Patrick Costello

So I have decided given Elon Musk’s recent behaviour and the degradation of the platform since he bought it to put an end to my account here. This is my last tweet but you can continue to follow me on BlueSky, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Returned with @hadjalahbib from an inspiring trip to the #MiddleEast. Engaged with leaders, civil society & people with impressive resilience. Humanitarian action is not just about responding to crises-it’s about making a tangible difference in the lives of those who need it most

First historic visit of an EU Commissioner to Syria @hadjalahbib. A memorable & intense day w/ meetings across various segments of society. The EU will stand by the Syrian people in their pursuit of peace, justice, stability. This starts with building an inclusive future for all.

🗳️ 2024 marked a decisive year for global democracy, with over 80 countries heading to the polls. In the recently published article “What Does the ‘Year of Elections’ Tell Us About Democracy?”, experts reflect on the challenges elections face and the ongoing resilience of democratic forces 🔗 bit.ly/408Cxkh 🇲🇩"Moldova: Elections and the Kremlin’s Shadow" by Lukasz Kondraciuk @lukaszkk 🇬🇪"Hybrid tactics in Georgian elections and the EU impasse" by Adam Busuleanu Read the full article here: bit.ly/408Cxkh

My latest for Chartist on Trump and Musk’s European buddies …

Happy to contribute to this publication by European Democracy Hub on last year’s “year of elections”. My contribution is on the European elections. europeandemocracyhub.epd.eu/what-does-the-…

@ThangamDebb Congratulations!!

Reform is getting better at fighting council elections. They are not Ukip. They are not the Brexit Party. If an election was held today, Reform would likely top the poll in more than 500 wards. Read @BNHWalker's work on this: newstatesman.com/politics/2024/…

.@patrick_era on ways for Labour to make an impact on the global scene chartist.org.uk/a-new-internat…

@Rim_Turkmani Mahbrouk!

Syria, free of Assad. Free of the dictator. What a moment of joy. Still in disbelief… it will take time for this to truly sink in. #Syria

My interview at BBC News earlier today just as dramatic events were unfolding on the ground #Syria #Damascus #Homs

It's disappointing to come across these news just after our approval of @EU_Commission College. @vonderleyen push for @eu_eeas budget/personnel reform sheds light on her intention to hog whole #EU's Ext Action. The @Europarl_EN has to be promptly informed about the situation.

Mines Advisory Group statement welcoming the ceasefire in Lebanon. Assuming it holds, the hard work of clearing unexploded ordnance and risk education for Lebanese communities can now begin. maginternational.org/whats-happenin…

My piece in Chartist international supplement that was distributed at Labour Party conference this year. Pity about the clumsy communications on reparations around the recent Commonwealth Summit. chartist.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

@chartist48 As a party with Nazi roots tops the poll in Austria @patrick_era examines the far right threat across Europe chartist.org.uk/portents-from-…

My letter in The Guardian today theguardian.com/us-news/2024/n…

@RoryStewartUK Quite right Rory. Another way of framing this is that this Israeli government has done more to jeopardise the security of Israel than any of its predecessors. Don’t poke a hornets nest and kill its queen if you don’t want to be stung …

In response to the angry replies below here are some more thoughts: The fact that I am questioning the risks of this war does not make me an appeaser. Arguing for peace does not make me an apologist for Hezbollah or the Iranian regime. ( I have spent longer in Iran and seen more directly what makes the Iranian regime horrifying than my critics below…) When I said that the Israeli attacks in Iran and Lebanon will make Iran feel forced to respond + lead to escalation this was a statement of fact not an endorsement of Iran. • Both sides feel that they are not escalating - they are simply “responding” - it is only the other side who is escalating. But that is how escalation always works. • The situation is particularly dangerous because the previous shadow war has been ended. Neither Israel nor Iran is now well-placed to predict the reactions of their opponents in the new situation. If you are interested in engaging with the argument rather than banging a particular twitter drum please try listening to the full discussion on the podcast…

Imagine how the world would react if Hezbollah launched a "precision strike" instantly destroyed 6 apartment complexes (filled with civilians on a Friday evening) in Tel Aviv That fact you can only imagine it in Gaza or Lebanon is because it only happens to us. We are expendable

Truly extraordinarily powerful interview of Dominique de Villepin, former Prime Minister of France, on Gaza. I can't stress enough how rare it is to hear a former French PM speak like this. He says France "no longer has a voice on the international scene", because (among other things) of its "double-standards" and lack of action with regards to Gaza. He calls France's internal silencing of what's happening in Gaza a "real scandal in terms of democracy", making France live in "absurdity" and resulting in it "fading away". He says that we (France and the West in general) would have many levers to stop the war - in terms of armament or economic sanctions - "but we refuse to use these levers with arguments which are absolutely unreal culturally or intellectually speaking. Saying 'we need to let Israel fight its war to the end': but what end? What is the end?". As a consequence he says that France and the West will "foot the bill" for what's happening in terms of loss of credibility and legitimacy. On Gaza specifically he calls it "undoubtedly the biggest historical scandal since... I don't even dare to find a reference", calling it a war "not like the others since it is civilian populations that die". He also rebukes the journalist for using the usual term "according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health" with regards to the number of death: "There's not only the Ministry of Health from Hamas which says that there are 40,000 dead. And there are probably many more, MANY more! So from this basis let's not give the feeling that it would be a number like that, unreliable. No!" Probably the most powerful quote of the interview, literally gave me shivers: "In Gaza bodies are torn into pieces, Hearts are in pieces! Souls are in pieces! Heads are in pieces!" ("À Gaza les corps sont en morceaux! Les coeurs sont en morceaux! Les âmes sont en morceaux! Les têtes sont en morceaux!") He says that ""Israel has no political objective and when you have no political objective the only thing you can do is war... There is a security objective, there is an identity objective, there is a messianic madness and that explains the catastrophe that we're witnessing."

SCOOP: Blinken asked Lammy last month what the U.K. would need from Israel to reconsider restricting weapons sales to the country. Lammy responded: A cease-fire in Gaza and access by human rights organizations to the Palestinians in Israeli prison. politico.com/news/2024/09/1…