REDS represents an enormous amount of dedication and intelligence. It's absorbing, and you feel good will toward it. But it's a rather sad movie, because it isn't really very good. (1981)
Worth a listen now this lot have won
OBR's unemployment outlook is "markedly optimistic", reckons @niesrorg.bsky.social - well above the consensus of academic economists.
"This flatters the fiscal outlook, by providing higher projected tax receipts and lower projected welfare spending," says NIESR economist Fergus Jimenez-England.
NHS official pushed to add patient data to Palantir platform whilst also advising company
A lobbyist who worked directly for Peter Mandelson, on the Palantir board, and on the board of *four* NHS trusts.
Lobbying the NHS to hand over even more patient data to Palantir.
This absolutely stinks. Get Palantir out of the NHS. Sign my petition:
you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...
[CABARET] Liza Minnelli makes you believe in the cabaret as "life" because she comes fully to life only when she sings. The features that seemed too large for her face suddenly fit. (1972)
I've invented a new device that combines a microscope with a telescope so you can look at regular stuff normal-style
BROOKE GLADSTONE: The Inquiry brought up the case of Denholm Elliott's daughter - PAUL McMULLAN: Oh, yeah - BROOKE GLADSTONE: - which is one case that you truly do regret. PAUL McMULLAN: I do, yeah. After Denholm died, she hit rock bottom, was allegedly doing methadone. And although she had, you know, the half-million-pound flat that Denholm had bought her, she didn't have any money to get her ten-pound bag in the morning. So she'd get up and go begging at the tube station. Here was a young girl crying out to be helped, and she met a police officer who didn't help her but rang up the News of the World and asked for money because he couldn't believe that this is the same girl who'd walked down the red carpet behind Eddie Murphy with Denholm Elliott, you know.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: And you offered her 50 pounds - PAUL MCMULLAN: Yeah. BROOKE GLADSTONE: - if she would come to your place and have sex. So you led her into prostitution, which she wasn't in that space for. PAUL McMULLAN: No, indeed. But she was in such a bad place that someone offering her 50 pounds for sex. I mean, that's five bags.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: So how do you justify that? Yes, she was a drug addict, yes, she was begging. Why push her that extra step? Why take pictures of her topless? PAUL McMULLAN: I was keen. It was in my first year. I wanted to impress Piers Morgan, who was my boss at the time, and just wanted to say, not only have I caught this girl begging, but l've got pictures of her topless and I've got her offering me sex for 50 quid. How great am I? BROOKE GLADSTONE: This is a pretty dehumanizing enterprise, not just for Jennifer Elliott, but for you, yourself. PAUL McMULLAN: Yeah, that's why I feel terrible about it, not just 'cause she killed herself afterwards, but I, I actually liked her as a person.
Sharing from a friend, a passage from the Leveson Inquiry regarding the British actor Denholm Elliott, who died of AIDS in 1992. Three years after her death, the News of the World journalist Paul McMullan did the following to his daughter—neither a celebrity nor even someone of public interest.
This is important. Reform keep taking positions that are only supported by the 25% of the electorate they already have and in doing so are negatively polarising everyone else against them.
Dear Shabana, I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank. You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to make a perilous crossing on small boats.” I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division. When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney. As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I filled water tanks and picked up litter. What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country. Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it. It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and croissants to refugees and food parcels. When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She said “we have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers whilst risking death on the seas.” She said “maybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …
Dear Shabana,
Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.
Last year when I was checking into a hotel, the desk person was wearing Meta glasses. I kindly asked them to take them off. They were annoyed. I said, “I do not consent to you looking at my credit card and ID with Meta glasses on.” My instincts were correct: www.bbc.com/news/article...
A screenshot of the Bluesky app demonstrating how you can now tap the "Translate" button to translate a post without leaving the app.
v1.118 rolls out today!
New in this update: You can now translate posts without leaving the app.
Simply tap "translate" on mobile and your phone's built-in translation takes it from there.
Your regular reminder than a large majority of voters - and overwhelming majority of Labour voters - favour giving settled migrants access to the welfare state after five years or less. The Home Secretary is not reforming rules in line with public opinion. She is doing the opposite.
Good question …
What we see here is Donald Trump, acting as he always does, as a global chaos generator.
The further we stand away from that, the better off we will be.
Well said @georgemonbiot.bsky.social 👏
#bbcqt #IranWar
Gulf states are already feeling the pain of revenue losses from closure of Strait of Hormuz.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Tech firms will have 48 hours to remove abusive images under new UK law.
Errr ... May happen after consultation. Not unusual for govts to cave in to corporate lobbying/threats
Who will monitor compliance? All UK regulators required to promote growth of their sectors.
I’m as surprised as anyone that an app that let people buy a burrito on instalments, with zero credit checks, is having a problem with loan quality
Rachel Millward Green Party Co-Deputy Leader "Labour clearly have not learnt the lessons of Gorton and Denton. Voters showed Labour that they are not persuaded by their attempts to copy Reform's rhetoric or to blame migrants for the real challenges facing our country." Green Party Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of The Green Party, both at PO Box 78066, London SE16 9GQ
"Voters are looking for honesty, practical solutions and hope that things can get better."
As @rachelmillward.bsky.social explains, Labour have learnt nothing from Gorton and Denton
People want solutions - not scapegoats.
There is a growing left wing party that can quieten Farage's boast. The Greens are at 215,000 and counting ...
I'm delighted with my heat pump.
But my experience getting it installed taught me what’s been stopping many more people from getting one (so far).
I wrote for @politicshome.bsky.social on the hurdles that government needs to think about as it implements the Warm Homes Plan. 👇
🚨New report out today.🚨
If we want fewer families facing homelessness, we need to be honest about what works... and what doesn’t.
Our new report looks at the evidence behind housing policy and why social housing is key to ending the housing emergency. 🗝️
Read the full report: shltr.org.uk/ifWuB
Wonderful news, Iceland makes peace with Iceland www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Ofwat £22m fine proposal for South East Water for repeated supply failures.
"Proposal" = companies with criminal convictions negotiate, may never pay.
Thames Water to pay 2024 fines by 2030 or never.
2024 fines on Yorkshire and Northumbrian Water quietly waived.
Execs never fined or prosecuted.
Zack on Laura K
The Green Party has been consistent on our position.
We support the Iranian people in their struggle against the brutal Regime.
And we oppose illegal bombing from the USA and Israel that has already killed countless civilians and risks an all out Regional war.
Donald Trump has lost control of the Iran war.
Searing stuff from @tparsi.bsky.social
The big water scandal
We're live on YouTube with the brilliant @feargalsharkey.bsky.social
He's got opinions....
youtu.be/MPo3_0DjgyU
South West Water admits criminal offence over Devon parasite outbreak.
Water unfit for human consumption, 150 people fell ill.
SWW already has nearly 200 criminal convictions. Licence not cancelled, no exec prosecuted, record high customer bills, sewage dumped in rivers.
Privatisation is a scam.
Past fossil-fuel price spikes left import-dependent countries with two options: pay up or cut fuel use. Now there is an alternative in solar and batteries.
I looked at recent examples in Europe, Pakistan, Cuba to glean what might happen with the war on Iran.
🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
NEW ANALYSIS: UK emissions fell 2.4% in 2025 as coal fell to a 400-year low. Incredibly, we used less coal last year than than in 1600, when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne and Shakespeare was writing Hamlet.
All the details in our article: www.carbonbrief.org/...
