Sort of dizzying to think about how many people are alive today because Patricia Hewitt (ban on smoking in enclosed spaces) was health secretary and because Norman Fowler (mandatory seatbelts) was transport secretary and health secretary (HIV/Aids).
Sort of dizzying to think about how many people are alive today because Patricia Hewitt (ban on smoking in enclosed spaces) was health secretary and because Norman Fowler (mandatory seatbelts) was transport secretary and health secretary (HIV/Aids).
UK may not have 'drawn line in right place' when it applies ECHR, justice secretary Shabana Mahmood tells peers - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
It's been that way for some time
I'm beginning to worry about the wider "left" in general. It's mildly concerning that free speech is considered a right wing issue to a lot of people, and that a lot of people don't see the problems with coerced speech.
If Donald Trump presented Xi with a stuffed Pooh Bear I'd forgive him for anything.
Today I learned that Bluesky has a very aggressive China-booster contingent that will mob you for mocking Xi when he talks about living forever. I had no idea that laughing at dictators who dream of immortality is one of the deadly lib sins.
It's worth following Vance just to see what he thinks is noteworthy for Bluesky users. It's nearly always trolling but it's selective.
Farage is apparently speaking to Congress in his capacity as a spokesman for GB News.
I get your point though, still a 'big thing' if not on the scale of Obama's public victory.
Rep. Jamie Raskin tears into Nigel Farage as a "far-right pro-Putin politician" and a "Donald Trump sycophant and wannabe".
Worth pointing out that Sunak wasn't elected by the public.
Nigel Farage is claiming to Congress that the UK gov deliberately withheld details of the Southport attacker from the public. This is dangerous and it’s false. The attacker was under 18, and so a court had to give express permission to release his name in exceptional circumstances, which it did.
Nigel Farage’s Reform party let me know *today* that I was banned from attending its conference. I’m an accredited UK journalist who sent my media registration over in May. And now he’s told Congress he doesn’t do that. Full story: www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-w...
Angela Rayner provokes some truly unhinged coverage. But given the intense scrutiny she knows she’s under, this is an *insane* mistake (being generous) to have made, especially in combination with the family trust stuff on the Manchester house. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Sure but I doubt Lucy Connelly thought much about that.
(Actually I think this is the problem with social media - it very much is the same as a bloke sounding of to his mates. It's just it has the potential to reach far more people.)
Should a racist that says 'kick them out' be prosecuted because he used the word 'kick' implying violence which might be carried out by a listener?
So as per Helen's example, those with 'Decapitate TERFS' banners that received no censure should be sent to prison?
I'm aware but 'Incitement to violence' is a bit abstract. If every hypothetical reference to violence was prosecuted courts wouldn't be able to deal with anything else.
Strong “I dumped them first” vibes.
More than you'd imagine I fear.
The police are being asked to enforce what previously were laws of consent and policing 'good manners' using the blunt instrument of the law isn't possible. It's the job of social media platforms and wider civil society. That said European law is still wrong for criminalising gobshites like Lineham.
Indeed. Far too much worrying about Polanski, about Farage, about the Ipsos' issues index, about individual polling, and not enough on 'how can we deliver election-winning budgets and spending rounds in 2027-8 and 2028-9'.
The Lucy Connelly case is complicated as there's the context of the riots at the time. This was the case with excessive sentencing in 2011. That said I broadly agree with your points, it's the result of well intentioned but stupid hate speech laws which need to go.
Graham Linehan thinks I'm a "cynical, careerist hack" because I don't share his views. I think he's an obsessive, rude jerk. But I also don't think that should be illegal. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The ubiquity of porn, no other reason
Malcolm Gladwell on transwomen in the female category. 'Im ashamed ... I share your position 100% & I was cowed.' 'I was objecting in a dishonest way.' 'If we did a replay ... it would be ... near unanimity ... that trans athletes have no place in the female category.' 👏 youtube.com/shorts/O7bfm...
Rarely go on X, have they all come here now?
Bluesky is not a serious place
I'm watching The Gone, it's a bit meh. Richard Flood is a really dull lead, lacks charisma to be the main main.
Ha ha, I'm sure I'm on it then
Delighted to see Mulholland Drive has made the BFI's top 10 list of greatest films www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...
👇
Ha, I downloaded that a few days ago. Still not looked at it. Let me know how you get on!
Joking aside I did say at the time it was unfortunate that the Left's moment came and it was Jezza as the torchbearer and not someone like Tony Benn who would have been far better at implementing a programme.
Personally I find him a bit dull but as others have pointed out we did of course have Jeremy Corbyn which chimes with the current vibe. Silly of me to forget.
Twll reminded me, not sure how it slipped my mind (repressed memory) bsky.app/profile/twll...
God, how could I forget. That said, isn't he too lacking in charisma to be a populist?
Some might say Blair but he was popular without being a populist.
Are Labour the only major political party in the UK that hasn't had a populist leader?
Okay, you are being stupid
So he should give an answer?
He's not focusing on it, I suspect he was asked about it and gave an answer. What do you think he should do instead if asked?
Have you been called a Nazi on Bluesky today?
Glinner's problem is too much time on X. He's gone quite mad but he isn't a terrorist.
Indeed. All hate speech laws need to go. I thought they were stupid when they were introduced.
DON'T LOOK HIM IN THE EYES
Okay, you are clearly mad. Muted.
Arresting glinner for mean tweets is bananas crazy. Cheering it on, then joking about curb stomping terf jaws in the next breath, is even wilder
What is a Nazi?
Fucking hell, really?
Get a prescription for your meds, you're off them and it's not helping
Why are Sky News blurring the faces of adults who are likely committing a racially aggravated offence in the process of their reporting? 🫠
Build, build, build isn't much use as mantra if you then leave the new homes sitting empty for a year or more while the Building Safety Regulator gets round to approving them. This process used to take a matter of days when local authorities were in charge of it. news.sky.com/story/bluesk...
The Lebanese government must be under no illusions as to the dangerous path it is now treading. But the status quo cannot hold, Oz Katerji writes.
I had bailiffs collect over £400 off me recently as I'd forgotten to top up my Dartford crossing account and gone over. Why can't the same ruthless efficiency be employed elsewhere?
Fly tipping in Haringey is out of control. This was tonight in Coppetts Road. Full removals being dumped in the middle of the street. It happens because there’s no deterrent. I’ve seen people doing this and given car registration to Haringey council but they do sweet FA.
I worry that the decades it took to build anti-racism norms are unravelling quite quickly. Clearly the protests/social media drumbeat has created a permission structure that makes people think they can behave like this. Hard to see how it can be easily re-bottled.
I don't know why politicians are scared to call this stuff out, Musk isn't popular. bsky.app/profile/matt...
Another regular day over at X where Musk is retweeting Steven Laws of the fascist organisation Homeland Party and is spouting far right extremist propaganda about remigration. #mainstreamingextremism
He's the one with the Cambridge degree, not me :-)
The progressive approach inews.co.uk/opinion/jd-v...
Of course, I agree with the condemnation of those who are using the English flag as a means of dividing people. But are people on this site *really* criticizing Starmer for pride in the flag? If you want to be head of a country's government, that's kind of a prerequisite.
bsky.app/profile/matt...
Indeed bsky.app/profile/matt...
10 months in U.S. immigration detention made a Russian antiwar activist do the unthinkable: ask to be sent back to Putin's Russia, knowing terrorism charges awaited him. 🧵The U.S. Immigration system broke Leonid Melekhin so completely that a Russian prison seemed like mercy
A picture of the moon could be a plate thrown in the air but it probably isn't
I was replying to a mutual on here who understood, it wasn't meant for you. Now fuck off. bsky.app/profile/matt...
Before I reply to someone saying something obviously stupid I take a cursory look at their timeline to see if they mean it. I suggest the outraged gender critical feminists replying here do the same.
There are some in Parliament with their head screwed on right. The following Facebook post from NE Derbyshire Labour MP for one. More like this please!
You're not very bright are you?
UK politicians have nothing to fear calling Elon Musk out, he isn't popular. Why are they so tepid?
On the same theme I highly recommend this. I read it after hearing good things from Arthur C Clarke and it chilled me to the bones. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compute...
If you enjoy… Weekends Safe working conditions Retirement benefits Paid vacations Breaks at work Sick leave Paid holidays … then you’re part of the labor movement. Happy Labor Day.
Shooting down a Russian plane with Putin onboard isn't off the table if they're targeting Western politicians?
They've changed the homepage, it no longer shows the 5 most blocked people. Probably because JD Vance aside they were all liberals and it didn't look good.
Reading the comments it seems they were trying to inject an anti-racist message (I think that sort of makes sense if you watch) but ... Jesus Christ.
Fucking hell, I don't remember this! Incredible what was on TV back then 😬 www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLZg...
Just googled Tim Brooke-Taylor for his union jack waistcoat. I had no idea he was another Covid victim. Sad to hear, I loved The Goodies as a kid. RIP ❤️
I really hope English refs clamp down on Yanks rolling up the sleeves of their jerseys so they look like basketball shirts.
Interesting thread that degenerates swiftly into insults, proving its point. The window of discourse has shrunk to a peephole.
Keir Starmer just managed a "further and faster", a "hard yards" AND a "delivery, delivery, delivery" in two sentences now on the BBC. Also, we are now in the "second phase" of his government (the total number of phases is very much TBC).
What was the purpose of abusing someone you don't follow, don't know and hasn't said anything offensive?
Maybe we could have an island somewhere for housing the world's sex offenders. It could be self funded by tourism.
I'm not sure much is gained locking this weirdo up for 22 years but it's a good example of someone that could be deported immediately, saving a lot of money. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...
How would I do that?
Thanks!
What do you use for that?
Wow www.theguardian.com/football/202...
For the Americans on here that's not a million miles from being true.
Getting a lot of “every month someone says Bluesky is dying lol” responses. Here’s the number of accounts that posted to Bluesky on the last day of every month this year: Jan: 1,060,541 Feb: 1,032,002 March: 861,309 April: 813,441 May: 674,088 June: 695,699 July: 686,058 Aug: 604,333 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If I were trying to win elections and arguments, I simply would be doing everything I could to move UK political conversation away from a website run by an avowed enemy who believes and writes this stuff about me:
