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Rich Speight

@footypol.bsky.social
998 followers 2.9K following 799 posts

Luddite. Union policy person. Sunderland fan & former fanzine writer and podcaster 🔴⚪️ Walks in Eryri with Roker the dog. English immigrant to #Cymru 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿. Ef/iddo | he/him

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Reposted by Rich Speight
UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Care workers in Wales have made their priorities clear: 78% of responses to UNISON Cymru’s survey ranked better pay as the top priority. UNISON Cymru is calling for £15 an hour to be the starting point for a national care service. 💜 Read more: unsn.uk/care15
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UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
UNISON Cymru migrant care workers joined the Fair Visa rally at Labour Party Conference yesterday. We’re calling on UK ministers to keep the five-year route to settlement, replace employer-tied visas with a certificate of common sponsorship. ✊ Support the campaign: unsn.uk/cymru-fairvisa
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UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
UNISON Cymru activists spent Policy Weekend 2026 building plans to strengthen our union in workplaces and communities. Thanks to everyone who brought their ideas, experience and energy to Cardiff. 🌸
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UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Every day, public service workers across Wales show up for our communities. Now it's the government's turn to show up for public services. ✅ Invest more ✅ Insource now ✅ Pay fair Add your name to our petition: 🔗 unsn.uk/we-show-up-petition #WeShowUp #InsourceNow #FairPay
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Donald Campbell @dncampbell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Palantir have found their new Peter Mandelson www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson joins Palantir
Peer takes full-time position at the controversial company as it fends off pressure from both Andy Burnham’s government and Sadiq Khan
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Rich Speight @footypol.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This is how the ruse works 👇
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@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Did you listen to Justin Webb interviewing Ed Miliband on #r4today? @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social did and he heard quite a lot… brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/analysing-...
brokenbottleboy.substack.com
Analysing Justin Webb’s interview with Ed Miliband about sanctions on Israeli settlements
On the absence of balance in an encounter where the Foreign Secretary’s Jewishness was called into question.
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UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
School support staff across Wales keep schools running and support children and young people to learn, thrive and stay safe. But many struggle to cover basic costs because their pay is based on the weeks they work during term time, then spread across the year. Sign the petition: unsn.uk/end-term
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Darth Empath @jhatman.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A human can only survive 2-7 days without clean water, whereas we can survive in perpetuity without datacenters. Choose wisely.
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Rich Speight @footypol.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The Lasses played better this afternoon than I can remember them playing in a long, long time. If that result sets the tone and standard for the season then we’re in for a fantastic season. New signings look next level #SAFC
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Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 05/09/2026
As gangs of masked men block Dover port, I will just leave this here www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Five Just Stop Oil activists receive record sentences for planning to block M25
Campaigners receive longest ever sentences for non-violent protest after being convicted of conspiracy to cause public nuisance
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Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I wonder if "academic freedom" will protect James Orr from the consequences of his various violations
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
A six-month investigation by Byline Times reveals that with the support of Palantir's Peter Thiel, Reform's policy chief James Orr has used the University of Cambridge as a student recruitment ground for a hard-right, theocratic political project aimed at bolstering talent in Farage’s party
bylinetimes.com
Palantir Co-Founder Peter Thiel and Reform UK's Cambridge University Recruitment Pipeline Project Revealed
The world-renowned academic institution has nothing to say in response to a six-month investigation by Byline Times raising serious concerns about the safeguarding of students and foreign influence at...
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UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Care workers at Seren Support Services have won the first recognition agreement signed by a for-profit care provider in Wales✊️ At the signing yesterday, Seren team leader and UNISON branch officer Ditene Favour Emono said: “It's crucial for care workers to feel listened to... 1/
9 people including workers, union officials, management and Albert Heaney CBE (Chief Social Care Officer Welsh Government) stand and in front of a yellow background presenting the new union recognition agreement between UNISON and Seren Support Services
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Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Just a reminder, Professor James Orr, Reform UK head of policy, teaches 'ethics' to undergraduates at Cambridge University youtu.be/aXut3s90rUI
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
If you'd told me Channel 4 would be the first British channel to broadcast primetime pornography I'd have believed you but I wouldn't have believed it'd be Channel 4 News
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Ricardo Autobahn @ricardoautobahn.co.uk · 26/08/2026
The best tribute to Dolly Parton is that she regularly and repeatedly refused to have anything to do with Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan

@piersmorgan

Follow

:

RIP Dolly Parton.

Never met her, never interviewed her (despite decades of unrequited requests) but thought she was utterly fabulous in every way.
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Roker Report @rokerreportsafc.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Forget the glory hunters and Hollywood underdogs - if you want to experience the pain, passion and triumph of supporting a proper football club, choose Sunderland. ⏬️👇🏼 Click below to read more! rokerreport.sbnation.com/opinion/1498...
rokerreport.sbnation.com
Why Sunderland Is the Perfect Premier League Club for Americans
Forget the glory hunters and Hollywood underdogs - if you want to experience the pain, passion and triumph of supporting a proper football club, choose Sunderland.
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Rich Speight @footypol.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Love owt like this, me #safc
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UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Want to help shape UNISON Cymru’s priorities and strengthen your workplace? Join activists from across Wales for an interactive Policy Weekend in Cardiff on 25-26 September. Share ideas, learn from each other and help turn policy into action. ✊ Find out more: unsn.uk/cymrupolicy
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UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Employers are introducing AI in workplaces across Wales. 🤖 Tell UNISON what your employer is using, how it affects your job and whether you and your colleagues had a say. You can help UNISON push for technology that benefits workers. Share your experience: unsn.uk/AI
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UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Your UNISON membership belongs to you. Activating your online account gives you access to personalised information and makes it easier to get involved in your union. 💜 Activate your account ⬇️ unsn.uk/Activate
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Captain Howdy @captainhowdy.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
"Say goodbye to all of this... and hello to oblivion!" 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' made its debut in UK cinemas on this day in 1975.
The "Distracted Boyfriend" meme, but the boyfriend is now Brad Majors from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975). The object of his attention is Dr. Frank N. Furter, who, I'm led to believe, is just a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania. Brad's girlfriend, Janet Weiss, doesn't look too happy with Brad, but I reckon she'd quite like a go on Frank herself.
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Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
our entire global financial system is currently leveraged to the hilt on the premise that it was good and right for a small cadre of US companies to steal all of the intellectual work ever produced by humanity and sell its back to us without credit or remuneration to the authors (plagiarism)
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Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
They knew.


For decades climate scientists have said that continuing to burn fossil fuels would lead to both more wildfires and that they would be increasingly severe. 

Yet politicians - many of whom are still in public office on large taxpayer salaries- dismissed, scorned and ignored these warnings. 

Every bit of new coverage of these fires should be framed as the direct result climate change and political failings. Those who profited by underplaying the danger should be challenged for their complicity in every interview. 

Especially those charlatans who, even now, still claim to be on the side of farmers and the poorest in our society - despite enabling a crisis that will hit those groups hardest.
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UNISON @unison.org.uk · 14/08/2026
Overwhelming majority of British people back maximum workplace temperature limit as climate crisis intensifies leftfootforward.org/2026/08/over...
leftfootforward.org
Overwhelming majority of British people back maximum workplace temperature limit as climate crisis intensifies
As the fifth British heatwave of 2026 hits, Brits say there should be a national maximum workplace temperature
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ETUI @etui.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
📣 New publication! We've just released our anticipated report on #HeatExposure at work 🥵 'Climate change and workers’ health: Protecting workers against heat and other climate-related hazards' by Marouane Laabbas-el-Guennouni (ETUI) and Andreas Flouris (University of Thessaly)
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Public Services International @psiglobalunion.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Palantir has won an estimated £670m in UK government contracts — yet in 2024 it paid just £2.1m in UK tax. “Systems that enable tax to be shirked on an industrial scale clearly have to change” — Andrea Egan, UNISON General Secretary ✊
Quote card with a photo of Andrea Egan, UNISON General Secretary, raising her fist at a UNISON conference podium. The quote reads: Ministers shouldn't award contracts to run public services to firms that are starving them of cash. A red banner cites an estimated 670 million pounds in UK government contracts and an 8.2% effective tax rate.
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THE NERVE @thenerve.news · 05/08/2026
“Everyone has a strong incentive to lie about how much AI is delivering for their companies”: Cory @doctorow.pluralistic.net on why the people who tell you ‘AI is changing everything’ are lying www.thenerve.news/p/cory-docto...
Cory Doctorow: the people who tell you ‘AI is changing everything’ are lying. “AI” written in large wonky font against a black background
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UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Dylai cyflogwyr ledled Cymru fabwysiadu siarter sydd wedi'i chynllunio i gynyddu'r defnydd o'r Gymraeg yn y gwaith a rhoi mwy o gyfleoedd i staff ddysgu a datblygu eu sgiliau iaith.
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Important, because Farage's defence for not declaring Harborne's £5m 'gift' has always been very specific: he did not decide to stand until 3rd of June. Turns out this deal was struck mid-May (confirmed by RefUK) and facilitated by Farage's other big donor, convicted felon 'Posh' George Cotrell. 🧐
Nigel Farage struck Reform comeback deal long before election
Supervised by the convicted fraudster George Cottrell, the agreement undermines Farage's claim about when he decided to return to politics
REFORM UK
Bank of Single
Richard Tice was demoted to deputy leader when Farage returned in 2024
Gabriel Pogrund, Emanuele Midolo, Venetia Menzies
Saturday August 1 2026, 8.15pm, The Sunday Times
Nigel Farage struck a secret deal to return as leader of Reform UK months before the general election.
Farage negotiated the pact with Richard Tice, then the leader, in March and April 2024. George Cottrell, the convicted fraudster who had been secretly bankrolling Farage, supervised the discussions.
Under the terms of the deal, once Farage became leader Reform would repay or write off more than £1 million in outstanding loans it had received from Tice's company.
The deal was first presented by Farage and Cottrell to the party's treasurer in mid-May. Its existence undermines the Reform leader's claim that he had no intention until June 2024 of returning to politics. Farage has used this to defend his failure to declare donations made to him in the year before he was elected as an MP, which triggered two parliamentary investigations.
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UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The value of council and school workers’ pay has fallen by more than 20% since 2010, while food, fuel and energy bills have kept rising. A 3.3% pay offer will not make up for years of lost pay. Vote YES for strike action and post your ballot today. ✊
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UNISON Cymru @unisoncymru.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
📮 Still waiting for your ballot paper? Are you a UNISON member working for Swansea Council, Wrexham County Borough Council, Flintshire County Council, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council or South Wales Fire and Rescue Service?
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Rich Speight @footypol.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Watching possibly the best darts ever played.
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 20/07/2026
this is such a good and astute way to put it; so much gender critical feminism seems to stem from the belief that being a woman is a uniquely awful thing, and I mean no one's arguing that living in a patriarchal society as a woman is always a riot but what a depressing and pessismistic view of life!
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Poster promoting Count Binface, in the famous Obama style
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Tim Ellis, TDSB Ward 2 candidate 🍁 @djdynamic.ca · 08/07/2026
"They just want to turn it off." A fascinating story of the librarians who have started teaching classes showing people how to remove AI "features" from their phones and apps. www.bangordailynews.com/2026/07/02/m...
bangordailynews.com
These Maine librarians are helping patrons resist AI and Big Tech
Despite breathless reporting on how AI is going to change the world, Hannah Cyrus, a Bangor librarian, said that, in her experience, most library patrons aren’t finding it helpful.
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Sir Michael Take CBE @sirmichaeltake.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
“DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? RONNIE PICKERING THAT’S WHO I AM!!!!” 😡
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Rich Speight @footypol.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
This game…
static.klipy.com
The Simpsons Play Soccer
Alt: The Simpsons - Soccer meme
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Aieee-Iain Clark @iainjclarkart.com · 04/07/2026
The amazing Sandi Toksvig says #TransRights at #Pride.
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Rich Speight @footypol.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Gerrrin!
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Roker Report @rokerreportsafc.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Fabrizio Romano: coming to a football club near you soon, to f*ck up their summer. ⬇️ READ MORE ⬇️ rokerreport.sbnation.com/opinion/1435...
rokerreport.sbnation.com
Sunderland Have Discovered The Fabrizio Romano Transfer Method
Fabrizio Romano: coming to a football club near you soon, to f*ck up their summer.
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Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Watching London-centric politicians lose their minds at the suggestion of further devolution because "IT COSTS TOO MUCH" while they sit in a mouse-infested palace that is costing taxpayers £40bn to renovate. FYI - £40bn would cover the annual cost of the (expanded) Welsh Senedd for 390 years...
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Rich Speight @footypol.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Ecuador are my new favourite team. No mucking about, just attack with flicks, tricks and flare then defend as if your life depends on it.
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Rich Speight @footypol.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
This boy 😙
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Rich Speight @footypol.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Can Sunderland’s forwards please stop letting the whole world see just how mint they are please? it’s getting worrying now. #SAFC
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Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
As you boil in the heat, never forget that all those people who for decades have deliberately and maliciously disrupted efforts to tackle climate change are probably sitting comfortable in their large air conditioned houses. Houses funded on the back of lies/misinformation they helped propagate.
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Elaine Burke @elaineburke.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
While you're cooking in the heat this week, do bear this in mind.
Screenshot from Politico.
Headline: Europe must choose between AI and climate goals, data center lobby says
Standfirst: Tech sector says only carbon-emitting gas plants are reliable enough today to power the EU’s AI goals.
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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 22/06/2026
"A.i." is for managers who think their notes can replace the humans who actually create.
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