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Ludo T-C

@ludotc.bsky.social
77 followers 88 following 91 posts

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Reposted by Ludo T-C
Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
This is bonkers : Reform receives second £36m donation in two days as crypto investor matches record www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Reform receives second £36m donation in two days as crypto investor matches record
The party says the money will allow it to fight the next election on a "level playing field", while rivals have renewed calls for donations from individuals to be capped.
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Lisa Smart MP @lisasmartmp.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson Lisa Smart said: “We welcome the Met Police’s criminal inquiry into Reform’s finances, and if proven, Nigel Farage and his cronies should face the full force of the law … buff.ly/ri6YSWS
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
The embroiderers actually copied the underwear from the pre-bowdlerised photographs that were their source material. The American photographer altered the images during development.
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Liberal Democrats @libdems.org.uk · 12/09/2026
Hertfordshire has one of the lowest numbers of mental health beds in the country. For three years, @libdemdaisy.bsky.social has campaigned for a facility that is ready to go and ready to help. Will the PM commit to supporting her campaign?
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Jonathan Calder @lordbonkers.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
The most remarkable thing here is not the sums involved but the concept of Nigel Farage being humbled.
theguardian.com
Christopher Harborne matches £36m Reform donation of Ben Delo
Party leader, Nigel Farage, ‘humbled’ by contributions from billionaires as Harborne addresses ‘media speculation’
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UNITED24 @u24.gov.ua · 12/09/2026
Shana Tova to everyone who celebrates! May you be inscribed in the Book of Life. Happy Rosh Hashanah!
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
ahem. * like-minded - sorry!
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
And I increasingly do like your idea of following the Aussies into compulsory voting (with exemptions as you said), which would bring massive beneficial changes to UK politics on its own. Esp. in conjunction with proportional voting, also a feature of Aussie politics. 🇦🇺 🗳️ ⚖️
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Anyway Russ, I do applaud your suggestion and there might well be something in it. But I would ask that you consider adjust the parameters to make it more workable.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
A lot of older voters still don’t spend much time on the Internet. But they almost all walk past their own doormat. Writing a local leaflet is a great way to communicate with voters but costs a few hundred quid.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
In the Lib Dems we have had precisely this problem for years: lots of like-moved people spread around the country, but generally not enough in one area to naturally prove decisive without a huge attempt to sway public opinion. The best tools for that are leaflets and talking to voters directly.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Politics isn’t literature. Winning an election is comparable to you having to get a majority of your neighbours to agree to advance sales before you get any royalties. Campaigning can only be done by going door to door most weekends of the year in the ward or constituency you hope to win.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
But mainly, I think this would just make it even harder for smaller or new parties to make their case to voters, because they wouldn’t be able to do anything until they commanded a big enough chunk of popular sentiment. Party HQs would struggle to hire staff and to campaign all over the UK.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Non-partisan NGOs, charities, trade unions, think tanks, environmental groups and lobbyists would also have to be far more tightly regulated to avoid them becoming proxies for campaign donations on a massive scale. Otherwise this would just benefit Labour & the Tories with existing instit’l backing.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
We already have election spending limits which are tightly regulated but sound like more than what you have suggested parties would get. These only apply for the six weeks before an election but already mean even local election agents have to make tough decisions and can easily hit the limits.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
General elections aren’t the only elections, so a limit of £100 per voter per GE cycle would be really hard to get anything done with. This would presumably apply to local party activists like me, meaning I couldn’t even self-fund a local campaign without breaking the law.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Voters may well baulk at public funding of political parties, and demand a say in how parties spent the money on the doorstep, even those they didn’t fund themselves. After all, it’s public money. While more people might engage with politics, it presents ethical problems local activists don’t want.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Without changing from FPTP to a fair and proportional voting system, it would tend to just exacerbate FPTP’s incentives to create two big parties. Politics is expensive, and while you state that this could be a small drop of total government expenditure, the sums you suggest are too small IMO.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
This would ban the vast majority of small donations from millions of individuals – which are themselves innocuous, I hope you’ll agree – in order to prevent a further donations from a tiny group of the vastly wealthy. This criminalises everyone to try and prevent problematic actions of a very few.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
It’s a lovely idea, Russ, and I applaud you coming up with a specific plan. But as I mentioned in various replies to your original post, this would need significant changes in order to be feasible. It would make local politics (where a lot of the real work happens) incredibly difficult to do.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This is completely on Andy Burnham Last week Labour could have stopped this. Now we have a single person giving more money than the entire general election spending limit for a political party www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
telegraph.co.uk
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
25 years ago, I was shocked to see two of the largest buildings in the world destroyed in an evil terror attack. Today, tower blocks are being damaged or destroyed in Ukraine every day and night, with consequences for peace and security well beyond Ukraine’s borders.
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Jonathan Calder @lordbonkers.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Some of the bandwidth Labour wasted on its unwanted local government review could have been used passing a bill limiting political donations. 🙄
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UNITED24 Media @united24media.com · 12/09/2026
🤨 Russia's Medvedev: "Lithuania will disappear from the world map." 🔗 united24media.com/world/lithua...
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Mamdani’s aides backed Giuliani’s claim to have offered his hand first. But it all happened because Mamdani walked up to him first. People are often more pleasant in real life than in type or on the air. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/n...
nytimes.com
Mamdani and Giuliani Shake Hands at Ground Zero on 9/11
The former mayor and the sitting mayor shared a few words at the anniversary ceremony on Friday.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Elle Cordova reminding us that we all have choices to make: youtube.com/shorts/7m5zi...
youtube.com
Modern Day Typographer
YouTube video by Elle Cordova
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
As I mentioned below, that’s a pretty tight budget. But also, it would dangerously exacerbate polling ripples and end parties that had a bad year (like Lib Dems in 2015). We need the money to persuade people to vote for us in the first place – though your suggestion of mandatory voting would help.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I share your disgust and alarm at this development. But I think a more appropriate and ‘democratic’ measure would be, say, just to cap the amount of any individual personal donation at £1m per year. This would leave existing party funding more or less as is but exclude individual mega-donors.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Plus, to be fair, I’m not even sure the sums you’re talking about would be enough to fund national parties, which are basically required to have a national HQ in Central London. (Apart from, say, the Yorkshire Party.)
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Local and national ‘non-partisan’ campaign groups such as charities, environmental groups and unions would become the focus of both legal & illegal attempts to get around the rules, both for good and ill. They would face complex additional regulation to bolster the rules, criminalising them too.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
“All politics is local.” Individual campaigners wouldn’t even be able to fund their own campaigns by shelling out £200 for a leaflet (something I’ve done before myself). The grass roots would die off.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
OK, but here’s one problem. This would entirely centralise funding. Local parties would be criminalised for running social events to stay alive. Party bosses would be forced to target local funding and might have to kill off area parties unable to even beg their own local members for a few £££.
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Mark Pack @markpackuk.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
PM acknowledges AI ‘risks’ as Anthropic expert says tech ‘could kill all humans’
buff.ly
Burnham speaks out on AI after Anthropic expert’s chilling social media post
The Prime Minister was questioned in the Commons over the potential hazards of artificial intelligence
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Euromaidan Press @euromaidanpress.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Germany names a Russian intelligence operative among the Leipzig airport bomb suspects Investigators believe he ran the preparation and logistics. He entered through Türkiye, was never surveilled, and is now back in Russia. 🔗 euromaidanpress.com/2026/09/12/a...
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The Bear @bearlypolitics.co.uk · 12/09/2026
You can call this legal. You can call it a donation. But please don’t insult everyone’s intelligence by calling it a “level playing field”.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
How Our Photographer Took This 9/11 Photo www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
nytimes.com
Video: How Our Photographer Took This 9/11 Photo
Our photographer Chang W. Lee describes how he took the picture of the north tower of the World Trade Center collapsing on Sept. 11, 2001.
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Jose @justicia73.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
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Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Reform UK has banned some journalists from its annual conference who have reported critically on the party and Nigel Farage. It includes the Guardian’s City editor, Anna Isaac, who uncovered the £5m gift. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Reform UK bans three journalists from its conference after critical reporting
Guardian City editor Anna Isaac among those who had credentials to cover event declined
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Graham Simpson @grahambs.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Trump is really pleased that Google and Apple Maps have changed the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. But the rest of the world, including Canada, will continue to use its proper name. 👍
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Euromaidan Press @euromaidanpress.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Twenty Ukrainian companies are racing to build jet-powered interceptor drones to catch Russia's faster jet-powered Shaheds One startup, Firebolt Engineering, already has its Griffen interceptor flying combat missions with two Air Force units euromaidanpress.com/2026/09/02/t...
euromaidanpress.com
Twenty Ukrainian firms are racing to catch Russia’s jet-powered Shaheds. This one’s interceptor is already flying combat missions
Firebolt Engineering joins Ukraine's jet-interceptor drone race.
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Brian Wernham C.Eng. @brianwernham.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The Oldham Man and the Sea ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Documentary 2026 PrimeVideo At 70 years old Frank Rothwell decides to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean alone... Really inspiring and fantastic to see his energy enthusiasm and spirit
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Muschelschloss 🌿 @muschelschloss.eurosky.social · 02/09/2026
#Explosion am frühen Morgen in #Augsburg. In einem Gebäudedurchgang in der Bahnhofstraße nahe des Eingangs zum #Hauptbahnhof ist ein bislang unbekannter Gegenstand explodiert. Zwei Menschen werden leicht verletzt. Rund um den Bahnhof läuft ein größerer Polizeieinsatz www.rtl.de/news/explosi...
rtl.de
Explosion am Hauptbahnhof! Zwei Verletzte
Ein unbekannter Gegenstand explodiert in Augsburg. Teile des Hauptbahnhofs sind gesperrt.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
These Generals Fought for Israel. Now They See ‘Jewish Terrorism’ as the Threat. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/w...
nytimes.com
These Generals Fought for Israel. Now They See ‘Jewish Terrorism’ as the Threat.
A growing number of former Israeli generals, intelligence officials and prime ministers are accusing settlers in the West Bank of committing ethnic cleansing with government support. “Once a society b...
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Haunted by Arday story. In that state where you surprise yourself by how upset you are.
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aldtu.bsky.social @aldtu.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
“No choice” but to strike buff.ly/ZydVCZe Bus drivers take action over appalling working conditions Over 1,500 Arriva North London bus drivers started industrial action yesterday over hot weather working @unitesharon.bsky.social @marisharay.bsky.social @hazardscamp.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk
unitelive.org
“No choice” but to strike - Unite Live
Over 1,500 Arriva North London bus drivers have started industrial action over unbearable working conditions as the summer heat rises.
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🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 @specialkhersoncat.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Smoke rising from Russia’s Progress Rocket and Space Centre in Samara, the country’s main Soyuz-2 production site, following today’s Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingo strike.
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Jose @justicia73.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Black radio host, former Texas state Rep & other citizens arrested / manhandled / silenced at public meeting about cutting half the polling stations in Tarrant County, near Fort Worth, TX, USA. 😠 😠 😠 Is this America? www.404media.co/man-arrested...
404media.co
Man Arrested in Texas For Cussing at a County Meeting
Police arrested EJ Carrion in Fort Worth for 'tumultuous behavior' a week after he called local officials 'bullshit' at a county meeting.
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Ludo T-C @ludotc.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
😢
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