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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 21h

No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.

Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · 21h

Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.

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Richard Gadsden @po8crg.gadsden.online · 21h

As @mthrjo.bsky.social has pointed out while this was sitting in my drafts:

This is worse than the Tebbit test, which we all regarded as awful and prejudiced *in the 1980s* - this is saying that even if they support the England cricket team, that's not good enough for people with brown skin.

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 22h

Spot on from @stephenkb.bsky.social. And the other aspect of this nasty turn is the eliding of British ‘culture’ with ‘white British’, which will shock anyone who has watched TV or football, or listened to music, or read a book, or indeed breathed since 1980.

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Jack Tindale @jacktindale.bsky.social · 19h

One of the reasons I’ve become a convert to “just scrap Grade II” is because of mission creep. What fundamentally is gained from keeping 8 cooling towers around? This isn’t like Bankside/Battersea Power Station where you can get an art gallery or a mall out of it.

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Andrew R @excelpope.net · 19h

See yer da’s got a new car.

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Ben Stanley @benstanley.eu · 1d

“The advantages of a first past the post system, of course, are that it prevents an overly fragmented parliament in which a stable governing majority cannot be found, and that it keeps the radical right down.”

Election Maps UK @electionmaps.uk · 1d

Westminster Voting Intention:

RFM: 27% (-2)
LAB: 20% (-2)
CON: 17% (+1)
LDM: 17% (+2)
GRN: 12% (+1)
SNP: 4% (+1)

Via @yougov.co.uk, 5-6 Oct.
Changes w/ 28-29 Sep.

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Craig Grannell @craiggrannell.bsky.social · 23h

Also, I find it incredible that successive governments keep trying to knacker industries where the UK punches above its weight, such as an awful lot of the arts.

Tim Worthington @outonbluesix.bsky.social · 1d

How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 1d

I asked Chris Philip this.
- the last govt passed laws saying those who came without permission could not claim asylum
- the government cleared a backlog well, but then ceased to process claims in the last year.
- they had 60,000 people in hotels. Surely over 50k of them were never going to Rwanda?

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 2d

Not a serious person. Zero mention of what this would mean for the over a million British citizens whose own access to welfare in the EU is protected by the withdrawal agreement.

EU citizens living in UK shouldn’t be allowed welfare benefits, says Tory rising star

Katie Lam — who is earning plaudits on the Conservative right — calls for Brexit withdrawal agreement to be reopened.

www.politico.eu

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 1d

JFC the man has not one ounce of shame in him.

He went to private school and Cambridge. He owns three homes and rents a fourth!

James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 1d

I know plenty of politicians 'working classify' their backgrounds, but this from Jenrick is taking the piss.

His father's linked in is here: uk.linkedin.com/in/bill-jenr...

He was a managing accountant who ended up as the Managing Director of Cannon Industries

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fascowell.bsky.social @fascowell.bsky.social · 1d

I wrote a book on treaty withdrawal. This is wrong. Various parts of the TCA are automatically affected and the TCA as a whole is contingent on respect for human rights. There is no sense whatsoever that this continues on as it does now.

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Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 1d

It is also deeply unhealthy to have local govts who don’t provide many visible/valuable services for most residents (because they lack the resources). Encourages distrust and populism - “what am I paying my council tax for? The council does nothing for me.”

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 1d

Amazed this is still going ahead - basic and obvious problem is that essentially everything local government does now is for the poor. You can’t move it around without really hurting poor people somewhere!

Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 1d

Some of London’s poorest areas could see their share of the children’s services funding formula halved under Labour’s plans to reform local government grants.

By me, for Politics Home: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 2d

Badenoch on #r4today saying they will "have returns agreements", yet we already know that many countries won't implement them. Now spreading it to "third party countries", such as Rwanda. The Rwanda plan was not stopped "because of the ECHR". The lack of honesty about what the ECHR does is massive.

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 5d

The Israeli invitation to Tommy Robinson has initially been reported with headlines that largely reflect the glowing terms of the invitation by the extreme Israeli minister involved - even by the Daily Mirror - rather than reflecting how contentious, controversial this will be

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 4d

Great thread. Badenoch’s complete lack of interest in Ukraine in particular is just utterly bizarre to me. She talks as if she is engaged in a battle for our values. What does she think Ukrainians are fighting and dying for? Why does she think Boris and Ben Wallace helped to arm them?

Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 4d

It is genuinely amazing the extent to which the Conservatives' current strategies are basically the complete opposite of what they should be doing.

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James Bowes @jamesbowes01.bsky.social · 4d

The most recent net immigration figures were 431,000 year ending Dec 25. However, net immigration was already far lower than that even before the rules tightened Jul 25. Visa grants are much lower now than in the first half of 2024 primarily because of the Mar/Apr 24 salary threshold rises (2/x)

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James Bowes @jamesbowes01.bsky.social · 4d

With the government bringing in new restrictions against immigration, many people assume net immigration will nevertheless remain high. However, the evidence actually suggests that immigration will fall dramatically over the coming years and reach lows not seen for decades (pandemic aside). (1/x)

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Simon ⚒️⛩️🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴‍☠️🇪🇺 @sulaco68.bsky.social · 4d

The view from an ANTIFA landing craft June 6th 1944

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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 4d

if I drink three glasses of wine and I eat a large cheesteak and I get home to find the lift in my building isn't working then there should be someone I ought to be able to sue, in a court of law

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 4d

Support for staying in the ECHR has been rising (probably a Farage effect of solidifying the majority who oppose him, maybe Trump osmosis effect). Media and political opinion on the right believes there is a strong public desire to quit. Badenoch has now committed the Conservatives to quitting.

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Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 5d

As Labour conference wraps up, I've done a piece for the Swingometer looking at their record in the polls so far.

Visual summary below...

swingometer.substack.com/p/labour-how...

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Nadine Batchelor-Hunt @nadinebh.bsky.social · 6d

If your response to Jewish people being stabbed to death and mowed down by a car in Manchester is “Gaza” you’re a charlatan and an antisemite and you need to get in the fucking bin.

I’ve had enough. Jews have had enough.

And you’re no ally of the Palestinian people if you behave like this.

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 6d

This was also the intention in May but this has been terribly communicated throughout, partly as it has been so back of the envelope with noisy rhetoric that raises expectations they won't meet

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 7d

Separately, what are we doing here?

Migrants already can't claim benefits before they get permanent residency, surely we remember this?

Migrants already pay NI contributions, again, extremely obvious.

So what actually is the notional policy change? Just the volunteering bit?

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced at Labour party conference this week that migrants to the UK will have to prove they are net contributors to society, have never claimed benefits and have a clean criminal record in order to qualify for permanent residency.
Her new policy built on a previous government announcement of a rise from five to 10 years in the default period that migrants would need to be in Britain before being able to apply for indefinite leave to remain.
But ministers clarified this week that the 10-year period could be shortened if foreigners could prove they were making a positive contribution to society, including by paying national insurance and volunteering in the community.

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fascowell.bsky.social @fascowell.bsky.social · 7d

Don’t - I love the Oh God What Now podcast when you’re on ! Explain complicated things to us. There’s a market for it even if the general chattersphere rewards short term performative nonsense.

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 7d

New post:

"Identity Crisis"

Labour keeps trying to appeal to a lost white working class vote + alienating middle-class grads / ethnic minority voters that are a much bigger part of their coalition.

Why? And how can they rebuild their coalition more effectively?

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/i...

Identity Crisis

How Labour can rebuild their voter coalition

open.substack.com

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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 8d

The Home Office doesn't lose as many asylum & deportation cases as it does because of some supposed marginal differences between the application of Art 8 in UK courts and the ECtHR view, it loses so many cases because it's caseload has long been woefully mismanaged...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Starmer wants rethink on international law to tackle migration

The PM gives the clearest sign yet the government wants to reform how human rights laws are applied in immigration cases.

www.bbc.co.uk

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