Tessera
Folgen

Ben Williams

@bpwilliams72.bsky.social

Liberal sort. Rambler. Singer. Gamer. Occasional writer. Recovering politico. Former lots of things (inc. Lib Dem Leader's Chief of Staff, Cabinet Office SpAd, Head of Whips' Office). Yorkshire via Essex. Posting in a strictly personal capacity.

827 Posts866 Follower1011 Folgt
MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com · 15h ago

A gracious concession: “I want to congratulate Abdul El-Sayed on winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. He is a doctor, a community health official, a Rhodes Scholar, and a dedicated Michigander. I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election…

Bild
James O’Brien@mrjamesob.bsky.social · 10h ago

But they seemed like such nice, patriotic, community-minded chaps. (Except the ones currently facing murder, child abuse & assault charges, obviously.)

Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 2d ago

Leaders of flag-raising group Raise the Colours Oxfordshire placed trackers on highway workers’ cars to find out their home addresses, the High Court has heard. RTC then attempted to intimidate the highway staff into no longer removing flags by repeating their addresses to them.

Flags on the Abingdon Road
Sam Wilson@samwilson.bsky.social · 12h ago

I need someone to explain to me why student loan repayment refunds are not automatic. Why am I being emailed to be told they owe me money but they won’t just send it? (Beyond the idea the govt so badly need the £24.50 I overpaid)

Ben Ansell@benansell.bsky.social · yesterday

I recall we had a period of time where the response of Starmer and Cooper to concerns about these groups was ‘I like flags’

Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 2d ago

Leaders of flag-raising group Raise the Colours Oxfordshire placed trackers on highway workers’ cars to find out their home addresses, the High Court has heard. RTC then attempted to intimidate the highway staff into no longer removing flags by repeating their addresses to them.

Flags on the Abingdon Road
Rachel Cunliffe@rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 13h ago

I have read Joshua Bonehill-Paine’s blogpost from April entitled “Inside the Mind of an Antisemite -and How I Escaped It”. It’s a fascinating account of being consumed by hateful, extremist ideology. You know what’s not in there? An apology. To Luciana Berger or the wider Jewish community

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 14h ago

El-Sayed: "Mike, I'm gonna say it right now, I know you're gonna say no because you're a coward: Five debates, alright? ... By the time we're done, you are not gonna have safe quarter from people holding you accountable to what you've done for them here in Michigan. We will send you back to Florida"

DrMaxPolitics@drmaxpolitics.bsky.social · 13h ago

Hi, I'm being made redundant by the University of Southampton at the end of this month. I'm desperately looking for work. I'll consider all offers but have particular skills in policy, strategy and research. I also have a consultancy service I offer. Please let me know if you hear of anything

Alex von Tunzelmann@alexvont.bsky.social · 21h ago

It’s disgusting for the Conservatives to ask Jewish groups to meet their ex-neo-Nazi candidate, presumably in the hope he will charm them and they’ll offer their blessing. They should not expect Jewish people to sanitise this appalling choice. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Tories offer Jewish groups meeting with ex neo-Nazi activist candidate

Joshua Bonehill-Paine was jailed over neo-Nazi activism, but has been selected to stand in a new Somerset Council seat in 2027.

bbc.co.uk

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 21h ago

Conservatives challenged for selecting a man who formed a far right group + was jailed for serious antisemitic harassment of former MP Luciana Berger.Badenoch says he has reformed sufficiently to have a local candidacy, but should not have a national platform www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/kemi-b...

Kemi Badenoch Says Former Neo-Nazi Standing For Tories Can Be A Councillor But Not An MP

The Conservative leader said she would not want to give Joshua Bonehill-Paine “a national platform”.

huffingtonpost.co.uk

Caroline Lucas@carolinelucas.bsky.social · 21h ago

I can’t believe we’re still having a debate about whether there’s a trade off between job creation and measures to green the economy. There isn’t. The evidence was clear years ago - a green economy creates far more jobs than the fossil fuel economy it replaces. Come on Labour, catch up …

Government contracts to require job creation instead of green targets under new rules

Louise Haigh says taxpayer money must benefit local communities amid backlash from environmental groups

theguardian.com

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 22h ago

So Badenoch would recruit a neo-Nazi but *not* someone who didn’t want to leave the ECHR or someone who supported our NetZero commitments. Second chances for this guy but not Dominic Grieve. The Tory party is truly wretched. It’s screwed the country, betrayed its own and lost its tiny mind.

Badenoch defends former neo-Nazi pick as council candidate By Will Meakin-Durrant Kemi Badenoch has said her party "believes in second chances". , after the Conservatives selected a former neo-Nazi once jailed for harassing a Jewish former MP as a local election candidate. Joshua Bonehill-Paine posted on social media that he was "tremendously proud" that he has been chosen to stand for election to Somerset Coun-cil, in the Crewkerne South ward. Bonehill-Paine (inset) was jailed in 2016 after he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment. He wrote several blog posts about the former Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, Baroness Luciana Berger, labelling her "an evil money-grabber" with a "deep-rooted hatred of men". He was previously jailed for producing an ad illustrated with a picture of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, which promised "an absolute gas" at a rally in Golders Green, north London. Badenoch said: "I want to be very clear - and I think people can look at me and know that I'm not a person who would be recruiting neo-Nazis. "Josh is someone who actually has been certified by the Home Office to train police officers on antisemitism and on countering extremism. "Yes, he [has] previously convicted but he has shown contrition for his crimes, has been rehabilitated and is spending every day working to solve the very problem which he knew that he had caused previously. "And the Conservative Party believes in second chances."
Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 22h ago

Badenoch flailing around now on #r4today trying to defend this idiocy. Babbling incoherent nonsense. Truly woeful that this deeply unpleasant and thoroughly mediocre person is now Tory leader. And a better journalist than Justin Webb would have made that very clear. (Article from iPaper)

Joanna Hardy-Susskind@joannahs.bsky.social · 22h ago

If Norris has the time or the inclination, the real reform should be sentencing that is readily understood. Not ‘serve X proportion’. Just let the Judge spell out: a) How long should this person sit in a cell? b) How long should they then be supervised on licence?

Alasdair Mackenzie@alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 2d ago

Reminder that the Tories believe any non-British person who commits more than a minor parking or traffic offence should be automatically deported. They “believe in second chances”, apparently, but only for literal Nazis.

Kemi Badenoch defends selection of man jailed for harassing Jewish MP in council election – as it happened

Conservative leader tells press she stands by decision to select Joshua Bonehill-Paine as a candidate for local election in Somerset

theguardian.com

Ben Williams@bpwilliams72.bsky.social · 22h ago

Badenoch's contortions are grotesque. She is a deeply strange individual with a very warped ethical framework. All she is doing with her support for Bonehill-Paine (the gods of nominative determinism are at play) is shifting the window on the level of deplorable acceptable in public life.