Dr Simon Ubsdell
@simonubsdell.bsky.social
Still raging about the abject moral abomination of Brexitism. Things I rage about less: Herodotus/5thc Athens, mograph/VFX, music.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Via LabourList: "Farage has reportedly told donors he expects Reform UK to do an election deal with the Tories...either in the form of a co-operation agreement or a full merger.
Labour's Luke Charters: "From Tory rejects joining Reform, to copy and pasting the same failed austerity politics" (FT)
Labour's Luke Charters: "From Tory rejects joining Reform, to copy and pasting the same failed austerity politics" (FT)
December 3, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Via LabourList: "Farage has reportedly told donors he expects Reform UK to do an election deal with the Tories...either in the form of a co-operation agreement or a full merger.
Labour's Luke Charters: "From Tory rejects joining Reform, to copy and pasting the same failed austerity politics" (FT)
Labour's Luke Charters: "From Tory rejects joining Reform, to copy and pasting the same failed austerity politics" (FT)
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
I absolutely do not care about Rachel Reeves’s junior chess competition.
I absolutely do care about whether Farage is racist or not.
And, given the deranged but distinct possibility that he may become PM, we all should.
Ps… Narrator: there was no Damascene conversion.
inews.co.uk/opinion/expo...
I absolutely do care about whether Farage is racist or not.
And, given the deranged but distinct possibility that he may become PM, we all should.
Ps… Narrator: there was no Damascene conversion.
inews.co.uk/opinion/expo...
December 3, 2025 at 4:56 PM
I absolutely do not care about Rachel Reeves’s junior chess competition.
I absolutely do care about whether Farage is racist or not.
And, given the deranged but distinct possibility that he may become PM, we all should.
Ps… Narrator: there was no Damascene conversion.
inews.co.uk/opinion/expo...
I absolutely do care about whether Farage is racist or not.
And, given the deranged but distinct possibility that he may become PM, we all should.
Ps… Narrator: there was no Damascene conversion.
inews.co.uk/opinion/expo...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
"Assuming no change in the rate of taxation, and all other things being equal, the exchequer will lose the thick end of £100bn in tax revenues this year.
Far from having to raise £26bn in extra taxes, Reeves could have chosen to halve the 20% rate of VAT with money to spare."
Far from having to raise £26bn in extra taxes, Reeves could have chosen to halve the 20% rate of VAT with money to spare."
Brexit: the trillion pound ‘mistake’
The recent NBER report suggests the Treasury’s 2016 analysis – slammed by Brexiters as a ‘hoax’– actually understated the impact of Brexit
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
December 2, 2025 at 11:06 PM
"Assuming no change in the rate of taxation, and all other things being equal, the exchequer will lose the thick end of £100bn in tax revenues this year.
Far from having to raise £26bn in extra taxes, Reeves could have chosen to halve the 20% rate of VAT with money to spare."
Far from having to raise £26bn in extra taxes, Reeves could have chosen to halve the 20% rate of VAT with money to spare."
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
You will be shocked to discover after reading these stories that while Rachel Reeves claimed to have been the "British girls under-14 [chess] champion" she was in reality merely the "Under 14s British Women’s Chess Association (BWCA) Girls" Champion.
This is getting utterly ridiculous now
This is getting utterly ridiculous now
December 3, 2025 at 12:31 PM
You will be shocked to discover after reading these stories that while Rachel Reeves claimed to have been the "British girls under-14 [chess] champion" she was in reality merely the "Under 14s British Women’s Chess Association (BWCA) Girls" Champion.
This is getting utterly ridiculous now
This is getting utterly ridiculous now
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
The family of a Colombian man believed to have been killed in a US strike in the Caribbean has filed what’s believed to be the first complaint against such attacks with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
Colombian family files first known formal complaint over deadly US strike in Caribbean | CNN
The family of a Colombian man believed to have been killed in a US strike in the Caribbean has filed what’s believed to be the first complaint against such attacks with the Inter-American Commission o...
www.cnn.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:31 AM
The family of a Colombian man believed to have been killed in a US strike in the Caribbean has filed what’s believed to be the first complaint against such attacks with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
It's all bad but hadn't seen the bit where Farage says:
"The European Union is the prototype for the New World Order."
That is a seriously, deeply problematic term that taps into Illuminati and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
How the fuck did this man direct the course of our politics?
"The European Union is the prototype for the New World Order."
That is a seriously, deeply problematic term that taps into Illuminati and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
How the fuck did this man direct the course of our politics?
We kept the receipts. These comments, taken together, paint a picture of the man he is today.
December 3, 2025 at 8:01 AM
It's all bad but hadn't seen the bit where Farage says:
"The European Union is the prototype for the New World Order."
That is a seriously, deeply problematic term that taps into Illuminati and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
How the fuck did this man direct the course of our politics?
"The European Union is the prototype for the New World Order."
That is a seriously, deeply problematic term that taps into Illuminati and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
How the fuck did this man direct the course of our politics?
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Even at the time, Johnson’s wild weekend in Umbria felt somewhat suspicious. With this new information, you can understand why some are now calling it outright treasonous
What a Public Inquiry Into Russian Influence in British Politics Must Also Investigate: Boris Johnson and Alexander Lebedev
If you think the Nathan Gill conviction is bad, wait to you hear about another Leave campaigner and his connections to Putin's inner circle
open.substack.com/pub/pdjukes/...
If you think the Nathan Gill conviction is bad, wait to you hear about another Leave campaigner and his connections to Putin's inner circle
open.substack.com/pub/pdjukes/...
What a Public Inquiry Into Russian Influence in British Politics Must Also Investigate: Boris Johnson and Alexander Lebedev
If you think the Gill conviction is bad, linking the Reform UK Party leader's closest aide to the Kremlin, wait to you hear about another Leave campaigner and his connections to Putin's inner circle
open.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Even at the time, Johnson’s wild weekend in Umbria felt somewhat suspicious. With this new information, you can understand why some are now calling it outright treasonous
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
All of us: Why, in our judgement, Chris Mason is misleading on most political points, all the time.
Because he’s incapable of political commentary that isn’t marinated in his own rightwing bias. Allegations for Labour. Free passes for Tories/Reform. Every Single Time.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Because he’s incapable of political commentary that isn’t marinated in his own rightwing bias. Allegations for Labour. Free passes for Tories/Reform. Every Single Time.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Chris Mason: Why, in my judgement, Reeves was misleading on one specific point
The Chancellor chose not to share some information on tax receipts in an unusual press conference, given before the Budget.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 1, 2025 at 7:22 PM
All of us: Why, in our judgement, Chris Mason is misleading on most political points, all the time.
Because he’s incapable of political commentary that isn’t marinated in his own rightwing bias. Allegations for Labour. Free passes for Tories/Reform. Every Single Time.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Because he’s incapable of political commentary that isn’t marinated in his own rightwing bias. Allegations for Labour. Free passes for Tories/Reform. Every Single Time.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Brexit: the trillion pound ‘mistake’
The recent NBER report suggests the Treasury’s 2016 analysis – slammed by Brexiters as a ‘hoax’– actually understated the impact of Brexit.
The recent NBER report suggests the Treasury’s 2016 analysis – slammed by Brexiters as a ‘hoax’– actually understated the impact of Brexit.
Brexit: the trillion pound ‘mistake’
The recent NBER report suggests the Treasury’s 2016 analysis – slammed by Brexiters as a ‘hoax’– actually understated the impact of Brexit
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
December 1, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Brexit: the trillion pound ‘mistake’
The recent NBER report suggests the Treasury’s 2016 analysis – slammed by Brexiters as a ‘hoax’– actually understated the impact of Brexit.
The recent NBER report suggests the Treasury’s 2016 analysis – slammed by Brexiters as a ‘hoax’– actually understated the impact of Brexit.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Watched BBC 6 o clock news. Just a completely unserious broadcast. Chris Mason, acting like a children's entertainer, giving a prolonged impenetrable editorial. Not a whiff of informative content about the Budget or what it means for the country. Just playschool blah blah bollocks.
December 1, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Watched BBC 6 o clock news. Just a completely unserious broadcast. Chris Mason, acting like a children's entertainer, giving a prolonged impenetrable editorial. Not a whiff of informative content about the Budget or what it means for the country. Just playschool blah blah bollocks.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
President Macron:
I really believe that in the weeks to come, the pressure on the Russian economy and Russia's capacity to finance the war effort will drastically change.
I really believe that in the weeks to come, the pressure on the Russian economy and Russia's capacity to finance the war effort will drastically change.
December 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
President Macron:
I really believe that in the weeks to come, the pressure on the Russian economy and Russia's capacity to finance the war effort will drastically change.
I really believe that in the weeks to come, the pressure on the Russian economy and Russia's capacity to finance the war effort will drastically change.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
That's a lot of cash. The UK "only" spent £60 bn on defence.
Feels like that money could be better spent than on trying to keep Latvians and Spaniards from renting houses on your street and availing of the NHS
Feels like that money could be better spent than on trying to keep Latvians and Spaniards from renting houses on your street and availing of the NHS
November 26, 2025 at 10:35 AM
That's a lot of cash. The UK "only" spent £60 bn on defence.
Feels like that money could be better spent than on trying to keep Latvians and Spaniards from renting houses on your street and availing of the NHS
Feels like that money could be better spent than on trying to keep Latvians and Spaniards from renting houses on your street and availing of the NHS
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Labour isn't opening safe routes as Mahmood claims. Those laid out effectively already exist, and her proposals limit them more than they currently are.
What Labour has done though is close and curtail what safe routes there actually are for refugees. #r4today
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
What Labour has done though is close and curtail what safe routes there actually are for refugees. #r4today
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Number of refugees allowed to settle in UK under UN schemes falls 26% in a year
Refugee Council says Home Office figures show safe and legal pathways are ‘disappearing when most needed’
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Labour isn't opening safe routes as Mahmood claims. Those laid out effectively already exist, and her proposals limit them more than they currently are.
What Labour has done though is close and curtail what safe routes there actually are for refugees. #r4today
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
What Labour has done though is close and curtail what safe routes there actually are for refugees. #r4today
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Some don’t understand that demonising refugees& asylum seekers is a red line for any healthy nation. As a group of people, like any other, they include the brilliant, good & bad, but labelling them as lesser humans undeserving of compassion, safety & equality is definitely bad for the whole country.
December 1, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Some don’t understand that demonising refugees& asylum seekers is a red line for any healthy nation. As a group of people, like any other, they include the brilliant, good & bad, but labelling them as lesser humans undeserving of compassion, safety & equality is definitely bad for the whole country.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Yes. They cry that they’re studiously non-partisan but their political editor takes it upon himself to essentially accuse the Labour chancellor of lying. Something that would simply *never* have happened - did not happen - with the Tories in power, when there was far more ammunition.
December 1, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Yes. They cry that they’re studiously non-partisan but their political editor takes it upon himself to essentially accuse the Labour chancellor of lying. Something that would simply *never* have happened - did not happen - with the Tories in power, when there was far more ammunition.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
A quick reminder of who Nigel Farage was most concerned about when Putin's tanks first rolled into Ukraine
November 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
A quick reminder of who Nigel Farage was most concerned about when Putin's tanks first rolled into Ukraine
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Around 26,000 of the neediest people in County Durham will have to start paying council tax next year...
About 2,400 others who already pay some council tax will lose part of their rebate.
Women and the disabled will be disproportionately affected.
Not quite what Reform UK had promised.
About 2,400 others who already pay some council tax will lose part of their rebate.
Women and the disabled will be disproportionately affected.
Not quite what Reform UK had promised.
Council tax shock for thousands of Durham’s poorest – thanks to Reform UK
Durham will scrap full council-tax rebates, forcing 26,000 low-income working-age residents to start paying for the first time
northeastbylines.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Around 26,000 of the neediest people in County Durham will have to start paying council tax next year...
About 2,400 others who already pay some council tax will lose part of their rebate.
Women and the disabled will be disproportionately affected.
Not quite what Reform UK had promised.
About 2,400 others who already pay some council tax will lose part of their rebate.
Women and the disabled will be disproportionately affected.
Not quite what Reform UK had promised.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
It is *flabbergasting* that we’ve had a budget delivered that increases borrowing in the short term, when costs are very high, and depends on spending cuts and tax rises in election year to hit its overall targets, and the broadcast media are more interested in inane process stories.
It’s an indictment of our media that more time is being spent on whether Reeves lied about the need to raise taxes than on the actual substance of the policies announced on Wednesday.
November 30, 2025 at 11:07 AM
It is *flabbergasting* that we’ve had a budget delivered that increases borrowing in the short term, when costs are very high, and depends on spending cuts and tax rises in election year to hit its overall targets, and the broadcast media are more interested in inane process stories.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
A desperate story for Cambridge University (and UK HE), however you spin it. I get that public organisations need to speak to incoming governments, but more than three years away from an election...? Does anyone think that they used these meetings to push back? I'd love to be wrong about this.
November 30, 2025 at 2:52 PM
A desperate story for Cambridge University (and UK HE), however you spin it. I get that public organisations need to speak to incoming governments, but more than three years away from an election...? Does anyone think that they used these meetings to push back? I'd love to be wrong about this.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
The Godfather of white collar crime... who's also willing to help the occasional drug lord if he is rich enough and politically aligned with MAGA.
President Trump has set free a private equity executive who had served less than two weeks of a seven-year sentence for his role in what prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of victims.
Trump Frees Fraudster Just Days Into Seven-Year Prison Sentence
David Gentile had been found guilty for his role in what prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of investors.
nyti.ms
November 30, 2025 at 4:26 PM
The Godfather of white collar crime... who's also willing to help the occasional drug lord if he is rich enough and politically aligned with MAGA.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Even the Brexit-backing right recognises the mistake of Brexit.
They don't offer any way out for the UK. You can still feel the arrogant pride in this article.
Humility is required, realism about consequences such as giving up trade deals, and positivity about Europe.
They don't offer any way out for the UK. You can still feel the arrogant pride in this article.
Humility is required, realism about consequences such as giving up trade deals, and positivity about Europe.
Time to admit the truth: Brexit has been an unmitigated economic failure
Leaving the EU has reduced Britain’s GDP by up to 8pc, according to a devastating US study
www.telegraph.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Even the Brexit-backing right recognises the mistake of Brexit.
They don't offer any way out for the UK. You can still feel the arrogant pride in this article.
Humility is required, realism about consequences such as giving up trade deals, and positivity about Europe.
They don't offer any way out for the UK. You can still feel the arrogant pride in this article.
Humility is required, realism about consequences such as giving up trade deals, and positivity about Europe.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Oh God I needed this so much right now. Good old fashioned funny chaos and farce instead of constant depression in politics.
Looking forward to them setting up their own rival parties.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Looking forward to them setting up their own rival parties.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana dropped as Your Party leaders
Members vote in favour of 'collective leadership' option, with a ‘lay’ chair – who cannot be an MP
www.independent.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Oh God I needed this so much right now. Good old fashioned funny chaos and farce instead of constant depression in politics.
Looking forward to them setting up their own rival parties.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Looking forward to them setting up their own rival parties.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
This is an excellent, level-headed, informative piece. I'd kill for a government which could discuss the issue with the same sense of objectivity and calm.
Here's this week's column. Please - please - can we stop talking about migration in a way that's completely detached from the facts? www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Net migration is plummeting. Why can’t Labour say so? | Heather Stewart
An honest debate is needed on this polarising topic as sectors such as social care struggle with recruitment
www.theguardian.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:48 PM
This is an excellent, level-headed, informative piece. I'd kill for a government which could discuss the issue with the same sense of objectivity and calm.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
“Oh conference”.
Chair in the Your Party debate on dual membership: "No booing, conference. If you are unkind, there will be consequences." (After lots of booing re dual membership)
"We do not want any fights or arguments. Let's be calm...I'm going to have to turn the mic off. Oh conference, dear dear dear."
"We do not want any fights or arguments. Let's be calm...I'm going to have to turn the mic off. Oh conference, dear dear dear."
November 29, 2025 at 3:48 PM
“Oh conference”.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
The British press poses a genuine and profound threat to our democracy and our shared prosperity. They howl out their right wing, wealth-protecting agenda and want Farage as PM. We will all pay a very high price for their selfish greed and their utter indifference to social inequality.
November 29, 2025 at 5:26 PM
The British press poses a genuine and profound threat to our democracy and our shared prosperity. They howl out their right wing, wealth-protecting agenda and want Farage as PM. We will all pay a very high price for their selfish greed and their utter indifference to social inequality.