David Cook
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cookcdj.bsky.social
David Cook
@cookcdj.bsky.social
310 followers 380 following 290 posts
39 years working for the government. It's been quite the ride. Anti-fash progressive.
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Reposted by David Cook
joniaskola.bsky.social
Trump and American tech oligarchs are the biggest threat to free speech
December 26, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by David Cook
iamdevil.bsky.social
He will start imprisoning journalists and activists en-mass, just wait.
December 25, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Reposted by David Cook
wartranslated.bsky.social
According to British intelligence, Russia’s losses since the beginning of the war have exceeded 400,000 killed and wounded.
x.com/DefenceHQ/st...
December 25, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by David Cook
timbale.bsky.social
Harsh but fair. (Source: www.ft.com/content/11a8...)
December 24, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Reposted by David Cook
ottoenglish.bsky.social
A patently stupid and self-destructive idea, pushed by very entitled people who had nothing to lose and Putins disinformation machine and voted for in large part by bigots who thought it would make this country great again.

All to the colossal detriment of the UK.

F*** them all a million times.
13sarahmurphy.bsky.social Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 2d
Letter to the FT that stingingly sums up Brexit and the shit creek we now find ourselves in.
A terrible idea (naive, prejudiced and uninformed) that has deeply divided us and left us poorer and less secure… but unwilling to face up to the damage we’ve done to ourselves. While the EU moves on.
FINANCIAL TIMES I was amused - and saddened - to read the latest instalment of the Brexiters' excuses for the poor performance over recent years of the UK economy and the UK's politics. In "Implementation of Brexit became a business fiasco" (Markets Insight, December 19), Paul Marshall acknowledges the cost of the UK's decision to leave the EU. But rather than acknowledge that his analysis was wrong - cutting ties with your biggest trading partner is never a good idea - Marshall blames bad implementation, and the fact that the EU didn't cut the UK some slack. Implementation of Brexit by the UK has indeed been poor, but that's a direct consequence of the political crisis that everyone should have expected following such a major decision on the back of one simple 52/48 referendum vote at the conclusion of a mind-bogglingly uninformed debate by both sides. That includes the Brexiters' naive insistence that the EU would bend to UK demands and grant it all sorts of privileges not enjoyed by others. So, the roughly 8 per cent of GDP loss in UK output since the Brexit decision in 2016 is easily explained by three perfectly predictable factors: it was a bad economic decision; it has split UK society politically; and the EU27 has moved on. It's time for those who led the UK down this disastrous path to stand up and acknowledge their wrong analysis and naive understanding of Europe. Until that happens, how can one even hope that the UK will begin to heal? Erik Fossing Nielsen Senior Adviser, Independent Economics (a London-based economics advisory firm); Former Chief Economist, UniCredit, and Former Chief European Economist, Goldman Sachs, Berlin, Germany
December 24, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Reposted by David Cook
hayesbrown.bsky.social
Oh we are so cooked

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/b...
Private equity firms have been struggling to deliver on their core business model of taking on debt, buying companies and selling them for a profit. Several years of high interest rates have made it too expensive for many would-be buyers to purchase companies with debt, and private equity firms are contending with a backlog of more than 31,000 unsold companies, a record amount. Deal activity picked up toward the end of this year, but not enough to make a significant dent in the backlog. Continuation vehicles are providing a short-term solution by allowing firms to sell the companies to themselves, book a paper gain and wait for interest rates to improve. Private equity firms have been turning to this strategy more frequently. The dollar value of continuation vehicles across the industry is expected to total $100 billion or more by the end of 2025, up from about $35 billion in 2019, according to the investment bank Evercore. Private equity is one of the biggest parts of the global economy, with more than $7 trillion in investors' money, and some of those investors are getting increasingly worried that strategies like continuation vehicles are putting off a painful reckoning.
December 24, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by David Cook
scotspostpunk.bsky.social
Closing tonight's UNAMERICAN BROADCASTING with a few guaranteed floor-fillers: only on strangerradio.mixlr.com

WAS NOT WAS | SIMPLE MINDS | WIN

@garycrowleyonair.bsky.social
@punkandnewwave.bsky.social
@ndb66.bsky.social
@dubcadet.bsky.social
@stevomusicman.bsky.social
@muzicgeezer.bsky.social
December 23, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by David Cook
barryjt.bsky.social
In remembrance of Saint Joe Strummer...

youtu.be/96UtZPLiT90?...
The Clash - (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais (Official Video)
YouTube video by theclashVEVO
youtu.be
December 23, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Reposted by David Cook
adamkinzinger.substack.com
Mitt Romney said the quiet part out loud: the rich should pay more in taxes.
The Wall Street Journal attacked him for it.
But he’s right—and ignoring the math is how democracies crack.
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...
Mitt Romney Is Right: Tax the Rich Before the Pitchforks Come Out
The One Percent’s Problem Isn’t Envy. It’s Math.
open.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by David Cook
simplyskye.bsky.social
JD Vance: “her street girl persona is about as real as her nails”

Jasmine Crockett: “How about you stop worrying about me, until we are on the Senate floor together & work to stop your boss from bankrupting our country while engaging in the largest corruption scheme we’ve ever seen?!”
Jasmine Crockett speaks at a lectern
December 22, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Reposted by David Cook
peterstefanovic.bsky.social
‘Man of the people’ Farage fumes at trail hunting ban

Farage once again voicing the real concerns of the working class!

www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/man...
'Man of the people' Farage fumes at trail hunting ban
Reform leader Nigel Farage has been mocked after he voiced his outrage at Labour proposed ban on trail hunting.
www.thelondoneconomic.com
December 22, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by David Cook
13sarahmurphy.bsky.social
This was a summary of the Brexit damage a year ago, just a few short months after Matt Vickers’s lot got booted out of office for grenading the place.
This epic damage is down to Brexit… and the Tory party.
He should feel nothing but shame and can stop lying to us all right now.
Independent front cover jan 2025 Five years on, the true cost of Brexit £30.2bn Cost of Britain's divorce settlement from the EU (HM Treasury) - not counting any ongoing impacts to the economy £27bn Drop in goods exports to EU in 2022 alone due to the introduction of trade barriers since Brexit (LSE) with food, agriculture and fishing among worst-hit sectors 15% Long-term hit to UK trade (OBR) as revealed in Budget forecast £2.8bn Annual decrease in UK food exports to the EU (Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy) 118,000 Tonnes drop in seafood exports to the EU since 2019 (Marine Management Organisation) 6 in 10 Britons think Brexit has gone badly (YouGov) and 12% believe it has gone well 3.6m+ Number of immigrants into UK since the end of EU free movement (ONS) despite claims it would reduce the flow 1/3 Drop in EU students at UK universities 56% Proportion of dairy producers struggling to find workers (Arla) 1,227,800 EU nationals who left the UK between 2016-21 (ONS) 16,400 Number of businesses that stopped exporting to EU due to Brexit trade rules (LSE) 2.3m Net migration Since end of free movement (ONS)
December 22, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Reposted by David Cook
bobhudson.bsky.social
The damage wreaked by Thatcher is incalculable. Here’s one of the worst examples 👇
December 23, 2025 at 7:20 AM
cookcdj.bsky.social
This is an outlier for cowed corporate compliance when Farage forms the next government.
December 23, 2025 at 9:35 AM
cookcdj.bsky.social
Wondered where Boris Johnson had been hiding out
youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 3d
feel very thankful that I got to be sitting next to my brother when I saw this headline, allowing me to act shocked and go "you came to London and didn't even message me??" before showing him this x
December 23, 2025 at 9:33 AM
cookcdj.bsky.social
Good to see these emboldened clowns being held to some degree of account for the brexit shitshow they happily inflicted on the UK.
bestforbritain.org Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 3d
Tory MP Matt Vickers' car crash encounter with @lewisgoodall.com on #Brexit.

LG: Do you accept you damaged the economy?
MV: No.
LG: Are you saying Brexit has been good for business?
MV: It's created opportunities.
LG: What about all the evidence?
MV: You need to come up north.

Huh? 😵‍💫 ~AA
December 23, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Reposted by David Cook
13sarahmurphy.bsky.social
“Over half (54%) of exporters in a survey of almost 1,000 businesses – the majority of which were small and medium-sized firms – said the (Brexit) trade deal negotiated by Boris Johnson’s govt… was not helping them”

Paying a v high price for Brexit ‘sovereignty’.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Keir Starmer told closer EU trade ties ‘strategic necessity’ for UK firms
Labour urged to accelerate reset with Brussels as many exporters struggling to trade in the EU after Brexit deal
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Reposted by David Cook
tambritton.bsky.social
This is an absolute disgrace of an article. 7% of the electorate in this council ward voted for Reform and yet the BBC News report it as this.
Screenshot of BBC Scotland news web page.
December 21, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Reposted by David Cook
russincheshire.bsky.social
Leaving the details aside, I think we can wave goodbye to majority governments for the foreseeable future. We're entering the age of coalitions.

Greens, Labour and LibDems would be wise to start planning now. Cos you bet Reform and Tories will be.
leftiestats.bsky.social Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ @leftiestats.bsky.social · 4d
🚨 NEW | Poll shows Greens ahead of Labour

➡️ REF: 25% (-1)
🔵 CON: 22% (+2)
🟢 GRN: 19% (+1)
🔴 LAB: 18% (=)
🟠 LD: 10% (-1)

Via @LordAPolls, 11-15 Dec (+/- vs 17 Nov)
December 21, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Reposted by David Cook
jwsidders.bsky.social
I do not care who the leader of the Labour party is. My only concern is having someone in charge who can win enough votes to prevent the absolute disaster for British democracy of the right taking power in 2029.
December 21, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Reposted by David Cook
13sarahmurphy.bsky.social
The Tory party continues to circle the far right drain; a place where the bigots, the corrupt and the nasty fools gather.
Badenoch doesn’t have the wit or the integrity to drag them back to decency. In fact, she’s a big part of the strong downward current.
However, if you look closer at her poll figures, the slight improvement she has made in her still dire ratings over recent weeks, is almost entirely made up of existing Conservative voters slightly improving their opinion of their own leader, rather than any non-Conservative voters warming towards her. This is not surprising. Since becoming Conservative leader, Badenoch has pursued not just a core-vote strategy, but a core - Reform UK - vote strategy. She now looks intent on trading that down to a core BNP vote strategy instead.
December 20, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by David Cook
adambienkov.bsky.social
Why the current attempts to pretend Kemi Badenoch's leadership of the Conservative Party has been anything other than an unmitigated disaster simply won't wash
www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/kemi-baden...
Kemi Badenoch's Dead Cat Bounce
Why the attempts to pretend Kemi Badenoch's leadership of the Conservative Party has been anything other than an unmitigated disaster simply won't wash
www.adambienkov.co.uk
December 20, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Reposted by David Cook
writesbright.bsky.social
For all of Farage’s bombast and bravado, Reform is basically just a retirement home for disgraced Tories - and the media should be reporting it as such
Farage’s Tory recycling scheme
And why it will surely backfire...
writesbright.substack.com
December 20, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Reposted by David Cook
redpeter99.bsky.social
A neat explanation of Brexiters as well.
These are worrying times.
bdowney2338.bsky.social Just a Bill @bdowney2338.bsky.social · 6d
I see with my own eyes that same mood with my maga family members. Every single one of them would vote for him again tomorrow because no matter how much they are hurting the people they hate are hurting more and that’s good enough for them.
December 20, 2025 at 6:59 AM