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Ben Belshaw

@benbelshaw.bsky.social
183 followers 277 following 511 posts

Canadian immersed in the Glasgow experience. Hockey, literature and fried chicken aficionado. Politically observant. Eternal hatred of the Minnesota Wild. Literature and film content is very welcome.

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Reposted by Ben Belshaw
Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Wow. Watch Channel 4 News now Nigel Farage discussing elicit funding for reform U.K. from a foreign donor All on secret camera
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
This gentleman's rage is so appropriate for this moment. Questions should have been asked about the integrity of Arday's work. They should have been asked privately, in the forums of human resources, and oversight of academic integrity and discipline, within the institution itself.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
I dunno, I guess I just didn't expect the people who forced ra-ra, 'Murica, land-of-the-free suffocating patriotic propaganda down the rest of the world's throat via every cultural mechanism available to let themselves get wedgied and stuffed into a locker by a petulant tangerine pedophile?
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
The restraint and self-control showed by the Epstein victims in Congress to not rush Pam Bondi after hearing that torrent of verbal diarrhea and rend her limb from limb like the conclusion of Weapons is one of the most remarkable displays of human strength I've ever seen.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
@mrjamesob.bsky.social having a retrospective listen to the Friday show and, much as you found yourself at loggerheads with caller George, I think you were both circling the answer of the question of why Starmer is, at this moment, in such political danger despite the lack of misuse of office (1/)
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Reposted by Ben Belshaw
mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 04/02/2026
worth noting that the second rich people stopped being afraid of mobs tearing them limb from limb, they stopped building libraries and opera houses and stuff and started ripping the copper wiring out of the walls of society instead
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
And that's what happens when you staff an extralegal paramilitary with incels who couldn't crack the Proud Boys' fitness testing and whose only "conflict situation" experience is murdering cans of Monster Energy and tubs of vaseline, and turn them loose in cities where fascism remains unpopular.
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Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
I see Reform have found room for Primark Hodor. He'll feel right at home. Gullis is so heroically stupid it's like he’s been bitten by a radioactive idiot. A discarded early draft of Chewbacca that someone dragged out of the bin and taught rudimentary table manners.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
On the same day that I began outlining a 10-year retrospective on the Canucks' failure to build (since rebuild was never an option) a competent team, they are getting caved by the Lightning and lucky to escape down 1-0 after 20. To think "Chronicle of Failure" seemed too harsh a working title...
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Labour has already lost my vote, but Shabana Mahmood's carcinogenic immigration policies, replete with cherry-picked data and the language of moral panic, have hardened the desire to proactively show them the door. Campaigning for union disaffiliation seems like a good start.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
@simonjackbbc.bsky.social While uncritically letting this ghoulish squab Done quack on about being the best steward for addictive behaviours, it might have been worth a reminder of how every 2nd ad shown on YouTube, FB etc is promoting gambling. Far from responsible (+) www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Betfred says all its shops may close if Reeves hikes gambling tax
The company's co-founder says it would be forced to close all its sites, putting 7,500 jobs at risk, if gambling taxes go up.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
Makes a good case for the abandonment, in the public consciousness, of the simplistic right-left political spectrum and the development of a spectrum of verticality which reflects class interests.
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Politics in the U.K. @politicsintheuk.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Wikipedia will be cancelled in Lincolnshire.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
It is impossible to overstate what a cataclysmic failure the 🇨🇦 election was for the NDP, or the magnitude of the top-to-bottom housecleaning and soul-searching the party's remnants must now conduct. (1/)
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Massive thanks to the people of Carleton for hammering a stake through Pierre Poilievre. Now we all just wait for the sunrise.
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
How can this be happening, if it’s true that the public were clamouring for a mean as fuck do-nothing Labour government led by repellent briefcase psychos, as we have been angrily assured they were over and over at remarkable volume and intensity for years on end?
huffingtonpost.co.uk
Why Local Election Night Could Be Even Worse For Labour Than The Tories
Both main parties are braced for disappointment as voters go to the polls again.
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Reposted by Ben Belshaw
A Labour Member @dariaqt.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
900 people have already signed the petition so that the issue of MPs voting status & residency can be discussed in parliament. Many who come across this petition think this is already in place - it’s not. Please read, sign & share ✍🏽✍🏼✍🏾 petition.parliament.uk/petitions/71...
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Require candidates for MP to be registered to vote and residents of the UK
Currently, a candidate for MP is not required to be registered to vote or be resident in the UK. We ask the Government to require candidates for MP be registered to vote and residents of the UK.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
Whiskeyleaks rides again... www.cbc.ca/news/world/p...
cbc.ca
Hegseth shared sensitive Yemen war plans in second Signal chat: source | CBC News
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth shared details of a March attack on Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis in a message group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, a source familiar with the ...
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Set aside for a minute that Poilievre is, politically, a mendacious, unscrupulous Trumpian ideologue. Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. And when I look at Poilievre, I see a man I wouldn't trust to make me a coffee without poisoning it. Please don't pull the pin on this grenade, Canada.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Customer service in Canada: "Customer's always right. Maybe we'll pay you? Anything you want, just no kissing on the lips." Customer service in the UK: "Fuck off and don't forget to say thanks on your way out."
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
A legal permanent resident, at an appointment to finalise his citizenship. The only remarkable thing about him, his role as a peaceful protestor and activist. Disappeared, his lawyers have no idea where he is. Americans, wake the fuck up. THIS IS TEXTBOOK FASCISM. www.cbc.ca/news/world/m...
cbc.ca
Palestinian activist arrested by ICE while expecting U.S. citizenship interview | CBC News
A Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University was arrested Monday at a Vermont immigration office where he expected to be interviewed about finalizing ...
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Reposted by Ben Belshaw
Steve Bullock @guitarmoog.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Honestly, UK, do it or fuck off. The world’s in flames, and you’re pissing about over the name of the most basic and uncontroversial form of cooperation imaginable. If you can’t even manage this, go away and come back when you’ve grown the fuck up. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
independent.co.uk
Post-Brexit youth mobility scheme with EU on the table under a different name
Exclusive: There is growing optimism that a fresh proposal for youth mobility across the UK and EU will be accepted by the government
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Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
The European Union and China are now starting negotiations to abolish EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. This is a major strategic failure for the United States.
reuters.com
EU, China start talks on lifting EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, Handelsblatt reports
The European Union and China have begun negotiations on the abolition of EU tariffs on imports of Chinese electric cars, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Thursday.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
On the one hand, more independents = good for democracy. On the other, indicative of the very real risk Labour are running with their policies and complete inability to rise to the moment. It takes years to not only establish new party leadership with the public, but also a political hierarchy /1
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Hockey Out of Context Loves Canada @nhloutofcontext.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Eat Shit Wayne Gretzky, you traitorous bum.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Time to start pushing back on the pretence that we can count on the party structure and electoral system to produce change. We're just playing in a sandbox filled with scorpions.
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Reposted by Ben Belshaw
Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
“When context changes, and US deserting Europe is one such context, you have an opportunity to make the case for changes that otherwise would be off the table” Brexit and austerity? Or neither? That’s the choice. It shouldn’t be this difficult to make it. anthonypainter.substack.com/p/brexterity...
anthonypainter.substack.com
Brexterity Britain - no way out?
Without confronting the impairment of Brexit and austerity directly, the Government risks sinking into the same quicksand that swallowed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Cybertruck Seppuku
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Coming soon: Pokemon Blood Money Red www.cbc.ca/news/busines...
cbc.ca
Pokemon Go maker sells off games division to Saudi company for $3.5B | CBC News
The company that made the hit mobile-phone game Pokemon Go is getting out of the mobile gaming business.
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Reposted by Ben Belshaw
Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
This is a bigger scandal than people realize. It really makes it look as though this entire meeting was a setup by Trump that was planned in advance. If you watch the video it is clear that they are deliberately and almost derangedly blindsiding Zelenskyy. Now we know who the audience was. Putin.
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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
TOMORROW- Friday, February 28th is BLACKOUT FRIDAY! If you believe we are in danger of losing our Democracy forever, FIGHT BACK! Let's make our voices heard in numbers too big to ignore. JOIN US if you've had it with Comrade Krasnov. 🤬 🇷🇺 #24HourEconomicBlackout
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Common Sense @cmmnsensedspnsr.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
More true every day
Passage from Carl Sagan’s 1995 book, the demon haunted world. The passage states “ not explaining science seems to me perverse. When you’re in love, you want to tell the world. This book is a personal statement, reflecting, my lifelong love affair with science. but there’s another reason: Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a four boating of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time - when the United States is a service or information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those and authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good, and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness. The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media. The 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially, a kind of celebration of ignorance.
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Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Le Monde, "French MPs vote through the left's wealth tax on the ultra-rich" Your reminder that a 2% wealth tax on those with £10 million, affecting 0.04% of the UK population, would raise £24 billion a year You have to wonder why Labour chose not to do this..
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cm 🍁 @cmcalgary.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
There is currently a petition in the House of Commons to revoke Elon Musks Canadian citizenship. 33000+ signatures so far: www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en... #Canada #cdnpoli
A screenshot of the online petition. 

Petition to the Prime Minister
Whereas:
Elon Musk has engaged in activities that go against the national interest of Canada;
He has used his wealth and power to influence our elections;
He has now become a member of a foreign government that is attempting to erase Canadian sovereignty; and
The attempts of Elon Musk to attack Canadian sovereignty must be addressed.
We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Prime Minister to revoke Elon Musk's dual citizenship status, and revoke his Canadian passport effective immediately.
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Julien Hoez @julienhoez.eu · 22/02/2025
Starlink should be banned from European markets on national security grounds. Anything requiring Starlink should be shut out of the European market, and sanctions should be considered against all relevant actors. kyivindependent.com/us-threatens...
kyivindependent.com
US threatens to shut off Starlink if Ukraine won't sign minerals deal, sources tell Reuters
The U.S. first raised the prospect of shutting off Starlink service after Zelensky rejected the deal presented on Feb. 12. Starlink terminals are critical in securing Ukraine's battlefield communicati...
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Imagine for a moment if, instead, council tax raises involved a re-valuation of property values, indexing to incomes, an added rate on empty second homes to encourage renting...any measure of creative thought in policy. The dampest squib delivered by Scottish councils. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Biggest council tax rises in 20 years confirmed
Bills will go up by 10% in North Lanarkshire and the Borders while Glasgow, Edinburgh and Fife have also backed big rises.
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Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
It’s a cliché to say it—and no two historical scenarios offer a perfectly compelling analogy—but what each American is doing now is what they’d be doing were they a German living in Germany and were it 1936-38 There’s no more doubt about who the appeasers or the bad guys are—they’re in the open now
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Trump is capitalism in human form, stripped of its disguises. The violent seizure of other people's resources, the exploitation of other people's catastrophes, the predatory gleam in the psychopath's eye. #Gaza #Genocide
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Good read, but one that nicks the surface of the problem. Could go down any number of rabbit holes; grocery retailers obviously come to mind. Or the fact that Canadian telecoms and news media is effectively 3 raccoons in a trench coat. canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...
canadiandimension.com
Breaking the corporate stranglehold over Canadian consumer life
From gasoline to housing to groceries to concert tickets to fertilizer, the average Canadian can no longer afford a comfortable life, and everyone knows it. Denise Hearn and Vass Bednar expose the det...
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
If you want to see Michelle Mone kicked out of the House of Lords and arrested until she pays the £232,000,000 she owes give this a RT. If you want Rishi Sunak's involvement in the £14,900,000,000 PPE Fraud he covered up investigated, LIKE.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Musk's two emphatic "sieg heils" are table scraps for the MAGA voting base, who can somehow grin vapidly and uncritically at a stage packed with billionaires and think "finally, a government who cares about the same issues I do."
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
In case you think that was just some weird moment, he repeated it.
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Petter Törnberg @pettertornberg.com · 14/01/2025
Misinformation isn't random - it's strategic. 🧵 In the first cross-national comparative study, we examine 32M tweets from politicians. We find that misinformation is not a general condition: it is driven by populist radical right parties. with @julianachueri.bsky.social doi.org/10.1177/1940...
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Bylines Scotland @bylines.scot · 18/01/2025
"Requiring visitors to pay for travel permits is another burden tourism here could do without, and for those coming from the EU, is yet another example of the economic disaster that is Brexit." #Scotland #Travel #Brexit #Tourism
bylines.scot
New UK rules on visitors from the EU – an unwelcome barrier for Scottish tourism
New UK travel rules add cost and bureaucracy for visitors to the UK
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Opportunistic, uninformed, haphazard, confused, shameless, contradictory, ideological, petty, misleading, vindictive and insane: Another week in the life of Kemi Badenoch iandunt.substack.com/p/one-week-i...
iandunt.substack.com
One week in the life of Kemi Badenoch
She might be the single worst opposition leader we've seen in our lifetime. She makes Michael Foot look like Barack Obama.
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
That's a shame
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Ben Belshaw @benbelshaw.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Good. Great. Fabulous. Christy Clark is living proof that vampires are real. I can't read her name without thinking of Roderick McIsaac. May Canada open its doors and windows, sage from top to bottom and blow her vile stink from Canadian politics in their totality. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
cbc.ca
Innovation Minister Champagne, former B.C. premier Clark not running to replace Trudeau | CBC News
The pool of potential candidates to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to dwindle with both former B.C. premier Christy Clark and Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne announcin...
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