Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Around 40% of the world's dirty money, proceeds of corruption and crime, is laundered through the UK, its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. Successive govts promise new laws and enforcement but they make little impact. Why do govts continue to fail? Watch the Minister's reply. 19306152
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Reform UK's Suella Braverman promises ‘consequences’ if pupils don’t sing Christian hymns. That would be policed. So what happens to atheists, agnostics, non-believers and other religious denominations. Will they be persecuted, imprisoned? Reform UK getting desperate and bizarre.humanists.ukReform UK Braverman promises 'consequences' if pupils don't sing hymnsReform UK has said schools will face ‘consequences’ if they fail to make pupils regularly sing hymns and the national anthem under a Reform government. The party’s education spokesperson, Suella Brave... 183718256
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 21/09/2026The powers-to-be are tinkering with minor reform of the UK House of Lords. That won't do. I urged the Govt to replace the House with an elected second chamber, subject to constitutional safeguards. Watch the video. 24469169
Reposted by Peter BealLes Howard @leshoward.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Compassion & class from Ed Davey. #HopeNotHate 051
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Peer demands action on DWP subpostmaster prosecutions in duty of candour debate. The Post Office scandal is 30+ years old. Around 100 were prosecuted by DWP. Despite promises there has been no review and no reviewer has been appointed. People await justice. Please write to your MP.computerweekly.comPeer demands action on DWP subpostmaster prosecutions in duty of candour debate | Computer WeeklyPost Office scandal featured heavily as the House of Lords debated duty of candour Bill. 8299150
Reposted by Peter BealSUPPORTING PALESTINE @apirus.bsky.social · 24/08/2026sana.sy/en/middle-ea...sana.syAlbanese urges international protection force for Gaza, West BankNew York, Aug. 24 (SANA) UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese called for the urgent deployment of an international protection force in the occupied 02115
Reposted by Peter BealEuropeanPowell @europeanpowell.bsky.social · 24/08/2026The Teesworks Freeport accounts are a disaster. Auditors are refusing to sign them off. STDC carries £420m in debt. There are no formal contracts covering any of it. This is an absolute free zones scandal, and the MSM won't touch it. Why? 🧵 europeanpowell.substack.com/p/the-deregu...europeanpowell.substack.comThe Deregulated Free Zone Is What the Clearance Was ForThe Teesworks accounts, the Anthropic data centre, and eight years of evidence that nobody in power wants to examine. 511082
Peter Beal @peterpaddler.bsky.social · 13/08/2026You can’t be reminded of this stuff often enough 010
Reposted by Peter BealBroken Politics 🌍 @landofbritain.bsky.social · 10/08/2026The workers ask a question... #ukpolitics #Clacton #r4today #wato #Farage #millionaires 2129
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Shell shifted billions in profits to tax havens, leaked files reveal. Complex corporate structures, intragroup transactions used to shift profits to the Bahamas and Switzerland. Taxes dodged in many countries, including the UK. Govt inaction is protecting secret subsidies. archive.ph/Cqq2Lftm.euShell shifted billions in profits to tax havens, leaked files revealLeaked financial reports show how Shell moved profits through tax havens such as the Bahamas and Switzerland – potentially depriving developing nations of hundreds of millions of euros. While some of ... 15328201
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 03/08/2026AstraZeneca in talks with Bristol Myers Squibb on $400bn (£300bn) merger. Concentration of economic power. Bigger ability to hold people/govts to ransom. AstraZeneca CEO already threatened to withhold drugs from NHS unless it paid more. Govt capitulated. Promised UK investment didn't materialise.theguardian.comAstraZeneca holds talks with Bristol Myers Squibb on $400bn mergerTie-up would be one of the biggest-ever pharmaceutical deals and create the world’s fourth-largest drugmaker 12218118
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Multinational corporations dodge $500bn tax by shifting profits to low/no tax jurisdictions. Stifle social development. Need a simple change - must pay tax where they actually create profit, instead of where they pretend to on paper. UK can collect extra $16.9bn a yr. Must check corporate abuse.taxjustice.netCountries to gain $500bn more tax a year under UN ‘pay-where-you-play’ plan - Tax Justice NetworkUN tax convention commitment to scrap 100-year-old corporate tax approach will unleash new economic era without increasing taxes, experts say Countries can collect US$500 billion more in corporate tax... 11286141
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 26/07/2026Andy Burnham cabinet consists of neoliberal foot-soldiers. All supported Privatisation of the NHS by stealth Greater role for private equity PFI Corporate profiteering Benefit cuts Higher taxes on the poor Erosion of jury trials Damaging fiscal rules What will change?leftfootforward.orgAndy Burnham can’t transform the country while sticking to the current fiscal rulesSticking to the 2024 election manifesto and fiscal rules will make it harder for him to deliver the headline promises and the change that he has paraded. 26266122
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Gary Lineker among millionaires asking Andy Burnham to tax them more. Support for a 2% tax on wealth over £10m. Refreshing antidote to the right-wing claim of 'they will leave'. The poorest 20% pay a higher proportion of income in direct and indirect taxes than the richest 20%.bbc.co.ukGary Lineker among millionaires asking Andy Burnham to tax them moreA group including the former England footballer write to the new PM telling him "we can afford it". 20461168
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 20/07/2026Gap between the pay of FTSE 100 CEOs and UK workers the widest for 8 years. Median pay of FTSE 100 CEO increased from £4.66m in 2024/25 to £5.06m in 2025/26. UK bosses get 130 times average worker’s salary, often for mediocre performance. Workers generate wealth but have no say on exec pay.highpaycentre.orgGap between the pay of FTSE 100 CEOs and UK workers the widest for 8 years - High Pay CentreThe High Pay Centre's annual review of CEO pay in the FTSE 100 shows the Median FTSE 100 CEO to median UK worker pay ratio rose to 130:1 in 2025/26, the highest for 8 years and up from 124:1 last year... 8233119
Peter Beal @peterpaddler.bsky.social · 20/07/2026I shouldn’t be shocked but somehow they find a way to stoop lower than I can imagine 000
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 18/07/2026Wessex Water, owned by a Malaysian entity via Jersey, CEO got 14% base salary increase despite bonus ban over sewage spill. 3.5% for workers WW loses 70m litres of water to leaks daily. Dumps sewage in rivers. Customer bills to rise 21% Bosses rewarded for robbing people, damaging the environmenttheguardian.comWessex Water chief pockets above-inflation pay rise despite bonus ban over sewage spillsCEO’s pay packet surges to £791,000 as union says public ‘sick of obscene pay’ and bosses ‘feathering own nests’ 15354209
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Govt asks private equity bosses why they are not listing UK companies in London. Not asked to explain devouring of town centres, water, energy vets, care homes, NHS, supermarkets Invited to discuss tax perks, deregulation, boost City commissions Poor not asked to discuss poverty. archive.ph/S2VHCft.comDowning Street calls in private equity bosses amid London listing woesGovernment wants to encourage UK IPOs of portfolio companies as FTSE exodus continues 11269121
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 13/07/20262700+ people in England & Wales died from heat-related causes during May and June. Most likely to be the poor, old. Yet there are climate change deniers who relentlessly push fossil fuels. Earth will be cinders by the time last drop of oil/gas is burnt.news.sky.comMore than 2,700 deaths linked to May and June heatwaves, study suggestsThe analysis found that 42% died as a result of the extra heat caused by human activity - mostly burning fossil fuels. 17362178
Reposted by Peter BealKimBo @zapperfan7.bsky.social · 12/07/2026John Stealer This is Priti Patel Tory MP & the most treacherous Israeli asset Sir Alan Duncan described her in these terms when she had a series of secret meetings in Israel “compromised,” “deceitful,” “morally corrupt,” “contemptible” and “quite despicable” Whose interests does she serve? 185
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 12/07/2026Britain’s biggest community solar farm forced to shut over grid overload fears. UK electricity privatised in 1990. National Grid paid £28bn in dividends since 1990. Still poor transmission and storage infrastructure. Yet record high prices and profiteering. Does anyone call companies to account?theguardian.comBritain’s biggest community solar farm forced to shut over grid overload fearsTiming of Devon switchoff ‘could not be worse’, says board, as members face an estimated £2m in lost revenue 28579268
Reposted by Peter BealJosiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Politico: Labour donor Dale Vince has offered to put cash behind the Count Binface campaign in an attempt to defeat Nigel Farage in Clacton This is shaping up to be an interesting by-election after all... 1726150
Peter Beal @peterpaddler.bsky.social · 04/07/2026leftfootforward.org/2026/07/we-n...leftfootforward.orgWe need to abolish state-sanctioned povertyNo one is ever born poor. They are condemned to poverty by societal policies which prevent millions from realising their full physical, mental, and intellectual capacities potentialities. 000
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 03/07/2026Curse of private equity Asda Cuts 7,500 Jobs, Accelerates Restructuring Under Financial Pressure. Private equity loaded it with debt after its 2021 acquisition. Paid interest of £730m, £2.2bn since 2021. Assets stripped, real wages cut, market share shrinking. Future?internationalsupermarketnews.comAsda Cuts 7,500 Jobs as Retailer Accelerates Restructuring Under Financial Pressure – International Supermarket News 23218120
Reposted by Peter BealMichael Pettis @michaelpettis.bsky.social · 20/06/2026The gods of metaphor seem to be working overtime. 1274
Reposted by Peter BealDanny Blanchflower @dannyblanchy.bsky.social · 20/06/2026Great Starmer is on the way out. He had the chance to prepare for government to change things and did none of the hard work. He came into office unprepared and it showed. Burnham has to start to rip up the old models but will need help many of us are ready…..! Not least what to do about the NEETS 5358
Reposted by Peter Beallukewarm24.bsky.social @lukewarm24.bsky.social · 20/06/2026I’ll keep posting for a while: Reform have now lost six by-elections in a row in England, Scotland and Wales. Their national poll rating is 26% – below Labour in 1983 – and Farage’s approval rating is -37 They’re very far from the voice of the people and need to stop being treated as such And: 38809360
Reposted by Peter BealZack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 20/06/2026“restrictions on pro-Palestinian speech and protest, when justified by invocations of Jewish safety, will backfire and weaken social cohesion and potentially increase antisemitism”. www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ju...theguardian.comConflation of Jewish identity with Israel driving antisemitism, Jewish Council says in submission to royal commissionProgressive Jewish group calls for more focus on the threat from the far right and the recognition of a diversity of views within the community 15661201
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 19/06/2026Tory plan to end the rule of law. Will strip judges of powers to rule on asylum seekers’ appeals. Ministers will decide. No check on unlawful decisions. What next- arbitrary arrests, detentions because Ministers wish it? On the road to totalitarianism as Tories chase the Reform vote.theguardian.comRefugee groups condemn Tory plan to remove judges from asylum appealsConservatives accused of attack on ‘crucial safeguards’ and of fostering ‘climate of hostility’ towards judiciary 22229132
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 18/06/2026NHS patients face worst drug shortages on record. All down to Trump's wars, Brexit and British deindustrialisation. Too much reliance on imports. The state can easily mitigate by manufacturing generic drugs. It was a Labour 2019 manifesto pledge.theguardian.comNHS patients face worst drug shortages on record, say pharmacists and GPsSupply problems pose risk to health, with common painkillers, epilepsy medication and HRT affected 13296129
Reposted by Peter BealWATERSHED Investigations @watershed-i.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Industry has been campaigning hard to get chemical regulation eased in the EU. If you find it concerning that politicians were considering allowing cancer-causing chemicals in toiletries, @chemtrust.bsky.social is a great feed for keeping up-to-date with developments, + how to oppose them. 27140
Reposted by Peter BealLee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 12/06/2026Hundreds of strangers in Belfast working together. Doing shopping, providing accommodation, driving kids to school, people to hospital appointments. Have just been told of a woman close to us who hasn't left her house since Monday so we'll be sorting her out today and getting her anything she needs 11790641630
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 12/06/2026UK Chancellor to Lower Taxes for Wealthy US Expats. Lower taxes for those who hold govts to ransom. Higher for the rest. Income tax personal allowance frozen since 2021, not risen in line with inflation. Basic rate tax payers paying £700 more in this year alone. archive.ph/JZmY9bloomberg.comUK’s Reeves to Lower Tax Burden for Wealthy US ExpatsChancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said she will ease the tax burden faced by rich US investors wanting to relocate to the UK. 37231136
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Number of UK households privately renting doubled since 1980. 4.7m households (11m people) rent home from a private landlord. Median employee wage £31,524 (£26,217 net). Average monthly rent £1,320, higher in major cities, up 28% in last 3 years. Struggle to buy home. Social housing depleted.leftfootforward.orgThe housing crisis is manufactured. We can end it.Wage cuts and the right to buy are to blame 411947
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 09/06/2026Nazis burnt books, Reform wants to ban them from County Council libraries. Claims libraries promote "contested gender ideology". They should be "politically neutral", whatever that means. Once upon a time books by DH Lawrence and James Joyce were banned. Now we risk returning to the past.warwick.nub.newsFinch promises ‘comprehensive policy’ for libraries after ‘contested gender ideology’ concerns raisedCllr George Finch vows to create a 'comprehensive policy' for Warwickshire libraries to ensure neutrality and safeguard children, addressing residents' concerns 18261115
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Since 1980, under the Thatcherite policies, 2.8m social homes sold, 1.9m in England for £51bn. In 2024, England homes were worth £430bn. Councils didn't receive full sales proceeds, couldn't replenish housing stock. Vital depts closed. Social homes down from 6.8m to 5.4m. Huge housing crisis.leftfootforward.orgThe housing crisis is manufactured. We can end it.Wage cuts and the right to buy are to blame 10306140
Reposted by Peter BealAnthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · 27/05/2026When you distil the Blair thing it is pretty dystopian. 1. AI or bust. 2. Reorient everything around AI - go MAGA not EU. 3. Restructure Government around it. 4. Accept no regulatory limits to this. 5. Become a mini US. Enter the EU and turn it that way too. institute.global/insights/pol...institute.globalThe Labour Party Is Playing With Fire Over Its Future and the Future of the CountryIn this essay, Tony Blair sets out the need for a new agenda for Britain. 84017
Reposted by Peter BealAdrian Littlejohn @yorksfella59.bsky.social · 26/05/2026Is it really too much to ask that very wealthy individuals: 1) Don't use their money to improperly influence political decision makers. 2) Bear their fair share of the tax burden, for the benefit of everyone in the society that we're all part of. It's not pie in the sky. Just common sense... 1326462
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 17/05/2026Fearing a change in Labour leadership, Thames Water creditors rush a takeover plan. Want regulator to go easy on abuses. Still want dividends. Customers will be fleeced. There can be no market-based solution. No competition Captive customers No substitute goods Must nationalise. archive.ph/eJoHPthetimes.comThames Water creditors fire warning shot at LabourAs rescue deal is finalised for stricken utility, fears mount that government paralysis could lead to the company slipping into temporary nationalisation 15362172
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 16/05/2026Disastrous PFI pushed through the Highways (Financing) Bill to “fund large-scale road schemes.” Previous PFI schemes resulted in £6 repayment for every £1 of private investment. Govt guaranteeing corporate profits Cheaper alternatives: Govt borrowing Public bonds Tax corporations/richleftfootforward.orgThe King’s Speech wasn’t the transformative plan for the country we needThe government has some good policies, but not a transformative plan for society. 13251125
Reposted by Peter BealPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 16/05/2026Wealth of 157 UK billionaires now equals £670bn, 22% of GDP. Return on wealth (dividends and capital gains) is taxed at lower rates than wages. Extreme concentration of wealth facilitates political power, corruption, economic control. Wither democracy.theguardian.comWealth of Britain’s 157 billionaires now equal to 22% of country’s GDPThis ‘ghost GDP’ shows how headline economic growth is increasingly disconnected from reality for most, says report 18407234