Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 52mIt is obvious, but seems to have passed most commentators by. Just like all the other obvious stuff that they’d rather people didn’t know about. 000
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 58mI guess the double-taxation that is VAT doesn’t affect you if you don’t spend your income on goods, but use it to accumulate assets. 010
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 2hBBC axing The Artificial Human just as the whole World is debating ‘AI’ - mainly from a position of ignorance - seems a remarkable desertion of the BBC’s purpose. #bbc #r4 000
Reposted by Steve JaryPeter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 6h‘Now we turn to the controversy that is what is it to be English?’ Nick Robinson says on radio 4 today before talking about Badenoch and Braverman Couldn’t turn the dial quick enough 3538952
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 5h#r4today running with confected right wing ‘controversies’ again - debated by two right wing controversialists just so it’s ‘balanced’. This is how racism is being re-normalised. 000
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 17hMason bigging up Badenuff on #bbcnews No analysis at all. Parroting that inheritance tax is a tax on money that has already been taxed. Which, of course, it isn’t. Unlike VAT, or Council Tax. Or fuel duty. Or … [add pretty much every other tax here] 020
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 17hIsn’t it perplexing that the supposedly bestest country on earth can’t execute people effectively? 000
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 18hGet a heat pump. Ours has been ‘on’ all the time. Lots of hot water, but space heating hardly on at all until the last few days. And then only briefly - constant 19C. 010
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I wonder if Badenuf asked John Barnes and Ian Wright whether they remember the absence of racism against black England players “back in the(ir) day”. 000
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Looking forward to the next #PMQs. Bet Burnham gives Badenoch a hard stare before offering her a marmalade sandwich. 2660
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I think Andy will be quite pleased with that. Everyone loves Paddington. 060
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Badenuf celebrates the convicted criminal Jeffrey Archer, then slags off Reform for being a home for, er, convicted criminals. She really is a bit dumb, isn’t she? 010
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Badenuf’s family home exemption is fraught with difficulties. It’ll create perverse incentives (why downsize if that means more of your estate becomes liable?) And what’s the ‘family home’ - do you have to have lived in it as a youngster? My parents moved three times after I left. 000
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Badenuff celebrating the life of a convicted criminal. Not sure that’s a good look. 110
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Oops! When we said it’s OK to steal IP, we didn’t mean OUR IP. 140
Reposted by Steve JaryPaul Murphy @paulmurphy.bsky.social · 07/10/2026What no right-of-reply from Labour on Badenoch’s sneering criticisms of Labour? Curious because #R4today & Radio4 news bulletins always managed to include a Tory response to Labour conference speech announcements (that btw mostly had nothing to say about the Tories) 162
Reposted by Steve JaryPaul Murphy @paulmurphy.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Why focus on Inheritance tax paid? Because it’s paid by mostly Tory voters But because it’s unpopular, ‘most disliked tax in UK’ So please don’t be conned by BBC’s servile reports the Tories are moving beyond the populist culture wars #R4Today 184
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 07/10/2026The Tories seem to be running the argument that inheritance tax is immoral because it means “taxing twice”. OK. Let’s go with that for a second shall we? Any other immoral taxes? VAT? Council Tax? Actually, all taxes which are paid from income already reduced by income tax and NI? 4104
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Now that Chris had bought the notion that inheritance tax is wrong because it means “taxing twice”, I’m looking forward to the announcement of the abolition of VAT. After all, I’ve paid income tax and NI, so why tax my money again when I spend it? #r4today 1100
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I’m beginning to wonder whether Blair’s pitching to be the next Bond villain. 000
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 07/10/2026No obvious reason? How about ‘drill baby drill’ as the answer to the climate emergency and collapse of the ecosystem? 000
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Isn’t he just following the manifesto? Only two months ago, everyone was insisting that he must. 000
Reposted by Steve JaryOtto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Sarah Pochin raised "concerns" in parliament about the impact of second homes on rural communities. Two days later she purchased an £800,000 second home on Anglesey. Remarkable stuff. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.comReform MP raises concerns about second homes – then buys one for £800,000Sarah Pochin bought Anglesey property two days after writing to minister about impact of second homes on rural communities 1541776746
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I do hope Paddy O’Connell reads this and apologises for his fawning interview with Archer on Sunday. #bbcbh 030
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Yes. She was. But managed to embarrass herself nevertheless! 010
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Or a reward in a shabby hotel chain’s loyalty scheme. 000
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 06/10/2026RNLI smoke bomb - deployed so the Fash can’t find them? 120
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Chris Mason just lovin’ it. Forensic reporting from the Tory conference there. #bbcnews 010
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The BBC still swallowing Trump’s performative withdrawal from Fairford. If there’s a threat, why have they left their other aircraft there and all the other USAF bases in the UK? #bbcnews 010
Reposted by Steve Jaryarnie @arnie.bsky.social · 05/10/2026sometimes u see something that makes u feel like 'whats the fucking point anymore' & well, this is one of those times 3338
Reposted by Steve JaryJosiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 05/10/2026🔴 Conservative Plan to Scrap Solar Rules for New Homes Would Lock Millions Into Gas Use Pledge to abolish the Future Homes Standard is branded ‘a plan for poor housing and high bills’ by fuel poverty campaigners, as the solar sector urges the party to think again bylinetimes.com/2026/10/05/c...bylinetimes.comConservative Plan to Scrap Solar Rules for New Homes Would Lock Millions Into Gas UsePledge to abolish the Future Homes Standard is branded 'a plan for poor housing and high bills' by fuel poverty campaigners, as the solar sector urges the party to think again 18235128
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026And how many of those reports were written by, or relied mainly on evidence from, the developers? There’s a reason for all those political donations, you know. 🤫 100
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026It’s a market - the only incentive they respond to is price. Unless you’re going to subsidise them. Which brings us back to Council housing… 000
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026They often finance the build out with sales - another reason for dribbling houses out in ‘phases’. The problem for governments is they don’t control any of these factors. 100
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The supply problem is multifactorial. Materials and labour are two factors. Suitable land is another (although developers aren’t really interested in appropriate sites, they want to build in land they can get cheaply). The main factor is the developers’ business model: build slowly to maintain price 200
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026And yet, the Tories started talking about adaptation instead of net zero just a few months ago. Adapting housing to cope with a 2% increase in average global temperatures will cost a hell of a lot more than £50k. 000
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Yes. That’s the point: government can’t expect to hit a target when it has no control over supply or demand! 010
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The only explanation we need of US Frat houses is this: just like the Bullingdon Club. #r4today 060
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026It’s like summer never happened. Even if they’re giving up on net zero, they were saying we should adapt instead just a couple of months ago. Obviously they don’t really mean that - additional housebuilding costs would be considerable if they go for adaptation! 100
Reposted by Steve JaryTony Iles @tonyeye.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Tories going full-on Trumpian. Heat pumps, insulation, etc. do not add £50k to house cost. Scrapping the EA extraordinary. I presume Tories want completely unregulated pollution of our air, water, & land? Or do we rely on the corporate responsibility demonstrated by the Water Cos? #r4today 2168
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Surely an LLM prompted to debunk a conspiracy theory can equally be promoted (or, more deeply, trained) to amplify and embed that conspiracy theory? See Grok? 010
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Government housebuilding targets have never been met. You’d think someone would have worked out that current methods can’t simply be stepped up. Cutting regulation to speed things up won’t make any difference. Developers don’t want to speed things up - it’ll reduce prices. #r4today 130
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The BBC’s appetite for treating Trump’s latest performative act as a genuine, evidence-based decision knows no bounds. #RAFFairford #r4today 171
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Good of the USAF to release another base for asylum seekers. #r4today 020
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026So, the USA didn’t really need ‘RAF’ Fairford, after all? #r4today 182
Steve Jary @unionsteve.bsky.social · 05/10/2026A programme of environmental destruction seems an odd way to go about getting elected. #Tories #r4today 171
Reposted by Steve JaryProf Katherine Schofield 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇪🇺 @katherineschof8.bsky.social · 04/10/2026It's that time of year again when we need to remind National Trust members that Restore Trust is a dark-money funded right-wing astroturfing entryist outfit. Please vote, and vote for literally anyone else. 3277162