Birthday legend…

@lesleyriddoch.bsky.social You were brilliant on R4 tonight. Here in Wales we are full of hope and relieved. We hope to follow in Scotland's path. So annoying when BBC describes Plaid and SNP as 'falling short' of a majority. London has not clue about our electoral systems. Grrr!

Addawodd Llafur y byddai eu ‘partneriaeth mewn grym’ yn gweithio er lles pobl Cymru. Ond am ffars fu hynny. Am yn rhy hir, mae Llafur wedi cymryd Cymru’n ganiataol a heb sefyll dros ein cymunedau. Dim ond Plaid Cymru sy’n cynnig gobaith ac arweinyddiaeth newydd i Gymru.

I am quite certain @zackpolanski.bsky.social is a better guardian of my Jewish values than Keir Starmer who said it was appropriate to cut off water from a people subject to genocide.

One of the most remarkable achievements in modern political history has been the emergence of "anti-establishment, anti-elite, people's army" parties - committed to "bringing back the nation-state" - that are led, directed & financed by the richest, most privileged & most mobile people on the planet

Dear media, when the President of the U.S. uses words like ‘fuck’ and ‘bastards’ it’s your duty to quote them accurately, no matter what your ‘rules’ about using them yourselves are. Stop the euphemisms. Don’t say ‘drop the F bomb’.

Labours attitudes towards water companies is one of the starkest examples of how they'll do anything to protect the status quo. The case for water nationalisation is so bloody obvious to everyone - yet they'll do anything they can to keep the failed privatisation experiment.

Your 3-minute guide to today’s asylum policy changes

No, Shabana Mahmood, people seeing failing state support and crumbing infrastructure don't have either legitimate concerns or a legitimate grievance against immigrants, refugees or asylum seekers. They have a legitimate grievance against governments.

Six years ago, his principles were entirely different.

What will happen. Mahmood will continue to try and ban legitimate protest against the Israeli genocide; Streeting will continue to play to the fascist gallery by denying trans existence; and Labour will continue to haemorrhage voters. Starmer is too weak to change either.

G&D and Caerphilly painting quite the picture about how the public really feel about Reform - despite much of the media’s desperate attempts to persuade us that a Farage premiership is inevitable come the next GE.

@ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social If one more Westminster commentator describes the May elections as 'local', I will scream. We are having national elections in Cymru and Scotland. You know who you are...

If one more Westminster commentator describes the May elections as 'local', I will scream. We are having national elections in Cymru and Scotland.

This was exactly the message they were putting out in Caerphilly right up until the day of the by-election ......when they ended up 3rd place and 36% behind Plaid Cymru

Telling me the Greens are like Reform won’t make me think that the Greens are like Reform, it’ll make me think you’re desperate. And morons.

My cocker spaniel gives a new meaning to the term 'bed blocking'...

Under Starmer, recognised refugees can no longer reunite with their children. Recognised refugees. Denied the right to reunite with their children. It’s diabolical. Worse than anything the Tories did. & no, the racists are not & never will be satisfied. So yes, he’s hated.

diolch yn fawr iawn

Labour only has emotional blackmail left. Green by-election candidate Hannah Spencer has a suggestion: "How about you actually just do something to make people vote for you?"

@thecidershedpod.bsky.social What a bitty episode on Sunday night. Pip is being rather presumptive in expecting a flash cruise for her birthday. She'll be lucky to get a Toblerone with 'Phillipa' on it and garage flowers. Also Pip doesn't think that sea travel has evolved since the Mayflower.

@brutalismbot.com Flaine

Starmer is in pole position for the next FIFA Peace Prize.

@bbcradio3bot.bsky.social Am raglen arbennig y bore ma. Nadolig Llawen! What a wonderful programme for Christmas morning. Diolch yn fawr!

Labour are dancing to the tune of Reform's cruel agenda on asylum. These proposals, including confiscating personal belongings, will punish people who have already endured unimaginable hardship and will create further divisions in our communities. Plaid Cymru rejects such performative cruelty.

@marina-purkiss.bsky.social Hey Marina, I have found the perfect wine for we Trawlers! 😝

@marina-purkiss.bsky.social Hey, I found the perfect wobr for Trawlers! 😝

@bbcnewsnight.bsky.social Why are you focusing on tourists and not asking Jamaicans about their experiences during the hurricane?

Interested in learning Welsh at beginner level? The Carmarthen course starts on Tuesday, so there is still time to register!

Helsinki-based Scots filmmaker Gavin Hanigan & myself have spent a week filming to tell Finland’s incredible story. Despite famines, wars, a meter of sea ice half the year & the perennial threat of Russia, these modest people are quietly top performing. A great model for Scotland

Re the "march" in London. For contrast...in2022 aprx 10,000 people marched peacefully & inclusively for "yes cymru" in Cardiff so ABT 0.33% of Welsh 3m population....0.33% of England's 58m pop is abt 200k people. So circa 100k, a lot less turned out in London relative to pop.

I'll say this for Kash Patel compared to the rest of the US administration: At least he *looks* like a man who is incredibly aware that he has been promoted far beyond his ability, and is terrified that he might get found out. I wish this level of self-awareness was more widespread.

Is Wales too small to be independent? Or is the UK just too big to listen? ✍️ Owen Williams

Presenter and campaigner, Jess Davies, has criticised Keir Starmer's calls for migrants to the UK to speak English, and not any of the UK's other languages, highlighting the double standard for those who live in Wales and don't learn Welsh

Nicely put.

‘Imagine the potential if there was freedom to express and discuss ideas in languages ​​other than English - the discoveries and creativity could be astonishing’

Cyrrhaeddodd hwn yn y post heddiw. Cyffrous! Look what arrived in the post today. Exciting!

Has anyone noticed how Labour and Tories are completely aligned on reductions in benefits? When I see their respective spokespeople on TV I find it hard to differentiate between Tory and Labour. They look and sound identical. There is another way.

Trident - Is it moral, is it independent of US weapons & is it a deterrent? Will the Democrats confront Trump in Congress? Michael Sheen's million pound debt write off changed lives in S Wales. Can he change the system? Those are the headlines. Podcast on lesleyriddoch.com/podcast

Labour is set to make billions of pounds of welfare cuts to the most vulnerable in our society. The Secretary of State for Wales was willing to stand up to such “despicable” Tory cuts in 2015. Where have her principles gone?

Shocking to discover how many UK businesses are either wholly or part-owned by US companies, including: Boots Waterstones Asda Pret a Manger and many more... Time to boycott!

@warringtonruncorn.com Just booked for the Cardiff gig. Can't wait.

Starmer debasing himself in front of Trump is sickening, but it puts an end once and for all to the idea that there was ever such a thing as the 'special relationship'.

It does seem to me that the cordon sanitaire on the British right has collapsed over the last few months. Openly racist and fascist interlocutors are treated as having a valid contribution and there’s the use of some very sinister language by the Conservative leader…

Denying refugees citizenship simply on the grounds that they arrived here “illegally” on small boats *when there are no legal routes* for most to use takes cynicism to new heights. If Govt thinks such performative cruelty will see off Reform, they’re wrong - it’s more likely to strengthen it

Cyhoeddwyd fy llythyr ynglŷn â'r cynllun Wylfa Newydd yn yr Financial Times heddiw. A letter that I wrote to the Financial Times about the Wylfa Newydd plan was published in today's issue.

My letter in The Times today setting the record straight on Wylfa and the Welsh language. Protecting and promoting the language is essential for the cultural and economic future of our island. It should not be used as a scapegoat for government failure.

1 YEAR OF 20MPH There were around 100 fewer people killed / seriously injured on 20/30mph roads. Casualties from July-Sept was the lowest Q3 figures in Wales since records began. Over the year the number of casualties on 20/30mph roads is 28% lower than the year before. Good policy making.

The first colour episode of Ivor The Engine was broadcast on this day in 1976 (the original black and white series aired on ITV during the late fifties).

My view at breakfast today. Not bad!