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Jim Grogan

@jimgrogan.bsky.social
57 followers 199 following 9 posts

Long time retired, ex Labour now Green supporter. Interested in politics, education and sport.

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Reposted by Jim Grogan
thattimwalker.bsky.social @thattimwalker.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
I’ve been critical of Starmer on here. I see now in plain sight what the alternative is and it is repulsive. It is terrifying. It is morally repugnant - and if an ideology like this gets to take hold it will destroy this country. So no more friendly fire from me.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Starmer deepens NHS privatisation. Can increase NHS capacity by buying private hospitals. Plan won't generate new health staff. Private sector will poach NHS staff. NHS to be a shell, doling out contracts to private sector. 30%-40% money will vanish in profits. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Private sector’s role in cutting NHS waiting lists in England to rise by 20%
Critics decry Keir Starmer’s plan as ‘feeding the parasite’ rather than investing in the public health service
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Dr Julia Grace Patterson @jujuliagrace.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Despite what politicians say, in my experience NHS patients aren’t bothered about ‘choosing their healthcare provider’. They just want their local NHS hospital to function properly. But guess who loves it? Private companies seeking to infiltrate the NHS🚨 …
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Can't end England's social care crisis without ending privatisation. 2011-2023: 804 out of 816 homes closed by regulator were for-profit homes. 30%-40% of public money vanishes in profits. Low staffing/wages, lack of investment, regulation/safety breaches, poor care. www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-03...
ox.ac.uk
New analysis: most care homes closed by industry regulator are run
A new analysis led by researchers at the University of Oxford and funded by the Nuffield Foundation has found that virtually all care homes forced to close in England by the Care Quality Commission
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Peter Welsh @peterwelsh68.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Nick Ferrari on @lbc.co.uk just called Tim Montgomerie from Reform "Timmo". Timmo then called Tommy Robinson a "rough diamond". Just two guys shooting the breeze. Will be the same when Farage swings by the show tomorrow... Rancid.
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Victoria Derbyshire @vicderbyshire.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
Some people in recent days have alleged a ‘cover-up’ over the grooming & rape of hundreds of young girls in predominantly northern UK towns, leading to calls for a ‘national’ public inquiry into child sexual exploitation FWIW here’s a non-exhaustive list of inquiries into #CSE in last 12 yrs…
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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 05/01/2025
POLLING: Brits trust the EU significantly more than they trust the US. Over half of Brits say the UK should be trading more with the EU. And Brits think the UK should prioritise improving its trading relationship with the EU ahead of any other country👇
buff.ly
Public Opinion: UK's international and trading relationships
Instructive new poll reveals twice as many voters think the Prime Minister should prioritise trade with the EU over trade with the USA.
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
As others including Carole Caddwaladr have flagged, X/Elon Musk has registered a new UK company Having a UK company (which is trading) is essential to being able to donate to a UK party Could be other reasons, but the timing is a significant red flag...
New company recorded on Companies House, X.AI London LtdElon Musk is listed as the sole person with significant control
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Left Foot Forward @left-foot-forward.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
We're looking back at our most read articles of 2024. 3️⃣8️⃣ - Gabrielle Pickard Whitehead covered the campaign to prevent a right wing takeover of the National Trust.
leftfootforward.org
Vote to stop right-wing takeover of National Trust – again
Not deterred by three failed attempts, the opaquely funded Restore Trust is making its annual attempt to take over one of Britain’s best-loved institutions.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
Sobering discussion on Today of the tech billionaires jostling to buy influence with Trump, so they can gut the regulation of their industries. It's plutocratic feudalism, with tech-barons fighting to control the court. The long project to bring economic power under democratic control is in ruins.
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Solidarity✊ @solidarity2025.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
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Tony Yates @t0nyyates.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
These comments by Streeting are disgraceful. The safety of a senior female politician has been put at risk; let alone that she's been grotesquely defamed.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
Private equity tycoon Guy Hands' luxury hotel chain cuts workers' wages . Cut profit margins, exec pay, dividends ... thought not. Hands just made £4.3bn profit, sold MoD servicemen’s homes back to the UK govt for £6bn. Workers blood/sweat makes tycoons rich, but earns no loyalty archive.ph/PTaNy
thetimes.com
Guy Hands’ Hand Picked Hotels chain cuts staff wages
The luxury hotel chain owned by the private equity tycoon is cutting hours and pay as demand weakens
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Musk is ignorant, insane - and extremely dangerous.
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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Good advice for almost any supposedly intractable problem
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
The announcement of Louise Casey's adult care commission essentially means the Fabian Society inquiry and report on adult care reform that Wes Streeting commissioned in opposition - which reported in 2023 - was essentially a waste of time
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
This is shocking. Last government spent almost £1m on lawyers to fight transparency democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-t...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Revealed: Tory government spent almost £1 million on lawyers to fight transparency
Court battles to maintain secrecy “a great waste of taxpayer money”, MP says.
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Energy price rises are due to regulation that favours companies, not people youtu.be/ECTGhvVpsQc?... The UK has the highest domestic energy prices in Europe, and it’s all down to poor regulation, political dogma, and the fact that we haven’t got nationalised energy companies.
youtu.be
Energy price rises are due to regulation that favours companies, not people
YouTube video by Richard J Murphy
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
The total intellectual vacuum amongst our politicians www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/01... Wes Streeting might manage to produce a social care plan by 2028. By then, Labour will be in its last inglorious days in office. How did people as incompetent as this ever reach high office in the UK?
taxresearch.org.uk
The total intellectual vacuum amongst our politicians
As Politico notes this morning: Health Secretary Wes Streeting is kicking off the government’s first round of morning TV and radio interviews for almost a fortnight as the festive lull ends with a jol...
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Curse of Private Equity PE has devoured water companies, transport systems, communications networks, power providers, schools/hospitals through the PFI scheme. Govts are handing GP surgeries, dental services & the NHS to it. Result will be the same. Govts serve money not people. archive.ph/N5eKT
yorkshirepost.co.uk
Private equity firms need to stay away from the British tech industry - Ben Moorhouse
The UK has become a prime target for Private Equity (PE). For years, PE firms from overseas have poured money into our water companies, transport systems, communications networks, power providers and ...
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Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Suella Braverman just said that Italy built a wall on their land border with Turkey - a country 1,500 km from Italy. Moron or liar - you decide.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Former Tory home secretary Suella Braverman claims: Italy has built a wall on its land border with Turkey. She went to see it. Drones patrol the wall leading to the number of migrants crossing to fall. Problem: Two countries don't share a land border. www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/sue...
thelondoneconomic.com
Suella Braverman claims she has seen the 'land border' between Italy and Turkey
Suella Braverman has baffled social media users after suggesting she has seen a "land border" between Italy and Turkey.
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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Polling shows strong support for VAT on private schools www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
Labour’s private school tax plan strongly backed by public, poll shows
Government accuses Tories and rightwing media of being ‘out of touch’, as VAT policy due to come into force
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Philip Oldfield @sustainabletall.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
It’s over 1,000km from Berlin to Paris There’s now a direct daytime train between them, that takes 8 hours and costs just €59. Leave at 10am, arrive 6pm. And… it’s just 1% the carbon emissions of the equivalent flight www.euronews.com/travel/2024/...
euronews.com
High-speed Paris-Berlin daily train service debuts
The route is the first directly linking the two capitals' city centres.
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Rachel Shabi @rachelshabi.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Palestinian journalists in Gaza continue to report the horrors of Israel's war in deadly conditions. Al Jazeera pays tribute to the horrific number of journalists killed in Gaza, largely to Western indifference www.aljazeera.com/features/lon...
aljazeera.com
Know their names: The Palestinian journalists killed by Israel in Gaza
Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, at least 217 journalists and media workers have been killed.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
34,793 emergency, very urgent or urgent referrals to child/adolescent mental health services crisis teams in England in six months. Cuts in public services & real incomes; eating disorders take toll. What kind of society hands mental health problems to children? www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
theguardian.com
Urgent referrals of children in mental health crisis in England rise 13% in year
Charity says NHS failure to help more young people sooner is a ‘shocking betrayal’
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
Your regular reminder that the editors and senior management of the Times are entirely comfortable with Phillips' deranged racism.
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
"Thompson’s death was not considered sufficiently important by his colleagues to merit the cancellation of the meeting he had been due to attend in the Manhattan Hilton. Just 48 hours later, his job was relisted."
bylines.scot
Justice is a contract
Responses to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson have unsettled many, but are a natural result of a broken system
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
There should be a law against companies making it virtually impossible to find their contact phone number on their website…
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
World’s biggest bank shuns UK bonds over minimum wage fears. Pathetic. Millionaires at JP Morgan resent that the poor may be able to afford food, housing, education, pension. Can't recall bankers concerned about dangers from their own speculation & profiteering. It is class war. archive.ph/ob5zq
telegraph.co.uk
World’s biggest bank shuns UK bonds over minimum wage fears
JP Morgan cites ‘big uncertainty’ around pay increases as it avoids British debt
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
It’s not just Musk - we need to stop British billionaires bankrolling our politics Keir Starmer needs to introduce new laws to cap individual donations and bar corporate political funding before it’s too late democracyforsale.substack.com/p/its-not-ju...
democracyforsale.substack.com
It’s not just Musk - we need to stop British billionaires bankrolling our politics
Keir Starmer needs to introduce new laws to cap individual donations and bar corporate political funding before it’s too late, writes former Electoral Commission David Howarth.
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
“Brexit made the UK an early victim of this reactionary politics which, instead of making this country great again, has already made it poorer and lonelier. Who knows what further damage may be awaiting our younger generations.”
sussexbylines.co.uk
The Brexit backlash – does it signal a progressive future?
Starmer fears ‘betraying Brexit’. Yet with polls showing a majority for moving closer to Europe, can the progressive majority find its voice?
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
UK's regressive tax system. Poorest 10% of households paid 48% of income in tax; richest 10% paid 39%. Poorest 10% paying 12% of income in VAT; richest 10% pay 3%. Council tax: Poorest 10% paying 7%; richest 10% pay 1.2%. No govt plans to end inequity. equalitytrust.org.uk/news/press-r...
equalitytrust.org.uk
UK Still Taxes the Poorest More Than the Richest - Equality Trust
New data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the poorest 10% of households in the UK are still paying a higher proportion of their income in tax than the richest.
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
Agree or disagree?
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
"James Dyson owns 36,000 acres of agricultural land, estimated to be worth in excess of £550mn... Prior to Reeves’ new tax regulations there would have been no tax to pay if he had died and passed the land on to his successors."
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
Whose land? Tax avoidance and the broken economics of British farming
Noise in the billionaire press about inheritance tax changes hides a basic fact: the non-farming rich own too much land
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
UK PM, Chancellor, business secretary order the FCA, Ofgem, Ofwat, other regulators to come up with ideas to boost economic growth of their industries. It is a race-to-the-bottom and bonfire of people's rights. Remember deregulation and the 2008 crash. news.sky.com/story/amp/st...
news.sky.com
Starmer throws down gauntlet to watchdogs with growth edict
The PM, chancellor and business secretary have written to watchdogs including Ofgem, the FCA and CMA to demand ideas for growth and investment amid sluggish economic growth, Sky News learns.
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Carol Vorderman @carolvorders.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
ANOTHER LABOUR BLUNDER? As many of our so-called regulators fail us, Starmer seems to want even less regulation In 2023 OFWAT fined water companies how much money for slinging more and more sh*ye into our rivers and seas? £2 That's TWO POUNDS in total news.sky.com/story/starme...
news.sky.com
Starmer throws down gauntlet to watchdogs with growth edict
The PM, chancellor and business secretary have written to watchdogs including Ofgem, the FCA and CMA to demand ideas for growth and investment amid sluggish economic growth, Sky News learns.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
1.5m children in England studying in dilapidated school buildings. Similar state of other public buildings. Curse of austerity; PFI, £1 of private investment needed £6 repayment. Money buys less. Govt is reviving PFI, cheaper to borrow or create money. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...
theguardian.com
Revealed: 1.5m children in England studying in unfit school buildings
Underinvestment has led to crumbling infrastructure in schools, hospitals and courts, Guardian study shows
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
UK inflation (CPI) rate has crept to 2.6%. Govts respond by forcing impoverished people to hand wealth to banks, enriching bankers & their shareholders. Real cause of inflation is profiteering. Govts need curb profiteering, tax the rich as they have excessive cash. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
UK inflation rate rises for second month in a row
Economists say the faster pace of price rises all but rules out an interest rate cut on Thursday.
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Harry Eccles @harryeccles.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
I seem to have upset the Nigel Farage fan club - so let me be clear. This man sows hate, lies and division. He is a grifter and a conman. He does not represent the vast majority of Britons. Repost if you agree P.s. multiculturalism is great.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
England's water companies fined just £2 since 2021 for breaching regulations. OFWAT says it agreed compensation and investment in lieu of fines. So no penalties for dumping sewage, causing health hazards, destroying marine life & biodiversity; to boost profits, exec pay, dividends archive.ph/iIugA
inews.co.uk
Water companies fined just £2 for rule breaking despite record sewage
Ofwat has been accused of not acting quickly enough to issue fines against water companies for sewage dumping
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Dr Julia Grace Patterson @jujuliagrace.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
Just to be clear, this country isn’t going to achieve much ‘growth’ that benefits the masses, if the masses are sick. We have a sick population, getting sicker, and it’s happening because our politicians aren’t brave enough to do anything about it.
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Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
NEW: Sergei & the Westminster Spy Ring. I'm very excited to introduce my new investigative podcast with @peterjukes.bsky.social & Ruth Abrahams about a Russian influence operation at the heart of the British establishment. 1/ the-citizens.com/2024/12/serg...
the-citizens.com
'SERGEI & THE WESTMINSTER SPY RING', NEW PODCAST TRAILER OUT! - The Citizens
From exclusive parties at the Russian Embassy to the corridors of Westminster, journalists Carole Cadwalladr and Peter Jukes – with the help of Conservative party whistleblower Sergei Cristo – expose ...
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
16m Britons live in poverty. Yet Labour govt is following Tory income tax policies - income tax personal allowance frozen. Effect of freeze: 2021-22: some 31m people paid income tax. 2028-29: 40m+ to pay income tax. Labour must abandon Tory policies. leftfootforward.org/2024/12/labo...
leftfootforward.org
Labour’s drift to the right could risk Keir Starmer being a one-term prime minister
The government's honeymoon has been short lived.
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Dr Julia Grace Patterson @jujuliagrace.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
We can rebuild the NHS without privatisation. We do not need to involve private companies in the delivery of patient-facing public healthcare. The only people who benefit from NHS privatisation are private company shareholders 🚨
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
Telegraph (Fraser Nelson) "Our immigrant population has almost doubled while our crime rate has halved....we seem to have attracted immigrants who, by and large, are prone to integrate and strengthen the social fabric." archive.ph/ryMuH
archive.ph
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
👇
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Jenny Jones @greenjennyjones.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
I won't forget Labour's intransigence on refusing to consider 1) #PublicOwnership for Water Companies And 2) No bailout of the worthless companies. I'm hoping voters will remember too. If you want Green, you have to vote Green.
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
In case you missed it, a Telegraph columnist is calling for the UK to join a federal superstate with a single currency and free movement of people.
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