@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 15hWell…you’d need to be a fully blown cynic not to be elevated in some way by Burnham’s speech. A story, a vision, ideas. Voting reform, Brexit, social care and more. And barely a dry eye in the house! 140
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 22hHere’s Farage simply washing his hands of his chaotic Reform council here in Durham - says he knows nothing and hasn’t time to find anything out… 231
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 23hA calm and reasoned debate about migration? Heaven forfend! 063
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 23hWaking to more wall-to-wall coverage of social care. Everyone has a view on paying for it. Nobody asks what good care looks like. 030
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 23hWell said Angela - sick of being told these quasi-military thugs have ‘legitimate concerns’… www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...theguardian.com‘Intimidatory’ far-right marches should not be allowed, says Angela RaynerThe UK communities secretary decried protests by ‘men in black wearing face masks’ and those ‘whipping up hatred’ towards lifeboat volunteers 4265
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 23hRolling back 40 years of Thatcherism can’t be mounted in 40 days. Burnham himself needs some ‘breathing space’ - one of the rarest commodities in UK politics. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.comBurnham promises to roll back privatisation with government-backed grid planExclusive: Creation of GB Grid will be major step towards putting Britain’s utility companies into public control 020
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Promising - but what does ‘national’ mean and what does ‘care’ mean? It’s not self-evident. x.com/bbcnews/stat...x.comBBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) on XBurnham proposes NHS-style social care system for England https://t.co/XdUIHdNTRX 000
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026‘Burnham writes his own speeches’…is this as unusual as it sounds? How does he find the time? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.com‘We will get stuff done’: Burnham seeks to banish ghosts of Starmerism at Labour conferenceThe PM returns to Liverpool, where he was mocked last year, with a promise that no one will be left wondering what he’s trying to do 211
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Good! Pandering to their ‘legitimate concerns’ only encourages greater excesses. This needs to be nipped in the bud. 030
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026What a stupid headline! He’s Prime Minister, not a kid having a scrap in the school yard. 483
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Johnson’s lack of shame and absence of integrity have done incalculable damage to our political life. 0184
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Umm…isn’t re-opening the Strait the holy grail? What’s he talking about!? 010
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Just ‘noise’…not the most considered verdict on being found guilty on 114 out of 115 charges is it? www.theguardian.com/football/202...theguardian.comManchester City chair Al Mubarak insists ‘nothing has changed’ after guilty verdictManchester City’s chair Khaldoon Al Mubarak, has attempted to dismiss the club’s guilty verdict as ‘noise’ 000
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Why can’t governments join things up better? This is an easily predicted running sore… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.comAngela Rayner stands by attack on care worker visa reforms ahead of Labour conferenceHousing secretary says Home Office moved goalposts with ‘disruptive’ change to permanent residence rules 100
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Reform say it will make the civil service ‘a better place to work’ - by slashing numbers by 50%… 162
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Waking to #bbcr4 news telling me about ‘the anti-migrant activist, Daniel Thomas, known to his supporters as Danny Tomo’. How about just: ‘A 37 year old white man has been arrested’? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukDaniel Thomas arrested after dinghy slashed in ChannelPolice had been looking into footage appearing to show the man, also known as Danny Tommo, slashing at a boat in the English Channel with a knife. 101
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026When will our political class just confess that Brexit has been a total disaster and needs to be fixed? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.comUK ‘losing up to £6.5bn a year in EU trade’ without post-Brexit product dealIPPR finds failure to align testing standards costing 0.18% of national income and has seen companies abandon exporting to EU 001
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026This shocking story here in the NE is going viral. It raises so many questions - not least about accountability on the part of professionals and managers. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukCounty Durham breast cancer failure bosses to review 4,500 more casesThe BBC has spoken to women who suffered unnecessary surgery, delayed diagnoses and a lack of care. 010
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026They won’t be happy until the workhouses re-open will they? 050
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Reform councils here in NE show their colours - South Tyneside shuts all ten nurseries; deputy leader of Durham questions the whole idea of child care. Voters won’t be happy… 032
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Oh c’mon Andy! Drink is consumed liberally before the match, gulped down at half-time and swallowed leisurely afterwards… www.theguardian.com/football/202...theguardian.comAndy Burnham signals he may lift ban on alcohol in football standsPrime minister says measure is discriminatory when fans of other sports are not similarly restricted 120
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Farage’s sense of victimhood is endless isn’t it? 010
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026A child - yes a child - led chants of ‘let them drown’ using a megaphone! What are we coming to with these masked thugs? 010
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Correct! 100%?correct! www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...independent.co.ukBrexit has left Britain ‘impotent – a bobbing cork in the sea,’ says David MilibandExclusive: Former foreign secretary adds to mounting pressure for a new UK deal with EU to repair Brexit damage 001
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026This makes withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance look like small beer… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.comThinktank linked to Reform UK calls for abolition of state pension‘Radical’ report likely to influence party’s platform also proposes abolishing inheritance and capital gains taxes 020
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Why isn’t this idiot under arrest? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...theguardian.comFar-right activist Daniel Thomas slashes dinghy in Channel with blade while rescue worker onboardThomas called followers to protest against arrival of asylum seekers in Gosport, but Border Force instead transported them to Dover 140
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Badenoch: never misses a chance to amplify a problem; never has a realistic solution. 030
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Trump tramples over our economy while Burnham and Healey get the blame. 063
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Farage seems to be spending his windfall even though there are question marks about its legality. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.comReform UK activists squabble over Farage’s plan for £72m donationsCrypto billionaires’ £72m will be used to hire campaign managers and professional staff in target constituencies 010
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Why is end-of-life care such a lottery? My view in the newly launched NE venture, the Source. Do consider subscribing… eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/dying-to-k...eyesandearsnortheast.substack.comDying to know: Unraveling end-of-life careAnd keeping the North East on the rails. 000
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 20/09/2026The sheer pettiness and nastiness of Sunderland’s Reform council is breathtaking. 083
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Dear God….its not his fight, it’s ours!? 111
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 20/09/2026He’s now standing again in the by-election triggered by his own failure to attend any meetings. And, of course, he’s a Reform councillor! 121
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Bravo Louise Casey! This has needed to be said for 30 years. Thatcher’s gang strangled local authority social services in their infancy. 1154
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026What a whinger he is! With Brighton currently thrashing Arsenal he has bigger problems to think about. 000
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Well, I’m not happy about this. The final Country Diary from the wonderful and inimitable Phil Gates… www.theguardian.com/environment/...theguardian.comCountry diary: A lesson from my final diary after nearly 40 years – keep looking closely | Phil GatesStanhope, Weardale: I’ve realised in that time that beauty and fascination can lie in the most mundane of plants – in this case, broad-leaved dock 010
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026This is scandalous! The new CEO says he can’t explain it. His predecessor got a gong for ‘services to the NHS’ and has disappeared, as has the ex-Board Chair. Meanwhile the surgeon responsible is still employed and on full pay. Where’s the accountability? 000
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The Telegraph has its finger on the pulse of the nation… 040
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Wealthy exile whose business has received massive taxpayer subsidy whinges that the country is ‘on the slide’ … www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukBillionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UKIneos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea. 041
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026‘On the outside begging to be let back in’ - but we won’t admit it. Neat encapsulation of our Brexit dilemma by @jontybloom.bsky.social jonty.substack.com/p/they-still...jonty.substack.comThey still don’t get itThis week the Prime Minister of Canada attended the annual State of the Union speech in the European parliament and was rewarded with the offer of “associate membership”. 000
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Listening to #r4today coverage of this scandal. New CEO saying he can’t explain it. Previous CEO gets a gong and disappears. And the rogue surgeon is *still* employed by the trust! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukTwenty women had breasts removed unnecessarily, NHS trust admitsThe women were among hundreds who were harmed by their treatment at County Durham health trust. 160
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026It’s terrifying how this deranged narcissism has become normalised isn’t it? 051
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026This shocking story rumbles on - fine investigative journalism by @sharonbarbourbbc.bsky.social. Meanwhile the ex-CEO and FT Board Chair have disappeared into the ether. Where’s the accountability? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukTwenty women had breasts removed unnecessarily, NHS trust admitsThe women were among hundreds who were harmed by their treatment at County Durham health trust. 061
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026We seem to be moving inexorably towards the unthinkable - the total closure of a university… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukUniversity of Brighton considers closing Falmer campus by 2030The campus houses the university's library, sports and health complex, and two halls of residence. 0109
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Either we’re in or we’re out - can’t we just be honest about this? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...theguardian.com‘Made in Europe’ law threatens UK plans for reset with EUGovernment sources say legislation aimed at China poses a risk to British businesses and must be addressed 041
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026The news isn’t all bad… www.politico.eu/article/swed...politico.euLeft on brink of victory in Swedish electionDefeat looms for Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and his allies on the far right. 011
@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026JL Partners are trying to keep their heads down after the #C4 exposure but their preferential treatment of Reform runs deep. How can we trust anything they say? www.politico.eu/article/refo...politico.euReform aide caught in donor sting attended Egypt retreat with JL PartnersThe polling company invited a top Farage lieutenant as a guest speaker. 030