Chris Giles
@chrisgiles7.bsky.social
Migrating from twitter.
Left politics and pro EU.
Left politics and pro EU.
Reposted by Chris Giles
Hi. We’re Reform. We’ve got all the worst Tories you can imagine, and a bunch of our own candidates who are even worse.
December 1, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Hi. We’re Reform. We’ve got all the worst Tories you can imagine, and a bunch of our own candidates who are even worse.
Reposted by Chris Giles
Feel like I'm going mad. The Budget's 'headroom' is based on frankly irresponsible and wildly optimistic claims about what Labour will do in the final year of the forecast, and on ignoring a bunch of upward pressures on spending, and the claim is that she was being exaggeratedly *pessimistic*?
Suggestion Rachel Reeves exaggerated fiscal pressures is absurd
Chancellor was instead far too optimistic about public finances and government’s ability to secure cuts
www.ft.com
December 1, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Feel like I'm going mad. The Budget's 'headroom' is based on frankly irresponsible and wildly optimistic claims about what Labour will do in the final year of the forecast, and on ignoring a bunch of upward pressures on spending, and the claim is that she was being exaggeratedly *pessimistic*?
Reposted by Chris Giles
Indeed. This is not the BBC's job and to make it worse, in the same piece, Chris Mason again lurches into opinion and gives government carte blanche when he absolutely should not have!
No that's not *your* on *our behalf*. Your job is to report the story, presenting all sides fairly and then *we* call it. What Mason is saying here is fundamentally not what the bbc is for!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Indeed. This is not the BBC's job and to make it worse, in the same piece, Chris Mason again lurches into opinion and gives government carte blanche when he absolutely should not have!
Reposted by Chris Giles
Think this is exactly right - political journalism that is completely abstracted from policy, which was not the norm before 2017, has become the default. Impossible to have a serious attempt to either shrink what the state does or widen the tax base (have to do at least one) on that basis.
All this budget news, claims, counter claims is confusing, but two things of consequence.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
December 1, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Think this is exactly right - political journalism that is completely abstracted from policy, which was not the norm before 2017, has become the default. Impossible to have a serious attempt to either shrink what the state does or widen the tax base (have to do at least one) on that basis.
Reposted by Chris Giles
Reeves is absolutely deserving of defence at the moment, given the total incoherence of the attacks against her.
However, to an extent, Labour are now reaping what they sow in terms of leaning into narratives about black holes, maxxed out credit cards and other such nonsense.
However, to an extent, Labour are now reaping what they sow in terms of leaning into narratives about black holes, maxxed out credit cards and other such nonsense.
December 1, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Reeves is absolutely deserving of defence at the moment, given the total incoherence of the attacks against her.
However, to an extent, Labour are now reaping what they sow in terms of leaning into narratives about black holes, maxxed out credit cards and other such nonsense.
However, to an extent, Labour are now reaping what they sow in terms of leaning into narratives about black holes, maxxed out credit cards and other such nonsense.
Reposted by Chris Giles
Let silly hacks go and work on their next bit of Westminster gossip. THIS is the main news from that conference. The clearest indication yet, right from the top.
👏🏽"We must all now confront the reality that the Brexit deal significantly hurt our economy. We have to keep reducing frictions. We have to keep moving towards a closer relationship with the EU. And we have to be grown up about it. To accept that it will require trade-offs."👏🏽
Music to my ears. ~AA
Music to my ears. ~AA
December 1, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Let silly hacks go and work on their next bit of Westminster gossip. THIS is the main news from that conference. The clearest indication yet, right from the top.
Reposted by Chris Giles
I feel like we're moving closer to the inevitable day when Liz Truss announces she's defected to Reform, and Reform frantically spins that she absolutely has not
December 1, 2025 at 11:32 AM
I feel like we're moving closer to the inevitable day when Liz Truss announces she's defected to Reform, and Reform frantically spins that she absolutely has not
Reposted by Chris Giles
"There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad."
This story is starting to make me feel I’m going slightly mad - maybe RR overdid the gloom, but the tax rises are paying for a) the welfare U-turns b) the £10bn-plus increase in headroom c) scrapping the two child limit d) bits of other spending eg higher local gov costs 🤷🏻♀️
December 1, 2025 at 9:19 AM
"There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad."
My guess is that If AI replaces millions of jobs and unemployment rises substantially what is left of the welfare system will be gutted and there will be grinding poverty and destitution for the masses under an authoritarian govt.
#LBC
#LBC
December 1, 2025 at 11:27 AM
My guess is that If AI replaces millions of jobs and unemployment rises substantially what is left of the welfare system will be gutted and there will be grinding poverty and destitution for the masses under an authoritarian govt.
#LBC
#LBC
Reposted by Chris Giles
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree. Ate it.
December 1, 2025 at 8:27 AM
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree. Ate it.
Reposted by Chris Giles
Chris Mason sounds utterly absurd, trying to turn the screws on Rachel Reeves while acknowledging that she has done nothing that one wouldn't expect a politician to do.
December 1, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Chris Mason sounds utterly absurd, trying to turn the screws on Rachel Reeves while acknowledging that she has done nothing that one wouldn't expect a politician to do.
Reposted by Chris Giles
Might not have a ring to it but BBC News should be honest and rename itself BBC Gleefully Parroting Tory Talking Points.
December 1, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Might not have a ring to it but BBC News should be honest and rename itself BBC Gleefully Parroting Tory Talking Points.
Reposted by Chris Giles
Our media has become the story. What they decide is newsworthy, what they scream about, who they accuse, who they excuse, who they blame…
They have an agenda entirely of their own. Not one rooted in public interest or national responsibility. But one that is deeply rightwing and undemocratic.
They have an agenda entirely of their own. Not one rooted in public interest or national responsibility. But one that is deeply rightwing and undemocratic.
I must have missed the wall-to-wall coverage of demands for an investigation into Nigel Farage's lies about being a racist
Or about whether he knew Nathan Gill
Or about who bought his house in Frinton
Or about whether he knew Nathan Gill
Or about who bought his house in Frinton
December 1, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Our media has become the story. What they decide is newsworthy, what they scream about, who they accuse, who they excuse, who they blame…
They have an agenda entirely of their own. Not one rooted in public interest or national responsibility. But one that is deeply rightwing and undemocratic.
They have an agenda entirely of their own. Not one rooted in public interest or national responsibility. But one that is deeply rightwing and undemocratic.
Reposted by Chris Giles
Maybe it was last week's reemergence of rumours about Farage's youth that was the clincher.
Two more Conservative MP rejects hop over to Reform UK. Jonathan Gullis and Lia Nici.
More and more, Reform UK looks simply as if the Tories ran off stage, then came back on two minutes lates, wearing a comedy moustache-and-glasses disguise. ~AA
uk.news.yahoo.com/former-tory-...
More and more, Reform UK looks simply as if the Tories ran off stage, then came back on two minutes lates, wearing a comedy moustache-and-glasses disguise. ~AA
uk.news.yahoo.com/former-tory-...
Former Tory MP Jonathan Gullis defects to Reform UK
He joins Daniel Jellyman
uk.news.yahoo.com
December 1, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Maybe it was last week's reemergence of rumours about Farage's youth that was the clincher.
If only this Labour govt could help and support people into work without demonising them.
Last week the Lab govt argued rightly that benefits lift people out of poverty.
This week Labour revert back to ludicrous RW tropes about benefits trapping people and linking to economic failure. #LBC
Last week the Lab govt argued rightly that benefits lift people out of poverty.
This week Labour revert back to ludicrous RW tropes about benefits trapping people and linking to economic failure. #LBC
December 1, 2025 at 10:29 AM
If only this Labour govt could help and support people into work without demonising them.
Last week the Lab govt argued rightly that benefits lift people out of poverty.
This week Labour revert back to ludicrous RW tropes about benefits trapping people and linking to economic failure. #LBC
Last week the Lab govt argued rightly that benefits lift people out of poverty.
This week Labour revert back to ludicrous RW tropes about benefits trapping people and linking to economic failure. #LBC
It's very sad to see the BBC continuing to enable its own destruction.
The BBC have been cowered into pandering to the far right by years of RW politicians and media screaming "left wing bias".
#LBC
The BBC have been cowered into pandering to the far right by years of RW politicians and media screaming "left wing bias".
#LBC
December 1, 2025 at 10:02 AM
It's very sad to see the BBC continuing to enable its own destruction.
The BBC have been cowered into pandering to the far right by years of RW politicians and media screaming "left wing bias".
#LBC
The BBC have been cowered into pandering to the far right by years of RW politicians and media screaming "left wing bias".
#LBC
Reposted by Chris Giles
So chosen because of the way it will prompt those online to say "actually, that is two words".
qed.
qed.
CONFIRMED: Oxford University Press has named ‘rage bait’ as the Oxford Word of the Year 2025.
#OxfordWOTY
#OxfordWOTY
December 1, 2025 at 8:31 AM
So chosen because of the way it will prompt those online to say "actually, that is two words".
qed.
qed.
Reposted by Chris Giles
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 Chris Giles
Mason declares that in his judgement we have been misled by Rachel Reeves.
It feels unprecedented that the BBC has made a "call" on a story, and is something that was absent throughout the terms of notorious liars such as Johnson.
There were certainly no "calls" about Brexit lies.
#r4today
It feels unprecedented that the BBC has made a "call" on a story, and is something that was absent throughout the terms of notorious liars such as Johnson.
There were certainly no "calls" about Brexit lies.
#r4today
December 1, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Mason declares that in his judgement we have been misled by Rachel Reeves.
It feels unprecedented that the BBC has made a "call" on a story, and is something that was absent throughout the terms of notorious liars such as Johnson.
There were certainly no "calls" about Brexit lies.
#r4today
It feels unprecedented that the BBC has made a "call" on a story, and is something that was absent throughout the terms of notorious liars such as Johnson.
There were certainly no "calls" about Brexit lies.
#r4today
Reposted by Chris Giles
“Labour are total bastards. They’ve caused all the problems of the past 2000 years.
Just paraphrasing UK media, including BBC
Does anyone remember this kind of coverage of Tories, when, for 14 yrs, they were lying through their teeth, directing untold billions of public money to their friends etc?
Just paraphrasing UK media, including BBC
Does anyone remember this kind of coverage of Tories, when, for 14 yrs, they were lying through their teeth, directing untold billions of public money to their friends etc?
December 1, 2025 at 7:11 AM
“Labour are total bastards. They’ve caused all the problems of the past 2000 years.
Just paraphrasing UK media, including BBC
Does anyone remember this kind of coverage of Tories, when, for 14 yrs, they were lying through their teeth, directing untold billions of public money to their friends etc?
Just paraphrasing UK media, including BBC
Does anyone remember this kind of coverage of Tories, when, for 14 yrs, they were lying through their teeth, directing untold billions of public money to their friends etc?
Reposted by Chris Giles
Just think it’s a bit weird that society has been brainwashed in to thinking that rich people and massive corporations having a bit less money is the main thing we need to avoid no matter what.
November 30, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Just think it’s a bit weird that society has been brainwashed in to thinking that rich people and massive corporations having a bit less money is the main thing we need to avoid no matter what.
Kuenssberg - the 2 child ben cap is a "limit on bigger families getting some extra benefits".
"Bigger families" prompts images of unrepresentative benefits st families.
"Extra benefits" interesting way to describe kids with more than 1 sibling
no longer being plunged into poverty.
#bbclairak
"Bigger families" prompts images of unrepresentative benefits st families.
"Extra benefits" interesting way to describe kids with more than 1 sibling
no longer being plunged into poverty.
#bbclairak
November 30, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Kuenssberg - the 2 child ben cap is a "limit on bigger families getting some extra benefits".
"Bigger families" prompts images of unrepresentative benefits st families.
"Extra benefits" interesting way to describe kids with more than 1 sibling
no longer being plunged into poverty.
#bbclairak
"Bigger families" prompts images of unrepresentative benefits st families.
"Extra benefits" interesting way to describe kids with more than 1 sibling
no longer being plunged into poverty.
#bbclairak
Reposted by Chris Giles
Not the Brexit deal.
Brexit.
A prejudiced moronathon that will continue to damage our country until we’re brave/sane enough to admit it, demand accountability from those who insisted upon it and then, finally, start to fix it.
Brexit.
A prejudiced moronathon that will continue to damage our country until we’re brave/sane enough to admit it, demand accountability from those who insisted upon it and then, finally, start to fix it.
The tide is turning. Even the Telegraph is now admitting the damage the Brexit deal has done to the economy.
November 29, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Not the Brexit deal.
Brexit.
A prejudiced moronathon that will continue to damage our country until we’re brave/sane enough to admit it, demand accountability from those who insisted upon it and then, finally, start to fix it.
Brexit.
A prejudiced moronathon that will continue to damage our country until we’re brave/sane enough to admit it, demand accountability from those who insisted upon it and then, finally, start to fix it.
Reposted by Chris Giles
Which one? www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
GB News urged to cut ties with contributor accused of racism
Rightwing activist claimed Commons deputy speaker Nusrat Ghani should be barred because she was born in Pakistan
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Which one? www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...