Smartie
@smartsmartie.bsky.social
Born in Yorkshire in the last century before we had a National Health Service. My father was a coal miner who was part of the trade union movement. I was brought up to respect and listen to the opinions of others.
Reposted by Smartie
Hard to believe that none of the Reform MPs turned up for the debate on Russian interference in our politics. Maybe they were visiting their former Kremlin talking points Welsh leader Nathan Gill in prison? Or en route to their next BBC interview to act as commentators on why Starmer should go?
February 10, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Hard to believe that none of the Reform MPs turned up for the debate on Russian interference in our politics. Maybe they were visiting their former Kremlin talking points Welsh leader Nathan Gill in prison? Or en route to their next BBC interview to act as commentators on why Starmer should go?
Reposted by Smartie
‘Foreign Office to review Mandelson's US ambassador pay-off’. BBC again.
Was it a “pay off’ or three months’ salary in lieu of notice, in keeping with employment law?
Yet more media spin and propaganda.
If only journalists could just report the news instead of their arrogant opinions.
Was it a “pay off’ or three months’ salary in lieu of notice, in keeping with employment law?
Yet more media spin and propaganda.
If only journalists could just report the news instead of their arrogant opinions.
February 8, 2026 at 6:33 AM
‘Foreign Office to review Mandelson's US ambassador pay-off’. BBC again.
Was it a “pay off’ or three months’ salary in lieu of notice, in keeping with employment law?
Yet more media spin and propaganda.
If only journalists could just report the news instead of their arrogant opinions.
Was it a “pay off’ or three months’ salary in lieu of notice, in keeping with employment law?
Yet more media spin and propaganda.
If only journalists could just report the news instead of their arrogant opinions.
Reposted by Smartie
I wrote this yesterday - Starmer could still turn his premiership around, if he finally, FINALLY, finds the courage to address the grubby circs which allow people like Mandelson to rise so far. bylinetimes.com/2026/02/07/t...
'The Mandelson-Epstein Scandal Is an Opportunity for Starmer to Radically Reform Our Broken Politics'
The Prime Minister should use this moment to shine a light on the dark forces corrupting our democracy, argues former British diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
bylinetimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:11 PM
I wrote this yesterday - Starmer could still turn his premiership around, if he finally, FINALLY, finds the courage to address the grubby circs which allow people like Mandelson to rise so far. bylinetimes.com/2026/02/07/t...
Perhaps the Prime Minister should call a general election and see if the disloyal MPs want to stand on their own two feet or return, willingly, to their pre-parliamentary status. They were so eager, in July 2024, to climb on board the gravy train on the back of Kier Starmer's success.
February 5, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Perhaps the Prime Minister should call a general election and see if the disloyal MPs want to stand on their own two feet or return, willingly, to their pre-parliamentary status. They were so eager, in July 2024, to climb on board the gravy train on the back of Kier Starmer's success.
Reposted by Smartie
Edvard Munch - Anxiety, 1894.
Oil on canvas. #Expressionism
Oil on canvas. #Expressionism
February 1, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Edvard Munch - Anxiety, 1894.
Oil on canvas. #Expressionism
Oil on canvas. #Expressionism
Reposted by Smartie
Farage scraps human rights. Women pay the price.
January 30, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Farage scraps human rights. Women pay the price.
Reposted by Smartie
Johnson culled the Tory Party of all but its grimmest dregs & now the grimmest of the grimmest dregs are defecting to Reform. It would be funny if it didn't alllow them, along with Farage, to pretend that they're not responsible for the state of the nation.
January 26, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Johnson culled the Tory Party of all but its grimmest dregs & now the grimmest of the grimmest dregs are defecting to Reform. It would be funny if it didn't alllow them, along with Farage, to pretend that they're not responsible for the state of the nation.
Reposted by Smartie
If that's what they're willing to do in public, while being filmed, what do they do behind closed doors?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
Video shows moments around fatal shooting in Minneapolis
Bystander footage has captured the seconds before the killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 26, 2026 at 10:01 AM
If that's what they're willing to do in public, while being filmed, what do they do behind closed doors?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
Reposted by Smartie
Everyone freezing on the East Coast or in the Midwest remember: Kyiv has the same weather, except that hundreds of thousands of people don't have electricity, heating or running water
January 24, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Everyone freezing on the East Coast or in the Midwest remember: Kyiv has the same weather, except that hundreds of thousands of people don't have electricity, heating or running water
Reposted by Smartie
Annassi Hansen, a traditional Inuit carver, stares blankly at a chunk of narwhal tusk…unable to focus on transforming them into tiny figurines.
“Trump makes me sick in the head,” he said from his workshop in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. “He just does not shut up.”
www.ft.com/content/726f...
“Trump makes me sick in the head,” he said from his workshop in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. “He just does not shut up.”
www.ft.com/content/726f...
‘I am just so tired of Trump’: Greenland on alert as US hovers
Anxiety and patriotism swirl as details of a ‘future deal’ touted by US president trickle out
www.ft.com
January 23, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Annassi Hansen, a traditional Inuit carver, stares blankly at a chunk of narwhal tusk…unable to focus on transforming them into tiny figurines.
“Trump makes me sick in the head,” he said from his workshop in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. “He just does not shut up.”
www.ft.com/content/726f...
“Trump makes me sick in the head,” he said from his workshop in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. “He just does not shut up.”
www.ft.com/content/726f...
Reposted by Smartie
BREAKING: Keir Starmer says President Trump changed his view on the Chagos Islands 'for the express purpose of putting pressure on me and Britain in relation to my values and principles on the future of Greenland
'He wants me to yield on my position and I'm not going to do so'
#PMQs 👏
'He wants me to yield on my position and I'm not going to do so'
#PMQs 👏
January 21, 2026 at 12:25 PM
BREAKING: Keir Starmer says President Trump changed his view on the Chagos Islands 'for the express purpose of putting pressure on me and Britain in relation to my values and principles on the future of Greenland
'He wants me to yield on my position and I'm not going to do so'
#PMQs 👏
'He wants me to yield on my position and I'm not going to do so'
#PMQs 👏
Reposted by Smartie
Brooklyn Park police chief Mark Bruley: "We're hearing people being stopped with no cause & being demanded to show paperwork to determine if they're here legally. We started hearing from our police officers the same complaints. Every one of these individuals is a person of color... it has to stop"
January 20, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Brooklyn Park police chief Mark Bruley: "We're hearing people being stopped with no cause & being demanded to show paperwork to determine if they're here legally. We started hearing from our police officers the same complaints. Every one of these individuals is a person of color... it has to stop"
Reposted by Smartie
Pew Research Institute (2023):
• Red State Texas has about 2.1 million undocumented immigrants
• Red State Florida has 1.6 M undocumented immigrants
• Blue State Minnesota has 130,000.
And yet only Minnesota is being occupied by masked thugs over "immigration."
It's *not* about immigration.
• Red State Texas has about 2.1 million undocumented immigrants
• Red State Florida has 1.6 M undocumented immigrants
• Blue State Minnesota has 130,000.
And yet only Minnesota is being occupied by masked thugs over "immigration."
It's *not* about immigration.
January 18, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Pew Research Institute (2023):
• Red State Texas has about 2.1 million undocumented immigrants
• Red State Florida has 1.6 M undocumented immigrants
• Blue State Minnesota has 130,000.
And yet only Minnesota is being occupied by masked thugs over "immigration."
It's *not* about immigration.
• Red State Texas has about 2.1 million undocumented immigrants
• Red State Florida has 1.6 M undocumented immigrants
• Blue State Minnesota has 130,000.
And yet only Minnesota is being occupied by masked thugs over "immigration."
It's *not* about immigration.
Reposted by Smartie
I'd be surprised if Farage had seen this in advance. Jenrick's torching potential defectors. The gulf between his talents & his perception of them is pure Reform.
Absolutely jaw-dropping stuff from Robert Jenrick, who says his former party "betrayed" its voters and members, accuses his former Tory MP colleagues of being "in denial" or "dishonest", and picks out Mel Stride and Priti Patel for attacks on their records
January 15, 2026 at 5:27 PM
I'd be surprised if Farage had seen this in advance. Jenrick's torching potential defectors. The gulf between his talents & his perception of them is pure Reform.
The Reform party is now a haven for wannabes and has beens, mainly defectors from the Conservative party. How will that sit with the majority of Reform supporters, or will they even notice or understand the consequences.
January 12, 2026 at 12:47 PM
The Reform party is now a haven for wannabes and has beens, mainly defectors from the Conservative party. How will that sit with the majority of Reform supporters, or will they even notice or understand the consequences.
Reposted by Smartie
Ah yes... Lord "Ha Ha" that famous Nazi sympathiser.
If I remember correctly, he was the chap who put all those fiendish ditches in at stately homes.
Great to see Reform's mayoral candidate is on top of her history.
If I remember correctly, he was the chap who put all those fiendish ditches in at stately homes.
Great to see Reform's mayoral candidate is on top of her history.
January 11, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Ah yes... Lord "Ha Ha" that famous Nazi sympathiser.
If I remember correctly, he was the chap who put all those fiendish ditches in at stately homes.
Great to see Reform's mayoral candidate is on top of her history.
If I remember correctly, he was the chap who put all those fiendish ditches in at stately homes.
Great to see Reform's mayoral candidate is on top of her history.
Reposted by Smartie
@chrislhayes.bsky.social: “A 37-year-old American citizen, the mother of a young child is dead tonight. She was shot in the face by an agent of the federal government, and that government has spent the day telling despicable lies about her.”
January 8, 2026 at 1:05 AM
@chrislhayes.bsky.social: “A 37-year-old American citizen, the mother of a young child is dead tonight. She was shot in the face by an agent of the federal government, and that government has spent the day telling despicable lies about her.”
Reposted by Smartie
Why do so few people fact check? Is it because they're too lazy or is it because they're afraid their beliefs and opinions will be proved false? In either case, it's dangerous, for them, the children and everyone else.
#Factcheck #Facts #Beliefs
#Factcheck #Facts #Beliefs
December 29, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Why do so few people fact check? Is it because they're too lazy or is it because they're afraid their beliefs and opinions will be proved false? In either case, it's dangerous, for them, the children and everyone else.
#Factcheck #Facts #Beliefs
#Factcheck #Facts #Beliefs
Reposted by Smartie
The irrationality of the war on science that the Trump Administration has been waging manifests as indiscriminate termination of individual projects and whole lines of inquiry based solely on "bad words" appearing in their descriptions. #WarOnScience @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2025/04/23/u...
www.statnews.com/2025/04/23/u...
Government word search is killing my cutting-edge research
The Trump administration seems to believe that some words and ideas fail an ill-posed and completely nonscientific test of orthodoxy.
www.statnews.com
April 23, 2025 at 1:56 PM
The irrationality of the war on science that the Trump Administration has been waging manifests as indiscriminate termination of individual projects and whole lines of inquiry based solely on "bad words" appearing in their descriptions. #WarOnScience @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2025/04/23/u...
www.statnews.com/2025/04/23/u...
Reposted by Smartie
Those who persuade you to believe absurdities can persuade you to commit atrocities.
History is overflowing with examples of atrocities being justified by a belief in absurdities.
History is overflowing with examples of atrocities being justified by a belief in absurdities.
December 19, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Those who persuade you to believe absurdities can persuade you to commit atrocities.
History is overflowing with examples of atrocities being justified by a belief in absurdities.
History is overflowing with examples of atrocities being justified by a belief in absurdities.
Reposted by Smartie
Jeffrey Epstein & David Walliams leading all the bulletins but Kemi Badenoch knows that only men from ‘different cultures’ pose a threat to women.
December 19, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Jeffrey Epstein & David Walliams leading all the bulletins but Kemi Badenoch knows that only men from ‘different cultures’ pose a threat to women.
Reposted by Smartie
Just pointing out that the UK has the highest pension and minimum wage we ever had. Also the highest level of regulatory protection.
Because it is rarely mentioned when everyone talks about how terrible everything is.
Because it is rarely mentioned when everyone talks about how terrible everything is.
December 16, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Just pointing out that the UK has the highest pension and minimum wage we ever had. Also the highest level of regulatory protection.
Because it is rarely mentioned when everyone talks about how terrible everything is.
Because it is rarely mentioned when everyone talks about how terrible everything is.
Reposted by Smartie
Rob Reiner: “Silence in the face of authoritarianism is complicity. Speaking out is a patriotic act. Democracy doesn’t defend itself. It requires participation, vigilance, and courage from ordinary people."
December 15, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Rob Reiner: “Silence in the face of authoritarianism is complicity. Speaking out is a patriotic act. Democracy doesn’t defend itself. It requires participation, vigilance, and courage from ordinary people."