Andy Reed OBE
@andyjreed.bsky.social
Strategic Advisor @sajeimpact Former Labour MP for Lboro. Chair - Leics Business Board @Llepnews @sfdCoalition @activellr @sport_thinktank
This Government has launched a major crackdown on organised crime fronts operating on Britain’s high streets. Rogue barber shops, dodgy vape stores and sham mini-marts and sweet shops will face raids, closures and cash seizures under a new £30m nationwide offensive👇🏻 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Illegal mini-marts to shut for up to 12 months under law change prompted by BBC
Under current rules, shops breaking the law can only be closed for up to six months in England and Wales.
bbc.co.uk
Rather stark Martin Wolf take on AI: “If humanity had any collective sense (which it does not) and had the capacity to stop itself (which it does not), it would, I think, pause the whole thing”. www.ft.com/content/7cbc... A guide for the perplexed on AI
A guide for the perplexed on AI
Should we think of this technology as boon, bane or bubble?
ft.com
It's been another amazing Opposites Day in the United States.
Farrukh@implausibleblog.bsky.social · 5mo agoPresident Trump, "The world respects us right now more than they have ever respected us before"
Left: President Trump, "Try finding wind farms in China, there aren't too many of them" Right: There are 10,066 wind farms in China (operating, announced, construction, and pre-construction)
Please tell me this is not real? Please tell me it’s an AI fake? It’s too horrendous to comprehend. While he jokes, the region is in chaos, economies upended, lives lost, and enhanced threat of terrorism worldwide, esp against Americans.
Adam Schwarz@adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 5mo agoTrump says US Navy sank Iran's warship off the coast of Sri Lanka because "it's more fun" to sink ships than capture them.
Keir Starmer tells MPs not to judge the UK/US relationship by whatever Donald Trump has just said. "Hanging on to President Trump's latest words is not the special relationship" in action, PM says.
A thing we've forgotten over the past 18 months but is becoming increasingly clear again: Nigel Farage is quite bad at politics
Giving Braverman the education brief is quite a choice for Reform. I was on an education commission with her once before she went completely mad and she knew absolutely nothing at all.
Why didn't Farage just answer the question about Reform's education policy? Why did he seek to mock and ridicule the journalist asking a perfectly legitimate question and try to deligitimise the FT? Easy. That's who he is. An arrogant man who doesn't have any policies beyond pointing at the sea.
🚨 New inflation data this morning delivered double good news as a big fall in January CPI signals rapid return to ‘normal’ inflation ⤵️ buff.ly/aLFrbmD
More members of Liz Truss's cabinet are in Reform than in Badenoch's shadow cabinet...
Robert Jenrick asked why he lied last week when he told the Telegraph that he would "never, ever" defect to Reform. Jenrick replies that joining Reform was "the most honest thing" he could have done.
Most Americans oppose Trump’s push on Greenland, poll shows
Most Americans oppose Trump’s push on Greenland, poll shows
A new CNN poll found that three-quarters of Americans do not want the U.S. to take control of Greenland and felt skeptical of Trump’s use of military force overseas.
dlvr.it
ICE must be abolished. It has become a lawless, rogue agency. Federal law enforcement agencies must follow the law, if they're going to have any credibility enforcing it. We are demanding justice for Renee Good and the prosecution of ICE agent Jonathan Ross for her murder.
Excellent article from Robert Reich: How to Mobilize America Against Fascism "Please do not succumb to helplessness, despair, or fear." 🙌
How to Mobilize America Against Fascism
What you can do, beyond party politics
open.substack.com
And so it begins. Reform has grown, and people with opinions and egos have been allowed into Farage’s one man band. Won't end well... (going to be saying that a lot)
Adam Payne@adampayne26.bsky.social · 7mo agoah
What is there to be joyful about in 2026? I do believe there is hope and Joy all around us. champ.ly/VF8Ciihz
Can the Joy of Christmas help us retore positivity all year round?
Why we can shun the doom merchants.
open.substack.com
Is the United Kingdom Becoming Ungovernable? As we close out 2025, the central question for Westminster isn't just about policy—it’s about the very survival of our parliamentary traditions champ.ly/e14uXzgC #UKPolitics #PublicPolicy #Governance #EconomicGrowth #Labour2025
Is the United Kingdom Becoming Ungovernable? As we close out 2025, the central question for Westminster isn't just about policy—it’s about the very survival of our parliamentary traditions champ.ly/e14uXzgC #UKPolitics #PublicPolicy #Governance #EconomicGrowth #Labour2025
What is there to be joyful about in 2026? I do believe there is hope and Joy all around us. champ.ly/VF8Ciihz
Can the Joy of Christmas help us retore positivity all year round?
Why we can shun the doom merchants.
open.substack.com
The problem with the debate on winter fuel is it blurred rhetoric with reality - yes, you can win most people round on not giving winter fuel payments to the very rich, that’s very different to taking it away from people whose income is £12,000 that’s when you lose people.
YouGov@yougov.co.uk · last yr.What should the government do on winter fuel payments? Return to old system of giving to all pensioners, regardless of wealth: 33% Means test, but give to more: 44% Means test, at current level: 7% Means test, but give to less: 4% Scrap entirely: 2% yougov.co.uk/topics/polit...
If we want to change how people feel about politics, we have to start where hope still exists. Read the new polling report from the Co-operative Party and Hope Not Hate. party.coop/community/le...
Holding on to Hope: Lessons from Community Britain
We polled Britain on how they feel about their country and communities. This is what they had to say.
party.coop
This isn’t how the Library of Congress works. It’s a historical record of books for research purposes, there’s no kids checking out books. Fascism requires controlling the historical record and purging titles that disagree with their narrative. They’re doing the same online.
Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · last yr.Reporter: The president fired the Librarian of Congress. Why? Leavitt: There were quite concerning things she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children.
