Sometimes you see things about what a politician said, and there is maybe a little context missing or exaggeration going on, but whenever it's Badenoch, you look and go "oh she totally did say that"

Chris Terry-Enescu@cjterry.bsky.social · 9h ago

It's OK for criminal ex-neo Nazis to run your bins is a hell of a line.

Did not leave the country in a better state - exhibit 3,428

Nate O@nateo.bsky.social · yesterday

Ex-PM Starmer said, in response to Raise the Colours terrorising people, ‘I am supporter of flags’, ‘I’m very encouraging of flags. I think they’re patriotic and I think they’re a great symbol of our nation’ and his family had ‘got St George’s flag in our flat’ www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

I'll take Kemi Badenoch quotes which have aged poorly for $200

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2d ago

Former neo-Nazi activist selected as Tory candidate for Somerset council election

Me when i get the text from the stag do organiser asking for £120 to cover the 5-a-side pitch, flight club, and the deposit for an arcade bar

Health infrastructure was at breaking point, if the spread worsened, if a slightly worse variant had emerged, an already catastrophic situation could have deteriorated very quickly, we do need this context when assessing the necessity of lockdowns

Dave Andress@davidandress.bsky.social · 3d ago

Remember, in January 2021, after the govt lost control of Covid infections for the second time, a thousand people a day were dying in the UK. Without lockdowns, we still had no means of slowing that explosion. And that’s apart from all the other ways this claim is just stupid.

Maybe our response to Covid could have adapted better as we learned more, and maybe we could have done more to mitigate some of the social impact of lockdowns, but think it is worth remembering the severity of the disease during the early months and how dangerous it was for our health system

That Kemi Badenoch speech from the beginning of the year was very insightful

Owen Winter@owenwntr.bsky.social · 5d ago

Manchester mayoral results, first round Bev Craig - Labour 47% (+24 vs local elections) Reform 21% (-10) Green 12% (-7) Restore 9% (new) Conservative 8% (-3) Lib Dem 3% (-7)

Cursed right wing media forcing him to make a series of obvious mistakes one after the other...

Jay Zedbee@jayzedbee.bsky.social · 5d ago

again, genuinely, i spent months hearing how labour was in the dumps and britain is ungovernable and farage was inevitable and everything was doomed when it was obvious that the issue is that the public just knew starmer was shit because starmer is shit

Recognising good public services as a driver of economic growth and not just a beneficiary of growth is a welcome change in direction from previous governments

Without selling off a proportion of the world cup to private investors, how else would we be able to attract money into *checks notes* football

In Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games where I have mistakenly only brought summer clothing

Horrors of climate change aside, if you started letting people in this country take an hour nap through the workday, these guys would be apoplectic

Roland Smith@rolandmcs.bsky.social · 7d ago

Nighty night.

This is true, and it's remarkable how the conversation about poor health is immediately one of suspicion rather than reflecting on the impact of public health spending cuts, the proliferation of poor health behaviours, often rooted in social conditions, or the pandemic we endured

Ciaran@ciaranmcgurdy.bsky.social · last wk.

It seems very very bad that as an aging society the entire political and media landscape has decided that across all areas of policy: large number = fraud

Britain gearing up to have a healthy, normal debate about the options available to fund social care obligations in an ageing society...

In the UK they don't call it tax, they call it compulsory social insurance

A good example of how the benefit system can be reformed in a way which expands entitlements and supports your wider policy goals

Ben Zaranko@benzaranko.bsky.social · last wk.

Sensible policy klaxon 🚨 Currently, if a 16 year old chooses to stay in school/college, their family can keep claiming benefits as before (notably child benefit). If they opt for an apprenticeship, the benefits stop. The system discourages apprenticeships. The DWP just announced a fix 🧵

Inner Mark Corrigan voice: AI certainly could automate train production

Rachel Coldicutt@rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · last wk.

So one of the problems of announcing policies via social video is that you end up saying stuff like this

Philp mistakenly believing the French see him as a prominent figure because whenever his name gets mentioned in French political circles everyone starts saying "key"

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · last wk.

Chris Philp believes that France may be at war with Chris Philp. "It is extraordinary that the French Navy will fire live rounds to defend their waters against a visiting British politician" He will take this up with the French Ambassador. (BBC) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Doctor Who episode where music was removed from the world failed to consider what if that had unexpected benefits

Sienna Rodgers@siennarodgers.bsky.social · last wk.

NEW: Lord Glasman Wrote A Song For The Exiled Crown Prince Of Iran And Played It To Him: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

I'd be curious to see how Christopher Nolan would tackle Tennyson's Ulysses

Jesse Hawken@jessehawken.bsky.social · last wk.

Studio execs are going to want to adapt more poems for the big screen now

You do have to assume a "manufacturing" course in schools would just be a revamped business studies course, and not actually making kids do any real manufacturing work which might look bad on parent teacher night when the teacher explains little Jimmy is behind his phone production quota...

Gov seems to be vastly overestimating how much the curriculum influences the UK labour market The decline in manufacturing was a consequence of 40 years of policies embraced by successive governments, such as trade liberalisation, not because we don't have schools teaching "manufacturing"

Dr Jo Kershaw@mthrjo.bsky.social · last wk.

Even if the government is right to be betting the house on AI (and I suspect the way things shake out will be different to what we expect), this is likely to have the problem Computing as a subject has always had in schools, ie it’s pretty much instantly out of date. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

When will Emily Wilson review the best Hollywood interpretation of the Odyssey aka The Spongebob Squarepants Movie...

Think it's fine to focus on improving the labour market to reduce welfare spend, but not sure it's an issue with schools We have fewer entry jobs and they're more expensive to employers, both of which are sort of a consequence of gov policy (pushing AI automation, increasing NICs)

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · last wk.

Burnham looks to cut welfare bill by linking up schools and employers ft.trib.al/HSiRgy9

I liked this ending

open all borders. stop having them be closed 🇺🇦🇱🇹🇵🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿@dov.bsky.social · 2w ago

Also im sorry but the constant sea people references arent cute as your memes are all implying. They're annoying and frankly immersionbreaking

Another problem (there are many here) that I don't think gov has recognised, is the danger of setting a precedent of changing rules for people already here It will transform expectations and decisions of current and future migrants, which the gov are conceding we need

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 2w ago

The PM may exempt care workers from settlement rules. Tbc in Oct? Would make a big difference I do worry that No 10 & the media just have not grasped that many legal migrants outside the care sector would lose legal status + be forced to go/become undocumented www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Saw the Odyssey last night and really enjoyed it, but was curious why Nolan did not choose to have Odysseus turn to the camera and start going off on right wing talking points uniquely relevant to the United States in the 2020s, the way Homer intended

Not the main thing, but the "end of labour for a generation" thing is very funny to me, as if your average voter is deciding whether to vote Labour based on the work travel patterns of civil servants

Liam Thorp@liamthorp.bsky.social · 2w ago

It's extraordinary how a bit of a focus on the long-neglected north has sent some people completely loopy

Macmillanism is back baby