Ian Stevens

Sadly not fixing the challlenges of Brexit is actually Labour policy in that they've ruled out reversing it and haven't come up with anything that could compensate.

It was much easier for them to leave before Brexit of course but that didn't stop him supporting it.

They remain the only government in my lifetime without a theory of how economic growth happens and a determination that it definitely not be through universities, immigration, high skilled services, tax simplification, trade relations etc

Glasman's core objection seems to be to the passing of time and the passage of events.

As many of you know, I do a lot of volunteer work with asylum seekers and refugees. One thing that’s going on is that Labour’s hostility towards migrants and the counterbattery from Tories and Reform is causing horrific fear and anxiety among vulnerable people who deserve our protection.

I realise this is simplistic, but it seems to me that rather than starting from the position that Russia will win in the end and that, if UKR doesn’t accept that, the US will help accelerate the process, the US could say to Putin “we’re not going to let you win”. The dynamic depends on US will.

The "previous and ongoing input from Ukraine" was presumably "here's a list of the things we will never accept".

The Long Con Comes To An End The Trump Administration Takes Off The Mask (Again)

as Phillips O'Brien also points out, this plan has been in negotiation for a long time, probably since Trump took office.

open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

What could be more patriotic than to support Brexit then go off and run for office in a foreign country?

A seasonal thought: what starts as fairy tale inevitably ends in pantomime.

Farage can now be easily boxed in to a corner where his only ‘defence’ becomes: “Yes I spouted Kremlin propaganda & Putin worship but, unlike Nathan Gill, I didn’t need bribes to do it.”
It is, once again, a question of whether interviewers have the temerity to shut down his whining obfuscations.

Project Fear but slowly (inexorably)

Eurosceptics went on about traitors for years, but it turns out the traitors are among them.

It won't be long before Sir Robbie is the only one who hasn't resigned.

The sort of mistake anyone could make.

Pity Lord Cameron for having to spend the rest of his life knowing that he led his party and country to catastrophe while all the time pretending that everything turned out all right in the end.

It is indisputable that Brexit has been an economic disaster, and notable that none of its political architects have paid any price.

This is a clown-car government elected on a seriousness ticket iandunt.substack.com/p/a-clown-go...

Michael Gove on claims of a bad culture in No. 10 during the pandemic:

"The business of govt can't be carried on in the manner of a Jane Austen novel".

As so often, this assumes that the macho, hyper-aggressive style of Cummings & co produces better decisions. All the evidence suggests the reverse

Highly skilled care workers on low pay aren't welcome. We're still waiting for the bit where she explains how pay levels in the sector are going to increase to deal with the shortage created.

Even more sinister when you consider that she probably doesn't believe any of this but has become convinced that these measures are important for the successful delivery of Labour's electoral strategy.

Mahmood/government should say explain *objective* of increasing time to settlement for 15 years for care workers who arrived 2022-24

Is it

A) to get them to leave? Why?
B) to save money? Then why not just restrict benefits?
C) to "encourage integration"? How? Will do opposite.

Shabana Mahmood's Indefinite Leave To Remain Culture War

3 years - if you're earning £125k+

15 years - if you're e.g. a nurse, or a teacher

Labour's two tier system which rewards high earners and insults those who work just as hard but don't earn as much - really sad to see Labour fall

This government has not taken a single meaningful step to tackle the causes of the horrendous inefficiencies in the criminal justice system, instead rushing to dismantle trial by jury.

Legal professionals have offered numerous alternatives to address the backlog.

Ministers are not listening.

The longer people have to wait for permanent status, the less they integrate. That is the evidence of this approach globally.

Typical of "President" Trump.

I'm a member of another political party in a constituency with a Labour MP challenged by Reform. Does she care what I think or whether or not I vote tactically for Labour?

Green MP Carla Denyer accuses Shabana Mahmood of trying to "out Reform Reform" and says "toxic racist narratives and the scapegoating of migrants" are to blame for "tearing our country apart" not migrants.

Mahmood: "I couldn't care less what any other political party has to say about these matters"

This is a good point - even if you are to grant Labour benefit of the doubt on strategy (generous move right now) - last week's strategy was "we are too weak to do thing which annoys some MPs" (break manifesto pledge), this week's is "we must do even more difficult thing which annoys more MPs more"