John Peters
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johnthejack.bsky.social
John Peters
@johnthejack.bsky.social
2.3K followers 2.2K following 4.2K posts
Unbeliever (political & religious), Wales rugby, #c4news, porridge, tea, #MEcfs

'Obvious but wrong'

Also JTJ on the other place
https://johnthejack.com
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johnthejack.bsky.social
Frozen thresholds mean state pension becomes taxed.
(£) www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Discussed this on here a couple of years ago. It seems bonkers to me. Government pays with one hand, takes back with the other. If pension is minimum necessary for reasonable retirement why tax it?
Workers, savers and businesses pay as Rachel Reeves lifts taxes to record high
A three-year freeze on thresholds, new charges and welfare expansion mean more taxes than ever, while the OBR warns of lower incomes and weak growth
www.thetimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Reposted by John Peters
lynneguist.bsky.social
My daughter is at this and she just texted to say I was mentioned.

Nepolinguist
englangblog.bsky.social EngLangBlog @englangblog.bsky.social · 3h
We're waiting for the students and their teachers to arrive for the @engmediacentre.bsky.social A level English Language conference in London. Not long to go now 😬
A picture of an empty Friends House auditorium.
November 27, 2025 at 11:17 AM
johnthejack.bsky.social
Brilliant by @elgantimes.bsky.social on the epic (!) 0-0 draw in 1961 between France and South Africa.
(£) www.thetimes.com/sport/rugby-...
Violence, vengeance and monsters: the match that had it all (except points)
The Springboks were out for revenge when they took on France in Colombes in 1961 but two sides at their peak failed to trouble scoreboard
www.thetimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:24 PM
johnthejack.bsky.social
Interesting, personal, typically honest and powerful account as she goes through the stages of grief for her old life while remaining the same Julie Burchill we all know and, well, hmm, have strong feelings about.
(£) www.thetimes.com/life-style/h...
Julie Burchill: my new life in a wheelchair — it’s not all bad
After a freak spinal infection last year, the hell-raising journalist may never walk again. She shares the brutal reality of life as a disabled person
www.thetimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:19 PM
johnthejack.bsky.social
Alternatively:
Over longer-term CBT no better than t'ai chi for insomnia.
(£) www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...
T’ai chi can help to combat insomnia
The ancient martial art outperformed talking therapy for people who struggled to sleep, a study found
www.thetimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:03 PM
johnthejack.bsky.social
Analysis from ESPN Cricinfo: average runs per wicket has fallen by almost 20% (27 runs/wicket since 2020-21; 34 in 5 seasons prior). Three successive seasons, 2021-22 to 2023-24, lowest scoring in Australian history bar 1978-79.
(£) www.thetimes.com/sport/cricke...
Batting in Australia is harder than ever — is it a test too far for Bazball?
Spicy pitches and modified ball have made it more difficult for visiting batsmen, challenging England to prove their aggressive style can work in unfavourable conditions
www.thetimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:59 AM
johnthejack.bsky.social
Banter in which you are called a Nazi? Disgraceful, wrong. But banter in which you actually sound like one? Fine. For a schoolboy this would be merely silly. For a man who wants to be PM it’s unsustainable. It’s not cheap to point this out, nor unfair.
(£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Was Nigel Farage a bit of a Nazi? Only he knows
The Reform leader was a teenager when he made crass remarks but we’re entitled to ask a would-be prime minister what lay behind them
www.thetimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:51 AM
johnthejack.bsky.social
The persistent complacency and delay send dreadful signals to the Kremlin. Nor have we convinced Vladimir Putin that his war in Ukraine is unwinnable: the basis for any real peace deal.
(£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
By @edwardlucas.bsky.social
Our failure and also Trump's failure.
Baltic allies deserve more than complacency
The fears of our frontline allies in Nato are realised: Trump savages Europe and we do nothing
www.thetimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:49 AM
johnthejack.bsky.social
I'm not a Welsh speaker, but I have developed certain habits and in my head I was pronouncing this as a Welsh name. Then it clicked.
(£) www.thetimes.com/business/com...
Britain and US in race for Allwyn listing
London and New York are wooing the UK’s National Lottery operator, which is set to be the world’s second-largest listed gambling group after a merger with Opap
www.thetimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:46 AM
johnthejack.bsky.social
Letter from @masieghart.bsky.social in Times today
Text: Misogyny at work Sir, Libby Purves wishes Rachel Reeves had “shrugged rather than moaned” about misogyny (“Do us all a favour, Rachel: don’t bleat about misogyny”, Nov 26). How does she expect anything to change if we don’t draw attention to it? For aeons, women were expected to put up with being groped, propositioned and sexually assaulted at work. It was only after #MeToo that these male perpetrators were finally held to account. Speaking out about it worked. “Rachel from Accounts” is no ordinary political insult. Philip Hammond might have been derided as an “accountant”, but that is a professional job that engenders respect and often a seven-figure salary. “Rachel from Accounts” denotes a clerk in a humdrum office job with no authority. No male chancellor would be described this way. It is a blatant attempt to put a powerful woman “in her place”: the unstated assumption being that a woman has no place in the second most powerful job in the government. Reeves’s exposure of the double standards we still attach to women and men at work should be commended, not condemned. Mary Ann Sieghart London W14
November 27, 2025 at 11:43 AM
johnthejack.bsky.social
Letters in Times today
Text: Farage’s ‘banter’ Sir, It is baffling that Nigel Farage should complain that the complaints being made against him are political in nature (“Farage’s accuser rejects banter claim”, Nov 26). Of course they are. The people now speaking out made a judgment that for as long as Farage remained a marginal figure, the abuse they suffered in the past was a personal matter. Now that he apparently is close to gaining significant political power, they have decided to put their experiences in the public, and political, domain. This seems to me entirely logical and gives us all information on which to make our own (political) decision. Sarah Mulholland Goldsithney, Cornwall Text: Sir, Sixty-five years ago I was a boarder at Clifton College, where I attended Polacks House, which was the only boarding house for Jewish students at any public school in Britain. I was obliged to study German, which I hated, not least because I was the only Jewish boy in the class. On the last lesson of term I deliberately arrived late, and as I walked into class a boy whose name and appearance I remember perfectly shouted “Ach, the Jew boy, why are you so late?” This incident has stayed with me for life, mainly for the shame I felt at not having the courage to confront this bully and his sniggering mates. We should not imagine for one moment that boyhood recollections are not reliable and painful. They are. Richard Cyzer London W1
November 27, 2025 at 11:41 AM
johnthejack.bsky.social
There speaks a true patriot
November 27, 2025 at 11:38 AM
johnthejack.bsky.social
Rebuilt salt marshes gently usher migrant birds back to Essex
(£) www.thetimes.com/comment/regi...
Text: Salt marshes are not glamorous — muddy flats along coasts and estuaries, washed with seawater by the tides, where only specially adapted plants can survive. But salt marshes are unsung heroes, helping to protect coastlines from rising sea levels, storms and erosion by creating a buffer between dry land and the sea, trapping silt during floods and adding new soil from their decaying vegetation. Salt marshes also store vast amounts of carbon from the plants that grow there as they take in carbon dioxide through their leaves and store it in their roots — and when the plants die, the carbon becomes part of the soil. Salt marshes offer refuge for wildlife and they provide clean water by filtering runoff from the land. Because they naturally self-repair they do not need much maintenance. In many places, salt marshes have been destroyed by land reclamation, sea walls, pollution and erosion. Globally about 50 per cent of salt marshes have been degraded and many others remain under threat. Text: Schemes to restore salt marshes have proved successful, though, such as the Wallasea Island project in Essex, the largest scheme of its kind in Europe. In July 2015, segments of the seawall at the site were removed and the sea allowed to flow back for the first time in 400 years, turning the site back into wetland. Included in the reclamation project was an RSPB nature reserve at Jubilee Marsh, built using about 3 million tonnes of earth left over from the excavation of tunnels for London’s Elizabeth Line. The soil was used to raise much of the land above sea level and created a mosaic of new islands, salt marshes, lagoons and bays, a landscape that has disappeared from much of Essex. Where there was once only a handful of birds, the site now sees thousands, with a record 39,000 birds over-wintering on the site this year, including knots, grey plovers and bar-tailed godwits. “There’s just thousands and thousands of birds who now use the site as a refuge, shelter, and nursery to their chicks,” Rachel Fancy, the site manager, said. “It’s an almost unbelievable transformation.”
November 27, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by John Peters
oldhamletsghost.bsky.social
Someone made a very good point today. Bullies don't necessarily remember what they did, because they just bullied everyone, but those who were bullied, I was, remember very very clearly when and how they were bullied and by whom. It stays with you forever
November 26, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by John Peters
johnnicolson.bsky.social
My Tory opponent from the 2015 General Election: “the fraudster embezzled £9,018 from now dissolved Revival FM. Polson, the Christian radio station's financial director used the charity's direct debit card to pay for a casino outing. news.sky.com/story/ex-eas...
Ex-East Dunbartonshire Council leader Andrew Polson jailed for romance fraud and stealing money from Christian radio station
Andrew Polson, 53, preyed on the 72-year-old woman by persuading her to transfer money under the false pretence she was investing in two homes and a letting firm.
news.sky.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Reposted by John Peters
uk.theconversation.com
Over 20% of people with the Duffy null variant are wrongly labelled ‘abnormal’, by current blood test ranges, leading to needless biopsies and lower chemo doses.
Rethinking blood test reference ranges could make medicine fairer – and safer
Over 20% of people with the Duffy null variant are wrongly labelled ‘abnormal’, by current blood test ranges, leading to needless biopsies and lower chemo doses.
tcnv.link
November 27, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Reposted by John Peters
eddwilson.bsky.social
#R4Today
alanlester.bsky.social Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 4h
1/5 It was entirely predictable that The Telegraph would jump on @DavidOlusoga’s Empire series to fight its right wing culture war for control of our public history. Let’s see what they’ve done:
November 27, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Reposted by John Peters
nation.cymru
Welsh public bodies must work towards seven wellbeing goals, including prosperity, resilience, equality and global responsibility. This shifts policymaking from short-term growth to longer-term wellbeing ✍️Jasper Kenter @aberuni.bsky.social nation.cymru/feature/why-...
Why the UK should look beyond growth to a ‘new economics’ that works for all
Jasper Kenter, Professorial Research Fellow, Deliberative Ecological Economics, Aberystwyth University The UK budget is usually a story of growth forecasts, borrowing levels and fiscal discipline. But...
nation.cymru
November 27, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Reposted by John Peters
duncanrobinson.bsky.social
Starmer and Reeves run probably the most economically left-wing government of past five decades and yet bleeding support to its left thanks to dumb strategy www.economist.com/britain/2025...
November 27, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Reposted by John Peters
sundersays.bsky.social
Most of the public think net migration increased last year, when in fact numbers halved.

New findings from the Ipsos/British Future Immigration Attitudes Tracker show that 56% of the public thinks immigration increased last year. Just 1 in 6 realise it was down
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
November 27, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Reposted by John Peters
cathywilcox.bsky.social
Insult to injury.
My @smh cartoon.
Single frame. Street scene. Two Aussie white males departing the scene on the left. Young female passer-by on right. Centre, woman in burka crying, with young child cuddling her. Another woman in casual clothes attending to her, says, “Are you OK?” Woman in burka says “They called me Pauline!”
November 25, 2025 at 8:56 PM
johnthejack.bsky.social
Witkoff is to peace deals as Ratcliffe is to ownership of sports team: a man successful in one field delusionally convinced of his brilliance in another. #c4news
November 26, 2025 at 7:52 PM
johnthejack.bsky.social
'Not with intent' is just a version of 'I'm just having a laugh', the banter excuse of bullies everywhere. #c4news
November 26, 2025 at 7:41 PM
johnthejack.bsky.social
This whole schtick from Farage that he's not a nasty racist, not one of the extremists, is and has always been a load of tosh. #c4news
November 26, 2025 at 7:39 PM
johnthejack.bsky.social
@heikeanddino.bsky.social Hope it all works out OK.
(Can't reply)
heikeanddino.bsky.social Little Miss Heike and His Lordship Dino @heikeanddino.bsky.social · 17h
In other news I got my emergency app with the dermatology department for a growth on my face. The GP told me the waiting time is 2 month's. However I will have waited just 5 weeks. #C4News
November 26, 2025 at 7:20 PM