Chris Rivers
@chrisrivers50.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.5K following 16K posts
Ex-Gtr Manchester, resident in Almeria 🇪🇸. Centre left, lifelong Labour, NetZeroDad. FBPE 🇪🇺. Pro🇺🇦. ¡NO DMs! ~Child protection/Social work/Family courts/Politics of UK/EU/US/Sociology/Urban history/Economics/Tennis/TV-Film~ *Following only active posters*
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
chrisrivers50.bsky.social
“As Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson already has a senior position on the cabinet table: this forms a central pillar of her offer to members. As a cabinet member she would represent the views of Labour members from within government, unlike Lucy Powell”

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
chrisrivers50.bsky.social
Andrew Marr - “Is Shabana Mahmood the next prime minister?
Only Starmer can solve Labour’s immigration bind”

www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
chrisrivers50.bsky.social
Will Dunn - “Remember austerity? That went well! So Mel Stride, shadow chancellor, was on stage to offer more of it”

www.newstatesman.com/politics/con...
Reposted by Chris Rivers
nixonsimon.bsky.social
Byline Times journalists are now blacklisted by Putin and the Tories. A double badge of honour that shows that it is not afraid to expose the hypocrisy of authoritarian bullies
bylinetimes.bsky.social
BREAKING: The National Union of Journalists describe the Conservative Party's banning of Byline Times journalists from covering their conference as a threat to media freedom which "undermines the Conservative Party leader’s repeated pledge to fight for free speech"

bylinetimes.com/2025/10/08/c...
Conservatives Accused of ‘Trumpian’ Tactics After Barring Second Byline Times Journalist From Conference
The National Union of Journalists described the bans as a threat to media freedom which "undermines the Conservative Party leader’s repeated pledge to fight for free speech"
bylinetimes.com
Reposted by Chris Rivers
Reposted by Chris Rivers
financialtimes.com
Would voters tolerate a visa auction?

It’s hard to say, says Tim Harford: on.ft.com/4n26NXj
Reposted by Chris Rivers
volberg.bsky.social
Total numbers seem surprisingly low? 77K-ish per 450 million is like 0,01%. I thought we were getting overrun. The far right lies? No way...
carolinedegruyter.bsky.social
EU external borders: irregular crossings fall 22% in the first 9 months of 2025

www.frontex.europa.eu/media-centre...
Reposted by Chris Rivers
antongerashchenko.bsky.social
Britain,France,Germany move closer to giving Russian assets to Ukraine

In a statement published by the German government,the E3 leaders said they would do this in cooperation with the USA:

"…To support Ukraine’s armed forces and thus bring Russia to the negotiation table"
reuters.com/world/
chrisrivers50.bsky.social
“First, they create an atmosphere of ‘them against us’ then they attack journalists, judges, and the rule of law, then they move directly to arresting their enemies. This is the way to undermine democracies."
chrisrivers50.bsky.social
Not so good in Spain (5%). Great in Scandinavia (30%+).
ec.europa.eu
The numbers of electric vehicles sold in Europe in 2024 are in:

⚡ 1.45 million new battery-only EVs registered
📈 +32% growth in the total electric fleet
🔋 13.6% of all new car registrations are electric

Europe is going full throttle to a clean future.

link.europa.eu/cNKjkh
A color-coded map of Europe titled "Share of electric vehicles sold in each EU country in 2024," showing the share of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as a percentage of total new passenger car registrations. The EU average is 13.5%. Countries with the highest shares (>20%, darkest shade) include Sweden (35%), Netherlands (34.5%), Finland (29.5%), Luxembourg (27.4%), Belgium (28%), and Denmark (51%).  Other countries like France (16.5%), Portugal (19.9%), and Austria (17.5%) are also in the <20% range. Several Eastern and Southern European countries (including Italy, Spain, Poland, and Czechia) have shares below 10% (the lightest shades).
Reposted by Chris Rivers
james-bg.bsky.social
It is utterly surreal this is not being treated as a bigger story.
onelifestand87.bsky.social
It is embarassing not to see the BBC pulling up Reform leaders claiming that Nathan Gill was just some fan who got photos taken with Farage - he was an MEP for them & their leader in Wales while taking cash from Russia to act against the UK! Literally the very basics of your job to point this out
Reposted by Chris Rivers
viviane49.bsky.social
The very worst PM to ever hold office. He should be prosecuted. He is a disgrace.
Article
Reposted by Chris Rivers
jonnelledge.bsky.social
An experiment:

If you see this post, please like it. Am comparing numbers to the other place for a piece.
Reposted by Chris Rivers
igmansfield.bsky.social
"The West is not doing Ukraine a favour by helping it resist aggression; it is Ukraine doing the West a favour."

Fundamental point in @ldfreedman.bsky.social's latest. The true 'realist' position on Ukraine is that we should support Ukraine.

samf.substack.com/p/as-long-as...
Reposted by Chris Rivers
reformexposed.bsky.social
Who believes Nigel Farage when he says he was “shocked” to find out Nathan Gill took bribes (after a week of saying nothing and being incredibly close to him for a decade)?

#ReformRussianBribes
Reposted by Chris Rivers
eddwilson.bsky.social
Running up to the moment of the ceasefire, IDF continued to demolish whatever was left, on the pretext that miltary resources were held in the buildings.

#r4today
chrisrivers50.bsky.social
lordbonkers.bsky.social
"I can remember writing him a fan letter and getting a handwritten letter back. It was very exciting. He had something called the Lone Pine Club, which you could join, and I recently found out that the crime writers Elly Griffiths and Mick Herron were both members too. So we all loved his books."
Malcolm Saville inspired Vera, Ruth Galloway and Slow Horses
The Gold Edition interviews the crime writer Ann Cleeves, some of whose books have been adapted to make the television series Vera: What ar...
liberalengland.blogspot.com