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jackrelaxes.bsky.social
@jackrelaxes.bsky.social
retired hospice nurse and book lover, loves walking and the countryside
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January 24, 2026 at 4:33 PM
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Huge happy 80th birthday this week to the legendary #DollyParton 🎉- we are marking it with a parody of her 2nd number 1 hit, written by the #BeeGees. Our 🎶 version's called "Donald's Sewage Stream" - since he brought his sick drivel to #Europe #Davos #NATO & our #armedforces:

youtu.be/F4nefIN4_LY
"Donald's Sewage Stream" - Marsh Family adapt "Islands in the Stream" by Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers
YouTube video by Marsh Family
youtu.be
January 24, 2026 at 9:11 PM
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Board of Peace - Season 1
January 24, 2026 at 7:45 AM
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🔴 WOW...

This defiance and solidarity video for Greenland is EPIC. 👌🏼
January 20, 2026 at 3:32 PM
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January 19, 2026 at 3:26 PM
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Here’s a short poem about the power of poetry to change the world.
January 18, 2026 at 9:47 AM
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By Donnie Purcell
January 16, 2026 at 3:44 PM
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January 17, 2026 at 6:26 AM
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Anti-racism campaigners and unions have voiced their horror after Nigel Farage doubled down on his decade-old call for anti-discrimination laws to be ripped up so employers can discriminate

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
Racism horror as Nigel Farage says employers should be allowed to discriminate
Anti-racism campaigners and unions voiced their horror after Nigel Farage doubled down on his decade-old call for anti-discrimination laws to be ripped up so employers can discriminate
www.mirror.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 7:17 AM
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People have been trying to talk London down, but the evidence tells a different story.

Last year saw:

The lowest murder rate per capita since records began

The fewest murders of those aged under 25 this century

One of the lowest numbers of homicides for almost three decades
January 12, 2026 at 7:27 AM
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Reform told you reducing council tax was easy. They just had to slash Woke policies, and a billion or two would be saved. They wouldn't even need to close care services.

They promise you that.

And then every single Reform-led council cut care services and increased council tax.
January 12, 2026 at 7:21 AM
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December 5, 2025 at 1:44 AM
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Prison governors criticise Tories for exploiting release errors, saying long-term underfunding to blame – UK politics live
Prison governors criticise Tories for exploiting release errors, saying long-term underfunding to blame – UK politics live
Prison governors in England accuse Conservatives of being ‘disingenuous’ and point to effects of austerity The Prison Governors Association has just issued a lengthy statement about prisoners being released in error. Without discussing particular cases, it argues that these mistakes are happening because the system is in crisis and underfunded. Here are the main points. The PGA says releases in error (RiEs, in prison jargon) have happened under every government and “most practitioners, informed commentators, and impartial experts recognise this”. It says RiEs happen because the case management system is “complex and under-resourced”. It says “unprecedented” pressures have made the problem worse. The system is “running hot, and under constant strain”, it says. The prison system, like the wider criminal justice system, is under unprecedented and sustained pressure. This is not pressure felt in isolation — prisons are interconnected. While some establishments may be coping better than others, the strain is systemic. Decisions made to stabilise one prison — such as reducing capacity or increasing staffing — often have unintended, negative consequences elsewhere. Today, it feels as though every move to ease pressure in one part of the system simply shifts the burden to another … Despite a recent reduction in the overall prison population, overcrowding remains acute. Around 10,000 people are still held in overcrowded conditions. Crucially, the available space is not in reception prisons like Chelmsford or Wandsworth, which are among the most overcrowded and experience the highest levels of prisoner movement. According to the Howard League for Penal Reform, HMP Wandsworth is operating at 167% of its safe capacity, Chelmsford is at 133% of its safe capacity. It says the rise in the number of RiEs is “deeply concerning”. The scale of releases in error (RiEs) is deeply concerning. In the last full reporting year, 262 prisoners were released in error, averaging around 65 incidents per quarter. These errors include individuals released either too early or too late from their sentence, both scenarios carry serious consequences and undermine public confidence. But only around 0.5% of prisoners are released on the wrong date, the PGA says. It says, while this figure sounds small, it amounts to “a significant operational failure”. But “the conditions required to reduce this figure to zero simply do not exist”, it says. It says stopping all errors would require “substantial investment in staff training, modern IT infrastructure, and recruitment, all within a system already stretched by competing priorities”. It suggests the Conservatives are being “disingenuous” in trying to exploit this issue politically. Successive governments have accepted this level of risk for decades. In that context, it feels disingenuous to see politicians attempt to extract political gain from a prison system in crisis … While political parties showboat and grandstand, the real risk to the public is not being effectively managed — despite the relentless efforts of those working within HMPPS. The PGA says austerity left many prisons “without the flexibility they need to respond to local challenges”. Tax rises are … widely expected at the budget, with early indicators pointing to a collection of smaller measures to plug the gap. Yet bond markets are signalling that something more decisive may be needed to restore confidence and avoid another round of fiscal firefighting next year. If the chancellor opts for a larger revenue-raising step – particularly a manifesto-breaching increase in income tax or value-added tax (VAT) – she should make clear that it is temporary and conditional: a short-term measure to stabilise the public finances, not a permanent shift in direction. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:55 AM
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“His main theme was that the country was fucked. Largely because of Brexit. Weirdly, he has no memory of being the main architect behind the Brexit vote. He seems to think it happened in a world in which he played no part.”

Farage - the foghorn of failure.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Nige is no longer laughing at himself as he ‘performs’ yet another big speech | John Crace
Reform leader is trying to make it as a mainstream politician – which involves contradicting himself and gaslighting voters
www.theguardian.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:51 AM
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I don't know who to credit this image to, but anyway, they got the price wrong.

That 2/9d should read £122 million
October 28, 2025 at 11:28 AM
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Just hoping that one day soon, people will tire of targeting and terrifying asylum seekers and instead, they will turn on politicians who whip up hatred and division to grab at power for themselves…
They are the ones who are failing us.
Not these people.
Prejudice can never make anyone’s life better
Asylum seekers, housed in hotels in Manchester, are reaching out in their own words to address the concerns of the local community.

Please take a minute to read their letter, & share it with the people in your life who need to hear the truth about the people they are protesting.
October 27, 2025 at 7:45 PM
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Farage: epic grifter
October 27, 2025 at 12:45 PM
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With Halloween approaching, I thought I’d share a few spine-chilling poems.

Today’s is called ‘The Heebie Bee Gees’.
October 28, 2025 at 9:38 AM
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www.facebook.com/share/p/19C1...
My friend Mark Mardell was chucked off his Turkish Airlines flight at the weekend because he had Parkinson’s and his son had asked for assistance for him. (He’s written about it as a public post on Facebook but the link is proving hard to share outside,)
October 27, 2025 at 6:00 AM
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Seems Sarah Pochin turned her clocks back to the 1970s last night.
October 26, 2025 at 9:48 AM
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I wonder if Sarah Pochin ever gets as worked up about the overrepresentation of multimillionaire, privately educated elites in her own party…
October 26, 2025 at 9:11 AM
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Happy World Pasta Day to all those who celebrate.
October 25, 2025 at 8:27 AM
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There is a moment at this time of year when the word ‘apricity’ really comes into view. For those who don’t know it, it was recorded only once, in 1623, before slipping out of view. Apricity is the warmth of the sun on a chilly day.
October 24, 2025 at 11:35 AM
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BREAKING NEWS
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2025 #NobelPeacePrize to Maria Corina Machado for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.

#NobelPrize
October 10, 2025 at 9:16 AM