Purple Larley
@purplelarley.bsky.social
450 followers 1.5K following 720 posts
Interested in climate change, sustainable economics, equality and fair societies. Passionate about music and family. I remain stubbornly enthusiastic about all life has to offer.
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Reposted by Purple Larley
imincorrigible.bsky.social
Robert Jenrick quoted from his Mail on Sunday article in August 2025:

"I certainly don't want my children to share a neighbourhood with men from backward countries"

He's very, very racist.

#bbcpm
zefrog.eu
He claimed on Sky that he wants his kids to live in a country of mixed communities without preponderance of one group or another; railed against ghettoisation. He also lives in Herefordshire where 96.9% of the population identified as white in 2021...
Reposted by Purple Larley
indy.bsky.social
It nags at me that people are dancing around the fact that one reason centre-right think-tanks are in an intellectual crisis moment is because we've spent over a decade where lots of their ideas were tried out and didn't pan out as advertised.
purplelarley.bsky.social
God he's just vile. I couldn't watch it the whole way through.
Reposted by Purple Larley
barristersecret.bsky.social
This is a lie.

There are many criticisms you might sensibly and truthfully make of the Sentencing Council and the Sentencing Guidelines. I’ve been making them for years.

But this is an outright lie. Pure fabrication. A fraud on the public.
purplelarley.bsky.social
"Nigel Farage has pledged to fight the next election at least partly on anti-environmental policy."
I... huh... wha? HOW ARE SOME PEOPLE SO UTTERLY DERANGED?!
purplelarley.bsky.social
I suspect the Tories are going to be nowhere near power for a while but I can't stand the general direction of travel and it wouldn't surprise me if Jenrick just switched to Reform, as he seems to share their 'values'. I can't stand how we're going so backwards right now.
Reposted by Purple Larley
janrosenow.bsky.social
Exciting developments in solar.

Just read this fascinating FT article on perovskite solar panels – the next-gen innovation that's lighter, more flexible, and up to 20% more efficient than traditional silicon ones.

Imagine panels turning everyday surfaces into power generators
Reposted by Purple Larley
peterjukes.bsky.social
Something significant people might have missed on Nathan Gill’s indictment for bribery… “conspired with Oleg Voloshyn, and with others”

Maybe sentencing in November will make this clearer

www.spotlightcorruption.org/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Purple Larley
josiah.writes.news
Are Reform UK getting donations from a tax exile - or has this guy just failed to fulfil his promise to leave the UK? (As most of them do). Via Private Eye:

Nigel Farage and his Reform UK treasurer (and former tax exile) Nick Candy must be relieved that one of their more generous donors doesn’t keep his promises.

“I’m moving – that is it,” Nigerian-born businessman Bassim Haidar told the Guardian in May last year after the previous government announced the end of the “non-dom” tax regime (following which chancellor Rachel Reeves enacted the changes). “What’s the logic of me living in the UK when other countries are offering no taxes at all?” he wondered. “In Monaco there are no taxes, and no inheritance tax.” He was reported to have established a “working group” of 29 non-doms looking to up sticks before the start of the September 2024 school year.

Latest political donation declarations, however, show that Haidar gave Reform UK £200,000 in April this year. As laws introduced in 2009 require donors of such sums to be “resident, ordinarily resident and domiciled in the United Kingdom for the purposes of income tax”, it seems the entrepreneur has opted to stay put.

For yet another erstwhile non-dom, when push comes to shove, life in a country with a tax system turns out to be preferable to tax haven tedium
purplelarley.bsky.social
However, I also agree that sudden change could have dreadful consequences.
purplelarley.bsky.social
Hmm, I probably disagree with you about fairy stories. I genuinely believe we need quite a profound change to the way our whole economy is structured and I don't see any of the mainstream parties offering any vision for that. Which I understand because it's going to be very, very hard to deliver.
purplelarley.bsky.social
I really really hope Labour are able to make some really positive changes to people's lives, and are able to communicate it effectively, in the next couple of years because I absolutely dread the prospect of a Reform government.
purplelarley.bsky.social
This is exactly what I hope is happening, but my experience of this particular government seems to have involved an awful lot of hope. And so far I think the UK approach is actually to increase defence interdependence even more: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/683d89...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
purplelarley.bsky.social
Quite possibly. But I suspect he understands that a lot of the public frustration comes from the fact that people put a lot of hope in Labour and every time they water down what people thought they were getting, Labour loses some credibility and voters.
purplelarley.bsky.social
I think there's some truth in this too. However, I am very worried that the work in the shadows to ensure our own national defence isn't reliant on American support is just not happening, or at least not at the pace and degree I think is probably needed.
purplelarley.bsky.social
I think he's clarified his position and earlier interviews suggested leaving NATO full stop. I agree this seems sensible to me too. Defence is my main concern regarding his policies and I'm very keen to learn more about how he'd go about building international networks and collaborations.
purplelarley.bsky.social
"on Nato, Polanski said that while he maintained the alliance was untenable under a Trump-led US, he did not advocate immediate UK withdrawal, only if an alternative European defence alliance could be set up, a process he said could take years."
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
New Green leader Polanski distances party from electoral pact with Corbyn
Leftist would need to see ‘very strong arguments’ before agreeing a deal with party launched by ex-Labour leader
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Purple Larley
stevepeers.bsky.social
Here's Farage saying that he would 'pick up a rifle' - www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Reposted by Purple Larley
onestpress.onestnetwork.com
Barbra Streisand is joining Jane Fonda and 600+ entertainment figures in re-launching the Committee for the First Amendment. Fonda announced the revival of the organization, initially founded by her father, Henry Fonda. The organization was founded in the 1940s to defend free speech against fascism.
Reposted by Purple Larley
minnierahman.bsky.social
The only political party whose policies are in line with the recommendations made by Praxis. Lib Dems close. Everyone else miles away and actively working against our charitable objectives.
zackpolanski.bsky.social
"We absolutely need to stop the boats,” Polanski said, “but let’s stop the boats by offering safe and legal routes to asylum and not having people clinging on to dinghies for dear life.*

www.newstatesman.com/politics/gre...
Zack Polanski: “We absolutely need to stop the boats”
The Greens’ Zack Polanski on facing up to Reform
www.newstatesman.com
Reposted by Purple Larley
robertsaunders.bsky.social
Politics is not like selling biscuits, where the task is to find out what people like & flog it to them.

It's a moral activity. It's about arguing for the things you believe in. It's about *shaping* the "median voter".

Farage has moved the centre-ground of politics. His opponents can move it back.
Reposted by Purple Larley
sturdyalex.bsky.social
Javier Milei had to beg a bail-out and already needs another. Argentina's economy is in a tailspin. Gov't bonds and peso in freefall. People starving, throwing rocks at him.

Farage last year: "He's amazing. It's Thatcherism on steroids. Cutting and slashing expenditure. That's leadership."

SHARE!
purplelarley.bsky.social
I was so distracted during my run today. Absolute scenes.

#autumn
Mushroom circle in woods. The mushrooms are proper fairytale type - red domes with white spots. They're not in the photo, but it's highly likely some fairies are hiding nearby after some serious partying.
Reposted by Purple Larley
london.gov.uk
I remember being told that it would take 193 years to reach legal limits for nitrogen dioxide.

I decided this was unacceptable.

Thanks to the bold policies we put in place, we've managed to do it in nine years - 184 years earlier than expected.
Graphic which reads "Mayor of London / It was predicted to take 193 years to meet legal limits for air pollution in London/ We did it in 9"