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Chaminda Jayanetti

@cjayanetti.bsky.social
42K followers 1.7K following 22K posts

Freelance journalist covering British politics and public services - NHS, education, care, housing, disability, benefits. Not a tribalist. I like good things and I don't like bad things.

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Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Rebecca Montacute @beckymontacute.bsky.social · 25m
Reminder re the discussion on whether parents on over £100,000 should be able to access funded childcare hours that this is the income split for who can access the 30 hour policy for 3 and 4 year olds - low income families are the main ones currently missing out.
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Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Hughster @hughster.bsky.social · 21h
A valiant effort by Owen in downplaying a second leftwing project he joined having been taken over by crankism Of course, he's correct: the original Zionism did create a homeland at the expense of Palestinians. But the other basic point he's missing is that homeland exists and has done for 80 years
Owen Jones
@Owenjonesjourno

There is nothing racist about any ethnic or religious group wanting their own homeland. The problem is if this desire is at the expense of another people.
Zionism in practise meant "a homeland at the expense of Palestinians".
It's really not hard to grasp this basic point! 10:32 pm -4Oct 2026 495K Views
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 2h
Susan Hall wasn't jailed for perjury
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 3h
yes, I think the law was changed in the 2010s
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 3h
I think it's pretty obvious what accounted for the dashing of his mayoral hopes
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 3h
(as it is, compare the before and after - before, he'd had hopes of being the Tories' London mayoral candidate; after, his political ambitions were finished)
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 3h
I think these days he'd be automatically expelled from the Lords due to the length of his jail sentence
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Sarah Kay @k-interarma.bsky.social · 4h
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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Richy Craven @richycraven.bsky.social · 15h
Dominos meme
First domino: Tsar Nicholas losing the Russo-Japanese war
Last Domino: His Grandniece being handcuffed to DJ Fat Tony on Channel 4
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Ciaran @ciaranmcgurdy.bsky.social · 14h
This isn't a particularly bad article on the subject, but it's kind of amazing how this conversation even needs to be had. Fans do not care about anything other than their team winning football matches. This clip remains the last word on morality in football
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Tim Clare @timclare.bsky.social · 13h
Something that sounds made up but is true is that the first money I ever got for my writing was from Jeffrey Archer, & when I met him just over ten years later he asked for it back.
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Anthony L. Fisher @anthonylfisher.bsky.social · 15h
Found the perfect screengrab to use the next time someone tries to tell me I’m missing out on important discourse by not using Elon Musk’s mircoblog site
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 16h
🧐
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 16h
I did think when he said it, "wait has one of his advisers been sat on Bluesky?" Most viewers wouldn't have even heard the phrase "theory of growth" before
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 16h
in which I continue my gentle crusade against demands for the PM to produce his Theory of Growth gileswilkes.substack.com/p/please-sto...
gileswilkes.substack.com
please stop asking prime ministers for their theory of growth
look, I said please
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 16h
I mean it’s an interesting line to take…. www.itv.com/news/meridia...
itv.com
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James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 19h
Amazing work by Cadbury. Finally figured out a way to use the Easter Egg machines for more of the year.
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Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
What does it mean to be a member-led party when the Greens have 230,000 members but only 1835 voted on the Zionism Is Racism motion? Doesn't seem like you can claim the result as the iron-clad democratic will of the membership while dismissing the concerns of actual democratically elected MPs
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 20h
Green Party of England and Wales turning itself into a pariah among Greens internationally
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Andy Scollick @andyscollick.bsky.social · 20h
Amnesty International UK chair Sandy Ruthven has left the Green Party following the party's adoption of its 'Zionism is racism' motion at its conference over the weekend. (Sky News)
bristol247.com
Former Green mayoral candidate quits party
Sandy Ruthven has resigned his membership of the Green Party after its conference adopted a 'Zionism is racism' motion
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 21h
The world is a slightly better place today.
nytimes.com
Dennis Hastert, Powerful Politician Disgraced by Child Sexual Abuse, Dies (Gift Article)
The longest-serving Republican speaker of the House admitted in 2016 to abusing teenage boys decades earlier. He was 84.
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 21h
seems like they did it last year too
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Z2K (Zacchaeus 2000 Trust) @z2ktrust.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Disabled people are FIVE times more likely to get the correct benefits award at appeal stage, than from the DWP's mandatory reconsideration. Our new research shows that mandatory reconsideration is a barrier to justice. We are calling for it to be replaced completely.
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Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Hyphen @hyphenonline.com · 05/10/2026
🔴Exclusive: spending on English language courses aimed at non-native speakers has been slashed by nearly 40% in real terms since 2009, Hyphen can reveal. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/05/e...
hyphenonline.com
Revealed: ESOL budget has fallen 39% in real terms since 2009 - Hyphen
Department for Education funding for English lessons has dropped by equivalent of £117m despite rising demand, exclusive data reveals
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 22h
yeah it's students in London rather than StWC
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 22h
👎
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 22h
probably lack of powers to do so - it's a fairly small student protest rather than one of the big national Stop the War ones, I think the article says it's below the threshold where they can ask the Home Secretary to intervene
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 22h
wait what
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 22h
Oh yeah. There're 364 other days of the year they could have chosen, including 28 October when Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza - kinda a big date if you're protesting on behalf of Palestine. But no, they pick the day terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 more. I wonder why
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 23h
Not surprised it's starting at Kings College London given how vicious the Palestine activism has become there (Iranian democracy activists there have had to put up with all kinds of shit from that crowd)
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 23h
There's a student pro-Palestine demonstration in Central London on **October 7th** 🙃🙃🙃https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwkg5220l577o
bbc.co.uk
Met Police urge pro-Palestine students to move 7 October protest
The Met said it had tried to contact the University of London Coalition to postpone its protest.
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 23h
(Don't gimme the Zuckerberg shit, I bet he accepted the first offer)
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 23h
Yeah, fundamentally the biggest problem in 2010 was Clegg was a gullible doofus who couldn't negotiate his way out of a wet paper bag
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 23h
Do they still capitalise the i in "Internet", like old school Microsoft Word?
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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 23h
Years of working in left archives and engaging in left politics has made me wary when I hear or read "Zionist" - not because it is inherently offensive or abusive or antisemitic - but because it provides cover for a huge range of different arguments and attitudes. Political parties should know this!
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 23h
And Labour are just a far more comfortable fit for them than the Tories
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 23h
Cambridge is 36th on their target list and they came third last time out. Most of their targets are Labour held, so the loss of "green tory" votes has limited impact on their prospects too www.electionpolling.co.uk/battleground...
electionpolling.co.uk
Green Targets Seats 2029 - Election Polling
Lists of Green target seats for the 2029 general election and regional elections ordered by percentage swing needed.
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 23h
Tho ofc the Tories will almost certainly have the same issues with Reform
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 23h
Well, the party focus doesn't have to be much more developed than "attack Labour from the left and hope Burnham fails". Bigger risk is if they spend three years descending into civil war while Zack admires himself in the mirror
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 23h
Waveney Valley and North Herefordshire* would be at severe risk; the others less so, unless of course the MPs defect (I think we're a long way from that atm) *still can't believe the Greens have a seat in Herefordshire lol
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 23h
Arguably, though partly it depends on Burnham/Labour's own popularity (he's currently on honeymoon). And we shouldn't lose sight that there are a substantive number of voters who, when push comes to shove, won't be put off by this (and a smaller number who'll be attracted by it)
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Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This is just indefensible. I think Greens will discover as much soon, question is how quickly they can retreat, and how much damage will be done by the time they do.
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Chances now are absolutely sub zero
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
We don't actually know that. All that's happened is Burnham made one comment which he then walked back
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Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
One of the issues which became apparent very quickly yesterday was that a number of the people assembled under the "Greens for Palestine" banner had been Corbynite Labour activists in the 2010s. One of their spokespeople was literally the election agent for a Socialist Campaign Group MP in 2019.
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James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I still haven't seen a single person be able to defend or explain why you'd vote against this amendment or why it was unacceptable. It's the smoking gun as to exactly what the Zionism is Racism motion aims to achieve.
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Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Is there anyone who seriously thinks there’s a quick and easy way to cut the price of a new home by £50k, which has just been being ignored by policymakers?
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William Lane @williamjtlane.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
In my family of formerly staunch Middle England Tories this has gone down like a bucket of cold sick. Plenty of Tories do in fact like the environment and while the party is saying that this won't apply to housing I'm not sure that message will cut through compared to abolition itself.
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martinbarrow.bsky.social @martinbarrow.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The city of Preston is on course to having more than 100 children’s homes www.lep.co.uk/news/politic...
lep.co.uk
Major limit placed on turning Preston houses into children's homes as numbers revealed
The city is on course to end up with more than 100 of the facilities.
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