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JWexTheSpa

@jwsidders.bsky.social
3.6K followers 752 following 18K posts

South West England via Spain and the Midlands - but made in NW5. Trying hard not to give in to despair

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Reposted by JWexTheSpa
Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 34m
"The party has also said it would look closer at whether parents' earnings and savings should be factored into welfare payments for their children" So according to the Tories, it's wrong to means-test benefits for boomers... but totally fine to do so for their adult children children.
bbc.co.uk
Conservatives pledge 'tough love' benefit rules for under-25s
The party says it would bring in new work requirements for young people claiming Universal Credit.
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Thomas I-G @thomasig.bsky.social · 1h
Targeting voters who have a remaining life expectancy in single digits bodes great for the future of your party.
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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 1h
Tell me that you prefer busking stuff to doing the reading in a way that you think makes you sound dynamic.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 56m
Yep - Kemi's reaction to Trump's insane, global economy destroying attack on Iran was that the UK should have been a part of it
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Rob Davies @byrobdavies.bsky.social · 1h
Yet Chelsea have successfully created a PR narrative that they fessed up, hence the paltry fine. Fact is, the FA appears to have believed that using hidden fees to land players like Eden Hazard, Willian, Nemanja Matic didn't confer a sporting advantage. Make of that what you will.
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Rob Davies @byrobdavies.bsky.social · 1h
Getting a bit sick of the narrative that Chelsea FC received a lenient punishment because they self-reported. Many of the offshore payments exposed by the Guardian and media partners were not self-reported (possibly because the new owners didn't know, although we can't be sure of that).
theguardian.com
Chelsea FC face new questions over how Roman Abramovich funded success
Leaked files reveal secret payments that may have breached football’s strict ‘financial fair play’ rules
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 1h
Getting Farage to talk about and defend Brexit would be a big win for the government.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 1h
This is horrific on just about every level imaginable. What a grotesque country …
bbc.co.uk
Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike survives execution attempt after two injections
Killer Christa Pike's lawyer says she is being given "life-saving measures" in hospital after two syringes of pentobarbital.
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 1h
When the US State Department is doing such great work to project a friendly American face to the world, it’s a total mystery why fewer people are choosing to visit.
U.S. Department of Stat... • Follow
X
SO
8h •
It's a beautiful sight.
This and 250,000 visa revocations.
U.S. DEPARTMENT of STATE
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Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 1h
‘For the birds’: Lib Dem MP tells Ed Davey to ‘think again’ on triple lock defence @tomgordonld.bsky.social says the argument that it helps millennials is “at best for the birds, and at worst downright insulting” Full quotes 👇 www.politics.co.uk/2026/10/for-...
politics.co.uk
‘For the birds’: Lib Dem MP tells Ed Davey to ‘think again’ on triple lock defence - Politics.co.uk
A Liberal Democrat MP has criticised Ed Davey over the party’s position on the pension triple lock, saying the argument that it should be kept to help millennials is “at best for the birds, and at worst downright insulting”. In a post on X, Tom Gordon said he had listened to Davey on BBC Radio […]
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 1h
The Tories hate young people, part 153,974
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 1h
Indeed, given the cost of UK borrowing, would the EU actually want the UK signed up to the Euro right now?
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 2h
I do not think a pro-Euro argument is as hard to make as many think for two reasons: 1. The UK would be spending less on borrowing if we were in the Eurozone. 2. There is far less emotional attachment to the pound in your pocket than there was because far fewer people have pounds in their pockets.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 2h
It's a fun fact that if the UK were currently a member of the Eurozone, our cost of borrowing would be significantly lower than it is now.
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Jonathan Hopkin @jonathanhopkin.eurosky.social · 2h
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Jonathan Hopkin @jonathanhopkin.eurosky.social · 2h
Libertarians have this remarkable ability to imagine nothing they don’t experience directly actually matters
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James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 2h
As always the right miss the importance of a functioning state and services to enabling growth and the private sector. A nation with crumbling infrastructure and a sick, ill educated population isnt an attractive proposition for investment
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 2h
An absolute failure to contemplate the long-term consequences of failing to invest in the basics is exactly what he Cameron/Osborne Toryism Janan stands for was all about.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 3h
Janan Ganesh writes a lot of nonsense a lot of the time, but the idea a National Care Service is anti-growth is bollocks for the ages. Freeing up NHS beds and staff to accelerate treatment times, and family members to work and generate wealth, is about as pro-growth as you can get.
ft.com
At least Burnham doesn’t pretend to care about growth
Unlike his predecessors, Britain’s prime minister is a fairly honest stagnation-ist
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Robert Shrimsley @robertshrimsley.bsky.social · 17h
If Reform did something like this with mosques we might think they were a bit racist. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
thetimes.com
Jewish Greens face sanctions for belonging to ‘Zionist’ synagogues
The Green Party rejected an amendment to protect Jewish members attending self-declared ‘Zionist’ organisations from reports of racism
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 17h
With Fairford, I've decided the security services know what they are doing - so, however strange it seems from the outside in, it does make sense to those investigating; and all information released is being released for a reason, even if we don't know what that reason is.
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 17h
Reminder that the very latest Yougov poll shows 47% of voters want parties that not only 'believe in Brexit' as a central plank of their platform, but notably want to go much further and threaten/trigger a No Deal Brexit. And that's despite 'demographic recycling' since 2016.
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 19h
NEW ANALYSIS: Record wind and solar save UK from gas imports worth £5.9bn during Hormuz crisis 🌤️ wind/solar generation up 14% in 2026 to date 🏭 gas down ~10% 🚢 >100 LNG cargoes avoided
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 19h
It is good that Conservative Lord Wolfson, shadow attorney-general, has called this a ridiculous smear.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 19h
In the space of 24 hours 🤔
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elDiario.es @eldiario.es · 20h
Maíllo, sobre las críticas de Podemos a los decretos de vivienda: “Empiezo a estar harto del izquierdismo que nunca ha sufrido un desahucio” www.eldiario.es/politica/aca...
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 19h
Good to hear, but it’s not going to be as simple as that, though - especially with the far-right taking control in both France and Spain next year.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
At a time when the most influential leaders of the U.S. need to stand up loudly and clearly for the rule of law, they are leading the charge in the opposite direction. But not Jack Smith. Kudos to him for continuing to be a much needed voice of clarity.
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POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 20h
French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez have welcomed U.K. PM Andy Burnham’s plan to unpick Brexit.
politico.eu
Macron and Sanchez say UK would be ‘welcome’ back in EU
Andy Burnham’s suggestion that the U.K. could rejoin the EU was met with a more muted response from Brussels itself.
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Éamann Mac Donnchada @almagroschool.bsky.social · 19h
After a scan of the relevant media and socials I think it's not at all clear that either of the two housing decrees will be approved by Congress. If they both fall then Sánchez will pretty much have to go to the country
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 20h
Being a Starmer loyalist must include a belief that Starmer is better than Burnham - and I do not see how you can believe that except in terms of personal advancement. And given Starmer's not coming back what on earth is the point of that?
politicshome.com
Starmer Loyalists Keep Their Heads Down At Calm Party Conference
Party conferences are often a forum for rows and plotting, but Labour's event in Liverpool passed by with barely a whiff of rancour, as allies of K...
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David Beech @davidbeech.bsky.social · 21h
The thing about this is it would very likely be hugely damaging, extremely unpopular and a gift to the tories if...Starmer had proposed it. So yeah it matters that we have a PM who knows politics and how to make an argument.
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 23h
God yeah, imagine a party captured by its most extreme wing.
Does anybody think it’d be a good idea for a government to be propped up by one of those parties who have single issue policies that really would be potentially very damaging to the UK itself and to our foreign relationships?
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 23h
The Tories obligingly walking headlong into every trap Burnham has set them is surprising and not surprising at the same time.
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Mujtaba Rahman @mijrahman.bsky.social · 23h
@andyburnham.bsky.social knows the British public is way ahead of UK politicians on Brexit and so is prepared to make the argument He doesn't know how far he'll ultimately be able to go but is opening up political space in the EU for a serious conversation
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Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 23h
I'm kinda fully over that "the British conquered the world for spices and don't use any of them" joke because for one, you cannot recycle material for 5 straight generations and get a laugh worth a damn but also because in order to make it you have to agree with Tommy Robinson about who is British
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Luke Tryl @luketryl.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
In this week’s voting intention, Labour's lead widens as Reform fall to their lowest in over 18 months. 🌹 LAB 27% (+1) 🌳 CON 22% (-1) ⏩ REF 21% (-1) 🔶 LIB DEM 11% (-) 🟢 GREEN 9% (+1) ⚫ RES: 6% (-) 🟡 SNP 3% (+1) ⚪️ OTH 1% (-) N = 2,041 | Fieldwork 25-29/9 | Changes w 18/09
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
BREAKING: Tory talking sense on ULEZ etc. "If we campaign on a platform of taking out LTNs, be aware that we’re campaigning to send floods of traffic back down the now quiet streets where many of our voters, and many more of our potential voters, live."
conservativehome.com
Andrew Gilligan: Popular among activists, scrapping ULEZ doesn't add up - either politically or financially | Conservative Home
On the subject of motoring in London, there’s a long history of utter Tory refusal to look the electoral facts and numbers in the eye. You don’t have to agree with me on this. So please, let’s start t...
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Anthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The big reforms Burnham outlined are interlinked. There will be no viable expansion of the social state without Brexit being resolved. To embed the UK's long-term relationship with the EU electoral reform is necessary to reduce minority disruption. Equally, for enabling devolution to work.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
In raw political terms, Labour has little of the 60+ vote to lose. The fight will be within younger cohorts. And the battle lines are clear: reform that will still deliver annual pension increases plus an NCS from Labour or the Tories' working into your 70's but keeping the triple lock as it is.
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Alastair Meeks @alastairmeeks.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
What I take from that thread is that (for the first time in years) Labour have prepared properly for a controversial policy announcement and so are ready with their attack lines.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Lewis Goodall is bang on the money here ...
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Knee, meet Jerk.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Really good thread from the Pensions minister on how Labour will fight back on Tory opposition to changing the triple lock. The bit about it meaning working into your 70's before you get a pension is pretty smart - largely because it's true.
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Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Why does this matter? Because making unsustainable promises on the Triple Lock lasting forever has consequences. It will mean the Conservative would (again) swiftly accelerate rises in the State Pension age - making people wait into their 70s for a pension…
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Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Jeremy Hunt has also been totally clear about the need for change - including today:
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Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
And Jack Rankin was even clearer: “The triple lock situation is not sustainable” www.gbnews.com/politics/sta...
gbnews.com
Tory MP admits triple lock is 'unsustainable' before revealing pensions political headache
The triple lock increases the state pension by at least 2.5 per cent, or whatever is highest of inflation or wage growth
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Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Oh - and BOTH the senior parliamentary aides to Kemi Badenoch have called for the Triple Lock to be changed. Here’s John Glen spelling it out… www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
telegraph.co.uk
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Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
What did the new shadow foreign secretary call an unreformed triple lock? A Ponzi scheme www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
independent.co.uk
Conservatives should stop defending triple lock ‘Ponzi system’, says senior Tory
Tom Tugendhat compared the UK economy to a ‘Ponzi system’ during a fringe event at the party conference in Manchester on Monday.
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Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The Conservative Party debated for a couple of hours and decided that no, they are not a serious party. Inevitably.
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