@steve-krikler.bsky.social
Retired surgeon. Passionate about the NHS. Travelled a bit, people everywhere have similar needs, often let down by their ‘leaders’.
A beacon of light, pointing out a few home truths. Please read the thread and remember the arguments to be put up against bigots.
Fionna O’Leary@fascinatorfun.bsky.social · 2d agoA personal story about that phrase “young men of fighting age” applied to asylum seekers. As many of you know I took in a young Ukrainian woman under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. As part of that process, soon after she arrived we were visited by the local authority rep and a Fire Brigade rep.
This thread was written in July. All the more relevant now following the £72 million crypto donations.
Peter Kay@theonlypeterkay.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe smoking gun isn’t what Reform proposed. It’s what they bothered to write: Not a press release. Not a slogan. Not a wish list. A fully drafted Crypto Bill.1/9🧵
Important thread. Johnson and Trump (and Farage) repeatedly said things that were factually incorrect but most journalists let them get away with this. It lead us to where we are now, as discussed in this thread.
Alex Andreou@sturdyalex.bsky.social · 22h agoI would love to ask a prominent BBC journalist to give me an example of an illegitimate concern. Is seems to me that it has become a question not of fact, logic, or ethics but of volume. If a big enough proportion of a village was anxious about Bigfoot or Chemtrails, BBC would cover it in a way...
Not seen one of these for a while, but this is as excoriating as ever.
Henry Morris@mrhenrymorris.substack.com · 6mo agoEXCLUSIVE - I've just been passed the latest copy from the Papua New Guinea Courier's USA correspondent. Subscribe to my Substack for more! mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/the-latest...
Read this thread, then send it to your MP.
Russ Jones@russincheshire.bsky.social · 6d ago£72 million from 2 individuals - both of whom have faced questions about money laundering, both of whom live/d overseas to avoid tax - is not compatible with democracy. I don't care if it's Reform, Labour or whoever. We can't function like this. Not for long. So how do we fix it? My plan:
So disappointing that the assisted dying bill failed today. Of course we should fund and provide proper terminal care, hospices should be funded properly. No one should be coerced, but if they feel they no longer wish to continue suffering and choose to end their life this should be their right.
I heard Ed Milliband’s speech today. He gave clear support to the state of Israel, and proclaimed he is proud to be a British Jew. The sanctions are against W Bank settlements only, not Israel. I am disappointed by the Chief Rabbi’s response, but not surprised by the Israeli government’s response.
The government must know full well that many people have neither the space nor the money to store extra food in their homes. It is individuating responsibility for a collective problem. As usual, it is the poorest and most excluded who will suffer from it. 🧵 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Minister tells Brits to stock up on days of supplies after ‘supersize’ El Niño warning
Exclusive: Angela Eagle urges UK citizens to be ‘a bit more resilient’ as they plan for national emergencies
theguardian.com
A thread with a very sensible list of suggestions. You have to be clear on the definition of a ‘political party’. As I understand it, Reform is more like a private company with Farridge as the permanent CEO/Board Chair.
Russ Jones@russincheshire.bsky.social · 2w agoReform show how fucked up political finance is. But I guarantee Labour will be embarrassed over some skeevy donor at some point. Failing to act on this is just inviting scandal, resignations, distrust and collapse of govt. Again. So here are some interconnected ideas to fix it.
This brings a tear to my eye every time I see it.
Humanists UK@humanists.uk · 2w agoSir Nicholas Winton was a British humanist who organised the rescue of more than 650 children, most of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia, on the Kindertransport. In 1988, Winton featured on the BBC's 'That's Life!' programme, hosted by Esther Rantzen, unknowingly surrounded by the people he saved. 🧵
Short but interesting thread.
Peter Geoghegan@petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 2w ago🔴Isabel Oakeshott has fiercely defended Nigel Farage's £5m 'gift' from Christopher Harborne. But privately, weeks before the 2024 election, she called Harborne "untrustworthy" - and said she didn't believe he was funding Reform at all. 🧵 democracyforsale.substack.com/p/untrustwor...
Enlightening and entertaining thread, as usual.
Russ Jones@russincheshire.bsky.social · 3w agoJames Cleverly, a stunningly successful one-man campaign to disprove nominative determinism, has just quit Semi Goodenough's shadow cabinet so he can badly lose an election in 2 years time. As a reminder of how good he is at this stuff, remember... www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Jeff Bezos is too wealthy, so I prefer to avoid Amazon. But authors deserve fair recompense, and if it means publishing on Amazon, so be it. @russincheshire.bsky.social writing is worth reading and he should earn his just reward for his efforts.
Russ Jones@russincheshire.bsky.social · last mo.THREAD (contains crossness) Getting pretty weary of people telling me I'm doing poverty all wrong, and that I should choose WORSE poverty to make their carefully curated ethics happy. Yeah. Amazon are shits. But I sell books there. Why?
I have just finished reading The Wolf That Chews Rocks by @russincheshire.bsky.social . A review in a thread:
Looks an interesting webinar, I’m tempted to join.
Bylines Network@bylinesnetwork.co.uk · last mo.Bylines Network webinar: “Cleaning Up Politics: How Britain Rebuilds Trust”, Thursday 3 September, 7.00–8.15pm. Speakers Neal Lawson, Prof Christina Pagel, Dominic Grieve KC and Gina Miller, chaired by Mike Galsworthy. Discussion on political standards and accountability bit.ly/politicsclea...
As usual, a revealing and worrying article which clearly points out many uncomfortable truths. People like @carolecadwalla.bsky.social are rare, but they are vital safeguards in society.
Carole Cadwalladr@carolecadwalla.bsky.social · last mo.NEW: The latest reporting on Arron Banks pretends he’s sprung from nowhere. I’m not the one being gaslit here. You are. open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
As with all tech advances, it may be beneficial but there is huge potential for bad players to pick this up for harmful purposes. Bacteriophages are a good alternative to antibiotics, but the possibility of making a virus that attacks people or animals is real and frightening.
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · last mo.Breaking news: Scientists in the US have for the first time used artificial intelligence to create viruses unknown in nature, a milestone that promises advances in healthcare but also raises important biosafety and biosecurity concerns. ft.trib.al/Uk6VCRG
This particularly applies to immigration. The number coming by boat - ‘illegally’ - has dropped. We need immigrants for care, hospitality and agricultural sectors. We need more young people to pay tax to support the older citizens. Excellent discussion of this on Radio 4 a couple of days ago.
Chris Dillow@chrisdillow.bsky.social · last mo.The greater victory is that all we ever talk about is what GB News wants to talk about." True. One of the weaknesses of the left is that it fights on the enemy's terrain, rather than choosing its own. We don't have to engage with crap all the time. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
And he’s back. Another clear exposition of the damning facts from @russincheshire.bsky.social , beautifully laid out. This thread needs to be distributed far and wide, it should be forced reading for any Reform voter. And plastered all over the place in Clacton by @countbinface.bsky.social
Russ Jones@russincheshire.bsky.social · 2mo ago#TheYearInReform Look, it's very simple. Nothing to see here. Move along. Reform UK is a party - sorry - a company built around British Patriotism and being frank with the public, and it is led by straight-talking anti-elite Nigel Farage.
Why did Today give him so much air time? France, Spain & Greece are on fire, so was Scotland & Wales. We’ve just had the driest month ever recorded. Where’s the Green spokesperson being interviewed on what we need to do? And if you do have a Reform member, grill them on probity and their finances
Full Fact@fullfact.org · 2mo agoOn the Today programme Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf claimed “almost 1%” of, or “one in 100”, people crossing the Channel via small boat are dying. That’s not correct. The data we have suggests the actual proportion is closer to one in 1,000.
@russincheshire.bsky.social Can I DM you about some details please.
Lionel Richie - Hello
ALT: Lionel Richie - Hello
static.klipy.com
Top marks to @russincheshire.bsky.social for his Erin Callahan series. I read 1 & 2 when they first came out. Pacy, involving. I saved the next for this year’s summer hol. I read 3, 4 and I’m 80% through 5, which is the most gripping yet. Only prob is I will finish it before we fly home tonight.
A thread which gives a concise summary of an awful lot of dodgy dealings by dodgy dealers.
Phil Brickell MP@philbrickellmp.bsky.social · 2mo agoFake passports. A money laundering conviction. A mystery casino fortune in Montenegro... There's yet more revelations about who Farage chooses to surround himself with. Let’s start with George Cottrell. A man Farage describes as "like a son," and his former chief of staff 👇
This is exactly the kind of concern raised by Yuval Noah Harari in his excellent book Nexus. If you want some insight into AI, its potential both good and bad, read Nexus.
Anthony Painter@anthonypainter.bsky.social · 2mo agoIt didn't "go rogue". It did what it was instructed to do. In a sophisticated way but nonetheless we have to stop assigning human agency to AI systems. Everything that happened here was as a result of human designed and instructed systems.
Excoriating takedown of the Spectator. A thread from @russincheshire.bsky.social worth reading, as usual. Simple facts, no opinions.
Russ Jones@russincheshire.bsky.social · 2mo agoLet's take this bit at a time. The editor of The Spectator, defender of the working class, and protector against immigrants is privately educated former Tory minister Baron Gove of Torry, formerly in relationships with an American, another American, and then a woman raised in Rome. 1/
