Andrew Shimmin
@adshimmin.bsky.social
Rejoicing in Titus 3:4-5. Woollyback; YNWA. Books, planes, trains, ships, old cars, primates (the animal kind), toucans and parrots. An idiot. En cas d'affluence, ne pas utiliser les strapontins
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
An observation -- not a new one, but still: When people on the right sneer at "moral vanity" and "moral preening" and "moralism," they are talking about what, until very recently, they themselves regarded as a simple and necessary recognition of right and wrong.
January 19, 2026 at 12:13 AM
An observation -- not a new one, but still: When people on the right sneer at "moral vanity" and "moral preening" and "moralism," they are talking about what, until very recently, they themselves regarded as a simple and necessary recognition of right and wrong.
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
Why is Donald Trump changing his mind every five minutes and saying completely mad stuff an embarrassment for Keir Starmer? It feels like it should chiefly be seen as an embarrassment for the United States.
January 20, 2026 at 12:23 PM
Why is Donald Trump changing his mind every five minutes and saying completely mad stuff an embarrassment for Keir Starmer? It feels like it should chiefly be seen as an embarrassment for the United States.
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
We had endless articles and TV clips about Biden's mental capacity but silence about Trump's obvious unfitness when he says he's going to start a war with Denmark over Greenland because he didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize.
Not the sort of letter committed to paper by a well man. "Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace"
January 19, 2026 at 2:41 PM
We had endless articles and TV clips about Biden's mental capacity but silence about Trump's obvious unfitness when he says he's going to start a war with Denmark over Greenland because he didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize.
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
The only thing any of the western allies can do is quietly de-risk from America by unlinking our economy/institutions - but this is a slow process that takes years (and should have started in 2016). Saying something true that will upset Trump now needs to have a function beyond catharsis.
January 3, 2026 at 7:05 PM
The only thing any of the western allies can do is quietly de-risk from America by unlinking our economy/institutions - but this is a slow process that takes years (and should have started in 2016). Saying something true that will upset Trump now needs to have a function beyond catharsis.
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
I think @robertshrimsley.bsky.social is much too kind to Jeremy Hunt here. In time, Hunt will come to be reviled as second worst chancellor in modern times after Kwarteng. In 1997, faced with similar circumstances, Ken Clarke put the national interest first. Hunt salted the earth. Shame on him
July 18, 2025 at 11:32 PM
I think @robertshrimsley.bsky.social is much too kind to Jeremy Hunt here. In time, Hunt will come to be reviled as second worst chancellor in modern times after Kwarteng. In 1997, faced with similar circumstances, Ken Clarke put the national interest first. Hunt salted the earth. Shame on him
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
The welfare revolt does *not* prove that Labour MPs are "constitutionally incapable of making hard choices".
It proves that they will not just wave through hugely damaging changes, that harm those most in need, on which they've not been consulted.
That's MPs *doing* their jobs, not abdicating them
It proves that they will not just wave through hugely damaging changes, that harm those most in need, on which they've not been consulted.
That's MPs *doing* their jobs, not abdicating them
July 4, 2025 at 8:19 AM
The welfare revolt does *not* prove that Labour MPs are "constitutionally incapable of making hard choices".
It proves that they will not just wave through hugely damaging changes, that harm those most in need, on which they've not been consulted.
That's MPs *doing* their jobs, not abdicating them
It proves that they will not just wave through hugely damaging changes, that harm those most in need, on which they've not been consulted.
That's MPs *doing* their jobs, not abdicating them
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
Friends fear he is once again boarding the 'radical candour' bus, etc: but I do think they would be better off if their line to take had just been 'it was this or raise taxes', if nothing else because it would a) concentrate minds and b) be some useful advocacy for raising taxes and c) is true.
The only honest and plausible case they could make is “we needed to find some short term money and this is where we found it”, but they apparently would rather waffle about people being trapped out of work to justify cutting a benefit that’s payable regardless of whether the recipient is in work.
June 25, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Friends fear he is once again boarding the 'radical candour' bus, etc: but I do think they would be better off if their line to take had just been 'it was this or raise taxes', if nothing else because it would a) concentrate minds and b) be some useful advocacy for raising taxes and c) is true.
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
W.E.B. Du Bois on Robert E. Lee:
“Either he knew what slavery meant when he helped maim and murder thousands in its defense, or he did not. If he did not he was a fool. If he did, Robert Lee was a traitor and a rebel–not indeed to his country, but to humanity and humanity’s God.”
“Either he knew what slavery meant when he helped maim and murder thousands in its defense, or he did not. If he did not he was a fool. If he did, Robert Lee was a traitor and a rebel–not indeed to his country, but to humanity and humanity’s God.”
June 11, 2025 at 12:42 PM
W.E.B. Du Bois on Robert E. Lee:
“Either he knew what slavery meant when he helped maim and murder thousands in its defense, or he did not. If he did not he was a fool. If he did, Robert Lee was a traitor and a rebel–not indeed to his country, but to humanity and humanity’s God.”
“Either he knew what slavery meant when he helped maim and murder thousands in its defense, or he did not. If he did not he was a fool. If he did, Robert Lee was a traitor and a rebel–not indeed to his country, but to humanity and humanity’s God.”
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
Today is unfortunately a good reminder of just how depraved many Trump supporters are. It should be the easiest thing in the world to just wish someone well in light of a devastating health diagnosis. That they can't even meet that very low bar says a lot about their character.
May 19, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Today is unfortunately a good reminder of just how depraved many Trump supporters are. It should be the easiest thing in the world to just wish someone well in light of a devastating health diagnosis. That they can't even meet that very low bar says a lot about their character.
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
Yes, and I totally see how "Starmer should fix the NHS" isn't a particularly astute insight, but ultimately all government bandwidth that isn't channelled into boring, mind-numbing deliverism is - at best - a waste of time, at least from a purely electoral strategy point of view.
May 13, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Yes, and I totally see how "Starmer should fix the NHS" isn't a particularly astute insight, but ultimately all government bandwidth that isn't channelled into boring, mind-numbing deliverism is - at best - a waste of time, at least from a purely electoral strategy point of view.
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
Labour has a whopping great majority and four years left to turn this country around.
They should be setting the agenda, not chasing about trying to placate voters of a party with five MPs who will never vote for them anyway.
It's not only disappointing... it's embarrassing
They should be setting the agenda, not chasing about trying to placate voters of a party with five MPs who will never vote for them anyway.
It's not only disappointing... it's embarrassing
May 12, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Labour has a whopping great majority and four years left to turn this country around.
They should be setting the agenda, not chasing about trying to placate voters of a party with five MPs who will never vote for them anyway.
It's not only disappointing... it's embarrassing
They should be setting the agenda, not chasing about trying to placate voters of a party with five MPs who will never vote for them anyway.
It's not only disappointing... it's embarrassing
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
Why trying to out-Farage Farage is just never going to work for Labour.
The most hardline, anti-migrant set of policies from any UK Government in recent years and the Daily Mail still portrays it as a betrayal
The most hardline, anti-migrant set of policies from any UK Government in recent years and the Daily Mail still portrays it as a betrayal
May 12, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Why trying to out-Farage Farage is just never going to work for Labour.
The most hardline, anti-migrant set of policies from any UK Government in recent years and the Daily Mail still portrays it as a betrayal
The most hardline, anti-migrant set of policies from any UK Government in recent years and the Daily Mail still portrays it as a betrayal
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
Toughening migration rules doesn’t challenge Reform. It validates them.
May 12, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Toughening migration rules doesn’t challenge Reform. It validates them.
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
If a government with over 400 seats and 4 years left to govern cannot summon the courage to level with the public on social care then I despair at the capacity of our political system to ever deliver the change we need.
May 11, 2025 at 6:14 PM
If a government with over 400 seats and 4 years left to govern cannot summon the courage to level with the public on social care then I despair at the capacity of our political system to ever deliver the change we need.
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
He was hardcore, Jesus Christ.
/ends
/ends
May 8, 2025 at 9:16 PM
He was hardcore, Jesus Christ.
/ends
/ends
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
UK governments always look for a sweet spot in immigration policy- tough enough to win votes, not so tough as to hurt the economy - but always find the opposite- clumsy enough to damage business, not enough to impress Reformesque immigration-phobes. so depressing.
May 8, 2025 at 5:56 AM
UK governments always look for a sweet spot in immigration policy- tough enough to win votes, not so tough as to hurt the economy - but always find the opposite- clumsy enough to damage business, not enough to impress Reformesque immigration-phobes. so depressing.
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
On this basis, it seems unlikely that the proposed tightening of eligibility for PIP will achieve much other than causing further hardship for a group struggling the most since the pandemic.
Link to the full @neweconomics.bsky.social analysis here:
Link to the full @neweconomics.bsky.social analysis here:
May 7, 2025 at 7:51 AM
On this basis, it seems unlikely that the proposed tightening of eligibility for PIP will achieve much other than causing further hardship for a group struggling the most since the pandemic.
Link to the full @neweconomics.bsky.social analysis here:
Link to the full @neweconomics.bsky.social analysis here:
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
Superb research from Runcorn by @38degrees.bsky.social. Striking contrast between areas of concern vs areas of action. A majority (including even a big chunk of people for whom immigration is the top preoccupation) look to different policy areas to actually judge a government. @mcgregor.bsky.social
May 2, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Superb research from Runcorn by @38degrees.bsky.social. Striking contrast between areas of concern vs areas of action. A majority (including even a big chunk of people for whom immigration is the top preoccupation) look to different policy areas to actually judge a government. @mcgregor.bsky.social
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
(And interesting in itself that there is outrage in papers and these sorts of reports being written about private school fees and household income but not, especially, about childcare)
April 30, 2025 at 10:06 PM
(And interesting in itself that there is outrage in papers and these sorts of reports being written about private school fees and household income but not, especially, about childcare)
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
So much of Blue Labour comes down to the desperation of a very bourgeois network of people to signal that they have not betrayed a working class identity that only exists in their imagination
April 26, 2025 at 11:41 AM
So much of Blue Labour comes down to the desperation of a very bourgeois network of people to signal that they have not betrayed a working class identity that only exists in their imagination
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
Remember all those people in the US who decided the most important thing to do last November was teach the Democrats a lesson because they were just like - or even worse - than the Republicans? Well, how's that working out?
April 7, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Remember all those people in the US who decided the most important thing to do last November was teach the Democrats a lesson because they were just like - or even worse - than the Republicans? Well, how's that working out?
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
Since the EU referendum, the UK civil service has grown by approx 130,000 employees. Just to recall, the entire European Commission employs 32,169 people. The EU system as a whole has around 60,000 civil servants serving a bloc of 27 countries.
#redtape #bureaucracy
#redtape #bureaucracy
April 7, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Since the EU referendum, the UK civil service has grown by approx 130,000 employees. Just to recall, the entire European Commission employs 32,169 people. The EU system as a whole has around 60,000 civil servants serving a bloc of 27 countries.
#redtape #bureaucracy
#redtape #bureaucracy
Thanks Google, but I feel that particular clarification was unnecessary.
(Was looking up about Sejanus 🧐)
(Was looking up about Sejanus 🧐)
April 3, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Thanks Google, but I feel that particular clarification was unnecessary.
(Was looking up about Sejanus 🧐)
(Was looking up about Sejanus 🧐)
Reposted by Andrew Shimmin
On the international stage Trump is a mark who thinks he's a con
March 18, 2025 at 5:49 PM
On the international stage Trump is a mark who thinks he's a con