Mike Vessey 🇺🇦

Trump's migrant obsession offers Starmer a rare win – but Farage has scared him off We have a golden opportunity to kick-start the British economy

I see @iandunt.bsky.social has done an article-length version of my Meatloaf post.

It's excellent.

inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...

I suspect Kath Viner thought she had better balance up the ‘Labour bashing’ she’s been accused of.
It’s a kind of both-sidesism that sees her continue to publish Simon Jenkins.

Most of us can trace the origins of our values to upbringing but most adults come to determine for themselves what matters.
As someone also from a tribal Labour family, I asked is this the party I joined aged 16? Unlike the author I wasn’t just disappointed but disgusted by Blue-Labour and resigned.

Refugee family reunion was never a "golden ticket". It was already highly restrictive, blocking children reuniting with siblings, or the only relatives they had left. Families were already waiting months or years. And now, the government wants to tear even more families apart.

Just fuck off with this. How about start the conversation by highlighting how much immigrants contribute to the UK - not least by propping up the NHS and social care system!

Also - forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour.

I don’t disagree with the list of poor choices, though the most significant is omitted - the Blue-Labour migrant bashing.
If Burnham is the answer then we‘re asking the wrong question.
(NB The survey was a self selected sample on LabourList)

Burnham‘s argument then was about „respecting“ the referendum result.
Then he wanted to curry favour with a certain segment.
Now he wants to curry favour with a different segment.

Labour's Andy Burnham to campaign for Leave if party secures a second Brexit referendum Mayor of Greater Manchester is first senior Labour figure to break with pro-Remain colleagues

Burnham has flip-flopped on Brexit just as he has on many other issues.
During the campaign for a People‘s Vote he said he’d vote to Leave.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

If scrapping indefinite leave to remain (ILR) entirely, as Reform would do, is racist, according to Labour, what is making ILR twice as difficult, expensive & humiliating to obtain, as Labour are doing?

Stop blaming migrants and tackle UK’s real problems, 100 charities tell home secretary A letter warns Shabana Mahmood that ‘targeting refugees will do nothing to tackle’ problems with housing and the NHS More than 100 charities have sent a letter to the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, calling for an end to the “scapegoating of migrants”. The letter, sent before her speech at the Labour party conference in Liverpool on Monday afternoon, was coordinated by Refugee Action and signed by 105 organisations from a wide range of sectors – including Save the Children, Mind, Oxfam, Shelter, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, as well as dozens of migrant and anti-racism charities. It has also been signed by the PCS union, which represents Border Force workers. Continue reading...

Stop blaming migrants and tackle UK’s real problems, 100 charities tell home secretary

Brexit, the ministers, the professor and the spy: how Russia pulls strings in UK The charges filed against a Trump aide shocked the US – but also shed new light on the complex connections that link Russia to Brexit and the Foreign Office

This is the article, I believe, that first kicked things off. That was when the attacks began in earnest.

@peterjukes.bsky.social & I revisit this whole dark period in Sergei & the Westminster Spy Ring…

www.theguardian.com/politics/201...

Our research makes it clear: by capitulating to the right, Labour is driving voters to Reform UK | Tarik Abou-Chadi and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte Mimicking Farage on immigration is senseless. Labour voters feel betrayed; anti-immigration voters see through the ruse, say academics Tarik Abou-Chadi and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte

For the Guardian, @turnbulldugarte.com and I discuss our research that clearly shows one thing: Labour's anti-immigration strategy will only strengthen Reform and weaken its own electoral prospects. It won't win voters back but ultimately normalizes the far right

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“We studied more than 70 different elections that took place in 12 western European countries over several decades, and found that when mainstream parties take more anti-immigration positions, it leads to more support for the radical right, not less.”

Rings hollow when Starmer‘s FB account is still fanning the flames talking about „illegal migration“, smashing boats and returning people.
The McSweeney strategy has given oxygen to the far-right and only now are they starting to to realise what they have facilitated.

I‘d never heard of Strimpel, so went looking. She seems ‚wrong‘ on every subject.

We all knew he was a pillock when he taught at my secondary school….. before his career in politics and escapades on Hampsted Heath.

No child should grow up in poverty while gambling companies make record profits. Gambling harms are increasing, yet gambling is VAT exempt.

Dr Beccy Cooper MP and I wrote to the Chancellor with over 100 Labour MPs to call for increasing gambling taxation to tackle child poverty.

As a Labour member of 41 years, recently resigned due to Starmer‘s / McSweeney‘s migration stance, i whole heartedly agreed with the article.
Blue-Labour disastrous electorally and morally repugnant.

Our research makes it clear: by capitulating to the right, Labour is driving voters to Reform UK | Tarik Abou-Chadi and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte Mimicking Farage on immigration is senseless. Labour voters feel betrayed; anti-immigration voters see through the ruse, say academics Tarik Abou-Chadi and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte

Our research makes it clear: by capitulating to the right, Labour is driving voters to Reform UK | Tarik Abou-Chadi and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte

‘History will remember who showed up’: Keir Starmer faces call to attend Cop30 summit Response from leaders and key climate figures comes after PM’s aides advised non-attendance over concerns Reform may attack him Leading climate figures and Labour MPs have urged Keir Starmer to attend the crucial Cop30 climate summit this November, after aides advised him not to attend for fear of attracting the ire of the Reform party. Simon Stiell, the UN’s climate chief, said: “Cop30 is where leaders are expected to come and roll up their sleeves, make deals to help their nation’s economy transition faster, creating more jobs, and guide the world on what next steps we take together.” Continue reading...

‘History will remember who showed up’: Keir Starmer faces call to attend Cop30 summit

Some hope among the tragedy and bloodshed in Palestine as Britain joins Canada, Australia and France in recognising the State of Palestine.

Proud to see Ambassador Husam Zomlot raise the Palestinian flag over his Embassy here in Hammersmith yesterday.

The US Ambassador should be summoned and challenged over Trump’s rampant Islamophobia.

Trump continually spreads lies. In London, we celebrate our diversity and reject racists and bigots. London is the greatest city in the world in huge part due to @sadiqkhanlondon.bsky.social's leadership.

UK anti-slavery commissioner condemns Shabana Mahmood’s asylum comments Home secretary’s remarks about ‘vexatious’ claims will have real-life impact on trafficking victims, says Eleanor Lyons * UK politics live – latest updates The anti-slavery commissioner has criticised the home secretary Shabana Mahmood for accusing asylum seekers of making “vexatious last-minute claims” relating to modern slavery. The commissioner, Eleanor Lyons, said the comments were “deeply concerning” and would have “a real-life impact” on trafficking victims. Continue reading...

UK anti-slavery commissioner condemns Shabana Mahmood’s asylum comments

Queen

We have to differentiate between defending the right of all to disagree and being indifferent to the impact of what is being said - the message from yesterday is not simply free speech is safe but that we need to work harder to counter those who claim division offers anything for our future.

Shame on the SPÖ for acquiescing with such measures.

It’s being reported that Government are about to announce the furthering the use of Barracks to warehouse Refugees.

Ignoring the findings of the National Audit Office report that these are significantly more expensive than hotels. But that’s just the financial cost

www.nao.org.uk/reports/inve...

One by one, leaders learn that grovelling to Trump leads to disaster. When will it dawn on Starmer? | Simon Tisdall As the US president’s state visit looms, he’s leaving a trail of broken promises across the globe. Britain can’t afford to look like a lackey state, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall

One by one, leaders learn that grovelling to Trump leads to disaster. When will it dawn on Starmer? | Simon Tisdall

@jowhitemp.bsky.social still hasn’t retracted her call for the UK Government to ‚take a leaf from Trump‘s book‘

Riding the Trump Train to the End of the American Line The America you knew is not coming back

Just dropped a long post over on Medium discussing why and how #Trump 2.0 will fail, and what this will mean for the American people and the world. It's a long story with many threads, but they all point in the same direction.