talk so much about Trump being a humanitarian, you are a humanitarian also, sir. And I salute that. I commend you.”

Ian Birrell reposted

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Worth noting that while Johnson and Hancock deservedly get much of the flak for this deadly failure, the minister who failed to protect the care sector was Helen Whately - who is now the Tory shadow minister pushing draconian benefit reforms

Ian Birrell@ianbirrell.bsky.social

The Covid inquiry confirms that social care was an 'afterthought' for the government in the pandemic, as I and others claimed at the time. This symbolises how Westminster always sees it as a second-class public service of far less importance than the NHS. Utterly shameful.

Ian Birrell reposted

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

The Covid inquiry confirms that social care was an 'afterthought' for the government in the pandemic, as I and others claimed at the time. This symbolises how Westminster always sees it as a second-class public service of far less importance than the NHS. Utterly shameful.

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Any Republican failing to condemn Trump's support for Putin and the mass murdering Kremlin war criminals shares his guilt. As Martin Luther King said 'A time comes when silence is betrayal.'

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Worth noting that while Johnson and Hancock deservedly get much of the flak for this deadly failure, the minister who failed to protect the care sector was Helen Whately - who is now the Tory shadow minister pushing draconian benefit reforms

Ian Birrell@ianbirrell.bsky.social

The Covid inquiry confirms that social care was an 'afterthought' for the government in the pandemic, as I and others claimed at the time. This symbolises how Westminster always sees it as a second-class public service of far less importance than the NHS. Utterly shameful.

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

The Covid inquiry confirms that social care was an 'afterthought' for the government in the pandemic, as I and others claimed at the time. This symbolises how Westminster always sees it as a second-class public service of far less importance than the NHS. Utterly shameful.

Ian Birrell reposted

George Monbiot
@georgemonbiot.bsky.social

It would be hilarious, if it were not so sinister.

Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social

You may have seen reports about the campaign for charities to be more 'transparent' about who funds them. Well it turns out the mysterious new right-wing think tank behind it won't say who funds or runs them, and used fake names for the authors of the report which launched their campaign

bylinetimes.comMysterious Right-Wing Think Tank Demanding Charity 'Transparency' Won’t Say Who Runs or Funds ItEXCLUSIVE: A group with no legal status and using fake names for the authors of its first published report, has won widespread media coverage, despite refusing to say who is behind it
Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

It’s weird that the US healthcare system is so dysfunctional - spending more than other developed nations with worse outcomes and leaving millions without cover - and yet the idea of universal healthcare is seen as extreme leftism

Ian Birrell reposted

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Should every billionaire hand over 5% of their wealth? My @theipaper.com report from the state of California on a wealth tax debate that's dividing the home of Hollywood and Silicon Valley, inspiring the left and could lead other places to follow suit. inews.co.uk/opinion/bill...

inews.co.ukThe billionaire tax battle that's dividing California – and inspiring BritainIan Birrell: As America's rich get richer, its middle class is getting political
Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Even the most blinkered buffoons must now see that Trump and Musk are aiding Russia and its assault on democracy. They stand with war criminals and mass murderers rather than people fighting for freedom. Beyond contempt

Ian Birrell reposted

Steve Peers
@stevepeers.bsky.social

Wondering if the RW folks like Johnson and Truss, who claimed that Trump was the best hope for the West and NATO, ever look back and reflect on their own stupidity? (It's a rhetorical question)

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

How many times must we point out social care is not just about elderly people with fastest rising demand coming from working age adults. Even now - with social care finally and belatedly rising up political agenda - people with disabilities and long-term sickness are being squeezed from the debate

Gaby Hinsliff@gabyhinsliff.bsky.social

if you haven't been through this with an elderly parent yet it's maybe hard to explain why social care reform feels like a big deal but there will be a surprising number of people i suspect feeling quite tearful listening to this

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

Great that Burnham focusing so hard on care and care workers, vowing to end their invisibility in line with my campaigning over recent decades - but worryingly, it was all through the prism of elderly people, protecting pensioners and care impacting on the NHS.

Ian Birrell@ianbirrell.bsky.social

This is alarming: when Burnham was asked on LBC if his proposals included disabled children, he replied: “No. This is adult and particularly older people’s social care.” So he is not really fixing social care for everyone... (h/t @dcpcampaign.bsky.social)

Ian Birrell reposted

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

This is alarming: when Burnham was asked on LBC if his proposals included disabled children, he replied: “No. This is adult and particularly older people’s social care.” So he is not really fixing social care for everyone... (h/t @dcpcampaign.bsky.social)

Ian Birrell
@ianbirrell.bsky.social

‘Anyone who embarks on euthanasia ventures on a slippery slope along which you irrevocably slide towards the indiscriminate killing of defenceless patients,” wrote Bert Keizer, a prominent Dutch euthanasia doctor, six years ago