Real police state stuff, pre-emptively arresting people in Defend Our Juries, because they are organising a peaceful protest.

Let's empty the jails so we can fill them with octogenarians who care about genocide. Because that's the real threat to society. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

For thousands of years, we have been parasitised, exploited and destroyed by elites. Our survival depends on overthrowing them. Fascinating article by @dpcarrington.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Excellent analysis of where we are. Completely mystified by Labour trying to act like a party of the far right instead of shedding their pathetic timidity and making the case for a more sensible and progressive approach. Some of what they are proposing, e.g. social care visas, is simply madness.

Two things happen if you do this: 1. The immigration stats go down slightly. People who obsess all day every day about immigration do not notice or care. 2. Care homes are absolutely screwed because of staff shortages.

🚨🚨"A pro-European agenda can be advanced only so far by stealth. At some point, the time must come to win the argument. And that can’t happen with an argument that is never even made". Excellent column on #EUreset by @rafaelbehr.bsky.social:

Why does this government persist in going against everything the public want to see happen? It's not just anti-democratic but putting yet more money into the hands of the wealthy and ensuring our continuing long-term post-Brexit decline. Money needs to be targeted on spenders, not hoarders.

I wish the international community - including our own leaders - would call out the blatant annexation of territory and continuing war crime of starving Gaza civilians with total blockade going on for 2 months now.

🚨🚨This simple graph illustrates in principle all you need to know about the implications of #brexit for UK trade, the economy and the opportunities for British biz to succeed in the Global economy. #brexitshambles #brexitbrokebritain

👏 @andyburnham.bsky.social is absolutely 💯 correct ✅ “Let me say something about this situation. The biggest rupture in all of that [Farage/Reform gaining votes] – is Brexit. I think partly, what Labour now needs to do, is talk more about Brexit, and how it has damaged this country’s prospects.”

1/12 Tony Blair Institute have released a report which is getting a lot of coverage in UK today It says the drive for net zero emissions is flawed and some media outlets have gone to town However it’s a bit odd By odd, I mean there’s a lot of bollocks in it and shouldn't be taken seriously 🧵🧵

I feel increasingly disconnected from the party I voted for and had such high hopes for. Did we give them a mandate to cos-play Reform-lite? I want them to lead and argue for their vision instead of chasing polls. Oh and charge me more income tax instead of penalising kids & disabled people

Would very much like “heading off the threat of Reform/Farage” to STOP being the way government decides on policy. It’s done nothing but profound harm since 2016 and Farage is still going strong. It doesn’t work for anyone, except him. on.ft.com/42eewsY

They are really being pathetic, aren't they?

Sagan made a prediction in his 1995 book about the economy, ignorance, public interest, and the dumbing down of America.

How far before Keir Starmer's "keeping calm heads" leads to appeasement? @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social

Welfare cuts for the poor/disabled were not in Labour's election manifesto. PM Keir Starmer said: “those with the broadest shoulders should bear the heavier burden”. Then hit the poorest. Biggest cuts since those imposed by Tories in July 2015. There is no economic/moral justification.

“Forget what Starmer says. Britain will have to choose. It has kowtowed to the US all our lives, and this is where it has got us. Gradual strategic disengagement from America, coupled with renewed integration in a revitalised Europe, is the only sane, safe path” 👏 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

We elected a government to act on inequality, but they daren't: terrified of challenging the status quo. Pecksniff’s Diary with artwork by Cold War Steve. Follow Mr Pecksniff on @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social

GCSE economics lesson for Rachel Reeves via @pileusmedia.bsky.social

This headline is misleading. Reeves has not been "forced" to find an additional £1.6 billion in cuts to benefits. She has CHOSEN to impose more cuts on benefits because she refuses to raise taxes on the wealthiest. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Rachel Reeves is all about growth. So why won’t she admit that Brexit is its worst enemy? Let’s be realistic, Brexit and growth are mutually exclusive! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“If Starmer and his team do not wake up, the Brexit monster will also consume the Labour government. Those cries to ‘Starmer out’ have very serious implications for us all.”

Guy in an electric wheelchair passed me as I returned home from buying the paper, easily crossing roads with dropped pavements, and just thought this is the result of a lot of work and regulation by the public sector. Which you'll rarely read about.

Clive Lewis aka @labourlewis.bsky.social seeks a conversation about the future of water ownership in the UK. Not an approach which appeals to the government, whose view is the less conversation about it the better. @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social Artwork by @coldwarsteve.bsky.social - thx

Drug shortages have been affecting people around the country but haven't really reached Westminster as a story. A big issue unlikely to go away any time soon - complex supply chains providing an ever greater number of drugs will always have vulnerabilities. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

This is so obviously a moment for the UK government to shift its narrative on EU relations to something far more positive and bold (yet within red lines) but seems for the moment this remains too scary.

The UK economy contracted by 0.1% in January. Can't build a sustainable economy without improving the purchasing power of the bottom 50%. Need redistribution of income/wealth; not more austerity, real wage cuts, erosion of welfare and services. Must abandon neoliberal policies.

Nationalisation, jailing of those responsible for not fixing leaks, clawing back of dividends and bonuses, making investors directly liable for loans they took out to boost profits and divvies, for starters www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

1. Trump and his Death Eaters cannot tolerate any rival power. Europe, when united, is a major trading and diplomatic bloc. They see Russia (much less of a threat to US hegemony) as an excellent instrument for breaking up Europe, by threat or by force.🧵

1. Here are just a few of the ways in which Starmer’s Labour Party seems determined to alienate its voters and lose the next election. As they pile up, you have to keep pinching yourself and asking, “what the hell is it playing at?” 🧵

This would be the minimal first step.

A majority of voters on the issue of the EU have no political champion. Agree with every word on the cowardice of Labour, the timid steps of the LibDems and the irrelevance of the Greens. When will they start to represent the views of the public? This is what is driving the slide rightwards.

This is thick as pigshit politics. You fight the right by making a positive case for immigration. We are governed by idiots with no idea of the real world.

"Dozens of countries back International Criminal Court after Trump sanctions." A majority of member states, including the UK, Germany and France, said that the ICC was "a vital pillar of the international justice system". Only a criminal would sanction the ICC. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

OK, that’s very clear, and deserves a clear response. I will no longer urge people to vote Labour as the party to get the Tories out. To put it plainly, you can F**k right off. www.standard.co.uk/news/politic...

Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as Commissioner and Chair of the FEC. There's a legal way to replace FEC commissioners-this isn't it. I've been so fortunate to serve the American people and stir up some good trouble along the way. That's not changing anytime soon.

When will Govt learn you can’t out-Reform Reform - you end up simply legitimising their toxic narrative. To see off populists, Labour needs to invest in public services & local communities, making a real difference to people’s lives - levy a wealth tax & use it to improve people’s lives *now*

Absolutely spot on from Rory Stewart

Donald Trump announces he's reaming everything after what he feels like - no matter what anyone else thinks. Hungary will eagerly accept the changes apparently.

Some thoughts while returning on the Eurostar from Paris. 1. It’s a cliché but nonetheless true that the intellectual culture in France reminds us what we are missing in the UK. 🧵

I wonder whether anyone at the Beeb has ever told Robbie Gibb, the Brexit-supporting board member knighted by his former boss Theresa May who polices the ‘impartiality’ of others, to piss off. Someone senior, whether on or off air staff, really needs to. This nonsense can’t continue.

In my column today I argue that, unbelievably, Labour are worse on environmental issues than the Conservatives. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

When maximum sentence for chaining yourself to railings is over twice maximum sentence for racially aggravated assault, anyone who cares about justice should be appalled. This is a dangerous, undemocratic & disproportionate attack on longstanding right to peaceful protest in UK #DefendOurJuries

Reducing 'regulation' to increase 'growth' while reducing immigration & bolstering workers' rights & ruling out any return to the single market/customs union is such a mad project that I'm tempted to take the Reeves speech live this morning...

Getting so tired of Starmer's insistence that he can make Brexit work for the country. It's impossible. Rejoining is inevitable. If he wants to remain as PM, he'll have to reset his own thinking & abandon his ridiculous & unpopular red lines. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...