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Dave Merritt

@butwhatifitsall.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.4K following 6.3K posts

Gen Xer (1965), benefitted from the golden age of the UK welfare state and social mobility. Career in social housing (remember that?) now retired. Father of Jack Merritt, killed in the 2019 Fishmongers’ Hall attack. Writing a book. Food. Music. Politics.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Dave Merritt
Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 9h
"The prosecution case is that Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate used and threatened physical and sexual violence in order to maintain control and compliance." Where are the voices from the self appointed defenders of women and young girls who would usually be on this? www.reuters.com/world/uk/tat...
reuters.com
Tate brothers used 'lover boy' model to exploit women, Britain says
Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate used a "lover boy" model to lure women with the ‌promise of romantic relationships before coercing them to create online pornography, British law enfor...
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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 12h
🎯 "Burham has to decide whether Britain’s security, in an increasingly turbulent world, can best be protected through the obsessive pursuit of some purist notion of sovereignty, or through pooling some sovereignty with like-minded allies in pursuit of greater collective resilience."
bylinetimes.com
'Why Andy Burnham Will Ultimately Back Rejoining the EU'
The logic of the Prime Minister's argument that Brexit has done more harm than good only points in one direction, argues
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Miaganga @miaganga.bsky.social · 7h
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Lydia Lancet @inkandinsight.bsky.social · 9h
He conveniently failed to acknowledge austerity, Brexit, and the disastrous governance of the Tories, yet now he’s standing there speaking at their conference. What a shameless hypocrite. Classic Tory.
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Simon Gosden @simongosden.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Man who purchased a farm as a tax dodge now complaining as it’s hard work. What a hypocrite.
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Al Cappuccino…☕️🇮🇹 @alcappuccinoit.bsky.social · 9h
Pro tip: if you’re an American president offering up cities to be bombed by a foreign adversary, you’re no patriot.
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Rick Wilson @therickwilson.bsky.social · 10h
Well, then.
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Sarah Kay @k-interarma.bsky.social · 14h
To the surprise of absolutely no one, but to their courage, victims of far-right figures arguing they are “protecting women and girls” from unknown and unseen particular threat from migrants are coming forward to tell their story of sexual and domestic abuse
theguardian.com
‘Bully in every way’: domestic abuse survivors say ex-partners behind far-right UK street patrols
Seven women share their stories to make people aware of patterns of violence behind anti-immigration street patrol movement
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Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 15h
“[Elites] prefer to fight on cultural grounds because there are no economic implications for that. You’ll see Bank of America in a pride parade…you’re not going to see them advocating for a wealth tax.” – Briahna Joy Gray Watch Let’s Focus with Josh Rushing and Robby Soave: youtu.be/PI81S3s1LCM
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 15h
There is v warm coverage of the late Jeffrey Archer on Radio 4 Today focusing on book sales & chsrity with fraud, perjury & disgrace mainly as something to bounce back from. He probably got more second, thitd & fourth chances that anybody else in British public life in the last half century.
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Dan Benbow @danbenbow.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Put him on a leash. #BlueWaveIn30Days
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 15h
Just the dumbest collection of halfwit confetti emerging out of that conference. Tax cuts everywhere, paid for with imaginary spending cuts. Huge spending projects with precisely zero utility, except to anchor their 'defence day' narrative. Clowns.
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George E. Osborn @georgeosborn.bsky.social · 15h
Another fun fact for you: the video game industry adds £6bn to the UK economy each year. That’s more than double the contribution of fishing (£1.16bn) and steel (£1.7bn) combined BEFORE the year of our lord Grand Theft Auto VI.
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Andy Birss @andybirss.bsky.social · 14h
Chris 'How many football shirts' Mason is a joke. He's a gossip columnist but not a serious political reporter. #r4today
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Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Conservative Helen Whateley, "Tax cuts have to be funded.. I'm doing work on what is the right way to bring down the welfare bill" My view: Why is the answer always more hardship for people who are already struggling, while vast wealth can be hoarded almost untouched?
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 15h
Today I think I might finally unlock economic growth by doing the same things that haven't worked for 18 years.
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Gareth0108 @gareth0108.bsky.social · 15h
forty years of the same answer to the wrong question by politicians sigh
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Anti-Reform @antireform.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
"Your enemy is not travelling by small boat, they are travelling by private jet" via The UK Against Hate Ps Nigel Farage was so concerned about struggles of ordinary people he flew to super-rich conference at Davos by private jet to tell billionaires they'd be even richer of he got into No. 10
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Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I love talking our country down While offering no solutions Because I’m a grifting gobshite Who likes to incite unrest Small boat crossings are down 44% Deportations are the highest in 10 years Immigration is 82% lower But who needs facts When you can make up lies
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Dave Merritt @butwhatifitsall.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The corporate media won’t allow it.
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Micah @rincewind.run · 04/10/2026
man I would like one fucking electorate - one! - to remember that fascism is bad for more than five minutes at a time
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Ms AB @justagalandadog.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
If you think abt these awful glasses, #AI's encroachment on creative property rights, and warfare enacted via drones, you start to see a pattern > the destruction of privacy, annihilation of copyright, and death by remote control -> i.e. dehumanisation across the board.
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
A cynical person might ask, of course, why are "young men of fighting age" wearing hijabs? 🧐
Main on Sunday front page: 

"As one of Kemi's top female frontbenchers calls them 'instruments of suppression...
UK HANDS OUT 1,000 HIJABS TO CHANNEL MIGRANTS"
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Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
“Return to tribalism. Counter to globalisation. Amazing new alliances.” – Peter Thiel to Jeffrey Epstein. The Dark Enlightenment is an elite-run, ideological war on democracy. It's coming for Britain's institutions. Help us map it out. #LightUpTheDark subscribe.bylinetimes.com/lightuptheda...
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Dave Merritt @butwhatifitsall.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Intrigued as to what the tiny sink on the right in our apartment in Sicily might be for….
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Had a brief conversation with a ‘Britain is full’ racist. Sigh. Just one little bit of logic. If you have an ageing population, and at the same time constant population numbers, can you see what that does to working-age numbers? It’s not difficult if you have the slightest grasp of mathematics.
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Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
What I find a little unbelievable in this "US retreats cos of fears of safety at really well protected UK base" is that the Yanks happily still operate out of Akritori which has literally been the subject of a mysterious attack already. So... I'm calling bullshit.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
At Cable Street, 90 years ago, the people of London’s East End fought Mosely’s fascists and were successful. Unfortunately, the fascists are back. And, as Tony Benn reminded us, the same battles have to be fought over and over again.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I wish all the journalists who parrot the phrase “precision bombing” would be taken to a a firing range and shown just how precise the detonation of a 1000-pound bomb is. Perhaps they’d like to stand close to confirm how precise they are.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 04/10/2026
Nobody is prepared for the world of drone warfare that is coming, in fact is already here www.nytimes.com/2026/10/04/u...
nytimes.com
U.S. Rushes to Withdraw Bombers From U.K. Air Base After New Threats
The withdrawal came with unusual speed, following what U.S. officials said were threats of an Iran-based plot against the installation.
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Jared Yates Sexton @jysexton.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
So, just to review. In roughly seven months the US has had to abandon all bases in the Middle East, flee from a British base, the petrodollar system that is the foundation for hegemony has collapsed, and we’re facing historical energy and food crises. Great work. www.cnn.com/2026/10/04/p...
cnn.com
US removes all Air Force bombers from UK base following new threat | CNN Politics
The United States has moved long-range bombers back to their American home stations after an unspecified new threat, according to a person familiar, days after the British government arrested a number...
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Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
For a long time I have heard rumours that you strangle kittens for fun and worship Satan. I have never believed it and still don’t. Am I doing this right?
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Sathnam Sanghera @sathnam.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
#empireworld is available for 99p as a kindle deal innit amzn.eu/d/0aaF6wLd
amzn.eu
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David Firn @davidfirn.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
So the Iranians have closed the Strait of Hormuz and the Cotswolds?
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Emily Collins @emily1collins.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The motion draws the net so wide it effectively includes any remotely religiously observant Jew
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Alistair King @alistairking.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
You could theoretically argue it's a choice but: A) Zionism means different things to different people. B) In one of those senses, most synagogues and therefore by extension most attendees are zionist by definition, so most practising Jews are implicated. See @danielsugarman.bsky.social's thread.
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Emily Collins @emily1collins.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
And whether something is a choice isn't relevant to whether discrimination against it is lawful. Religion/belief are a whole protected characteristic, as is marriage. If the vast majority of people with X characteristic engage in behaviour/belief Y, discriminating on Y is indirect discrim on X
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The Citizens @the-citizens.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
At our Labour conference fringe event, @labourlewis.bsky.social revealed a letter he received from Palantir’s new UK chief Tom Watson, which he described as an “implicit threat”. Read our full coverage 👇 citizensreunited.substack.com/p/labour-blo...
citizensreunited.substack.com
Labour blocked the Palantir debate
As protesters demand the government break with Palantir, Clive Lewis revealed its new UK chief has been keeping count of his criticisms
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Ren Zelen @renzelen.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Proud of my boy. Sees a girl crying on the tube, ignored by everyone. He’s the only one to go to her & ask if she needs help and if there’s anything he can do. She says it’s a ‘big thing she can’t talk about’. He says that she’ll find the strength to get through it. “It’s all I could do” he said 😔
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Anti-Reform @antireform.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"Calls grow for investigation into Reform UK’s ‘extensive’ links with UAE" 'FairSquare wants the relationship examined by the government’s Defending Democracy Taskforce. It has also called for the UAE to be placed alongside Russia and Iran ...' thedailybritain.co.uk/reform-uk-ua...
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Bylines Network @bylinesnetwork.co.uk · 04/10/2026
A tale of two professors: race, scrutiny and the media There is no question that Professor Arday’s death exposes the issue of race in the construction of newsworthiness: why isn’t this obvious? westenglandbylines.co.uk/news/media/a...
westenglandbylines.co.uk
A tale of two professors: race, scrutiny and the media
There is no question that Professor Arday’s death exposes the issue of race in the construction of newsworthiness: why isn’t this obvious?
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Tim Goodacre - Writer @timgoodacre.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"Donald Trump’s second run at the White House promised a mass deportation scheme that would rid the United States of its undocumented migrants. In office, it is a policy that is being implemented to brutal effect – and one that Palantir is at the centre of."
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Dave Merritt @butwhatifitsall.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
What do scum who steal £40m deserve, Bob?
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Daily Herald #FBPE #NAFO 🇬🇧🇺🇦🇬🇱 @dailyherald.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Why is the MP for Newark hanging out with his film crew in Brixton, waiting for a woman to shame? Millionaire who did nothing about Grenfell calling people scum. Remarkable.
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Jane @localnotail.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
An Israeli airstrike killed at least five Palestinians, including four women, in an apartment building in Gaza ‌City early on Saturday, health and civil defence service officials said. Among the dead were a Christian mother, Maisa Abu Dawoud, and her daughter Mary. Trump's ceasefire in action.
reuters.com
Israeli strike kills five in Gaza, including four women, health officials say
An ​Israeli airstrike killed at least five Palestinians, including four women, in an apartment building in Gaza ‌City early on Saturday, health and civil defence service officials said.
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Robert Jenrick confronts a 'shoplifter' and tells her she should go to prison In 2020 Robert Jenrick broke the rules and tried to rush through planning permission to save a billionaire donor £40,000,000 and cost you £40m. How long does Jenrick think Jenrick should get for that?
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
There must surely be one broadcast news journalist out there who will see the contradiction in claiming to be business friendly while promising to make it harder to trade with the UK's biggest export market. There isn't, is there?
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Danny Fearns @dannyfearns.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Good morning Bluesky ☀️  As the Conservative party conference gets underway, spare a thought for the party that lost all of its best assets to Reform UK. Like "Hot Horses" multimillionaire, Nadhim Zahawi, the tax cheat who kept his horses in heated stables, funded by taxpayers. 
Nadhim Zahawi with a caption saying "my horses are warmer than your kids"
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Dave Merritt @butwhatifitsall.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
We accidentally crashed the queue to the Bam Bar in Taormina which, we found out afterwards, is some sort of Insta/TikTok sensation due to some quite ordinary-looking ice creams/ granitas. Sat at an empty table in front and ordered our beers. Love how bars give you free snacks with the beer.
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Adam Powley @adampowley.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
You have to wonder how the BUF would be treated nowadays. Probably ‘legitimate concerners’. The anti-fascists might be proscribed. Mosley would be on Celebrity Bake off.
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