She must know this doesn't work. Ridiculous interview

Channel 4 News@channel4news.bsky.social · 3h ago

EHRC chair challenged on how to enforce single-sex toilet rules www.channel4.com/news/ehrc-ch...

I see that even with dinosaurs it's first-past-the-post.

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · 3w ago

With a T-rex skeleton selling for $50m at auction on Tuesday, our poll shows that the Tyrannosaurus Rex is Brits' top dinosaur, with 30% listing it as their favourite T-rex: favourite of 30% of dinosseurs Stegosaurus: 12% Triceratops: 11% Diplodocus: 10% Velociraptor: 7% yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

I really hate this cliché at this point because really the throughline of Labour thinking is incredibly different to New Labour at this point. The problem isn't Labour is stuck to 1990s thinking it's that Labour is barely thinking at all.

Anthony Zacharzewski@anthonyzach.be · last mo.

Ah well, only two years wasted. Oopsie. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Starmer saying the next PM will inherit a country that is 'fairer' than the one he inherited 2 years ago. In the one Starmer inherited, trans people could use public toilets.

As someone who very strongly believes in thorough reform of local (& regional) govt in Scotland, from powers to structures to local taxation, those are questions for Holyrood. Not necessarily the (presumed) incoming PM, whose party were hammered in Scotland a month-and-a-half ago.

Any decentralisation in England is welcome, but the model is important- genuinely local government needs to be combined with genuinely regional, or you’re creating a lot of mini centralised polities. This especially a concern given the mayoral model which has severe democratic deficits atm

Allan Faulds@afaulds.bsky.social · last mo.

Not to obsess over decentralisation but I think fundamentally the UK Government's approach to local government reform in England is paradoxically neither small nor big enough, when compared with pretty much any other country outside these (very bad at local government) islands.

I’m honoured to be the new Green Spokesperson for Housing and Tertiary education. Two sectors in crisis. Two areas where hard workers are being penalised for the failure to adequately fund the sector. I’m looking forwards to working constructively with the government to deliver for the country.

Scottish Greens@scottishgreens.org · 2mo ago

Our spokesperson for Tertiary Education and Housing is Glasgow MSP Iris Duane.

Our spokesperson for Tertiary Education and Housing is Glasgow MSP Iris Duane.

Labour‘s politics of anti-trans and anti-queer segregationism. One of the most vicious attacks on LGBT rights in Europe in decades. It should be clear for queer people that Labour does not represent them. They should not be welcome in our spaces or at our events www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Apologies for putting this lad on blast but apparently I should have addressed this to think tanks and researchers too: what do you mean you have a thread and glossy report purporting to show "what exactly happened last week" in Scotland and you're using the constituency vote for your analysis?

Steve Akehurst@steveakehurst.bsky.social · 3mo ago

In Scotland, the 2024 Labour coalition leaked in various directions - and they were not able to break out of socially left/pro-Union segment. But also whatever UK-wide travails, Scottish Labour are just really badly lacking definition.

Sorry I know it's a week on but this just hit me again: still absolutely reeling from a purported in-depth analysis of the Scottish Parliament election that they published something showing just 6% of the Socially Liberal/Pro-Indy Bloc in Scotland voted Green, because they ignored the list vote

Steve Akehurst@steveakehurst.bsky.social · 3mo ago

In Scotland, the 2024 Labour coalition leaked in various directions - and they were not able to break out of socially left/pro-Union segment. But also whatever UK-wide travails, Scottish Labour are just really badly lacking definition.

If you think someone is trans, you can ask, however be sure to ask in a say that wouldn't put them at a disadvantage or seem hostile or that is harassment. If they deny it, you can ask them to prove it, however there aren't any documents that would work to prove it. Hope this clarifies things.

Jordan@jordanpfot.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Here’s what the guidance has to say about policing people’s sex.

Very interested to see if any Scottish Labour MSPs or MPs bother to even vaguely dissent from the bigotry their party is now defined by: seeing as they all stood and campaigned on the most queerphobic manifesto of my lifetime a couple of weeks ago with nary a peep, I won't hold my breath

Again, to be clear, I'd prefer STV to FPTP. But I don't think that the merits people on here seem to think it has actually manifest in real life. And, given that, I much prefer closed list PR since it is better for low information voters (which is most of them).

Further blow to Turkish democracy. Courts (highly co-opted by Erdogan) have removed Özgür Özel, current leader of the main opposition party CHP, ordering former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to take over. During his 13 year tenure, Kılıçdaroğlu oversaw repeated electoral defeats against Erdoğan’s AKP

Turkish court rules to remove leadership of main opposition party

Court ruling removes current CHP leader Ozgur Ozel and reinstates former leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu

middleeasteye.net

And cruel, inhumane policies to appeal to authoritarian voters in one domain are clearly not enough. These decision will alienate progressives for a long time. Labour is on track to follow other social democratic parties into oblivion.

BBS Open Letter on Improving Scottish Parliament Results Reporting An open letter from Ballot Box Scotland urging significant improvements to reporting on Scottish Parliament elections; or, why does a hobbyist publish more data on the regional vote than the BBC?

BBS Open Letter on Improving Scottish Parliament Results Reporting

An open letter from Ballot Box Scotland urging significant improvements to reporting on Scottish Parliament elections; or, why does a hobbyist publish more data than the BBC?

ballotbox.scot

“Who would be more electorally toxic than Keir Starmer?” comes to mind

Jonathan Hopkin@jonathanhopkin.eurosky.social · 3mo ago

I’m sorry but there is no question to which Wes Streeting is the answer

Scottish Labour's retreat over the course of the seven elections so far of the Scottish Parliament is consistent. Almost as if after campaigning for a Scot Parl for decades they had no idea what kind of politics & vision Labour should advance in the Scot Parl. HT @europeelects.bsky.social

At some point on my lifetime we might get a government which recognises that having an entire tier of elected institutions which are just powerless complaints departments for a failing social care system is not a healthy or sensible state of affairs.

Charlotte Lydia Riley@lottelydia.bsky.social · 3mo ago

this really does make me despair. this is a woman who has just got elected as a Reform councillor. she works for the NHS and wants to know “where the money is going”. it’s going on social care, babe

Green parties are a normal and indeed essential part of western democracies so if the vital moral principle of not enabling cranks and bigots in the first place wasn't enough (which it should be) it's very important for, y'know, the planet, for a major Green party not to fumble its best opportunity

Iris Duane and the @scottishgreens.org on both ballots in Kelvinside and Maryhill

The fact that in almost every case the plurality have no idea really speaks to how invisible these elections have been, for a variety of reasons, but it’s not exactly a great sign for democratic engagement. I long for a posters absolutely everywhere standard European country’s election!

Ipsos in Scotland@ipsosinscotland.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The SNP are the only party whose campaign receives an overall ‘net’ positive rating. Reform UK & the Scottish Conservatives seen as having had the worst campaigns so far. But, many of the public are uncertain/indifferent about how well the parties’ campaigns are going.

Genuinely though these are extremely bad for our understanding. No amount of careful caveating changes the fact that when put in the hands of, primarily, the media, MRPs are treated as gospel truth, statistical wizardry of such potency that mere mortals should be in awe of their prognostic power.

“This is not just an MRP, it’s a Find Out Now MRP.”

Delighted our paper (with an amazing group of co-authors) is forthcoming in the APSR Takeaway for Labour and other centre-left parties: fixing public services is key to reducing support for the populist right 👇

Zach Dickson@zachdickson.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Thrilled that my paper (w/@sarahobolt.bsky.social,@catherinedevries.bsky.social,@simonecremaschi.bsky.social) was accepted at the American Political Science Review! We find that declining public services fuel support for the populist right — and show why the right benefits more than other parties 🧵

Perhaps Goodwin will form a new party RightGPT

Village Hotel workers have entered their fourth month of striking for better pay, conditions, and recognition. I joined @irisduane.bsky.social , the STUC, and many others this afternoon in solidarity with them ✊

We've 45 days until the Scottish Election. A couple of hundred votes on Glasgow's regional list could be the difference between an Eco-socialist MSP like @irisduane.bsky.social or a Reform MSP. I hope folk who want to defeat Reform as we saw in Gorton & Denton back the Greens on 7th May 💚

The National@scotnational.bsky.social · 5mo ago

NEW: Your Party will not be standing candidates in the upcoming Holyrood elections, the party's leading Scottish representative has said ⬇️ 🔗 www.thenational.scot/news/2...