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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️

@sandgrouse.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.8K following 794 posts

Retired IT project manager. #LibDems 🔶️. Ex Labour, disillusioned idealist. I go for walks and take photographs. My 3 political wishes: 1 Green economy, 2 #PR, 3 #Rejoin 🇪🇺 #FBPE. Make that 4 - free 🇺🇦. PS, I don't reply to DMs.

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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Racial hatred always comes down to the final solution - lethal force. Reform supporters are delusional if they think that depraved inhumane behaviour can be made respectable.
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Kefalonia, where ancient tractors go to die. Walking around derelict farmland in Skala, a Soviet era Belarus MTS, a couple of mid-sixties Lamborghini R1's, and a Massey Ferguson 390 4WD. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be!
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Lots of talk of growth ahead of the Budget, as if it were a baroque puzzle. Our problem is basic. It's that we no longer support the things which facilitate growth: Europe, immigration, higher education, tax simplification, policy stability. These are all choices and could stop making them anytime.
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
my brilliant colleague @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on the threat from Elon Musk’s X platform www.ft.com/content/f270...
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
a powerful case for appointing a secretary of state specialising in media and culture
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Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Man who migrated to another country to avoid taxes says Britain's problem is migration and taxes that he doesn't pay. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Jim Ratcliffe: UK is ‘on the slide’ from days when it had world’s ‘greatest empire’
Co-owner of Manchester United says Britain is in decline because of high taxes and immigration
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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 19/09/2026
"All but four UK constituencies would support reversing Brexit and rejoining the EU, new polling has shown, as Andy Burnham seeks a 'deeper relationship' with the bloc and to win over voters." Read here: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/polit…
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I've checked the date, it's not April 1st. A committee of MPs with too much time on its hands is spending time on an enquiry into the UK's dismal record in Eurovision. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
theguardian.com
UK to answer for its ‘dismal record’ in Eurovision before committee of MPs
Digital, culture, media and sport committee expected to hear evidence from BBC bosses and music industry experts
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Amount a pensioner receives in the UK is the lowest in Europe, just 2/3rds of France and barely 50% of Italy who are considered a 'poorer' country. Why is our pension 'unaffordable' when it is so low, and where is all our money actually going?
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Stephen Kinsella @stephenstroud.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The benefits of EU membership are visible even from Canada. So surely from Downing Street?
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This is not the direction of travel we need... "The average approval time for [large solar power] projects...at the local planning authority level has reached 60 weeks in 2026—an all-time high and a significant increase from the 51-week average in 2025." Local refusals are still v high too.
solarpowerportal.co.uk
Key trends shaping the UK solar market in 2026
Solar Media Market Research senior analyst Josh Cornes weighs this year's progress in the UK solar market.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Perhaps the UK government should take Piddington at its word. It could set up border posts around the village & arrest any residents who try to cross as illegal immigrants. There would be tariffs on goods, of course, and no access to the NHS or UK schools, police, fire, pensions or utilities.
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Hassinator @hassinator.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
a great letter in the times today. perhaps worth sharing in these troubled times. #RNLI #heroes
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Neoliberals have neutered direct state investment in infrastructure. Everything is privatised, state guarantees profits. UK languishes at or near the bottom of the OECD league for investment in productive assets. China invests over 41% of its GDP in productive assets, India 34.3%, UK 17.9%.
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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Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I’m just a person on my fucking knees begging the government to use its absolutely massive majority to do something extremely fucking popular: save our democracy.
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Sam Bright @writesbright.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Not to be pedantic but Christopher Harborne has already given £25 million to Reform and Ben Delo £8 million. So the figure isn’t £72 million - it’s £105 million.
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I was too stupid to close the barn door sometime in the past two years, and now the horse has bolted. Please help me.
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fife4europe #FBPE #RejoinEU @fife4europe.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Nature highlighting that emotional framing drives climate action far better than dry data alone is a vital lesson. Relying solely on cold charts while fossil fuel interests push fear and outrage fails to move the needle. Why aren't we communicating better? (1/2) 🤔 #ClimateCrisis
nature.com
El Niño goes viral — and scientists learn what makes people care about the climate
Evoking emotions is more likely to prompt people to engage with climate efforts than are data alone.
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John #GTTO #FBPE #REJOINEU #FBPPR @rcamatrix.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Ending the democratic state is the Neo-liberal’s objective. Subverting democracy by buying politicians is a key tactic in this. Underestimating Farage and his ilk echoes the mistake Weimar politicians made when faced with Hitler. Burnham et al are repeating Von Hindenburg’s. This is dangerous.
bbc.co.uk
Reform receives second £36m donation in two days as crypto investor matches record
Cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne says he has matched a donation from Ben Delo announced late on Friday.
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Is Andy Burnham really going to fight the next election on FPTP? Of course he is! What can possibly go wrong?
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fife4europe #FBPE #RejoinEU @fife4europe.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Acknowledging Brexit’s economic toll without moving to dismantle trade barriers leaves public finances needlessly strangled. When leaders concede the diagnosis but refuse the obvious remedy of closer single market ties, recovery stalls. How do we demand a real EU reset? #FBPE
yorkshirepost.co.uk
Andy Burnham’s admission on Brexit damage is a welcome change - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: Peter Packham, Chair, Leeds for Europe, Roundhay, Leeds.
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
As I've said before, early release is not the issue; offenders will be released eventually. What we need is effective safeguarding for victims. South Korea has managed to provide that, so why can't we? www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
theguardian.com
‘We can’t stop for a second’: the centre tracking South Korea’s stalkers in real time
Since June, an app has allowed survivors, who are overwhelmingly women, to see exactly where their stalker is
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
When will the government realise that the fiscal rules and red lines that it is determined to defend are the fiscal rules and red lines of neoliberalism. Labour in government will fail because it has forgotten what a liberal democracy looks like. youtube.com/watch?v=w7n6...
youtube.com
Has capitalism failed, or has neoliberalism destroyed it?
YouTube video by Richard J Murphy
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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
The Home Secretary's silence suggests either sympathy, indifference or ineffectiveness as regards the violent lawless thugs
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
A budget aimed at the redistribution of wealth would be more in line with Labour values than continued austerity. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
theguardian.com
Being ‘true to Labour’s values’ means controlling spending, says Healey – UK politics live
Chancellor says there’s ‘nothing progressive’ about government spending £1 in every ten on debt interest
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Why is Foreign Secretary still regarded as one of the four great offices of state when we no longer have an empire? Is international diplomacy really more important than Climate and the Environment?
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Cold War Steve @coldwarsteve.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
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SE16mss @se16mss.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Reformoron intellectual heights:

Lee Anderson - "I can't answer questions on the allegations because Reform has started a full internal investigation."
Ranvir Singh - "Who is leading the investigation?"
Lee Anderson - "I don't know because it hasn't started yet."
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Murielle S @frenchieinlimbo.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Un important groupe de manifestants masqués s'est rassemblé au port de Douvres, dans le Kent, samedi 5 septembre. Chris Vinson, conseiller municipal, a déclaré que cette manifestation semblait être « liée à l'immigration clandestine ».
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Victoria Derbyshire @vicderbyshire.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Undercover filming shows Nigel Farage celebrating illegal foreign donations Footage shows a plan to break electoral law by funnelling money from a US ‘businessman’ through a UK donor The donations funded a series of widely reported polls secretly commissioned by Reform
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Cornish Skipper #FBPE #RejoinEU 🇪🇺🔶🌹💚💙 @cornishskipper.wsocial.eu · 03/09/2026
A yearlong investigation by Verbatim Media reveals Nigel Farage courting illicit funding as part of a plot to bring foreign money into British politics, orchestrated by his top aides and caught on hidden camera. youtube.com/watch?v=RugP...
youtube.com
My Year Undercover in Reform UK
YouTube video by Verbatim Investigations
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Chris @oakymoron.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Considering ? There should have been one years ago www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Mass breeding of game birds without welfare checks may be curtailed in England
Campaigners say pheasants and partridges reared ‘on industrial scale’ do not have same protections as chickens
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
It is always the same betrayal: the public interest is sacrificed for the sake of immensely wealthy people. And Andy Burnham has already gone and done it. My column on how Burnham needs to defy the ultra-rich if he's not to follow Starmer out of the door. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Andy Burnham has already made a mistake that will cost him his premiership: he lost his nerve over political donations | George Monbiot
Being subservient to the interests of the wealthy now means that his hands are tied, and he will be unable to tackle Britain’s most pressing issues, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I was going to say, "Don't expect any humanity from right-wing governments," but then I remembered Labour have Mahmood. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
British man deported from Sweden despite living there since childhood
John Sellers, 34, who moved with his family to Sweden aged 10, has been ejected despite his recent marriage to a Swede
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Ed Davey @eddavey.libdems.org.uk · 01/09/2026
I've written to the Prime Minister ahead of his first statement later today, with a clear message: Our politics is broken and we can’t fix our country until we fix our politics.
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A story by Charles Dickens? No, it's about goings on in Victoria state, Australia! www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
Victorian prisoners to be sent out to repair roads under Labor’s pothole plan
Inmates would take over ‘basic’ road maintenance duties, allowing skilled crews to focus on fixing 500,000 potholes
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This nonsense has to stop. Early release or release at end of sentence, it makes no difference. At some point dangerous criminals will be released. The real issue is, how can the public be safeguarded? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Early release scheme could still see dangerous criminals released, Conservatives warn
The warning comes after the prime minister said some prisoners serving indefinite sentences could be freed to increase prison capacity.
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The UK is a single market. People, goods, services, and money move freely across all 4 nations of the UK. Everyone understands and accepts this, so why do so many people lose their minds when it comes to the idea of joining a single market across all of Europe?
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
We don't have a prisons crisis. What we do have is a safeguarding crisis. We can't keep offenders locked up forever, but when they are released we must ensure victims are protected. That means tagging that works, and a more effective probation service. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
Prisons ‘one major event from disaster’ after U-turn on early release scheme
Critics say the move, which will keep PC Harper’s killers in jail, leaves number of prison spaces ‘too close to the bone’
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Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
BBC News report Iceland's EU referendum result, presenting it as an in-out like Brexit They neglect to mention that Iceland is already in the EU Single Market and has free movement of people with Schengen
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Graham Simpson @grahambs.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Burnham could quickly lose the initial goodwill he received when taking over. Refusing to move on electoral reform would be a massive betrayal
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Lake America, smallest of the great lakes, is inferior to Lake Superior. Maybe Mark Carney should rename Lake Superior, the largest of the great lakes, to Lake Canada.
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Iceland must believe that a lack of oil and rare earths will protect them from US imperial aggression. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
theguardian.com
Iceland appears to have rejected EU accession talks in referendum, reports say
The no camp looks to have prevailed, holding 52.5% of votes with only a few left to be counted, says public broadcaster
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Bremain in Spain @bremaininspain.com · 30/08/2026
Like other Brexiters, clueless about the effects of losing freedom of movement until it hurts you or yours. Daltrey says he's not changed his opinion on the EU, is "glad to be free of Brussels" despite signing open letter calling on the government to urgently establish visa-free travel for musicians
news.sky.com
Roger Daltrey responds to backlash over post-Brexit music touring comments
The singer previously told Sky News Brexit wouldn't be bad for UK music, adding: "What's it got to do with the rock business?"
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
UK pet owners risk being ripped off by private equity firms as vet ownership rules change. CMA says vet firms don't need to disclose their ultimate owners. Why not? Why is ownership by PE to be obscured? Pet owners pay 16.6% more on average at large vet groups than at independent practices.
theguardian.com
Pet owners at risk of being ripped off by private equity firms as vet ownership rules change
Critics say changes by CMA will allow multinationals to obscure their ownership of vet practices
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I'm so bored with this. If Burnham, like Starmer, thinks Labour's 'red lines' are unmoveable for political reasons then, ok, I understand that. But to then keep pretending there is some 'ambitious' deal possible that will discernibly increase UK growth is just absurd. www.ft.com/content/4ec5...
ft.com
Andy Burnham pledges to ‘take pressure off’ business ahead of October Budget
Prime minister tells the FT that he will not tax wealth creators out of the UK but stresses need for social responsibility
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
More UK students planning to live at home for university over 'insane' living costs. Student halls of residence replaced by private equity owned accommodation. High rents and profits. Fees (in England) and living costs plunge young adults into debt.
bbc.co.uk
More students planning to live at home for uni over 'insane' living costs
Students like Jessica say they worry about missing out on student life, but feel they have no choice but to stay at home.
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
As with most controversial political issues, the facts don't match up with hysteria levels. When it comes to solar farms using up valuable farm land, to put things in perspective, UK golf courses use 5x more land than all existing and planned solar farms! substack.com/@therewnewab...
substack.com
TheCitiesPod (@therewnewableguru)
How much farmland has SOLAR really taken? Solar farms divide people in a way that few other pieces of infrastructure do. Supporters see the cheapest electricity Britain has ever built, put up in mont...
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Phil Aisthorpe 🔶️ @sandgrouse.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The Tories won a by-election in Uxbridge in 2023 by opposing healthier children. Fag ash Farage still believes clean air is woke. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Ulez led to better lung size and function among London children, study finds
Researchers find capacity stunted by pollution restored after introduction of ultra-low emission zone
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