There's nothing stopping us from redistributing as much as France does, but your old Labour right types like Reeves specifically don't want to! They are ideologically opposed to it! So the argument that redistribution won consent for Blairism in the party just doesn't stack up IMO.
Think there is a lot of truth in this, but what I'd also say is that the 'pick and mix careers' thing is not exactly unusual for people trying to break into politics. Just take a look at the pre-politics CVs of many of the prominent New Labour figures.
Duncan Robinson@duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 2d agoWrote about the politics of eternal adolescence and Polanski as the leader of the Peter Pan Class www.economist.com/britain/2026...
Lots of straight men of a certain age enjoy bog-standard cosy detective stuff as well. My dad has read most of Richard Osman's books and seen most of Death in Paradise.
@gold-man-sacks.bsky.social · yesterdayYeah, I think that the big counterpoint to “literature is abandoning men” idea is that the Dungeon Crawler Carl series has sold 14 million copies and is getting a TV adaptation …
Am sending off a flurry of job applications today. Two down, another two (possibly three) to go. Then next week I can hopefully get back to finishing off my MA thesis!
Increasingly common trend: when controversialist columnists run out of real minority groups to victimise they just make one up.
John Oxley@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 2d agoSeen this shared enough today and finally read it, and... No, you don't?
My sister has a hypermobility condition which got worse when she was a teenager and led to her becoming an ambulatory wheelchair user. She had ankle surgery which meant she didn't need the wheelchair anymore. Recently she ran a half marathon! But she may need mobility aids again in the future.
𝔐𝔞𝔤𝔫𝔢𝔱𝔰 🧲@magnets.eurosky.social · 3d agothis horrible fucking vulture is now coming for disabled women using mobility aids
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the immigration of Mizrahim to Israel one of the factors which drove the rise of Likud?
Dalassa@dalassa.bsky.social · 4d agoMizrahi are real people from different backgrounds. They aren’t your emotional support authentic Jews.
I agree, although I will confess that my interaction with social liberalism as an ideology in the British context mainly comes from political history and biography, rather than systematic political philosophy.
Alexander Williams@floatinginwaves.bsky.social · 5d agoI didn’t read as much as a lot of the people on here so take this with a pinch of salt but I do think it’s important for liberalism to become a real and clear ideology again rather than just a vaguely defunded middle point between leftism and conservatism
The likely solution here is to copy Australia and have free, nationally funded at-home personal care, with the opportunity for paid, but subsidised care homes for those who prefer that. IIRC residential care costs are fixed at about 80% of state pension, with room rental to pay on top of that.
Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · 5d agoThis could be a big problem, though hard to quantify. Two points: such is the stigma around accepting state help, and so high is the fear of the government (including seizing possessions to pay), that lots of the elderly may simply not accept social care. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Update: it has stopped raining. Now the air is disgusting again *and* there's wet leaves and mud everywhere.
Nathan@nwylabour.bsky.social · 5d agoWell the heavens have just opened in Leeds, let's hope they do in London as well soon
Well the heavens have just opened in Leeds, let's hope they do in London as well soon
Marie Le Conte@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 5d agoweather in London currently so disgusting I have to believe that it must be breaking the laws of physics and chemistry in some way, somehow I feel so warm and claustrophobic inside my own skin but it doesn't even feel that hot outside, how is this possible, how have things got worse
And also went to the same sixth form college as me, sadly
BeijingPalmer@beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 5d agoRod Liddle was a piece of shit in both his private and public life, and it speaks to the state of British media that they're praising the man. He presaged the steep downward decline of British broadsheet print columnists into increasingly open racism, misogyny, and hatred of queer people.
So many people on the left insisted to me that Magyar was no different to Orbán. This, and his support for Pride, suggest otherwise. I think there's a general pattern of westerners not grasping that in central and eastern Europe tons of people earnestly and sincerely believe in neoliberalism.
Mohave County Indivisible@mohaveindv.bsky.social · 6d agoBREAKING: The newly elected Prime Minister of Hungary announced that Netanyahu will be arrested if he enters Hungary.
Apart from anything else the 'more to Methodism than Marx' quote winds me up because if there's a party that's absolutely crawling with Methodists it's the Liberals, not Labour!
Amrk@amrk.bsky.social · 5d agoYes centrists endlessly smugly repeat the “Labour owes more to Methodism than Marx” thing which is not untrue but it actually means a monastic suspension of Earthly possessions
I honestly still can't fathom how the Conservative Party's internal structures work. The Labour Party's internal battles may be fraught, but at least there is a clear structure and a Rule Book that's publicly available for anyone who needs to refer to it.
Joe Egerton@joeegg.bsky.social · 6d agoThe great Conservative debacle in Greater Manchester has attracted comment by @timbale.bsky.social , @dylandifford.bsky.social , @robertsaunders.bsky.social @stephenkb.bsky.social and others. Electoral Commission data shows the Party's organisational disintegration open.substack.com/pub/jegerton...
The campaign on X against Monica Lennon is just very thinly veiled transphobia
Look at it this way: the next general election is still likely going to have a fair few "well who could have seen that coming?" constituency results (which some of us on this site will absolutely have seen coming)
Nathan@nwylabour.bsky.social · 6d agoI do think it remains to be seen whether what UK politics is currently going through is a permanent transition to multi-party politics or instead a once in a generation realignment which will eventually settle on a new equilibrium
I do think it remains to be seen whether what UK politics is currently going through is a permanent transition to multi-party politics or instead a once in a generation realignment which will eventually settle on a new equilibrium
Dr Stylite@columnist.bsky.social · 6d agoI agree! And I also think the idea of electoral fragmentation as a long term phenomenon is somewhat overdone.
I don't post on Twitter anymore but still occasionally browse there for Labour internal politics reasons – and my word, nothing quite prepares you for how unhinged Stella Tsantekidou is. She makes Luke Akehurst look like a paragon of restraint.
There is so much Labour thinking at the moment (and over many years – it's not a new phenomenon) that mistakes straightforward macroeconomic problems for complex, intractable public policy problems. I think this happens because too many of us are uncomfortable with the implications of the former.
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 7d agoNEET numbers are primarily a labour market issue not an education one. We know this as numbers have also risen in Wales and Scotland which have different education systems.
What 'concerns'? Do you likewise have 'concerns' about her opponent, who was found to have leaked a confidential document to the press, and who is accused of having presided over a culture of intimidation at the council he ran?
Does pose big questions about what schools are actually *for*
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 7d agoThe interesting thing about school closures during covid (agree with them or not) is they had much less impact on long-term academic outcomes than people expected (me included). But much more long-term impact on mental health and attendance.
I read a good chunk of Head North in a bookshop once without actually buying it – and yes it has some interesting ideas but some of it is... (if I speak etc)
a rare photo of sean connery signed by roger moore@steamedhamms.bsky.social · 7d agostruck by how much of Burnham’s agenda is spelled out fairly plainly in head north and yes written constitution is mentioned in that mix
The Restoration slate are achieving what many had long thought impossible: getting Labour's left, centre and right factions to agree on something. They're a group of absolute grifters and chancers.
Oz Katerji@ozkaterji.bsky.social · 7d agoIf you are a supporter of Ukraine in the Labour Party, do not under any circumstances vote for the Restoration slate including Stella Tsantekidou for the NEC. They have made it very clear that they will not be reliable pro-Ukraine allies if elected.
If you are a supporter of Ukraine in the Labour Party, do not under any circumstances vote for the Restoration slate including Stella Tsantekidou for the NEC. They have made it very clear that they will not be reliable pro-Ukraine allies if elected.
Btw for anyone on here who's an Adults fan, they've released a special prequel episode in advance of the 2nd series
