Charlie Maynard

🎰 1451 Adult Gaming Centres
🍔 1465 McDonald’s
🍽️ 1700+ Foodbanks

What’s the social and health impact of these 24/7 slot machine parlours? Do they do anything to improve town centres and communities?

It’s exploitation, at all levels.

@premnsikka.bsky.social

High street slot machine shops pay staff bonuses linked to how much gamblers lose Exclusive: MPs and campaigners condemn ‘appalling’ reward scheme for Merkur venue managers

Why there aren't regulations that functionally ban anyone losing more than a nominal amount of cash gambling comes down to one single reason - the amount of cash gambling firms put in the pockets of MPs.

People literally sold out by their representatives.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Meet the young Tories dreaming of a bright blue future The Conservatives know they have a problem with Gen Z voters. At the party conference, The Times met a new breed of activists who are embracing the challenge

Charles Amos is the legalise incest guy. Insane they didn't do due diligence. www.thetimes.com/article/8c9a...

Tories need a leader who can say sorry British public remain angry with the previous government, with many turning to Reform as alternative to Labour

Some thoughts on an undercovered line in Kemi Badenoch's speech and the Tory party's half-right theory of 'why Reform are leading the polls' more generally in today's note:

Hollow laughter

Charley Robinson makes a great case for the UK rejoining Erasmus.

British students deserve the same opportunities as before. Erasmus is a vital opportunity that we can no longer afford to miss out on.

Lifetime of earnings not enough for UK workers to join wealthiest 10%, report says Research finds it would take average worker saving all their earnings for 52 years to match wealth of richest 10th of society

It would take the average UK earner 52 years’ worth of earnings to join the richest 10%.

Up from 38 years in 2006-08. Rich buy political influence.

Govts help the rich. Bottom 20% pay higher proportion of income in than the richest 20%.

Inequalities obstruct economic growth, fuel social unrest.

I’m gonna defend Liz Truss, because I like to be blocked by two or so people every day, and say that her plans were 100 times more reasonable than these, in that she thought she would have enough time to bounce Tory MPs into backing spending cuts. Much less daft than anything Badenoch has said.

What support do asylum seekers get in the UK? – Full Fact Can asylum seekers claim benefits, use the NHS or get a free iPhone? We’ve answered some of the most common questions we see about the support given.

What support do asylum seekers get in the UK?

Let’s also remember that the ECHR has protected British people from abuses of power by its own government.

We must protect the ECHR, not leave it

‘Gary Neville is a political threat to Nigel Farage because he doesn’t think the same' | The News Agents Gary Neville has accused “angry, middle aged white men” of stoking division in the UK following the Manchester synagogue attack on Yom Kippur. His comments have angered right-wing voices, but is this…

"It pisses them off so much. Neville lives rent-free inside their heads."

Nigel Farage has criticised Gary Neville for his comments about 'angry white men' dividing the UK. Has his "shallow patriotism" been exposed?

Michael Gove admits that post-Brexit trade deals were bad for farmers Michael Gove has admitted for the first time that the Australia and New Zealand trade deals negotiated by the former Tory government did not protect Britain’s farmers.

🚜 A poor deal for farmers. A rotten deal for the country.

“Brexit was not principally about trade" - we know Michael we know...

🛠️ Let's fix this broken deal and get Britain building again.

https://bit.ly/42YNQxG

Dearest mother,
I take my phone in hand to dm u a few texts from the Portland front. The battle is lost. We have been forced to retreat by a giant frog, several furries, and a dance party. Please send TikToks to lift our spirits.
Your son
[Violin plays mournfully]

Conservative voters say Brexit has failed and damaged UK economy The Conservative Party’s flagship policy - Brexit - has been a failure according to people intending to vote for them at the next election.

"Having foisted it on the rest of the country, even Conservatives now say Brexit has failed.
All you can say is… thanks!!!!"
www.bestforbritain.org/conservative...

Theo Usherwood not mincing his words on the Tory Party:

“No, I thinks it’s gone… gone, completely gone… I think the Tory party’s gone… I think it’s had it… I don’t see how… the Tories can come back in the next 10 to 15 years… they’re toast.”

with @jennykleeman.bsky.social on Sky News Press Preview

Tobias Ellwood, "British political debate is reduced to single one-liners that promise quick fixes"

"Stop the boats,
Take back control,
Get Brexit done,
Now, leave the ECHR"

"As if these are some sort of panacea, a silver bullet, to challenges"

Denmark aims to ban social media for children under 15, PM says “We have unleashed a monster,” Mette Frederiksen tells Danish lawmakers.

The Danish government wants to introduce a ban on several social media platforms for children under the age of 15, PM Mette Frederiksen announced today.

Former French PM says Macron should resign as political crisis deepens Édouard Philippe says Macron should announce an early presidential election once France passes a budget for next year.

Former French PM says Macron should resign amid deepening political crisis

Spot on on how politicians think about tax. Unfortunately I agree likely we shall have minor fiddling again. But better options exist - eg Resolution Foundation suggestion. Since even small tweaks upset someone, why not be bolder and go for principled reform? Politics, that’s why.

god I love old British people, having a celebratory lunch at my nice local pub and some OAPs arrived and got sat next to me and I thought awwww, anyway they've just ordered a round of negronis before even looking at the food menu, absolute beasts

Once again reminded of the wisdom of Tony Blair’s “start with an honest analysis of why you are in opposition, not in government“.

Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

THE SECRET PROJECT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS IS FINALLY LIVE

CHECK IT OUT

outsidersartsclub.com

Tory identity problem: ‘Pitch yourself as Reform-lite, voters will go for the full-fat version’ | The News Agents As Kemi Badenoch attends her first party conference as Conservative leader, some voters still can’t even name her. But low recognition is the least of her problems. With the party still reeling from 1...

Do Tory MPs and grassroot members want to see the Conservatives reassert their own identity, or become more like Reform?

www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/tory...

The government must ensure fair distribution of income 'The average real wage of workers has hardly moved from the 2008 level whilst bosses never had it so good.'

The state we're in

UK full-time employee median wage, £30,816.
4.5m jobs pay less than the real Living Wage.
1.17m workers on zero-hour contracts.
34% of Universal Credit claimants are in work.
16m Britons live in poverty.

Can't build economy on poverty.

Must increase worker share of GDP.

Co-op Group signs new wind deal as CEO attacks Tory climate policy Co-op Group signs seven-year wind energy deal with RWE as its CEO criticises Tory plans to scrap Climate Change Act

Co-op Group signs new wind deal as CEO attacks Tory climate policy

The UK household debt is over £2 trillion.

Debt once public now loaded to households e.g. student debt. Energy debt rising. People borrowing for healthcare.

Mortgages 7 times salary being issued. Soaring rents.

Real average wage stuck at the 2008 level.

What could go wrong?

David Runciman · Down the Rabbit Hole: Britain’s Europe Problem From Macmillan to Wilson to Heath to Thatcher to Major to Blair to Cameron, a succession of prime ministers persuaded...

‘European integration might have been conceived as a peace project but its evolution can only be understood through the prism of war. And here, too, Britain found itself unable to square the circle of its conflicting desires.’

David Runciman on the road to Brexit: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Free stickers suitable for flag-bearing lampposts. Send a large A4 envelope with a 1st class large stamp to me at Bragg Office, PO Box 6830 Bridport DT6 9BH and I’ll send you a sheet. #ReclaimtheFlag 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧

I was literally commenting yesterday that there is no nor has ever really been any European identity in the UK unlike 🇫🇷 or 🇩🇪 say. I agree with the malicious exploitation of that by Farage et al, 🇬🇧 sense of indifference towards Europe has been very much taken advantage of by these ghouls.