Reminder that Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 is a film about three women taking over an office and introducing free childcare, paid vacation, and flexible hours, resulting in a 20% increase in productivity.

I heard Lee Anderson on Today saying that no one wanted to live next to an HMO housing people seeking asylum. As far as I can tell, my back garden abuts the back garden of a house that does indeed house asylum seekers, so I thought I'd give a brief account of why I am in fact fine about it.

If someone acts on their 'concerns' by attacking people in their homes and by biting and throwing rocks at cops, no one should assess if those concerns are 'legitimate' or not. That violent behaviour waives any claim to 'legitimacy'. The phrase comes across as justifying violence, not condeming it.

Lizzie Dearden@lizziedearden.bsky.social · 3w ago

"Legitimate concerns" is starting to feel very "you had people that were very fine people on both sides"

Britain must prepare for El Niño. The UK is built for a climate which no longer exists. We need to grow more of our own food and prepare towns and workplaces for extreme heat. When climate shocks hit, public power must protect people so profiteers can't exploit crises.

Former Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has a punchy letter in the Times defending compulsory voting: "Surely a key objective of a democracy is to maximise the participation of all the people, regardless of their wealth, education or enthusiasm for reading political columns in The Times"

I wrote this 👇 open.substack.com/pub/vicderby...

I have a modest proposal for a new tax. It involves a deck of cards and a monkey throwing darts. Here are the rules:

In May we said Nigel Farage probably didn't owe tax on his £5m gift. The Guardian now reports the gift followed talks where Farage said he'd need £5m to return to frontline politics. *If* that's right, we think there's a high risk of a £3m tax bill - payable by Reform.

"Former Bulk Distributor assistant editor Andy Burnham is set to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, marking an extraordinary journey from the pages of the tank container industry press to the steps of Downing Street." bulk-distributor.com/2026/07/form...

Former BD journalist set to become UK PM - Bulk Distributor

Former Bulk Distributor assistant editor Andy Burnham is set to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, marking an extraordinary journey from the pages of the tank container industry pre...

bulk-distributor.com

Saying you're the "most physically attacked" MP when two MPs have been killed in the last decade is just horribly self-absorbed.

one of the few genuinely funny things about this saga is that the LRB reviewed the book a couple months ago: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

John Lanchester · Squillions: Where’s all the cash?

If it were an industry, money laundering would be the third biggest business in the world, behind commercial property...

lrb.co.uk

Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 2mo ago

In one chapter of his book entitled 'The Art of the Bribe', Nigel Farage donor and convicted fraudster George Cottrell describes how politicians can be bought www.ft.com/content/7a0f...

For no particular reason, obviously, this weekend I found myself remembering all those allegations about mysterious dark money funding untraceable Facebook ads during the Brexit campaign.

"I hear you're sending me a seventh prime minister"

It seems to have become commonplace to blame net zero for Britain’s high energy bills and/or weak job market… … and I guess I’ll have to explain again why there is very little evidence of this. Britain has plenty of economic problems; net zero is not high on that list (though climate change is) 🧵

Ed Miliband would be ‘noose around neck’ of job creation as chancellor, union boss warns

Comments by Sharon Graham come as Burnham team explores key government appointments

giftarticle.ft.com

Aerial PARTIAL view of the anti racist, anti fascist crowd in Belfast right now. City Hall to the left for scale. This - this is the real Belfast. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

We need to spend more on defence. But we can’t survive much more austerity. There are not many levers to pull. But signalling you’ll put EU membership in your next manifesto and begin talks now, would (almost certainly) rally sterling, reduce borrowing costs, boost invsmt & help the headroom.

I hope we're going to see many charges for incitement to racial hatred, incitement to violence and incitement to riot, all of which have been happening blatantly and prolifically on social media. Or will two-tier policing in the UK, favouring the right and the far right, prevail yet again?

Bring. In. A. Cap. On. Donations. £15m given to Reform by just one crypto billionaire in the past year. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Reform UK raising millions more than other parties, donation figures show

Farage’s party brings in £9m largely from crypto billionaires in three months, more than twice that of Labour and Tories

theguardian.com

Quite a few people seem to have sucked up government propaganda about objections to infrastructure schemes being vexatious and unnecessary. The whole point of the planning system is to assess whether or not they are. Do away with large parts of it and you do away with some crucial decision making.

George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 3mo ago

How do you turn people off the green transition and deliver them to the far right? Through #ClimateAuthoritarianism. The government seeks to coerce, not to persuade. And it's turning a planning system based on consent into one based on decree. This week's column.🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

If Starmer is challenged for the leadership & chooses to fight, something wholly new will happen. For the first time, the question of whether a prime minister is removed from power will be decided, not by MPs, not by voters at an election,but by party members. This is democratically indefensible.🧵

The secret £5 million payment to Farage by an overseas billionaire is the most astonishing example of political corruption. Don’t let up.

88% of UK millionaires proud to live in Britain. 75% willing to pay more tax to fund public assets. Yet right-wing constantly peddles project fear ... They would leave, etc. Capital gains, dividends are taxed at lower marginal rates than wages. Tax the rich. Redistribute. Alleviate poverty.

Three-quarters of UK millionaires would be happy to pay more tax, research finds

Despite concerns super-rich are leaving due to tax burdens, 88% of those surveyed were proud to live in UK and would pay more to fund public services

theguardian.com

💯 "The @appgfairelections.bsky.social is calling for a national commission on electoral reform, with a ready-made terms of reference... This time, we need a voting system that serves citizens, first and foremost. This is now within our grasp, and we need it more than anything else in politics."

We need a voting system that serves citizens first and foremost | Letter

Letter: Michael Bursill highlights the work of the all-party parliamentary group for fair elections in response to an editorial on multiparty politics

theguardian.com

You're probably wondering just how metric my socket set is

I think that Keir Starmer has clocked that most people in the country don’t take much interest in politics, and has decided that doing the same will make him relatable. Explains a lot, yes?

It’s increasingly hard to argue with the idea Kemi Badenoch is a good leader of the Conservative party, because it’s difficult to argue while laughing.

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Anyone who thinks this is going well for the Tories is lying or needs their head tested.

I fear Labour people risk falling into an ecological fallacy visible from space when reacting to these results. Here is what is very clear in results so far: Labour are losing *seats* to Reform, but... Labour are losing *votes* to the Greens Greens split the vote, Ref comes thru middle

⚠️ Last year, only 16% of councillors were elected with majority support. One councillor won with just 18.9% of the vote. This trend is not going anywhere - and tomorrow will prove it. First Past the Post has had its day. It's time for change.

Local elections could see council seats won on record-low vote shares

Political fragmentation ahead of this week's local elections could see council seats being won with minimal vote share, say leading political scientists.

news.sky.com

“I’ll be voting for Reform - it can’t get any worse” Oh it really can. You put a bunch of corrupt, racist, incompetent, lying Trumpists in charge and things will get very much worse. Potholes and empty shops will feel unimportant compared to the loss of the NHS, social care and a torched economy.

Congratulations to the white-coated boffins at Tunnock’s Teacakes for their vital contribution to the Artemis II mission. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿