Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEClarissa Oakes 🇺🇦 @clarissaoakes.bsky.social · 04/10/2026It's odd how Tories promising tax cuts aren't subject to the same "nation's credit card" strictures. 042
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 04/10/2026Elliott's column, well worth a read: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comRightwing economic myths could derail Burnham’s project – to destroy them, look to Keynes | Larry ElliottBorrowing can be good, there is no such thing as the ‘nation’s credit card’, and, yes, you can buck the markets – as previous governments have shown, says Guardian columnist Larry Elliott 143
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 04/10/2026Elliott ends on Keynes. So do the films: "Anything we can actually do we can afford." The question is never "can we afford it?" It's "do we have the people and resources to do it?" 153
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 04/10/2026A household uses pounds. The government issues them. It can't run out of pounds. It can run out of nurses, builders and engineers, and spending past what they can supply brings inflation. That's the real limit. 162
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 04/10/2026"There is no such thing as the nation's credit card." – Larry Elliott in the Guardian last week. Here's the mechanism behind that, from the Acts, the Treasury's accounts and the Bank of England, in a 12-minute film 🧵 vincegomez.com/how-money-wo...vincegomez.comIs the Government Like a Household?The whole cycle — the vote, the issue, the tax, the gilt — and why the answer matters. 232
Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPE @hs3.bsky.social · 03/10/2026#BigTech's data centres use as much power as millions of homes and guzzle our water We need basic rules: ⚡ 100% clean power 💧 Zero water waste 🗣️ Local community consent Sign Foxglove's petition to stop data centres harming our communities and environment now you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ba...you.38degrees.org.ukBan data centres that harm our communities and climateBig Tech’s giant data centres swallow as much power as millions of homes, guzzle our water, and risk driving up our energy bills - all with zero limits. We need basic rules: ⚡ 100% clean power 💧 Ze... 141
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 02/10/2026And to compound the problem, we seem to be planning to reduce their state pension, too. bsky.app/profile/mrma... 6185
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 02/10/2026It is still possible for him to deliver. But it will need more rewiring than he has so far said he aims to do. 99-percent.org/a-blueprint-...99-percent.orgA Blueprint for Economic Renewal - 99%Can Labour still keep its promise of renewal and, if so, how? This is an approximate transcript of the presentation which launched our new report, A Blueprint for Economic Renewal, […] 032
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEOtto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Burnham Brings Hope. Now we just have to pray he delivers it. Me for @noosphere.app www.noosphere.app/letter-from-...noosphere.appLetter from London: Burnham Brings Hope AgainNow we just have to see if he can deliver results 2824533
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Yes, absolutely. "This inequity is not just unfair; it is actively harmful. It harms the rest of the population, it harms the planet and it harms democracy." 99-percent.org/extreme-weal...99-percent.orgExtreme wealth vs the 99% - 99%How a small number of the extremely wealthy have declared class war on the rest of us, and what we must do to stop them In almost every country, 2025 […] 0105
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPERobert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 02/10/2026The 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. 541884767
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Their behaviour certainly suggests that! Even if they deny it. 072
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Multi-millionaires resent people getting a decent pension, a decent wage, decent healthcare, education or housing. 1132
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Yes, there is a tremendous amount of leakage to be addressed before he even *thinks* about taking more from the vulnerable. 99-percent.org/a-blueprint-...99-percent.orgA Blueprint for Economic Renewal - 99%Can Labour still keep its promise of renewal and, if so, how? This is an approximate transcript of the presentation which launched our new report, A Blueprint for Economic Renewal, […] 1118
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Thousands of young people could lose key disability benefits Govt could limit the Personal Independence Payment (Pip), and further strip Motability support. Hope the govt sees sense and doesn't repeat Starmer policies. Why not end corporate welfare?independent.co.ukThousands could lose key disability benefits in welfare changesThe plans risk reigniting tensions with backbench Labour MPs over welfare spending 35359153
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEA D Green @emeraldgeezer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Please sign up and pass the message on. 011
Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPE @hs3.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Not to mention government subsidies for air travel 011
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMarcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 02/10/2026A privatised railway has given us the highest train fares in Europe and provided a disincentive to go by train rather than fly. Politicians could change this. Their dash to create AI data centres will also boost carbon dioxide emissions... My point is that our choices are constrained by politicians 5103
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Yes. And our politicians have allowed themselves to be constrained by our institutions. If we want sane policy-making, that must change now. 99-percent.org/ending-treas...99-percent.orgEnding Treasury-Induced Decline - 99%We can’t afford another Budget that fails to move the needle on the cost-of-living crisis. So what should we do? Summary of the event On Tuesday 15 September, Clive Lewis, […] 078
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Very good idea. Young people especially should boycott. 042
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 03/10/2026In 2015, when I started writing 99%, my friends thought that my concern over the US and the UK ceasing to be civilised, prosperous western nations was unfounded. Now it looks obvious. 99-percent.org/the-book/99-percent.orgThe Book - 99% 02010
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEAdam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Kemi Badenoch condemned Reform's ban on critical journalists covering their conference as "authoritarian", saying her own party would never do the same as "we believe in free speech. We believe in a free press." Now the Conservatives have banned Byline Times from their conferencebylinetimes.comKemi Badenoch's Conservatives Ban Byline Times From Conference After Condemning Reform for Journalist BanThe ban comes just weeks after the Conservative leader called Reform's barring of critical journalists from their conference an "authoritarian" attack on the free press 661092549
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEByline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026NUJ responds to reports of Conservative party banning Byline Times journalists from conference • www.nuj.org.uk/resource/nuj...nuj.org.ukNUJ responds to reports of Conservative party banning Byline Times journalists from conferenceThe NUJ has responded to reports that Byline Times journalists have been denied access to the Conservative Party conference. 67038
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEIain Overton @iainoverton.bsky.social · 03/10/2026“Over 1,400 people have been killed (in Gaza) in the year since the ceasefire.” - The Economist. I wonder how many have to be killed for it not to be called a ceasefire? 11612
Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPE @hs3.bsky.social · 03/10/2026I just donated to @GlobalJusticeUK’s campaign against Palantir. Will you join? act.globaljustice.org.uk/node/4878act.globaljustice.org.ukBoost the campaign against PalantirThe UK government will soon decide whether to terminate Palantir’s £330 million NHS deal. Your donation today could help fund coordinated UK-wide lobbying, strategic media efforts and briefing of key ... 111
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 31/07/2026Wynne Godley argued in 1992 that a currency union without a shared budget would end badly, and warned years ahead that US growth was resting on private borrowing that could not last. His main tool was a table. Here is what one is, and who he was: vincegomez.com/data/?tab=go...vincegomez.comData Library 122
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 22/07/2026The flawed claim: exploit a fiscal rule and "you will be punished", capped by "markets are watching... you have been warned". Gilt yields track Bank Rate and inflation expectations, not an external solvency verdict. Sentiment isn't a veto over democratic choice. 123
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 22/07/2026The FT's "Six foolish mistakes for the UK's new chancellor to avoid", out today, earns a Grade E: FAIL It rightly unmasks Carney's defence bank as borrowing in fancy dress, then builds its whole case on markets "punishing" a currency issuer that cannot be forced to default. #UKEconomy 121
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 04/08/2026Three centuries of records point the same way: the binding constraint was never the debt ratio, it was labour, materials and political will. Post-war Britain had less of the first two than we do — and built anyway. #UKEconomy 132
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 04/08/2026In 1946 Britain's debt stood near 250% of GDP. Bread was still rationed. Within two years the government had opened the NHS and launched the largest house building programme in its history. Today, at just under 95%, ministers say that we cannot afford to do anything close to this. Why? 1124
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 06/08/2026Tapping the nation's credit card while the bailiffs are at the door" says Mel Stride. www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202... Name the bailiff. Also, the £3 trillion is the pensions, insurance funds and Premium Bonds the rest of us hold. Be careful what you wish for. vincegomez.com/articles/if-...vincegomez.comIf We "Paid Off" the National Debt, There Would Be No Money LeftPoliticians of all parties have spent decades telling the British public that the national debt is a burden on future generations, a reckless legacy we are imposing on our children and grandchildren. ... 111
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 09/09/2026Six weeks separate Andy Burnham's pledge to rewire the state from his declaration that he leads "a government grounded in fiscal responsibility". The captain changed; the course did not. #UKPolitics #UKEconomy #PublicFinance vincegomez.com/articles/changing-ca…vincegomez.comChanging Captain or Changing Course?Andy Burnham walked into Downing Street on 20 July promising to rewire the state. Six weeks later, at his first Prime Minister's Questions, he described what he now leads as "a government grounded in fiscal responsibility".¹ 012
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEVince Gomez @vincegomez.com · 04/09/2026“Take economic planning away from the Treasury. They know nothing about it.” Aneurin Bevan, 1951. Seventy-five years later, this has aged remarkably well. 073
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEAnn Pettifor @annpettifor.bsky.social · 30/09/2026The new radical proposal to end the 'triple lock' for pensions will generate at least £15bn or at most £30bn for the Treasury we are told. That is equal to 0.5% or 1% of UK national income of £3 trillion. Won't go far. 3117
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Yes, and the savings will be the future pensions of today's younger workers. None of it makes sense. bsky.app/profile/mrma... 287
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Labour promised renewal and an end to the cost-of-living crisis. That cannot be done without economic renewal. And despite what we have heard, they *could* still achieve that. This is how. A Blueprint for Economic Renewal 99-percent.org/a-blueprint-...99-percent.orgA Blueprint for Economic Renewal - 99%Can Labour still keep its promise of renewal and, if so, how? This is an approximate transcript of the presentation which launched our new report, A Blueprint for Economic Renewal, […] 056
Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPE @hs3.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Big news from Labour Conference: the PM has announced the government's plan to scrap first past the post. Seats that match votes would change British politics for good, but only if it happens. I've added my name. Join me? action.electoral-reform.org.uk/page/201578/...action.electoral-reform.org.ukThe PM used his big speech to promise to fix Westminster's broken voting system.We've heard promises before. I've signed to make sure this one is kept. It takes 30 seconds 0208
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026This is great news. And here is some of what they should address. 99-percent.org/future-proof...99-percent.orgFuture-Proofing our Democracy - 99%MPs and Peers gather to hear about the urgent need for Defensive Constitutional Reform On 29 June 2026, the MPs Clive Lewis (L), Roz Savage (LD) and Richard Quigley (L) […] 087
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEPhilippa Banks @phil510.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Big news from Labour Conference: the PM has announced the government's plan to scrap first past the post. Seats that match votes would change British politics for good, but only if it happens. I've added my name. Join me? action.electoral-reform.org.uk/page/201578/...action.electoral-reform.org.ukThe PM used his big speech to promise to fix Westminster's broken voting system.We've heard promises before. I've signed to make sure this one is kept. It takes 30 seconds 109324
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEMark E Thomas FB99% FBPE @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Poor Sir Simon. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 'remarkable national recovery' he refers to is a myth. The 1980s was when our national decline started. I wonder where he gets his information? 99-percent.org/back-to-the-... 829282
Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPE @hs3.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Fantastic work - thank you! @costoflivingaction.bsky.social @osheaconor.bsky.social @mrmarkethomas.bsky.social @99organisation.bsky.social 022
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPENelly Probin @lillmagill.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Things we owned in the 1970's Water Gas and electricity NHS Schools Council houses British Rail Royal Mail Things we had in the 1970's Hope A social safety net A future And the best music 🙂 93819
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPEPissedoffpundit @pissedoffpundant.bsky.social · 30/09/2026👏💯👏💯👏💯👏💯👏💯👏💯👏💯👏💯👏💯🤔... 14178962212
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPESteve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Ok, that’s the thread! Please do share on if you found it useful. Tables up soon. Here are the videos we tested: tinyurl.com/BurnhamConfC... @convergent-opinion.bsky.social @fintan-smith.bsky.socialtinyurl.comPOST Conf Test - Google Drive 3161
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPESteve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Nevertheless, it does show us something important: people like Burnham even more when they’re exposed to him; many of his core themes & arguments carry people and can push up his numbers and vote share. The ownership agenda esp - if delivered - could be really powerful for him. 1203
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPESteve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 01/10/2026finally, we independently tested the whole BBC News at Six TV package on the speech, since this sort of thing is how more voters would actually experience the speech in reality. All the major metrics increased significantly! Impressive. 1213
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPESteve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Similar result on best PM - some chunky lifts 1192
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPESteve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 01/10/2026First finding: all clips we tested raised Burnham’s NET favorables by a lot, essentially doubling them. But the public control/ownership themes in particular really smashed it. This is, once again, Burnham’s best performing bit imo. See it consistently in qual and quant. 2368
Reposted by Heather Smith FB99% FBALL FBPESteve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 01/10/2026How about voting intention? All videos pushed up Labour VI, but three stood out: economic power/control, water nationalisation and social care/triple lock clip, boosting it by 8-10 points! This is *genuinely impressive* for such a test, esp in an age of cynicism to politicians. 14212