simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Not a problem - half an episode could easily be spent explaining the nuances of PAYE to a non-UK audience. And maybe there could be an accompanying website for people who need more info. 3481
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 05/10/2026How would you afford numbers lower than 170k? What would you do to support the pensions, healthcare and social needs of an aging population? 010
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026"Ah. The giants." (I've literally only ever heard of her in that one line in Star Trek IV, which is rather the point of course.) 061
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Although it's interesting that English is consistent *enough* that the use of phonics can have these effects. 011
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026And the last thing the world needs right now is hallucinating beards. 020
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 17/09/2026What *could* the motivation of such a person possibly be?? 010
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialjhdale @jhdale.bsky.social · 14/09/2026The world still exists. It just happens that the forces that think "we could monetize people having this problem" are winning vs the forces that think "we could help people having this problem." And the forces that thought "we could prevent this problem in the first place" are long dead. 2427
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialHassinator @hassinator.bsky.social · 13/09/2026a great letter in the times today. perhaps worth sharing in these troubled times. #RNLI #heroes 4059872392
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Mood lighting is all very well provided one also has a torch. 000
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 11/09/2026It's a lot of words when they could have simply said "are completely barking". 0150
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Mandelson had already been disgraced at least twice before his most recent disgracing... 010
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialRobert Shrimsley @robertshrimsley.bsky.social · 10/09/2026It's hard to think of anything less British than the morons doing this to the heroic RNLI 511279313
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialElle Cordova @ellecordova.bsky.social · 08/09/2026I am the very model of a modern day typographer A font take on the tune “Modern Major General” by Gilbert & Sullivan #typography #fonts #graphicdesign 24550421565
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialStephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 04/09/2026www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...theguardian.comUK pubs take a tip from America: the Stephen Collins cartoonThey’ll never stop drinking, come what may … 14213
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 28/08/2026I can only assume that she believes what she says - that migrants who come here to freeload are the vast majority & get piles of free cash, and that a tiny number of people come to the UK to contribute to be done down by a completely different set of policies. I don't know *how* she believes it... 060
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Isn't UK domestic consensus around EU negotiations effectively impossible at the moment? Given the massive divergence between what the party in government Vs the opposition want? 011
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 09/08/2026And even if they are social media feeds are designed specifically to get around mental toughness. 160
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialCount Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 06/08/2026There now follows a party election broadcast by the Count Binface Party, And if I do say so myself, it's a banger. #VoteBinface #Clacton 22672302814
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 06/08/2026It's quite easy for businesses to get this wrong... To be certain of getting it right you either need an increase in admin costs for each business or ID cards. And if this policy doesn't prompt a media investigation of illegal working in every Reform candidate-owned business I don't know what will. 000
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Really interesting post about the difficulty of vocational education at 14. But it's strangely familiar... schools for academic students teaching (e.g.) grammar and vocational modern secondary schools for the rest. 010
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Although 2/3 of 65+ in that chart believe in climate change. Reform are special in a way of their own. 010
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 29/07/2026They seem to have confused us with Venice... 000
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 26/07/2026Enragingly disingenuous offer to "find common ground" from Badenoch - she claims to want a solution to social care where the costs fall neither on the old nor the young. And seems to think that cutting spending will affect neither. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukKemi Badenoch tells PM not to raise taxes to fund social careIn a letter to the PM, the Conservative leader offers to work with him on adult social care reform. 000
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialCount Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 19/07/2023Under a Binface government, anyone who doesn’t accept human-made climate change as fact will be sent back to school, from Year 1 right the way to A Levels, to see if anything goes in the second time round. #VoteBinface 11188452999
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 20/07/2026There is no need for Ofsted inspections for vocational courses specifically. Plenty of university courses are already externally validated. 000
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialDr. Jeroen W.P. Wijnendaele @drdragases.bsky.social · 16/07/2026I am once again begging Hollywood to stop using the Greek alphabet for an Ancient World movie, if they can't afford to even throw a couple of quid at anyone with an inkling of the language. Unless they really think audiences are dying to see THS THDPSSSSPS 59792281802
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialCatherine Stuart @catty8.bsky.social · 07/07/2026There's a bar chart, courtesy of: www.facebook.com/share/14hP4M... 420757
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 07/07/2026...or they all defect to Restore while his back's turned. 010
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 07/07/2026So he resigns and the remaining Reform MPs just refuse to move the writ so one of them gets to be leader 😂 120
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 22/06/2026This is true. My reply wasn't *entirely* serious but if you think about e.g. John Redwood, David Davis, Nigel Farage and many others then it wouldn't be *entirely* unfair to describe them as monomaniacal when it comes to the EU. 110
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialEd Morrish @edmorrish.com · 07/06/2026take a moment to think about d-day today. seventy five years since the unelected winston churchill and his internationalist collective began their attempt to overturn the democratic will of forty-four million germans. 119738
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialTan Dhesi MP @tandhesi.bsky.social · 03/06/2026I was born and raised here. Countless brave Sikh soldiers died for Britain, proudly wearing their turban and kirpan. Thankfully, Rupert and Restore don't get to decide what is British. Beware … today they’re coming for me, but tomorrow it could be you! 1562847712
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 27/05/2026Farage is grifty enough that it wouldn't entirely surprise me to see him pivot to rejoin if he thought there was the odd £5m in it 😂 070
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 26/05/2026Which is bizarre because it was a tool which very clearly worked. By-and-large. And by-and-large is as good as you can hope for with anything. 080
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialJames East @jameseast.online · 24/05/2026I was responsible for this (it was literally my idea while I was Product Manager for Media Playout at the BBC) and it is still my proudest achievement ever 261421271
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 18/05/2026Orban started younger than Farage (they're practically the same age) 010
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialGarvan Walshe @garvanwalshe.org · 18/05/2026Retrospectively changing conditions under which people have come to a country is illiberal and wrong. It should have no place in any part of the classical liberal or libertarian tradition. The fascist tradition is a better place for such views. 410412
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 16/05/2026Personally, I can't see myself getting a lot of use out of that. 040
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 15/05/2026In the original Sunak Vs Truss contest, it's probably safe to say that the best (or least bad, anyway) candidate did not win. 040
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialDiane Duane @diane.dianeduane.com · 14/05/2026Spotted on Tumblr… 230130413064
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 12/05/2026I'd almost forgotten about Ben Habib until he made this astonishing headline-grabbing suggestion. 000
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.socialStephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 08/05/2026This is what election coverage should be like. This is what we tune in for. 1135980
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 08/05/2026What I find baffling - and I know it's been discussed endlessly - is why Starmer of all people - a former DPP - apparently did not ask those probing questions. Do people just lose the skills of their profession when they walk into 10 Downing Street? 160
simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 27/04/2026It looks like they had individual policies, mostly, so several excesses to pay, which would have been a substantial fraction of the ticket cost. 100
Reposted by simonvirr.bsky.social👻 Jack Djinn Wail 🧞 @jacktindale.bsky.social · 26/04/2026Happy London Marathon Day and congratulations to all those competing. I’m not doing it myself this year but as a sub-three hour Marathoner, here are some top tips to make your day go gangbusters. 1. Treat yourself to a brand new pair of running shoes as a treat for your feet. 25821
![Scene is a LONGBOAT sailing on the sea. It is all drawn in the style of the Bayeaux Tapestry. A voice is coming from the boat:
Owwww
Uuuuuuurgh
Ooooooooh
[Scene changes to on the deck of the boat - still drawn like the Bayeaux Tapestry. A SOLDIER is talking to HAROLD, who is lying on the deck of the boat, with the arrow in his eye.]
SOLDIER:
For God's sake stop it Harold!
HAROLD:
Oh I'm sorry. It's not like I've got an ARROW IN MY EYE or anything
SOLDIER:
Look, we discussed this. The arrow is your thing. People want to see the arrow.
HAROLD:
It's been in there for 950 years. I should really see a doctor
SOLDIER:
No! We are travelling to England to be displayed in the British Museum.
What do you think people would say if you didn't have your arrow in?
HAROLD:
I don't care. I want it taken out. It hurts.
SOLDIER:
No.
HAROLD:
But I could get it seen to in England! The NHS has some of the best tapestry eye surgeons in the world!
SOLDIER:
Oh right, I get it, so this is health tourism...
HAROLD:
Duh, no, cos I'm Anglo Saxon?
SOLDIER:
Ohmigod you sound so Brexit
[Silent pause,, they cotuinue to sail]
HAROLD:
Uuuurgh
SOLDIER:
SHUT UP
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreib7o5h7pjb446tk4kbiwrkkzdvg7xoq3hw3qankxh6nvyaka6keum)
