Jas

OK, the Gorton and Denton by-election, I have some thoughts!

Let's take a look at some of the FACTS and burst a few of the more ridiculous takes doing the rounds

But first up, can we acknowledge just what bad losers Reform are?!🤣

Right, let's get started...

🧵 1/

Who bombed the school?

Absolute clarity. So much this 👇

Hannah Spencer MP

"we are working to line the pockets of billionaires. We are being bled dry. And I don't think it's extreme or radical to think that hard work should get you a nice life. We have shown we don't have to accept being turned against each other at all."
Hannah Spencer MP

Strike on Iranian primary school kills 108, authorities say Girls’ education facility hit as US and Israel launch joint military operation

Iranian authorities and Red Crescent Society officials report that more than 100 people, most of them girls, were killed at a primary school during joint U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.

Let’s be clear: Slaughtering children in a school is an atrocity and a war crime.

www.ft.com/content/055d...

Picture of Marjane Satrapi alongside a quote from her. The quote reads: The world is not divided into countries. The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk together and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same... - Marjane Satrapi, Iranian-French graphic novelist

Thinking about this quote from Persepolis creator Marjane Satrapi again.

@zackpolanski.bsky.social : "Once again Reform are spreading misinformation & smears, and the press & the media seem to repeat them.. its really important that the media.. take responsibility so when Reform or Farage says something they don't just keep repeating it"👏👏👏

We're getting into some real "it is hypocritical for voters not to conform to the version of them I made up in my head" territory here.

"I really want to encourage more people from backgrounds like mine to get into a system that has always shut us out."

Hannah Spencer MP: plumber, plasterer, parliamentarian

Thing that gets to me with the Gorton and Denton by-election candidates is why isn’t the local plumber who cares about her community the absolute shoe-in to win the position? Why is a GB News talking head from Reform who wants to tax people for being childfree EVEN IN THE RUNNING?

Gorton and Denton by-election result:

GRN: 40.7% (+27.5)
REF: 28.7% (+14.7)
LAB: 25.4% (-25.3)
CON: 1.9% (-6.0)
LDEM: 1.8% (-2.1)

Green GAIN from Labour.

A private limited company with no oversight making after-the-fact allegations about election irregularities they failed to report at the time and have previously made similar allegations in Tower Hamlets, you say? Seems legit.

Labour Accused Of By-Election Dirty Tricks Over 'Fictitious' Tactical Voting Group A leaflet sent out on the eve of the crunch poll has sparked a furious backlash.

Labour embroiled in dirty tricks row after a fake “Tactical Choice” non-existent organisation urged Gorton voters to back Starmer’s party

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labour...

Join the Green Party Join the Green Party from just £6 a year. Become a member today - join the only party standing up for people and planet.

Labour know they're in third place. Yet in the last 48 hours have gone as far as obsessively attacking the Green Party and even creating a fake tactical voting website to spread misinformation.

If you can't vote today - then join us instead!

Join.greenparty.org.uk

Reform UK's Matt Goodwin Advised the Wealthiest 1% While Claiming to Stand Against ‘The Elite' Goodwin's definition of “the elite” includes university professors and civil servants while seemingly excluding the investment bankers, asset managers and global real estate executives who pay him

🧵Reform's Matt Goodwin has said he is “not part of the establishment”, and criticised the “elite class”. But we found that his definition of “the elite” excludes the bankers, asset managers and global real estate executives who pay him /1 bylinetimes.com/2026/02/25/r...

A White House Staffer Appears to Run Massive Pro-Trump X Account A popular right-wing account that called a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes "a masterpiece" appears to be run by a White House staffer, according to records reviewed by WIRED.

A popular right-wing account that called a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes "a masterpiece" appears to be run by a White House staffer, according to records reviewed by WIRED. www.wired.com/story/a-whit...

Your free speech rights end where billionaires’ feelings begin.

Bannon, Epstein, Farage and Johnson and the Plot to 'Topple' Theresa May The far-right former Trump adviser told Jeffrey Epstein that "we are overthrowing May right now" as he worked with Boris Johnson to remove the then Conservative Prime Minister from office

The Epstein files grant us a rare glimpse into the kind of machinations that must be happening all the time. As @bylinetimes.bsky.social reveals, Trump's fixer, Steve Bannon, helped Boris Johnson overthrow Theresa May. Blatant foreign interference in our politics. 🧵
bylinetimes.com/2026/02/16/b...

Opinion | The Rise of the Bratty Machines

Good morning from under a giant pile of snow! I wrote about agentic AI and a bot that wrote a hit piece about a engineer after he rejected its code. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

Good grief what have humans created.

Revealed: Reform UK Matt Goodwin's Academic Ties to Rebranded Nazi Eugenics Front Reform's Gorton and Denton candidate, who has said that genetics will expose the "inherent differences between groups" has links to multiple organisations tied to discredited racist pseudoscience

Good to see journalists covering the links between University of Buckingham’s Centre for Heterodox Science and race science networks. It ought to be pretty shocking to see a university openly affiliate with pseudoscience peddlers such as Aporia

Infographic detailing ceasefire violations by Israel, highlighting casualties, injuries, and aid delivery statistics in Palestine.

"The Israeli occupation continues its serious violations of the ceasefire agreement for the 134th consecutive day. These violations have resulted in more than 640 deaths and over 1,800 injuries"(PalTimes News) #Israel #Gaza

when broadcasters repeat Mandelson claim he was “not motivated by financial gain”

please also report the $75,000 of financial gain Mandelson received from Epstein in 2004 and 2004

and the £10s of thousands Mandelson’s husband received from Epstein in 2009/10

plus free flights & mansion stays

The political effects of X’s feed algorithm - Nature Among users initially on a chronological feed, 7 weeks of exposure to X’s algorithmic feed in 2023 shifted political attitudes and account-following behaviour in a more conservative direction compared...

Brainwashing, 2026 edition. This paper shows how X's algorithmic feed shifts people's views rightwards. It's a sophisticated, highly effective form of reorientation. And it is utterly chilling.
If you're still on that platform, unhook yourself now.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This one hits hard.

they tell you as much, on social media.
They envision a world where "AI" will do everything human beings do, so they personally will a) become trillionaires, b) have no need to ever deal with other human beings ever again.
Their misanthropy is everywhere in their philosophy, if you can call it that

Almost have to admire Nigel Farage's level of commitment to never spending a weekend in his own actual constituency, at this point.

Beyond Musk's incredibly concerning influence, there is a real risk here that Restore Britain acts as a legitimiser for Reform UK

This is what happened in France for example where extreme right Zemmour made Le Pen seem moderate *in comparison*

Contradistinction is a key factor in mainstreaming

When you put it like this, a $75 million bribe to Melania and gutting the Washington Post seems like a small price to pay.