JWexTheSpa
@jwsidders.bsky.social
South West England via the Midlands but made in NW5.
Spurs, Spain and social democracy. I like a hike.
Spurs, Spain and social democracy. I like a hike.
Pinned
JWexTheSpa
@jwsidders.bsky.social
· Dec 15
Apologies to all those I follow and missed - I couldn’t work out how to do it properly. Please add names and links. The key here is it’s people who post mostly in English - not Spanish - about Spain and Spain-related stuff.
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
Kinnock voice - "I’ll tell you what happens with impossible promises. You start with far-fetched resolutions....and you end up in the grotesque chaos of a Labour government, a *Labour* government, rejecting visas for homeless 8 yr olds trying to joing their parents"
November 28, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Kinnock voice - "I’ll tell you what happens with impossible promises. You start with far-fetched resolutions....and you end up in the grotesque chaos of a Labour government, a *Labour* government, rejecting visas for homeless 8 yr olds trying to joing their parents"
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
The Blue Labour right have become the Militant of 2025 - a tiny but hyperactive and densely networked sect working relentlessly to drag Labour towards their niche pursuits and away from the values and priorities of core Labour voters.
November 28, 2025 at 10:44 AM
The Blue Labour right have become the Militant of 2025 - a tiny but hyperactive and densely networked sect working relentlessly to drag Labour towards their niche pursuits and away from the values and priorities of core Labour voters.
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
Alemania pide perdón en Gernika por el bombardeo nazi de 1937 con el rey de España como testigo silencioso
Alemania pide perdón en Gernika por el bombardeo nazi de 1937 con el rey de España como testigo silencioso
El presidente Frank-Walter Steinmeier deposita una corona de claveles blancos y se reúne con dos supervivientes nonagenarias en el mayor gesto de desagravio en 88 años
www.eldiario.es
November 28, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Alemania pide perdón en Gernika por el bombardeo nazi de 1937 con el rey de España como testigo silencioso
It is morally wrong to pay pensions is a brave statement from a politician whose party is entirely reliant on the over 60 vote.
Kemi Badenoch says welfare spending is unchristian
Kemi Badenoch says welfare spending is unchristian
Kemi Badenoch says welfare spending is unchristian
www.thetimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 1:18 PM
It is morally wrong to pay pensions is a brave statement from a politician whose party is entirely reliant on the over 60 vote.
Edgy posts on X to own the libs and minor public school sixth form debating points do not necessarily translate into sensible real world political commentary.
Kemi Badenoch says welfare spending is unchristian
Kemi Badenoch says welfare spending is unchristian
Kemi Badenoch says welfare spending is unchristian
www.thetimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Edgy posts on X to own the libs and minor public school sixth form debating points do not necessarily translate into sensible real world political commentary.
What a deeply unpleasant man Rachel Reeves's uncle is.
‘It’s a disgrace’ — Rachel Reeves’s uncle gives budget verdict ⬇️
‘It’s a disgrace’ — Rachel Reeves’s uncle gives budget verdict
‘It’s a disgrace’ — Rachel Reeves’s uncle gives budget verdict
www.thetimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 1:11 PM
What a deeply unpleasant man Rachel Reeves's uncle is.
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
*Kemi reading the bible*
"suffer little children"
well that's enough for today, think I got the gist of it
"suffer little children"
well that's enough for today, think I got the gist of it
November 28, 2025 at 11:54 AM
*Kemi reading the bible*
"suffer little children"
well that's enough for today, think I got the gist of it
"suffer little children"
well that's enough for today, think I got the gist of it
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
I agree with this piece.
I'd also say Labour is in denial about who votes for it these days.
Hammering higher earning working age people in favour of pension benefits (who will never vote for them) will not end well for them
I'd also say Labour is in denial about who votes for it these days.
Hammering higher earning working age people in favour of pension benefits (who will never vote for them) will not end well for them
This was a Budget born of political and intellectual weakness, not strength
Labour has to realise that moving the pieces on the board is not e enough. Affluence is essential for social democracy. And there isn't a plan to create it.
Latest from me 👇
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Labour has to realise that moving the pieces on the board is not e enough. Affluence is essential for social democracy. And there isn't a plan to create it.
Latest from me 👇
substack.com/home/post/p-...
A budget born of weakness, not of strength
Labour needs affluence to remake society. Yet it seems curiously uninterested in creating it.
substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:26 AM
I agree with this piece.
I'd also say Labour is in denial about who votes for it these days.
Hammering higher earning working age people in favour of pension benefits (who will never vote for them) will not end well for them
I'd also say Labour is in denial about who votes for it these days.
Hammering higher earning working age people in favour of pension benefits (who will never vote for them) will not end well for them
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
Welcome Shabana Mahmood to your next four years of headlines!!!
Foreign doctors trained by the NHS face deportation under visa rules
Foreign doctors trained by the NHS face deportation under visa rules
www.thetimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Welcome Shabana Mahmood to your next four years of headlines!!!
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
The (obvious in advance) limits of the government's strategy since it took office: a budget in which the majority of individual items poll well, yet people think it is the most unfair budget since YouGov started polling on this question.
% who say each 2025 Budget policy was the 'right thing to do' (1/3)
Increase gambling taxes: 82%
Freeze rail fares: 82%
Reducing energy bills by £150 a year by reducing green levies: 75%
Increasing minimum wage: 71%
Mansion tax: 67%
Decreasing biz rates for retail/hospitality/leisure: 64%
Increase gambling taxes: 82%
Freeze rail fares: 82%
Reducing energy bills by £150 a year by reducing green levies: 75%
Increasing minimum wage: 71%
Mansion tax: 67%
Decreasing biz rates for retail/hospitality/leisure: 64%
November 27, 2025 at 11:12 PM
The (obvious in advance) limits of the government's strategy since it took office: a budget in which the majority of individual items poll well, yet people think it is the most unfair budget since YouGov started polling on this question.
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
Probably applicable to, "you shouldn't have kids if you can't afford them", followed ten years later by "bloody feral kids everywhere, lock the vermin up!"
My much repeated story - around 2013 when I worked in local government, the BBC reported on a survey that found most people hadn’t noticed any effect of austerity. A colleague said, “people are going to get up one day, look around and say this place is a shit hole, what happened?”
November 28, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Probably applicable to, "you shouldn't have kids if you can't afford them", followed ten years later by "bloody feral kids everywhere, lock the vermin up!"
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
Also not all welfare spending is the same. Eliminating child poverty is to an extent not just redistribution but an investment in their education, employment, future earnings, tax payments, and propensity to be involved in crime.
Welfare spending is currently 1.2% of GDP *lower* than in 2012-13.
Abolition of two-child cap is best viewed as a correction than an increase.
Abolition of two-child cap is best viewed as a correction than an increase.
Is welfare spending ''out of control''?
Total welfare spending in Britain in 2025-26 is estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP.
That's just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP since 2012-13⤵️
buff.ly/s5mz97u
Total welfare spending in Britain in 2025-26 is estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP.
That's just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP since 2012-13⤵️
buff.ly/s5mz97u
November 28, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Also not all welfare spending is the same. Eliminating child poverty is to an extent not just redistribution but an investment in their education, employment, future earnings, tax payments, and propensity to be involved in crime.
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
Welfare spending is currently 1.2% of GDP *lower* than in 2012-13.
Abolition of two-child cap is best viewed as a correction than an increase.
Abolition of two-child cap is best viewed as a correction than an increase.
Is welfare spending ''out of control''?
Total welfare spending in Britain in 2025-26 is estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP.
That's just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP since 2012-13⤵️
buff.ly/s5mz97u
Total welfare spending in Britain in 2025-26 is estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP.
That's just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP since 2012-13⤵️
buff.ly/s5mz97u
November 28, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Welfare spending is currently 1.2% of GDP *lower* than in 2012-13.
Abolition of two-child cap is best viewed as a correction than an increase.
Abolition of two-child cap is best viewed as a correction than an increase.
Spare me, please, advocates of Brexit accusing anyone of being anti-business and anti-growth.
November 28, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Spare me, please, advocates of Brexit accusing anyone of being anti-business and anti-growth.
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
This is a superb piece. Absolutely essential reading. So much of why China leads in so many technology areas now is down Western complacency and short-sightedness. As Beijing increases state spending on R&D, the Trump administration makes huge cuts. Self-inflicted wounds.
November 28, 2025 at 8:13 AM
This is a superb piece. Absolutely essential reading. So much of why China leads in so many technology areas now is down Western complacency and short-sightedness. As Beijing increases state spending on R&D, the Trump administration makes huge cuts. Self-inflicted wounds.
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
I see pictures of men, women and children, babies even who were thrown into gas chambers by the nazis. I can’t think of a more hideous shameful collective mark on humanity. You don’t joke about it which is why there are no jokes about it. And no one did 50 years ago either.., unless you were a nazi.
November 28, 2025 at 8:04 AM
I see pictures of men, women and children, babies even who were thrown into gas chambers by the nazis. I can’t think of a more hideous shameful collective mark on humanity. You don’t joke about it which is why there are no jokes about it. And no one did 50 years ago either.., unless you were a nazi.
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
You can tell someone’s Reform from weapons grade hypocrisy they use so freely.. take Nathan Gill’s profile on X for example👇🏼👇🏼
“Love my God, my family and my country. Not afraid or ashamed to be patriotic.”
10 years in prison for taking bribes from our enemy Russia is as unpatriotic as it gets❗️😡🤷🏼♂️
1
“Love my God, my family and my country. Not afraid or ashamed to be patriotic.”
10 years in prison for taking bribes from our enemy Russia is as unpatriotic as it gets❗️😡🤷🏼♂️
1
November 24, 2025 at 10:54 AM
You can tell someone’s Reform from weapons grade hypocrisy they use so freely.. take Nathan Gill’s profile on X for example👇🏼👇🏼
“Love my God, my family and my country. Not afraid or ashamed to be patriotic.”
10 years in prison for taking bribes from our enemy Russia is as unpatriotic as it gets❗️😡🤷🏼♂️
1
“Love my God, my family and my country. Not afraid or ashamed to be patriotic.”
10 years in prison for taking bribes from our enemy Russia is as unpatriotic as it gets❗️😡🤷🏼♂️
1
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
It is IMO not possible to operate any kind of meaningful democracy when your national press is a joke and a travesty, but your mileage on that may vary. I think it’s incontestable that it is impossible to govern well and effectively, while being in hock to these pantomime clowns.
November 27, 2025 at 8:46 AM
It is IMO not possible to operate any kind of meaningful democracy when your national press is a joke and a travesty, but your mileage on that may vary. I think it’s incontestable that it is impossible to govern well and effectively, while being in hock to these pantomime clowns.
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
COME ON THIS HAS TO BE A SPOOF
November 28, 2025 at 7:13 AM
COME ON THIS HAS TO BE A SPOOF
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
The modal British voter thinks that pensioners are the group who gets the least good deal from the state! You can't have a serious conversation either about shrinking the state or expanding the tax base from that starting point!
November 27, 2025 at 10:19 PM
The modal British voter thinks that pensioners are the group who gets the least good deal from the state! You can't have a serious conversation either about shrinking the state or expanding the tax base from that starting point!
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
It's part of the electionification of everything, which is why we as a country are failing to have a proper conversation about our actual problems. It's bad for the left *and* the right.
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
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 10:17 PM
It's part of the electionification of everything, which is why we as a country are failing to have a proper conversation about our actual problems. It's bad for the left *and* the right.
The government has not mooted leaving the ECHR. Peddling these lies only helps those who do want to leave the ECHR.
November 28, 2025 at 7:53 AM
The government has not mooted leaving the ECHR. Peddling these lies only helps those who do want to leave the ECHR.
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
Three years is a long time in politics
November 27, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Three years is a long time in politics
Reposted by JWexTheSpa
Fewer workers. Fewer international students. More people leaving.
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK net migration falls sharply with drop in arrivals for work and study
Provisional figures for net migration to the UK show levels dropped to 204,000 in the year to June 2025.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Fewer workers. Fewer international students. More people leaving.
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...