Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️
@sandgrouse.bsky.social
Retired IT project manager. #LibDems 🔶️. Ex Labour, disillusioned idealist. I go for walks and take photographs. My 3 political wishes: 1 Green economy, 2 #PR, 3 #Rejoin 🇪🇺 #FBPE. Make that 4 - free 🇺🇦. PS, I don't reply to DMs.
Acknowledging Brexit’s economic toll without moving to dismantle trade barriers leaves public finances needlessly strangled. When leaders concede the diagnosis but refuse the obvious remedy of closer single market ties, recovery stalls. How do we demand a real EU reset? #FBPE
Andy Burnham’s admission on Brexit damage is a welcome change - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: Peter Packham, Chair, Leeds for Europe, Roundhay, Leeds.
yorkshirepost.co.uk
As I've said before, early release is not the issue; offenders will be released eventually. What we need is effective safeguarding for victims. South Korea has managed to provide that, so why can't we? www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
‘We can’t stop for a second’: the centre tracking South Korea’s stalkers in real time
Since June, an app has allowed survivors, who are overwhelmingly women, to see exactly where their stalker is
theguardian.com
When will the government realise that the fiscal rules and red lines that it is determined to defend are the fiscal rules and red lines of neoliberalism. Labour in government will fail because it has forgotten what a liberal democracy looks like. youtube.com/watch?v=w7n6...
Has capitalism failed, or has neoliberalism destroyed it?
YouTube video by Richard J Murphy
youtube.com
The Home Secretary's silence suggests either sympathy, indifference or ineffectiveness as regards the violent lawless thugs
Markeye@markeye.bsky.social · 5d agoI think the Government has really screwed itself here. It’s moral authority is in tatters when it encourages the arrest of peaceful protesters and yet does little to stop paramilitary thugs from causing chaos at our major ports. The Home Secretary in particular has serious questions to answer.
A budget aimed at the redistribution of wealth would be more in line with Labour values than continued austerity. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
Being ‘true to Labour’s values’ means controlling spending, says Healey – UK politics live
Chancellor says there’s ‘nothing progressive’ about government spending £1 in every ten on debt interest
theguardian.com
Why is Foreign Secretary still regarded as one of the four great offices of state when we no longer have an empire? Is international diplomacy really more important than Climate and the Environment?
Un important groupe de manifestants masqués s'est rassemblé au port de Douvres, dans le Kent, samedi 5 septembre. Chris Vinson, conseiller municipal, a déclaré que cette manifestation semblait être « liée à l'immigration clandestine ».
Undercover filming shows Nigel Farage celebrating illegal foreign donations Footage shows a plan to break electoral law by funnelling money from a US ‘businessman’ through a UK donor The donations funded a series of widely reported polls secretly commissioned by Reform
A yearlong investigation by Verbatim Media reveals Nigel Farage courting illicit funding as part of a plot to bring foreign money into British politics, orchestrated by his top aides and caught on hidden camera. youtube.com/watch?v=RugP...
My Year Undercover in Reform UK
YouTube video by Verbatim Investigations
youtube.com
It is always the same betrayal: the public interest is sacrificed for the sake of immensely wealthy people. And Andy Burnham has already gone and done it. My column on how Burnham needs to defy the ultra-rich if he's not to follow Starmer out of the door. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Andy Burnham has already made a mistake that will cost him his premiership: he lost his nerve over political donations | George Monbiot
Being subservient to the interests of the wealthy now means that his hands are tied, and he will be unable to tackle Britain’s most pressing issues, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
theguardian.com
I was going to say, "Don't expect any humanity from right-wing governments," but then I remembered Labour have Mahmood. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
British man deported from Sweden despite living there since childhood
John Sellers, 34, who moved with his family to Sweden aged 10, has been ejected despite his recent marriage to a Swede
theguardian.com
I've written to the Prime Minister ahead of his first statement later today, with a clear message: Our politics is broken and we can’t fix our country until we fix our politics.
A story by Charles Dickens? No, it's about goings on in Victoria state, Australia! www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Victorian prisoners to be sent out to repair roads under Labor’s pothole plan
Inmates would take over ‘basic’ road maintenance duties, allowing skilled crews to focus on fixing 500,000 potholes
theguardian.com
This nonsense has to stop. Early release or release at end of sentence, it makes no difference. At some point dangerous criminals will be released. The real issue is, how can the public be safeguarded? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Early release scheme could still see dangerous criminals released, Conservatives warn
The warning comes after the prime minister said some prisoners serving indefinite sentences could be freed to increase prison capacity.
bbc.co.uk
The UK is a single market. People, goods, services, and money move freely across all 4 nations of the UK. Everyone understands and accepts this, so why do so many people lose their minds when it comes to the idea of joining a single market across all of Europe?
We don't have a prisons crisis. What we do have is a safeguarding crisis. We can't keep offenders locked up forever, but when they are released we must ensure victims are protected. That means tagging that works, and a more effective probation service. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Prisons ‘one major event from disaster’ after U-turn on early release scheme
Critics say the move, which will keep PC Harper’s killers in jail, leaves number of prison spaces ‘too close to the bone’
theguardian.com
BBC News report Iceland's EU referendum result, presenting it as an in-out like Brexit They neglect to mention that Iceland is already in the EU Single Market and has free movement of people with Schengen
Burnham could quickly lose the initial goodwill he received when taking over. Refusing to move on electoral reform would be a massive betrayal
Jim Pickard@pickardje.bsky.social · 2w agowe are keeping tabs of what Andy Burnham says vs what Andy Burnham actually does www.ft.com/content/4371...
Lake America, smallest of the great lakes, is inferior to Lake Superior. Maybe Mark Carney should rename Lake Superior, the largest of the great lakes, to Lake Canada.
MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com · 2w agoGoogle Maps has now capitulated to Donald Trump and changed the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. Apple Maps still uses the correct name.
Iceland must believe that a lack of oil and rare earths will protect them from US imperial aggression. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
Iceland appears to have rejected EU accession talks in referendum, reports say
The no camp looks to have prevailed, holding 52.5% of votes with only a few left to be counted, says public broadcaster
theguardian.com
Like other Brexiters, clueless about the effects of losing freedom of movement until it hurts you or yours. Daltrey says he's not changed his opinion on the EU, is "glad to be free of Brussels" despite signing open letter calling on the government to urgently establish visa-free travel for musicians
Roger Daltrey responds to backlash over post-Brexit music touring comments
The singer previously told Sky News Brexit wouldn't be bad for UK music, adding: "What's it got to do with the rock business?"
news.sky.com
UK pet owners risk being ripped off by private equity firms as vet ownership rules change. CMA says vet firms don't need to disclose their ultimate owners. Why not? Why is ownership by PE to be obscured? Pet owners pay 16.6% more on average at large vet groups than at independent practices.
Pet owners at risk of being ripped off by private equity firms as vet ownership rules change
Critics say changes by CMA will allow multinationals to obscure their ownership of vet practices
theguardian.com
I'm so bored with this. If Burnham, like Starmer, thinks Labour's 'red lines' are unmoveable for political reasons then, ok, I understand that. But to then keep pretending there is some 'ambitious' deal possible that will discernibly increase UK growth is just absurd. www.ft.com/content/4ec5...
Andy Burnham pledges to ‘take pressure off’ business ahead of October Budget
Prime minister tells the FT that he will not tax wealth creators out of the UK but stresses need for social responsibility
ft.com
More UK students planning to live at home for university over 'insane' living costs. Student halls of residence replaced by private equity owned accommodation. High rents and profits. Fees (in England) and living costs plunge young adults into debt.
More students planning to live at home for uni over 'insane' living costs
Students like Jessica say they worry about missing out on student life, but feel they have no choice but to stay at home.
bbc.co.uk
As with most controversial political issues, the facts don't match up with hysteria levels. When it comes to solar farms using up valuable farm land, to put things in perspective, UK golf courses use 5x more land than all existing and planned solar farms! substack.com/@therewnewab...
TheCitiesPod (@therewnewableguru)
How much farmland has SOLAR really taken? Solar farms divide people in a way that few other pieces of infrastructure do. Supporters see the cheapest electricity Britain has ever built, put up in mont...
substack.com
The Tories won a by-election in Uxbridge in 2023 by opposing healthier children. Fag ash Farage still believes clean air is woke. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Ulez led to better lung size and function among London children, study finds
Researchers find capacity stunted by pollution restored after introduction of ultra-low emission zone
theguardian.com
Andy may want to cozy up with ex-Labour Reform voters, but does he really think that alienating the rest of us is a good idea? He may get away with being neutral on climate, but he won't get away with actively impeding climate progress. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Burnham criticised for EV and North Sea approach amid climate crisis
Cut in electric vehicle sales targets could add millions of tonnes of CO2 to emissions in UK, say green campaigners
theguardian.com
