An awful lot of people, from immigration, to planning, to tax & benefits to anything else in politics - are simply not interested in reality if it means they have to revisit their opinions. It’s pretty bad
Optimistic but pragmatic. Data & Analytics enjoyer. Derby County and Bromsgrove Sporting supporter
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An awful lot of people, from immigration, to planning, to tax & benefits to anything else in politics - are simply not interested in reality if it means they have to revisit their opinions. It’s pretty bad
If you appear to mock or criticise this second group - which I think it’s clear Labour are terrified of - is where the problems start, but also by being too cautious here it starts to look, probably fairly, as terrible communications/management
The issue as I see it, its a conflation between 3/4. Certainly now, the motivation for some, possibly most, with the flags/roundabouts is creating an atmosphere of intimidation or encouraging an argument. But also some people - quite innocently - like flags AOTS. Its trashy I think but not malicious
Empathy seems in short supply nowadays, but surely people can see that there really is no difference at all in the motivations for someone who is an “economic migrant” coming from Syria to Britain, as someone from Britain moving to Dubai
Another potential economic migrant then, eh
This by @samfr.bsky.social absolutely nails the madness of government comms going out on X. (Full list of questions and answers for those with a subscription below. I ask the first Q) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/w...
Concerned mothers etc etc
Ive been thinking the difficulty is to get the balance right. Some of the flags & a lot of the rhetoric is driven by bad intentions, but how do you push back on that whilst not tarring everyone with the same brush and also bring people with you. Then you see this, and JFC, we’re going to a bad place
That’s another September where the transfer window slams shut
I do agree with some posts that his wording could be better. But just pretending to not understand peoples concerns or thinking everyone who likes the flags are a problem just because some of course are - I don’t think it gets him anywhere
People tend to not want groups of blokes wandering around towns during the day just killing time. It’s not ideal, irrespective of if they are English, foreign or anything else. Ideally you just want people being productive and going about their lives doing something more useful. I don’t see an issue
On the hotels, there was one near me. And obviously you just ended up with small groups of men wandering around the area or the town centre. Nothing wrong with this per se, and nothing implied - but I don’t think it’s wrong to think that’s not ideal
If you don’t like the people in hotels, that’s a problem, if you just think it’s shit people are in the hotels full stop, I think that’s OK. Similarly, some people want flags to create a narrative & an atmosphere, some just like flags - that’s OK. Finding the middle ground & nuance here is fine IMO
FWIW, I don’t think Starmer suggesting he understands why people ideally don’t want to be living near asylum hotels, or that liking national flags isn’t all bad, is particularly a problem. The right would have everyone think this is all very black and white with no nuance, and it clearly isn’t
Maybe I’m being too generous or naive, but I think it’s important to try and hold the middle ground on this. I understand Starmer will be criticised, but appearing holier than thou on this I don’t think is a great look, and is easily targeted by the usual right wing journos
Similarly there are two types who are anti 1) “woke” brigade calling everyone who likes flags as thick racists 2) don’t really like it, but understands that many who like the flags aren’t xenophobic I feel the issue here is the extremes on both sides. I don’t think its wrong to apply some nuance
The problem here - and I see this where I live and there are lots of flags - the people that are pro are in two camps 1) right wing, nasty, creating a narrative. 2) just normal people who don’t associate it with a political message
We’re at the stage where childcare for ~4M under 5s is thought a lesser issue than 50k people a year coming here. 100% objectively mental. The people who wanted to weaponise this entire issue to frighten and whip up hate have totally succeeded
They know it wouldn't solve "small boats" or anyway don't care much whether it would or not; they know it'd cause a problem for Northern Ireland, and don't really care. But they'll claim any fake upside and deny every real downside, because what they really do care about is Brexit 2.0.
How modern “news” works; 1) Get a think tank or some other bullshit org to produce any old nonsense 2) Partisan outlets can then report as “experts say x” Like with Brexit, this bullshit would eventually crash into reality. And like with Brexit, the damage will be largely due to how it’s reported
And that’s before you consider how much they sneered at people on benefits, single mothers, football fans, “chavs”, “yobs” etc
The Telegraph claiming to care about the white working class. To anyone who cared, the lack of attainment for white working class boys has been clear for over a decade, whilst they have also championed trickle down economics & cheered on austerity since well before Cameron implemented it. Spare us
Didn’t you call them chavs and yobs for 20 years until you realised you could ventriloquise your posh-boy racism through them?
The “4 star hotels” is a classic. The average person probably stays in a 4* hotel on holiday, so creating this reference point - as the Right do - seems easy. To anyone thinking about the subject, the comparison with asylum seekers being housed here & a holiday to the Med, it’s such obvious bollocks
Credit to @lbc.co.uk for doing segments like this, it’s important to detail facts and highlight nuance. Of course, a lot of the points raised have a kernel of truth, but are frequently quite significantly warped or misrepresented, purposefully, as this sets a narrative the right would like to
Something constantly missed when people say “why don’t they stay in France”. Most do. France takes WAY more asylum applications, well over 50% more compared to Britain
The people who write, publicise or suggest this in newspapers, radio or TV know this, of course. They just want to fan the flames with the thickos of the general public. Unfortunately this is the environment created by all governments of the last 30 years, if everyone could just be honest
Farage realised long ago, for the people that support him and even the people that might, there is absolutely no need for consistency, honesty or reality - it’s not what they are looking for
A rightly angry piece. Starmer urgently needs to sort his shit out on immigration and asylum.
People repeatedly saying “there are no plans for supporting infrastructure” and basing all their opposition on this, but when you read the draft documentation, it has a lot of mentions of infrastructure. I mean there’s no guarantee it’ll be built, but to deny it’s even a consideration is just wrong
Quite deep in a few FB debates on planning, there are plans to build 2.5k houses on greenbelt land in my town. It’s quite staggering how much opposition is justified based on pure misunderstanding. Difficult to tell if this is wilful ignorance or genuine confusion. Makes the whole thing quite toxic
I’m not amazingly well travelled, but I’ve been to enough places to realise that countries that have lots of huge pictures of their political leaders around the place, are normally the most disturbed
“After carefully considering the legal, moral, economic, diplomatic and humanitarian implications I have decided that being a member of the ECHR is no longer compatible with my lifelong ambition to be selected for a Tory safe seat….”
In all seriousness though, framing any debate or conversation around changing or updating our, quite frankly, ludicrous tax regime as “theft” is just incredibly damaging to public discourse
Given the Conservatives damaged the economy, decimated public services and STILL got to the highest tax burden since 1945, not only is this incredibly toxic to public debate, it’s just taking the piss tbh
It shows such a basic lack of political understanding that Labour didn't go straight on the attack over this. Just because most people are worried about immigration being too high it doesn't mean they're psychopaths.
Time for total honesty on Brexit & Farage isn’t it
The ever-eloquent @rafaelbehr.bsky.social pointedly refusing to mince his words on what Farage has done for us. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Yeah, will 100% be this. Bullshit simplism, that either isn’t challenged or explained or if it is it becomes a footnote. Then in 5 years when we’re all worse for it, the same sort of credulous people who voted for Brexit and now regret it will be asking themselves the exact same questions
I miss reading some of the accounts I used to follow on that site immensely, but christ, that thing became a cesspit in 2024. Can only wonder as to how bad it is now
"The idea she was the PM's political prisoner, or had an 'unfair trial'? She pled guilty!" Lucy Connolly - jailed for a race-hate post after Southport - is being used to criticise the British judicial system by the right.
I guess he knows from a decade ago, the only consequences of him lying to and misleading the public seem to be positive for his reputation and finances, so, here we are again
I mean….. bsky.app/profile/benq...
Farage and UKIP were given a ludicrous platform to push for Brexit, for which they now inexplicably face no consequences, yet broadcasters and the public are making the exact same mistakes all over again with him and Reform
Correct
The more I think about it, the most pressing issues this country faces are around energy security, infrastructure and planning reform - all enormous enablers for progress and growth. But instead we’re sat debating how we manage and process 40-50k asylum seekers a year. It’s mad
The frustration with this, the more airtime this issue and Farage gets, the less interest and focus gets spent on less emotive but much more important issues
2) People in Britain need to be confronted with the genuine choice, you can reduce immigration but we will get lower economic growth, and worse health and social care. Or we can determine what is an acceptable level to compromise across all those things, but we can’t have them all
Two things that it would be very useful to have most people in the country understand which would lead to a more constructive debate; 1) In the grand scheme, the number of asylum applications is incredibly low. It’s something to address, but it’s not the cause of all our ills
I don't care what Farage or others who say they have a simple immigration solution claim, the UK can't just walk out of international commitments without massive economic and political damage, that's a lesson of Brexit. Globalisation. We don't actually have full sovereignty.
I was in Pembrokeshire, near Tenby, last week for the 3rd year running, and once again it was absolutely glorious. Such a beautiful place
Troy Deeney being pushed to the edge of violence on Celebrity SAS is fantastic television tbh
He is so, so, mind numbingly stupid
something very funny about the very very serious tone of the off-the-record Nottingham Forest briefing to the BBC about how offended they were by a TRULY DISGUSTING banner And then you read what the banner was saying
It is as simple as this. People are either for people advocating hate and inciting violence, or against it wherever it comes from, without exception. I guess we know where the Telegraph, Sun, Pearson and large parts of the right are now, if we didn’t already
Orange Warburtons, butter, grilled smoked bacon and HP brown sauce. Does it get any better?! Don’t think it does
And that’s before the moral inconsistency of thinking this woman as a victim, but people potentially dying in the channel as just “so be it”. Just totally mad
Have thought similar reading all this nonsense. I don’t see how asking for a white, middle class admitted criminal to NOT face the consequences of her actions, is evidence of “two tier justice” against her. It’s bonkers
She’s just a nasty, lying racist. The information from her case proves as much. Shame on anyone trying to make a martyr of her. Says all you need to know about them
Of course it needs addressing, but people seriously need stop and ask themselves, is something that brings 30-50k people a year into a country of 70M really the cause of so many issues? Of course it isn’t. It’s totally illogical to assume so and shows just how unserious this issue has become
Someone who pleaded guilty to an offence and ended up in prison lecturing the ex-DPP on “what the law is”. That newspaper, Pearson and anyone who buys into this nonsense, is mental
Another wallet inspector
Brexit has impaired our ability to manage our borders. Leaving the European Convention on Human Rights will impair it further. And our ability to combat crime. We need shared data, intelligence and cooperation. The opposite of the case made by many on the right. Yet we let them define the field.
“Northampton childminder”. Woman who pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred, an equally accurate description
Right wing papers used to pride themselves on being pro law & order. In 2025 they encourage their readers to feel sympathy for minor criminals because they are middle class & white, but have limited to no sympathy for men, women & children drowning in oceans because they are brown. Morally repugnant
Given the squad is evidently much better than what we ended last season with, the lack of quality and confidence is very concerning. If I were Eustace, I’d be worried #dcfcfans
*they want to
Feels like debating IHT in isolation of income tax thresholds, gifting thresholds, CGT is a problem. It would be good to have a government brave enough to look at all of it
For example, if someone had £500k in non-property assets, currently this would have £175k payable at 40% - but what if we allowed that money to be gifted with maybe a 20% tax prior to death. It would be a useful way to deal with age based wealth inequality, and would presumably support growth
If some are so interested in lowering or getting rid of Inheritance Taxes because they are ant to leave money to their kids, wouldn’t a novel solution be to make it more tax efficient to gift this money whilst alive as opposed to waiting until you’re dead?
What I do find curious is that most of the people who are aggressively against IHT, a lot of time, it seems fair to assume they wouldn’t even be affected by it given only 4% of estates currently are. It does show that it’s more of an emotional debate than a logical one for many
The 100% point is obviously a facetious one, but a debate around IHT vs Income tax is fair. It’s unconscionable to me you’d reduce IHT if that resulted in increased income tax, the debate should be the other way, and anyone genuinely “pro growth” should see these arguments
I mean, people in govt must know this is bad. Reducing legal immigration hits the economy whilst for many reasons the boats will continue. They must know this is bad & unsustainable. But designing policy or communicating to make it better is very difficult given a vocal minority dont want to hear it
Every govt since Brown has ultimately failed because it tried to appease idiots. Most bad policy decisions are seemingly designed to appeal to morons who dont understand trade offs or second order impacts. That said, I’m not totally sure we have the political & media environment to break the cycle
I mean, if anything is “two-tier” it’s that sort of mentality
The same sort of people who have sympathy for Lucy Connolly, claim to have little to no sympathy, or might actually see as an acceptable outcome, that people die in a dinghy in the open ocean. Brains turned to mush. And how can you put it down to anything other than racism and/or xenophobia
The Sun literally dedicating its front page to cheerlead for a racist. Utterly disgusting.
Is useful to reflect on exactly what this “victim” did and pleaded guilty to
This woman committed an offence, admitted her guilt in court and was sentenced accordingly. That anyone thinks she should be treated differently as she’s a white, middle England mother, is the only suggestion of “two-tier” justice
How did you vote in the Brexit Referendum ladies?
Woman 1 moves to Spain because Britain is full of foreigners. Woman 2 loves the cheaper cost of living, is basically an economic migrant. Again - a big challenge any govt face is just how stupid some of the British public that need appeasing actually are
First woman moving because of the foreigners, second one seems like an economic migrant due to cost of living. Incredible stuff
On any given day it's impossible to work out if the US is leaning toward withdrawing from Europe entirely, give Ukraine B-52 bombers, or signal to Putin he's got the green light to advance from the Donbas to Stockholm.
The problem with performative politics, is sooner or later your performance smashes up against your own actions and record. What fun
John is a fascinating & incredibly thoughtful man, this was brilliant, just a superb listen. I was very emotional listening to this today, but I couldn’t really pinpoint how or why. It’s very moving to hear someone speak with such clarity and honesty. I hope John can continue to be kind to himself
Had a long-ish drive to work and back today and listened to Ross Noble on the way there and John Robins on the way back (probably the right way round!). Honestly, both absolutely superb, for totally different reasons. Two of the best podcasts I’ve listened to for a long, long time. Thank you!!
I mean, it must be a problem for every country, but a constant problem with Britain is how it has to deal with & appease idiots like this. Where do you even start with people like this. You could explain in explicit detail why he’s talking utter shite, and he wouldn’t shift his position at all
Oh look, the thing that would obviously happen has happened.
Sorry to read this, Sam. Wishing you the best of luck dealing with this setback
Maybe some people want to listen to these people, fuck knows who though
“The median pay of a FTSE chief executive climbed to £4.58m in the last financial year, up from £4.29m a year earlier, an increase of nearly 7%” Absolutely nothing baffles me more than CEO pay. In no scenario is a person running a company worth 120x of the avg employee. Its such obvious nonsense
Why do Utd have a foreign exchange student in goal? Looks like he should be ambling around Leicester Square with a selfie stick
Dorgu looks like a weird player. Simply cannot trust a wing back who’s over 6 foot. Something not right there. If he was any good, he’d play centrally
The current Conservative Party are a mess. Having pushed many of their supporters to Reform, they try to ape Reform to get them back, but just alienate anyone vaguely sensible on the centre right. It’s not even about a specific type of politics now, Philp is just flailing for any sort of reaction
Russian media are hailing the Alaska summit as a big win for Moscow: • “a tactical victory for Russian diplomacy” • “huge diplomatic victory for Vladimir Putin” • “Trump perceived Russia’s interests as legitimate.”
"Feeling angry is not the same thing as being right."
Dunno guys, maybe international diplomacy is harder than it looks from the shrimp buffet at Mar-a-Lago?
Trump is man so obsessed with his own deluded grievances, he can’t even stop to think about how stupid he sounds taking advice on election fraud from a dictator. You often think you see rock bottom with Trump, but this might really be it
The Art of the Deal
Shame on absolutely everyone who enabled this