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Open Mike 18/01/2026

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 18th, 2026 - 8 comments
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8 comments on “Open Mike 18/01/2026 ”

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  1. Dennis Frank 1
    18 January 2026 at 8:15 am

    The Iranian supremacist claims thousands of protestors were killed, some with savage intent. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckglee733wno

    Not an empty boast. Didn't say it was the will of Allah, though, apparently. Seems to think the US did it. Called Trump a criminal for doing it. Religion causes delusions.

    That BBC graph of Iran's internet usage shows how good the binary switch is that China gave the Islamic regime! The modulation on top reveals how many go offline at night.

  2. Dennis Frank 2
    18 January 2026 at 9:19 am

    British politics seems an ongoing schmozzle… https://unherd.com/newsroom/jenrick-defection-has-killed-chance-of-tory-reform-pact/

    on Thursday former shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick became the 18th current or former Tory MP to make the switch from blue to teal.

    Reform uses teal?? Marketing savvy perhaps. No bluegreen substance evident.

    Badenoch said her colleague “tells a lot of lies”… The Tories, languishing 10 points behind Farage’s party in the polls, are obviously in no position to win power without a coalition partner – but this development also damages Reform, whose vote share of 28% hardly provides a guarantee of a majority at the next general election. Labour’s willingness to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats – potentially also propped up by the Greens, though this is less likely considering Zack Polanski’s refusal to work with Starmer and the incompatibility of the parties’ economic visions – puts the chance of a Right-wing government in 2029 at risk… Reform’s chief selling point has long been that it exists outside of the “uniparty” – that supposed Labour-Tory fusion of ideological indolence and enthusiasm for open borders.

    That left/right monolith thingy remains covert, as it does here, but almost a third of Brit voters have obviously sussed it.

    The two-party system is no more, but the result is a fractured political landscape in which backroom deals may have to be made in order to form a government.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 3.1
      18 January 2026 at 11:39 am

      The CoC (‘govt’ by and for the sorted) is wrecking public services – it’s all going to plan.

    • Incognito 3.2
      18 January 2026 at 12:29 pm

      That is a euphemism for a deliberately poor renovation job, at best, but more likely for a subtle demolition job [not an oxymoron].

      I’m a little surprised that they (i.e., HNZ and/or CoC) haven’t blamed Labour yet, or solar flares.

  4. Stephen D 4
    18 January 2026 at 12:27 pm

    Some really interesting analysis here.

    https://open.substack.com/pub/wonderoutloud/p/the-2026-election-isnt-over-yet?

    It’s going to be a fascinating year. Seriously hoping Labour and the Greens have some decent strategies in place.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 4.1
      18 January 2026 at 1:07 pm

      The 2026 election is not a foregone conclusion.

      It’s a close race decided by turnout, trust, and whether people believe voting will make a difference to their everyday lives. A 2.5% swing is not a wave. It’s a nudge.

      If the Left can:

      • give young people a reason to show up
      • reconnect with voters who stopped believing politics mattered
      • and hold the trust of women who already lean its way

      then winning is entirely possible.

      https://wonderoutloud.substack.com/p/the-2026-election-isnt-over-yet

      Thanks for the link, and good to see 'WonderOutLoud' recommends YeeHawTheBoys.

  5. Dennis Frank 5
    18 January 2026 at 3:42 pm

    Kemi does a demo: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/17/europe/chinese-mega-embassy-protest-london-intl-latam

    Britain’s main opposition leader joined a demonstration Saturday against China’s planned new embassy in London, days before a deadline for the government to approve or block the project. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch urged the Labour Party government to reject the plans, saying the Chinese government had “harassed and sanctioned” members of Parliament and “abused British nationals connected to China.”

    Can't recall any prior Conservative leader in Britain joining a mass protest against the establishment. She's probably made history, but media pros do the short attention span so we will have to wait for a historian to ponificate on it.

    China has complained about a seven-year delay in approving the project, saying the United Kingdom was “constantly complicating and politicizing the matter.” …Opponents say the 20,000-square-meter (215,000-square-foot) Chinese Embassy complex, near London’s financial district and close to crucial data cables, will be used as a base for espionage and for the surveillance and intimidation of Chinese dissidents in exile… Some security experts say the risks are manageable and that the embassy [will consolidate] China’s current seven diplomatic premises in London onto one site.

    Obviously the Chinese will be dead keen to tunnel from the base of the embassy to the data cable, so they can cut it whenever they like. Starmer could get his spooks to track their progress and get his ministry of works to do their own dig just prior to the join up, with a viewing platform so public can watch and tv cameras record the historic break-through. The merit of this scenario lies in geopolitics as performance art.