How furlough hurt the UK economy: what we’ve learnt six years on Targeting pandemic-era payouts at businesses not individuals and providing universal support were costly mistakes we are still paying for

Just finished Turning Points @steverichards.bsky.social
As you say the U.K. rarely turns

www.thetimes.com/business/eco...

Evening @mrjamesob.bsky.social

The Tories are showing a perfect example of having forgotten everything that happened just 3 years ago

Tories are back to fantasy & false equivalence if Badenoch honestly thinks Starmer’s actions are worse than Johnson’s & Partygate. Johnson didn’t care about misleading the house intentionally or otherwise & rather than man up & take responsibility he stomped off like a toddler @mrjamesob.bsky.social

We have failed to uphold Brannigan's Law.
However, I did make it with a hot alien babe.
And in the end is that not what man has dreamt of since first he looked up at the stars?

a person is holding a stack of blue towels and says towels . ALT: a person is holding a stack of blue towels and says towels .

All they need to do now is to put 4000 towels across the strait and that’s the war ended 👍

Star Trek told me that we would live in a world of peace.

That we would figure out that killing one another was wrong.

That we would boldly go where no man has gone before!

I watched it surreptitiously with the sound off because it came on after my bedtime.

I believed.

That's the future I want

I read it was fired on by an Iranian ship? Maybe wrong though

Was it fired on by the ‘obliterated’ Iranian Navy Jon?

It’s interesting @mrjamesob.bsky.social how an obliterated Iranian Navy can somehow fire at tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz

Mayor of Amity Island, Larry Vaughn displaying good judgement. "Why Aren't You In The Water?" YouTube video by AskConsigliere

Trump talking to all the tankers in the Strait of Hormuz

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtbN...

Trump thanking Iran for reopening Hormuz is like a terrorist planting a bomb and then thanking the bomb disposal people for defusing it.

bbc news breaking prime minister 's questions pm we will win again in bury south under this prime minister #bbc.co.uk/news ALT: bbc news breaking prime minister 's questions pm we will win again in bury south under this prime minister #bbc.co.uk/news

I don’t think we can be lectured by the Tories about misleading the house @mrjamesob.bsky.social

Perhaps I’m being optimistic Chris but this jingoistic nonsense seems to be losing its salience beyond the usual idiots. I think perhaps we are starting to see the final shuddering breaths of Brexit saliency in U.K. politics.

New times, same old arguments. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism blog discussing the latest developments in the rapidly changing international order and how post-Brexit Britain is stuck in delusions of greatness and cries of Brexit betrayal: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/04/new-...

If not explicitly then the thinking may have been this is an extremely important for McSweeny so they should override any concerns as it is the clear wishes of the PM’s Chief of Staff that he be appointed.

My instinct tells me it was overruled by McSweeny as Mandelson’s appointment was his idea.

Yes Prime Minister S02E08 - The Tangled Web Dailymotion video by Osassa87

Any political watchers @mrjamesob.bsky.social should watch Yes Prime Minister - The Tangled Web which perfectly illustrates how officials go about informing politicians on what they need to know. Hacker is put in same position as Starmer about misleading the house. www.dailymotion.com/video/x71jo92

a cartoon character with long ears is standing on a sandy beach ALT: a cartoon character with long ears is standing on a sandy beach

Why not both?

A picture paints a thousand words

BBC still doesn’t seem to learn from its mistakes though. I remember the ‘balance’ of giving anti vaxxers equal time to certified medical professionals and its review later on how it dealt with climate change sceptics also seems to show the same problems as here

Morning @rolandmcs.bsky.social @mrjamesob.bsky.social

I think Badenoch should get some medical advice about her memory @mrjamesob.bsky.social

The thing is in the U.K. and in wider Europe just makes Starmer and other leaders more popular not less. He really is despised in Europe. In U.K. for example 81% have a negative view of Trump.

As you constantly say the voters are not stupid. If they see a tax rise is needed and where it has to be focused and spent as we saw with the NHS tax rise it would be accepted. I think this is where Starmer can get an easy win and put the Tories on the back foot.

With the now clear instability of Trump this would be an easy sell. The situation has clearly changed radically with the Iran War and Trumps non committal to NATO. Starmer and Reeves have to say look this is how much we need and this are the tax rises needed to defend ourselves in a unstable world