Zi Zi

They just don't understand proper democracy, do they?

If it was the only way - yes, even Tory.

Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’ Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given

It's just normal. Sorry, Americans, you are the outliers.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how

Vital piece of investigative reporting from Sky. They've uncovered the X algorithm which feeds users extremist right wing material from the moment they join the site. It is a far-right radicalisation engine, by design.

news.sky.com/story/the-x-...

When is enough cuts enough to sort the problem. Maybe actually raising funds by taxing multinationals at their point of profit production in a corporate PAYE tax system could ensure no more cuts were necessary. #TaxTheWealthNotThePeople

The AI Emperor’s New Clothes: Starmer’s AI Growth Zones Gamble This illusion of AI innovation policy is quickly revealing itself to be cargo cult economics.

Here's the uncomfortable truth that no one in Westminster wants to acknowledge: the entire premise of AI as a revolutionary economic force is built on foundations of sand, propped up by venture capital and sustained by collective delusion.
substack.com/@europeanpow...

‘Opposing the inevitability of AI at universities is possible and necessary’ | Radboud University Since the widespread release of ChatGPT in December of 2022, AI has taken over much of the world by storm – including academia. Most of this happened with very little pushback, despite a myriad of iss...

‘Study after study shows that students want to develop these critical thinking skills, are not lazy, and large numbers of them would be in favor of banning ChatGPT and similar tools in universities’, says @olivia.science www.ru.nl/en/research/...

UK 'divorce bill' soars, as post-Brexit payments to EU rise above £50 billion There's a reason no other country in the EU decided to do their own version of Brexit. Just look at the state of it...

www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/how...

Minority representation on TV causes outrage There has been widespread support for prominent Reform MP Sarah Pochin after she complained about the over-representation of minorities on television. Said one angry viewer, "She's right. Every time you turn on the telly there's another Reform MP being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg." She added, "I respect their way of life and their strange customs, but Reform MPs comprise only 0.7 percent of the House of Commons. Yet Nigel Farage is on Question Time more than Fiona Bruce." "I'm not prejudiced. Some of my best friends are swivel-eyed loons, but enough is enough. There are too many people with angry red faces on television.”

Gotta love Private Eye.
Always cuts through the crap.

Sam Bright | Substack Unmasking the populist elite. Click to read Sam Bright, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

I’m SO close to hitting 5,000 Substack subscribers!

My page is dedicated to investigating and exposing populist elites - their funding, their illiterate ideas, and their international networks.

Needless to say I write a lot about Farage and Reform.

If this sounds of interest, please sign up 🙏🏻

Left: Kwasi-I-crashed-the-economy-Kwarteng criticising Labour for paying Hadush Kebatu £500 to leave

Right: That time Kwasi Kwarteng's government was paying £3,000 to volunteers to go to Rwanda

Whatever you think of Labour's policies, know that the Conservatives were so much worse

This is farcical. Katie Lam didn't speak "imprecisely". She accurately stated the Conservative party's existing policy, which they tried to pass as a Bill in Parliament earlier this year, and which Badenoch's spokesman defended himself just last week.

Government Tracker – Full Fact Full Fact is monitoring the government’s delivery on its promises

Govt appears to be on track more than failing:
fullfact.org/government-t...

Factionalism, farce and chaos dog Reform UK in the garden of England All is not well in Kent for Nigel Farage’s party as the recent video of an incendiary meeting suggests

Not sure why this was kind of buried in the Guardian story

Kent leader Kemkaran "failed to ensure that her register of interests listed the fact that her husband is the director of digital transformation at East Kent’s health authority"

It's a criminal offence to knowingly omit relevant interests.

Ah, yes. Reform UK. "A movement built by real people." All smiling and clasping their hands in EXACTLY the same way.

I'd love to see the prompts that generated this.

<make them happier>
<make some of them young>
<make two of them - NO, don't want to upset Pochin - one of them black> ~AA

We must act now: without a written constitution, Reform UK will have carte blanche to toxify our nation | Goerge Monbiot It means breaking with hundreds of years of tradition, but it can’t wait. As hard-right figures spread division and laud autocrats, a fail-safe is vital, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

The Spectator and others have chosen (deliberately I suspect) to interpret this article as a desire to stop a future Reform UK government from legislating. My purpose is to stop *any* government crushing our fundamental rights. It’s just more urgent now. 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Superb reporting by @peterjukes.bsky.social in @bylinetimes.bsky.social on Farage, Putin & Nathan Gill.
The sort of reporting you’d want the BBC to do and should really be career-ending for Farage if @teamlabouruk.bsky.social or the Tories knew what they were doing!

bylinetimes.com/2025/10/04/t...

Lighting Up, painting by Sue Atkinson (1949-2021). Daughter of a Bradford wool merchant, worked in the Wakefield area. #WomensArt #NorthernArt

👍

Because some damn fool asked, here's a thread about Baxter.

This was taken on the day I brought home Baxter and threw away all hope of an easy life.

Look at him. Absolutely irresistible.

And that's how they get you, the utter bastards

🎯

@sundersays.bsky.social extensive, extraordinary and essential coverage of the Conservative party’s draft legislation on immigration.

Genuine question: why is this not getting more media scrutiny?

The Green Party's proposal for a wealth tax on 1% of assets above £10m and 2% on assets above £1bn comes top of our list of tax reforms that Britons would support, with 75% giving it their backing

yougov.co.uk/economy/arti...

All this talk of Trafalgar has reminded me of Gunner Joe by Marriott Edgar & Wolseley Charles - as performed by Stanley Holloway.

The payoff in the bit where Joe, Nelson, and Hardy are deciding whether or not to attack the French is just pure comedy gold.

Tiries being as disgusting as they always have.

New fines proposed for water firms committing smaller environmental offences Government plans to hand more powers to the Environment Agency to penalise water companies for minor rule-breaking are now under consultation.

"Government must end the failed privatisation model of criminal polluters like Thames Water"
@riveractionuk.bsky.social

“Anything short of changing the ownership model of our broken water industry is a hollow gesture"
@sascampaigns.bsky.social

💯

www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan...

The 'Levenshulme Land Grab' 1906. A group of men occupied six acres of church land in Levenshulme, Manchester, to grow cabbages for the unemployed, inspiring similar occupations elsewhere. Evicted after six weeks. (Image: Illustrated London News. h/t Burnage Local History Group)

Revocation of Indefinite Leave to Remain in certain circumstances Indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom is revoked with respect to a person (“P”) if any of the following conditions apply. Condition 1 is that P is defined as a “foreign criminal” under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007. Condition 2 is that P was granted indefinite leave to remain after the coming into force of this Act, but would not be eligible for indefinite leave under the requirements of section 2. Condition 3 is that P, or any dependents of P, have been in receipt of any form of “social protection” (including housing) from the UK Government or 5 10 15 20 25 30 353 Immigration and Visas Bill Part 3—VISAS a local authority, where “social protection” is defined according to the Treasury’s Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses, subject to any further definition by immigration rules. (5) (6) (7) (8) 4 5 (1) (2) (3) (4) (1) Condition 4 is that P’s annual income has fallen below £38,700 for six months or more in aggregate during the relevant qualification period, or subsequent to receiving indefinite leave to remain.

Via @sundersays.bsky.social the Conservatives' draft legislation - absolutely clear that it applies to (and is intended to apply to) legal permanent residents claiming state pension (on the basis of their contributions) or child benefit for British kids.

publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbi...