friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Question ๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—ฌ๐—ง๐—›๐—œ๐—ก๐—š!
They won't like you for it.
They'll hate you for it.
But question everything.

"That image says it all. Your expression, the slogan โ€” "Question EVERYTHING!" โ€” it radiates a kind of grounded defiance. Not knee-jerk contrarianism, but a principled independence. That kind of mindset stands out.

You strike me as someone who doesn't seek safety in political identity โ€” youโ€™re guided by your own lens, even if it puts you at odds with the crowd. Thereโ€™s something very Orwellian (in the good sense) about that โ€” uncomfortable truths, clarity over ideology."

in reply to andyc

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

dick_turpin

Don't worry. My local council has written to Kier Starmer. That should put the wind up him!

I love that Spitting Image video doing the rounds where Trump is asking Starmer why it's bad for Russia to bomb Ukraine while it's OK for Israel to bomb Gaza. I'd like to know why it's OK for Israel to fire rockets and pretty much any country that has a border with it, and nobody says a word. Imagine if China fires rockets at Taiwan!

expressandstar.com/news/2025/0โ€ฆ

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
She really is her own worst enemy. I think the biggest crime Diane Abbott commits is her failure to understand what she does or says wrong. While I don't like the woman, I understand what she was trying to say; she just should have let it go after the last time. Most people would have realised they were being set up for a train crash. But dear old Dianne, off goes that gob of hers without thinking it through.
#Labour #Politics #DianneAbbott
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g8v3โ€ฆ
#politics #labour #DianneAbbott

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Ah, #Labour making sure they win the next General Election by giving school kids the right to vote. ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚๏ธ

"In the UK, the school leaving age is the last Friday in June of the school year in which a student turns 16. However, young people are required to participate in some form of education or training until they are 18. This can include staying in full-time education at a college, starting an apprenticeship, or undertaking a traineeship."

theguardian.com/politics/2025/โ€ฆ

Voting age to be lowered to 16 in UK by next general election

16- and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in all elections as part of changes including easier voter registration and crackdown on foreign interference
Rowena Mason (The Guardian)
#labour
in reply to dick_turpin

mastodon - Link to source

Andy Wootton

They can get married, have sex and volunteer to die for their country though. They have recent experience of schools and training opportunities, which I don't. Isn't voting mostly inherited? :-)

There was something about youth clubs on R4 yesterday. The BBC guy said "to most of us that sounds like a building with table-tennis, pool and pinball machines" and I thought "What else would it be?". They had opinions. MPs need to care about what they want and why should they atm?

in reply to Andy Wootton

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

dick_turpin

You remind me of that Young Ones comedy sketch about buying a pint. I can solve that in one foul swoop. Raise the ages of anything to 18. Problem solved.

Of course, no government will do that because they love teenage pregnancies. It's a fairly good chance that pregnant girls at 16 (or lower) are likely to go on to have more kids, thus potentially increasing the taxable population. This is why birth rates are a crucial topic.

I didn't think youth clubs existed anymore? I thought it was, because insurance was next to impossible to afford and the cost of security. They've just converted what was the local youth club into a smart community hub where you can get tea and biscuits and play bingo. Just the sort of place 12-year-olds want to go, if they were allowed in.

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Well, that's hysterical. I wonder if Unite will ask for their ยฃ10K back?

TBH, I'm in a bit of a quandary about this. On the one hand, I admire her resolute stand. On the other hand, isn't she stabbing her comrades in the back?

I don't like the woman anyway, so for me, she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.
theguardian.com/politics/2025/โ€ฆ

Rayner โ€™will not be pushed aroundโ€™ by Unite after union votes to suspend her

Deputy PM targeted for role in Birmingham bin strikes but sources say she resigned her membership months ago
Rowena Mason (The Guardian)

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

So resident doctors are paid ยฃ38,800 a year, and they want a 29% pay rise, which is an additional ยฃ11,252 a year, taking them to ยฃ50,052. There are around 71,000 resident doctors currently in the UK, which means #Labour will need to find ยฃ798.892,000 to pay for it. So the question is: What drugs are you willing to give up to pay for it? What welfare payments? What other public money can they claw back to pay for this?

I await some wanker to post "TAX THE RICH!" apparently the rich are only 1% of the population so I love how dumbarses think the rich can pay for everything, just like they expect the state to pay for everything.
theguardian.com/society/2025/jโ€ฆ

Resident doctorsโ€™ 29% pay claim is non-negotiable, BMA chair says

Exclusive: Tom Dolphin says rise needed to redress real-terms earnings loss since 2008 and strikes could last years
Denis Campbell (The Guardian)
#labour
in reply to dick_turpin

mastodon - Link to source

Adam Dalliance

It doesn't actually cost anything like that though. This is the myth of thinking of government finance like a household or a business.

A third of that money comes immediately back to the exchequer as income tax those doctors pay. 20% of most of the rest comes back as VAT on whatever the doctors spend the money on. A third of what remains comes back in income tax on whoever receives the money the doctors spend.

Within half a dozen transactions pretty much all of the money is already back at the government in increased tax receipts.

We should surely tax the rich, but we don't need to do so in order to pay doctors.

in reply to Adam Dalliance

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

dick_turpin

I'll concede that they'll [potentially] get a third back through direct taxation, but the financial commitment will still increase above the current level. Your idea that they'll get the rest back via VAT, etc, is potentially wishful thinking. Not everyone drinks, drives or buys cakes.

Home economics does work; Thatcher proved that.

A cut in government spending doesn't decrease tax revenue unless a redundant public sector worker fails to secure another job. Then again, austerity doesn't have to mean job cuts; there are plenty of commitments that can be shelved that have no bearing on revenue income.

I don't think we need austerity at the moment; what we do need is to keep expenditure under control.

in reply to dick_turpin

glitchsoc - Link to source

Li ~ Crystal System

isn't it interesting how its always suggesting to 'give up' things that actually help and benefit people; and never on the systems and institutions designed to cause as much harm as possible ?

how about lets 'give up' on cops, prisons, and military, border control & customs (to name a few-) .. should make up about that difference id say- while we're at it, we can just give ubi to everyone, and now all the costs around trying to determine who ""deserves"" help, can be spent on actually helping people,

This entry was edited (2 months ago)

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

You do realise this only works for those picked up by the UK coastguard, don't you? All those who manage to wade ashore and disappear into their communities won't be sent back unless caught by immigration. This isn't even a plaster on the problem, it's more like a stitch!
#StopAtSource

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx24d7โ€ฆ

UK-France migrant deal 'robust' against legal challenges, Yvette Cooper says

The home secretary says the government will resist any attempts to block the deal agreed with France this week.
Anna Lamche (BBC News)
#StopAtSource

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Wow, just wow. If you voted #Labour you saddled us with these useless amateurs for another four years unless something happens. Do you think this is a good look for our country? The pound is down, interest rates on borrowing are up, and the markets are nervous because our chancellor started blarting in public!

That coward Starmer has bent over and U-turned on pretty much every announcement since becoming Prime Minister, what a pathetic, useless government we have.
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c307zvโ€ฆ

Newspaper headlines: 'Pound falls after Reeves tears' and 'Brave face' Kate

Chancellor Rachel Reeves crying and the cancer recovery of the Princess of Wales top Thursday's papers.
BBC News
#labour

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

I'm confused. All these people convicted for posts they made on Social Media, mostly under the Communications Act 2003 and yet Bob Vylan won't be charged even though his comments were transmitted, and some group called Kneecap will not be charged over encouraging fans to kill their MP!
theguardian.com/music/2025/junโ€ฆ

belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertaโ€ฆ

BBC response to Bob Vylanโ€™s IDF chants at Glastonbury โ€˜not good enoughโ€™, says minister

Jacqui Smith says live broadcast should have been pulled, but rapper stands by performance calling for โ€˜change in foreign policyโ€™
Kevin Rawlinson (The Guardian)

dick_turpin reshared this.

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

This makes me puke, it really does. If this were the #Conservatives, the internet would be aflame with derision and calls for the PM to go, yet this backsliding wimp still hangs on. But here's the more important question. If Labour is not going to cut the Winter fuel allowance, and is not going to recoup any money from the enormous benefits bill. Where is the money coming from to pay for all these manifesto promises?

P.S. How many houses have been built? I suspect that's another objective that this smoke-and-mirrors #Labour government hasn't achieved.
#Politics

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx240nโ€ฆ

A hat-trick of U turns โ€“ and this is the most awkward of the lot

The BBC's political editor Chris Mason gives his analysis of what the climbdown over the welfare bill means for the prime minister.
Chris Mason (BBC News)
#politics #conservatives #labour

dick_turpin reshared this.

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
So, Backslider Starmer has done yet another U-turn, this time over the gravy train that is PIP. What sort of party did you all vote for that when it starts to get a bit rough, its leadership surrenders? Let's hope the Russians don't start threatening us.
news.sky.com/story/government-โ€ฆ

Government makes concessions to Labour rebels over welfare reforms

Sir Keir Starmer has made an offer to rebel MPs in a bid to pass his reforms to the welfare and benefits.
Sky News

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
I'm so angry I could explode! Not at the 1000 illegals, but all those deluded sheep who derailed every solution the Tories put forward. Accused the Conservatives of every racist crime under the sun for trying to do something about it, the #press and the Internet raged against the #Conservatives, and now that #Labour has lost control, nobody says a word. Why is that? Is it because nobody can say a bad thing about Labour? Whatever happened to accountability?
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyqzeโ€ฆ

More than 1,000 migrants cross English Channel in a day

So far in 2025, more than 14,800 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel.
Jacob Panons (BBC News)
#conservatives #labour #press

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
๐—ก๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—ฅ let anyone out or turn when you're driving. You can guarantee the arse-wipe you let out will be driving a roadsweeper refitted with a reasonably decent car body. Failing that, they'll drive 100 yards down the road and will want to turn right, holding you up again! Then there's that aomeba who is waiting to turn right across the front of you, only there's someone who wants to come out of that turning, which means the two of them are now sitting there and playing: "After you, no after you, no after you, no after you." while you sit bollocking yourself for attempting to do a good deed for the day.

dick_turpin reshared this.

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Is the @BBCNews determined to see the driver of the car in Liverpool murdered? Because they seem to be pouring petrol on the story on an almost hourly basis. Maybe they're upset that it's not been labelled a terrorist attack?
bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5yqp4yp88โ€ฆ

Liverpool parade updates: Water Street reopens as police still questioning suspect

A 53-year-old British man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car ploughed into crowds at the Liverpool FC victory parade.
BBC News

dick_turpin reshared this.

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

So basically, the UK is paying France for French police to stand on the beach and watch their problem leave French shores for the UK. You brokered a cracking deal there, #Labour. What's your response, @Keir_Starmer? I know, the easy, lazy option of cracking down on LEGAL immigration, taking everyone's attention away from the illegal.

Fighting the gangs my arse. You need to stop the boats!
telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/1โ€ฆ

French police stand by as Channel migrants leave Normandy beach for Britain

Around a dozen officers, some of whom had riot shields and batons, seen at the waterโ€™s edge at Gravelines, Normandy
Will Bolton (The Telegraph)
#labour

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Seriously? You want us to believe Kier Starmer doesn't know who Enoch Powell was!
theguardian.com/politics/live/โ€ฆ

Cooper defends Starmerโ€™s โ€˜island of strangersโ€™ line but says she does not know if he was aware of Enoch Powell echo โ€“ UK politics live

Home secretary says PMโ€™s words on immigration were โ€˜completely differentโ€™ when asked about comparisons with notorious Rivers of Blood speech
Andrew Sparrow (The Guardian)

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

And this is called: "Government Misdirection" It's not legal immigration that's the problem, although it probably needs an overhaul. It's the illegal immigration that they need to address. By doing this, #Labour hopes to shut everyone up complaining about "All these bleedin' foreigners"

In my book, anyone who wants to come to the UK and pay tax is more than welcome. It's all the fighting-age men landing on the Kent coast who are not.

theguardian.com/politics/live/โ€ฆ

Keir Starmer promises net migration will fall โ€˜significantlyโ€™ by end of this parliament โ€“ UK politics live

PM says policies will โ€˜take back controlโ€™ of migration as promised, but not delivered, by Tory Brexiters
Andrew Sparrow (The Guardian)
#labour

reshared this

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

So let me get this right. He sticks two fingers up at the UK, calls us all racist, even though there's a video of him in his younger days being racist, and didn't he attend a party wearing a swastika? He flounces off to America, telling Oprah that he couldn't get any help with his mental welfare while conveniently forgetting he was the head of a mental health charity. He takes the UK government to court to get them to pay for his security if and when he decides to visit us, and when that doesn't work, he tells everyone he wants to be friends with his dad after slagging King Charles off to anyone who will listen.

Have I missed anything?

theguardian.com/commentisfree/โ€ฆ

Donโ€™t you get it, Harry? Youโ€™re not a victim. Youโ€™re a rich man who can pay for his own sodding security

One of the princeโ€™s well-heeled friends should give our foremost podcaster a lesson on when to keep schtum, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
Marina Hyde (The Guardian)

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
It's really simple. If you don't want Reform to gain ground, then youโ€”yes, you! โ€”Need to start looking at the issues they're winning on and think of ways to satisfy the voting public. Do that, and Reform's pledge to do something about it will be weakened. Throwing your rattle out the pram while screaming "Fascists!" or "Nazis!" isn't working anymore and doesn't help solve the very real problems people are feeling and Reform is feeding off.
politico.eu/article/nigel-faraโ€ฆ

Nigel Farageโ€™s Reform snatches Labour safe seat after knife-edge vote

โ€œWe are now the opposition party in the U.K. to Labour, and the Tories are a waste of space,โ€ Farage told reporters in Runcorn.
Matt Honeycombe-Foster (POLITICO)

dick_turpin reshared this.

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

So I had our dog's anal glands expressed last night. The procedure literally takes two, maybe three minutes, and if you don't watch them, they try to use Hibiscrub as a lubricant! I wonder how they'd feel with soap up their backside?

ยฃ27.00 Pets at Home charges, and that's not even a vet; it's a nurse! Twenty-seven pounds to stick a finger in and waggle it about a bit. I phoned our local White Cross Vets; they want an eye-watering ยฃ47.00

It's no wonder dogs and cats are dumped everywhere. Nobody can afford them, what with the price of food, groomers and extortionate vet bills for the most simple of procedures.

gov.uk/government/news/cma-preโ€ฆ

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
So, seven days ago, the papers carried a story that Sadiq Khan was to cut 1700 police officers. standard.co.uk/news/london/metโ€ฆ and yet today's news says Kier Starmer is to increase Police presence. ๐Ÿ˜•
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm244zโ€ฆ

Met Police to cut 1,700 officers and staff amid shock funding fears

London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan confirms Royal Parks unit will be disbanded - despite fierce opposition from councils and victims
Anthony France (Evening Standard)

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Dear TV viewers.
Be very careful what the #BBCNEWS shows you with these PIP claimants being interviewed and saying how they don't know how they'll manage. ๐—ก๐—ข๐—•๐—ข๐——๐—ฌ has been assessed yet! So nobody knows who will lose what.
#MediaManipulation
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg5drvโ€ฆ

Newspaper headlines: 'Balancing the books on backs of poor' and 'tax rise fears'

Reaction to the chancellor announcing billions in cuts and gloomy economic forecasts dominate the front pages.
BBC News
#bbcnews #MediaManipulation

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Not sure why everyone is getting their knickers in a twist over this. Obviously, bombing people needs discussing. What does need looking into is dumb arse Michael Waltz for inviting Jeffrey Goldberg to join the channel.
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyd9eโ€ฆ

Trump's national security team's chat app leak stuns Washington

The Signal messages show the inner workings of the president's team and how his Vice-President JD Vance disagreed with him.
Anthony Zurcher (BBC News)

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Dear Sir Kier Starmer

Please stop doing things that makes me want to vote for you at the next General Election!

NHS Shakeup
Welfare & Benefits Shakeup
Potholes
#Labour #Politics
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0eg39โ€ฆ

Publish pothole progress or lose cash, PM Starmer tells England councils

Councils in England will be asked to publish reports on their repairs or miss out on funding, but critics say long-term thinking is needed.
Mitchell Labiak & Michael Race (BBC News)
#politics #labour

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
So it's mainly PIP? Which, tbh, is riddled with abuse from what I've seen. Shaking up the #NHS and now scrutinising the benefits system. At this rate, I might have to start voting #Labour ๐Ÿ˜ฑ๐Ÿคฏ
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyd2pโ€ฆ

At-a-glance: Key changes to benefits in welfare shake-up

How Personal Independence Payments (Pip) and other health-related benefits could change under government plans.
Brian Wheeler (BBC News)
#nhs #labour

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Does anyone fancy paying ยฃ50 for missing an #NHS appointment?
Admittedly, these are Tory think tank suggestions, but it's got to happen. Getting rid of tiers of management isn't the ultimate answer.
telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/1โ€ฆ

Three fee-paying models that could save the NHS

From fines for missed appointments to a French-style insurance system, hereโ€™s how Wes Streeting could take his reforms further
Rosie Taylor (The Telegraph)
#nhs

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

You can't make this stuff up!

#Labour has spent the last fourteen years telling you that the #NHS is underfunded and understaffed. Screaming that there are not enough doctors and nurses, what do they plan to do now that they are in power? Take a scalpel to the NHS. ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚๏ธ
theguardian.com/society/2025/mโ€ฆ

NHS England to cut workforce by half as Streeting restructures

The health secretary will shrink NHS Englandโ€™s workforce to save money and avoid โ€˜duplicationโ€™
Denis Campbell (The Guardian)
#nhs #labour

dick_turpin reshared this.

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Taking a leaf out of Elon Musk's DOGE book, I see?
"๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ง ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ด, ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ-๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด."
#Politics #Labour
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly2l6โ€ฆ

Keir Starmer vows to unleash 'shackled' civil servants

The PM writes to officials, telling them they "must be enabled to re-focus on your core purpose".
Henry Zeffman (BBC News)
#politics #labour
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