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Colin

@cognitivedistance.bsky.social
766 followers 803 following 3.6K posts

Plant trees. Love language. Use numbers. Take photographs. Despise populists. Capable of fact-based rational thought. Still alive.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Colin
George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Pope Innocent III,who died in 1216, spoke of a certain kind of older man, who is "easily provoked", "will believe anything and question nothing", is "stingy and greedy" and "praises the good old days and hates the present." Reform UK's voter base has been knocking around for a very long time.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I am really sick of these anti-migraine activists. That Tommo Dildo bloke is giving me a headache.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The difference between the performance of immigrants in England and Western Europe is staggering. (20 pts equals a year of learning.) I looked at this in detail in the post - it can't be explained away by language or relative advantage of different immigrant communities. There is a policy factor.
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Tom Scott @tom--scott.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The BBC has been showcasing the views of oil tycoon Jim Ratcliffe in every news show for the last 24 hours, noting that he's "one of Britain's richest men". Shouldn't this be "one of Monaco's richest men"? How about similar airtime for (say) one of Britain's poorest women?
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
All of this would not be happening had Britain (a) remained, (b) exited to a Norway-type position.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The TACO President is preparing to be the WACO President.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
BREAKING NEWS: A lot of frightening-age white men have turned up in Pidlington.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
#BirdOfTheDay is #CaptionThatBird "No worries. It's only 11th August."
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The only 4 constituencies where rejoining the EU wasn’t the preferred option were those of Lee Anderson, Farage, Tice and Lowe. In those 4, the top answer was ‘don’t know’. Confirming that Brexit has no real support at all. Not surprising for a total shitshow. And makes red lines seem very silly.
Independent front page. 

Voters across Britain back rejoining EU
Reversing Brexit is most popular option in 646 of 650 constituencies, finds new electoral survey of 12,000Bar chart showing
Which EU relationship respondents most wanted the Uk government to propose

EU membership 35%
Single market 6%
Customs Union 5%
Uk govt position  18/19%
Starts quo 8/9%
Don’t know 16%
Loosen ties 11%
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Patrick - Here for the craic❗️🤷🏼‍♂️😉 @paddyopatrick.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Watching BBC News now & mystified why tax dodging, anti migrant, pro Brexit Jim Radcliffe is getting airtime to talk down the Uk He’s saying billionaires & millionaires are quitting UK because it crap.. He relocated the Monaco in 2020 so he’s already f*cked off and is irrelevant Get a grip BBC❗️😡
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Reposted by Colin
Papa Woof und Krampus und Bleaken @papawoof.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I don’t normally brag about expensive trips, but I just got back from the gas station. 💅
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
#elegant #BirdOfTheDay One of my favourite photos. An elegant swan-song.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Forgot that Ali Miraj was on @lbc.co.uk today. Forgot how dreadful he sounds and how narrowly he thinks. I will listen to Spurs versus Aston Villa instead. That tells you just how unlistenable the grumpy right-wing Miraj has become.
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Reposted by Colin
Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A hilarious summary
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Alan Rusbridger @arusbridger.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
If you add in £130m losses on “Reform TV” (aka GB News) the effective subsidy of Farage’s party from just four men tops £200m. You just have to join the dots app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/75017/...
app.prospectmagazine.co.uk
Farage and the £130m even his detractors have missed
GB news has provided relentless positive PR for Nigel Farage while racking up tens of millions in financial losses. And now there is a new channel in the offing
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RaySCline @lastmandarin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
36 mental Health professionals state their professional opinion that Mr. Trump is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office of the United States Presidency, due to what are his severe psychological instabilities, that present an imminent danger to the Republic.
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I have a trade deficit with woman who used to own my house. I paid her thousands of dollars for her home and she paid me nothing. Now, all I have is a house worth thousand of dollars. I could have saved those thousands of dollars if I lived on a bench in the park. It's just simple Economics.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Not everyone likes Reform UK, but they deserve serious praise for their Councillor Scrappage Scheme. Week after week their performance gets better. More and more Reform UK Councillors are being scrapped by the party, and a significant number are re-cycling themselves for a second or third time.
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Cornish Skipper #FBPE #RejoinEU 🇪🇺🔶🌹💚💙 @cornishskipper.wsocial.eu · 17/09/2026
“Former Farage aide Dan Jukes went on an all-expenses-paid trip to Egypt with the polling company JL Partners in December 2025….During the trip, Jukes was asked what a Reform government would want from a polling company and replied: “Showing that we’re winning,” www.politico.eu/article/refo...
politico.eu
Reform aide caught in donor sting attended Egypt retreat with JL Partners
The polling company invited a top Farage lieutenant as a guest speaker.
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
“Life is crap, vote for us” is a losing message. The first half is not true and, even if it were, the second does not follow. Farage…used to know all this.” But now he just lines his pockets while he moans and exudes hatred and disloyalty. We’re very bored of it. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
The British right’s patriotism problem
Andy Burnham seems at ease in his country. Are his opponents?
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Headline News: Village idiots say 'Pidd off'.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
OIL CRISIS? WHAT OIL CRISIS? Dear Mr. Trump, We do not thank you for your inattention in this matter. The 1974 oil crisis was a severe global economic shock caused by an Arab oil embargo that quadrupled crude oil prices. The result: Rationing. Stagflation. Global recession.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
A number of Reform UK Councillors in Durham have either defecated or resigned. A spokesperson explained that the councillors are moving on to compete in HYROX, as they are completely full of shit.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Most British people are tolerant and sympathetic to people with emotional difficulties and mental health issues. However, these aggressive and intimidating gatherings of frightening-age men, dressed anonymously in black and with faces covered, are completely unacceptable in a civilised society.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Looks like Ed Sheeran has had a very large "Ratner moment". Stupidity can be half-forgiven. But apparent complicity can't.
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Anti-Reform @antireform.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"Why is Gbeebies allowed to exist? Corrupt to the core" via The UK Against Hate
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
From "flagship" Council to "flags-shit" Council. The flags on the lamp-posts in the Durham villages are as pathetically ragged as Durham's Reform-led Council has now become. The Council needs to be replaced. The flags don't. Reform has shown very clearly what they can do. They can fuck things up.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Why was Ed Sheeran touring with a load of terrorist musicians?
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kaybell27.bsky.social @kaybell27.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Well Durham Council has proved to be the demonstration of Reform in control, but not in the way they intended. Reform is a party of bullies and thugs and their majority in Durham is about to fall.
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Reposted by Colin
Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
“Last week YouGov polling found nearly three quarters of voters (73%) believe Farage is at least fairly sleazy. And 71% believe Reform UK is similarly disreputable, up 20 points in two years” This is only going in one direction. £72Mill won’t make us like you. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
mirror.co.uk
Nigel Farage is more unpopular than ever among voters, stinging polling shows
Polling by YouGov found that nearly seven in 10 Brits have a negative view of Nigel Farage - the highest level on record - as he and his party battle allegations of sleaze
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Gill Kimber @brumus.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Well that’s odd indeed because the BBC reported the fact in July 2016, & Farage wrote about the experience himself of having testicular cancer in his 20s. He said that the experience changed him, & we can but conjecture that the poor chap would have grown into a cuddly bunny had it not happened.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Nathalie can't spell "conflagration", either.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Chris Mason has vigorously denied the persistent rumours that Nigel Farage only has one testicle.
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Max B 💙 🔶 🇺🇦 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 @maxbrockbank.com · 14/09/2026
Reform are outraged that electoral law might be changed retrospectively, potentially costing them £72m in donations. Meanwhile, Reform want immigration law changed retrospectively so people with Settled Status can be removed. Retrospective laws: outrageous when they affect Reform, apparently.
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
69% of Britons now have an unfavourable opinion of Nigel Farage, the highest recorded by YouGov’s tracker in the decade it has run.
Graph showing Farage favourability over time
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Anti-Reform @antireform.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
It seems that the people self-styled 'man-of-the-people' Nigel Farage likes to mix with are misogynists, paedophiles, blackmailers, kidnappers, fraudsters, extortionists, trolls, money launderers, drug traffickers ... "You judge a man by the people he associates with" via Barry James
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
"Level playing field"? This Reform UK donation debacle reminds me of the football pitch at Yeovil, in the olden days, when Farage was merely a youthful anti-semite. Yeovil Town definitely had a playing field. But it was no more on the level than these crypto-donations to Reform.
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Reposted by Colin
The London Economic @thelondoneconomic.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Lifestyle buyers of farmland have fallen to 11 per cent as farmer purchases hit a seven-year high.
thelondoneconomic.com
Inheritance tax changes for farmers have intended impact
New figures show agricultural inheritance tax changes brought in by Rachel Reeves are having the intended impact.
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MrMirth @mrmirth.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Campbell, hits the nail on the head. BBC news, 'cheerleader' of Farage/Reform.
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Daily Herald #FBPE #NAFO 🇬🇧🇺🇦🇬🇱 @dailyherald.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Durham was meant to be Reform UK’s proof of concept. Farage said it would “set the markers” for how Reform governs. They won 65 seats, now down to 55, just five from losing their majority. Defections, bullying, internal warfare and an £83.7m funding gap. Durham is the warning, not the showcase.
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Hassinator @hassinator.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
a great letter in the times today. perhaps worth sharing in these troubled times. #RNLI #heroes
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BirdsInAbstract.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Is Ben Delo's giant "donation" conditional on Farage staying as Leader of Reform UK? Or is there no small print?
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Anti-Reform @antireform.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The idiocy of right-wing fantasists bickering about who has the best deportation policy when neither has any agreement as to where they'll deport to ... "I have no words Restore Britain vs Reform UK" via Love Not Hate
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Miaganga @miaganga.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The JL Partners polling on union support for Reform - which it now turns out was effectively (secretly) commissioned by Reform - had real methodological issues. "GMB has 9% of union members but 12% of the poll. The NEU has 9.4% of TUC membership but 4.9% of the sample." Unite stats were also out...
modernleft.substack.com
How far has Labour shed union members to Reform?
Trade union members are as likely to vote for Reform as they are for the Labour Party, according to the top lines of a new poll published this week.
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
🔴 Reform UK Donations Overwhelmingly Have Overseas or Tax-Haven Ties Analysis of the latest Electoral Commission filings shows 87% of the £5.4m in donations newly-declared by Nigel Farage’s party came from donors linked to offshore jurisdictions bylinetimes.com/2026/09/10/r...
bylinetimes.com
Reform UK Donations Overwhelmingly Have Overseas or Tax-Haven Ties
Analysis of the latest Electoral Commission filings shows 87% of the £5.4m in donations newly-declared by Nigel Farage's party came from donors linked to offshore jurisdictions
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is: #ABCD, any bird name beginning with any of these letters. Black Grouse - female.
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Colin @cognitivedistance.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The kind of dangerous right-wing stupidity that would set fire to a paediatrician's house, thinking it belonged to a paedophile.
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paulusthewoodgnome @paulusthewoodgnome.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Justin Webb Is A Piece Of Shit Part 3972 #r4today bsky.app/profile/bend...
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