Jon Sopel
@jonsopel
Followers
290K
Following
3K
Media
2K
Statuses
26K
Host of daily podcast The News Agents. And author of forthcoming book, Strangeland. Order now or come to one of the events https://t.co/Y7BGxIbMK9
UK
Joined April 2010
Anyone else woken up this morning to listen anxiously to the news and feeling relieved, prouder of who we are, and just a bit more disdainful of the Tommy Robinsons and Elon Musks of this world? Well done decency, well done the police.
3K
4K
36K
‘Multiculturalism has failed’ says Suella Braverman who is from Kenyan and Mauritian background and married to a Jew, serving as Home Secretary in a govt led by someone whose family came from India. Wonder what multicultural success looks like…. .
2K
7K
30K
For 4 years when I was US Editor I went to endless Trump rallies where we’d be accused of being ‘enemies of the people’ - the ‘we’ were the media, but also ‘liberals’, civil servants, environmentalists, the swamp, the think tanks. All felt a bit familiar in B’ham today.
1K
7K
30K
After tumultuous week, worth reflecting:.In the 37 years from 1979 to 2016 there were just 5 prime ministers. In the 6 years since 2016 we’ve also had 5 PMs.Something pretty destabilising must have happened that year.
852
7K
28K
Waspish line from @AngelaRayner - .'Liz Truss has finally broken her long painful silence with a series of short painful silences.'.
443
4K
27K
Sorry. This is nuts. A presenter on a news channel uses platform to advance a conspiracy theory about a cancer in children linked to vaccines which is baseless, and OFCOM says it’s fine. If facts don’t matter on a news channel, then where are we? .
4K
6K
24K
I float this. Throughout the Tory leadership contest there was this whole narrative that Liz Truss has been under-estimated her whole career. Is it possible that it’s completely the reverse?.
1K
3K
24K
Lucky there are no producer guidelines on whether you need to declare facilitating an £800k loan to a prime minister while applying for a job as chairman of a broadcasting organisation….
BREAKING: Gary Lineker to step back from presenting Match of the Day until agreement reached on social media use - @BBCNews.
326
5K
24K
No longer bound by BBC rules on impartiality, let me just say what a moronic and offensive comment. If I’m not mistaken didn’t you have a deputy chief whip appointed even tho his past form as a sex pest was well known and documented? .
1K
5K
22K
Trump in court:.Counsel: did you prepare the 2021 financial statement.Trump: ‘I was so busy in the White House, focusing on Russia and China and keeping our country safe’.Counsel: you weren’t president then .🙄.
530
4K
22K
Hold on - wasn’t it those pesky free markets - that she champions - reacting in horror to £45 billion in unfunded tax cuts? That led to surge in cost of borrowing, near collapse of pension industry, and more costly mortgages for all of us. Didn’t Liz Truss bring Liz Truss down?
1K
4K
21K
This is so interesting. And just shows the absurd inconsistencies. Just read final sentence in this adjudication, and ask is audience not able to do same with Gary Lineker?.
Lineker is Freelance but here's the BBC reply to a complaint about Chris Packham, also Freelance
560
7K
21K
I have known @thehuwedwards for 30+ years from when we were young,ambitious political correspondents. At times it was like the Hunger Games as we all fought (each other) to get on air. But tonight his tone on coverage of #QueenElizabeth death has been magnificent. Kudos Huw.
182
406
22K
Yeah if only doctors, nurses, porters, ambulance drivers, care home staff had worked as hard then maybe they’d have been entitled to parties too.
Because the role of a leader during a crisis is to keep morale high amongst those who were working 17hr days 7/7 as morale slumps. No10 was the engine room of the country, it was important to keep people turning up and working and saying goodbye to someone who was leaving was an.
654
3K
21K
The endless line at Geneva Airport to get through passport control for British passport holders. No queue at all for EU or Swiss citizens 🤷🏻♂️
8K
4K
21K
Hang on - so we’ve taken back control of our borders cos we no longer want to be part of the EU, but Grant Shapps still expects the French to let us come and go as we please across their border. Have I got that right? As they say somewhere, quel culot ce mec
1K
4K
19K
She is gold. Pure gold…. .
Liz Truss, "The worst Prime Minister we've had in recent years is Tony Blair". "Who created things like the Equality Act, the Human Rights Act, the Climate Change Act"
2K
2K
20K
Could this Dan Wootton related to the one below? Just asking…
I wanted to return to Buckingham Palace today for some quiet reflection and lay my own tribute. Crowds young, old, from all ethnicities and backgrounds. Truly the best of British doing her justice.
400
2K
20K
Oh my. The positioning of that microphone…….
Lee Anderson says he agrees with Suella Braverman that "multiculturalism has failed". "If you come and live in this country you should live a British way of life," he says. #CPC23
515
2K
20K
Oh golly gosh. Liz Truss saying Kamala Harris has proved she’s not up to the job as VP. My ironymeter has just exploded into a million tiny pieces.
Liz Truss here, on American TV, criticising Kamala Harris (pronouncing her name wrongly) for being unimpressive and unable to do the job. My desk is at risk of collapsing from the non stop assault my head is currently inflicting upon it. Utter. Cretin.
1K
3K
18K
@danwootton Nothing speaks ‘quiet reflection’ like having a friend film it to post on social media.
223
845
19K
Don’t want to go over the top, but this is absolutely jaw-dropping. Someone who was in the cabinet when legislation on voter ID was agreed and went through parliament acknowledges it WAS an attempt to gerrymander the elections
834
9K
18K
So who’s having the worst week? .A. Boris Johnson.B. (HRH) Prince Andrew.C. Novak Djokovic.
3K
2K
19K
Weird that I don’t remember JRM complaining about a right-wing stitch up when David Frost stopped being a civil servant advising the government and became a Tory minister in the Lords instead. But maybe that’s different.
715
4K
18K
I am totally bewildered @metoffice. Why is it a mark of respect to give us the weather forecast for today, but not tomorrow? Or to put it another way, why is it disrespectful to give us tomorrow’s weather?
769
2K
17K
I’m in the ‘God Save the King’ camp, but a kid wanting to protest against the monarchy? Is that an arrestable offence in a country that cherishes free speech? .Sincerely hope not.
3K
2K
16K
That is a good question…. .
If Sunak has lost all his WhatsApp messages why did he bother launching a legal challenge in July to stop him having to hand them over to the inquiry???
385
6K
16K
What a truly revolting thing to say…. .
JD Vance says women who haven’t given birth like Kamala Harris are “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives,” and have “no direct stake” in America.
3K
2K
16K
Some personal news:.I’m off. After 7+ fab years in DC, 3 books, 3 presidents (one kept me busier than others) it’s time to return to the UK and BBC mothership. Planning a long break. New book, maybe - but most of all for us to get to Aus to meet our first grandchild, Eliza.
867
274
17K
‘Boost our transport’ says man pictured on private jet. Who thought the optics of this were good? .Extraordinary.
This week I took long-term decisions to build a brighter future and change our country. This change will:. 🏘️ Transform our towns.🚆 Boost our transport.📚 Improve our education.🚭 Reduce cancer deaths. Here’s how👇
632
3K
16K
Just been sent this. So Europe forming some kind of economic Union? Why has no one thought of this before….
852
2K
15K
Please tell me I misheard this: .“I hope what I say to my father and brother remains private,” .#HarryTheInterview.
899
1K
17K
In nearly every walk of life when you get a job you are on three months probation where contract can be ended at any moment. Do 49 disastrous days with Liz Truss and you get an OBE. It’s grotesque.
140
3K
15K
The Truss Awards FFS. Can we just do away with resignation honours altogether?Just because you give money shouldn’t get you a gong. Keep them for people who serve their communities and make distinguished contribution to public life. NOT hacks and political grifters.
288
3K
15K
This is an awful and shocking episode, where there was no criminality, but perhaps a complicated private life. That doesn’t feel very private now. I hope that will give some cause to reflect. They really need to. I wish @thehuwedwards well.
1K
2K
15K
Disgraceful for Farage to use the word ‘expansionist’ to describe EU. Expansionism is what happens when you invade another country’s sovereign territory, like Russia did in Ukraine.What happened with collapse of USSR was countries queuing up to join EU and NATO because they.
2K
3K
14K
What’s astonishing is the sheer, crass stupidity and avarice. You go on a zoom ask for 10k a day(not sure about whether in $ or £), and don’t even bother to check whether company is for real or not. #stitcheduplikekippers.
🚨MPs FOR HIRE: a Led By Donkeys undercover investigation🚨 . Watch the trailer…
615
4K
14K
Overheard in security line at #ConservativePartyConference .James Daly MP pulls security officer aside and asks to jump queue cos he has to be on stage in 15 mins. Security guard replies: ‘well then you should have set your alarm half an hour earlier’.💥.
328
1K
14K
The @AngelaRayner saga. I get it. Attack dog attacked. Karma. But really? .A police investigation into whether she was registered at wrong address? .Is that it? .Not that she voted twice, no act of personation. It seems petty beyond belief and a total waste of police time.
2K
2K
14K
This is so dangerous and irresponsible. When parliamentarians - law makers, for goodness sake - say ‘ignore the law’ and that judges are ‘enemies of the people’ you are on a very slippery slope. We saw how that ended in the US on Jan 6.
The deputy chairman of Britain's governing Conservative Party @LeeAndersonMP_ has called for the government to "ignore the law" and deport asylum seekers the same day they arrive.
905
4K
14K
Tributes will rightly be paid to a fantastic journalist and brilliant broadcaster - but George was the most decent, principled, kindest, most honourable man I have ever worked with. What a loss.
220
970
14K
Wow. @BorisJohnson blames the herd instinct of the Conservative Party in Westminster for his demise. No attempt at self reflection for the problems and travails that have led to this.
646
2K
14K
Heckler was speaking v quietly. I was about thirty feet away and hadn’t heard him. He is a Conservative member of the London Assembly and was muttering concerns about Stella sounding transphobic. He was booted out. Zero tolerance of dissent from the party of free speech? 🤷♂️.
830
4K
13K
£ crashing against $.Borrowing soaring.Unfunded tax cuts.Interest rates climbing.Inflation at 10%.Make it easier to frack.Fair to ask what narrative would be if this were happening with a Labour govt in power.
518
3K
13K
Total nightmare for all those families. But isn’t this just logical result of us wanting to take back control of our border, and the French, therefore, having to take back control of theirs? It wasn’t the French who decided to end free movement….
723
3K
13K
When a petition like this can be so easily manipulated, what is its point?.
2K
2K
15K
Sorry. Maybe I have false memory syndrome, but I don’t remember the Brexit campaigners during referendum warning companies that cost of doing business was going to rise steeply and become ever more bureaucratic. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention.
"Businesses are used to the costs of doing business" . Dame @andrealeadsom MP tells @KayBurley businesses need to "adapt" to leaving the EU single market and the rising cost of checks on food and plant imports as a result of Brexit. 📺 Sky 501
954
4K
13K
Shameful. The idea that the thugs behind this call themselves ‘patriots’ is risible. What they did last night in a town understandably consumed by grief was odious.
Sunrise in Southport. A scene of devastation surrounding the mosque on St Luke’s Road after an angry mob attacked police last night. Bricks, bottles, fireworks sit alongside bits of a burnt out police vehicle - metal melted in the heat. @GMB
2K
2K
13K
What. A. Waste. Of. Time.
BREAKING: Greater Manchester Police drop investigation into Angela Rayner after row over her historical living arrangements. 👇🏼
721
2K
13K
Wow. #Erdogan tells news conference the letter sent by @realDonaldTrump telling him not to be a ‘tough guy’ wasn’t in line with diplomatic or political customs. He said they wouldn’t forget the lack of respect. “When the time comes necessary steps will be taken”
998
7K
12K
‘He’s given our capital city away to his mates.’ .This is really appalling rhetoric. I mean, just say it Lee: because he’s a Muslim his only ‘mates’ are going to be Muslims too. And they’re all going to be fanatical. This is straight Islamophobic.
Tory MP Lee Anderson discussing Sadiq Khan on GB News:. “He’s given our capital city away to his mates”:. “I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan, and they’ve got control of London."
2K
2K
12K
Just seen headline .‘Boris jailed for two and a half years’.That made me look twice….
661
904
12K
I think the support for @AngelaRayner would have a wee bit more force if it didn’t look like they were copying each other’s homework….
410
2K
12K
My computer has just asked me to confirm I’m not a robot, but I’m worried if I do this and press ‘verify’ I might end up being taken to a dodgy website….
298
916
12K
What a vivid and shocking contrast: the sacrifice of all those brave men so that 80 years on the prime minister could cut short his visit to where they fell so that he could return to London to attack his opponent. On such judgements we learn about character.
The 80th anniversary of D-Day has been a profound moment to honour the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our values, our freedom and our democracy. This anniversary should be about those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. The last thing.
262
3K
11K
Sorry. Poor form from Ronaldo not to stay to shake hands with the victors, Morocco. For a man who is such an iconic figure…shabby.
838
459
12K
Leading Brexiteer, Sir Rocco Forte, says he might move to Italy, over unhappiness with the way Brexit is going and prospect of a Labour government. How wonderful to have an Italian passport and still be able to enjoy free movement….
794
3K
11K
Has there been anything like this? - it’s the night of the long knives in reverse.The resignations from @BorisJohnson inner circle in one evening of: .- chief of staff.- policy chief.- comms director .- principal private secretary.
786
2K
11K
A word on @AllisonPearson free speech row and what she describes as a ‘Kafkaesque’ threat to it. Today on @TheNewsAgents, we asked her to appear. She said ‘No. And if you get any aspect of the story wrong my lawyers will be watching.’ .You gotta love a free speech warrior.
4K
2K
12K
I cannot exaggerate the bewilderment in Washington over what UK government is doing over #GoodFridayAgreement. Why, a senior official asked me, is Britain doing something that will lead to a no deal Brexit, and result in no trade deal with the US either?.
808
4K
11K
Two quotes: .Rishi Sunak: "Independent Treasury officials have costed Labour's policies and they amount to a £2,000 tax rise for every working family".Treasury Permanent Secretary: “civil servants were not involved in the production or presentation of the Conservative Party’s.
505
4K
11K
This is a gracious letter, but attack on media really ill judged. He tried to bully the press into silence with ferocious threats of legal action. That’s not a good look. But the persistence of @DanNeidle and other journalists is what has led to the truth coming out. Our job.
1K
2K
11K
You can be absolutely sure Trump will have HATED, HATED that. Guess when you’re under arrest court staff don’t hold doors open for you.
810
996
11K
There are 1000s of people - fully vaccinated - who haven’t been able to get to see family members and loved ones in Australia because of travel restrictions still in place. But someone who refuses the vaccine is granted an exemption. Odd messaging. #Djokovic.
Happy New Year! Wishing you all health, love & joy in every moment & may you feel love & respect towards all beings on this wonderful planet. I’ve spent fantastic quality time with loved ones over break & today I’m heading Down Under with an exemption permission. Let’s go 2022!
633
1K
11K
BREAK: I understand that Richard Sharp was on the panel to select the head of BBC News. I also understand there was unhappiness about his inclusion on the panel at the highest levels of the corporation.
234
3K
11K
I know political campaigning is tough - but: .DON’T let the microphones be set up so you are filmed with a crane coming out of your head.DON’T be filmed underneath an exit sign.And as for going to visit where the Titanic was built…….
505
2K
11K
You’re right: no one should be trying to kill your father. Political argument is for the ballot box. But you mocked and joked about the grievous hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul. How would you explain that to the former Speaker’s grandchildren?.
You know what’s getting really old? Having to have conversations with my 5 young children about radical leftist trying to kill their grandfather. No person should ever have to do this in America or anywhere else and yet I had to have that conversation five times again yesterday.
791
2K
11K
What is jarring (to use the Schapps word) is that this such a humbling moment for the government and the chancellor, and yet the tone of @KwasiKwarteng is pure arrogance.
427
2K
10K
I have to say a well constructed thirty minute head to head interview with Starmer and then another with Sunak would yield far more than this constrained but shouty debate.
456
908
11K
One photo is from Labour Party conference today. The other from Tory conference last week. Compare and contrast….
1K
3K
10K
Booooommmm - Back. Of. The. Net.
@PennyMordaunt Thank you for mentioning me in your clumsy analogy. I’m just happy to have been better in the 6 yard box than you are at the dispatch box. Best wishes.
201
910
11K
If you delete the word ‘Partygate’ from this tweet and insert ‘January 6 inquiry’ instead, this could have been written by any Trump ultra, who refuses to see anything wrong with the attempted insurrection, just the attempt to investigate it.
The Partygate probe is clearly rigged. It is a jury comprised of highly partisan, vengeful & vindictive MPs, nearly all of whom are already on the record viciously attacking the person they are judging. It is an obscene abuse of power.
255
2K
10K
Dear @thetimes - The headline and graphic accompanying this article are deeply misleading. I didn’t receive - nor sought - a penny when I left the BBC (and I’m pretty certain neither did Andrew or Emily). And would have happily confirmed this if anyone had asked.
516
2K
10K
This makes such a mockery of the ‘honours’ system. Honours dished out by a man who has decided he has to resign with immediate effect because of what he’s found to have done
373
2K
10K
Oliver Dowden suggesting problem with Lee Anderson’s remarks was that they could have given impression of Islamophobia is totally wide of mark. Lee Anderson spoke with great clarity. What he said was Islamophobic.
1K
2K
10K
This video needs to be watched and listened to extremely carefully. It is clear that Trump is planning an extraordinary vengeance purge and declaring war on the agencies whose job it is to keep America safe.
2K
4K
10K
Shocked I’m telling you. Shocked by what the Telegraph is reporting. Just as a matter of interest was it the BBC waving the EU flags, or concert goers? Cos if it’s the latter maybe there should be a full public inquiry into - err - the public
783
2K
10K
Really think inconceivable that @RishiSunak AND Prince William (the FA President, no less) wouldn’t be at the World Cup Final if it was the men’s team playing. Happy to accept might be impossible for the PM, given other commitments. But Prince William? .Why?.#Lionesses.
2K
1K
10K
A line that has a very sharp and piercing point. Wonder whether anyone in the Abbey felt a sharp, stabbing pain.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby: “Those who serve will be loved and remembered longer than those who cling to power and privilege are long forgotten”.
364
957
10K
What a monumentally shit thing to write. Maybe this kid loves his father and was overwhelmed by occasion.
The kid might have mental problems, but he’s acting just like Tim Walz! So what’s Walz’s excuse?
347
644
10K
Sorry, did @RishiSunak really just say that his return early from D-Day to give an interview to ITV’s @PaulBrandITV so he could attack Starmer should not be politicised???? I mean, this raises chutzpah into an art form…. .
"On reflection, that was a mistake and I apologise.". Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says it is important that the story of him leaving D-Day commemorations early yesterday is not "politicised". 📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube
330
2K
9K
In other words: .The poorest in society need to make do with less .So that the wealthy few can have more thru tax cuts. That’s quite the message to go into an election with.
🔴 Benefits payments are set to fall in real terms under government plans to reassure the City that it will control spending.
355
3K
9K
.@LeeAndersonMP_ off to a flier as Tory party vice chair. An int with @BBCNottingham where he threatens presenter. And tells Spectator why he’s pro death penalty: “Nobody’s ever committed a crime after being executed. You know that, don’t you? 100% success rate.” .Where to begin.
568
2K
9K