Police State UK

https://mastodon.me.uk/@PoliceStateUK

Tracking politics, policing and civil liberties in the UK.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PoliceStateUK
Web: https://policestate.uk

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Last Notes

2026-09-27 22:29:39 GMT

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Secrets and Lies

2026-09-24 11:37:26 GMT

"The latest polling suggests #Labour could get as few as 136 seats if it does not change its red lines on #Brexit and sticks with the status quo, while #ReformUK would be on 300. The number of seats for Labour increases to 256 with a commitment to join the customs union, 257 with a promise to join the single market and 321 if Mr Burnham pledges to rejoin the EU entirely."
#UKPol
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-andy-burnham-labour-election-victory-rejoin-eu-yougov-poll-b3055286.html

2026-09-19 14:05:10 GMT

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We didn't way that, Chris Hedges did. Do you understand what quote marks are for?

2026-09-19 10:26:13 GMT

"Donald #Trump, whose war on Iran is the greatest strategic blunder in United States history, is not responsible for triggering the decline of the American Empire, but he is responsible for its fatal denouement."
"Our allies, even those in Europe, are abandoning us. The decadence and immorality of American society, embodied in the vulgarity, stupefying ignorance and cruelty of Trump, are the defining characteristics of the Empire."
#USPol
https://braveneweurope.com/geopolitics/chris-hedges-osama-bin-trump/

2026-09-13 13:05:41 GMT

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I mean, it does seem like a lot, but apparently not compared to other bits of the UK.
I blame Thatcher. Usually a safe bet.

2026-09-13 08:30:45 GMT

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It's got that Shakira Law!

2026-09-13 08:19:51 GMT

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"Although less than 10% of the total UK-born population lived in #London, the city was home to one-third of the total foreign-born population in the country."
#UKPol
https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/where-do-migrants-live-in-the-uk/

2026-09-13 08:05:56 GMT

"The public’s average guess is that 30% of Londoners were the victim of a crime in the year to September 2025; the actual figure is 12.2%. We are most likely to pick out #London as having the highest rates of violent and sexual crimes of any region in England and Wales, when it has among the lowest of each. Six in ten think crime overall has risen in London since 2019, when it has fallen slightly. Four in ten think murders are up; they are down by around 15%."
#UKPol
https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/london-crime-reality-v-perception-kings-college-b1296602.html

2026-09-10 17:17:32 GMT

"The Home Office and police were criticised in the aftermath of the weekend for failing to take a hard line on the #FarRight. #Environment campaigners and #CiviLliberties groups have complained that there appears to be a “two-tier” approach, with peaceful climate protesters prosecuted more aggressively than far-right agitators."
#UKPol #Policing #Immigration
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/10/shabana-mahmood-home-secretary-police-curb-far-right-anti-migrant-protests

2026-09-10 16:53:35 GMT

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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rnli-social-media-abuse-far-right-migrant-protests-b3047780.html

2026-09-10 09:15:39 GMT

"Dexys Midnight Runners frontman Kevin Rowland has told Nigel #Farage where to go after the controversial far-right politician walked out to “Come On Eileen” ahead of his #ReformUK conference speech."
“Myself, and all of Dexys, are passionately against Farage’s politics.”
#UKPol
https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/dexys-midnight-runners-kevin-rowland-disgusted-reform-uk-1236337208/

2026-09-10 09:04:27 GMT

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I suppose "waited a long time in a pointless queue" could be viewed as a valid test for Britishness 😉

2026-09-09 17:29:40 GMT

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"A global counterterrorism architecture was established at the UN level, based on four pillars: addressing the conditions that foster the spread of terrorism; preventing and combating terrorism; strengthening the capacities of states and the UN for that purpose; and, finally, ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law in the context of the fight against terrorism. It will come as no surprise to anyone that interest in enforcing the fourth pillar was, and remains, scant or nonexistent"

2026-09-09 17:28:18 GMT

"In the years following 2001, the idea that the fight against terrorism must be carried out using militarized and exceptional measures became the norm globally. This occurred because other countries, such as Russia, China, and Israel, found in this counterterrorism framework an opportunity to legitimize their actions against internal and external enemies."
#Politics #WarOnTerror
https://www.opendemocracy.net/25-years-on-from-9-11-the-anti-terrorist-state-is-gaining-ground-in-latin-america/

2026-09-09 11:24:14 GMT

"Andy Burnham is facing fresh pressure to scrap #Labour’s Brexit ‘red lines’ after a major new poll found voters want Britain to develop closer ties with the European Union."
#UKPol #Brexit
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-eu-europe-andy-burnham-europe-b3046155.html

2026-09-07 22:20:11 GMT

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"The power of the ultra-rich is now manifest in every policy governments do and don't adopt. We see it in the new protest laws and their applications, which become more absurd by the week. Labelling protesters “terrorists” is part of a long-running programme to ensure that no one dares protest about anything any more. This programme has been rolled out across the world, through model legislation drawn up by junktanks funded by some of the richest people on Earth."
#UKPol #Donations #Labour

2026-09-07 22:02:15 GMT

"We give up so quickly on our prime ministers because they give up so quickly on us. Though it may involve different issues, it is always the same betrayal: the public interest is sacrificed for the sake of a tiny number of immensely wealthy people."
#UKPol #Donations #Bribery #Labour
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/02/andy-burnham-mistake-political-donations-wealthy-britain

2026-09-02 19:58:45 GMT

"Party conferences are nationally important events, and so a party is traditionally expected to give access to accredited journalists, including those who have reported unfavourably or critically on it. Doing so demonstrates a party's commitment to #FreeSpeech, debate and scrutiny - the very stuff of democratic politics. #ReformUK, however, has a different approach."
#UKPol
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/reform-uk-bans-middle-east-eye-journalist-party-conference

2026-09-01 11:55:52 GMT

"Keir #Starmer is to quit as MP for Holborn and St Pancras, saying it is the “right time” for him to leave the Commons. The resignation will mean a byelection in the central #London seat, which is likely to be targeted by the Greens."
#'UKPol #Labour #GreenParty
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/01/keir-starmer-to-stand-down-as-mp

2026-08-30 11:57:03 GMT

"There is a limit to which increasingly cynical voters will accept parties claiming to be the ones to beat #ReformUK without seeing results."
#UKPol #WelshPol #PlaidCymru
https://nation.cymru/news/caerphilly-by-election-taught-britain-how-to-defeat-reform-uk/

2026-08-28 08:49:41 GMT

"Farage’s side are almost neck and neck in the polls with Burnham’s. Constituency-level analysis suggests that, were an election called tomorrow, #ReformUK would leap from eight to somewhere between 100 and 200 seats."
#UKPol
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/27/does-nigel-farage-know-what-people-really-think-of-him-i-do-and-he-wont-like-it

2026-08-27 15:56:38 GMT

"Kent #ReformUK councillors have been amending their registers of interests after Byline Times discovered a raft of businesses and shares they own which had not been properly declared to the public. In total, Byline Times identified potential errors and missing company ownership information in the registers of at least nine Reform councillors in #Kent."
#UKPol
https://bylinetimes.com/2026/08/27/raft-of-senior-reform-councillors-fail-to-declare-interests/

2026-08-27 14:04:37 GMT

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They're hoping to get secret keys for APIs, usually.

2026-08-27 09:56:31 GMT

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"Ageing is going to become by far the biggest source of pressure on the public finances. Yet our tax system has increasingly shifted responsibility towards younger workers while protecting many of those who have benefited most from decades of rising property and asset wealth."

2026-08-27 09:51:15 GMT

"The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warns that an ageing population will account for nearly 80% of the additional fiscal pressure confronting the UK by 2075, and calls on the government to act in order to shield younger Britons."
#UKPol
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/property-owners-tax-ageing-population-burnham-b3039069.html

2026-08-26 18:31:56 GMT

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https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/12/contents

2026-08-26 17:37:40 GMT

“ #ReformUK plan to scrap vital safeguards that protect people’s private data.”
#UKPol #Privacy #DataProtection #GDPR
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/reform-uk-robert-jenrick-gdpr-farage-labour-b1294648.html

2026-08-24 18:40:49 GMT

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I get the feeling that Khan is the 'controlled opposition' in this regard. All very dispiriting.

2026-08-24 18:10:25 GMT

"Sadiq Khan urges #Labour to rejoin the EU after the next election. Writing for The Observer, the Mayor of London cited recent opinion polls which show a swell of support for the UK to rejoin the EU, with the number of people still backing Brexit now dwindling noticeably. Young voters in particular are keen to ‘reverse’ #Brexit."
#UKPol #EUPol
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/sadiq-khan-will-uk-rejoin-the-eu-409084/

2026-08-23 19:52:43 GMT

"Reform’s new economic adviser has called for end of #pensioners’ triple lock. Mitchell Palmer has also argued for privatising the #NHS."
#UKPol #ReformUK
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/aug/20/reform-economic-adviser-mitchell-palmer-end-pensioners-triple-lock

2026-08-22 18:01:35 GMT

"Reform UK is losing a councillor every three days on average as critics claim Nigel Farage ’s party would “struggle to run a bath”."
"The biggest chance of things going wrong is stuff like infighting, stuff like people just saying and doing stupid stuff. That’s our biggest risk."
#UKPol #ReformUK
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/reform-tracker-losing-councillors-farage-37574051

2026-08-22 08:00:22 GMT

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But we have more millionaires now, so that's the main thing eh?

2026-08-22 07:48:35 GMT

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"Department for Work and Pensions data shows that around 16% people in the UK were in relative low income (relative poverty) before housing costs in 2024/25. This rises to 20% once housing costs are accounted for."
Sounds like the policy worked, it's the broader economy that's totally fucked 😄
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn07096/

2026-08-22 07:36:25 GMT

"Digital sovereignty is "the ability of a government to maintain control over its digital infrastructure, data, and technologies" in a world of cross‑border data flows, AI, and geopolitical risk – and that makes it "a national security concern" as much as a tech one."
#UKPol #EUPol #Technology
https://www.theregister.com/columnists/2026/07/27/digital-sovereignty-is-real-in-europe-the-uk-not-so-much/5276852

2026-08-19 14:43:33 GMT

"Andy #Burnham’s campaign to replace Keir #Starmer was backed with more than £340,000 in large donations, primarily from figures associated with Keir Starmer’s leadership, including the scandal-ridden think tank #LabourTogether (recently rebranded as #ThinkLabour)."
#UKPol #Donations
https://www.opendemocracy.net/labours-biggest-donors-backed-burnham-for-pm-disclosures-reveal/

2026-08-19 14:33:02 GMT

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"The judge in the case of #Filton defendants sentenced as terrorists is trying to jail their lawyer for even informing jurors of their legal right to acquit. The same judge also ordered that jurors must not be informed that he would impose #terrorism sentences if they returned a guilty verdict."
#UKPol #Protest #Justice

2026-08-19 14:30:14 GMT

"The group is accused of helping to organise an attack on a factory operated by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit in Filton, Bristol, even though they were not present during the raid. All are accused of criminal damage; Plastow is also accused of violent disorder."
#UKPol #PalestineAction
https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/08/19/filton-trial-jury-latest/

2026-08-19 07:20:53 GMT

"Special interest #lobbying organisations have grown in importance, pursuing benefits for their clients from the state. In return, they provide money and support for the political parties that are likely to end up in power."
#UKPol #Donations #Corruption
https://theconversation.com/if-british-voters-seem-impatient-and-angry-data-shows-they-might-have-a-point-289643

2026-08-18 16:38:10 GMT

"In 2020, BSA found that just 7% felt “very strongly” attached to a political party, a joint record-low. The result is an electorate less firmly anchored to either of the two main parties, and more willing to move between a wider range of alternatives."
#UKPol
https://leftfootforward.org/2026/08/the-two-party-system-is-not-coming-back/

2026-08-18 14:54:02 GMT

"Staff at a campaign group that claims to defend #FreeSpeech in Britain said it would “need to explain” how it spent roughly £60,000 that was crowdfunded for a legal case that was ultimately fought by a pro bono lawyer."
#UKPol #FSU
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/aug/18/toby-young-free-speech-union-60000-gbp

2026-08-16 09:49:09 GMT

"We post-war Baby Boomers have cheated the young out of the opportunities we had."
#UKPol #Economy #Wealth #Boomers #GenX #Millenials #GenZ
https://youtube.com/shorts/MibksTonMsk

2026-08-16 09:24:05 GMT

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The Housing First policy had pretty substantial success in the USA alone (as well as in Europe). Cynically, I have to assume somebody cares more about prison profits and 'tough on crime' rhetoric than actual crime rates and recidivism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_First

2026-08-16 09:12:28 GMT

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I found it in a report from the Whitehouse under Obama:
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/Fact_Sheets/investing_in_treatment_5-23-12.pdf (PDF)
"Research shows that every dollar spent on substance abuse treatment saves $4 in healthcare costs and $7 in law enforcement and other criminal justice costs."

2026-08-12 12:05:19 GMT

"A survey by Survation for Mandate Research of voters in #Clacton suggests Mr #Farage would win 73% of the vote, while his main rival Count #Binface could sweep up an estimated 20% of the vote."
"In an Ipsos poll asking the general public who they would vote for in a hypothetical head-to-head, 33% of British adults said they would prefer Count Binface to win the race, while only 21% back the #ReformUK leader."
#UKPol
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clacton-by-election-polls-nigel-farage-count-binface-b3030895.html

2026-08-09 09:04:56 GMT

"Last year’s proposals to tweak the #PIP assessment criteria last year were criticised for making it effectively harder to claim, especially for people with mental health conditions. With over 100 #Labour MPs rebelling over the plans, it’s unlikely any change would take a similar approach. But the focus on #MentalHealth conditions in Sir Stephen’s report indicates that some change around mental health and #benefits can be expected."
#UKPol
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/andy-burnham-welfare-benefit-cuts-pip-uc-health-b3022294.html

2026-08-08 16:55:42 GMT

"Over the past decade new health secretary Yvette Cooper has taken almost half a million pounds from a donor linked to healthcare recruitment, or from companies ultimately owned and controlled by him."
#UKPol #Labour #NHS
https://www.bmj.com/content/394/bmj-2026-100488

2026-08-07 14:48:10 GMT

"Musk claimed he had “literally zero” awareness of Grok generating explicit or naked underage images. Lowe claims to be a fierce advocate for child safety, and has campaigned heavily on the “grooming gangs” scandal."
#UKPol #RestoreBritain #ElonMusk #RupertLowe
https://www.desmog.com/2026/08/06/rupert-lowe-child-safety-investment-clashes-with-elon-musk-alliance/

2026-08-06 16:58:21 GMT

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"Children aged between 11 and 15 accounted for 35% of all extreme right-wing referrals and almost half of referrals involving an obsession with extreme violence or mass-casualty attacks. Incel-related referrals were most common among 18 to 21-year-olds, while left-wing extremism referrals peaked among those aged 26 to 30. Islamist referrals were more evenly spread across older age groups, with those aged 31 to 40 representing the largest category."
#UKPol #Prevent #Terrorism #FarRight #AltRight

2026-08-06 16:39:31 GMT

"Perhaps the most striking trend is the continued growth of #RightWing #extremism. Referrals linked to #FarRight concerns rose by 42%, increasing from 1,480 to 2,103 cases in just one year. By contrast, referrals relating to Islamist extremism fell by 9%, dropping from 945 to 860."
#UKPol #Policing #Prevent #Terrorism
https://dorseteye.com/far-right-terrorism-referrals-surge-as-islamist-cases-continue-to-decline/

2026-08-06 15:34:20 GMT

"The longer-term prospect for the two million Palestinians crowded into barely a third of the original #Gaza land area depends largely on whether the Israeli prime minister retains power. But even if he loses, the opposition in the Knesset is so divided that there is no guarantee that an incoming government will seek a just settlement with the Palestinians."
#Israel #Palestine
https://www.opendemocracy.net/israel-election-binyamin-netanyahu-international-reputation-economic-sanctions/

2026-08-06 14:31:58 GMT

"A coalition of leftwing councils has agreed to defy new rules around single-sex spaces on the grounds that they are “harmful to the rights of #trans people”. The leaders of six #London councils – #Hackney, #Haringey, #Lambeth, #Lewisham, #Southwark and #WalthamForest – have now said in a letter to women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson that they will not enforce the policy."
#UKPol
https://novaramedia.com/2026/08/06/leftwing-councils-pledge-to-defy-transphobic-code-on-single-sex-spaces/

2026-08-05 18:50:56 GMT

"Downing Street has repeatedly defended the use by departments of a platform whose owner has called for the UK government to be overthrown, and which is regularly criticised for promoting far-right and racist opinions, as officials say it is necessary to reach the public."
#UKPol #Xitter
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/18/uk-attorney-general-tells-staff-stop-using-x-disinformation-concerns

2026-08-04 19:41:28 GMT

“We warn that tampering with the status quo … could trigger a religious conflict that will reverberate beyond #Palestine and #Jordan into the whole Muslim world.”
#Politics #Israel
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/04/jordan-convenes-emergency-meeting-israel-religious-conflict-jerusalem

2026-07-31 08:34:22 GMT

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I'm still not entirely convinced they were genuinely surprised by this. Look at how much press attention their models are getting now.

2026-07-29 18:12:00 GMT

"The move followed the International Court of Justice’s findings that it was “plausible” Israel’s acts could amount to genocide, and that its continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory was unlawful."
#UKPol #Hackney #Israel #Palestine
https://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2026/07/29/hackney-votes-begin-severing-twinning-haifa/

2026-07-29 14:50:49 GMT

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As I understand it, that third is paid by the highest earners, not the wealthiest, and the difference between those two concepts is what a lot of the current campaigning is focusing on.

2026-07-28 12:55:36 GMT

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"This doesn’t feel like the right time in politics to roll the dice on #surveillance technology, basing our acceptance of it on the assumption that all future governments will be pro-social and democratic."
#UKPol #CCTV

2026-07-28 12:33:04 GMT

"What if the home secretary explicitly said she believed in a “panopticon state” – that is, a state that could watch you at all times (as Shabana Mahmood already has) – and what if she still had a job when the lamp-post eyes got their updates? Or what if the next home secretary was even keener on hyper-surveillance (hard to imagine), and the street apparatus was already in place? What about all the data this would harvest – who would own it?"
#UKPol #Surveillance #CCTV
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/28/spies-in-sky-worried-ai-enabled-smart-lamp-posts-surveillance

2026-07-27 21:47:39 GMT

"In his first major interview since becoming prime minister, Andy Burnham ... made it clear that going forward certain #benefits, including #MentalHealth support, will become “conditional” on people taking work and not staying at home."
#UKPol #UC #PIP
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/andy-burnham-welfare-bill-benefits-conditional-b3021822.html

2026-07-23 15:28:26 GMT

"Just 22% have a favourable view of the #ReformUK leader, while 68% are unfavourable – including 56% who say they are very unfavourable. That 46% gap between his negative and positive rating is bigger than the 45% recorded by Starmer before he announced he was stepping down."
#UKPol #Farage
https://metro.co.uk/2026/07/23/nigel-farage-now-even-less-popular-starmer-just-resignation-29206444/

2026-07-23 15:23:51 GMT

"Last year, we saw the fewest murders of those aged under 25 this century, and the capital’s homicide rate has fallen to the lowest level in recorded history on a per capita basis. It’s now lower than that in Berlin, Brussels, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Paris – and every US state."
#UKPol #London
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/23/london-safe-city-crime-stats-sadiq-khan

2026-07-16 22:08:46 GMT

"Recent figures from YouGov show that significantly fewer people now see #ReformUK and the #Tories as all that different from each other. The proportion who see the parties as different has fallen by ten percentage points since September."
#UKPol
https://theconversation.com/reform-has-been-warned-that-defecting-tories-will-damage-its-brand-and-the-first-evidence-is-in-275201

2026-07-16 22:03:12 GMT

"16% thought #Farage was right to resign as an MP and to stand in the resulting by-election. But another 16% thought he should not have called it, while 54% thought he should have resigned and left parliament."
#UKPol #ReformUK #Clacton
https://theconversation.com/could-count-binface-actually-win-287611

2026-07-16 16:44:12 GMT

" #London mayor Sadiq Khan is one of 26 new peers to join the House of Lords as Keir #Starmer's premiership comes to an end."
#UKPol
https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/sadiq-khan-to-join-house-of-lords-keir-starmer

2026-07-16 12:05:41 GMT

"An #Aberdeen University employee has been arrested and charged over social media comments about the death of former MP Ann Widdecombe."
#UKPol #ScotPol #Tories #ReformUK
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2ln31g8gvo

2026-07-16 10:00:53 GMT

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(Side-note to this whole thing; it's interesting to me that British English treats organisation names as a plural whereas American English treats them as singular - "Palantir haven't altered their behaviour" vs "Palantir hasn't altered its behaviour" - something intriguing there about explicit collective responsibility vs the obfuscation thereof? And weird that this article from a UK source uses the American singular form.)

2026-07-16 09:01:11 GMT

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"A month later, Sadiq Khan blocked the #MetPolice’s proposed £50 million deal with #Palantir to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations, on the grounds that the contract breached procurement rules and did not ‘adequately demonstrate value for money’. Palantir is suing the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime."
#UKPol #London

2026-07-16 08:59:59 GMT

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"According to internal documents we obtained from a feedback session for data analysts last year, ‘the biggest concern with the [FDP] plans is around #Palantir’s ethics and the resulting lack of trust from patients.’ In April, two petitions calling on British ministers to end public contracts with Palantir attracted more than 230,000 signatures."

2026-07-16 08:56:41 GMT

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"Starmer’s #Labour was enthralled by Silicon Valley and its promises of AI-driven growth. In June 2024, a month before the general election, the then shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, said that when it came to the take-up of the FDP he would ‘go further, faster’. In office, Streeting described #Palantir as ‘absolutely critical to the future of the #NHS’; he resigned as health secretary in May."
#UKPol

2026-07-16 08:36:53 GMT

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"Between April 2020 and March 2022 the Ministry of Defence awarded #Palantir three data integration contracts worth £17.6 million. That November, Palantir hired Polly Scully, a former strategy director at the MoD, as its UK defence lead. The following month it was given a three-year contract worth £75.2 million to work on British military operations and intelligence."
#UKPol

2026-07-16 08:26:48 GMT

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"UK politicians are a lot more easily impressed than American politicians. It costs a lot less to influence them."
#UKPol #Palantir

2026-07-16 07:54:14 GMT

"Palantir hasn’t altered its behaviour in the face of criticism. Peter Thiel, the firm’s Trump-supporting co-founder, has joked about using a drone to spray sceptical market analysts with ‘light fentanyl-based urine’. In April, a 22-point manifesto heralding the dawn of AI-enabled US military supremacy was posted on #Palantir’s X account by Alex Karp, Thiel’s business partner and classmate at Stanford."
#Politics
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n13/peter-geoghegan-and-lucas-amin/this-looks-absolutely-rubbish

2026-07-16 06:36:45 GMT

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Well that's the most encouraging thing I've heard about him so far. 🤞🏻

2026-07-15 20:41:51 GMT

"A 14-year-old boy has been charged with a #terrorism offence after police discovered an alleged plan to target two #London mosques that was linked to "extreme #RightWing terrorism"."
#UKPol
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czrjgmmx5rmo

2026-07-15 20:24:29 GMT

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Actually I was slightly surprised at the relatively high level of trust in the political system I apparently still have. 😄

2026-07-15 20:20:09 GMT

I was looking for alternatives to https://politicalcompass.org and I found https://findmypolitics.com
Apparently I am a bit of a lefty liberal. So no huge surprises for me. 🙂
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/925/812/352/449/314/original/64a7991881feeadb.png

2026-07-15 15:23:15 GMT

"The argument about #Brexit has changed. For many people now, this is no longer about rerunning the battles of 2016. It is about whether Brexit has made Britain more prosperous, more confident and more in control. It hasn’t."
#UKPol
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/letters/the-10th-anniversary-of-brexit-was-a-damp-squib-yorkshire-post-letters-8779093

2026-07-14 20:41:26 GMT

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Sounds like adding direct financial support to the other ways they were already supporting the AdF etc.
On the bright side, anybody Vance visits to show his support for seems to lose elections (Orban) or even die (Pope) shortly afterwards, so clearly some sort of balancing force of the universe at work there. People must be getting nervous about him offering to show his face by now 😉

2026-07-13 08:53:35 GMT

"Older, disproportionately wealthy voters and homeowners shape the economy — and democracy — to their advantage while insisting they’re really the ones who are under siege."
#Politics #Boomers
https://fortune.com/2026/07/12/samuel-moyn-america-gerontocracy-boomers-backlash/

2026-07-11 10:39:23 GMT

"Disgusted members of #YourParty’s executive committee (CEC) called for a no-confidence vote in the CEC’s chair and secretary. The call came after their removal of three well-known CEC members for attending a socialist conference. The motion received enough support to force a vote, which will be held online from 6pm this Sunday, 12 July 2026."
#UKPol
https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/07/11/your-party-cec/

2026-07-11 09:10:19 GMT

“President #Trump is recognizing that Ukraine’s ability to defend itself is in the US interest, which is true. The stronger #Ukraine is, the better off Europe is, and the better off the free world is.”
#Politics #EUPol #USPol #Russia
https://www.kyivpost.com/interviews/80044

2026-07-11 08:57:52 GMT

"#Burnham presents #Manchesterism as an antidote to the failures of the past four decades. It is intended to reverse what he calls the “four horsemen” of Britain’s apocalypse: deindustrialisation, #privatisation, #austerity, and #Brexit. In their place would come a “rewired Britain”, delivering prosperity in every postcode."
"The closest thing Britain already has to Manchesterism is not to be found in Manchester at all. It is Scotland."
#UKPol #ScotPol #Devolution
https://www.opendemocracy.net/scotland-has-already-tried-manchesterism-it-wont-solve-britains-economic-crisis-alone/

2026-07-11 00:16:15 GMT

"In 2024-25, the net addition to London’s #AffordableHousing stock was just 8,184, compared to estimations from the Greater London Authority (#GLA) that #London needs a net 45,500 affordable homes each year between 2026 and 2036 to meet #housing need."
#UKPol #Labour
https://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2026/07/10/sadiq-khan-misses-affordable-homes-target-after-cut/

2026-07-08 15:12:13 GMT

"Since early May, since the first reporting on the Harborne money, #Farage has developed a hitherto unknown bashfulness when it comes to the media. Zero Monday morning press-conferences. Sky News catches him at an airport and he loses his rag on the spot. Any interviewer who so much as raises the £5m gets treated like they’ve broken into his house. He has been, by any honest reading, dodging."
#UKPol #ReformUK
https://www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/the-clacton-by-election-has-entered

2026-07-08 12:06:26 GMT

"A host of transactions involving #ReformUK’s most senior figures and donations to the party caused bankers to report potential money-laundering concerns to the National Crime Agency."
#UKPol #Farage #Tice
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/08/more-reform-uk-transactions-worth-millions-reported-to-national-agency

2026-07-08 11:44:20 GMT

"The only other candidate in the contest is Count #Binface, a British comedian and perennial novelty candidate.
"The "independent space warrior" has contested a number of elections, most recently the by-election in Makerfield, where he received 95 votes.
"He was endorsed on Wednesday morning by Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, who described him as the “people’s candidate”."
#UKPol #Clacton
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26262532.odds-slashed-count-binface-farage-by-election-contest/

2026-07-08 09:14:47 GMT

"A Freedom of Information request from campaign group Foxglove later found that nearly a third of #NHS trusts using #Palantir's health data platform were performing fewer patient procedures than before it went live."
#UKPol
https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/07/08/nhs-told-to-show-its-working-on-palantir-platform-benefits/5267621

2026-07-08 09:02:26 GMT

"The unspoken truth will be that it is not up to the #Housing minister how many new homes are built in his or her term. Instead, this decision is mostly made in the boardrooms of the largest developers, who together control the land and resources to dominate the market in this country."
#UKPol
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/08/uk-housebuilders-too-much-power-45bn-lawsuit

2026-07-08 06:28:22 GMT

#UKPol #Clacton #BinFace
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/882/927/269/906/457/original/c395936caf7180ce.png

2026-07-07 18:19:50 GMT

"It seems increasingly likely that #Farage will win by beating comedy candidate Count Binface and no one else."
#UKPol #Clacton
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nigel-farages-by-election-could-backfire_uk_6a4d1ae0e4b0c806bbefb639

2026-07-07 08:38:31 GMT

" #ReformUK’s opinion poll lead has collapsed as questions mount over Nigel #Farage’s personal finances. Research by pollsters Ipsos UK showed the party has a lead of just two points over Labour, down five points on a month before."
#UKPol
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/reform-poll-collapse-nigel-farage-collapse_uk_6a4b8865e4b05c9d0338ce8e

2026-06-30 08:55:31 GMT

"#Farage is currently being investigated by Parliament’s standards commissioner over the gift [made before he was an MP], which critics say he should have declared. Mr Harborne has donated more than £25 million to #ReformUK, the political party which Mr Farage leads."
#UKPol
https://nation.cymru/news/reform-uk-would-gladly-accept-more-donations-from-billionaire-nigel-farage/

2026-06-29 18:38:30 GMT

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"Sea change" 🙂

2026-06-29 17:57:06 GMT

"I think we should be taxing the super rich, we should be taxing corporations, we should be taxing people that are taking money… offshore, but we’re not."
Weirdly reasonable statement from the pro landlady who is the #ReformUK candidate for #Manchester mayor. Slightly at odds with the rest of the party's positions though. And her main source of income.
#UKPol
https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2026/06/29/reform-manchester/

2026-06-29 17:38:26 GMT

RE: https://flipboard.com/@bbcnews/top-stories-hc55lmo2z/-/a-gbo8Jp_UQdKTKpkRDu3RxA%3Aa%3A3199692-%2F0
I see what you did there, BBC.
#note1css…cg0d

2026-06-29 14:24:32 GMT

"What #Burnham was describing here felt more significant than the relocation of staff. This No 10 North would have specific responsibility for the "biggest council housebuilding programme since the postwar period", he said, raising some questions about the role of the Ministry of Housing and perhaps suggesting that a wider shakeup of the machinery of government is in the offing."
#UKPol #Labour #Manchesterism
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpq3yy48zglo

2026-06-27 08:08:15 GMT

“The #climate transition is one of the largest drivers of industrial job creation in the UK #economy. The #NetZero economy generates output worth over £100bn and employs over a million workers. The workers driving the green transition need #union representation, good wages and champions in government.”
#UKPol #Labour #Unite #Environment
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/24/progressive-economists-reject-unite-leader-sharon-graham-criticism-ed-miliband

2026-06-24 17:46:23 GMT

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"Energy, water, housing, transport and care are domains of inelastic demand, captive consumption, natural monopoly, and existential need. Under these conditions, market governance of the supply side does not produce competitive discipline. It produces rent extraction, under-investment, and the systematic transfer of risk to those least able to bear it."
#UKPol #Privatisation

2026-06-24 17:10:29 GMT

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"#Austerity, ageing infrastructure, a cumbersome planning system, global energy shocks, and the long tail of #Brexit have all contributed to a single failure: the inability of either the state or the market to build, invest and provide necessities at the scale and cost required. A central source of the problem was the #privatisation of essential services that transferred responsibility from public providers mandated to meet social needs to private actors with a mandate for profitability alone."

2026-06-24 00:13:05 GMT

"High and volatile #energy prices squeeze households while generating windfall profits at the top of the supply chain. #Water companies extract while services deteriorate. #Housing supply is managed for margin as a generation is locked out."
"It is the supply-side equivalent of the pre-2008 financial regime: a framework that monitors symptoms while the architecture that produces them goes unchallenged."
#UKPol #Manchesterism
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/economy/2026/05/the-case-for-manchesterism