Mr Pecksniff's Diary

A rare serious debate about the UK economy. Also showing why so few politicians want this. Because our economic strengths are inconveniently linked to migration, and an ageing population is simply going to be more costly in taxes.

What you won't hear in the budget...

Who could have seen this coming? 🙄

Living alongside nature: humans must get better at it The first of two articles inspired by COP30 explores some problems and the need to seek inclusive and nature-aligned solutions.

Bees being poisoned by pesticides highlights the absurdity of our current approach. We kill pollinators necessary for the plants that feed us. Cllr Glyn Evans argues, as COP30 debates Biodiversity, that we must change our attitude to nature.
eastangliabylines.co.uk/environment/...

The new asylum laws represent a fundamental downgrading of the rights of vulnerable people How do you build a life when your right to remain is reassessed every two and a half years?

“This package paints asylum seekers as schemers, not survivors, and turns a legal right into a privilege that the state can withhold at will. Nothing about it fits Labour’s claim to be a party of compassion, let alone its tradition of siding with the powerless.”

open.substack.com/pub/theleadu...

Danish voters turn on PM Frederiksen over housing costs After 122 years in power, voters in Copenhagen are turning their backs on the governing Social Democrats and expressing increased dissatisfaction with the party’s rightward turn.

🚨🚨Perhaps a hardline populist stance on immigration isn't the way to go. 🧵 www.politico.eu/article/cope...

The coming collapse in immigration to the United Kingdom - UK in a changing Europe James Bowes analyses the fall in net migration to the UK as a result of government policies and explores some of the political and economic consequences.

Net migration now estimated to have fallen from 944,000 to 345,000 in Dec ‘24.

Some projections even suggest David Cameron’s old target of “tens of thousands” could be met. ukandeu.ac.uk/the-coming-c...

Polls show people react to immigration only because they are encouraged to by the right and media. They have no personal animosity towards immigrants. A new report from Oxford University supports that: fear of immigration is the result of lies and misinformation.

Centre-left tipped to lose Copenhagen for first time in electoral history Political rivals say PM’s divisive politics have encouraged voters to ditch the Social Democrats for the far right

Someone tag the Labour party: ““This was a cynical strategic manoeuvre to avoid losing voters to the far right, but it seems, based on polling, that all they have done is prime their own voters to join the far right rather than stay with the Social Democrats.””

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

The way this Govenrment are treating some of the most vulnerable people in the world is disgusting.

And they the audacity to pretend it's coming from a place of compassion and concern.

Their only actual concern seems to be dancing to the tune of the far right rather than tackle inequality.

BBC News: "the government believe refugees are deliberately bringing their children to avoid deportation"

As opposed to doing what with their children??

The Guardian view on Labour’s asylum plans: ministers cannot out-Farage the far right and should stop trying | Editorial Editorial: Shabana Mahmood’s asylum overhaul burdens an overstretched system and hands political advantage to her opponents

“In post-Brexit politics, it’s hard to see how one out-Farages Nigel Farage. Yet that is what the Labour government is attempting to do. Copying Reform UK’s cruelty on asylum lets Mr Farage own the issue, outbid Labour and drive the debate rightward at no cost”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Labour MP Brian Leishman: "The Government has surrendered to... the vile rhetoric of Reform. Does the Home Secretary not see that removing the legal obligation to support asylum seekers who will be otherwise destitute, is as far away from Labour Party principles and values as we can get?"

The government should be ashamed that its migration policies are being cheered on by Tommy Robinson and Reform.

Instead of standing up to anti-migrant hate, this is laying the foundations for the far-right.

I questioned the Home Secretary on how she can be proposing such obviously cruel policies.

This

Responses to this diarist from Labour MPs thus far suggest a significant rebellion.

‘Ed Davey says what Starmer won’t’

Sir Ed declares: “We have a responsibility to protect one of our nation’s most treasured institutions from becoming subservient to Donald Trump and his cronies”.
👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

‘There’s Just No Reason to Deal With Young Employees’ AI is taking entry-level jobs. What happens when Gen-Z-ers can’t start their careers?

Chilling piece on employment effects of AI on early careers. Includes this line, which will probably become the norm for many firms: "Managers at Shopify must now justify hiring a human by first explaining why AI can’t do the job."

nymag.com/intelligence...

Mahmoud's asylum proposals are entirely misjudged. The issue she is challenging is one of misrepresentation and lies. Coming up with an intended placatory policy, however intentionally brutal, isn’t going to stop them lying. Only confronting the lies will do that.

A brave and well argued response. I find it hard to see how the government are going to be able to get their bill through simply.

When reality bites: the rapid rise and chaotic fall of Reform UK in Cornwall Resignations, suspensions and infighting lead to party losing crown of highest number of seats in the county

People who voted Reform in Cornwall, Kent and elsewhere must be feeling rather foolish…
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

My granddad was a refugee, my wife, our close friends and those of our kids are either immigrants or the children of immigrants.

Do ministers ever think about the message their rhetoric on "handouts" and "golden tickets" for migrants sends about whether this is a government for people like us?

Labour's MP for Folkestone says the government has taken "the wrong turning" on its plans for asylum seekers.

"The rhetoric around these reforms encourages the same culture of divisiveness that sees racism and abuse growing in our communities."

It's disgraceful that Nigel Farage is egging Donald Trump on as he attacks the BBC and tries to pick pockets of millions of licence fee payers.

Pecksniff: Coup shock as Starmer bids to become prime minister In which Mr Pecksniff lays before his readers for their approval certain observations and speculations reflecting on the political life

Downing Street ties itself in knots over ‘phantom calls’ * BBC hunts its hunters * Farage toasts Trump at Mar-a-Lago while Jaywick in his constituency tops deprivation list.

Read the stories and analysis from Pecksniff’s Diary ⤵️

@eastangliabylines.co.uk @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social

Protesters and counter protesters face up to one another An anti-migrant group's protests in Peterborough drew many counter-protesters showing their support for the asylum seekers accommodated in a local hotel

An anti-migrant group's protests in Peterborough drew many counter-protesters showing their support for the asylum seekers accommodated in a local hotel  | Aidan Baker

Pecksniff: Coup shock as Starmer bids to become prime minister In which Mr Pecksniff lays before his readers for their approval certain observations and speculations reflecting on the political life

Briefers brief. Boss baffled. * BBC unbowed. * Streeting startled. * Davey speaks sense. *Framlingham sings. * Farage plays victim.

Cryptic? Yes! Read all the latest stories and analysis in this week's Pecksniff's Diary ⤵️

@eastangliabylines.co.uk @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social

Rachel Reeves’ budget options: nothing popular Reeves inherited a nightmare: austerity, Brexit, Covid, ageing population. Now she must balance the books. Here are some of the options.

Reeves can’t ignore the maths.

Raising taxes breaks a promise. Cutting services breaks society.

Reeves’ Budget will show which break she fears most.

Here’s a menu of (hard) choices.

Stephen McNair reports

A lot of the core points in this good piece come down to a political and media system in the UK that has forgotten that being good at campaigning doesn't make you good at politics or policy

Join the campaign to Trump-proof the BBC

www.libdems.org.uk/bbc