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Mike Williamson

@bigredmike.bsky.social
444 followers 621 following 54 posts

Socialist, union full timer, living rent member, Edinburgh via Merseyside. livingrent.org/join

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Reposted by Mike Williamson
flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
One hand washes the other
HOME secretary Yvette Cooper's move to proscribe activist group Palestine Action under anti-terror laws has been opposed by civil liberties groups,
who say it lowers the bar too far to bracket paint attacks on planes or arms factory break-ins alongside groups like Al-Qaeda...

To overcome squeamishness, Home Office officials had floated the unevidenced idea that the direct-action group is secretly funded by Iran. Before MPs voted on the proscription, an article in the Times last month reported that unnamed officials were investigating Palestine Action's source of donations "amid concerns that the Iranian regime, via proxies, is funding the group's activities"
The Eve asked the Home Office if the article
was correct and whether it was investigating covert Iranian support for Palestine Action. It told us it did not recognise this claim.
The story was so thin the Times turned to an organisation called NGO Monitor - described as
"a research institute that holds campaign groups to account and promotes transparency"
- for
supportive quotes suggesting there was something fishy about Palestine Action's funding. In reality, NGO Monitor is an Israel-based organisation whose latest annual report celebrates "naming and shaming of NGO
"superpowers' - Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, and Doctors Without Borders" over Gaza. The report opens with an account of its "evening with Douglas Murray", the extremely right-wing British pundit.
NGO Monitor describes Human Rights Watch as having an "absence of professional standards" and a "deep-seated ideological bias against Israel" and has said Doctors Without Borders "abuses its status as a humanitarian organisation to launch venomous anti-Israel political campaigns".
Perhaps not the most reliable authority on which to base the "Iran funding" claim.
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Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
If anyone proposed this in my town I’d kill them
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 12/07/2025
Kristi Noem must resign now.
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Harry Willliams @harryjwilliams.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2025/06/06/e...
deadlinenews.co.uk
Edinburgh local creates handy tool to view planning applications across city  - Deadline News
AN EDINBURGH local has created a nifty tool for staying up to date on planning applications in the city, called City Scope.
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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
The 14th Street Busway has been a smashing success: faster commutes, fewer crashes, calmer streets. So why is Eric Adams blocking a similar plan for 34th Street?
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The Edinburgh Reporter @edinreporter.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Having stand named in his honour was “almost like a fairy tale” says emotional Pat Stanton An emotional Pat Stanton described having a stand named in his honour as “almost like a fairy tale.”  The Hibs legend delivered the match ball ahead of Wednesday night’s game against Rot-Weiss Essen and was…
theedinburghreporter.co.uk
Having stand named in his honour was “almost like a fairy tale” says emotional Pat Stanton
An emotional Pat Stanton described having a stand named in his honour as “almost like a fairy tale.”  The Hibs legend delivered the match ball ahead of Wednesday night’s game against Rot-Weiss Essen and was greeted by a huge standing ovation from all sides of the ground with chants of ‘There’s only one Paddy Stanton’ ringing out from the newly named stand.
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Nadia Whittome MP @nadiawhittomemp.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
The Tories keep banging on about "disability benefit fraud" like 2000s TV presenters. The fraud rate for PIP is non-existent: 0.2%.
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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
"That little girl that we saw.. paralysed from the waist down, who was brushing her teeth when there was an air strike on the shelter she was staying in. As she hit the ground she was still conscious & watched her friend die in front of her" James Elder from UNICEF on #GMB
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Adam Ramsay @adamramsay.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
How to understand the Green leadership race, and why I’m voting for @zackpolanski.bsky.social: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... < by me
theguardian.com
By learning to wield political power, Greens could fill the void at the heart of British politics | Adam Ramsay
The task is to reconcile ‘realists’ and ‘fundamentalists’, and that can be done. It would offer voters a radical alternative to Labour, says Adam Ramsay, a journalist and Green party member
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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Zoe Gardner: "70% of the asylum seekers who've come to the UK in the last 20 years came from countries that we had previously colonised. That means they speak the language, they have ties to this country, we have communities here" Yep. #GMB
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
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Keith Olbermann @olbermann.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Breaking: per FEMA sources Kristi Noem was responsible for THREE DAY DELAY in deploying search-and-rescue in Texas Fire her. Blood on her hands.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
More than a quarter of people think MPs expenses are one of the top three costs for government. A higher % than think the same for pensions or education.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 06/07/2025
Iraq war ‘made extremists of people’: ex-police terrorism chief looks back at 7/7
theguardian.com
Iraq war ‘made extremists of people’: ex-police terrorism chief looks back at 7/7
Exclusive: Former Met officer Neil Basu says there is link between UK foreign policy and radicalisation, and atrocity did lasting damage to race relations Foreign policy was a driver behind the 7 July 2005 attacks on London , with the atrocity leaving a “soul-destroying” legacy of a rise in hate, a former head of counter-terrorism has said. Neil Basu said governments need to accept that foreign policy, such as Britain’s stance on the Israel-Gaza war, can have a direct effect on domestic security. Continue reading...
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Vic Stamp @vickerystamp.bsky.social · 06/07/2025
Oh this is funny from Spiked. Tell me you don't know mining history without telling me you don't know mining history.
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Casket Based @cineblah.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
"Bob Vylan must be stopped!" "50 Palestinians dead" "Antisemitic students to be deported!" "42 Palestinians dead" "Protestors banned!" "67 Palestinians dead" Again and again and again.
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
‘They’re skin and bones’: doctors in Gaza warn babies at risk of death from lack of formula Doctors say Israel is blocking deliveries of formula urgently needed as mothers are either dead or too malnourished to feed their babies www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
theguardian.com
‘They’re skin and bones’: doctors in Gaza warn babies at risk of death from lack of formula
Doctors say Israel is blocking deliveries of formula urgently needed as mothers are either dead or too malnourished to feed their babies
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
After media reports & experts warned for months that drastic & sudden cuts at the Nat Weather Service by Trump could impair their forecasting ability & endanger lives during the storm season, TX officials blame an inaccurate forecast by NWS for the deadly results of the flood.
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Luke Tryl @luketryl.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
What about biggest success? Here it’s not a particularly cheery verdict from the public. Asked in their own words, nothing dominates the word cloud, followed by the NHS.
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Luke Tryl @luketryl.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
🎂 It’s the anniversary of Labour’s election win. The Government had some early stumbles, but what do the public think is their biggest mistake? Asked to say in their own words, it’s one of the most stark word clouds we’ve seen. Winter Fuel Allowance drowns everything else out.
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Thank goodness we have a presidential task force to combat antisemitism which will surely look into this pronto.
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John Barrington @johnbarrington.eurosky.social · 30/06/2025
No comment
Culture > Music > News
Rap song calling for death of Dua Lipa, Bella Hadid and Mia Khalifa 'tops charts in Israel'
'Every dog will get what's coming to them', the artists apparently rap
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 27/06/2025
The federal government could announce tomorrow that it will no longer recognize same-sex marriages and every single person in one would need to sue to enforce the recognition of their marriage. If you can't sue, it won't be recognized. No right is safe.
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 27/06/2025
Do all the Tough Guys feel safe yet?
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Reform Party UK Exposed @reformexposed.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Reform UK Worcestershire’s first council cabinet meeting lasts 20 minutes. Chaos. www.redditchadvertiser.co.uk/news/2526941...
redditchadvertiser.co.uk
Reform UK's first council cabinet meeting lasts 20 minutes
The first cabinet meeting under Worcestershire’s Reform leadership lasted just 20 minutes.
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Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
No organization is better than ICE is.
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barbararogan.bsky.social @barbararogan.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Beloit, WI revitalized its waterfront and chose this way to celebrate it: by bringing to life Georges Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte."
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Patton Oswalt @pattonoswalt.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Will no one stop this maniac who wants to make life easier for people?!?!!
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Maggie Chapman (she/her) @maggiechapman.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Poor management has decimated the University of Dundee. Today I probed former execs on: 🎈The ballooning of expensive consultants over student-facing staff ✍️Substandard equality impact assessments ❌How staff have been systematically ignored Still no justice for Dundee.
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Reposted by Mike Williamson
Dundee UCU @ducuuo.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
NO REDUNDANCIES at the University of Dundee. Fantastic news in our fight to save jobs, as interim Principal Prof Nigel Seaton confirms that there will be no redundancies. A massive victory for everyone who has supported us. Looking forward to receiving the removal of Section 188 in writing.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
No matter how often I see this data, I always find it shocking. Of all the massive growth in output produced by the world's workers since 1980, more than half of it has been captured by the richest 1%. This is what happens when capital controls production.
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New Economics Foundation @neweconomics.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Today the Homes for Us alliance were outside the Housing 2025 conference demanding the politicians inside listen to our demands: rent controls now!
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David Klemperer @dmk1793.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
"the average British user dedicates more than 42 hours a month to watching videos which rarely last longer than thirty seconds" Just an almost unutterably bleak statistic www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
William Davies · TV Meets Fruit Machine: Faragist TikTok
In my own For You journey into Faragism, I was struck by the recurring assumption that the ultimate prize was exit of...
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Mike Williamson @bigredmike.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
My favourite bit of this is the idea that the commander in chief of the world's dominant intelligence agencies needs people on Truth Social to tell him what Medvedev said in a speech.
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Frank O'Connor @frankoconnor.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
700 derelict properties in Cork City centre 700 derelict properties in Cork City centre 700 derelict properties in Cork City centre 700 derelict properties in Cork City centre 700 derelict properties in Cork City centre 700 derelict properties .. #DerelictIreland With @judesherry.bsky.social
700 derelict properties in Cork City centre
700 derelict properties in Cork City centre
700 derelict properties in Cork City centre
700 derelict properties in Cork City centre
700 derelict properties in Cork City centre
700 derelict properties ..

#DerelictIreland 

With @judesherry.bsky.social
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Why are house prices so high?
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Shona Murray @shonamurray.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
🚨This is 💯 worth your time “I have watched with dismay and increasing horror as my nephew, an educated man who is well aware of his heritage, has become the architect of immigration policies that repudiate the very foundation of our family’s life in this country” www.politico.com/magazine/sto...
politico.com
Stephen Miller Is an Immigration Hypocrite. I Know Because I’m His Uncle.
If my nephew’s ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out.
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New Economics Foundation @neweconomics.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
📢Rent controls now!📢 If you're in Manchester tomorrow, the Homes for Us alliance needs you to join us outside of the Housing 2025 conference to demand new powers for mayors to implement rent controls! Find out more: homesforus.org.uk/campaigns/ta...
Text: Rent controls action. Time: Tuesday 24 June, 10.45am. Meeting point: Manchester Central Library. Join the Homes for Us alliance outside the Housing 2025 Conference in Manchester to demand mayors are given the power to implement rent controls.
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Scott Lynch @scottlynch78.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
This is another one of those things that illuminates just how in the fucking tank so much of the mainstream media is, how jingoistic and servile. Slobbering over any president like this would be a bad idea, but to do it for Trump is malfeasance on a civilizational level.
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Polling USA @usapolling.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
"Do you want America to be at war with Iran?" No: 85% Yes: 5% YouGov / June 22, 2025
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Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
This is absolutely insane shit to write down and publish. The left scared her. This might beat allll the other NYT headlines. Truly spectacular. The GOP banned abortion, the GOP said they would prosecute doctors providing abortions, the 6 Republican appointed SCOTUS judges overturned Roe.
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She Guevara @sheg7.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
In 2003, anti-war activists broke into RAF Fairford to stop US bombers heading to Iraq, and Keir Starmer defended their actions and said it was justified to prevent future war crimes, but is proscribing Palestine Action for doing the same to try to stop war crimes that are happening right now.
media.tenor.com
a man in a suit and tie is smiling in front of a microphone while two women wearing face masks sit behind him
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is smiling in front of a microphone while two women wearing face masks sit behind him
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
Keir Starmer endorses an attack which his own Attorney General has advised may be illegal
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
Look, Britain is always going to support the US but this is an absolutely nonsense statement. Iran didn't leave the negotiation table. Israel launched an unprovoked attack which America has now joined.
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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Farage and the far right in general come from a grievance culture. If you do what they want, even maximally – Brexit – they’ll move the goalposts and keep moaning. If you engage seriously with their concerns, they’ll find new ones. You will never satisfy them, because they don’t want to be satisfied
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Leeds for Europe @leedseurope.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
The case of the 61 year old man who couldn’t add up…Farage roasted at PMQs 😂
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Liam Thorp @liamthorp.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
What happens when a political agenda takes over any semblance of journalistic standards Telegraph admits its story about private school family not being able to go on five holidays was complete nonsense and not remotely fact-checked Beyond embarrassing www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/the-t...
telegraph.co.uk
An apology
On May 25 we published an online article &ldquo;We earn &pound;345k, but soaring private school fees mean we can&rsquo;t go on five holidays&rdquo; which included stock photographs and not, as the art...
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