Oh you didn't think the Post Office Scandal was the only example of institutionalised cruelty in British government did you?
Classism, Ableism, all the hallmarks of a Very British Scandal
"The prime minister tells The Sun’s radio show that illegal immigration offends his sense of fairness”
This is of course the sense of fairness that supports Israeli Genocide, locking up or fining the homeless, tax ‘breaks' for the rich, breaking the NHS, installing a heated swimming pool while the poor die of cold, or mould infections in shabby housing and much much more.
I hope people in UK government know that, based on article III of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, complicity in genocide is punishable as a crime under international law just as well as committing genocide?
Let’s hold any and all of them individually responsible
We need an independent regulator to ensure strong protections and get redress when things go wrong.
But the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (UK) weakens the role of the Information Commissioner's Office. That’s why we've presented amendments.
“With existential risks lurking more than ever before, our endlessly complex world demands serious politics. Instead, we have TikTok reels from incendiary randos, politicians who have morphed into political influencers, and populist demagogues.” My latest: https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-death-of-serious-politics
@brianklaas Is it even possible to talk policy these days?
Even a benign policy that doesn't negatively impact the people who had to live under it was weaponised by the right as a new front in the culture war: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66264893
I don't think it is possible to talk politics until the culture wars are decisively won; because for 25 years the centre-left thought it was beneath them to take part in them.
#BBCNews’ politics page seems to be the only one that hasn’t been converted to the new site design. Either they are redesigning their site in stages, or #politics has been deliberately deemphasised in the new design during the run up to a general election. 🤔 #ToryBritainhttps://www.bbc.com/news/politics
To see what I mean go to https://www.bbc.com/news and try to find the UK politics page. You can’t because it’s been hidden from the navigation. What’s going on? 🤨 #BBC#News#UKPolitics
There’s an urgent need for a fairer electoral system – and if politicians won’t make it happen, the people will.
Monbiot is far too optimistic. Neither #Conservative or #Labour parties have any interest in change. They will fight tooth and nail to prevent reform and their friend in the media will help them, misinformation where lies don't work.
Saying we're doing a genocide hurts my feelings.
From the UQ in the HoC today:
Beth Winter (Lab): "Starvation is being used as a weapon of war. In Gaza it is clear Israel is engineering a famine of over 2 million civilians. What action is the government taking?"
Andrew Mitchell: "Many people in Israel will find that 'profoundly offensive'."
#Budget#UKPolitics This article by Gary Stevenson is so good, please read every word of it.
“Whatever Jeremy Hunt says, traders know the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. And they’re paid millions to bet on it.”
This is what the world is - it is run by a minute elite for a minute elite and the rest of us, the masses, the natural world, we just don’t count. It is a #TragedyOftheNonCommons (will reshare my own piece on this below 1/n)
#FollowTheMoney 🧵 11/n Another key area money flows away from are local councils and social services and, therefore, the young and, again, community. In Birmingham, whose council declared bankruptcy in 2023, provisions for children will be cut by £52m in 2024-25 and £63m in 2025-26; youth services by £2.3m; and eleven community centres are being sold off. As John Harris says:
GPLB: "Rishi Sunak is speaking outside No 10. He says there’s a growing threat to British democracy ... saying this is under threat from people looking to capitalise on Hamas’ attacks on Israel, and the resulting assault on Gaza, to undermine British values."
Next week's protest in London is going to be interesting.
24/7 GPS monitoring of migrants enabled the UK Home Office to collect vast amounts of personal data, invading people’s privacy and inflicting psychological burdens.
It’s a punitive and offensive measure that has rightly been found unlawful by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Has any government in the history of Britain failed as comprehensively and gravely in every single area of governance than the Conservative Government of 2010-2024?
– Homelessness: more than doubled. 1,768 rough sleepers in 2010 to 3,898 today.
– Net public debt: more than doubled. From £1.03 trillion to £2,685 trillion.
– Labour productivity: 25% below pre-2008 trend.
– Schools: literally collapsing due to rotting concrete. Tuition fees tripled. Financial grants for students of disadvantaged backgrounds scrapped. Teachers leaving in droves, vast deficits in teacher recruitment. Teacher pay down by 10% in real terms.
– NHS waiting lists: up by 158%. Pay decline for doctors of more than 25% since 2010.
– Defence: British Armed Forces from 102,000 in 2006 to 74,000 today. Trident failing to launch test missiles. Decommissioning warships due to a lack of Royal Navy staff.
What have they done since 2010? What’s the lasting legacy?
Labour between 1997-2010 could boast of many things: the minimum wage, winter fuel allowance, lowest NHS waiting times in history, SureStart centres, crime down by a third, the Disability Discrimination Act, devolution, civil partnerships, peace in Northern Ireland, rough sleeping eliminated, homeless down, child poverty down by a third, legal rights to maternity and paternity pay and leave, trebling of foreign aid, the world’s first climate change act… I could go on.
What do the Tories have to show for 14 years?
It really is just Brexit, isn't it? A complete catastrophe that frankly most Leave voters now realise was a mistake.