Letter of the day (in the Times)

A number of politicians, "news" outlets and social media influencers have been actively trying to promote violent protest and an assault on law and order.

We shouldn't be complacent - they'll keep pouring petrol & lighting matches - but so far they have singularly failed.

That's a good news story.

Daily Mail Editorial Guidelines
1. Every problem from 2010 to July 2024 was the fault of the previous Labour government.
2. Every existing problem from July 2024 is the fault of the current Labour government

I wonder if the Mail mention inside which party left jails dangerously full and failed to build any while ramping up sentencing?

YouTube video by Richard J Murphy Reeves has to stop tax cheats, not hammer working people with tax increases

Reeves has to stop tax cheats youtu.be/R-bb_sWI6a0?... People say Rachel Reeves faces a £40bn “black hole” in the UK budget. That gap could be filled, at least in part, by collecting corporation tax already owed. In this video, I explain how three simple legal changes could fix the system.

Brexit was an attempted counter-revolution against many of the changes this country has gone through since 1945. It has turned out to be a failure with elements of farce. This has driven many people on the Right completely mad.

My favourite pithy politics post in a very long time.
Bang on the money.

Kelly: "I had another situation here with a kid who was on his little league trip in a baseball tournament. Border Patrol pulls over the vehicle, identifies the brown kid, he winds up in lockup for a week...this isn't what the American people wanted and I don't think it's consistent with our values"

Awful lot of folk only focused on the first part of this, I reckon the second part is just as bad, politicians and commentators of the right trying to incite riots is just as important.

Once upon a time there was a prohibition.

Some claimed it was justified by things we could not be told, others insisted it was right in principle.

But many said it was one of the most illiberal and misconceived prohibitions they had ever seen.

And in practice the prohibition was very daft indeed.

The healthy & wealthy complain

‘not needed a Doctor for 20years’

Unhappy that £3000pa NHS funding has been used by others who needed it

It’s called society, caring & compassionate

The sick & poor need the NHS

They are the ones who need Drs & Nurses, hospitals & health centres, medicine & tests

Britain’s social fabric has been torn but it’s just easie... The real causes of serious problems are ignored and those responsible are let off the hook

"Turning the issue of “broken Britain” into one of immigration deflects from the real problems facing the working class and the poor, obscures the real causes, and lets off the hook those who are responsible for breaking Britain."

@kenanmalik.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Child's death drives churches to call out cult-like behaviour A campaign to educate people about the dangers of coercive control and cults begins in southern Queensland following the death of an eight-year-old girl.

“Elizabeth Struhs died after members of a cult called The Saints withdrew her medication for her type 1 diabetes. They prayed and sang around her until she perished. Then they prayed to God for her resurrection”

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

As hundreds committed the offence of putting ink to cardb... Nurses, doctors, retired people and architects among 466 protesters arrested as terrorism suspects

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Is this Adam Smith’s theory of the civilising effects of trade?

Among other things: Christian, who has been in government for 14 out of the last 15 years, and how many of the major decisions they made did you support?

Calgie is the Senior Political correspondent at the Daily Express and about as in touch with reality on the ground in Britain as a Bunyip on acid riding a penguin called Bert across an undiscovered galaxy.

I do not think tens of millions of Brits are on the verge of supporting a revolution

A doctor

An elderly man

An elderly priest

Disabled blind man being arrested

I always think it is important to KNOW YOUR TERRORISTS - here are some

www.map.org.uk?form=FUNRYRJ...

Two puffins - with their beaks bright in colour - face each other while sat on a white rock

An image of the Farne Islands. A rocky coastline, punctuated by sea water, is in the foreground. An old, stone building stands at the top on the small hillside

Exactly 100 years ago today, the Farne Islands came into the care of the National Trust - a whole century of care and conservation!

Everyone else in Britain - enjoying the weather, going for a pub lunch, going for a walk....

Online weirdo racists... *a British IRA is imminent*

Screenshot of BBC news saying police arrest 474 people at Palestine Action ban protest.

What an utter absurdity our Home Secretary has created -

Destroying British free speech, right to protest and with it undermining democracy.

It is not for the government to terrorise the public for political opinions they don’t want to hear.

More than 500 people arrested after Palestine Action protest - with almost half aged 60 and above Some 522 arrests were for displaying a placard in support of a proscribed organisation contrary to Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000. As of 9pm on Saturday, the number was put at 466.

More than 500 people arrested after Palestine Action protest - with almost half aged 60 and above

Some 522 arrests were for displaying a placard.

Around half of them (259) were aged 60 and above - including almost 100 people who were in their 70s.

news.sky.com/story/more-t...

A twitter/X post from Keir Starmer's account, with screenshot of a video of people seeking asylum being detained, and the wording Keir Starmer @Keir_Starmer I said that if you enter this country on a small boat, you will face detention and return. I meant it.

Would anyone care to remind the former Human Rights Barrister Keir Starmer that penalising people seeking asylum for their manner of entry is against international law? Not to mention how grotesque it is that the Prime Minister is sharing videos of people being detained.

Police arrest 474 people at protest over Palestine Action ban in London Number of arrests was highest recorded in relation to single operation in at least past decade, according to Met police

An abomination. An affront to free speech and an acute threat to the consensus on terrorism
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

The government may need to look into proscribing X if Elon Musk can not contain calls for terrorist violence

Police arrest 474 people at protest over Palestine Action ban in London Number of arrests was highest recorded in relation to single operation in at least past decade, according to Met police

The number of arrests was the highest recorded in relation to a single operation in at least the past decade, according to Met police

Amnesty International called the mass arrests “deeply concerning”

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Robert Reich The Real Reason the Economy Might Collapse | Robert Reich

The rich don’t spend the money they have, and the poor don’t have money to spend.

This is a problem when 70% of the economy relies on consumer spending.

Closing our nation's wealth gap isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s essential to save our economy. https://youtu.be/S6dCh48b4oI?feature=shared

GMC have studiously avoided the very serious concerns about role substitution and impact on training opportunities and safety by using other non-medical staff groups

Perhaps because they have been pushing and enabling this policy

YouTube video by Richard J Murphy Neoliberal economics is a con and total rubbish – so we're going to tear it apart

For over 45 years, neoliberal and neoclassical economics have dominated UK policy — and failed us. In a new series, I explain why they fail, and show how you can argue back with reason and evidence. Economics should serve people, not markets. Let’s take it back.

youtu.be/uvLZCnhJFaY?...