@simonbazalgette.bsky.social
A few of my obsessions: Family, Brentford, The Fall, Horseracing, Roundhouse and leaving the world a better place. How hard can it be?
Fantasy numbers.
Many of those "EU nationals" claims he can cut benefits to *are already UK citizens*.
Almost all the rest are entitled to UK citizenship.
Idea this will save any significant sum is simply absurd.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Join me in supporting the BBC to retain it status as one of the UK's most trusted institutions - that's what real patriots do!
38d.gs/cicq
Reform UK trying to virtue signal rather than being genuinely interested in the real issues and concerns? I'm shocked....
14.11.2025 13:17 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Seems to support the thrust of the BBC Panorama programme…
11.11.2025 18:21 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0One of the most worrying thing about the Trumpian wing of politics has been their attempts, quite often successful, to attack and corrupt independent institutions.
We need to defend the BBC, one of the most trusted institutions in the UK. It's far from perfect, but it's pretty bloody good!
"Far from draining our welfare system, migrants are supporting the British state’s solvency."
New analysis by @lgilbert.co
ukandeu.ac.uk/lower-migrat...
If you're a member of the National Trust remember to vote for council members by midnight tonight.
Use the Quick Vote option.
Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them
Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Your daily reminder that the government continues to commercially support an individual who wants to destroy it through fascist violence.
29.10.2025 08:10 — 👍 1112 🔁 361 💬 41 📌 6
My latest article in the @racingpost.com - comments welcome!
www.racingpost.com/news/opinion...
"Promises were made, and lives and families built upon them. How have we reached a place where wrecking those lives is even up for discussion?"
On Powell, Heath, Lam and the descent of the British right.
Can you imagine if Keir Starmer got private companies that he had direct power over and rich donors who wanted deregulation to pay £250 million in donations to knock down part of Big Ben to make his own little special tower? Because that's what Trump is doing to the White House literally right now.
20.10.2025 20:24 — 👍 152 🔁 50 💬 7 📌 2C'mon you Bees! @brentfordfc.com Finally got one in, let's keep it up.
20.10.2025 19:49 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1965: 20-1
CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1990: 75-1
CEO-to-worker pay ratio today: 280-to-1
Trickle-down economics was always a sham.
Nothing has ever trickled down.
This -official Conservative policy - is essentially identical to the Reform policy that the Prime Minister described as "racist and immoral" and would "rip out country apart".
Would be good if media and politicians pointed this out .
My colleagues & I have taken a huge gamble to set up @thenerve.news We’re trying to build a new independent publication from the ground up. Social media is our only distribution for now.
Sharing this article in your networks would make a huge difference. Thank you! 🙏🙏🙏
A reminder of a great night with the Ambrassadors doing their Abba night. Keep an eye out for them when they go on tour, or also a great band for weddings and parties...
www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...
It breaks my mind that two British political parties have seen scenes like this and decided to try and replicate it in Britain. Thuggary, lawlessness, state brutality. Farage and Badenoch decided they liked the look of it.
06.10.2025 11:19 — 👍 1612 🔁 524 💬 122 📌 16
This was in the Observer today
05.10.2025 10:47 — 👍 54 🔁 23 💬 3 📌 0Tommy Robinson posted a neo-Nazi blog that accused me and my fellow Jews Jack Straw and Barbara Roche of conspiring to flood the UK with immigrants.
03.10.2025 18:59 — 👍 709 🔁 311 💬 32 📌 8This just a few weeks after many of Robinson’s supporters were doing Nazi salutes and shouting Nazi slogans at his march in London. Absolutely insane stuff.
04.10.2025 19:01 — 👍 301 🔁 103 💬 10 📌 4
Chris Murphy just offered an extraordinary warning about Trump on our pod.
"This isn’t a normal time. If you don’t mount a stand right now on behalf of democracy, there won’t be another opportunity. The world [is] watching to see what we stand for."
Listen:
newrepublic.com/article/2013...
Could they be the best band that most people haven’t heard of? Loving the Beta Band at the Roundhouse, 30 years since the extraordinary first 3 EPs.
02.10.2025 20:17 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
It's a fool's errand to try to figure out why each individual shooter did what they did; it centers one erratic, unwell individual (which is impossible to solve) rather than the structural problems (which are possible to solve). And the structural problem is this: guns. I explain more here:
30.09.2025 09:55 — 👍 503 🔁 131 💬 13 📌 8
A good description of how civility and respect are breaking down amongst certain elements in the US, particularly those who take their lead from their current President. Leaders are always role models, for better or worse.
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/s...
What about the long term? Six months ago the Centre for Policy Studies published a report claiming that, based again on OBR assumptions, allowing recent migrants to settle here permanently would have a long-term fiscal cost of well over £200 billion, and that we should therefore restrict their rights to do so. Unfortunately, the government in part adopted this agenda in the White Paper, proposing to extend the qualifying period for most migrants from 5 to 10 years. As I pointed out at the time, however, the CPS calculation was based on two clear errors. They mistakenly assumed that new migrants earned much less than residents, and had much lower employment rates; as the data shows, this just isn’t true. Had they got their sums right, they would have found a net benefit of over £100 billion. The new Home Office research underlines this point. The CPS claimed that about 70% of those coming on work visas have less than average earnings: this appears to be almost exactly the opposite of the truth. Moreover, those who extend their stay, and their dependents, see both their earnings and employment rates increase significantly. In this light, the proposals in the White Paper appear not just unfair and vindictive, but also economically irrational.
Starmer says Reform's plans to remove people who came here legally are racist, immoral, & would rip the country apart.
Absolutely.
But both Labour & Tories also planning to move the goalposts for people who are legally here. Time to make clear that won't happen.
ukandeu.ac.uk/immigration_...
Appeasement never works. Sadly, it seems people have to keep learning that lesson over and over and over and
26.09.2025 23:38 — 👍 861 🔁 138 💬 17 📌 2
As well as the fantasy £234 bn, journalists should also be clear Farage's claims most new migrants don't work, and those who do are on low wages, are entirely false.
In fact, 1.8 million recent migrants are on payrolls (others will be self employed).
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/co...
The average main applicant who received a visa 2019-2023 made about 45% more than the average person in the UK. The average dependent who received a visa 2019-2023 made about 25% less than the average person in the UK. The average person who received a humanitarian visa made about 33% less than the average person in the UK. When we take a weighted average of all categories of 2019-2023, the average new migrant who arrived 2019-2023 made £24,881 in FY 2023-2024. This is about 4% more than average earnings - even when I have made optimistic assumptions about native-born earnings and excluded any self-employment income for migrants.
Putting all this together, @lgilbert.co find the following.
It's not that Farage is (just) exaggerating/overstating - he is simply lying about migrants, jobs, wages and benefits.
Media should be very clear about this.
www.laurenpolicy.com/p/are-recent...
All the "free speech advocates" mean by "free speech" is their perceived right to their "free speech" by which they mean their right to be racist, transphobic, misogynistic hate mongers.
The rest of our free speech was never packaged into the deal, and anyway, they have nothing but contempt for it.
Great line up of autumn shows from Through the Noise promoting global classical music. Over 200 shows over the last couple of years and they've been joyous, challenging, exciting and fun. Get yourself along to one of their NoiseNights.
www.throughthenoise.co.uk?ss_source=ss...
