Bella Burns
@bellaburns.bsky.social
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bellaburns.bsky.social
The connections between Tory donors and Russian money have been an open secret for years,yet they’ve largely escaped serious scrutiny.The lack of coverage around Nathan Gill’s case fits a broader pattern of selective silence from much of theUK media when it comes to politically inconvenient stories.
bellaburns.bsky.social
Labour can’t take London for granted. The capital deserves investment and support, not more austerity. Local councils were hit hardest last time — repeating that mistake will only erode trust and cost votes.
Reposted by Bella Burns
jamesrball.com
This is one of the issues London Labour insiders raised with me in this piece on Labour & London – Labour is taking the votes of the capital for granted, and is about to impose major local government austerity on councils who were hard hit first time round.

www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-l...
bellaburns.bsky.social
Absolutely agree. The NHS should never be a marketplace for private profit. Every pound must go toward patient care, not shareholder dividends. It’s time to end outsourcing and rebuild a fully public, publicly funded NHS. 💙
Reposted by Bella Burns
simonforstroud.bsky.social
I have committed to keeping our NHS publicly owned and publicly funded.

Private finance is not welcome in our NHS, and must be ruled out at the Autumn Budget this November. @weownit.org.uk
bellaburns.bsky.social
That’s a strong anti-privatisation message — and one that taps into real public anger about profit-driven sectors failing on basic services. Many would argue it’s not about “abolishing” as much as reclaiming public control, ensuring housing, water, energy, and healthcare are run for people.
Reposted by Bella Burns
bladeofthes.bsky.social
Abolish Landlords.
Abolish Water Companies.
Abolish Energy Companies.
Abolish NHS Privatisation.

Take back control.
bellaburns.bsky.social
The connections between Tory donors and Russian money have been an open secret for years,yet they’ve largely escaped serious scrutiny.The lack of coverage around Nathan Gill’s case fits a broader pattern of selective silence from much of theUK media when it comes to politically inconvenient stories.
Reposted by Bella Burns
davidosland.bsky.social
Don't forget that 41 Tory MPs in the last government took Russian donations. That might account for media reticence to report on the Nathan Gill case.
bellaburns.bsky.social
That’s chilling — the language and framing are straight out of the far-right playbook. When mainstream politicians start echoing that kind of rhetoric, it doesn’t just “dog-whistle” intolerance, it normalises it.
Reposted by Bella Burns
adambienkov.bsky.social
After spending an entire morning defending his suggestion that there are too many non-white faces in the UK, Robert Jenrick ends his speech with the line: "Let's take our country back".
bellaburns.bsky.social
Exactly — it’s classic populist politics: promise easy fixes, win votes, then quietly admit reality once in office. Reform said they’d slash taxes, but local councils don’t even control most taxation. It’s all noise and no substance.
Reposted by Bella Burns
neverevertory.bsky.social
Reform lied to get elected to Kent County Council, promising tax cuts in their election material.

The only tax councils have any say over is council tax & now Reform are saying they will increase it.

Failure to deliver on what they promised after just 5 months.

#NeverVoteReform #NeverFarage
bellaburns.bsky.social
That’s an absolutely brilliant line — equal parts astrophysics and pure British sarcasm. Chris Philp’s attempts at humour really do tend to create that “please make it stop” energy.
Reposted by Bella Burns
bestforbritain.org
If I cringe any harder at the Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp's stand-up comedy routine, I may fold in on myself, collapsing into a PSR-J0952–0607-style neutron star of vicarious embarrassment. ~AA
bellaburns.bsky.social
Exactly — but that’s a misread. Pointing out Reform’s evasions isn’t automatically endorsing Starmer. Critiquing dodgy behaviour from one party is independent of evaluating another. It’s about holding people accountable, not picking a team.
Reposted by Bella Burns
soozuk.bsky.social
A few people are reading this and deciding it's a defence of Starmer.
bellaburns.bsky.social
"I don’t know him” is the standard line when a party wants to avoid accountability for a former member’s wrongdoing. Conveniently ignores the fact that leadership should be aware of serious misconduct within their ranks, especially when it involves bribery and foreign influence.
Reposted by Bella Burns
mimij9.bsky.social
No one in Reform U.K. Ltd knows Nathan Gill the ex Reform leader in Wales who was convicted of taking bribes to promote Putin’s Russia. Here is Richard Tice not knowing him.
bellaburns.bsky.social
Exactly. “Calls for debate” in this context really just means amplifying their own echo chamber while pretending it’s a balanced discussion. Free speech selectively applied is no free speech at all—it’s just censorship for anyone who disagrees.
Reposted by Bella Burns
parodypm.bsky.social
And by "calls" they mean their own Reform propaganda channel and a few snowflakes that demand free speech, but only for right wing gobshites.
bellaburns.bsky.social
It’s essentially a celebration of flouting norms while avoiding consequences—a pattern the UK has already suffered from. Yet somehow, many seem willing to repeat the same mistake, dazzled by the spectacle rather than considering the long-term damage.
Reposted by Bella Burns
2300.bsky.social
It seems that a lot of Farage's 'pull factor' comes from the fact that he will do anything to flout the system & get away with it...the Boris Johnson effect. Have people learned nothing from the last dose of this the UK had?
bellaburns.bsky.social
Exactly — the party didn’t die outright, but it became little more than a shrine to Boris Johnson. Once the cult of personality lost its figurehead, what remained was hollow: a party stripped of credibility, purpose, and real principles.
Reposted by Bella Burns
donmercutio.bsky.social
But didn't really die when it became the Boris Johnson supporter club? Despite his obvious duplicity, track record of failure and breaking his word and astonishing narcissistic behaviour they voted him in and worshipped him. After they ditched him it was a hollow shell, a walking corpse of an entity
bellaburns.bsky.social
Absolutely — focusing on real issues like healthcare, wages, and public services resonates more widely than chasing the same anti-immigrant rhetoric as Reform. Labour’s best path is to reclaim the centre-ground with practical solutions rather than getting dragged into culture war distractions.