Writer, Londonhttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3mtdvqerk622wThis is truer than ever when lived experience is of rapid polarisation in those realms of municipal prosperity and decay outside the state’s ambit; when entire towns are gentrified and degentrified by population shifts and the end of the proximity-to-work requirement [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Aug 2026 09:29 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtdvqerk622whttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3msurf3t5ok2hRelated anti-disappointment PSA Actual size of the hole through which the sun enters a home-made pinhole camera: • Actual size of the image of the sun projected: o [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Aug 2026 09:01 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3msurf3t5ok2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3msdd6aly4s25Back in the 70s in Scotland an actual German ex-Nazi was wheeled into our RE class to lecture us about the perils of Naziism and within a few minutes he was shouting angrily at us for not keeping quiet and paying his story the proper respect05 Aug 2026 10:32 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3msdd6aly4s25https://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3mqyk4iipws2oAw and just when Pete Hegseth was about to make them leaders of his testosterone task force https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwymly9yd33o19 Jul 2026 10:11 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqyk4iipws2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3mqyjll7inc2oOne of the things that surprised me when I went looking into the failure of a battery plant in Northumberland last year was the degree to which government support for tech is an immense structural failure underpinned by a myriad mutually reinforcing boosterish PR departments [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Jul 2026 10:02 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqyjll7inc2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3mqwet2b4lk2oThe crazy notion that a ‘policy levy’ on a privatised essential service is somehow not a tax serves two constituencies: the private rent-seekers, and governments trying to smuggle regressive taxation onto the bills. Electricity ‘policy levies’ are taxes, and very unfair ones. Make them general!18 Jul 2026 13:31 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqwet2b4lk2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3mqovgj2res2xThis is a real inflection point. Huge statement of Zelensky’s shift in priorities from Ukraine’s survival to his own if this happens. Europe’s ‘we provide the money, you provide the sons’ deal with Ukraine would look very weak if it can’t stop this happening. https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/bbecb9ba-e5f5-4ac8-b6ea-43621a559add15 Jul 2026 14:07 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqovgj2res2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3mpvx7a2s4k2iThis summer has been exquisitely curated to help awkward Englishmen converse. The heat, the football. All pauses safely filled.05 Jul 2026 16:02 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpvx7a2s4k2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3mpvqo4rr322wYour first thought about this ST description of Farage’s bagman’s crypto gambling firm is ‘how grotesquely dodgy’ until you remember most household name multinationals mock jurisdictions in just this way05 Jul 2026 14:05 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpvqo4rr322whttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3mozrsdh7v22iCoal merchant just called, asking if I fancied a ton of household coal at ten per cent off. And they say Brits can‘t hustle.24 Jun 2026 11:11 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3mozrsdh7v22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3mozop7y5x22zThe most persuasive part of Larry Elliott’s no-regrets Lexiteer piece in the Guardian. I have great respect for him, but a long article about the impact of Brexit that doesn’t mention how it helped gentrify racism, doesn’t mention immigration at all, makes me queasy24 Jun 2026 10:16 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3mozop7y5x22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/jamesmeek.bsky.social/post/3mowyuey2ts2sInterior. Night. A bathroom. ANDY BURNHAM lies naked on the floor with a bloodied hand. He opens his eyes. ANDY BURNHAM (V/OVER) London. Shit. A MASSIVE ROLLING PEAL OF THUNDER ANDY BURNHAM (V/OVER) Everybody gets everything they want. I wanted a premiership. And, for my sins, they gave me one.23 Jun 2026 08:40 +0000at://did:plc:oa4ys3e2huej3bmez7dwmdci/app.bsky.feed.post/3mowyuey2ts2s