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michellemallin.bsky.social

@michellemallin.bsky.social
286 followers 625 following 306 posts

An ordinary someone with opinions on politics and Scotland…..amongst other things

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 20h
Trump's family has pocketed $3 billion in cash and gifts since the 2024 election. Much of that came from crypto schemes as he deregulated the industry. That money could pay for a full year of SNAP benefits for 1.3 million people, or more than 600 million free school lunches. Second Gilded Age.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Water companies in England failed to report more than 50,000 sewage dumpings within the time required. Water companies routinely ignore laws, have 1,200+ criminal convictions, no exec prosecuted, no licence cancelled. Customers fleeced, human health damaged, environment harmed. Govts do nothing.
news.sky.com
England's water companies failed to report more than 50,000 sewage spills in time, charity claims
All nine of the country's suppliers failed to meet the legal reporting requirement of one hour, as more than 4,000 of the delayed reports affected designated bathing waters.
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(Wee G ) Wake Up Scotland @chaillich.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
👇
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Andrew Sharpe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿|🇪🇺 @andrew.sharpe.scot · 12/10/2026
The Spectator has deleted all the articles written by Lola Salem, Michael Gove’s ex-girlfriend. Michael Gove is the editor of The Spectator.
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“Rebellious Scots” 😎🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺 @markrich68.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
🇬🇧 The bbc british State Broadcaster Headlining News about 45 Police Scotland Officers being currently suspended for alleged crimes against women What the bbc don’t state is that there are currently 923 officers in England & Cymru who are similarly suspended 🇬🇧 Propaganda by Omission 🇬🇧 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺😎
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Gerry 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🍀 @gerryr.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
How can any right thinking Scot read this and not get angry? How can any proud Scot read this and not be disturbed by the obvious disdain shown to us? How can any Scot with a modicum of ability for critical thinking not read this and be desperate to be free of the shackles of Westminster?
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Talking-up Scotland @talking-upscotland.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2026/10/07/o...
talkingupscotlandtwo.com
Overall satisfaction with Scottish schools rises to 72% and for family, 80%
From Scottish Household Survey: Satisfaction with Schools 2025 statistics – Published 06 October 2026 The Scottish Household Survey: Satisfaction with Schools 2025 statistics, published today…
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Billy @cromartie7.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Private equity owners of Boots sell it to another PE group from Canada for £6.74bn. Debt-laden PE has no long-term interest. Everything is a commodity. No UK tax levied on dividends paid to foreign owners, which sweetens cash extraction. PE dominates town centres, when it crashes ...
theguardian.com
Canada’s Weston family buys Boots for $8.9bn
Former Selfridges owners buy UK high street institution from long-term backer Stefano Pessina
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Newsweek @newsweek.com · 08/10/2026
Diesel has risen to record highs on the back of the Iran war and other factors, placing pressure on America's logistics sector.
newsweek.com
Nationwide trucking company files for bankruptcy amid diesel price shock
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Failures of privatisation. Royal Mail to cut up to 2,500 jobs Foreign-owned RM doesn't meet letter delivery targets even after regulator lowered them. Postage: 1st class, £1.80, 2nd class 91p. When privatized in 2013: 1st class 60p; 2nd class 50p. Poor service at triple price. Customers fleeced.
bbc.co.uk
Royal Mail plans to cut 2,500 head office jobs
The postal service firm wants to cut the head office and other jobs by the end of 2027.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Drax’s planned datacentre to burn 4.9m tonnes of wood to produce its electricity, nearly double the CO2 emissions of all flights from London Gatwick airport. Drax, a highly profitable company gets subsidies to burn wood and produce electricity How many lives will it ruin?
theguardian.com
Drax datacentre could create nearly twice the yearly emissions of all Gatwick flights
Exclusive: Campaign group’s analysis of North Yorkshire plans finds datacentre would have to burn 4.9m tonnes of wood a year
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Andrew Sharpe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿|🇪🇺 @andrew.sharpe.scot · 04/10/2026
Not one person born 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘆 voted for 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland to remain part of the UK.
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Jon Henley @jonhenley.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Ah, so *this* is what they mean when they say AI poses an existential threat to humanity
Extract from Time article claiming Trump was persuaded to attack  Venezuela by Grok
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
UK law firm partners collect record pay, up to £2.5m per equity partner. Partners treated as self-employed. Firms don't pay employer national insurance (ENI) on profit taken by partners. £150k ENI dodged for every £1m profit shared. Public purse deprived. Must end this tax perk. archive.ph/vJCIj
ft.com
Top UK law firm partners take home record pay
Spate of listings in Hong Kong boosted IPO work and related transactions
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Miaganga @miaganga.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Samuel Alito has recused himself from a Supreme Court climate case, after ethics watchdogs uncovered his fossil fuel stockholdings. Instead of relying on the justices to occasionally do the right thing, we need Congress to enact real SCOTUS reform.
youtube.com
How to Fix a Broken Supreme Court | Robert Reich
Justice Roberts refused to testify in a hearing on SCOTUS ethics.Thomas and Alito accepted luxury vacations from GOP meg
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Andrew Sharpe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿|🇪🇺 @andrew.sharpe.scot · 30/09/2026
Not only do 🇬🇧 British Governments these days ignore 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland and any priorities we have that are different to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England's, but they're so defensive they refuse to acknowledge where we succeed, and how they might learn from our experience. They deliver worse outcomes for England as a result.
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“Rebellious Scots” 😎🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺 @markrich68.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
🇬🇧 For purely political reasons , the new british Overlord of Scotland refuses to ‘allow’ a Scottish Government strategy which would save so many lives in Scotland 🇬🇧 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Are you YES yet ? 🇪🇺
google.com
Burnham rejects drugs decriminalisation after Swinney backs it
Scotland's first minister had called for the move as part of measures to tackle the drugs deaths crisis, but the prime minister said he did not support it.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
In 2021, income tax personal allowance was frozen at £12,570. If aligned with inflation, it would now be £16,070. A minimum wage earner in England will pay extra £980 in income tax & NIC in 2026-27. Govt can easily increase personal allowance by £3,000, worth £600 to basic rate taxpayer.
leftfootforward.org
This is how the Chancellor can increase the personal allowance and lift millions out of hardship
Sustained economic growth can’t be achieved without a major boost to the purchasing power of the bottom 50% of the population
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Andrew Sharpe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿|🇪🇺 @andrew.sharpe.scot · 26/09/2026
Another £33bn in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London, where the vast majority of UK construction money is spent. And 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland must pay towards the interest on the public money spent. Time to use that money in Scotland. Time for independence. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
London transfer: is it time to kill off the Heathrow Express?
With fares high and passenger numbers low, plans for a third runway could bring the train’s future into question
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 22/09/2026
Ossoff: "I think the use of deep fake technology in political ads is meant to deceive voters and is a slippery slope. Mike Collins is using these deceptive tactics because he doesn't want to explain his own record."
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Jim Ratcliffe suspends production at key UK plants as gas prices soar. High prices due to Trumpian wars, profiteering by energy companies. UK squandered the North Sea oil revenues, privatised energy. Govt has fewer policy options but can remove green levies from customer bills. Nationalise energy
bbc.co.uk
Sir Jim Ratcliffe suspends production at key UK plants blaming high gas prices
Ineos said natural gas in the UK is twelve times more expensive than in the US.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Five corporations control 90% of the US media. Airlines have merged from 12 major carriers in 1980 to 4 today. A handful of companies control the pharmaceutical industry. Four giants control 80% of meat processing. The evidence of corporate concentration is everywhere.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Private equity turns to financial engineering to lure insurance billions. Using collateralised fund obligations (CFOs), slicing and dicing debts, loans, to create dodgy instruments. Back to the practices that brought the 2008 crash. Who will bail them out this time? archive.ph/vrBQn
ft.com
Private equity turns to financial engineering to lure insurance billions
Structured financing helps fuel growth of secondaries funds by making investments more attractive to risk-averse investors
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
🔴 Something Tom Watson won't tell you: Five police forces in the East Midlands working with Palantir on a controversial surveillance programme are ending their involvement Exclusive by Democracy for Sale and Liberty Investigates. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-f...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Revealed: Five police forces to drop Palantir surveillance tool
Exclusive: Palantir's UK policing ambitions take a hit as East Midlands forces end their involvement in a controversial data pilot.
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Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Massie exposes the hypocrisy: Some members get to vote against bills they know will pass, giving them a convenient campaign talking point without changing the outcome.
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Andrew Sharpe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿|🇪🇺 @andrew.sharpe.scot · 14/09/2026
All the nations are given "Westminster Hour" on what the BBC calls its "national channel". There is no "Holyrood Hour", not even on BBC Scotland.
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 14/09/2026
Katie Phang on a Russian oligarch bankrolling Don Jr.’s wedding: “They’re so dumb, we see it happening in real time. But because there’s no consequence or accountability, they just do it in the wide open.”
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
US Justice Dept and Reform donor Ben Delo. Pled guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Built a company designed to flout US law; willfully failed to implement and maintain even basic anti-money laundering policies. $10 million criminal fine. 30 months of probation, waived by Trump.
justice.gov
 
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Why has Anthropic's Dario Amodei called for a halt in AI development? Might it be that he's no idea what to do? He founded Anthropic, but nothing prepared him for this moment. He's called a guru, but he is also human. The blog post provides the explanation. www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/09...
taxresearch.org.uk
Why is AI so frightened all of a sudden?
As the New York Times reported last night: The chief executive of Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, called for a global slowdown of artificial intelligence development in a 3,800-word...
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Neoliberals demanding tax cuts for the super rich want to abolish the state pension triple-lock. Full state pension is less than 50% of the minimum wage. 2m pensioners live in poverty. 110,000 a year die in fuel poverty. Due to low incomes future retirees will be more reliant on the state pension
theguardian.com
‘Costing billions’: is the pensions triple lock a lifeline or simply unaffordable?
With the budget looming, arguments rage over whether ministers should scrap a pledge popular with millions
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A reminder that Delo previously pled guilty in the US to violating money laundering protections and agreed to pay a $10 million fine for "willfully” breaking the law with his BitMex platform, which was described as "in effect a money laundering platform.” This is who owns Farage now
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The Ben Delo who has just given Reform £36m is the same Ben Delo who US prosecutors said was the leader of a ‘criminal enterprise’ But hey ho, it’s fine for him- and any other crypto bro - to buy British democracy lock stock and barrel democracyforsale.substack.com/p/reforms-4m...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Reform's £4m donor "thumbed his nose at the law", US prosecutors said
Ben Delo has called his US conviction a "non-crime". Prosecutors said the Farage-backing crypto billionaire was a “leader of a criminal enterprise”.
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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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ChristianG @mryeswecan.eurosky.social · 11/09/2026
No election fraud to be seen here.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
JP Morgan billionaire CEO with $43m pay meets Burnham and Healey to oppose UK bank tax rise. Banks making record profits from high charges, measly payment to savers, speculation, wars. What chance of the poor meeting PM/Chancellor to make their case?
theguardian.com
JP Morgan boss meets Burnham and Healey to warn against bank tax rise
Jamie Dimon tells UK politicians before October budget that investment could be at risk, it is understood
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Alstom to build new battery-electric train fleet. Govt to invest. £1bn. French and Canadian owners celebrate too. Profits exported. Unlike many countries UK does not tax dividends to foreign investors. Before rail privatisation in the 1980s, rail stock was manufactured by public owned entity.
bbc.co.uk
Alstom to build new battery-electric train fleet
The government says the work will support thousands of jobs across the UK.
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Paul Scarpelli @paulscarpelli.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I don't know ANYONE on the Right who fact checks.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Neoliberals want to cut social security, silent on subsidies to banks. Since 2006, Bank of England has paid interest on central bank reserve deposits to commercial banks. The EU & the Swiss stopped similar practice in 2023. UK still paying, £100bn in last 3 yrs. There are better uses of £100bn.
leftfootforward.org
Here’s how the chancellor can raise the billions needed to improve the quality of life of millions
Prem Sikka is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, a Labour member of the House of Lords, and Contributing Editor at Left Foot Forward. Mi...
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Andrew Sharpe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿|🇪🇺 @andrew.sharpe.scot · 10/09/2026
Support in the North for reunification of 🇮🇪 Ireland has almost doubled since Brexit, and continues to rise through the age groups. Reunification is inevitable.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
UK’s biggest private hospital firm Spire in £1.03bn takeover by hedge fund Toscafund known as “the Rottweiler” Value driven by NHS contracts. Spire has 45% gross profit margin New owner will be aggressive. Privatisation bleeds the NHS, money buys less. Must increase NHS capacity.
theguardian.com
UK’s biggest private hospital firm Spire agrees £1bn takeover by hedge fund
Toscafund, founded by City figure known as ‘the Rottweiler’, signs deal amid fears over creeping privatisation of NHS
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Andrew Sharpe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿|🇪🇺 @andrew.sharpe.scot · 07/09/2026
Police Scotland does not currently hold any contracts or use software provided by Palantir. www.computing.co.uk/news/2026/go...
computing.co.uk
More than a quarter of England and Wales police forces now involved in Palantir pilots
Twelve English police forces are piloting Palantir’s data analytics software, according to research by the FT.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
UK Govt’s new powers for water customers are a ‘stitch-up’. Toothless consumer panels can't check abuses, sewage dumping, profiteering or bonanza for shareholders/execs. Need real change, not gimmicks. End privatisation. Let customers/employees elect directors, vote on exec pay.k
theguardian.com
Labour’s new powers for water customers are a ‘stitch-up’, say campaigners
Exclusive: Documents reveal water firms have been allowed to advise on how they wish to be held to account
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Nigel Farage’s pile of financing scandals. Unexplained £5m from Thailand. Gifts from convicted fraudster. Willingness to circumvent laws on political donations Threats to judges, civil servants, journalists, parliament, anyone who disagrees. archive.ph/eiR9R
ft.com
Nigel Farage’s pile of financing scandals
Undercover report raises new questions over funding of Reform UK
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michellemallin.bsky.social @michellemallin.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
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Michael J. Stern @michaeljstern.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This is what people voted for. Then they complain endlessly . . . and vote for it again. Geez people, look at what is actually happening, not what you're being told, and recalibrate.
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michellemallin.bsky.social @michellemallin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
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Andrew Sharpe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿|🇪🇺 @andrew.sharpe.scot · 02/09/2026
Yes, the BBC's presenter in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland really did ask this 👇. It reveals so much about their attitude to our Government. The BBC has only reported on the SNP's ambitious new Programme for Government where it can find criticism. The full Programme is published here: www.gov.scot/publications...
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michellemallin.bsky.social @michellemallin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
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