Jake Puddle

Government has now - belatedly -published the impact assessment for the changes to skilled worker and care worker visas announced in May.

Impact is estimated between -£2 billion and £-10 billion (central - £10 billion).

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6937e6...

Ofcom Launches Investigation Into Social Media Major Platforms Over Illegal Hate Content Internet regulator Ofcom has launched a new investigation into whether social media platforms are doing enough to identify and take down illegal te...

Ofcom is reviewing how one major platform is dealing with hate crime - including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice. It does not want to publicly say which platform. It is opaque as to whether all forms of racism have similar or assymetric levels of priority
www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Wondering what the longest period between Keir Starmer making a statement about race and Reform that it is not immediately undermined by something done by his ministers or aides has been. Three days?

C of E to challenge Tommy Robinson’s ‘put Christ back into Christmas’ message Church leaders respond to far-right appropriation of Christian symbols with ‘Outsiders welcome’ message

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

a good reminder most people who actually know trans people have no problem with us and the entire genocidal movement is astroturfed by a handful of billionaires and has nowhere near the amount of people behind it that you’d think it does from its cultural footprint

All great charities, but the work of @thelinkingnetwork.bsky.social & Who is Your Neighbour are particularly close to my heart. The Linking Network links schools across ethnic & class divides, and undertakes intergenerational linking. Who is Your Neighbour undertakes community dialogue in Yorkshire

Massively agree with this; authenticity is *the* currency on social media and in comms. You have to be yourself and share like a human - it's why Farage, Corbyn and, indeed, Polanski works.

That means dissent and open thinking. Labour in general don't allow this

Farage has been dismissing evidence of Russian ties to the Salisbury Novichok attack since 2018 🧐

This is the problem I have with Starmer on this stuff. You can't just give a speech, box ticked, you have to go for these people. Sack Nandy put someone in post who will go 'no, actually, GB news, you don't get to broadcast this filth', for a start. Go for X, Facebook, the lot.

HOPE not hate | End of year Appeal | Help us support communities under pressure Across the UK, people are doing everything they can to hold their communities together. With your support, we can help them go even further in 2026.

This year, we helped local partners in Bradford, Wigan and Knowsley bring neighbours together for amazing community events. People reconnected and HOPE grew. With your donation, we can roll this out to more towns across the country in 2026.
secure.hopenothate.org.uk/page/182892/...

Politicians, media have a responsibility to counter extremist rhetoric. Connor's view is anti-democratic & a rejection of the pluralistic values of our country.We can passionately disagree on issues but his position crosses a red line that I hope all politicians from all parties will publicly reject

Delighted to have received the MRS President’s Medal for our State of Us report on community cohesion and the impacts of the riots. It’s been a pleasure & a privilege to have worked together with @heather-rolfe.bsky.social @jillyrutter.bsky.social & our friends at @belongnetwork.bsky.social on this

I'm not sure a squeezed middle isn't an almost inevitable consequence of demographics. There are 13 million pensioners in the UK. Compared to 25 million full time workers. Do the maths, it won't be pretty however you cut it.

This Labour government lacks a future You might be forgiven for thinking that the Labour government is focused on the future. Since before his government’s first Budget, the Prime Minister has repeatedly asked the British public to stomac...

"If the government is to have any hope of getting itself back into the driver’s seat of our political moment, of getting its future back, it must start arguing in terms of a bold and coherent vision for the future."

@mbarnfield.bsky.social on the budget and the government's empty long-termism

It is good to see cross-party challenge to overt racism in British political and media discourse: Labour MP Sarah Owen, who chairs the women & equalities select committee, challenges the racist claim from GB News contributor Lucy White that Deputy Speaker Nus Ghani should be barred from parliament

An update on this: today's More in Common has no change in Reform score. That fits with this trend as the five most recent More in Common results for Reform have been:

33 (oldest)
31
31
30
30 (newest)

New asylum policies making homeless refugees “targets for the far right” Labour’s abrupt return to the 28-day move-on period is pushing vulnerable people into rough sleeping and exposing them to fraud and abuse.

The government’s decision to halve the time limit for refugees to leave Home Office accommodation is driving people into homelessness and exploitation, according to migrant rights campaigners and homelessness charities

By me, for @theleaduk.bsky.social national.thelead.uk/p/new-asylum...

“By rushing through these draconian immigration reforms now – at precisely the same moment the Government proclaims it is investing to end homelessness – we know the very opposite will happen: more people at risk of destitution and even sleeping on the streets." @josephinewy.bsky.social

V interesting, did the study include questions to test respondents’ social contact with immigrants or other minority groups? Our UK research finds this is the most significant factor shaping confidence in diversity

Do we really want to win the ‘League of Least Welcoming Nations’? The home secretary is indulging in a lurid deportation fantasy with her new Denmark-style asylum policy. And, writes Sunder Katwala, her numbers don’t even add up…

I wrote for @indyvoices.bsky.social about whether competing to win the "least welcoming nation" league is either desirable or possible for Britain

www.independent.co.uk/voices/uk-as...

I am surprised about Facebook (relatively high) and Whatsapp (relatively low), but this might be US-specific.

I use YouTube, Instagram (passively), Whatsapp, Bluesky.

bsky.app/profile/conr...

Mahmood/government should say explain *objective* of increasing time to settlement for 15 years for care workers who arrived 2022-24

Is it

A) to get them to leave? Why?
B) to save money? Then why not just restrict benefits?
C) to "encourage integration"? How? Will do opposite.

In a future leadership contest Labour MPs + members will need to value candidates ability at attentional politics. The way it'll be covered will put more emphasis on broadcast ability and what the lobby think/deems acceptable. Not that these are totally unimportant but certainly less so than before.

Tweet by Jim McMahon calling for introduction of a fit and proper person test for social media owners operating in the UK

Labour MP and former minister @jimmcmahon.co.uk responds to my story about Labour MPs calling for a minister-led review of the government’s use of X

This is one of the changes in the UK media landscape that should be more remarked on: the fact that being a very open, proud, outright racist is no longer a bar to being a pundit on some TV stations (in this case GBN and Talk TV).

Cross-Party MPs Demand Ofcom Investigation Into Antisemitism On X Exclusive: A cross-party group of MPs and peers has demanded that Ofcom take action against a surge in antisemitic posts and calls for violence aga...

Antisemitism Trust report dramatic spike in antisemitic on X. Some racist speech is extreme but lawful, CCDH says X defending unlawful antisemitic abuse it is obliged to remove. MPs want Ofcom to assess if X is breaching its legal duties. (Spoiler alert: it is)
www.politicshome.com/news/article...

"Nigel Farage has been paid over £330,000 by GB News in the last year alone.

Farage is deep in the pockets of a company that aims to replace the BBC".

Punchy video from @eddavey.libdems.org.uk.

LETS BRLT GREAB!

Updating our methods to improve EU and British migration statistics For the first time, UK long-term international migration statistics no longer rely on survey data but are, instead, produced using administrative data. While this is a landmark moment and gives us an

Nice and clear explainer from the ONS on the changes made to their migration methods today:
blog.ons.gov.uk/2025/11/18/u...

Asylum and returns policy statement This policy statement sets out significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and returns policy.

I'm reading through the white paper or whatever it is. RESTORING ORDER AND CONTROL: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy www.gov.uk/government/p...