Phil Hamlyn Williams

Labour take note: the politics of home cannot be ceded to the nativist right | Julian Coman Reform’s version of patriotism is opportunistic and bogus, but it is swaying voters. Labour must look to its roots to find a reply, says Guardian associate editor Julian Coman

@theguardian.com is on fire today. As well as @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social on student loans and a leader on Palestine Action, Julian Coman goes to the heart of the Reform challenge www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Student debt is a generational injustice. Why are we squeezing graduates harder than the super-rich? | Gaby Hinsliff Reform of this stealth tax is long overdue – and with it, a shake-up of the whole university system, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff

@gabyhinsliff.bsky.social is being brave enough to name the elephant in the room, shining a light on those ‘graduating into a jobs market that didn’t have enough genuine graduate opportunities to go round even before AI started gobbling up entry-level work.’ www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

More evidence of the idiocy of #Brexit and hence #Reform but also #Conservatives.

It’s easier to find a dog-walker than a carer | The Observer It’s no surprise that so many care jobs in Britain are going unfilled, when looking after pets pays more than looking after people

If we look at the potential of AI, a great many jobs currently done by humans disappear. We need jobs that demand humanity. Surely top of this list is care. AI can never smile or listen. Care must be properly paid. There must be a care profession with qualifications. observer.co.uk/news/columni...

In Peter Hain’s article he refers to the Treasury resisting a variety of sensible suggestions. Thinking more widely, the Treasury seems to stick its oar into many sensible ideas. Is it about time that the Treasury was reformed?

A graduate tax could fix Britain’s broken student loan sy... Tuition fees were meant to ease the burden on taxpayers and buoy universties. They have failed. A fairer alternative has been staring us in the face for two decades

Student loans were always crazy, yet it is fair that graduates should contribute to the cost of their education. Peter Hain, who knows a thing or two about being a student, offers a pragmatic solution observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

I so agree

Trump, Musk and now UK billionaire Jim Ratcliffe – they are the enablers, making racists feel great again | Jonathan Freedland With their profile and vile words, these malign provocateurs are tearing down decency’s guardrails, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland

Isn’t the problem amplification by the media ( social). Ratcliffe and Musk have a massive audience for whatever they say. I might add that the same goes for those saying Starmer is unpopular. Trust in the decency of human beings. @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Left or right, Keir? Labour factions jostle for influence in post-McSweeney No 10 Soft left senses chance to push Starmer into progressive pivot, but leftward turn would be fiercely resisted by some

@yuanfenyang.bsky.social I wholly agree with your comment quoted by @jessicaelgot.bsky.social @theguardian.com that ‘too many companies thrive on rent extraction, rather than innovation or valued services’ www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

A little something for Mr Musk and friends. Rowan Atkinson leads by example giving millions to charities for disadvantaged people. He left it to his audience if the rich and famous to make up their own minds. Inspirational www.facebook.com/share/p/16rm...

Your piece @theguardian.com was balanced. The criminal law is already available to punish criminal damage whether against person or property. Protesters can always break the law if they choose, but must then face punishment. To outlaw a protest group and make protest itself illegal is wrong.

@pippacrerar.bsky.social some thoughts on the question you posed on x. It seems to me that it has grown as an unsubstantiated mantra peddled by the media.

Guardian view on Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Britain does not need political lectures from a billionaire tax exile | Editorial Editorial: Comments on the ‘colonisation of the UK’ by the co-owner of Manchester United were erroneous, crass and a gift to divisive forces in British society

May be I’m mistaken Sir Jim, but wasn’t the British Empire about colonisation? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I am genuinely keen to understand why Starmer is apparently so unpopular. I suspect it has a lot to do with the (social) media continually saying so. The only good part of this is that it is not what the government is doing that is coming under fire. Nonetheless horrible for a decent man

‘Jellyfish’ and ‘doormat’: why is Keir Starmer so deeply unpopular? From his public persona to a sense that he sold the country a pup, many factors seem to feed a sense of ‘great dislike’

‘those who have worked with Starmer generally portray him as decent and caring, if very tough and focused at the same time. ‘ “No one wants to be the one that defends him. Once the view is that you’re useless, there’s no coming back,” It is herd mentality www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

@pollybillington.bsky.social well said on the World at One. We need capable women at the heart of government.

The Peter Mandelson scandal has turned ‘No drama Starmer... Fierce questions about the prime minister’s judgment are daggers to the heart of what is supposed to be his core brand

@andrewrawnsley.bsky.social Mandelson’s crimes if that is what they turn out be were heinous but took place when Brown was PM. Starmer was naive and ill advised in appointing him to Washington, but he is now gone. Starmer must get on with the job he was elected to do. observer.co.uk/news/politic...

There’s one argument Starmer could make to save his skin – but he won’t dare do it | Jonathan Freedland Among those focusing on what the PM knew about Peter Mandelson are many who themselves knew plenty and chose to ignore it, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland

@jonathanfreedland.bsky.social it is shocking to read of the abuse by powerful men of women. We knew it was a snake pit and that was why Mandelson was appointed thinking that whilst a snake he was an Englishman. Starmer like the rest of us was fooled. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘I saw kids being shot, women, old people’: how a massacre unfolded in one Iranian city The Guardian has constructed a timeline for the terrible events of one night of protests in Rasht, based on first-hand accounts, video and photographs

Many places in the world are hideous today, but surely none more so than Iran. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

NHS hiring bans in cancer units shortsighted and dangerous, doctors warn Exclusive: RCR says recruitment freezes in treatment centres doubled in 2025 and could undermine government’s care plans

My surgeon only just managed to fit my operation within the target 32 days. He also told me that a recruitment freeze a while ago means that there are too few pathologists. Clearly there is a balancing act to be done within limited funding. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Let me be clear. I very much want #Starmer to stay and for the team to get on with the job for which they were elected. It would be tragic for him to go because of Mandelson, Labour MPs who have had their knives out from the start, and aTory leader with nothing better to say

It’s tragic that a decent PM will be brought down by Mandelson’s sleaze – but it’s a matter of when, not if | Polly Toynbee With three years left and a huge majority, Labour can govern with more humility and deliver real change. But with Starmer at the helm? I can’t see it, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

@pollytoynbee.bsky.social in today’s @theguardian.com reflects my own heartbreak that an honourable and decent man is likely to have to resign at the hands of a crook. You are right that a successor and their team have a profound duty to undertake radical change. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The @teamlabouruk.bsky.social MPs who are rounding on him are the usual suspects. If his supporters lose confidence then he needs to make way for Wes Streeting with Angela Rayner back in the cabinet. To take a cricket analogy, Starmer opened the batting and took the shine off the ball

It made sense to appoint a man who moved in the business world. The problem was that that part of the business world turned out to be a sewer.

On #WorldCancerDay I thank those brilliant doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff working within the #NHS to address this awful and all too common illness. Not to forget the manufacturers of life saving equipment: scanners, robots and so much more.

The Observer View: Lords are defying democracy over assis... The sabotage of the end of life bill by a small group of unelected individuals is unconstitutional

@theobserveruk.bsky.social itself has argued strongly that the government must challenge this vandalism observer.co.uk/opinion-and-...

Thank you @theobserveruk.bsky.social for making it easy to share your content. Hugely appreciated

It’s too late to help me, but please, lords, spare others... No one wants to fly to Switzerland and die alone, but the law denies the right to end our lives with dignity and love

The House of Lords should be there to improve legislation passed by the democratically elected House of Commons. It is not its place to allow special interests to block. In this case it is both wrong and inhumane. “please, lords, spare others this needless pain” observer.co.uk/news/nationa....

It’s not a choice between Trump and Xi. We can walk the d... The thaw with China is no kneejerk response to transatlantic ructions, the prime minister tells Rachel Sylvester on his flight out of China. It’s about keeping our eye on the national interest

China is a civilisation far older than Europe or the USA. Of course we must tread with eyes wide open, but surely the Prime Minister is right to have relations with all three. It’s not a choice between Trump and Xi. We can walk the diplomatic line, insists PM observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Tehran charges protesters’ families a ‘bullet fee’ to ret... Iran is seeking ways to hide the scale of the killings, including imposing huge sums on grieving relatives who want to bury their loved ones

Iran is a religious state. What kind of god advocates for the treatment described in this article? The truth is that it is the antithesis of any of the world’s faiths and an obscenity. Tehran charges protesters’ families a ‘bullet fee’ to return their dead bodies observer.co.uk/news/interna...