iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by @helenopinion.bsky.social

Ben Taylor @vox-dei.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Right, this. Greens, all you Polanski stans, all you "Starmer is right of Ghengis Khan", this. It's literally in your party's name. This is what your party is *for*. Never speak again unless you're willing to speak up against the nimby opportunists putting election before planet. #ukpol #green

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Ben Newmark @bennewmark.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

If I wanted to protect the most prestigious and highly paid jobs for the social groups who usually hold them I'd probably design an education system that discouraged poorer children from studying the entry qualifications for these jobs as early as possible..

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Casmilus @casmilus.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

"I want other people's kids to have the chance to do a vocational route, so there will be plumbers and electricians to fix Leo & Jessica's student flats."

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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

The short-term cost of the VAT cut on electricity bills is a rounding error. But "funding" it for six months only by cancelling an (itself never formally funded!) project does not exactly scream "fiscal strategy." www.ft.com/content/c84b...

ft.com

The five fiscal challenges facing John Healey

New chancellor must fund rising defence spending and promises of cost-of-living support for households

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Tony Yates @t0nyyates.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

''reassured' about Burnham's economic plans' = offered a decent job ofc

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helenopinion.bsky.social @helenopinion.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Is this a step forward from LibDems wanting to join the Customs Union?

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helenopinion.bsky.social @helenopinion.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Permamnent secretaries rub their hands in glee as they calculate their pay offs.

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Simon HB @norock.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

"I didn't mean we'd give them the 10 billion pounds, I just meant we'd let them get the bus for free."

Andy Burnham’s campaign has released a statement saying that when he spoke about “some recompense” for the Waspi women (see 11.50am), he was not talking about financial compensation. As the Times reports, a Burnham spokesperson issued a statement this morning saying:

Andy has always recognised the unfair way in which state pension equalisation was introduced.

As mayor of Greater Manchester, he supported Waspi women in the city-region with early access to concessionary travel, providing some recompense to them within affordability limits.

He accepts the final decision has been made in relation to financial compensation but has indicated an openness to considering similar schemes on the Greater Manchester model.

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Legal C @legalclaret.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Are we really going to go here? Women given 20 year’s notice that their retirement age would increase to 65 in line with men being seen at the victims of some great injustice? Paid for by people who will probably get nothing, certainly not before 70, and won’t own their own homes?

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Zach Elsbury @zachelsbury.eurosky.social · 11/06/2026

The idea that spending billions upon billions to compensate a handful of entitled pensioners for their own stupidity is anywhere near prudent is utterly laughable.

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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I would make alliance with the devil himself to thwart the WASPI women.

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Aidan Skinner @aidan.skinner.me.uk · 10/06/2026

If Starmer opposes Burnham in a leadership contest and this is the dividing line I will vote for Starmer with a glad heart.

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Jonny Morris @jonnymorris.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Idea: send all women affected a letter on how to claim compensation. If they try to claim, they are clearly the sort of people who pay attention to letters from the government and therefore ineligible. If they ignore the letter for six months, they are compensated in full.

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helenopinion.bsky.social @helenopinion.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

The protest riots will be starting right now.

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

There's a real tension in political coverage between praising "grown up" decisions in the abstract and castigating anyone who tries any of them for their hopeless political naivety.

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Mark @worgztheowl.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

In your case, it's because you're a fucking idiot.

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helenopinion.bsky.social @helenopinion.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

"The climate crisis is the most dire emergency humanity faces but is less important than someone's view being spoiled".

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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

In other words, Stonewall had arguably got ahead of themselves, with consequences for trans people. That seemed an example of a community's lobby group (Stonewall) serving its community badly. But that general concept of a lobby group being bad or unrepresentative was dismissed elsewhere.* /7

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Susanne Hart @hartsue.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

So, if he's going to stick with a hardline and frankly cruel immigration policy and thinks we should stay out of the EU and wants to reform the election system but only after the next election, what, I ask, is the actual fucking point of it all?

theguardian.com

Burnham to back Shabana Mahmood’s immigration changes, allies say

Exclusive: Greater Manchester mayor understood to support home secretary’s push to limit legal and illegal migration

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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 18/05/2026

I stand by my view that of all the Starmer replacements, Burnham is the politician most similar to him.

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Grumpy Philosopher @stevecooke.org · 18/05/2026

Oh great, Burham is now having a go at universities, implying higher education takes away from technical education. Very tired of this crop of Oxbridge educated Labour politicians claiming that it‘s one or the other: apprenticeships or universities (& that universities should lose out). Fuck off.

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Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

“Lord, give me Rejoin and Return, but not yet” - St Andrew of Manchester.

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Raymond Bennett @raymondbennett.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Clever gaming from Streeting as he knows Burnham will have to be circumspect on EU in his by-election against Reform. BBC News - www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd... Wes Streeting says he will stand for Labour leader and UK's future lies 'back in EU' - follow live - BBC News

bbc.co.uk

Wes Streeting says he will stand for Labour leader and UK's future lies 'back in EU' - follow live

The former health secretary's speech comes as Labour starts a candidate selection process for the Makerfield by-election, following Andy Burnham being cleared to stand.

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Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

It's truly inspiring to see Wes Streeting call for decisiveness in govt after a week in which he denied he'd resign; then resigned but said he wouldn't stand as leader; then said finally he intends to stand as leader, so we can rejoin the EU, a policy he was dead against last week.

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Ken Ferrett @kenferrett.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Labour is deranged. What happens when Labour has terrible local election results in 2027/28? "Burnham/Streeting/Rayner out!!"?

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Jon Patience @smoulderstoat.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

It's deranged. Vote Labour if you want the Labour PM out. Who do you vote for if you want him to stay?

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John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

As a plan, it seems based on a premise that enough voters will *want* to hand Labour an opportunity to sort themselves out. Maybe they don’t want that.

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Colin Elves @colinelves.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I don’t want a Farage premiership, but I sort of want Simmons to apply for Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds, only for Burnham to lose the sear Labour spending weeks dithering with a lame duck PM as they wait for their saviour, only for him to spectacularly fumble it would be hilarious.

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helenopinion.bsky.social @helenopinion.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Andy appears to believe it's Keir's job to hang around handling the Hormuz crisis before he waltzes in and takes over.

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Will @ribos1.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Cut energy bills by taxing people who suggest WASPI compensation

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chelseachemist1.bsky.social @chelseachemist1.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I’ve said it previously, I would sooner print off the total amount of money the WASPI campaign thinks they’re ‘owed’ and burn it like Heath Ledgers Joker did than hand it over to them.

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Alastair Meeks @alastairmeeks.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I will unhesitatingly vote tactically against any candidate of any party that advocates for WASPI compensation.

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helenopinion.bsky.social @helenopinion.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

So "radical change" now involves bungs to women who didn't bother to watch the News.

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Rachel Gooch @cambridgerach.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Will the poor bloody voters in whatever constituency he rocks up in will welcome him? Abandoning Manchester to stand in an unnecessary by-election for personal advancement. Isn't that exactly the sort of behaviour that generates contempt for politicians?

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Count Lukula @luke-minded.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

The people of Manchester famously love being sidelined for a managerial career move

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Josephine Grahl @woodscolt79.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

ESTRAGON: I can't go on like this. VLADIMIR: That's what you think. --Waiting for Andy, Samuel Beckett

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Well, you know what they say. Third time's the charm

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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 12/05/2026

When people say they want authentic politicians they mostly mean they want ones who agree with them.

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helenopinion.bsky.social @helenopinion.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Oh look, the people who want "radical, transformative change" have come up with "wealth tax".

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David Beech @davidbeech.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

If Andy doesn't get the crown but won't accept defeat it will confirm everything many of us thought about him. The fact some of his allies are already talking about him not accepting a 'stitch up' already does, tbf.

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Anthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Yes, we shouldn't let frustration with failing to push the boundaries of what's possible blind us to the fact those boundaries are real not imagined. And most of the stuff seen over the past few days is deluded.

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Matt Fallaize @mattfallaize.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

I don't think he's been particularly good. But, and I have said this on here before, the hatred he seems to attract is completely out of proportion to what he's actually done (or not). It's...odd.

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Thomas I-G @thomasig.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Anyway. We're going to be hearing a lot about wealth taxes I imagine in the coming months and I just want everyone to know such people are unserious fools asking for trouble when the reality kicks in.

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Alex @acahowroyd25.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Rochdale win in the end which is probably the fairest outcome, can’t finish on 106 points and not go up.

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Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

If Reform do as well as expected, I'll be reposting this on the hour all day tomorrow.

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Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

There is little doubt that Zack Polanski is a charlatan. But we live in an age of charlatans. Voters have demonstrated, from Trump to Johnson (to Platner in Maine’s Dem primary), that they don’t care about that as long as they’re told what they want to hear. www.jewishnews.co.uk/zack-polansk...

jewishnews.co.uk

Zack Polanski falsely claimed to be a spokesperson for the British Red Cross

British Red Cross denies Green Party leader held such a role, as other concerns are raised about Polanski's professional background

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