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Elena

@eleluc.bsky.social
800 followers 677 following 3 posts

Teacher, reader of fiction and follower of politics.

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Reposted by Elena
Peter Vlahos 🇬🇧🇬🇷🇪🇺🇨🇦 @mrsohalvretep.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
youtube.com/shorts/8F3Zr... Andy Burnham has made a fantastic short video on his proposals to the triple lock to fund a National Care Service. Please share far and wide. The media must not win.
youtube.com
Andy Burnham explains how his changes to the triple lock will impact pensions and why
YouTube video by Andy Burnham
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Perfectly put.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
There was a time when the Tories, however hypocritically, claimed to want to protect our natural heritage. Now they're just a party of vandals, ripping down the few protections the living world has for the sake of their rich chums. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Tories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural England
Shadow chancellor will also promise to scrap affordable homes regulations as part of strategy to refocus on growth
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Ren Zelen @renzelen.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Despite our Media consistently turning a blind eye to all of ReformUK’s scandals (as they waffle hysterically about Burnham & Manchester City) Perhaps people have noticed that Reform Councillors rarely stick around to do the job. They’re suspended, they resign, they become independents etc
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Scotland's No1 Comrade @scotlandscomrade.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
From Scotland to Northumberland, Blackpool to Leicestershire, Reform contested six by-elections yesterday. They lost all six. Six contests. Six defeats. Reform are not inevitable. Their bubble has burst😉 Have a great weekend comrades! #NoFascists #RightWingLosers #FailingFarage
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StrictlyChristo 🇺🇦🌻 @strictlychristo.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Sir Ian McKellen orates 'The Stranger's Case' from 'Sir Thomas More' by Shakespeare about the Evil May Day xenophobic riot of 1517 in London. This passage was written 400 years ago, but times never change. Humanity refuses to change its unwarranted bias against 'others'.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The ability to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into a loss-making TV channel, bent on wrenching British politics sharply to the right, is yet another of the ways in which extreme wealth is trying to remake UK democracy. It needs to be part of any serious conversation about political funding.
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Jack dart @jackdart.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
In April I’m running my first London Marathon to raise £3,000 for Refugee Action. Today I ran a sub-50 PB at the Sheffield 10K. But the real reason for doing this is to back vital work supporting refugees at a time of relentless hostility and abuse. Please donate if you can.
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Absolutely fascinating to see Laura Kuenssberg interviewing Burnham, flailing to adjust her stance to a politician with a moral argument and a positive message, who stands up for his policies and answers her questions clearly. She is getting so agitated at him not playing the game by the 'rules'.
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I would love to ask a prominent BBC journalist to give me an example of an illegitimate concern. Is seems to me that it has become a question not of fact, logic, or ethics but of volume. If a big enough proportion of a village was anxious about Bigfoot or Chemtrails, BBC would cover it in a way...
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paulusthewoodgnome @paulusthewoodgnome.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This image of London has not emerged out of nowhere. It is the result of a concerted, organised well-funded attempt to portray London – which is probably the most successful example of a multicultural mega-city on the planet – as something dark and dystopian and 'fallen'. bsky.app/profile/poli...
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HOPE not hate @hopenothate.org.uk · 05/09/2026
This morning at 7:30am, a group of men dressed in black and their faces covered, gathered in Dover. The men, members of the anti-migrant vigilante group Patriot Platform, proceeded to block the port of Dover and several roads nearby. Our briefing: hopenothate.org.uk/2026/09/05/p...
hopenothate.org.uk
Patriot Platform’s masked members march on Dover – HOPE not hate
At approximately 7:30 this morning, hundreds of black-clad members of Patriot Platform, a far-right vigilante unit, blockaded roads in Dover. They marched north east off...
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
As a very basic thing, we as citizens should not accept the presence of a private army of masked racist thugs on the streets of our towns... intimidating others and threatening to overthrow the state... There are some fairly obvious precedents for this stuff.
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Phil Brickell MP @philbrickellmp.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
🧵1/ I worked in anti-corruption for years before becoming an MP. Nigel Farage has serious questions to answer following the undercover investigation into Reform UK's fundraising practices. This is now for the police and donations watchdog to resolve, but here is what I want to know:
theguardian.com
Reform officials ‘plotted to break law on foreign donations’ in undercover film
Investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News shows man posing as ‘impermissible donor’ paying for polling that helped Reform
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HOPE not hate @hopenothate.org.uk · 03/09/2026
For the past year, Channel 4 Dispatches team has been working on an investigation into Tommy Robinson’s money: where it came from, and where it went.
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Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
The amazing Emma Monk 👏 Are we happy that citizen journalists like her (or me during Tories), acting with no resources, working in our own time, untrained and unpaid, can so easily expose so much that the BBC, Telegraph and Times *somehow* manage to miss? It's almost like they're not trying.
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Emma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
One of the first "outrageous" claims I saw as Jason Arday's media hounding unfolded was that he ran 30 marathons in 35 days! Wow! What a thing to claim! And the newspapers all suggested there was no evidence he actually did it. Well, they clearly didn't look very hard 🙄 🧵 1/26
Photo after Jason's final marathon taken from his archived blog showing Jason surrounded by supporters in orange charity t-shirts
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Sadiq Khan's hated ULEZ has made London's air cleaner and its children healthier. What this disaster means for populist, patriotic 'dirty air' campaigners on both sides of the Atlantic. Me for @noosphere.app Warning. May contain heavy sarcasm. www.noosphere.app/ulez-mayor-s...
noosphere.app
ULEZ: Mayor Sadiq Khan's Dastardly Scheme to Make London's Air Clean Again Worked
And what it means for patriotic pro-pollution politicians on both sides of the Atlantic
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Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
A professor writes: (Jason Stanley) The problem is that journalists failed to do basic journalism. Not a single reporter seems to have checked’ Jason Arday’s citations. The ‘quantifiable metrics’ of his work. Prof Stanley did: ‘Arday is easily comparable to the leading scholars in the field’
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 19/08/2026
Tice should apologise to firefighters for ‘enjoy it’ remark on extreme heat, says Labour
theguardian.com
Tice should apologise to firefighters for ‘enjoy it’ remark on extreme heat, says Labour
Exclusive: Bridget Phillipson’s comments show her party feels voters have been alienated by Reform net zero attacks Richard Tice should apologise to firefighters for his comments this week urging British people to “enjoy” this summer’s extreme heat, according to the Labour party chair. Bridget Phillipson has called on Reform’s deputy leader to say sorry to those who have battled wildfires across the country over the last few weeks, forcing evacuations and destroying homes. Continue reading...
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Queen Mary University of London @qmul.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Air pollution stunts children’s lung growth. New Queen Mary research found that improvements in air quality after the introduction of London’s ULEZ are associated with accelerated lung growth in children. Read more: shorturl.at/Jx86o
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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 19/08/2026
This stopped me in my tracks. An independent study by @qmul.bsky.social has found that after ULEZ was introduced, children’s lungs grew faster in Central London and have now caught up with children outside of the capital. Incredible.
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I simply do not understand the mentality of people who prefer oil and gas and "drill baby drill" to the cost of the Earth and our pockets... to those of us who want clean, cheap, renewable energy. How brainwashed by big oil and its (often) paid advocates do you have to be? How gullible.
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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 08/08/2026
Climate denial is getting louder. Reality is getting harder to ignore. When parks are brown, rivers are shrinking and firefighters are battling blazes across the globe, governments must accelerate climate action, not slow it down.
theguardian.com
This burning summer is the proof: the voices of climate denial aren’t just delusional, they’re deadly | Sadiq Khan
Look at our blazing forests and parched cities. Green policies aren’t a ‘luxury’, and we can’t burn more oil and gas. People need the truth, says London mayor Sadiq Khan
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Emma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Do you want to hazard a guess at what this “jaw-dropping” list of freebies included? What luxuries asylum seekers might be being given “for free” in Thetford? Xboxes? Plasma TVs? iPhones? Ferraris? Let's take a look👀 🧵 1/22
Express headline: The jaw-dropping list of everything asylum seekers in Thetford were 'given for free'.
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Absolutely nuts proposal from Westminster council. The GLA should take over licensing for Soho. It is for everyone, not just the lucky few who live there (and seem to hate it) www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Council wants pubs in London’s Soho and West End to ban standing
Sadiq Khan criticises Westminster council’s ‘anti-growth policies’ after it recommends stopping ‘vertical drinking’
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Cat Neilan @catneilan.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
New: A business that made a six-figure donation to Reform UK received interest-free loans of £67m from unnamed “related companies” in the months before, raising questions about the possible origin of the funds. observer.co.uk/news/politic...
observer.co.uk
Reform given six-figure donation by firm that received £6...
Nigel Farage’s party is facing questions about the lack of transparency over £100,000 in funds donated by a management consultancy
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Dave A @davea79.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
This has got to happen and Burnham hopefully realises he won't have a better opportunity to level with the public than now. Cross-party support would be great but the Tories are again demonstrating they're no longer a serious party so if it's just Labour and the Lib Dems, so be it. #socialcare
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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Bloody hell.
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Pete Apps @peteapps.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
In November, a lobbying firm approached me and asked to pay me to write articles critical of the Building Safety Regulator for newspapers. Filmed undercover, their staff admitted secretly paying reporters for copy in British newspapers friendly to their clients: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Lobbying giant filmed offering reporter payment for flattering client coverage in national press
Exclusive: Guardian investigation of CT Group uncovers practice that appears to seek hidden influence over public opinion
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Joe Powell MP @joepowell.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Sir Keir Starmer left our country in a better place than when he found it. His record is lifting 500,000 children out of poverty, reducing NHS waiting times by 400,000, introducing the Hillsborough Law...
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Reform UK's Zia Yusuf is currently delivering a speech accusing his party's critics of using language that will put his colleagues' lives at risk. In other news, here's Zia Yusuf two months ago
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The shamelessness of a political party which is led by a man who just weeks ago called for "pure cold rage" on the streets, shortly before migrants were literally burnt out of their homes, now accusing their opponents of "stochastic terrorism" against them, is quite something
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
The facade is cracking
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Blatant lobbying, not for the sake of our country, but for the fossil fuel industry, in which almost all the ultrarich - including, in all likelihood, the proprietors of these newspapers - are heavily invested. These people are not and never will be your friends. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-...
carbonbrief.org
Analysis: UK newspapers have already printed 63 editorials in 2026 backing North Sea drilling  - Carbon Brief
UK newspapers have already published 63 editorials this year calling for more oil and gas extraction in the North Sea, according to Carbon Brief analysis.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 30/06/2026
Nigel Farage received £270,000 from gold marketer he promotes
theguardian.com
Nigel Farage received £270,000 from gold marketer he promotes
Reform UK leader’s Direct Bullion payment is double his fee from 2025 * UK politics live – latest updates Nigel Farage received £270,000 from a gold marketer for which he is a brand ambassador, his single biggest payment as an MP. The Reform leader has been criticised in the past over his £400,000-a-year second job promoting the idea for Direct Bullion that people should buy physical gold and put it in their pension pots. Continue reading...
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Fionna O’Leary @fascinatorfun.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
3 Good reasons to support net zero & Ed Miliband 📌 “The net zero economy generates output worth £105bn, about 3.5% of UK GDP and supports more than a million jobs, many in the north-east of England.“ 📌 “Average wages and productivity in the sector are significantly above the national average.“
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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 28/06/2026
ICYMI: a new independent report shows major reductions in air pollution in our city are linked to an estimated 40% fewer annual premature deaths.
theguardian.com
Deaths linked to London air pollution have fallen 40%, study estimates
However, Imperial College team also find that pollution has worse health impact than previously understood
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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
And there it is… www.desmog.com/2026/04/30/r...
desmog.com
Revealed: Reform’s £24 Million from Fossil Fuel Interests
Reform UK has received £24 million from oil and gas interests, accounting for more than two thirds of its total income, DeSmog can reveal. Led by Nigel Farage, the party is calling for new North Sea o...
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Britain is more than halfway towards reaching Net Zero. Most people don't realise this, not least as the fossil-fuel fanatics want us to think achieving it is impossible. Via YouGov


**UK public support net zero, but underestimate UK achievement to date**

"Thinking about the government's target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, how much progress, if any, do you think the UK has made towards achieving this target?"

**Long way / less than halfway** — 50%

**Don't know** — 28%

**Most of the way / More than halfway** — 8%

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*All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,040 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 17th - 18th June 2026. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+)*
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Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Tulip Siddiq made a point of order in the House of Commons after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch attacked Bridget Phillipson, again, "Kemi Badenoch called the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson a spiteful class warrior" "And previously she's compared Bridget Phillipson to a gestapo officer"
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Whilst the media commemorates 10 years since Brexit, it’s worth recalling that one of the principal causes of Brexit was the abject failure of the media to call out the lies and the liars.
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Jack Caramac @jackcaramac.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
If you needed evidence that politics is being reduced to a media circus, and the 'most important by-election in everyone's lifetime in Makerfield' hasn't convinced you yet, then the absolute farce surrounding Starmer's ongoing villification should be the convincer #Newsnight
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George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
The Starmer government was one of the most left-leaning we’ve had that was almost never identified as such.
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George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Reform have now lost six by-elections in a row in England, Scotland and Wales. Their national poll rating is 26% – below Labour in 1983 – and Farage’s approval rating is -37. They’re very far from the voice of the people and need to stop being treated as such.
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Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Exactly this. Plus, Labour - even in 1983 - had the resilience of a party with long roots and deep loyalties. Which brought big problems, but helped it survive, recover and thrive. It wasn't born as a one-man company; nor was it founded on being against things.
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
How conventient for political journalists, to all be gathered in Downing Street once more, so they can interview each other, to ask "how did this happen?", without ever acknowledging that, at least in part, they themselves are how this happened.
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Shane @shane11.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
There will be time to dissect the Starmer premiership. But for him as a Labour leader. - He took the party on at its lowest point - He survived a sabotage from Corbyn over anti semitism report and cleaned up the party m - He navigated Covid properly and if listened too would have saved lives 1/
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
The attacks in Edinburgh, in which an armed bare-chested white man terrorised Muslims, leaving five people injured, don't feature on a single newspaper front page this morning. Two tier journalism
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