@lizmurison.bsky.social
Reposted
Tory legacy
Backlog of 7.3m NHS England hospital appointments; 6.24m individuals awaiting treatment.
2.8m waiting over 18 weeks or more.
NHS money depleted by PFI payments, privatization of services.
Farage prefers US style insurance-based system, millions won't get any healthcare.
Backlog of 7.3m NHS England hospital appointments; 6.24m individuals awaiting treatment.
2.8m waiting over 18 weeks or more.
NHS money depleted by PFI payments, privatization of services.
Farage prefers US style insurance-based system, millions won't get any healthcare.
NHS backlog data analysis
Analysis of monthly data releases by NHS England to highlight the huge pressures being placed on backlogs across the NHS - including operations data, cancer waiting list GP referrals and A&E waiting t...
www.bma.org.uk
December 31, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Tory legacy
Backlog of 7.3m NHS England hospital appointments; 6.24m individuals awaiting treatment.
2.8m waiting over 18 weeks or more.
NHS money depleted by PFI payments, privatization of services.
Farage prefers US style insurance-based system, millions won't get any healthcare.
Backlog of 7.3m NHS England hospital appointments; 6.24m individuals awaiting treatment.
2.8m waiting over 18 weeks or more.
NHS money depleted by PFI payments, privatization of services.
Farage prefers US style insurance-based system, millions won't get any healthcare.
Reposted
US fines for dirty money drop 61% as Trump retreats from enforcement.
Pay-off for political donations by corporations/rich. Convicted criminals pardoned, deregulation accelerated.
Is the UK different? Regulators required to promote growth, frauds buried.
www.removepaywall.com/search?url=h...
Pay-off for political donations by corporations/rich. Convicted criminals pardoned, deregulation accelerated.
Is the UK different? Regulators required to promote growth, frauds buried.
www.removepaywall.com/search?url=h...
US fines for dirty money drop 61% as Trump retreats from enforcement
Total penalties imposed by financial watchdogs fell to $1.7bn in the year to December 19
www.ft.com
December 31, 2025 at 10:57 AM
US fines for dirty money drop 61% as Trump retreats from enforcement.
Pay-off for political donations by corporations/rich. Convicted criminals pardoned, deregulation accelerated.
Is the UK different? Regulators required to promote growth, frauds buried.
www.removepaywall.com/search?url=h...
Pay-off for political donations by corporations/rich. Convicted criminals pardoned, deregulation accelerated.
Is the UK different? Regulators required to promote growth, frauds buried.
www.removepaywall.com/search?url=h...
Reposted
So, what’s everyone’s New Year’s Resolution?
I suppose mine has to be finding gainful employment by March or so, which shouldn’t be too much of a biggie.
<<gulps nervously>>
Oh, and more vegetables.
🐻
I suppose mine has to be finding gainful employment by March or so, which shouldn’t be too much of a biggie.
<<gulps nervously>>
Oh, and more vegetables.
🐻
a woman is making a funny face and says it 's almost time to repeat the whole new year , new me thing
Alt: a woman is making a funny face and says it 's almost time to repeat the whole new year , new me thing
media.tenor.com
December 31, 2025 at 10:58 AM
So, what’s everyone’s New Year’s Resolution?
I suppose mine has to be finding gainful employment by March or so, which shouldn’t be too much of a biggie.
<<gulps nervously>>
Oh, and more vegetables.
🐻
I suppose mine has to be finding gainful employment by March or so, which shouldn’t be too much of a biggie.
<<gulps nervously>>
Oh, and more vegetables.
🐻
Reposted
Reform Party's Middlesbrough election candidate photographed outside fascist conference
Reform are not your friends
redflare.info/articles/exc...
Reform are not your friends
redflare.info/articles/exc...
Exclusive: Reform UK 2024 General Election Candidate and Former Branch Chairman Photographed Outside Fascist Conference
We can reveal that Patrick Seargeant, while still in position as chairman of Reform UK’s Middlesbrough and Thornaby East branch, was present in Bourne, Lincolnshire as the fascist Homeland Party held ...
redflare.info
December 31, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reform Party's Middlesbrough election candidate photographed outside fascist conference
Reform are not your friends
redflare.info/articles/exc...
Reform are not your friends
redflare.info/articles/exc...
Reposted
I‘m in broad agreement with the Unite general secretary. At a time of global unrest, economic decline and social division we need something different to what the current government is presenting. A watered down version of the usual offering is not the solution.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Starmer’s Labour branded ‘austerity-lite’ and ‘rudderless’ in scathing attack on PM
Head of one of the UK’s largest unions warns the government that a failure to prioritise workers in 2026 could lead to ‘sowing the seeds of its own destruction’
www.independent.co.uk
December 31, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I‘m in broad agreement with the Unite general secretary. At a time of global unrest, economic decline and social division we need something different to what the current government is presenting. A watered down version of the usual offering is not the solution.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
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What a pity @zackpolanski.bsky.social isn't offering the grown-up solutions we've got used to from SERIOUS parties, such a letting billionaires make up their own rules, pretending Belgium doesn't exist, or improving public services without raising taxes.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Zack Polanski offering voters fantasy solutions, says head of Fabian Society
Joe Dromey, head of the Labour thinktank, urges his party to take on the ‘twin populisms’ of Reform UK and the Greens
www.theguardian.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:46 PM
What a pity @zackpolanski.bsky.social isn't offering the grown-up solutions we've got used to from SERIOUS parties, such a letting billionaires make up their own rules, pretending Belgium doesn't exist, or improving public services without raising taxes.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
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People voted for change & hope. What we got are budgets that tinker around the edges, too many U turns signalling incompetence/weakness & awful rhetoric on immigration - which all overshadow the good things they’ve done. It’s enraging Labour aren’t doing better, they’re giving the RW a way back.
December 31, 2025 at 1:54 PM
People voted for change & hope. What we got are budgets that tinker around the edges, too many U turns signalling incompetence/weakness & awful rhetoric on immigration - which all overshadow the good things they’ve done. It’s enraging Labour aren’t doing better, they’re giving the RW a way back.
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Joining the EU has been a magic ticket to prosperity for former Russian satellite states. Bulgaria is now going vertical.
This will happen for Ukraine, and it's Putin's nightmare. Ukraine’s resources, size, brainpower and location assure it will make even Poland's success small on comparison.
This will happen for Ukraine, and it's Putin's nightmare. Ukraine’s resources, size, brainpower and location assure it will make even Poland's success small on comparison.
January 1, 2026 at 11:05 AM
Joining the EU has been a magic ticket to prosperity for former Russian satellite states. Bulgaria is now going vertical.
This will happen for Ukraine, and it's Putin's nightmare. Ukraine’s resources, size, brainpower and location assure it will make even Poland's success small on comparison.
This will happen for Ukraine, and it's Putin's nightmare. Ukraine’s resources, size, brainpower and location assure it will make even Poland's success small on comparison.
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Happy New Year you lovely people.
A reminder that 2026 should be the year you leave X (if you haven’t already!)
A reminder that 2026 should be the year you leave X (if you haven’t already!)
Why you should leave X
A rallying cry to progressives everywhere...
writesbright.substack.com
January 1, 2026 at 12:06 PM
Happy New Year you lovely people.
A reminder that 2026 should be the year you leave X (if you haven’t already!)
A reminder that 2026 should be the year you leave X (if you haven’t already!)
Reposted
As we see so regularly , it is always the teenage girls fault , mix that with political cowardice that is driven by “but what will the Daily Mail say if we do something humane” and we have a system desperate to appease the worst of us, and to utterly ignore those who dare to empathise
A vulnerable child was groomed and trafficked and then subjected to the most shocking experiences imaginable including the deaths of her babies.
Instead of taking responsibility the British establishment stripped her of her citizenship and dumped her like old rubbish.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Instead of taking responsibility the British establishment stripped her of her citizenship and dumped her like old rubbish.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Shamima Begum: Home secretary to 'robustly defend' citizenship decision
The ECHR questions whether it was considered if Shamima Begum was a victim of grooming and trafficking.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 1, 2026 at 7:35 PM
As we see so regularly , it is always the teenage girls fault , mix that with political cowardice that is driven by “but what will the Daily Mail say if we do something humane” and we have a system desperate to appease the worst of us, and to utterly ignore those who dare to empathise
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So agree with this. If voters had wanted endless talk of “stop the boats” and racial division, Tories or Reform would have won in 2024. But they didn’t because most of us were tired of it all and longed for a less cruel dialogue & more focus on the fundamentals. Labour seem to have forgotten that.
And the reasons for that are not hard to find - Starmer’s unpopularity among left-liberals is the logical, arguably even intended consequence of 18 months of comms and policy which alienates and angers left-liberals while winning over no one on right. This is the cake his team have baked themselves.
December 31, 2025 at 1:47 PM
So agree with this. If voters had wanted endless talk of “stop the boats” and racial division, Tories or Reform would have won in 2024. But they didn’t because most of us were tired of it all and longed for a less cruel dialogue & more focus on the fundamentals. Labour seem to have forgotten that.
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Ask Mark Carney???
Also super disappointed in Sir Starmer not backing up Canadian sovereignty.
Also super disappointed in Sir Starmer not backing up Canadian sovereignty.
December 31, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Ask Mark Carney???
Also super disappointed in Sir Starmer not backing up Canadian sovereignty.
Also super disappointed in Sir Starmer not backing up Canadian sovereignty.
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With Trump? Probably not.
December 31, 2025 at 10:58 AM
With Trump? Probably not.
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Are there not positions between a direct showdown and total silence?
December 31, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Are there not positions between a direct showdown and total silence?
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Yeah, I talked about that a while back. Again: I understand the urge to try to avoid a direct showdown with a mercurial nuclear power which is also the largest single national economy on the planet. Sadly there is no “quiet good sense” available. Everything is today’s fury.
December 31, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Yeah, I talked about that a while back. Again: I understand the urge to try to avoid a direct showdown with a mercurial nuclear power which is also the largest single national economy on the planet. Sadly there is no “quiet good sense” available. Everything is today’s fury.
Reposted
Listen in vain for Starmer making any criticism of Trump or make any mention of the US being driven into fascism.
December 31, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Listen in vain for Starmer making any criticism of Trump or make any mention of the US being driven into fascism.
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And while he’s also done (not always unwillingly) some things I’m happy with he seems unable to confront US billionaires or British neo-Fascists, and he seems to regard the climate crisis as a flexible extra rather than a core reality.
December 31, 2025 at 9:41 AM
And while he’s also done (not always unwillingly) some things I’m happy with he seems unable to confront US billionaires or British neo-Fascists, and he seems to regard the climate crisis as a flexible extra rather than a core reality.
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To put it in the simplest possible terms: I thought Starmer was someone who, within the constraints of the doable, would be on my team. He has since then made huge efforts - on immigration, LGBT+, human rights etc - to demonstrate that he isn’t.
December 31, 2025 at 9:34 AM
To put it in the simplest possible terms: I thought Starmer was someone who, within the constraints of the doable, would be on my team. He has since then made huge efforts - on immigration, LGBT+, human rights etc - to demonstrate that he isn’t.
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I was going to say: it didn’t strike me as an impenetrable mystery in the first place. The policies took me from weary (and wary) optimism to disappointment to anger to quitting the party in the space of a few months.
December 31, 2025 at 9:21 AM
I was going to say: it didn’t strike me as an impenetrable mystery in the first place. The policies took me from weary (and wary) optimism to disappointment to anger to quitting the party in the space of a few months.
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Has anyone written a reported piece explaining why Starmer's team thought this wouldn't happen? I can't understand how this base-repelling strategy was ever supposed to work and many people predicted that it would fail in exactly this way
December 31, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Has anyone written a reported piece explaining why Starmer's team thought this wouldn't happen? I can't understand how this base-repelling strategy was ever supposed to work and many people predicted that it would fail in exactly this way
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Yes, I think that's a good point and I agree 2024 nonvoters are a vitally important and under-discussed group (have a piece coming out next week on exactly this).
December 31, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Yes, I think that's a good point and I agree 2024 nonvoters are a vitally important and under-discussed group (have a piece coming out next week on exactly this).
Reposted
Meanwhile if it’s the mcsweeny/streeting wing of the party, I can’t see them arresting their fall
December 31, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Meanwhile if it’s the mcsweeny/streeting wing of the party, I can’t see them arresting their fall
Reposted
I wonder if there’s a knock-on effect tho? If Starmer goes and is replaced by someone who is at least temporarily more appealing, won’t the pressure be back on Badenoch instantly? I’d be interested to know what people who did not vote in 2024 make of her.
December 31, 2025 at 10:54 AM
I wonder if there’s a knock-on effect tho? If Starmer goes and is replaced by someone who is at least temporarily more appealing, won’t the pressure be back on Badenoch instantly? I’d be interested to know what people who did not vote in 2024 make of her.
Reposted
A leader who is rejected by a majority of his own party’s supporters is not long for this world. If you can’t hold your own tribe, you can’t survive. I go into more detail as to why I think this will get worse, not better, in early 2026 in the thread: bsky.app/profile/robf...
That's why I think, sooner or later next year, Herb Stein's principle will kick in. 400 Lab MPs will not remain quiescent forever as their party's decline continues past election defeat & towards existential crisis. So I think, sooner or later in 2026, Starmer will either resign or face a challenge
December 31, 2025 at 10:48 AM
A leader who is rejected by a majority of his own party’s supporters is not long for this world. If you can’t hold your own tribe, you can’t survive. I go into more detail as to why I think this will get worse, not better, in early 2026 in the thread: bsky.app/profile/robf...
Reposted
I think the key to answering this question is understanding Starmer/Reeves unpopularity among natural allies. A majority of Laboir voters disapprove of him, as do large majorities of LD/Green voters. Hostility from natural political opponents is normal. Hostility from natural supporters is not.
Glad the FT is asking the question. Even if I’m not convinced they found a compelling answer.
I get that Starmer & Reeves are unpopular, I really don’t understand the extent of the dislike.
www.ft.com/content/1995... ‘There’s a real dislike, even loathing’: why voters hate Starmer and Reeves
I get that Starmer & Reeves are unpopular, I really don’t understand the extent of the dislike.
www.ft.com/content/1995... ‘There’s a real dislike, even loathing’: why voters hate Starmer and Reeves
‘There’s a real dislike, even loathing’: why voters hate Starmer and Reeves
Allies concede the prime minister and chancellor have made mistakes yet the level of disdain towards them is still striking
www.ft.com
December 31, 2025 at 9:16 AM
I think the key to answering this question is understanding Starmer/Reeves unpopularity among natural allies. A majority of Laboir voters disapprove of him, as do large majorities of LD/Green voters. Hostility from natural political opponents is normal. Hostility from natural supporters is not.