Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 4hAdam makes the same points (in this £walled substack) that I've been making here since the Holborn by-election result was hailed as a "disaster" for the Greens by every media outlet. It was actually the opposite & writing the Greens off after a difficult conference is premature rw wishful thinkingopen.substack.comWhy the Holborn and St Pancras By-Election Was a Good Result for the Green PartyThe dismissive coverage of Zack Polanski’s party obscures a far bigger truth about the rise of the left in British politics 130
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 22hThe "greatest democracy in the world" is now producing live snuff movies that previously would have been confined to the far corners of the dark web. Every single day these ghouls normalise barbarism with the full acquiescence of Western political leaders and their client media. 020
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Navi Pillay is a Nobel laureate. Donald Trump is not. Thank you for your attention to this matter. 020
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Exactly right. This was the Greens' second best by election result in a seat the Labour establishment was determined to win in one of its heartland seats. And I think the swing to the Greens from Labour was about 13% which I'm sure they would happily take in a general election. 110
Reposted by Simon ParkerLou Charbonneau @loucharb.bsky.social · 09/10/2026🚨 @hrw.org’s reaction to the fantastic announcement that South African jurist and human rights champion Navi Pillay has won the Nobel Peace Prize 👏 www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace... 052
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026The Greens only got 27% of the vote in the recent council elections. Labour still controls 30 of the 55 council seats. Unlike Hackney or Lewisham, Camden is not a Green stronghold. Kellner is barking up the wrong tree on this one & I'm amazed to see people quote this substack like it's Holy Writ! 120
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Exactly! Nor do I remember any of the approved broadcast interviewers who Farage deigns to talk to asking him if he should consider his position despite only getting on average [checks notes] 11% of the vote in those 7 failed election attempts. One third of the percentage Polanski achieved in H&StP. 010
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026No it isn't necessarily. Some of Fainstein's votes will have gone to Polanski but some will have decided not to vote this time AND because Fainstein did very well with the large Somali community in H&StP a significant number will have voted for the Labour candidate who was once a Somali refugee 000
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Kellner admits that adding the Fainstein & Green votes = "a true increase of *just* 3.5 percentage points" compared to a true decrease in Labour's vote of 4%. Only Kellner is daft enough to think Polanski should have won H&StP "at a canter" when the Greens only managed to win 27% of the council vote 000
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026What do you mean that's not how it works? I'm quoting you figures from actual election results. 100
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Our electoral system makes it very hard for 'third parties' to win elections even if the leader is standing. Just ask Nigel Farage who entered parliament on his 8th attempt. No one during his many media appearances suggested Farage should resign as leader despite getting an average 11% of the vote. 100
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026In the recent Camden borough elections Abdi-Wali's Labour group lost 17 of its seats (dropping to 30 out of 55 seats) 10 to the Greens & 6 to the Liberal Democrats - so actually compared to the Greens 27% share of the borough vote the 33% of the vote secured by Polanski is an improving performance. 000
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Starmer won 18,884 votes representing 48.9% of the ballot 2 years ago. Abdi-Wali could only manage 12,290 votes and 45% of the ballot in one of Labour's safest seats where 3 in 5 electors were not even motivated to take part in the by-election. That hardly represents a great result for Labour. 100
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026If you listened to the Today programme (and every other broadcast channel) this morning you could be forgiven for thinking the Holborn & St Pancras by election was a disaster for Polanski. In fact Labour's share of the vote went down by -4% while the Greens went up by +22% compared to 2024. 220
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026I'm trying to understand how the reduction of a Labour majority from 11,572 to 3,364 in one of its safest seats represents a triumph for Andy Burnham's moderate leadership and a disaster for Zack Polanski and his 'extremist' Greens other than in the upside down world of the British media. 331
Reposted by Simon ParkerAlan Lewis Chambers #FBPE #RejoinEU @alanlewch.bsky.social · 08/10/2026TAX POLICY ASSOCIATES Badenoch’s inheritance tax cut could cost £11bn – almost twice the advertised price. Dan Neidle 8 October 2026 taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/10/08/c...taxpolicy.org.ukTory IHT cut could cost £11bn - almost twice the advertised priceOur modelling suggests Badenoch’s inheritance tax cut could cost £7.7bn-£10.9bn a year and shift £60bn-£110bn from savings and investments into housing. 073
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 08/10/2026I seem to have something caught in my throat...🥺 000
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Paris's Mamdani, Bally Bagayoko Mayor of St Denis, calls out Trump & says no-one needs his advice given the lamentable state of the USA. While a new France emerges from the protests, the right & extreme right can only fantasise about the creation of a French version of ICE. We are the living people! 062
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 07/10/2026If these redundancies were happening in a Midlands car plant or a northern steel works Burnham would be calling an emergency COBR meeting - but as it's just higher education nobody in government or the media seems to care despite nearly everyone in a position of power or influence being a graduate 130
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 06/10/2026H/T to Keith Flett for retrieving the late, great and much missed Paul Foot's review of Michael Crick's biography of Archer in the LRB kmflett.blog/2026/10/06/p...kmflett.blogPaul Foot on Jeffrey ArcherJeffrey Archer who has died aged 86 was not a lovable rogue but a serial liar who ended up being sentenced to 4 years in prison for perjury. Even The Times lengthy obituary gives full details. Befo… 000
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Paul Foot on Jeffrey Archer He is not an amiable rogue at all, but a nasty, hypocritical charlatan whose economy with the truth, Thatcherite politics & ability to write sentimental trash (& choose editors who make it readable) make him a paragon of the age of avarice, fit only for the House of Lords 130
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 06/10/2026As an ex visiting scholar at Cornell it's good to see faculty belatedly take action against an administration that is clearly unable to protect its female students. This wouldn't have happened but for the bravery of Jane Doe in pursuing criminal action & the student reporters who broke the story. 032
Reposted by Simon ParkerAmy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Remember my article last week with the Naomi Klein quote that cities are inherently anti-fascist? This is part of that idea. 729966
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 05/10/2026After all who needs affordable homes, proper insulation, GPs surgeries and fripperies like access roads? "Let the developers build where they like" cries Badenoch, forgetting the fact that most Tory voters are not so much NIMBYs as 🍌🍌🍌 Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything (or Anyone)theguardian.comTories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural EnglandShadow chancellor will also promise to scrap affordable homes regulations as part of strategy to refocus on growth 021
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 04/10/2026The living tree of English liberty 1 - the Rt Hon David Lammy MP 0bbc.co.ukBurnham scraps controversial plans to curb jury trialsThe key policy idea announced by David Lammy when he was justice secretary will no longer go ahead. 022
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 03/10/2026The landscape of right wing politics has been utterly transformed since Brexit. A Conservative Party which included the likes of Heseltine, Clarke & Grieve has been replaced by increasingly extremist Führerparteien all trying to outdo each other for the approval of billionaires who hate democracy. 1114
Reposted by Simon ParkerLBC @lbc.co.uk · 02/10/2026'She is the 21st century equivalent of a bearded lady.' James O'Brien thinks Suella Braverman's anti-immigration comments stem from a 'desperation for approval' from the people who 'despise her for the colour of her skin'. 188020
Reposted by Simon ParkerAdam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I've been a member of the lobby for well over a decade. Not a single one of my lobby colleagues has said a word about the Conservatives banning me from their conferences, without any explanation. Contrast with the US where even Fox News stood in solidarity when Trump banned news outlets he dislikedbylinetimes.comKemi Badenoch's Conservatives Block Byline Times From Conference After Condemning Reform for Journalist BanThe ban comes just weeks after the Conservative leader called Reform's barring of critical journalists from their conference an "authoritarian" attack on the free press 861526618
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Remember how an ill thought out appointment of a man with a dodgy past as ambassador to Washington did for Starmer's premiership? Burnham's relationship to Sheikh Mansour is about to come under the same scrutiny & yesterday's comments show poor judgment from a man who is no longer Manchester Mayor 010
Reposted by Simon ParkerRobert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was shot by ICE 10 days ago. The bullet is still lodged in his back. He’s been forced to sleep on the floor and hasn’t been given medication, according to his attorney. Now DHS is claiming he assaulted an agent. Can we trust anything DHS says given its track record? 40663022264
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 01/10/2026If this is true and a criminal investigation proves that Manchester City committed tax fraud will Andy Burnham come to regret his claim that his past dealings with the club during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester would "stand up to scrutiny". 000
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 01/10/2026The only sanction that fits the scale of the fraud and deception committed by Man City is a permanent ban from the Premier League & for the Etihad to be transferred to the nation in lieu of damages and renamed the National Stadium for the North. Oasis should perform the opening ceremony for free.theguardian.comRival clubs feel relegating Manchester City to Championship would not be enoughThe Premier League will face pressure from Manchester City’s rivals to push for a sanction that will result in a prolonged absence from the top flight 000
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Compare the Times Higher's relentless pursuit of Jason Arday with the silence over Reform's disgraced former head of policy-the enthusiastic cheerleader of ex-Hungarian PM Viktor Orban & Cambridge University professor of Divinity James Orr. Could a THE commercial partnership with Hungary explain it?bylinetimes.comTimes Higher Education, Sponsored by Orbán's Hungary, Failed to Report James Orr AllegationsThe publication signed a partnership with Viktor Orbán's government and has since published no coverage of the allegations around a Cambridge academic and former Reform UK policy chief whose foundatio... 043
Reposted by Simon ParkerJonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026"In order to deliver the PM's promise to save social care we need a permanent class of indentured migrant workers without labour rights". 28461180
Reposted by Simon ParkerBrad Lander @bradlander.bsky.social · 26/09/2026We’ve now reached the point of “black site” hearings – secret, illegal hearings as part of Trump & Stephen Miller’s wretched crusade to detain & deport our immigrant neighbors. Quite literally: hidden tribunals that disappear people.thecityreporter.nycDHS Opens ‘Black Site Docket’ for Immigrants Without Lawyers at 26 Federal PlazaA reporter from The City Reporter was threatened with arrest while attempting to observe comings and goings from the new courtrooms, which have left advocates mystified and fearing the worst. 14692380
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Yes it's a "morbid symptom" metaphor made possible by the technology produced by several of the people who were actually Donald Trump's guests at the dinner 100
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear." 112
Reposted by Simon ParkerRobert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 25/09/2026DoorDash spent $1.4M trying to stop Zohran Mamdani from becoming mayor. This week's historic $131.5M enforcement action against DoorDash for underpaying NYC delivery workers shows why. Yet another reminder that the only thing that can beat organized money is organized people.theintercept.comDoorDash Spent $1.4 Million Trying to Stop Mamdani From Becoming Mayor. Now We Know Why.In a wage-theft settlement, DoorDash now has to pay its workers around 100 times what it spent trying to beat Zohran Mam 6594021711831
Reposted by Simon ParkerThe Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 26/09/2026They are playing in our faces 408125925973
Reposted by Simon ParkerEmma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 25/09/2026🧵 As front-page headlines go, this has to be one of the most misleading I've seen in a long time It's an out-and-out lie But notice the trick they use to get away with it...👀 *They're* not lying - they're just quoting someone else who is👍🏻 In this case, the leader of the opposition🙄 1/33 321010544
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 25/09/2026One day, everyone will have always been against this 120
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Both the Lib Dems and the SNP are more committed to PR, human rights, civil liberties and closer ties to Europe than the current Burnham government. I'm struggling to see the downside of this projection. 010
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The vast majority of British voters do not want to see a far-right government under Nigel Farage. Tactical voting is therefore likely to reduce the seat estimate for Reform considerably. 000
Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · 23/09/2026The BBC report has since been updated it seems but still omits the rather important detail that a French rescue worker was onboard the dinghy when Thomas attempted to puncture it with a knife, which is a clear attempt to endanger life. 181
Reposted by Simon ParkerCharlotte O'Brien @cobrien.bsky.social · 23/09/2026'Thuggery' somehow does not seem quite serious enough to name what we are seeing in the increasing violence of anti-migrant hate-spinning. Thugs steal your lunch-money. These guys want to steal your humanity. 051
