People coming here now have nothing resembling a ‘golden ticket’. They have overt hostility and - if they get to work - brazen exploitation by employers who seem to think the normal employment rights don’t need to apply to them. It’s crushingly hard. Made harder every day by rhetoric like Mahmood’s.

Everything about the current 'debate' around this is dismal, not just morally but because it is so stupid. For example: It conflates asylum-seeking and illegal immigration (and sometimes with migration generally) It shows no understanding of why there is AS www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... 1/3

NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower in his diary on June 11, 1951, “Europe’s security problem is never going to be solved satisfactorily until there exists a United States of Europe."

“Climate change is already biting.” The outgoing Broads Authority chief, Dr John Packman, warns Norfolk’s wetlands can’t be saved by resisting the sea.

How have Labour watched the Tories spend 2-3 years parroting Farage then lose an election badly and conclude a similar strategy is the best course of action? I. Really. Genuinely. Do Not. Get. It.

I do get it. They are doing it because some of them have drunk the MAGA Kool-Aid and are turned on by it. We need the majority of the Labour Party membership - MPs included - who aren’t like them to cut the cancer out before it’s too late.

Late to this, but if the Sunday Times is correct that Morgan McSweeney spent one and a half hours last week with Lord Glasman then he isn't fit to fill any senior position in government.

High time the notion of parliamentary sovereignty was given proper limits. lf human rights are defined as what no one can take away from you, why should Parliament be able to do so? Or say a country is safe when it's not?

It seems the demonstration of even the most basic levels of compassion is a ‘pull factor’.

Deep breath, once more for those at the back, seeking asylum is not illegal. No matter route used, which considering Labour has closed pretty much all the last remaining alternatives means irregular ones. Anti-immigration sentiments are stoked by politicians like Mahmood, not people seeking safety.

This is flat out bollocks by the Home Secretary. Nobody is seeking asylum in UK for the joy of being crammed into an overcrowded and squalid hotel and forced to eat inedible food, which is the case for many hotels. The UK is not "generous" and it's not a prime destination for people seeking asylum.

Always remember that a parliamentary majority can (purport to) render a country "safe" by an Act. The Conservatives sought to do that with Rwanda, regardless of the facts.

Brexit detonated our economy and our politics. Since then, our country seems to have lost its mind, veering off to the right, reawakening the racism genie, ruining itself to try to hide the dishonesty and snowballing damage of it all. And now Farage could be PM ffs. Mindblowing self-inflicted idiocy

Uranus continues to appear close to the Pleiades. Binoculars needed to see it's slight bluishness. 🔭 🧪

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood: “On Monday, I will announce the most significant changes to our asylum system in modern times “ I never thought I’d reach the point where I dread an announcement like this from Labour.

As regards the upcoming UK budget the Chancellor should raise income tax (I say this as a British taxpayer in receipt of a state pension). It is the least regressive tax & is paid dependent on ability to pay 1p or 2p in the £ world be sensible. There should also be windfall taxes on billionaires

I know how they got to that point. Because we’re a few steps behind, living through the “getting to that point” right now in the UK.

75-year trend of October temperatures. It's as if something has changed. 🤔

Thank you for bringing us together at the gates of the Amazon dear @LulaOficial. As COP30 begins, you can count on Europe's full support. Brazil is showing great leadership. Whether it is about putting a price tag on carbon. Or fighting for our forests.

That the UK - one of the architects of this fund, designed to save the world’s forests - is now refusing to put any money into it is frankly shameful. Starmer’s claim that he still continues to back the fund is meaningless without resources - so much for climate leadership

When Reform and Tories are goose-stepping ever further towards ethno-nationalist extremism, planning mass deportations of immigrants and Farage talks of a returns deal with the Taliban, it would seem that many of the poppy-police have entirely forgotten what Remembrance Day is all about.

Stop. Policing. Poppies. That's. Not. What. Remembrance. Is. About.

I think you could abbreviate this to ‘watch likes of Goodwin’.

The SNP has renewed its call for disgraced Baroness Michelle Mone to be stripped of her peerage after it emerged that a company linked to her and her husband owes £39 million in tax

In this splendid photo from Valerio Minato three wonders were captured in a single shot: - the Basilica of Superga, located near Turin (Italy) - the Monviso, the highest mountain of the Cottian Alps - the setting Moon, captured in a crescent phase ➡️ apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap23122... 🔭 🧪 #sciart 1/2

Another 365 bites the dust 🥳 "The International Criminal Court (ICC) exchanges Microsoft 365 for Open Desk, a European open source alternative. This is what the German newspaper Handelsblatt writes. The newspaper expects the ICC to launch a trend within the European public sector with the switch."

A couple weeks ago a friend was telling me about someone she knew who had been on maternity leave, and said she had taken "the full year." I said, "A whole year? Wow, what kind of fancy job does she have that gives her a YEAR of leave?" and my friend looked surprised & said, "... welcome to Canada?"

Interesting question. There must be quite a few English examples, in addition to the Lakin which I cited in reply.

This www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJIk...

On the subject of the upcoming UK budget. The reason there is a c. 40 billion hole is due to the UK being taken out of the EU by Cameron, May & Johnson. The sensible medium term remedy is to rejoin the EEA, EU internal market & preferably the EU itself. The immediate solution is to RAISE

Kemi Badenoch is absolutely right about this. At the time she hacked Harriet Harman's emails it was an offence carrying a prison sentence of up to five years

Another important and thought-provoking discussion of national populism and how to counter it from @jydenham.bsky.social

🚨Almost 80,000 have now signed the petition. We are getting so close to 100,000🙏 For too long, the UK press have bullied people, harassed grieving families & destroyed lives, all to sell papers. Support the campaign to change the law by signing the petition👇 you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/a-...

So either Labour need to ask candidates to step aside for the Greens to take on Reform.... Or actually bring in a fair democratic process where everyone's votes count equally. It's time for Proportional Representation. www.thenational.scot/news/2558507...

It isn’t just that what Badenoch did was much worse in that it was a criminal imprisonable offence… but also because the responsibility was all hers…whereas Reeve’s agents have admitted it was their responsibility & fault that the licence was not applied for

Reform UK supporting Matt Goodwin says because we are broke taxes have to go up Brexit costs us £40 billion a year in lost tax income from trade with the EU, this is why we are broke If you vote for Reform you're voting for the same people who made us broke, to fix us being broke 🤷‍♂️ #BBCQT

Reluctant to give Question Time any time - save for this:

One question when it comes to the "censures" meted out by the King to his brother is what do with his coat of arms? Will we see a mark of disapproval in the from of an "abatement"? Perhaps some inverting arms, the emasculation of the lions or adding a shovelful of earth...

The billionaires don't need to give their money away (to corrupt charities that just syphon the money back to them). It needs to be taken away exactly as it was in the 1970's when the highest tax rate was 90% in nearly every county.

Joke politician. Joke party. Joke award ceremony. Joke magazine. None of this is serious-minded, responsible politics. It’s nasty culture war bullshit. An entirely partisan and unreflective celebration of the right’s descent into mindless extremism.

Lib Dems call for Katie Lam to be sacked - as Lam wins Spectator award after calling for mass deportations on cultural grounds - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Waiting for someone to explain why the announcement of a trade relationship that is worse than the one we had a year ago is received as a big success

Well that looks like an excellent reason to turn my television off

Last night's view of Comet Lemmon as it reached the treeline. Still very bright as it moves towards the Sun (and away from Earth) on its 1350 elliptical journey around the solar system. #astronomy #astrophotography @stormhour.com @photohour.bsky.social

Possibly my last shot of Comet Lemmon for another 1,350 years! C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is now passing the constellation of Serpens and getting very low as it approaches the Sun #astronomy #astrophotography @stormhour.com @photohour.bsky.social

Keir Starmer, "Shocking racism (from Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin) and it's the sort of thing that will tear our country apart" "And it tells you everything about Reform UK"

Can citizens and journalists unite to hold back authoritarianism and protect democracy? On 4th November at 7pm, join our live online event with: - George Monbiot - Nafeez Ahmed - Yasmin Alibhai-Brown - Nick Lowles Book now: bit.ly/BylinesHope

Hey guys! You know I'm not convinced that Nigel Farage is an entirely unbiased commentator on this.

Politico: "MPs should consider deleting X, according to a committee led by Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle... "On social media, the report said MPs should feel “empowered to step away from platforms that pose more harm than benefit.” Absolutely. Please get on with it.

This is not a reason to give up, it's a reason to double our efforts to end the fossil fuel era before it ends us. #climatecrisis www.theguardian.com/environment/...