Large parts of adult social care in England face collapse, thinktank says. The budget blamed but there are other factors. Massive real cut in local govt funding since 2010. Privatisation: 30%-40% of money vanishes in profits. Money buys less. End Privatisation www.theguardian.com/society/2024...

This POS just trolled my post. You know what to do friends. 🚫

My good friend Simon and I are running another quiz night tonight for this lovely lady and the fantastic charity she is supporting. MS is a horrible disease, so if anyone can help her smash her target, it would be fantastic! 2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/emma-oboyle

Tidy Up Bishop’s Stortford (TUBS) on Saturday around Hockerill school. Starts at 10:00 if anyone wants to spend an hour making a difference! Pickers, gloves, hiviz and bags provided. tubs.yolasite.com

Bishop’s Stortford Repair Cafe Saturday, too late to book anything in now but bookmark the website for next time! www.stortfordrepaircafe.org

Hmm. Welby resigns to show Church are serious about tackling child abuse. Maybe if he had 11 years ago when he found out about the guy, or when he ‘thought about it’ but not when everyone is screaming for it. They always resign when they are found out, not when they find out.

The Archbishop of Canterbury considered resigning over the church’s appalling history of child abuse and it failings in dealing with it. Wow. How brave of him, to think of resigning. Such a powerful statement, thinking about doing something. Makes everything ok doesn’t it.

Labour Party are you listening? Don't waste your time with Trumpistan. This is the priority and we need to be an integral part of it:

So the NI rises are forcing big business to raise prices, stop hiring and cut wages. Perhaps they should review the obscene profits many are making if things are that bad, but that would involve thinking about staff before shareholders.

I saw a list of people to block because they list MAGA in their profile. Personally I don’t think this is the way to go, block trolls and haters, but denying the MAGA existence or ignoring those that fall for its fools gold is what got the Democrats their current position isn’t it? Wrong?

I ❤️ language.

If one thing comes out of tonight I hope it is that this Labour government realises it has to be bold, progressive and fearless. Don’t kowtow to the wealthy, they will drop you at the first chance. It’s time for electoral reform so we can end this cycle of lurching from opposite to opposite.

If Joe Biden wants to secure his legacy as one of the most influential defenders of Western democracy in history, he should flood Ukraine with four years worth of military aid between now and Trump's inauguration.

I genuinely don't know whether to feel hopeful, terrified or utterly bemused 🤯

Sean spicer says “the bottom line “ and “fact” a lot Like Trump having the biggest ever inauguration crowd was a “fact” What a numpty

It’s actually insane that a major British newspaper is leading on this story

I never quite understand why a party would lose (for example) 10k voters to Labour, 5k to Lib Dem’s, and 5k to reform, would then decide the answer it to lurch to the right.

The Country Land and Business Association says the new £1m cap on agricultural inheritance tax relief will "harm 70,000 farms". That's 1/3 of all farms. What does the actual data show? Less than 500 farms/year will be pay more tax as a result of this change every year. Possibly as few as 100.

The batshittification of the British right continues apace.

my favourite thing at the moment is the Mail and Telegraph absolutely losing their minds plot over a wee bit of tax on private schools and assets to pay for public services 🤗

The Torygraph claims that Labour's new "value for money tsar" is to get equivalent of £250k annual salary. If you read the article, you will see that - in fact - he is to receive a salary of £49,400. A very different figure... www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

No mention of the victims of contaminated blood, postmasters, schools, hospitals, roads, all benefitting from the tax rises. Instead the news is dominated by rich farmers (less than 600 farms affected), rich inheritors (10k additional houses affected) second home owners and public school parents

So far none of this changes the conclusion of my earlier thread - very few people will be affected, and it's something they should be able to manage.

It feels like the majority of UK media expected this budget to be a horror story, so when it wasn’t they find more obscure people to complain about it. “Hi Joe, you own 90 houses and employ 80 people on minimum wage and your dad is leaving you his £50m pension, what do you think about the budget?”

I'm working on a rant about the current UK governments idiotic, fossil fuel subsidy of £22 billion being given to Exxon, BP etc to do, wait for it, 'Carbon Capture and Storage.' The lobbyists must have been wetting themselves laughing when they managed to con ministers into believing this shit works

The point that 26 women have accused a presidential candidate of sexual assault, yet he remains tied neck and neck in the race demonstrates the flaw in a political system so utterly dominated by money. More depressing is that his supporters could read the article and it wouldn’t change a thing.

Men think the idea of using whatever’s in your pocket as a weapon is a novelty; women keep their keys between their fingers www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Reports were that he delayed desperately needed aid in the wake of hurricanes. Remember him complaining, as the island suffered a massive disaster, that they just wanted everything done for them? But he was throwing towels.He's ALWAYS hated Puerto Rico. Just beat him. www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/...

Not unblocking the folks I blocked today who were arguing about this, but Benie's video here on why people who disagree with Kamala on Gaza should still vote for her is pretty good: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf5M...

The place we are at. #NewYorker

If the press is restrained by billionaire oligarchs — then the press is not free.

A stunning Washington Post editorial cartoon tonight, by Ann Telnaes, titled "Democracy Dies in Darkness."

New polling paints an interesting picture of the public's tax-raising priorities, and a depressing picture of the public's understanding of tax and spending. I have no easy answers, but I do have some rather alarming charts.

“Reprogramme their brains”

Private Eye.

I started an Environmental Science degree because it might have helped my job. New job doesn’t need it but I’m finishing the degree because it is interesting and I want to tell all the denial idiots how stupid they are and know what I’m talking about.

Is anyone surprised by this? Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Putin for two years, says report www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

I can’t dodge my taxes, PAYE stops me. What bugs me is the uber wealthy who pay accountants to avoid paying as much tax as possible, then moan in the press about how unfair the tax system is.

X – Marks the Spot: Russia’s Second Front Peter Jukes looks at the mounting evidence that Elon Musk is using his social media platform as a vector to attack Ukraine and support Putin’s murderous invasion bylinetimes.com/2024/10/25/e... #X #Musk via @bylinetimes.bsky.social

There will be more tax. There will be places it will go. There will be places it won't go. We will know where when it's announced. Then everyone can hyperventilate about actual announcements rather than voices in their heads.

KamalaHQ engages in dirty political trick of quoting Trump at length verbatim.

I can’t understand why billionaires in one country would rather a president who is buddies with the billionaires in another country who can do whatever they want and don’t have to tell anyone how they got to be billionaires.

US intelligence officials say Russian operatives attempting to interfere with the American election were behind a fake video supposedly showing someone tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania.

BBC Verify has extensively reported on an AI-powered influence operation run by Moscow-based former Florida cop John Mark Dougan. Now @washingtonpost.com says it's seen documents that show Dougan has been directly working with Russian military intelligence. washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

The sheer volume of coverage given to stories about landlords, shareholders and people sending their kids to private schools, possibly having to pay just a little bit more in tax, tells you everything you need to know about what the priorities of the British press really are

I have to admit I could watch painting restoration videos all day long.

See also this, from the estimable farrukh (a top video guy, well worth a follow if you don't already...) bsky.app/profile/impl...