The breadlines from Trump’s govt shutdown are enormous. Watching them on tv makes you think the Great Depression was colourised for a Netflix documentary. But this hunger is unfurling in the present tense, and there is no FDR in the wings. jmsmith.substack.com/p/2025-was-t... pic.x.com/nLwinZ0hEj

Harry Leslie Smith February 25, 1923-November 28, 2018 "I was born in a Barnsley slum on February 25th during the economically bleak winter of 1923. My working-class family were on a first name basis with poverty & hunger, so my beginnings weren’t auspicious but damning." ko-fi.com/post/The-Gre...

Let’s not forget that the Heritage Foundation hosted Lammy and Kinnock in NYC and DC in the run up to the 2024 election. The proxy for, amongst others, the Koch family helped draft Obamacare, adapted from the big Pharma dominated Swiss model, and is influential with Starmer’ and Streeting

As the moral vacuum of hate at the core of neoliberalism is exposed, it is clear that it does not offer renewal, but rot. Heritage foundation's embrace of extremism is the logical endpoint of an ideology that worships power and wealth while claiming to defend freedom. It will tear the right apart.

The British right, located in Tufton Street, London SW1, imported neoliberalism from the US wholesale: the think tanks, the slogans, and even the contempt for government. Now it is likely that it, and its spawn, Reform UK, will import the same collapse from the USA.

The NHS is on its knees.  It does not have enough money as a consequence of deliberate government policy, and people are still dying in corridors, Meanwhile, social care is rationed Carers are exhausted, undervalued, and unseen, and many of them are vilified and suffer racist abuse and violence

Housing in this country is treated as a speculative asset, and not as a human necessity. Rents and mortgage costs have soared. Households are being pushed to their limits as a consequence. And there are quite simply far too few social houses. houses have been built for investors and not for families

Millions of children go hungry in this country, and we are the sixth-richest nation on Earth. Free school meals are still being denied to many children who need them. Only the very youngest get them as of right. And food banks are serving millions of people with essential food supplies daily

And whilst the show goes on and the noise continues, the country is quietly falling apart behind the scenes. And that's what really annoys me about the news media;  we are not getting the news on what really matters. All because the neoliberals who caused this disaster profit from it

The news is lying to you — and Britain is falling apart behind the scenes we must reclaim the news for the Politics of Care: food, housing, health, and climate. www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...

While the media fixates on Trump, Farage and the Royals, Britain's children go hungry, families can't afford homes, and carers are exhausted This theatre of distraction keeps us angry but uninformed — it's purpose is to deflect attention from who & what has caused this, onto immigrants and the poor

The way the privatisations have been layered is a compete (sic) joke. A lot of this is to because of how the privatisations were done, with too much emphasis on setting up corporate structures and identities aimed at extracting vale rather than delivering services to users.

I think if you’re asking why the government never admits the case for renationalisation of our utilities , the answer is the hedge funds and their owners. These are the same people who effectively own our mainstream political parties, politicians and mainstream media.

Ovo Energy is preparing to slash tens of millions of pounds in costs under a radical plan to secure its survival. Another multi-billion-pound bailout no doubt looms, with the government still refusing to get the message that the UK's private utility supply model is fundamentally bust by design.

I cannot stand the political bullshit about hardworking families Why as a single person do I not matter? Why do the sick and disabled not matter? And what about all those so called economically inactive people, many of whom are doing unpaid care for children and elderly parents?

Associates and funders are already fleeing from the Heritage Foundation. Its embrace of deep misogyny and anti-Semitic neo-Nazism is the rock on which it is foundering, and which will break it, but with that, the whole far-right will fall apart.

When you build a political creed around self-interest, deregulation and the idea that markets should replace morality, the eventual collapse of moral boundaries is not an accident but a logical outcome. The neoliberal right first stripped ethics out of economics, and now out of politics

The Heritage Foundation hosted Lammy and Kinnock in NYC before the 2024 election. The proxy for, amongst others, the Koch family helped draft Obamacare, a copy of Romneycare and adapted from the big Pharma dominated Swiss model, and is influential in Starmer’s regime, especially with Streeting.

The government pretends it needs to borrow & is in debt During Covid Pandemic did the gov say they needed to collect in more taxes or borrow before they could pay out furlough? No, they simply created new money to make the payments, about £400 billion of it. www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...

Sir Keir Starmer has been specifically named in a UN report for complicity in Israel's genocide. The report states that the UK government played "a key role in military collaboration with Israel... a collective crime... with detailed knowledge and cooperation in the destruction of Gaza." 🧵

when was the last time we had a home secretary who wasn't a rancid bigot?

Labour MP for South Derbyshire Samantha Niblett 🥀 Niblett's profile is strong on - Cuts - AI and surveillance - Private-health linked donors - The arms industry - Israel and the UAE labourrightwatch.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/t...

Much of our working-class history has been erased by neoliberalism. It was done to make ordinary people more compliant with the everyday exploitation of the 1%. It’s why the compassionate socialism of Harry Leslie Smith, found in his life’s story and that of his generation, must be preserved.

The Times UK rich list 2025 said the combined wealth of the richest 350 families was £773bn. Not sure if you follow @equalitytrust.bsky.social definitely worth a follow. Also @positivemoneyuk.bsky.social

Two banks here that have made almost £10bn profit this year but hey, all our troubles are caused by people having to try and get here by small boats because the UK won’t instigate a safe routes policy that’s cheaper to administer than giving contracts to private donors for accommodation.

We have to reclaim the politics of care from these people who are only interested in the politics of power. It's time to say enough. The utter charlatans, the fraudsters, the falsehoods that they put forward, and the deceit behind their claims to be delivering for everyone.

In the richest country in the world just imagine it; whilst Trump is partying and celebrating, millions of Americans who have literally no margin for error in their household budgets are  suffering a reduction in one of their critical payments that makes it possible for them to feed their children.

while Trump was partying,  millions and millions of Americans were facing the possibility that their Social Security payments - the SNAP program payments that support them in essentials for life, including food - might not have been paid because of the close down by the Republicans of the government

Donald Trump's Great Gatsby–style party at Mar-a-Lago reveals everything about modern America — excess at the top, hunger at the bottom, and the deliberate cruelty of power without care. As millions faced cuts to essential payments, Trump partied www.youtube.com/watch?v=5id2...

Turkey issues genocide arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu When are we going to issue one for Starmer and the Labour party cabinet that have been aiding and abetting this Genocide for months www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Labour Party MP Darren jones said "that Labour had to prove to people that it was a “modern party facing the future, delivering for modern Britain” to win back progressive voters" What are Labour delivering exactly? Well they are delivering a genocide They are delivering Austerity

Labour MP says greens "will let their supporters down" Well fuck me the Labour Party have been such a resounding fucking success haven't they The cognitive dissonance of these fuckwits is stunning www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Labour MP Darren Jones says "The Green party is offering “simple solutions to complex problems” and making “undeliverable” promises to voters" Unlike the Labour party who offer pledges and then break them lie to us and make everything fuckin worse. Piss off Jones take genocide Starmer with you

No coincidences that the rich in Britain have grown their wealth, from 58 billion in 1990, to 580 billion this year... But shhhh they don't like you to mention it.. Look over there dinghies and brown people.

It shouldn’t be about punishing those who cannot work, or those who are working but struggling with the escalating cost of living: it should be about dismantling an economic system based on extraction and extreme wealth accumulation. That ultimately is what will serve the interests of working people

Average weekly earnings in August 2007 were £720 in 2025 prices. In August 2025, they were £735. During those 18 years, however, the cost of essentials for working households such as rent, energy bills, transports costs and council tax have increased massively, at higher-than-inflation rates

It’s worth remembering that taxing wealth isn’t just about raising revenue. It’s also a means of tackling the spiralling inequality that has a corrosive effect on democracy and allows for oligarchic concentrations of political and economic power.

Constrained by the debt & borrowing rules that she has imposed upon herself, the chancellor, Reeves, thinks she only has three options: take benefits from those who are unable to work; tax those who work and are already struggling to make ends meet; or ask the wealthy to pay a bit more Hard choice

All the signs suggest that the government will cling to a dangerous set of false choices at the budget later this month Rachel Reeves has unnecessarily blocked her options of what to include in her budget www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Now is a time of genocide when we became like the Nazis. Now is a time of fascism when we became like citizens of Germany in the 1930s. Now is a time of economic crisis because we ignored history’s warnings. Now is a time of xenophobia because we listened to the siren’s call of modern day Hitler’s.

October dies in its customary grey light. The sky is cold and overcast; a persistent drizzle will soak my shoes on this afternoon’s walk. I learnt long ago that when it comes to bargain-priced footwear, the word waterproof is more a hopeful wish than a fact.

The intolerance and racism of Europeans towards refugees disgusted my dad. He used his age, his status as a Second World War veteran and member of the so-called Greatest Generation, to make the case that refugees deserve compassion and sanctuary.

Hatred of migrants and refugees, especially Muslims, is not unique to Britain but is shared by Europe, the USA, Canada, and Australia — a by-product of neoliberalism, which needs scapegoats and targeted intolerance to survive.

Now is a time of genocide when we became like the Nazis. Now is a time of fascism when we became like citizens of Germany in the 1930s. Now is a time of economic crisis because we ignored history’s warnings. Now is a time of xenophobia because we listened to the siren’s call of modern day Hitler’s.

The real black hole in our economy & in our politics is the same.  It's the void where political honesty should be. Britain is not broke. It's been broken by design. We can fill the black hole in our politics and in our economy with truth, courage, and care. The money is there but courage is lacking

Courage means telling the truth. The truth about the government creating money when it spends, and it would mean admitting that austerity was always a choice and not a necessity. In other words, saying the government got it wrong in the past.

We could use fiscal capacity to rebuild public services and social trust. We could tax the wealthy to control inflation and rebalance the economy. We could end the pretence that the national debt is a moral problem when it is anything but that, because it's just a savings account.

Austerity was sold as responsibility, but in fact, it is plain, straightforward economic vandalism.  The media has echoed the Treasury's household budget analogy, parrot fashion, day in, day out, talking about maxed-out credit cards and other utterly meaningless things .

The constraint that exists within our economy is about real resources: people, physical resources, ability, and not cash in the bank.  When politicians claim there is no money left, they are lying or ignorant. Fiscal fear, though, is used to silence public ambition.

The black hole is in our social fabric not in the Treasury spreadsheets.  Decades of cuts have created scarcity where there should be abundance Governments that issue their own currency cannot run out of money; that's a fact that the Treasury ignores every time that they claim there's a black hole