Luke McGee

"We should stop working on the assumption that America will always protect us. In doing so, we may give the alliance its best chance of enduring — with Europe as a partner, not a patron." My latest Substack post lukemcgee.substack.com/p/the-transa...

"The leaders of Finland and Norway called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to urge him to end the war in Ukraine, breaking with a longstanding practice among Western European leaders of shunning direct contact with the Kremlin" www.reuters.com/world/europe...

"This has radicalised a group of young people who will no longer trust the police. They are tomorrow’s lawyers, judges, and doctors, and they’ve seen what authority does when you stand up to it."

"I ended up helping a student with Down syndrome who’d been gassed. None of the police assisted her. They literally walked over elderly people who’d fallen. I saw them hit kids as young as 13 or 14 with batons."

They told me: "I was bending over to give a pensioner some eye drops for the CS gas, and a policeman hit me in the back of the head with a baton. I obviously posed no danger; for all he knew, I could have been hurt myself. I fell, and someone grabbed my arm and dragged me away."

I spoke to a French protester who was at a demonstration when a police grenade blew a teenager's hand off. "People were screaming that someone was injured and needed an ambulance. A few people managed to drag him away... The police fired more explosives." www.thenewworld.co.uk/holly-thomas...

Liz Truss claims Brits would be on Mars by 2040 if she hadn’t been ousted www.politico.eu/article/liz-...

Trump invokes 9/11 in urging Michigan voters to oppose Muslim Senate candidate El-Sayed www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

"In a cornfield north of Kyiv, pieces of blackened metal are scattered among rows of dried stalks. They are all that remains of a Russian Geran attack drone, shot down by Ukrainian fighter jets as it flew toward the capital during one of Russia's aerial assaults" kyivindependent.com/with-kyivs-a...

"Musk did not understand that in India, as in much of the world, trust in America is collapsing." foreignpolicy.com/2026/10/23/t...

'Putin's paranoia' — New air defenses appear around Russian president's Valdai residence, analysis shows kyivindependent.com/putins-paran...

The employee claims they were suspended after raising concerns internally. As with the allegations against Campbell, revealed by @theobserveruk.bsky.social last week, it is alleged these complaints were shared within Heyca, inc with the mayor's political team

Exclusive: A second member of staff working under Reform UK mayor Luke Campbell has claimed they were suspended from their job after raising concerns about threatening and racist behaviour in the workplace observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Chelsea looking dog shit

😂

My semi-controversial opinion today: the iPhone Air is the best phone on the market.

Caption contest

Fascinating take from Dan...

Hardly a great surprise that Putin is a weird guy, but this is very weird.

Thoughts with all former colleagues www.theguardian.com/media/2026/o...

The Thomas Marke story is so horrifying. I really hope it gives people pause before they judge anyone who's estranged from a parent. Every case is unique, and even though you may think you know the whole story, you almost certainly don't. Estrangement takes a toll. It doesn't happen for no reason.

"US conventional withdrawal would weaken Europe’s ability to defend itself below nuclear threshold while simultaneously eroding the credibility of the US nuclear guarantee. It is a double-edged experiment that undercuts both pillars of deterrence" foreignpolicy.com/2026/10/21/n...

"Even as Paris reeks of tear gas, ideas promoted by French officialdom for decades have become ascendant in EU circles. Particularly on economic matters, French thinking is being copy-pasted into statute books in Brussels" www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

A welcome development; interested to see how White House behaves kyivindependent.com/ukraine-to-g...

While Trump and his cronies call Putin a humanitarian and shower him with praise, Ukrainians in Oleshky are eating grass to survive. They cannot flee for fear of getting struck by a Russia drone. Amazing report on @skynewsrss.bsky.social news.sky.com/share/13601425

EU to press Canada and UK for more Ukraine funding www.politico.eu/article/eu-t...

For example, Twitter spinning it as this

Really important not to get the langauge wrong here. Freezing the fighting along current lines isn't ceding territory; it just means stopping fighting. Lots of people are deliberately misunderstanding this and presenting it as Zelenskyy conceding something he is not.

Anthropic logged net loss of over $80 billion in first half of 2026 www.reuters.com/business/ant...

For what it's worth, I was chatting with a Ukrainian diplomat the other day, and when asked about the US, they said (of Hegseth, but admin more widely) "I don't give a fuck what this person says. Why should I? What good is there from listening to this," according to my notes.

I had missed this. The US is holding up delivery on Patriots that have already been paid for. In tandem with the admin's current nonsense, not a pretty picture. united24media.com/war-in-ukrai...

"A decade ago, MBS made a few big gambles. He wagered he could defeat the Houthis; reshape the Saudi economy; and Trump would prove a reliable ally. All of them have gone awry. The decision to cancel FII is emblematic of his annus horribilis." www.economist.com/middle-east-...

The UK already doesn't buy oil or gas from Russia or Iran. Opening Jackdaw will not stop other European countries – such as landlocked ones with Russian pipelines – buying from Russia. Other than that, great argument.

Hegseth discusses Iran with Netanyahu in unannounced visit to Israel, officials say www.militarytimes.com/news/pentago...

What's the opposite of kryptonite? That's what Trump is to international leaders. Zelensky's trust rating surges amid Trump's pressure campaign, poll finds kyivindependent.com/zelenskys-tr...

Something that keeps playing is my head at the moment is when Vance asked Zelenskyy if he’d even said thank you to the US. They must be just drowning in Russian propaganda.

Russians killed them yesterday, on October 19, 2026, in Nova Vodolaha, Kharkiv region, with their drone strike on a park in a broad daylight: ​🕯️1-year-old Anhelina and 🕯️her mother, Inna Maryukhna, 28, an event host and primary school teacher.

Beijing has threatened to retaliate if the U.K. raises tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. www.politico.eu/article/chin...

"The disparate responses reflect an undercurrent of GOP angst about an admin that has largely ignored Congress on Ukraine. And they underscore how little power Trump’s party has had in reining in his attacks on longstanding allied relationships" www.politico.com/news/2026/10...

I did not know I needed a mouse with haptic feedback until mine arrived today. Game changer.

"Without getting too bogged down in events from 25 years ago, the underlying dynamic is familiar: America doubts Europe’s ability to contribute militarily, while Europe gives America reasons to doubt it."

Thank you if you read my post yesterday about the myth of the Special Relationship. Europe doesn't need to be a bystander, but we do need to wake up. lukemcgee.substack.com/p/the-transa...

Such a tiresome man

Trump: "It's going to be the greatest ballroom and military complex combination ever built!" (Has any ballroom/military complex EVER been built?!)

"Ukraine is a European country; America is not. Those of us on this side of the Atlantic need to understand what that means in terms of our self-interest and responsibilities."