Martin Elliott @spxme.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Austerity and trickle down. Two sides of the same coin. 020
Martin Elliott @spxme.bsky.social · 03/10/2026IDS has always been a *******. But on the same day, the news reported that two people who petrol bombed a restaurant (not terrorist, just 'random' apparently) and caused terrible life-changing injuries to customers got 10 years. 120
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 27/09/2026UK Chancellor can easily increase income tax personal allowance by £3,000 a year. It will boost basic rate taxpayers by £600 a year. Millions will be helped. Benefit to higher rate taxpayers can be clawed back. The cost of £30bn can be met by ending bank subsidies, £100bn over the last 3 years.leftfootforward.orgThis is how the Chancellor can increase the personal allowance and lift millions out of hardshipSustained economic growth can’t be achieved without a major boost to the purchasing power of the bottom 50% of the population 29408154
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 22/09/2026The Guardian joins the campaign to abolish the state pension triple-lock. Portrays it as a old v young, social security v defence spending issue. Silence on corporate welfare, tax perks of the rich, maldistribution of wealth, low govt spend on state pension, how future retirees will survive.theguardian.comBritain needs cash and everyone knows we should break the pensions triple lock. Where is the courage? | Gaby HinsliffThe issue cannot be avoided any longer. Andy Burnham and his chancellor must face the fear of a pensioner backlash, and find a fair solution, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff 77706372
Reposted by Martin ElliottPatrick Ness @patricknessbooks.bsky.social · 12/09/2026I ran a marathon to raise money for MSF. Attacks on MSF and RNLI and Amnesty are what fascists literally do. They want to devalue all humane effort, all care for fellow man. These are dangerous, dangerous times. 5336128
Reposted by Martin ElliottWe Own It @weownit.org.uk · 04/09/2026The idea that private is better is pure propaganda. That's all it is. 16937
Reposted by Martin ElliottHelen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 01/09/2026It’s odd that we make all these films about aliens coming to Earth and potentially attacking/eating us, when the evidence suggests it would be the other way round. That seems to be what we’re doing with all the octopus arriving here (the closest thing to alien life we’ll ever meet).bbc.co.ukOctopus bloom may stay, Marine Biological Association saysThe Marine Biological Association says the invasive species has successfully bred in UK waters. 27415
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Royal Mail once again missed its letter delivery targets. Regulator lowers targets, RM still doesn't meet them. Price of 1st class postage: £1.80, 2nd class 91p. When privatized in 2013 by Tory and LibDem Govt: 1st class 60p; 2nd class 50p. Worse service for higher price.bbc.co.ukRoyal Mail misses delivery targets again but hails 'encouraging' signsThe struggling firm said it had improved its performance but missed regulator-set delivery targets. 42341165
Reposted by Martin ElliottGuy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 17/08/2026So Richard Tice, should farmers just "enjoy" low crop yields? Should the thousands who've died from the heatwaves just "enjoy" their premature deaths? What about the families whose homes have burned down in the wildfires? Charlatans with their heads in the sand. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.comReform’s Tice says people should stop fighting climate crisis and ‘enjoy’ heatDeputy leader says it is ‘arrogant’ to try to halt global heating, despite UK being left reeling by summer firewave 681015270
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 17/08/2026JP Morgan CEO warns UK chancellor not to hike taxes on banks, could raise £19bn. Says it would lose jobs From an industry that has closed bank branches, profiteered, taken bailouts, sold dud financial products, engaged in frauds, facilitated illicit financial flows. People must prevail over bankstheguardian.comJP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon warns UK chancellor not to hike taxes on banksBillionaire CEO of world’s biggest bank says any windfall tax on sector’s bumper profits could harm jobs in City 86843322
Reposted by Martin ElliottGo Green @ecowarriorss.bsky.social · 15/08/2026In drought stricken UK More and more Data Centres are being approved that in their immediate vicinity push up temps by an average of 2C, and as much as 9C And use up to 5m gallons water a day, equivalent to consumption of up to 50,000 people. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comAs AI guzzles water and energy, we are already facing a choice: datacentres or homes? | John HarrisWhitehall wants to triple their number in the UK. Yet in Slough, I saw the impact they’re having on communities, says Guardian columnist John Harris 41915
Reposted by Martin ElliottNigel Pugh @nspugh.bsky.social · 15/08/2026Wales won a moratorium on Fracking Wales. @llyrgruffydd.bsky.social @anthonyslaughter.bsky.social Data centres when you country is on fire? #Wildfires 297
Martin Elliott @spxme.bsky.social · 12/08/2026First time I tried this. I hadn't realised it would work so well. 010
Martin Elliott @spxme.bsky.social · 08/08/2026The AI-produced images are a little ... well, "amiss"? 000
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Shell shifted billions in profits to tax havens, leaked files reveal. Complex corporate structures, intragroup transactions used to shift profits to the Bahamas and Switzerland. Taxes dodged in many countries, including the UK. Govt inaction is protecting secret subsidies. archive.ph/Cqq2Lftm.euShell shifted billions in profits to tax havens, leaked files revealLeaked financial reports show how Shell moved profits through tax havens such as the Bahamas and Switzerland – potentially depriving developing nations of hundreds of millions of euros. While some of ... 15328201
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 04/08/2026BP quarterly profits up from $2.5bn to $5.73bn as Iran war sends oil prices soaring. Shell doubled its net profit to almost $10bn. High bills fuelling poverty and misery for households and businesses. Boon for execs and shareholders. Must levy 100% windfall tax on oil, gas, energy companies.theguardian.comBP profits more than double as Iran war sends oil prices soaringEnergy company’s $5.73bn quarterly profits come after Shell posted second highest quarterly earnings on record 22349164
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 03/08/2026AstraZeneca in talks with Bristol Myers Squibb on $400bn (£300bn) merger. Concentration of economic power. Bigger ability to hold people/govts to ransom. AstraZeneca CEO already threatened to withhold drugs from NHS unless it paid more. Govt capitulated. Promised UK investment didn't materialise.theguardian.comAstraZeneca holds talks with Bristol Myers Squibb on $400bn mergerTie-up would be one of the biggest-ever pharmaceutical deals and create the world’s fourth-largest drugmaker 12218118
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Shell’s quarterly profits up from $4.3bn to $9.8bn, jump in price of oil/gas due to wars . Customer bills hiked, industries crippled, economies damaged, planet burns from fossil fuels pollution, corporations profit from catastrophies. Another $3bn share buyback. Must levy 100% windfall tax.theguardian.comShell’s profits more than double after jump in oil and gas pricesEnvironmentalists renew calls for windfall tax to support households after Q2 earnings rise to almost $10bn 13303162
Reposted by Martin ElliottAdam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 24/07/2026When the story of why humanity didn't stop climate change is written, it will feature front pages like this. Even as the skies blacken with climate change-induced wildfires, right wing media continue their relentless crusade against measures to tackle it. 23247472018
Martin Elliott @spxme.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Quite so. And it shows a fundamental ignorance of what motivates those who want to do research, particularly at universities. 000
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 19/07/2026England & Wales water firms lose 2.87bn litres a day, 20% of all water pumped through network. Hosepipe ban would save 577m(4%) litres a day. Violating hosepipe ban is a criminal offence, potential penalty of £1,000. No water execs fined or prosecuted. No new reservoirs built since privatisationtheguardian.comWater firms in England and Wales ‘leak five times what hosepipe ban would save’Greenpeace UK says 2.87bn litres lost daily, a fifth of all water pumped through network 20577349
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Private Equity Is Taking Over Your Veterinarian. PE devouring town centers, housing, healthcare, dentistry, care homes, pet care. Business model: high debt, price hikes, staff/wage cuts, monopolies built, low investment, tax abuse. PE owns 2000+ UK vets, little competition. Regulatory silence.jacobin.comPrivate Equity Is Taking Over Your VeterinarianPrivate equity is taking over veterinary services, driving up prices, and putting the pets we love at risk through its relentless pursuit of financial extraction. 25350162
Reposted by Martin ElliottPeter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Too often a crucial question goes unasked: is Palantir value for money for Britain? Me in the @theguardian.com on latest investigation from @lucasamin.bsky.social and I on the problems with Palantir in the UK www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comI investigated Palantir’s foothold in the British state – and what I found should worry us all | Peter GeogheganPaid-for political access and threadbare regulations have helped to embed the US tech firm in the NHS – and beyond. But there is a way to free ourselves, says Peter Geoghegan of Democracy for Sale 17354183
Reposted by Martin ElliottGeorge Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 13/07/2026There's a simple, fair and effective means of funding politics, which ensures that voters count and money doesn't. MPs: please stop messing about with proposals for donation caps, and press for a proper, democratic funding system. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comPolitical donations are poison to our democracy – but there’s an easy antidote to that | George MonbiotAs revelations about Reform UK’s donors emerge, it’s clear that increasingly complex forms of patronage can’t be regulated effectively. We need a clean sweep, says columnist George Monbiot 361033384
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Private equity controls large parts of UK economy & public services. It is opaque, lacks transparency and accountability. PE conceals ownership, uses complex structures, financial engineering: shifts profits offshore, engages in tax abuse Little information Company law is not fit-for-purpose.theguardian.com‘In stories like this, the data and the methodology are key’: when private equity meets public service journalismA team from across the Guardian set out to investigate the full extent of private equity’s stake in Britain’s public and essential services. The scale and opacity posed many challenges 5256117
Reposted by Martin ElliottMarcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 25/06/2026Govt strategy has always to been to underfund a public service until it breaks, then offer privatisation as the answer. Privatisation always provides a worse service at a higher price. Eg: we have most expensive trains in Europe & public subsidy is far greater than when trains were nationalised. 23414
Reposted by Martin ElliottMichael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 24/06/2026static.klipy.comLotr Treebeard in the Ancient ForestALT: Lotr Treebeard in the Ancient Forest 316032
Reposted by Martin ElliottRobert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 16/06/2026“I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.” —Thomas Jefferson 451912552
Reposted by Martin ElliottHeather Burns @heatherburnstech.bsky.social · 14/06/2026It is stunningly appropriate that Starmer is announcing the “Australia plus” ban on youth internet access nearly 10 years to the day of the Brexit referendum, because the online regime _is_ the purest legal and political embodiment of Brexit. As I said. internet.exchangepoint.tech/the-dog-that...internet.exchangepoint.techThe Dog that Caught the Car: Britain's 'World-Leading' InternetBilled as a “world-leading” child-protection law, the UK’s Online Safety Act has instead normalized surveillance and ID checks. “Tech policy wonk" Heather Burns writes that the model is spreading acro... 02812
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Curse of Tory Privatisation. UK faces deindustrialisation without relief from high energy cost. Energy companies profiteer. Thousands of jobs at risk. Discount schemes passing cost to other customers isn't the answer End profiteering. Nationalise energy.theguardian.comBritain ‘faces deindustrialisation’ without relief from high energy prices, survey warnsMake UK says manufacturers’ feedback shows sector at risk of collapse as it calls on Treasury to take action 1123684
Reposted by Martin ElliottPaul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 11/06/2026For those outside HE, please be aware that the TEF is a disaster, and no real measure of anything useful. 066
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 09/06/2026Lib Dems propose energy price discounts for all UK households. Don't need gimmicks. Just end energy company profiteering. Decouple price of gas produced electricity from the rest. Abolish VAT on domestic fuel. Move all evies to general taxation. Nationalise energy.bbc.co.ukLib Dems propose energy price discounts for all householdsThe party estimates savings of £100-a-year on average for every household under the scheme. 623686
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Since 1980, under the Thatcherite policies, 2.8m social homes sold, 1.9m in England for £51bn. In 2024, England homes were worth £430bn. Councils didn't receive full sales proceeds, couldn't replenish housing stock. Vital depts closed. Social homes down from 6.8m to 5.4m. Huge housing crisis.leftfootforward.orgThe housing crisis is manufactured. We can end it.Wage cuts and the right to buy are to blame 10306140
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 02/06/2026Reeves examines using private sector funds to build new towns. It is PFI renamed as public-private partnerships (PPP). The state guarantees corporate profits for decades. £1 private investment results in £6 govt repayment. Cheaper for govt to borrow. It can issue public bonds.theguardian.comReeves examines using private sector funds to speed building of new townsChancellor in talks with banks and investment funds about public-private partnerships to build infrastructure 33280145
Reposted by Martin ElliottNatalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 01/06/2026"Will they ever learn? A demonstration of the intellectual bankruptcy of this government in Rachel Reeves reportedly considering a return to Blair-style private finance initiative (PFI schemes, an approach still costing the NHS and many schools dearly." 1511345
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 20/05/2026Billionaire Trump donor, private equity boss in line to make millions from Thames Water bid. Attempted to fund Robert Jenrick’s bid for Tory party leadership. Wants exemptions from sewage dumping fines. Will extract returns, customers will be fleeced. Privatisation of essentials has failed.theguardian.comBillionaire Trump donor in line to make millions from Thames Water bidPaul Singer is founder of a leading creditor in the hedge fund consortium locked in talks with the UK government 18366248
Reposted by Martin ElliottArnab Dutt @arnabdutt.bsky.social · 18/05/2026This is nuts, the talk around carbon fuels powering AI data centres is utterly ignoring the findings of climate science. Data centres should only be built to use renewable energy. That's it. www.theguardian.com/business/202...theguardian.comMore than 100 UK datacentres plan to burn gas to generate electricityRequests for gas connections by operators amount to more than 15 terawatt hours per year, endangering climate targets 0189
Reposted by Martin ElliottGo Green @ecowarriorss.bsky.social · 18/05/2026So much life gone Industrial-scale fishing has removed “substantial biomass from the ocean’s twilight zone” for several decades These organisms that live in the mesopelagic zone, which is about 1,000-2,000 meters below the surface, have disappeared www.seafoodsource.com/news/environ...seafoodsource.comWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution finds evidence of heavy fishing in largely uncovered “twilight zone”Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution finds evidence of heavy fishing in largely uncovered “twilight zone” 19849
Reposted by Martin ElliottMarcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 09/05/2026Top tip for Starmer; Sort out ONE thing that is f***ing annoying everyone: Water. Stop the water companies paying their shareholders ever more and charging the rest of us ever more while filling our rivers and sea with shit. And do it quickly. 28326102
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 07/05/2026Curse of Private Equity Modella Capital to close up to 150 former WHSmith shops. Business model: high debt, asset-stripping, staff/wage cuts, restructuring to avoid paying unsecured creditors, little/no long-term commitment. Same owners gutted Claire's, The Original Factory Shop, Hobbycraft.theguardian.comUp to 150 former WH Smith stores face closure, putting thousands of jobs at riskModella Capital, which rebranded shops as TG Jones, unveils radical restructuring plan, including rent holidays 15221121
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 17/04/2026Corporate Welfare In the last 3 yrs UK Govt gave £100bn subsidy to banks in the form of interest on central reserves. Practice started in 2009 after govt created QE. It was supposed to compensate for ultra low interest rates. EU mostly stopped such payments in 2023 What would you do with £100bn?questions-statements.parliament.ukWritten questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK ParliamentInformation from UK Parliament on written questions & answers, written statements and daily reports. 1215789
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 17/04/2026Next CEO pay rose from £4.9m to £7.4m, could hit £9.27m this year. Company changed CEO pay formula because it didn't give directors enough. Non-exec directors to get higher pay. Most shop workers toil on/around minimum wage. Govts preach pay restraint to workers but no curbs on fat-cattery.theguardian.comNext chief Simon Wolfson paid record £7.4m – and could get far more this year‘Sustained outperformance’ merits pay rise, says company after it ups profit guidance to £1.2bn for year to January 2027 15275139
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 16/04/2026Corporate Welfare Drax claimed £999m subsidy for burning trees in 2025 to produce electricity. £8.7bn since 2012, more to come. Its electricity is the most expensive. Company made operating profit of £947m in 2025. Biggest single polluter in the UK.theguardian.comDrax claimed record £999m in subsidies for burning trees in 2025, thinktank saysCompany has received about £8.7bn in renewable energy subsidies since 2012, despite claims wood pellets are not sourced sustainably 10227133
Reposted by Martin ElliottPrem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 15/04/2026£64bn is the cost of UK capitulation to pharmaceutical companies and Trump. Secret deal commits the NHS to pay higher price for new and existing drugs No debate in parliament. Govt can tax the rich, cut other services, let people die, start manufacturing drugs and become self-reliant.thebureauinvestigates.comInside the £64bn pharma deal that could cost more lives than CovidWith the NHS on its knees, the UK has struck a secretive new drugs deal. But how was it made – and what will it really cost? 14319201
Reposted by Martin ElliottGo Green @ecowarriorss.bsky.social · 14/04/2026Trump has stated that he is not only going to mine the nodules, but also hydrothermal vents and metal-rich crusts on seamounts He is essentially going to nuke the deep sea ocean and nobody cares He is not only going to mine USA waters but also international waters 01913