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Helmsley Dan

@danfalchikov.bsky.social
133 followers 261 following 241 posts

Exiled Scot, now happily ensconced in Yorkshire, but still has grumpy tendencies ingrained from too long in London. Politics, geekery and (not very good) football.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Helmsley Dan
Brynley Heaven @brynleyheaven.bsky.social · 12h
The Houthis have got hypersonic missiles, but what frightens me is solar panels generating clean electricity to replace oil from the Gulf and Red Sea
bbc.co.uk
Locals 'shocked, angry and scared' by Oxfordshire solar plan
Developer Low Carbon says the 2,400 acre West Oxfordshire Energy Plant would produce 500MW.
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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
We’ve been talking about this for years. None of these far-right movements are organic.
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Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 8h
Zelensky: "When our strikes reached Yandex’s data centers, it suddenly became a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms. A lot of people noticed it. There was less hate, less division, and fewer provocations... It’s pretty clear where those bots were coming from."
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Glory to Ukraine
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Peter Whitewood @pwhitewood.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
A shadowy network of hedgehogs and owls, operating at the highest levels of the British establishment.
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Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Kemi Badenoch wants to exempt the family home from inheritance tax. But that creates a perverse incentive for elderly people to *upsize* to save IHT. That could double the cost of the policy, and push £100bn+ from savings into housing. A 🧵 on bad tax cuts.
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
NEW: Kemi Badenoch’s flagship party conference policy document, The Right Way, overestimated the cost of net zero by nearly £500bn, seemingly after someone accidentally double-counted figures on a spreadsheet. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Tories overstate net zero cost by nearly £500bn in apparent spreadsheet error
Exclusive: Badenoch’s flagship conference policy document cites £957bn estimate, twice the total in climate advisers’ data
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paulusthewoodgnome @paulusthewoodgnome.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Billionaire press... 'When the Sunday Times broke the news that David Reuben, one of the richest men in the UK, had fled to Monaco, Labour’s tax regime was blamed. However, research by TaxWatch has found that Reuben has been a tax resident in Monaco since 2014.' www.theguardian.com/news/2026/oc...
theguardian.com
‘I reside in Monaco’: billionaire said to have quit UK over potential wealth tax had already left
TaxWatch contradicts claims about David Reuben’s departure and questions stories of super-rich exodus
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Andy Brown @andybrown1951.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Good riddance. Britain should have banned Trump's bombers from taking off from our country to go and destroy lives and property and do serious harm to our economy without bothering to even tell us in advance what he had planned. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
US bombers pulled from RAF Fairford base after suspected terror plot
Aircraft leave Gloucestershire base to return to US following arrest of dual British-Iranian national in central London
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Phil M 🦻🏼💚 🍉 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇵🇸 @phillm.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
When they talk about reducing red tape, remember this image.
Grenfell Tower, a black smouldering carcass of the building shorty after the fire, in 2017.
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
A man builds an IED. He sets it off in a busy public street. Shrapnel flies about hitting cars, homes and a child's bedroom. It's a miracle nobody is injured. And Reform MP Sarah Pochin calls his imprisonment "disproportionate" and "two tier justice."
It does raise this point of two-tiered
justice..


Reform's Sarah Pochin believes the
sentence handed to the 64-year-old who
blew up a ULEZ camera was
disproportionate'.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
i have 2.5M followers across all social media. statistically, there's a good chance one of you works at in AI. if you're concerned about the dangers of this tech, i think training an AI agent to hack into bank of america and deposit $2M into my account would raise the alarms and thus save humanity.
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paulusthewoodgnome @paulusthewoodgnome.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
🥳 "There is one final thing we need to change if our plan for Britain is to succeed – our politics. And so I am announcing a new national commission on electoral reform. I invite all the political parties to be part of its work." — Andy Burnham www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
theguardian.com
Burnham says he would put PR in Labour manifesto and scrap triple lock to fund social care – UK politics live
PM, in first speech to party conference as leader, insists his plans are a ‘good deal’ for older people
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John Harris @johnharris1969.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is utterly clueless & why the Lib Dems need a new leader. This is a potentially progressive moment and they should be part of it. Polanski was more positive than Davey, and this reads like chat GPT
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Interest on Reserves: The £100bn UK Bank Subsidy You Fund. Banks making £50bn profits a year receive subsidies, long ended by the EU. UK Treasury will payout over £150bn over a five-year period from 2023 to 2028. No justification for handling billions to banks. End bank subsidies, help people.
babelfish.news
Interest on Reserves: The £100bn UK Bank Subsidy You Fund
The Bank of England has paid commercial banks £100bn in interest on reserves in three years. The EU stopped doing it in 2023 – Dale Vince says Britain must too.
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Helmsley Dan @danfalchikov.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Except the leader who longs for his ministerial limo again
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Helmsley Dan @danfalchikov.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
What part of Home Rule means Scottish people don't have a right to decide their own future @scotlibdems.org.uk ?
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Helmsley Dan @danfalchikov.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I'm not sure stopping a Reform government can be your defining mission when you are only targeting Tory voters and seats.
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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It’s time for a zero tolerance crack down on far right thugs. They’re costing the taxpayer, soaking up police resources, intimidating peaceful communities & delaying the measures that are reducing the asylum backlog & its cost. Enough is enough. End the menace. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Far-right activist Daniel Thomas slashes dinghy in Channel with blade while rescue worker onboard
Thomas called followers to protest against arrival of asylum seekers in Gosport, but Border Force instead transported them to Dover
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
who's up for robbing banks while shouting "stop the boats" so no-one arrests us?
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Jane @localnotail.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Six people arrested in Gosport for offences including careless driving and assaulting an emergency worker. "We are also aware of a video circulating online relating to damage being caused to a boat in the English Channel on the afternoon of 22 Sept and we are conducting enquiries into the matter."
"Following news that the vessel would be docking elsewhere in the country, police were met with a group of people who remained in Gosport, some of whom became hostile towards officers.

"As a result, six people were arrested for offences including careless driving, assaulting an emergency worker and aggravated trespass.

"They remain in custody at this time and our enquiries into these incidents continue.

"We are also aware of a video circulating online relating to damage being caused to a boat in the English Channel on the afternoon of 22 September, and we are conducting enquiries into the matter."
https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/26570976.hundreds-turn-face-police-gosport-migrant-boat-fears---live/sport"Following news that the vessel would be docking elsewhere in the country, police were met with a group of people who remained in Gosport, some of whom became hostile towards officers.

"As a result, six people were arrested for offences including careless driving, assaulting an emergency worker and aggravated trespass.

"They remain in custody at this time and our enquiries into these incidents continue.

"We are also aware of a video circulating online relating to damage being caused to a boat in the English Channel on the afternoon of 22 September, and we are conducting enquiries into the matter."
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Peter Black @peterblackwales.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
New blogpost: My view on a bland Lib Dem conference peterblack.blogspot.com/2026/09/my-v...
peterblack.blogspot.com
My view on a bland Lib Dem conference
It maybe that I have been spoilt by nearly 40 years of attending Liberal and Liberal Democrats conferences.. I was in Llandudno in 1981, wh...
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Hugh Sykes @hughsykes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
#Netanyahu "On the basis of evidence examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin NETANYAHU, the Prime Minister of Israel, & Yoav GALLANT, the Minister of Defence, bear criminal responsibility for war crimes & crimes against humanity". www.icc-cpi.int/news/stateme...
icc-cpi.int
Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine
Today I am filing applications for warrants of arrest before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court in the Situation in the State of Palestine. Image ICC Prosecutor Khan on applicatio...
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Helmsley Dan @danfalchikov.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The map shows four constituencies shaded in red. Are these the four that still support Brexit? If so then Lowe, Tice, Anderson and the other one are in the seats that still want out.
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Helmsley Dan @danfalchikov.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Salt n sauce surely?
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
a powerful case for appointing a secretary of state specialising in media and culture
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🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 @specialkhersoncat.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
🔥🛢️BREAKING: A large-scale drone attack targeted Moscow and the Moscow region overnight, on the final day of Russia’s parliamentary elections. One of the most notable targets was the Moscow Oil Refinery in Kapotnya, where a major fire is visible this morning.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Swathes of UK economy are owned by foreign investors. No tax is deducted from billions paid to them in dividends. USA, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden have a dividend withholding tax for foreign investors. UK could do the same, generate billions. Why are super-rich privileged?
leftfootforward.org
Here’s how the chancellor can raise the billions needed to improve the quality of life of millions
Prem Sikka is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, a Labour member of the House of Lords, and Contributing Editor at Left Foot Forward. Mi...
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NOELREPORTS @noelreports.com · 20/09/2026
On the ground footage from Moscow after the Ukrainian overnight attack on the Moscow Refinery in Kapotnya. #Russia
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Helmsley Dan @danfalchikov.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Davey is turning the Lib Dems into David Cameron's Tories.
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George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Lib Dem pledge to cut fuel duty by 10p is depressingly bad policy: poorly targeted, expensive (£5bn), and it weakens incentives to switch to EVs and reduce usage.
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Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Mark Carney: “I would now like to inform you that the teleprompter has ceased to function. Unlike a certain world leader, I do not view this as a conspiracy.”
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▄▀▄▀▄▀🆂🅺🅰 🅿🆄🅽🅺 🅰🅽🅳 🅲🅾🅼🅸🅲🆂 🅽🅴🆁🅳▄▀▄▀▄▀ @skapunknerd.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This is the face of someone who is ruining the UK. It's not the people the papers want you to think His INEOS has received £166.8m+ in UK/Scottish government support, plus a £230m UK Government loan guarantee, and public support of circa £397m and avoided up to £4bn in UK tax by living in Monaco
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Why does the BBC have as one of its lead news stories this morning another Britain-hating interview with Jim 'the UK has been colonised by immigrants' Ratcliffe? What public interest is this serving?
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Rae Radford @raeradford.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I think I'm in love with Kevin 😻 #Caturday
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 19/09/2026
I think it should be a source of deep embarrassment – and perhaps even shame – that Rishi Sunak has spoken out on this before Andy Burnham has.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
BREAKING; The UK has lost confidence in Jim Ratcliffe. Actually, that happened when he scooted off to Monaco to avoid paying tax, tried to force fracking on Britain, and claimed the UK had been ‘colonised by migrants’. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
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Brynley Heaven @brynleyheaven.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Lib Dem leader hawking new gas field
news.sky.com
Sir Ed Davey says Jackdaw gas field 'makes sense' as decision looms for government
A consultation on the gas field - located 150 miles northeast of Aberdeen - closed last month, with the prime minister set to make a decision.
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Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Operation Vivaldi, a successful counteroffensive by Ukraine's Defense Forces led by the Third Army Corps (commanded by Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi) in the Lyman area of northern Donetsk region, completely crushed the "northern pincer" of the Russian grouping
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Neil Mackay @neilmackay.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
How a guilty admission by James O’Brien nails the problem of England’s domination over Scotland, Wales & NIreland The LBC presenter had the courage to admit he knows little about the other home nations and it’s coloured his politics. Therein lies the rot in the union In @heraldscotland.bsky.social
heraldscotland.com
James O’Brien’s guilty admission nails the problem of English domination in Scotland
The LBC radio presenter says he knew little about the history of the other home nations. This indifference, our Writer at Large says, lies at the…
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Cycling Scotland @cyclingscotland.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
🚲 NEWS: More bikes than cars on Leith Walk in morning rush hour; record cycle counts and record cycling modal share on multiple routes in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Delve into the latest data from Cycling Scotland traffic surveys and cycle counter analysis: buff.ly/IoWdSMB
People smile and chat to one another as they cycle together on a protected cycle lane in Edinburgh.
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Uilliam Mac G ᚒᚔᚂᚂᚔᚐᚋ @uilliammac.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The RNIB felt compelled to point out to the legitimate concerns people that “the 'B' in our name isn't for boats” www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
independent.co.uk
Blindness charity targeted by anti-migrant protesters after being mistaken for RNLI
One person accused the blind people’s charity of ‘deliberately overfilling our great country with illegals’
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 14/09/2026
Your regular reminder: If the Russians stop fighting, the war ends. If the Ukrainians stop fighting, their land will be occupied, their leaders will be killed, their history and language will be erased, their children will be kidnapped to serve Russia.
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 12/09/2026
This is the most shamefully soft-soaped coverage of these thugs that you could possibly imagine. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Anti-migrant activists like Danny Tommo are changing tactics
Patriot Platform wants to build a group of working-class voters to influence political parties on the right.
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Alex Hall Hall @alexhh.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Israel supporters are only attacking the UK’s motives, because they can’t dismiss the substance of the UK’s concerns. In fact, as I argue here, UK policy towards Israel has been biassed for years…in favour of Israel. This is a long overdue course correction, and completely justified by the facts.
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Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A particularly infuriating aspect of this A.I. bullshit is that nobody seems to remember that we all got along just fine without it for centuries. How are we all suddenly incapable of reading and understanding written words? Of creating art? Of telling stories? It’s madness.
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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 03/09/2026
Very much here for any moves to throw off the Norman yoke.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
B&Q and Five Guys among over 650 UK employers that paid staff less than minimum wage. I bet none underpaid their bosses. Puny penalties don't deter. The fine should equal the salary of the entire board, with 50% payable by directors.
mirror.co.uk
B&Q and Five Guys among over 650 employers found to have short-changed staff
More than 27,000 workers have been reimbursed after investigations found they were owed more than £4million in pay by hundreds of employers
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Mark Thomas @markthomasinfo.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
“As he was sworn in again on Tuesday, Farage told GB News that he planned to spend less time in parliament“ Not a physicist but don’t know if this is actually possible.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Nuclear bomb test veterans were victims of one of ‘greatest scandals in Britain’, ex-defence minister, admits misleading parliament. Culture of lies is institutionalised at the top. Grenfell Post Office Windrush Infected blood Hillsborough Water companies Bank frauds A society in decline.
theguardian.com
Nuclear bomb test veterans were victims of one of ‘greatest scandals in Britain’, says ex-defence minister
Exclusive: Tobias Ellwood says he gave MPs inaccurate information in 2018 provided by his department, the MoD
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