@smkali.bsky.social
Reposted
"Just like in Kent, Reform are finding out that making big pledges about cutting wasteful spending is the easy part. When you actually get to the governing, it all becomes a lot more difficult."
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/reform-durham-county-council-darren-grimes-400775/
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/reform-durham-county-council-darren-grimes-400775/
Darren Grimes' Reform council sees financial black hole grow by £11m
The financial black hole of Reform-controlled Durham County Council - where Darren Grimes is deputy leader - has grown by £11.1m in two months.
www.thelondoneconomic.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:01 PM
"Just like in Kent, Reform are finding out that making big pledges about cutting wasteful spending is the easy part. When you actually get to the governing, it all becomes a lot more difficult."
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/reform-durham-county-council-darren-grimes-400775/
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/reform-durham-county-council-darren-grimes-400775/
Genuinely delightful podcast and really interesting
BRAND NEW 🍏 How Do You Like Them Apples? 🍎
From the Garden of Hesperides to the Garden of Eden, from the Atalanta and the Trojan War to The Beatles and the iPhone, apples are laden with often conflicting symbolism.
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/70jw...
🎧 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
From the Garden of Hesperides to the Garden of Eden, from the Atalanta and the Trojan War to The Beatles and the iPhone, apples are laden with often conflicting symbolism.
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/70jw...
🎧 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
BONUS - How Do You Like Them Golden Apples?
open.spotify.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Genuinely delightful podcast and really interesting
Even if we assume Vinay Prasad's figures are correct, in 2 years of the pandemic 10 kids died of the vaccine while roughly 456 kids died of covid.
Wait, I was told 19 kids dead in a single month didn’t matter.
November 29, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Even if we assume Vinay Prasad's figures are correct, in 2 years of the pandemic 10 kids died of the vaccine while roughly 456 kids died of covid.
Reposted
Persuasive letter on populism as a cognitive short-cut in the @financialtimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Persuasive letter on populism as a cognitive short-cut in the @financialtimes.com
Reposted
Huge respect to the papers for finding both an 88 year old worried about the tax bill on her 6 bedroom Kensington house and a 20 year old fretting about only being able to save £12k a year tax free.
Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.
Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.
November 29, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Huge respect to the papers for finding both an 88 year old worried about the tax bill on her 6 bedroom Kensington house and a 20 year old fretting about only being able to save £12k a year tax free.
Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.
Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.
Reposted
I like the analogy (alluded to in that thread) that vaccines are like giving the local cops mugshots of people to watch out for, rather than having them wait until after someone starts trouble locally to do anything.
November 27, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I like the analogy (alluded to in that thread) that vaccines are like giving the local cops mugshots of people to watch out for, rather than having them wait until after someone starts trouble locally to do anything.
Reposted
@bachynski.bsky.social says that vaccines are like an athlete’s training regimen. All they do is get your body in shape to play the game (fight infection) on its own.
💉 One thing I rarely see explained is how vaccination *is* "natural immunity".
The immunity is developed by your body not the vaccine. The vaccine itself doesn’t do the work.
I think the confusion partly comes from a phrase scientists use. 🧵⬇️
1/n
The immunity is developed by your body not the vaccine. The vaccine itself doesn’t do the work.
I think the confusion partly comes from a phrase scientists use. 🧵⬇️
1/n
RFK Jr.’s new CDC deputy director prefers “natural immunity” over vaccines
Ralph Abraham is “dangerous,” but somehow not the worst among those considered.
arstechnica.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:04 PM
@bachynski.bsky.social says that vaccines are like an athlete’s training regimen. All they do is get your body in shape to play the game (fight infection) on its own.
Reposted
Reposted
god I hope Olivia Nuzzi never gets paid even one more cent by a single publication for the rest of her life
November 26, 2025 at 10:29 PM
god I hope Olivia Nuzzi never gets paid even one more cent by a single publication for the rest of her life
Starting the Mansion Tax at 2M is smart. It’s hard to pretend it’s mostly elderly people whose homes accidentally skyrocketed in value. I likewise think increasing inheritance tax after ~3M would also be hard to spin as “unfair”. It needs to be just above the price where the public are sympathetic.
November 26, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Starting the Mansion Tax at 2M is smart. It’s hard to pretend it’s mostly elderly people whose homes accidentally skyrocketed in value. I likewise think increasing inheritance tax after ~3M would also be hard to spin as “unfair”. It needs to be just above the price where the public are sympathetic.
Should bring it in a lot sooner but otherwise good.
100% here for killing Shein and Temu. More of this sort of thing. #Budget
November 26, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Should bring it in a lot sooner but otherwise good.
I’m a big fan of “sin taxes” because they’re taxes on things people don’t need. Either people don’t change behaviour and you raise a lot of money, or they do change behaviour and the public’s lives improve. It’s win - win.
Delighted to see the Chancellor has taken forward the recommendation from Gordon Brown, @smfthinktank.bsky.social and @ippr.org to increase taxes on gambling. We called for this hugely profitable industry to contribute to ending the two child limit for benefits
November 26, 2025 at 1:39 PM
I’m a big fan of “sin taxes” because they’re taxes on things people don’t need. Either people don’t change behaviour and you raise a lot of money, or they do change behaviour and the public’s lives improve. It’s win - win.
Reposted
Reeves: "We are ramping up sanctions on Russia and we are freezing known Russian assets. But let me be clear, I don't actually mean the honourable mention for Clacton."
November 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reeves: "We are ramping up sanctions on Russia and we are freezing known Russian assets. But let me be clear, I don't actually mean the honourable mention for Clacton."
Reposted
This is exactly what the recent Trump-BBC 'scandal' was designed to achieve. The BBC is now self-censoring criticisms of Trump in the name of "impartiality"
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 10:26 AM
This is exactly what the recent Trump-BBC 'scandal' was designed to achieve. The BBC is now self-censoring criticisms of Trump in the name of "impartiality"
Reposted
Oh no, my mountain of free money is slightly smaller than I would have hoped! To the papers!
November 24, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Oh no, my mountain of free money is slightly smaller than I would have hoped! To the papers!
Reposted
X rolled out a new feature overnight showing where accounts are based. This network of “Trump-supporting independent women” that claimed to be “real Americans” are based in Thailand.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
November 23, 2025 at 12:55 PM
X rolled out a new feature overnight showing where accounts are based. This network of “Trump-supporting independent women” that claimed to be “real Americans” are based in Thailand.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
Reposted
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
What I genuinely don't understand is Labour went very hard against immigration for a year, and their popularity plummeted. Why are they doubling down on a failing strategy? Even if they had no moral issues with it, pure Machivallian survival would tell them to focus their comms on something else...
November 18, 2025 at 7:12 PM
What I genuinely don't understand is Labour went very hard against immigration for a year, and their popularity plummeted. Why are they doubling down on a failing strategy? Even if they had no moral issues with it, pure Machivallian survival would tell them to focus their comms on something else...
Reposted
As a man, nothing will turn you into a radical feminist faster than the first time you're shown the twitter mentions and DM requests of literally any woman on the internet.
We don't need a Joe Rogan of the left. We need Bryan to see what his sister's LinkedIn Message Requests folder looks like.
We don't need a Joe Rogan of the left. We need Bryan to see what his sister's LinkedIn Message Requests folder looks like.
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
November 18, 2025 at 4:55 PM
As a man, nothing will turn you into a radical feminist faster than the first time you're shown the twitter mentions and DM requests of literally any woman on the internet.
We don't need a Joe Rogan of the left. We need Bryan to see what his sister's LinkedIn Message Requests folder looks like.
We don't need a Joe Rogan of the left. We need Bryan to see what his sister's LinkedIn Message Requests folder looks like.
Reposted
Some of the people in this article have shared their recollections with me before - but on condition of anonymity. Coming forward now is an act of patriotism. Farage’s claim that it never happened is the opposite.
(Note also the line about pronouncing his name.)
www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...
(Note also the line about pronouncing his name.)
www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...
‘Deeply shocking’: Nigel Farage faces fresh claims of racism and antisemitism at school
Bafta-winning director among contemporaries urging contrition and apology from Reform UK leader, who denies the allegations
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Some of the people in this article have shared their recollections with me before - but on condition of anonymity. Coming forward now is an act of patriotism. Farage’s claim that it never happened is the opposite.
(Note also the line about pronouncing his name.)
www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...
(Note also the line about pronouncing his name.)
www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...
Reposted
"It is terrible that Shabana Mahmood faces overt racism for being a high profile Asian woman" = good argument
"The key to ending overt racism against Asians in Britain is that we must Stop the Boats" = a very bad argument indeed, on so many levels
"The key to ending overt racism against Asians in Britain is that we must Stop the Boats" = a very bad argument indeed, on so many levels
November 17, 2025 at 11:23 PM
"It is terrible that Shabana Mahmood faces overt racism for being a high profile Asian woman" = good argument
"The key to ending overt racism against Asians in Britain is that we must Stop the Boats" = a very bad argument indeed, on so many levels
"The key to ending overt racism against Asians in Britain is that we must Stop the Boats" = a very bad argument indeed, on so many levels
The essence of populism is easy answers to complex problems.
New post just out:
"The Reality Trap"
On Reform's struggles running councils.
What it tells us about how they'd fare if they won a general elections. And about how broken our system of local government is.
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
"The Reality Trap"
On Reform's struggles running councils.
What it tells us about how they'd fare if they won a general elections. And about how broken our system of local government is.
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
The Reality Trap
Reform's struggles in local government
open.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:50 PM
The essence of populism is easy answers to complex problems.
Reposted
London is also diverse. It's hugely multicultural, and it's a largely tolerant and welcoming place.
Sure it has it's problems and the housing crisis is a big one.
But the haters don't hate this city because of that.
They hate it because it stands as living proof that multiculturalism works.
Sure it has it's problems and the housing crisis is a big one.
But the haters don't hate this city because of that.
They hate it because it stands as living proof that multiculturalism works.
November 16, 2025 at 5:31 PM
London is also diverse. It's hugely multicultural, and it's a largely tolerant and welcoming place.
Sure it has it's problems and the housing crisis is a big one.
But the haters don't hate this city because of that.
They hate it because it stands as living proof that multiculturalism works.
Sure it has it's problems and the housing crisis is a big one.
But the haters don't hate this city because of that.
They hate it because it stands as living proof that multiculturalism works.
Reposted
Mo Farah, trafficked to UK aged 9 in 1992. Teacher Alan Watkinson secures citizenship after 8 years here, 2000 (aged 17) so he could travel abroad as GB athlete
Under future rules
Renew status? 1995, 98 x6
Eligible settlement after 20 years (2012)
Citizenship 2013
news.sky.com/story/sir-mo...
Under future rules
Renew status? 1995, 98 x6
Eligible settlement after 20 years (2012)
Citizenship 2013
news.sky.com/story/sir-mo...
Sir Mo Farah reveals 'the truth' about how he came to the UK
The Olympic star was warned speaking out could put his British citizenship at "real risk" - but it is understood the Home Office is taking no action against him.
news.sky.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Mo Farah, trafficked to UK aged 9 in 1992. Teacher Alan Watkinson secures citizenship after 8 years here, 2000 (aged 17) so he could travel abroad as GB athlete
Under future rules
Renew status? 1995, 98 x6
Eligible settlement after 20 years (2012)
Citizenship 2013
news.sky.com/story/sir-mo...
Under future rules
Renew status? 1995, 98 x6
Eligible settlement after 20 years (2012)
Citizenship 2013
news.sky.com/story/sir-mo...
Reposted
It takes an obscene amount of hubris to lecture the BBC when you have The Telegraph’s record on truth-telling.
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
The Telegraph’s BBC hypocrisy
A paper that knows a thing or two about editorial f*ck-ups...
writesbright.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:48 PM
It takes an obscene amount of hubris to lecture the BBC when you have The Telegraph’s record on truth-telling.
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻