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James Leakyboots Batty

@jamesbatty.bsky.social

2.2K followers 3.5K following 1.8K posts

I run a charity with my wife (One And All Aid), which funds education for Yezidis, following the 2014 genocide. In my spare time I fish and write. Two fishing books have been published, and my new book is a comedy adventure novel, Criminal Bycatch.

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James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 1h

Liz the Lettuce Truss cites Milei as one of her favourite leaders. Embarrassingly, when asked about Truss, he'd no idea who she was.
But clearly her plan to save the west in 10 years involves turning the UK into a vassal state controlled by Trump's dementia-dollars.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 2h

Bertrand Russell was a beaut. And he patted me on the head when I was about 12 - on an Aldermaston march.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 2h

This doesn't surprise me at all. As a long term member of the LP, I now see the Greens as my natural political home. Not my dream home, but I can live with that.

The LP, meanwhile, seems like a Nigel Farage tribute band, with a guest appearance from George Osborne.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 2h

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Reposted by James Leakyboots Batty

Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 3h

More of this across the board from politicians please. You can disagree with @zackpolanski.bsky.social and the @greenparty.org.uk on issues, but you have to admit they are the only ones actually taking the rhetoric, fully and uncompromisingly, on immigration back from Reform.

Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 4h

British.

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James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 3h

I live Billy Bragg's versions. Also the one by the Resistance Revival Chorus with Rhiannon Giddens.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 3h

Agreed, an umbrella is useless. Agreed also that they hurt like hell.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 3h

We have 20mph areas where I live, I'm a fan. Holidaymakers don't know the layout, pedestrians wander into the road, at 20mph you can adjust.
Often someone behind me flashes the headlights & hoots the horn when I'm on the limit. I delight in stopping in the middle of the road to point at the signs.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 5h

Inevitable once supposedly left politicians (Labour) refused to call out the bigots of Reform, using weasel words about 'legitimate concerns'.
My town has care workers from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Botswana - those are the ones I've met. Happy to say they're treated with respect & affection.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 5h

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James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 5h

"Anyone who knows of a provable instance of colour discrimination ought always to expose it. Otherwise the tiny percentage of colour-snobs who exist among us can make endless mischief, and the British people are given a bad name which, as a whole, they do not deserve."
Orwell in Tribune

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 6h

I'd put Eric Clapton on the list, though his racist diatribes were part of the groundswell that created Rock Against Racism.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 6h

David Byrne is top of my list.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 10h

I'll go even further: don't go to the wedding.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 15h

Bob Azzam. I loved "Mustapha" as a child, and it stuck.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 15h

Another oldie here. I was imagining a meeting where participants had to do a handstand or assume the lotus position before they could speak; which, on reflection, would improve a lot of the meetings I attended.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 15h

Best wishes.
On my last trip to the ER I was treated by a Syrian, a Bangladeshi, a Filipino, and a Zimbabwean. They were brilliant, and they kept the mood light by taking the piss out of the consultant's accent (he was a Scot).

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 15h

That brings back memories; of The Clash, blissfully I had forgotten The Police, and will do so again in about 30 seconds.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 16h

A cheerful story; & it takes place in Newlyn, near where I live, & a location for my new novel (Criminal Bycatch).

On the subject of Newlyn, we had guests & took them there for a treat supper at Argoe. All seafood, top notch, but you need to book well ahead.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘When I pass piles of fishing nets, I see piles of money’: a one man recycling revolution on the Cornish coast

Determined to find a solution to the discarded plastic nets, Ian Falconer found a way to convert them into filament for 3D printing, for use in products from motorbikes to sunglasses

www.theguardian.com

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James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 16h

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James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 1d

I marked the occasion with Elvis Costello.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi_Y...

Tramp the Dirt Down

YouTube video by Elvis Costello - Topic

www.youtube.com

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 1d

I think the message resonates better thus: "Farage's Brexit made you poorer. It made him and his dodgy billionaire pals a lot richer. Don't let him do it again"

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James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 1d

I'm prepared to believe this was an oversight. Set against the real Russian money Reform has been paid, I bet a Michelin starred supper is chump change.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 1d

#SoftenABand

Diana Ross & the Markedly Superiors

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 1d

#SoftenABand

James Brown and the Somewhat Familiar Flames