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Ben casper

@beldaz78.bsky.social
123 followers 737 following 213 posts

Social work. Progressive. Pragmatic.

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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Surely even in the best case scenario he'd have a significantly reduced majority, have lost time and momentum with campaigning, and potentially some of the will of his MPs? Winning wouldnt give him an answer to the difficult questions, regardless of any mandate.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Got muddled between Tonga and Togo....
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Ahh, unless it's a sign of your telly slowly becoming some kind of portal to another dimension...could be cool, could have Goza waiting.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Of course. But asking in such a binary way isn't massively conducive to that.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Did they genuinely expect him to answer that he was on either team?
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
They were correct.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This statement will be true in any context, in any time period.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I was becoming paranoid it had been there for some time and I'd only just noticed it!
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
What an odious dweeb.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Tell me on a Sunday...
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
🔴 For the past year @lucasamin.bsky.social and I have been investigating Palantir in the UK What we found was a company with unrivalled political access, selling a product many data experts in the NHS don’t use, and don’t rate Please read and share democracyforsale.substack.com/p/its-just-a...
democracyforsale.substack.com
"It's just a waste of time": inside Palantir's £330m NHS failure
Our new investigation reveals the problems with Palantir’s NHS tech - and the unrivalled political access that fuelled the firm’s march into the British state
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I may be naïve, but it does seem sensible to consult with the PLP around specifics and not coming in and saying exactly what you will and will not do. Something which Starmer was often rightly criticised for doing in the election.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Agree that it's completely different to plan to oust Starmer than to plan to govern. However, I'm cautiously optimistic that the people in his team are working with him on what wasn't working, and what needs to happen. He does seem like a big ideas person who has shown he can implement them as well.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I live in hope. I'm reading "lie of the land" and have been thinking of how crucial community ownership could be and Burnham's vision gives no better opportunity to give it the impetus it needs. I'm sure I've heard @pimlicat.bsky.social extoll the virtues of land value tax as well....
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Would love to hear @guyshrubsole.bsky.social as a guest on @quietriotpod.bsky.social...
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Don't need to listen to this to know with 100% that these lines were uttered by @sturdyalex.bsky.social . Please make some "that's not how it fucking works" merchandise.
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The New World @thenewworldmag.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Our next edition is on sale 🗞️ The unravelling of Nigel Farage Featuring @jamesrball.com, Lucy Reade, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social, @paulmason.bsky.social and more Subscribe: buff.ly/1wNQMSb
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
No way would I have wanted, or want, to be called Benjamin or Bennedict. Though many of my peers enjoyed finding nicknames based on them. However, Benson would have been interesting...
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Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
EXC - The £5m gift to Nigel Farage by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Revealed: Farage’s £5m gift reported to UK crime agency over money laundering concerns
Exclusive: Latest Guardian revelation about gift from cryptocurrency tycoon comes as Reform UK leader forces byelection
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
The vibes they are a changin'...
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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
And there it is… www.desmog.com/2026/04/30/r...
desmog.com
Revealed: Reform’s £24 Million from Fossil Fuel Interests
Reform UK has received £24 million from oil and gas interests, accounting for more than two thirds of its total income, DeSmog can reveal. Led by Nigel Farage, the party is calling for new North Sea o...
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
It's very radio 2.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
The Government Estate Nature Plan has been published – revealing the first official map of all central government land, and that 37% of the public estate is being protected & managed for nature (thereby counting towards the 30by30 goal). Thread 1/ assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a3ce5...
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
One of the lessons of the last two years is that Labour urgently needs to stop being afraid of its own shadow. Burnham should appoint whoever he thinks would be the best Chancellor and throw his authority behind them. The Daily Mail will try to kill them anyway. So just govern.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Yes, they are, and I'm sure that's part of the thinking in terms of those odds, to make people go, hmm...maybe I'll put a cheeky fiver on them.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
The difference in cost remains substantial, and, unlike solar panels, there appears to be less of a consensus around how effective they are, and if they would be more cost effective. They appear to be (fairly or unfairly) seen as a luxury rather than essential.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Very good point. Rory Stewart swears by them despite his experience and the outcome. Maybe I'm wrong and after the process we'd all be wiser, and the chosen leader better equipped to be PM but I doubt it.
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TheNewDomShow @thenewdomshow.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
"Tell Jabba I'll get him his money..."
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Brilliant. I hated foxes, and all British wildlife tbh but seeing this has changed my mind completely.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
‘Horseshit’: I gave my verdict to Sky News on the Great Dartmoor Pony Cull Conspiracy of 2026 - a conspiracy theory grounded in nonsense, that’s festered on Musk’s hellsite & been supercharged today by the Tories - to distract from the fact nature on Dartmoor is dying: news.sky.com/story/horseh...
news.sky.com
'Horsehs*t': Campaigners and government reject rumours of forced Dartmoor pony 'cull'
Natural England has ordered a 75% cut to livestock numbers on Dartmoor in a bid to tackle overgrazing. A group that represents livestock owners warns it will mean a dramatic reduction in the number of...
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
New CEO but potentially also see it as a move in the right direction but maintaining pressure on ensuring there is pressure to regulate etc.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I'm not sure I read the Save the children response that way. It seems they raise valid concerns around a potential consequence of yp using unregulated sites, and of not relying on such a ban to address all concerns but I didn't see it as them opposing it.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Forlan did poorly at utd, and was the butt of many jokes in England. Saw him play for Atleti in 2009 and he was electric, head and shoulders above everyone on the pitch (including aguero). I can't remember seeing a player so clearly dominate a game live.
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Helene von Bismarck @helenebismarck.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
This is a huge story. www.ft.com/content/dd79...
ft.com
Arson targeting Keir Starmer properties originated in Russia
Handler was affiliated with a pro-Kremlin hacktivist group
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Legally not an adult until they are 18. Legislation for 16 and 17 year olds is different in terms of housing duties and other issues but they are treated differently from adults.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I don't think anyone is suggesting it will?
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
static.klipy.com
Napoleon Dynamite Slap with Patrick Star
ALT: Napoleon Dynamite Slap with Patrick Star
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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
No Toby Young, you were not too right wing for MI6. You were too shit. These things can be related, but in your case they were entirely separate. spectator.com/article/was-...
spectator.com
Was I too right-wing for MI6?
Like many people, I’ve been bemoaning the woke capture of our security services for some time. In 2024, Sir Richard Moore, then the head of MI6, resigned from the Garrick Club during the row over the ...
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
static.klipy.com
Alan Partridge Shrugs 'I Don't Know'
ALT: Alan Partridge Shrugs 'I Don't Know'
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Another fantastic episode. I spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to hold big conversations we can all take part in, and promote the role of your "ordinary" person in our politics. BBQT clearly not the venue. Televised versions of citizens assemblies?
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Absolutely this. Listened to much analysis this week, but not much of it includes this level of information.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
It is always helpful in considering any bias either way to look at other factors present that were not related to race, which would also have influenced the officer's actions. Thank you again for providing thoughtful and thought provoking insight.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Clearly there are many lessons to be learned but I am wary of going down the "Farage may have a point..."hole when he has presented no evidence to support his claims, and no other leaders have denied the need to learn from the mistakes that were made. 2
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Very good episode, important to have these sensible discussions. It did lose me a bit in terms of equity and equality and how that may have been in this specific case.I do not see how factors around racial sensitivity could and should ever remove a duty of care 1
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Her friend's cousin knows someone who saw a screening of it in Japan and made a dvd without anyone knowing.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Agree with all except the immigration numbers (as being positive). One of my hopes for this Government had been that they could enable a discourse around immigration where people were able to see the positives and benefits of it. In that, so far, they are failing.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
And I'd like to move away from the idea that, like waiting times, the only thing to do with immigration numbers is to reduce them.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Maybe it reflects that despite polling they still can't appeal to a wider base when it comes to actually representing them. Perhaps hope they will be rejected at a GE.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
I think the sooner we all realise this the better. We cannot re/join quietly. We will continue to be impacted by not having closer ties.
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Ben casper @beldaz78.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
I'm not massively annoyed by this, my worries weren't around the amount of tax paid or not paid, it is the amount of money paid that was then not declared.
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