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David Brennan

@djsb101.bsky.social
1.7K followers 4K following 35 posts

Labour markets, skills and policy. UK. In favour of Diversity. In favour of Equality. In favour of Inclusion. www.brennanwilson.co.uk

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David Brennan @djsb101.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
www.ons.gov.uk/news/news/on... If you don't measure things you can't have meaningful government policy to change them.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Govt publishes England water companies' league of sewage dumping and pollution . Worst since 2011. 9 companies collectively received 19 out of possible 36 stars. Thames Water the lowest rating of 1. Seven firms score only 2. No fines on execs. No exec prosecuted. Dividends paid. Customers fleeced
gov.uk
Water and sewerage companies in England: environmental performance report for 2024
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Government No 10 communications on this have also been inappropriate bsky.app/profile/sund...
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Jeremy Corbyn @jeremycorbyn.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
We don't have to push children into poverty. We don't have to make life harder for the sick and disabled. We don't have to aid and abet genocide. For too long, people have been denied a real political choice. Not anymore. Join us at yourparty.uk
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Disability News Service @johnpring.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
The government has quietly published 12 research reports, nearly all related to disability employment, disability poverty and the benefits system, all on the same day, just 8 days after MPs voted to impose £2 billion-a-year cuts to disability benefits. www.disabilitynewsservice.com/government-q...
disabilitynewsservice.com
Government quietly releases multiple disability research reports on the same day… eight days too late for MPs
The government has quietly published 12 detailed research reports, nearly all related to disability employment, disability poverty and the benefits system, all on the same day, just eight days afte…
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Stephen Evans @stephenevans.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
1. New data shows employers investing 36% less in training per employee than in 2005 in real terms. This is both a cause and consequence of low economic growth & policy instability. It comes alongside a £1bn (20%) real terms cut in Government investment in adult skills in England compared to 2010.
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Zarah Sultana MP @zarahsultana.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Brownfacing a box of raisins and mocking my surname. Exactly what you’d expect from a right-wing hack who is the daughter of an aristocrat and ex-Tory MP.
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rak @raksky.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
2023: Forde told @aljazeera.com “Anti-black racism and Islamophobia is not taken as seriously as antisemitism within the Labour Party…” 🔗 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Labour accused of still not engaging with ‘hierarchy of racism’ claims
Author of report into party’s culture voices concern antisemitism is taken more seriously than other forms of racism
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David Brennan @djsb101.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
I am mixed race Indian/Anglo-Irish. I have experienced racism from those who know my heritage and racists with special "paki radar". I have no doubt that had my skin been darker my experience of racism would have been worse. I cannot fathom why it would be controversial to make this point.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Reeves to say cuts to City red tape will bring trickle-down benefits to households. Don't do it. Most post-2008 regs repealed. Regulators now requiredd to promote growth of City. Capital requirements diluted. Will end in tears. Boost manufacturing. Redistribute wealth to rebuild economy.
theguardian.com
Reeves to say cuts to City red tape will bring trickle-down benefits to households
Chancellor to announce raft of deregulation changes as City regulators move to pare back transparency rules
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Wirral Globe @wirralglobe.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
CCTV appeal after man hurled racist abuse at family outside Wirral mosque
dlvr.it
CCTV appeal after man hurled racist abuse at family outside Wirral mosque
A man had reportedly verbally abused members of the public near the Wirral Deen Centre in Birkenead on May 30
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Andy McDonald MP @andymcdonaldmp.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
"This Bill will, even now, strip £2 billion from future claimants of Universal Credit health payments. Around 750,000 people stand to lose an average of £3k a year. And we know ¾ of those are living in material deprivation." - @left-foot-forward.bsky.social leftfootforward.org/2025/07/the-...
leftfootforward.org
The welfare bill still threatens even deeper cuts and is morally indefensible
'This creates a two-tier welfare state: those lucky enough to qualify before the changes will receive support to live, though not necessarily with dignity'
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UNRWA @unrwa.org · 12/06/2025
We have lost all contact with our UNRWA colleagues in Gaza, communications have been cut off. This morning, for the first time in months, we did not receive their morning messages to say, "good morning" and "we are fine/alive". We anxiously await to hear from our colleagues.
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Dr Steve Taylor @drstevetaylor.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Spending on benefits Surprisingly the UK spends less on pensions, incapacity, unemployment and social care than peers nations
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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Rushdi Abualouf reports that following its attack on the European hospital in Gaza, Israel is now preventing people from rescuing survivors.
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
We know the only real fix for the climate crisis is to cut emissions. But in the Arctic, scientists are also trialling three surprising ways that might buy us time. Read what they’re doing – and why.
eastangliabylines.co.uk
Arctic ice is vanishing – our bold experiment is trying to protect it
Scientists are pumping seawater onto existing ice to make it thicker and more resilient
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Zarah Sultana MP @zarahsultana.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
The Prime Minister imitating Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech is sickening. That speech fuelled decades of racism and division. Echoing it today is a disgrace. It adds to anti-migrant rhetoric that puts lives at risk. Shame on you, Keir Starmer.
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Jonathan Hopkin @jonathanhopkin.eurosky.social · 12/05/2025
This is bullshit. You can say there are costs, you can even claim the costs outweigh the benefits. But to say that immigration has caused incalculable damage is not just hugely offensive to millions of people and their families, but simply empirically demonstrably wrong
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
The claim by Yvette Cooper that there is a link between immigration and higher levels of inactivity (related to sickness and disability) has absolutely no basis in evidence or data. Just retrofitting the evidence to the policy...
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Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 08/05/2025
Just 13% of homes built in England and Wales in 2024 had heat pumps installed (58% had gas boilers). New homes are by far the easiest part of the home heating puzzle to solve; regulations that prevent the installation of high-carbon heating in new homes should be a Government priority.
Chart showing share of newly constructed homes per year, by heating source: England and Wales 
chart shows just 13 per cent of homes built in England and Wales in 2024 had heat pumps installed (58 per cent had gas boilers), just 3 percentage points higher than in 2010 despite a wider push for low carbon heating
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Stephen Frost @sfrost.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Latest ONS social trends data has some shocking stats on the experience of single parents of cost of living increases, including: > Around 1 in 5 (20%) adults living alone with at least one dependent child had run out of food in the last two weeks Available here: www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...
Findings as described by ONS:

Parents were more likely than non-parents to be unable to pay a necessary but unexpected expense of £850 (33% compared with 21%) and to borrow more money than usual in the last month (34% compared with 17%).

Households with a single adult and at least one dependant child were more likely than households with more than a single adult and at least one dependant child to report that they had run out of food and were unable to buy more in the past two weeks (20% compared with 2%). They were also more likely to report:

being unable to pay a necessary but unexpected expense of £850 (64% compared with 27%)

borrowing more money than usual in the last month (49% compared with 26%)

being unable to pay a bill or standing order (27% compared with 4%)
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David Brennan @djsb101.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Interesting article www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
foreignaffairs.com
Trade Wars Are Easy to Lose
Beijing has escalation dominance in the U.S.-Chinese tariff fight.
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David Brennan @djsb101.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Pleased to see that this report, which I co-authored with Think, has been endorsed by the AOC, city-region Mayors, sector bodies like the CITB, and the BCC. Let's hope ministers listen to the call to replace our market-led skills system with a local plan-led one. www.aoc.co.uk/news-campaig...
aoc.co.uk
Devolution is an opportunity to unleash the power of colleges for…
A new report published today (Friday 4 April), shows that with modest changes to the devolution system, colleges can be unleashed to deliver so much more…
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David Brennan @djsb101.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
So, it turns out the 'change' people voted for in July of last year was to increase the number in poverty by a quarter of a million (on the Government's own figures).
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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Since Israel broke the ceasefire last Tuesday they've murdered 730 Palestinians.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
UK Civil Service told to slash running costs by 15%, £2bn. What would that be - cuts in airport safety, minimum wage inspections, health and safety, child welfare, flood defences, river cleanliness, benefit assessment? Policy on the hoof pays no attention to human cost.
bbc.co.uk
Civil Service told by government to slash running costs by 15%
The target is said to be administrative costs - but unions have challenged ministers to be upfront about what areas of work they are prepared to sacrifice as a result.
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Letter to the Chancellor in advance of the Spring Statement, from @mazzucatom.bsky.social @sjwrenlewis.bsky.social @dgbailey.bsky.social me & others. www.ft.com/content/4b0d...
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Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
I believe the public - not CEOs & hedge funds - should have the final say on our water. My Water Bill would put public ownership back on the table through Citizens’ Assemblies. The debate is only in a week. Will you make sure your MP shows up? actionnetwork.org/letters/ask-...
actionnetwork.org
Ask your MP to attend my Water Bill debate
After years of bill hikes, shareholder pay-outs, and pollution, it couldn't be clearer that privatisation has created a crisis in our water system. We can't leave the future of this critical natio...
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David Brennan @djsb101.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
If there are no personal downsides of refusing to buy American goods and services, then why not take the political upsides of doing so? MAPA - Make America Poor Again
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 18/03/2025
Kemi Badenoch giving a speech in 2022 on the “opportunity, growth and revitalised communities” offered by “the clean energy revolution”, which she says is the “future-proofing force that will help us create a better tomorrow”
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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
Meanwhile over on the other place, rightwing free speech warriors (this guy is a former DeSantis campaign staffer) are calling for me to be denaturalized and deported because they don’t like my political speech. This is what fascism and racism looks like, folks.
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John Ellis @john3llis.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
@matthewpatrick.bsky.social this is awful there are so many people on the Wirral that require free dental services. This can't be allowed to happen we already have such poor health outcomes and funding issues on the Wirral. #NHS
bbc.co.uk
Wirral dentists 'may have to stop NHS treatment' - BBC News
Practices do not receive enough money to the cover costs of NHS procedures, a dentist group warns.
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David Brennan @djsb101.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Thread
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 03/02/2025
49% of Britons support introducing proportional representation, with just 26% backing first past the post PR: 49% FPTP: 26% By party voted for in 2024 Green: 72% PR vs 15% FPTP Reform UK: 67% vs 20% Lib Dem: 61% vs 20% Labour: 53% vs 27% Conservative: 39% vs 42% yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
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Cold War Steve @coldwarsteve.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
TV shows continuing to platform Fascists - and engaging in cosy, jocular banter
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Humanity Must Win @humanitymustwin.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Class actions like this need to happen for corrupt privatised utilities across the board. They behave like organised crime rackets and they should be sued into bankruptcy. If corrupt governments wont obey the demands of their constituents then the people must take actions into their own hands.
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Russell England @russellengland.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
On the left, a Tweet from Toby Young showing empty ICU beds in England in 2020 On the right, an article showing an empty hospital ward in Sri Lanka in 2012 The Tories have made this Covid conspiracy nutcase a lawmaker in the House of Lords
Screenshot of a Tweet from Toby Young on Dec 28, 2020 "Surging Covid cases, ambulances not answering calls, NHS in crisis... but percentage of ICU beds occupied in England on December 20th was lower than this time last year in every region of NHS England." - with a photo of an empty hospital wardScreenshot of article from Sri Lanka in 2012 about "Paying wards at govt hospitals" with the same photo of an empty hospital ward
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David Brennan @djsb101.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
I've seen a lot of American Democrats on here blaming non-voters for Trump's election. Maybe a bit of humility and self-reflection is in order from those people. If they had had a more compelling political programme, they would have won.
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David Brennan @djsb101.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Interesting article.
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Scribbler Pen @scribblerpen.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Positive changes to the benefits system, support for people to be able to work (if able) are welcome. Let's make the case for these. Hardline political rhetoric that stigmatises claimants entitled to support isn't harmless. It toxifies society. Let's not. www.bigissue.com/news/social-... #DWP #Work
bigissue.com
Keir Starmer's attack on benefits 'deepens stigma' and leads to 'fear and shame'
Prime minister Keir Starmer "declared war on the benefits system", according to the Mail on Sunday. DWP plans will be revealed this week.
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David Brennan @djsb101.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Great to see everyone on here agreeing it's not an echo chamber.
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Owen Jones @owenjones.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Time for free school meals for all children - because proper healthy food is one of the most crucial ingredients for a good education. Discussing that and much more on @jeremyandstormon5.bsky.social from 9.15am (Wednesday) 🙏
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Shocking news. 36% of UK children are living in poverty according to the latest Social Metrics Commission research (I am one of the Commissioners) www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
Graph showing poverty levels including child poverty reaching 36%
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
These massacres are intended partly to enforce Israel's ongoing ethnic cleansing, and partly just for the sake of killing. Israel's apologists no longer even pretending this is anything other than nihilistic mass slaughter. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
theguardian.com
Dozens reported killed or wounded after Israeli airstrike on residential building in north Gaza
Attack in Beit Lahiya follows reports of deadly attacks elsewhere in territory as Israel also strikes targets in Lebanon
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Nick Davies @njdavies.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
New research from the IFS showing the closure of youth centres during the 2010s was shortsighted. For every £1 saved, the costs to affected users, crime victims and public spending in the police and the criminal justice system amount to £2.85 ifs.org.uk/publications...
ifs.org.uk
The effects of youth clubs on education and crime | Institute for Fiscal Studies
Using quasi-experimental variation from austerity-related cuts, I provide the first causal estimates of youth clubs' effects on education and crime.
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Human Rights Watch @hrw.org · 14/11/2024
NEW: Israeli authorities have caused massive, deliberate forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza since October 2023 and are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Governments should adopt targeted sanctions and other measures, and halt weapons sales to Israel.
hrw.org
Israel’s Crimes Against Humanity in Gaza
Israeli authorities have caused the massive, deliberate forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza since October 2023 and are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Human Ri...
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 10/11/2024
Drop your starter packs in the replies here!
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