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Rob Blackie

@robblackie.bsky.social
2.2K followers 680 following 4.7K posts

Former Lib Dem London Mayoral candidate. Breaking Putin's censorship

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 1h
Congratulations to my Lib Dem colleague Ksenia* - who has annoyed Putin, as a democracy activist, so much that she is a feature on RT. * Also a councillor in Ealing. lnkd.in/p/e8eMJnpf
lnkd.in
RT (Russian propaganda) is fangirling. I’m so flattered 🥹 | Ksenia Maximova
RT (Russian propaganda) is fangirling. I’m so flattered 🥹
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Tom Gordon MP @tomgordonld.bsky.social · 4h
I listened to Ed Davey on the Today programme this morning, and frankly, I think he missed the point. The idea that we're keeping the triple lock to help millennials is at best for the birds, and at worst downright insulting. I say that as a millennial.
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Lambeth Liberal Democrats @lambethlibdems.bsky.social · 17h
Lambeth LibDems say that Greens risk becoming ‘continuity Labour’ over failed Homes for Lambeth development company
brixtonbuzz.com
Lambeth LibDems say that Greens risk becoming ‘continuity Labour’ over failed Homes for Lambeth development company
Lambeth Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson Cllr Simon Cordon has expressed disappointment at Green party led Lambeth Council’s decision to provide a further £4.37 million loan to Homes for Lambe…
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Dr Al Pinkerton MP @alpinkerton.bsky.social · 22h
The PM says he wants a cross-party coalition on Europe. Excellent. We’ve done the work. Single Market. Customs union. Defence cooperation. I set out the roadmap at Lib Dem conference. A little late to the party, Prime Minister, but you’re very welcome. Here’s my speech: youtu.be/__cQ0AAx-P8?...
youtu.be
Al Pinkerton Keynote Speech | Autumn Conference 2026
YouTube video by Liberal Democrats
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Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 20h
The biggest barrier to emissions reductions is increasingly our inability to quickly build clean energy: solar, geothermal, wind, nuclear, transmission, battery storage, etc. Projects are held back by a thicket of regulations and reviews.
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Robert Shrimsley @robertshrimsley.bsky.social · 22h
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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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Was curious about the whole going "we need to be where we were 40 years ago" thing. Found this from the ONS - real disposable incomes today are almost twice that of 1986. Obviously there's a lot that needs fixing (housing!). But I feel like this is relevant...? www.ons.gov.uk/economy/gros...
ons.gov.uk
Households: Real disposable Income, per head: Chained volume measure (reference year = 2024) £: Seasonally adjusted - Office for National Statistics
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
@jamesomalley.co.uk The 'democratic control' over social housing is almost certainly about housing associations. They have a huge chunk of housing stock - are completely unaccountable (because they are legally charities) and are effectively feral companies. Knocking on doors in London there's...
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
@whatleydude.com
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Alex Hern @hern.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
When assessing claims like “are the labs sincere about their concern that recursive self improvement is imminent, or is it simply marketing”, I think a useful data point is that openAI is now on a weekly release cycle for point improvements.
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
How about considering the voters of today - in hospitality and creative industries and education and the wider services sector and the gig economy - who actually exist and are the working class we actually have rather than trying to bring back the fantasy working class voters of the past?
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The Lambeth Green Party opposed a development that will fund and build roughly 500 social homes - enough to house one tenth of the local homeless population. If they don't support this, what will they support?
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Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Alex Horne: "So, RAF Fairford, balacalavas, should have been an absolute doddle." Greg Davies: "Obviously". Alex Horne: "Let's see how Jimmy did, shall we?" Jimmy Carr: Face in hands
Greg Davies and Alex Horne on Taskmaster
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Kate Bevan @katebevan.com · 28/09/2026
Has it occured to anyone at City Hall or in No 10 that at some point someone is going to have to step up and do something about the bridges? Because at this rate there aren't going to be any functioning river crossings in central London in a few years' time.
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Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Luxury retailers want taxpayers to fund a 20% tax break for foreign tourists. They paid consultancy Cebr to claim this will raise £2.6bn for the UK. That convinced Sadiq Khan and Kemi Badenoch. But it's false: a free lunch. Four basic errors mask a £600m loss. Thread:
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
'Where a typical industrial product might have a few dozen suppliers, an ASML EUV has more than 100,000 parts provided by 200 principal suppliers and 2,000 companies overall." giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Industrial strategy so much harder than monetary policy, Exhibit LXIB
giftarticle.ft.com
ASML chief: ‘There is only one company making those machines’
Christophe Fouquet has built Europe’s biggest business through a total monopoly over the most advanced chipmaking equipment
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Ian Martin @ianmartin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This is just an absolute joy. Like listening to the funniest people in the writers' room just riffing. A familiar feeling! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
Strong Message Here - We Care, We Fight! (with Stewart Lee) - BBC Sounds
Is Ed Davey cut out for the attention economy? Armando and Stewart Lee have some tips.
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Anna Clarke @annaclarke.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Help to Buy is back! Or rather, a new version - more tightly targeted and less likely to overinflate the housing market. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Andy Burnham announces new homes scheme for first-time buyers
Exclusive: Policy initiative for England will help more young people on to property ladder, prime minister tells Guardian
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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 26/09/2026
Josh Babarinde MP: "Our volunteer lifeboat crews. These are people who put their lives on the line for us" 👏 "Anyone who should get in their way is pathetic, unpatriotic, and un-British. We're a country that prides ourselves in bringing people together."
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Guardian reports Rayner's continued defence of migrants care workers from in Cabinet. Seems to have won that argument for care workers with No 10 + Home Office Big unknown: will anyone protect 250k non-care workers (chefs, vets, architects) from being thrown out www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Angela Rayner stands by attack on care worker visa reforms ahead of Labour conference
Housing secretary says Home Office moved goalposts with ‘disruptive’ change to permanent residence rules
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Liberals are suspicious of concentrations of power - because it tends to lead to abuse. Censoring inconvenient content is exactly that sort of abuse: www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...
hollywoodreporter.com
The Major Social Media Platforms Are All Rejecting Paid Ads for Alex Gibney’s ‘Musk’ (Exclusive)
YouTube, TikTok and Meta have all turned down the trailer for the Oct. 9 doc, citing “political” content. X won't even take Bleecker Street's calls. The distributor is appealing.
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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Electricity is 23% of global final energy but delivers 37% of useful energy and powers 46% of the global economy. We don't need to replace every fossil joule. We need to replace the services. A much smaller task. Great to see the @iea.org’s new Electrification report finally measure this.
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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
One of humanity's greatest heroes
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 26/09/2026
Does my Speak-n-Spell feel pain when I type O-U-C-H? The jury is out. Philosophers and neuroscientists say that's fucking stupid, but I called a guy from the Center for Pretending that Household Electronics Are Sentient and he said there's no way to know for sure.
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Agathe Demarais @agathedemarais.com · 25/09/2026
AI-fuelled tech sector now accounts for more than half of the S&P500 market capitalisation • Hyperscalers are biggest bond issuers and major infrastructure projects are mostly data centres • Even Treasuries are part of AI trade as extra power demand fuels inflation www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
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Lambeth Liberal Democrats @lambethlibdems.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Councillor Tam Langley, Shadow Spokesperson for Culture, Democracy and Inclusion, said: "The Lambeth Country Show has run for 50 years, and is a joyful celebration of African, Caribbean and other local cultures.
lambethlibdems.org.uk
Lib Dems fight for Lambeth Country Show next summer
A news item about the Lambeth Greens refusing to commit to bringing back the Lambeth Country Show
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Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Fuel cost of running an electric vehicle vs petrol was always significant, now factor of 9 for diesel New EVs inevitably flow into second-hand market where ££ savings are made by all societal segments UK Govt plans to dilute the mandate for EVs will stop that www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-evs...
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Solomon @solomonrmissouri.com · 24/09/2026
lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
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Kate Bevan @katebevan.com · 24/09/2026
*extremely tired voice*AI agents don't "go rogue". They are not sentient; they don't have agency. They work within guardrails set by humans. If the humans are so shit at building secure sandboxes for the agents to work within, that's on the humans. Stop using this framing.
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Agathe Demarais @agathedemarais.com · 24/09/2026
Russia's sanctions-busting cryptocurrency network A7 (and its currency A7A5) keeps growing • Network had $93bn turnover in 2025, with most transactions linked to China and Hong Kong • A7A5 holders can convert coins into US dollar-pegged stablecoins instantly, with no KYC www.ft.com/content/3848...
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Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
after consideration, I have produced this necessary reference guide, perhaps @sundersays.bsky.social may be interested. If someone wants to provide funding after the fact, I can promise it won't constitute a donation in kind to Reform.
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Children being encouraged to chant "let them drown" is just horrendous. And the government being too scared to say this is wrong is appalling.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The difference between the performance of immigrants in England and Western Europe is staggering. (20 pts equals a year of learning.) I looked at this in detail in the post - it can't be explained away by language or relative advantage of different immigrant communities. There is a policy factor.
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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
On the one hand I can understand to a degree the logic - guys, you are a hyperpower, when you screw shit up you really screw shit up - but yeah, this is absolute western exceptionalism, where you carry the blame for all the world’s sins, and it’s incredibly morally and epistemologically dubious.
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I was delighted to see Ed Davey recognize the incredibly high rents that Londoners face – and that his local council has announced plans to tackle this by building on an old golf course – exactly the sort of land that we should be converting to new housing. www.politicshome.com/news/article...
politicshome.com
Lib Dems In 'Fight Of Our lives' Against 'Well-Funded Far Right', Warns Ed Davey
Ed Davey has warned Liberal Democrats that they are part of a fight for the country's future against an “extremely well-funded” modern-day “far-rig...
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Dave Lee @davelee.me · 22/09/2026
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Liberal Democrats @libdems.org.uk · 22/09/2026
No one should be secretly filmed and sexualised without their consent. But smart glasses are making it easier to do just that. Lib Dems are calling for regulation that keeps up with technology and protects people’s rights @maxwilkinson.bsky.social
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The extent of the PISA gap between England and other western European countries in particular is extraordinary In reading, the 25% most disadvantaged young people in England outperformed the average for all students in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Norway and many other countries
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I'm proud that the #ldconf has voted to protect transgender rights, and specifically to get a workable policy that doesn't lead to discrimination.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
It is quite striking if Meta thinks it has the tech + the policy + the will to ban/filter out feminism (but not misogyny, obvs). It sounds like there may be an analogous ban on antiracism (but not racism). www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Meta bans ads for Virginia Woolf play in Spain because they relate to feminism
Theatre told that Facebook and Instagram filter out ads mentioning ‘social topics’ such as civil rights or feminism
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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"Over the five years following a sexual assault, victims’ employment falls by 6 percentage points and annual earnings decline... These effects persist for at least a decade and correspond to a 15% decline in employment, 17% earnings loss, and 28% rise in anti-depressant use"
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
We Liberal Democrats will only succeed if we take tough choices. My speech on party strategy at #ldconf. Conference - there's a lot of good stuff in this motion. There's also a glaring hole. The motion says we need a clearer identity. Absolutely.
Rob Blackie addressing Liberal Democrat conference
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PoliticsHome @politicshome.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"The danger for us is that now that the Conservatives are no longer in power, being anti-Conservative is less motivating for people" With the Lib Dems wrestling with strategic questions, The House mag's @noahvickers.bsky.social looks at whether Ed Davey's party can break through in cities again
politicshome.com
Urban Lib Dems Fear Their Party Is Too Focused On The Blue Wall
Can the Liberal Democrats break through in big cities again? Noah Vickers reports on the party’s bid to sharpen its ‘national brand’
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Gareth Kane @garethkane.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A committee of MPs has suggested we ditch the phrase Net Zero. I argue it is Net Zero's very success that has attracted opprobrium from assorted populists, fossil fuel interests and conspiracy theorists, yet it retains public support. Forwards, not back! www.terrainfirma.co.uk/if-not-net-z...
terrainfirma.co.uk
If not Net Zero, then what? - Terra Infirma
When I produced my on-demand Net Zero for Business course three years ago, I suggested the snappiness of the phrase Net Zero was a double edged sword. It was both a totemic vision you could rally the ...
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The Liberal Democrats have a proud record of standing up for refugees, so it's a missed opportunity for us to say that asylum seekers are no more a threat than anybody else.
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Unexpected benefit of #ldconf - a live UK garage performance.
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
@drjennings.bsky.social In case you missed this in a deluge of mentions.
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Paul Mainwood @paulmainwood.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Looks early. If you're thinking about getting a flu vaccination, would get it sooner rather than later.
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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
At the last election, as Mayoral candidate, I beat the Greens for the first time since 2008. We can do better in 2028 - but it will need a bold campaign, focused on fixing London’s police and on cheaper housing. Join my campaign to be Liberal Democrat Mayor at rob4london.com
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 17/09/2026
Read this thread & the linked piece from @mikegrunwald.bsky.social. The climate bean-counting industry is boring, I understand why most people ignore it, but this is a truly epochal disaster in the making.
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