Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 16/09/2026If we all agree that the NHS is one of Britain's crowning achievements and health services should be free at the point of use, why not food? Why should food not be freely available to everyone? We can still have private food for those who want it. But most of us, we can eat healthy and free. 041
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 15/09/2026I'm only just discovering the layers of hypocrisy of Ed Sheeran and I'm a bit blown away 020
Reposted by Praṇay ManochaForward Democracy @fwddem.com · 14/09/2026Reform says it wants to take us back to “the country that was”. What a lie. They want to tear up institutions this country helped create, turn our backs on Europe and abandon the international order we helped build. That isn’t patriotism. It’s national vandalism. 16113
Reposted by Praṇay ManochaMike Dailly ™ @mdf200.bsky.social · 08/09/2026FromFB: Why aren't these part of the #NHS? Get rid of these billionaire leeches. Why are we still paying hundreds of millions a year for them to shake 2 or 3 hands a month? #Republic 1154
Reposted by Praṇay ManochaUK Politics News // Papernaut @ukpolitics.papernaut.co · 08/09/2026THE INDEPENDENT: Lancashire councillor Nigel Swales has defected from Reform UK to Labour, saying Reform was embroiled in scandal and lacked a serious plan or leadership to deliver change. It is the first defection from Reform to Labour. - by Millie Cookeindependent.co.ukCouncillor becomes first politician in the country to defect from Reform to LabourA Reform councillor has decided to leave the party, saying he had seen ‘first-hand’ how it ‘simply doesn't have a serious plan’ 3145
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 05/09/2026Fewer international students means the fee burden will only keep going up. The problem starts when we start counting international students as immigrants, thus making the government want to reduce their numbers to bring "net migration" down, even though they each contribute £140K to the UK economy. 010
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 04/09/2026My brain is unable to reconcile with the irony of celebrations at the return of the Bayeux Tapestry to the very museum that hoards and denies access to historical treasures of so many other countries. 020
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 04/09/2026Remembered this delightful photo I took of Tibetan kids playing cricket at a refugee camp in South India. Brings me joy. 120
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 04/09/2026Yes! And journalists need to interview immigrants more often, not just on immigration but on general interest stories. That said I am disappointed The Reuters Institute article uses an image of migrants in Ceuta. They have my empathy but half of Canary Wharf & City are also migrants. Why not them? 000
Reposted by Praṇay ManochaNicola Kelly @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social · 04/09/2026I've long argued that every newsroom should have an immigration correspondent who travels beyond Westminster to meet local communities, those on the frontline and, of course, new arrivals. Pleased to contribute to this excellent report @reutersinstitute.bsky.social. 2113
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 04/09/2026YESSS!!!theguardian.comUN to vote on adopting new world map that shows Africa’s true scaleTogo-sponsored resolution calls to phase out traditional map that depicts continent as similar size to Greenland 141
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 04/09/2026Some good news. This still doesnt grant access to all worker rights (eg unfair pay, harassment etc) but skilled migrants' interests were ignored by recent worker rights' legislation and policy, so this is refreshing. PS: I could have used stronger worker rights when I arrived as a skilled worker 172
Reposted by Praṇay ManochaUK Politics News // Papernaut @ukpolitics.papernaut.co · 03/09/2026THE GUARDIAN: The UK’s “one in, one out” asylum scheme has not deterred desperate crossings: it has returned people to homelessness, violence and exploitation, pushing some to risk the Channel again. - by Diane Taylortheguardian.com‘I would rather die than return to France’: the brutal reality of the UK’s one in, one out scheme 021
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 31/08/2026There are 47 people alive today who have won the Fields Medal, a top honour in the field of Mathematics. One of these people came as a refugee to Britain. 030
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 30/08/2026It is similarly ineffective and counter-productive to discuss expansion of Israeli settlements, the continued persecution of Palestinians, or attacks on Lebanon and Iran. If we are to change opinions in Israel, the central focus of our debate needs to be on identity, not actions. 010
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 30/08/2026For those who engaged with American people before and during the war on terror, you may recall how terribly ineffective and even counter-productive it was to discuss arguments against an invasion of Iraq or an occupation of Afghanistan. 110
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 30/08/2026We have seen this before. After 9/11, the US insisted it had been on attack on America's freedoms rather than on America's actions. This led to some absurd geopolitical situations (countries were "with us or against us") and behaviours (renaming french fries). 110
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 30/08/2026I think the fundamental reason many people feel a lack of sympathy for Palestine and defend Israel, is that they believe that October 7th was fundamentally an attack on Jewish identity and Israel's survival, rather than attack on Israel's actions. 220
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 30/08/2026When supporting migrants, people often use terms like poor, essential, hard-working, desperate. These may be true, but why not use words like persistent, innovative, exceptional, inspiring - all of which are equally true. 051
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 29/08/2026Somehow, people with such inane opinions never have any problem funding the royal family. But Notting Hill, where 2 million people celebrate their culture for just one weekend? No no no 🙄 051
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 29/08/2026Sadly the ultimate veto is held by the british museum act of 1963, one of the queen's consent laws and which covers the V&A too. That said, as an Indian I'm enthusiastic about artefact loans. This would finally give at least some access to Indian historians, right now they practically have none. 000
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 29/08/2026Yes that's great and makes him a very good person. Still no reason to make him king or keep a monarchy. 110
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 29/08/2026Norway is my favourite country in the world, but for all its virtues, the country has two deep flaws. 1. Its national wealth is based off oil. 2. It has a monarchy, which is at odds with the liberal, progressive values the country exports so enthusiastically. 020
Reposted by Praṇay ManochaForward Democracy @fwddem.com · 28/08/2026Reform has already polled at a level at which First-past-the-post could turn roughly three votes in ten into majority government ** Nearly 100 Labour MPs already support a commission into electoral reform. We need more to come out in support. 1207
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 28/08/2026Nay-Paul is colonial pronunciation by the way. Reject it. It's Nay-paal. It's very easy to switch to the correct way, try it when you're on your own, then keep it when you're with others. 031
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 26/08/2026This is a good overview of the specific risk to the Himalayas and why it is like nowhere else on the planet.hir.harvard.eduThe Himalayan Climate Change: Global Warming in the Globe's Highest Region, with Dr. Pasang Sherpa"Care and humanity are going to be the most important things moving forward. That is what keeps me optimistic. Each of us will have to do our part." 083
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 26/08/2026The Nepal/Tibet flash flood is terrifying. Not just because the Hindu Kush & Himalayas hold 54,000 glaciers, the most outside polar regions; but because this region is the most concentrated populated area anywhere in the world. If climate change is a threat anywhere, it is here. 23112
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 24/08/2026Maybe this will inspire British politicians to adopt moderately bolder policies? 140
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 24/08/2026Humour me for a minute. Billionaires are building exactly this: small modular nuclear reactors. Dozens planned. Hundreds expected. So the infrastructure will exist. The only thing missing then from my doomsday scenario will be intent. To me this feels very high risk for the entire human race. 010
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 24/08/2026These robots would still be encumbered by heavy batteries and would need reliable privately-owned power sources. 100
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 24/08/2026So this introduces the potential for a "crazy billionaire" timeline. If someone had the money to build factories run by robots that run autonomously (these already exist), but instead of building cars, they build autonomous kill drones, they could potentially unleash a crazy scenario. 100
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 24/08/2026Further, current battery technology is still the key limitation for design and longevity of these drones. How long they can run for, how heavy they are, their operating range, and thus the amount of ammunition or explosives they can carry. 101
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 24/08/2026So the only reason why there are no armies of robot killing drones everywhere is because: 1. Nobody (yet) has the intent to destroy the human race or a particular country or region 2. Even if there are people with this intent, they do not have money to fund this (yet) 100
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 24/08/2026But this is not all. What these events prove is that: 1. It is possible to build long-range killing machines that cannot be jammed or normally prevented, that are autonomous and designed to kill humans and/or destroy property. 2. It is possible to do this with retail components. 110
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 24/08/2026Ukraine already did this a year ago. But its own policies prevent it from continuing to use such weapons autonomously. However, now with Russia having this capability as well, that self-limit may not apply anymore. archive.ph/5QscM 110
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 24/08/2026If we weren't already concerned about misuse of AI, here's a disturbing development. Russia used retail off the shelf components to build an autonomous drone that went inside Ukraine and killed people. But wait...there's more. A lot more to be worried about than just this one off. Thread:nytimes.comA Drone Killed Three Ukrainians. It Was Guided Entirely by A.I. (Gift Article)An attack by what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian drone with an Nvidia chip presages a dystopian future of weaponry untethered to humans. 273
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 24/08/2026Tamil Nadu - southern Indian state, approximately the same size as England with 77 million people and a GDP that's 1/5th of the UK, just announced free bus travel for women and transgender people. This will cost Tamil Nadu around £500m, about the same as Burnham's £2 fare cap will cost the UK. 050
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 23/08/2026One-third of all our freshwater resources go towards supporting animal agriculture. 000
Reposted by Praṇay ManochaUK Politics News // Papernaut @ukpolitics.papernaut.co · 22/08/2026LABOURLIST: Jo needed £1,200 for childcare, but could not get an overdraft or bank loan; the only loan available was over 50% interest. The article warns deregulation could deepen exclusion, while closing the gap could add £6bn a year. - by Laura Aznar Herranzlabourlist.org‘It’s people on low incomes who’ll pay for financial services deregulation’ 041
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 21/08/2026It is worthwhile tracking the number of international students, of course. And the ONS should do that as well - but my issue is them being categorised into overall migration numbers which obviously feeds into national policy. UN tracking is more benign, it tracks behaviour. 001
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 21/08/2026It appears this government is largely committed to continuing the immigration stance adopted by the previous one. This is sad because it looks like we'd have to experience large-scale economic impact caused by lower migration before we install corrective measures (if we end up doing that at all) 041
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 21/08/2026Health & Care work seeing a similar, even stronger downward trend by the way. Lots of vacancies and the numbers - as I see it - are projected to grow. 120
Praṇay Manocha @pranman.com · 21/08/2026I should add this effect should be compounding, because a shrunken university budget that is not funded this year, goes into the following year and has an even larger deficit. It's basically austerity. 151
