Husband, proud father and grandfather. Irish EU citizen (and British). ex-Labour. Chartered engineer. Auditor. IT analyst.
249 followers 282 following 1,045 posts
view profile on Bluesky 
I wouldn’t have thought many Labour MPs came into politics to strip the rights of torture survivors to be reunited with the spouses & children. They need to take a long hard look in the mirror & ask whether Starmer, Cooper & Reeves are really the leadership their careers should be remembered with.
I stayed in 4 star hotels 4 nights a week for 20 years. I had the room to myself. I had the best food and wine available from room service. My room was cleaned and linens replaced every day. And I hated it.
Starmer is simply not the man to respond to this dangerous moment in history. Labour must get rid of him.
🤣
Starmer's Blue Labour is embedding Brexit and has red lines that prevent anything but tinkering around the edges of Brexit damage. They will hand a declining country over to the 2029 government. As Starmer won't back PR that government could easily be Reform.
It is Starmer bigging up things like immigration - and other things on the Reform agenda (that are also causing Labour's backing by lifelong supporters like me to plummet) - that will give us a Reform government. I don't want Blue Labour policies and I will not be voting for them.
🤣 That's not even a UK choice 😂
You are already rule takers 😄. UK is now docilely following EU rules and standards because EU is the very dominant regional power. It is really hard to think of anything UK is doing differently because of "Brexit freedoms". Oh except being a lot poorer - oh and importing unchecked food and goods.
The minor problem is Starmer's Blue Labour Brexit red lines make it impossible to make UK's current situation work. UK decided to leave EU but never endorsed Johnson and Starmer's hard Brexit that's causing so much damage to UK.
Attack Farage instead of reinforcing him. Reset the TCA by doing away with Blue Labour's idiotic red lines aiming for a new closest possible Brexit deal including SM and FoM. Radically change imbalance between capital and labour in our economy. Enact PR for all UK elections. Consequences all good.
You will probably be right if they aren't identified. Wrong if they are.
"Join" is not the only alternative to the current hard Brexit. Lots of other Brexits are compatible with the refewrendum. It is Labour's "Make Brexit Work" and idiotic Brexit red lines that will keep Brexit hard until we can #GOTL - get rid of Starmer's gang of fearful Blue Labour time wasters.
This attitude essentially hands control of a key UK foreign and economic policy to Farage, a man who cost the country £billions with his Brexit project and has only 4 MPs. Starmer has a massive majority. Time he got some courage and strategy instead of running scared of the extremist Right.
Tinkering at the edges by Blue Labour tied to a right wing authitarianism future we didn't vote for is not the CHANGE we actually voted for.
Everyone in government knows that Brexit was a tragic con. It's beyond belief that the PM thought it best to never be honest about it and just go along with the never-ending damage and now look at us!
@teamlabouruk.bsky.social rip the plaster off and call the reform nonsense what it is - balderdash! Or you are royally and most certainly fucked.
The only complication in Spain is EU citizens must register to stay longer than 3 months. Mostly this is not enforced but I think they might for the UK citizen. The Spanish consul told me to go to the police for an automatic visa for my wife to be sure.
There is no formal way to handle the 90/180 exemption and the UK passport will always be stamped. As long as you can prove the EU citizen always travelled with the UK citizen and they are married, there is no problem exceeding 90 days in 180.
Swanning up to the gate is how it works. I always present my wife's UK passport with mine and there is never a problem. My wife was nervous but on one occasion a border official told her to go with me and after that she has been confident.
exactly
Well, as a start, Starmer could stop talking about them so much. Basic rule of politics is to talk more about your strengths then weaknesses. I guess the problem is he has abandoned most of Labour's strengths.
Johnson won a landslide victory in 2019 and got 10% more of the vote than Labour got in 2024. Still the Tories fell. Labour got 34% in 2024 (which is more or less its core vote). Then Labour decided to drive away its natural supporters in favour of racists. Not going well.
No - but they are all starving
Feels all a bit Citizens Band radio and Dot com
I think I prefer both to lose tbh
it would have been a shock in 1956 as Perry died in 1858 😇
He definitely has your hair 😇
At the time I thought a key reason the Audit Commission was abolished was it regularly reported on the quality of Local Authority and public body services. If its work had continued the link between austerity and public services decline would have been clear. (I was an Audit Commission inspector)
I am deaf so that's a bit offensive
Nonsense
Labour governs like it has a majority of 2, there’s a VONC in the House next week and the general election is two months away.
The problem with Labour is it is impossible to know what you are. Starmer has no overall vision and his immigration stuff apes Reform. Blue Labour is ascendent and is right wing aping Trump a lot. Starmer has purged Labour's Left ruthlessly. Attacking benefits hamfistedly marks you as likely Right.
The price bands that determine stamp duty rates don't bring down prices so why should this? It is a tax pure and simple. And £500,000 is the price of a fairly basic house in lots of places so lots of non-rich people will pay it.
That is a really weird reply. Who said it was?
I think Vance wants to succeed Trump MUCH earlier than in 3 years. 😀
"No-one is able to hear anything else while immigration dominates the national conversation"? So STOP talking about it all the time. I used to do communications for Labour under Blair. First rule was talk about your positive issues. Do not enhance your opponent's big issue instead.
mRNA vaccines really are exciting and hopefully Europe will do more in research.
I've been a Labour member and voter all my life. But I'm not voting for your racist backing Blue Labour viewpoint. Not a chance. Starmer must go and you too probably.
Fair? Let them work and pay for their own accommodation. You don't so they have no choice. But (from someone who stayed in 4 star hotels for 75% of the time for work) no-one who has stayed in hotels long term wants to do it.
I am just not going to submit to blackmail again. I will vote for what I want. And that definitely isn't Starmer's genocide friendly Blue Labour.
If it this or fascism why is Starmer refusing to implement PR that his party wants? Is it to weaponise FPTP so I am blackmailed into voting for right wing, authoritarian Blue Labour?
Personal abuse like "Corbyn worshiping tankie twats" 🤣
Starmer has a huge majority. He could use it But he plays the 2029 game instead. It is sad.
I want the change Starmer lied to us about. He needs to turn away from Blue Labour to significant change. The electoral majority is there for the taking. But he doesn't need to wait until 2029. He has a massive majority. He could use it now.
No - I'm voting Green not Reform. I don't want to "show Starmer a lesson" I just do not want what he is offering. Blue Labour and Reform are bedfellows.
But none of the things delivered even scratch the surface of "Change". And most are unproven activities, not outcomes. Not to mention the strange prioritisation of xenophobic issues.
But really beating Reform is what Starmer should be doing. Instead all they offer (and all you offer) is blackmail. There really has to be a time when we vote for the significant change we want (not surrender to mediocrity, status quo, and authoritarian blackmail).
I want Labour to represent their supporters and deliver fundamental change (as promised). If Blue Labour get elected (knowingly next time) it will never happen. I don't want Reform and understand the dangers.
You are not my pal
I beg to differ. Quite a number of units seem to be near the White House.
"just a game for social media"? Me: 33 years a Labour member Branch Secretary, Branch Chair, CLP Campaigns Officer, MP Communications Officer, Labour candidate or Agent in many elections. GE Agent. Elected TU National Officer. Voted for Starmer to be Leader (now wish I hadn't). You: ?
"They've literally just increased the minimum wage." 😅😂🙃😁🤣 You really are part of the problem.
It is not me risking a Reform government. It is Starmer. Blame him. Not me.
I am not "teaching Labour a lesson". I don't want their brand of racism. I don't want Starmer's authoritarianism. I don't want their refusal to tax the rich but enthusiasm to fleece the poor. I don't want their embrace of Brexit. I abhor Blue Labour. Why (in God's name) should I vote for them?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
If we fall for this (Labour's) blackmail again we will get Blue Labour Tory-like extremism forever. We have to start voting for what we want and it is for Labour to offer that. If it doesn't we really have to risk a Reform government to teach Starmer and his kind that the blackmail has to stop.
Been waiting 45 minutes for the British members of my party to get through Málaga passport control. No sign yet. It took me 5 minutes through the EU gate. 🇪🇺
The EU makes life easier for millions of people across Europe – and beyond. 🎓 Erasmus+ 🛒 the single market 🚆 passenger rights 🗺️ travel without borders 💶 the euro These are just some of the ways the EU works for you every day. Learn more → europa.eu/!fc4bGR
My león dorado begs to differ
If it is whale bone covered in leather, I have felt it at my Jesuit school 😲
Unfortunately Starmer's Labour is little better
The right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence has gone in the USA I see
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli... An invisible PM in the shadow of Reform. No guts. No vision. No hope.
Good for you. I wasn't the boy and have no idea why you mentioned it. (I studied semantics). I have muted you for pointless pompous posturing. Bye.
A fairly ridiculous reply to be honest. None of this W-pedia download has the slightest relevance to the 20/21st century Irish meaning relating to England.
Perfidious Albion works for me 😇
Pretty well illustrated here. Says "Austerity, a chaotic Brexit and Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget led to more than a decade of stagnation" but no convincing alternatives offered. The article is empty of solutions but awash with platitudes. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Can't agree that the poll supports compulsary voting though. I have lots of duties that aren't mandated by legislation. I feel an equally strong duty not to vote for the Starmer/Reeves/Cooper triumvirate so would need a Labour Party option to make me vote.
Amazing to see that reform is way ahead of Labour in the polls But of course it isn’t given how useless the govt is they didn’t do any of the work pre 2024 and have done nothing to raise living standards or fix the nhs They seem totally lost Time to be bold & throw out utterly useless Rachel Reeves
Equally possible Trump will use them against Europe depending on the weather and if there's an R in the month? 😇
Did Madeley wear a mask when he was arrested for shoplifting?
I endorse every word of this letter from today's Guardian. @katiewhitemp.bsky.social
I had my wedding reception in a building in a public park in a Jewish area (49 years ago). As we walked in the locals sang to us in their strange language and danced for us in their funny clothes. It really made our day and I am smiling again as I think about it.
The problem for the government is also that Starmer/Reeves spent a year driving away its friends.
If so, the problem is no-one knows who they are or how to contact them. 🥴. The best way to do it is probably to wear a Palestinian flag and Starmer's stormtroopers will introduce you.
I think that's a right load of old codswallop
🤣but it took me a minute:)
Seems to be closer to terrorism than any Palestine supporting organisation has managed. I wonder when the Home Secretary will proscribe Reform?
Blue Labour's expectation is we will all - albeit reluctantly - return to vote Labour to prevent a Reform government in 2029. It will not happen in my case. Blue Labour and Reform look too alike.
Strange. The story doesn't say it was a PA vehicle. Nor does the story say any violence on persons was encouraged by PA. As this is clearly anti-PA propaganda, one would expect clearer evidence. To be honest I have never before heard of whips being used as weapons of protest. Feels like invention.
Government has got this spectacularly wrong. If an organisation is breaking the law, prosecute it. But arresting people for holding up signs is a waste of police time, it's increasing support for the organisation &, above all, it's a flagrant violation of free speech. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Ha ha. So basically Labour got all the bad PR for nothing. Morgan McSweeney needs to go.
Time to let broken water companies go bankrupt. Shareholders should have known the risk of paying themselves excessive dividends by borrowing. Lenders should have done due diligence. Nationalise them debt free. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion...
It only works once
But 34% of the vote is very precarious and is already drifting away. The issue will be uncertainty for a low morale Labour. The GTTO argument is less relevant in 2029 when Labour's cutting through issues paint them as Tory.
The people who will drive any change of leadership now are focused on the poor 34% popular vote not the majority. Starmer has no protective margin.
Yes please. I'm all in favour of an anti-Starmer coalition.
If they are an organised crime group then prosecute them for the crimes. Organised crime groups are not terrorist so don't pretend they are to silence protest about Gaza in the UK.
What an utter absurdity our Home Secretary has created - Destroying British free speech, right to protest and with it undermining democracy. It is not for the government to terrorise the public for political opinions they don’t want to hear.
"PhD-level experts in your back pocket" is a completely nonsensical description of AI but a pretty good description of social media if you follow the right people
The law allows, if it does not require, these arrests, because Palestine Action is proscribed. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/1... The demonstrations challenge the proscription, and therefore the government. And Parliament? The police? The Terrorism Act? Whose initiative are the arrests? Really
Proscribing Palestine Action can’t hold. They’re not a terrorist organisation, and nobody thinks they are. A vast (and increasing) swathe of the population support their cause. Policing requires consent and that requires a majority acceptance of the law, but most people think this law is an ass.
Handy if you'd had the clear vision before Brexit instead of scrambling to get one together now UK's options are significantly reduced.
Starmer's government is lost up its own authoritarian ass. Of course it is about Palestine. Starmer hates any protest against Israel. It is shameful.
Definitely on my bucket list
I agree. But I am unsure this is Starmer's purpose. Looks more like a visual text to Reform voters that Starmer has empathy with their views.
He is wrong to say stay with Starmer. Starmer is the problem.
None of which offer verifiable assurance. I am sorry, I have been professionally reviewing public sector assurance for several decades. Third party assurance cannot be relied on. On what basis does government assess assurance of third parties? Third parties who want to allow access for profit?
I have never gambled - online or off - so I don't know how it works in detail. But the level of assurance (of child protection) gained under the Online Safety Act is ludicrously low. So low as to make the Act dangerous by giving false assurance.
That depends on whether the degree of assurance delivered by industry led screening meets the (presumably) higher requirement of child protection against porn. How would that assurance be verified and who by?