@firstprinciples.bsky.social
this
The British press poses a genuine and profound threat to our democracy and our shared prosperity. They howl out their right wing, wealth-protecting agenda and want Farage as PM. We will all pay a very high price for their selfish greed and their utter indifference to social inequality.
November 29, 2025 at 6:37 PM
this
Why, it's almost as if these 'newspapers' are owned by millionaires who might have to pay a bit more council tax that they won't even notice
The sheer scale of media outrage this week about plans to lift hundreds of thousands children out of poverty, by taxing millionaire homeowners, tells you everything you need to know about the real priorities of the British press
www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-real-b...
www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-real-b...
The Real 'Benefits Street' Protecting Britain's Wealthiest
The sheer scale of outrage about plans to lift children out of poverty, by taxing millionaire homeowners, tells you everything you need to know about the priorities of the British press
www.adambienkov.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Why, it's almost as if these 'newspapers' are owned by millionaires who might have to pay a bit more council tax that they won't even notice
Amen
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Amen
Brexit: the grift that keeps on taking
Fantastic column by @rafaelbehr.bsky.social this:
Rachel Reeves has many problems. She’s realising that her Brexit bind may be the biggest of all | Rafael Behr
Brutal economic realities are prompting a shift in Labour’s tone on Europe. But will it dare tell the whole truth about Britain’s predicament, asks Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Brexit: the grift that keeps on taking
Spot-on diagnosis of UK woes
Yep - neonazism & xenophobic isolationism have long been known to be economy-killers. Truly from outside looking in - your press is 100% the problem. It elevates people who don't have a following until it gets the following it wants them to have. All bc they're saying something outrageous.
November 24, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Spot-on diagnosis of UK woes
this is correct
If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?
November 24, 2025 at 1:16 PM
this is correct
This applies so much in Britain too
I am really losing patience with Americans who treat their elected officials like celebrities they have to defend, instead of representatives they have to hold responsible. Grow the fuck up. Millions of lives are at stake.
November 23, 2025 at 4:55 PM
This applies so much in Britain too
Excellent exposition of the moral blindness and intellectual incapacity of those who denigrate empathy, altruism and basic human decency as 'virtue signalling'
When they say Trump calling a reporter "piggy" is "just being honest," they are revealing a key feature of the reactionary mind: it believes, at a deep brainstem level, that *everyone* is awful & selfish & ugly on the inside. Everyone just suppresses it out of fear of social disapproval. Not Trump!
November 21, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Excellent exposition of the moral blindness and intellectual incapacity of those who denigrate empathy, altruism and basic human decency as 'virtue signalling'
Reposted
Obviously why use it in the first place etc etc but I'm still just amazed by people who see Grok barf out whatever hateful racist garbage or more recently obsequious praise of Elon and then continue to use it. What you saw wasn't a "bug," that was a peek at what the thing actually does
November 21, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Obviously why use it in the first place etc etc but I'm still just amazed by people who see Grok barf out whatever hateful racist garbage or more recently obsequious praise of Elon and then continue to use it. What you saw wasn't a "bug," that was a peek at what the thing actually does
Reposted
Remember: The oligarchs who control our economy and democracy seek to divide us so they can become more powerful.
They want us to turn on each other so we don't look up and see where all the wealth and power have gone.
Don't fall for it.
They want us to turn on each other so we don't look up and see where all the wealth and power have gone.
Don't fall for it.
November 21, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Remember: The oligarchs who control our economy and democracy seek to divide us so they can become more powerful.
They want us to turn on each other so we don't look up and see where all the wealth and power have gone.
Don't fall for it.
They want us to turn on each other so we don't look up and see where all the wealth and power have gone.
Don't fall for it.
Brexit was shooting ourselves in both feet. The continuing hostility to migrants is cutting ourselves off at the knees
“We may now be reaching a tipping point where our failure is so severe that Brits and immigrants alike have decided this is not a country they want to live in”
The slowest of handclaps to all who made hostility towards immigrants damage this country for everyone.
liveapp.inews.co.uk/category/405...
The slowest of handclaps to all who made hostility towards immigrants damage this country for everyone.
liveapp.inews.co.uk/category/405...
November 19, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Brexit was shooting ourselves in both feet. The continuing hostility to migrants is cutting ourselves off at the knees
Reposted
For Americans trying to understand why Starmer is so unpopular, he inherited a country with high borrowing costs, no/low growth, gutted public services and the impact of Brexit & Covid.
There was no painless way to deal with that package, meaning courage and clarity were essential.
Instead, this:
There was no painless way to deal with that package, meaning courage and clarity were essential.
Instead, this:
November 19, 2025 at 11:57 AM
For Americans trying to understand why Starmer is so unpopular, he inherited a country with high borrowing costs, no/low growth, gutted public services and the impact of Brexit & Covid.
There was no painless way to deal with that package, meaning courage and clarity were essential.
Instead, this:
There was no painless way to deal with that package, meaning courage and clarity were essential.
Instead, this:
Reposted
Receipts from 8 years ago - and yes Andy Wigmore did refer this to Farage’s lawyers
November 18, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Receipts from 8 years ago - and yes Andy Wigmore did refer this to Farage’s lawyers
Reposted
Seems like a good day to remind everyone that Jared Kushner advised Saudi Crown Prince MBS on how to “weather the storm” after his hit squad slaughtered American journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
November 18, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Seems like a good day to remind everyone that Jared Kushner advised Saudi Crown Prince MBS on how to “weather the storm” after his hit squad slaughtered American journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Given a chance, refugees will contribute
A lovely story of mutual aid - refugees are welcome here: labourhub.org.uk/2025/11/17/n...
“No amount of concessions will be enough for the forces of reaction”
By Glyn Robbins I don’t usually share this story. But, on the day the Labour government (“a Labour government”) introduces laws that, when I was growing up in multi-ethnic East London, were the pre…
labourhub.org.uk
November 18, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Given a chance, refugees will contribute
Reposted
Bloody left wing bias etc etc etc
November 17, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Bloody left wing bias etc etc etc
Reposted
Starmer’s anti-asylum policies show how utterly clueless he is about the right-wing media’s role in politics.
He’s trying to fix a “problem” contrived by Farage, GB News and The Telegraph. He’ll never win, because ultimately he’s fighting a ghost – he’s fighting something that doesn’t really exist
He’s trying to fix a “problem” contrived by Farage, GB News and The Telegraph. He’ll never win, because ultimately he’s fighting a ghost – he’s fighting something that doesn’t really exist
November 17, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Starmer’s anti-asylum policies show how utterly clueless he is about the right-wing media’s role in politics.
He’s trying to fix a “problem” contrived by Farage, GB News and The Telegraph. He’ll never win, because ultimately he’s fighting a ghost – he’s fighting something that doesn’t really exist
He’s trying to fix a “problem” contrived by Farage, GB News and The Telegraph. He’ll never win, because ultimately he’s fighting a ghost – he’s fighting something that doesn’t really exist
Reposted
“Let’s try and make it so that everyone has everything they need.”
“But isn’t that unfair to the people who ALREADY have everything they need?”
“But isn’t that unfair to the people who ALREADY have everything they need?”
November 16, 2025 at 6:12 PM
“Let’s try and make it so that everyone has everything they need.”
“But isn’t that unfair to the people who ALREADY have everything they need?”
“But isn’t that unfair to the people who ALREADY have everything they need?”
Reposted
Byline Times is probably the most important media outlet in this Country in these troubled times.
November 16, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Byline Times is probably the most important media outlet in this Country in these troubled times.
Reposted
I look at the gov't right now and I keep thinking back to a piece by @iandunt.bsky.social years ago, about how he got lost in the jungle and - I paraphrase - was so scared of stopping, accepting he was lost, and recalibrating, that he kept walking, kept making decisions that got him more lost.
ICE-style raids on Britain's streets: that's all Labour's brutal asylum reforms will achieve: Stella Creasy
“That the number of people seeking refuge in the UK has increased in the past year reflects not a generosity of our system, but the chaos of our world”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
“That the number of people seeking refuge in the UK has increased in the past year reflects not a generosity of our system, but the chaos of our world”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
ICE-style raids on Britain's streets: that's all Labour's brutal asylum reforms will achieve | Stella Creasy
If we want to ‘stop the boats’, we need to stop the BS when it comes to what creates refugees, and how to respond to them, says Labour MP Stella Creasy
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:22 AM
I look at the gov't right now and I keep thinking back to a piece by @iandunt.bsky.social years ago, about how he got lost in the jungle and - I paraphrase - was so scared of stopping, accepting he was lost, and recalibrating, that he kept walking, kept making decisions that got him more lost.
This thread shows how immigration is seen as a 'national' issue but isn;t tope of most people's personal priorities, or even close
Yesterday, we put out a report on the most important issues to voters.
We know that immigration now tops the traditional most important issues question (see below from @yougov.co.uk).
But that doesn't tell the full story.
Here is a rundown of the experiments we did to test this out (A THREAD):
We know that immigration now tops the traditional most important issues question (see below from @yougov.co.uk).
But that doesn't tell the full story.
Here is a rundown of the experiments we did to test this out (A THREAD):
November 17, 2025 at 2:43 PM
This thread shows how immigration is seen as a 'national' issue but isn;t tope of most people's personal priorities, or even close
Reposted
I hope every Labour MP considering whether to support Shabana Mahmood's asylum plans remembers Nigel Farage's assessment that the “Home Secretary sounds like a Reform supporter.”
If they support them they will too.
If they support them they will too.
November 17, 2025 at 7:19 AM
I hope every Labour MP considering whether to support Shabana Mahmood's asylum plans remembers Nigel Farage's assessment that the “Home Secretary sounds like a Reform supporter.”
If they support them they will too.
If they support them they will too.
'Wrong and stupid': Chris Grey nails the self-defeating dumbness of the current government, leaving us all wondering how they can be so crap
Everything about the current 'debate' around this is dismal, not just morally but because it is so stupid. For example:
It conflates asylum-seeking and illegal immigration (and sometimes with migration generally)
It shows no understanding of why there is AS
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... 1/3
It conflates asylum-seeking and illegal immigration (and sometimes with migration generally)
It shows no understanding of why there is AS
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... 1/3
Asylum system in UK ‘out of control’ and dividing country, home secretary says
Shabana Mahmood to unveil new proposals modelled on Denmark’s controversial system
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:52 PM
'Wrong and stupid': Chris Grey nails the self-defeating dumbness of the current government, leaving us all wondering how they can be so crap
Appalling and self-defeating move from Labour
This is as bad as anything proposed by Reform.
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Appalling and self-defeating move from Labour
Farage doing f*ck all for his constituents while coining it with side jobs
Meanwhile… the grifting liar and Brexiter in chief, Farage… rakes it in from jobs *other than* being a constituency MP… and his constituency rots. Made poorer and angrier by his Brexit.
When they say everything is broken, this is what they mean.
(Private Eye)
When they say everything is broken, this is what they mean.
(Private Eye)
November 14, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Farage doing f*ck all for his constituents while coining it with side jobs