Anarcho-ruralist, feminist, queer, anti-speciesist libsoc from #Leitrim. There is no such thing as too much #garlic. Posts about #dogs, #Ireland, #neoliberalism, #IrishNeutrality, #ScottishIndependence, #trans rights, #humanrights, #Palestine /#Gaza, and the disintegration of the #UK (aka #TheMadCountry). Opponent of CW abuse. Don't hide a post when a subject line would do. Persistently disruptive CW abusers may be 🚫 blocked. If you follow me on Bluesky, please also follow @ap.brid.gy Pronouns: She/her Species: Mostly human, part dog Allergies: Kidneys & liver, fascists, transphobes Best way to get blocked by me: Ad hominem attacks. Debate ideas, not people.
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2026-08-03T20:48:51Z Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab My man had a variant on this game. When asked for anything by name, he would rapidly grab it. Same if the thing was just mentioned. Then he'd dash outside with the item, and take it to his "office", a tree-covered area on the hill behind the house which was difficult for 2-legged ppl to reach. There were then 2 options: 1/ watch while he conscientiously destroyed the item 2/ chase him for an hour around the fields until he he'd had enough fun, and was ready to surrender the thing. https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/117/100/712/814/472/523/original/71ae5d4b4e28baff.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab But that's not the question being asked. The first round is about what do you like best. The second preference is about "Your first choice has been eliminated. Only 2 options remain. Do you prefer one of them over the other?" In this case, sone people decided that in a straight choice between LINO and fash, they had no preference. @npub1spp…56fc npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab PS I hope my reply doesn't come across as hostile. I know that you are a solid socialist, and I am sure you will have thought hard about this. It's just that do far I don't get the reaasoning, and am curious. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Wow, @npub1spp…56fc! This wasn't a tactical choice. The second round was a straightforward binary choice between #LINO and the fash. But you chose not to use LINO even to stop the fash. Seems odd. In Ireland, where we have full STV, with multiple rounds, the left has been voting #ABFFG, ("anything but FF/FG") & "vote left, transfer left". But with actual fash on the march, we may need to rethink ABFFG. FF/FG are ugly, but not fash. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab The #GreaterManchester Mayoral election votes will be counted today. It looks like an easy win for the #LabourParty's #BevCraig. That's a big reversal of the #ReformUK win expected 6 ,months ago when Labour blocked Burnham's return as MP. But there is a v depressing part of this poll. It shows 100% of Conservative voters giving their second preference to Reform. That's the result I'll be watching. Do Tory voters really prefèr Farage's mob to a moderate Labour candidate? #ukpol #Manchester https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/117/013/310/187/246/297/original/260c72975d8c4252.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab FFS! 😡 The Women & Equalities job has always been a secondary responsibility, a post held by a cabinet minister with some other brief. But #Burnham has given it as a standalone job to the woman who has worked to drive #trans people out of public life. Now #BridgetPhillipson can be a full time Minister for #Transphobia.😡 Eff you, #AndyBurnham 😡 https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/954/333/598/316/212/original/550f7cfa6f6a8702.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Adam Ramsay is a journalist & member of the Green Party of England & Wales #GPEW. He has insight on the structural & social factors behind the #SNP / #PeterMurrell crisis. A small group of outsiders had rapidly moved to centre-stage at the head of a vastly bigger group, with much more power & resources.The personal trust+loyalty that had got them there was no longer sufficient for good administration, but old habits and loyalties were entrenched. The #GPEW needs to learn from this. #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/641/506/836/152/517/original/7512c168b7d3b87f.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab The favouritism for unearned income is of course outrageous, and should be ended. The complexity is a baroque scandal. But the big problem with UK taxation is is that it taxes the wrong things: primarily work and daily expenditure, instead of assets and resources and capital gains. This is brutal class warfare by the rich, and it needs to be inverted. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab The UK is now trying to make #trans lives unliveable, thoroughout the UK. Not just in induvidual states, like in the USA, but everywhere. An entire class of people is being made nonpeople. See Toby Buckle's ling article "The End of Trans Rights in the UK is the Start of Democratic Collapse". https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-end-of-trans-rights-in-the-uk-is-the-start-of-democratic-collapse/ @npub12pw…zvxn npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Fianna Fáil's decline continues. Its #DublinCentral vote share is down from 44.5% in 2007, down to 4.2% today. That' is FF's lowest vote share in a Dáil election in the party's 100 year history. In #GalwayWest, the tally gives #FiannaFail barely 9%. Taoiseach Micheál Martin narrowly survived the disaster of #JimGavin's candidacy in #Aras25. Can he stagger on after another disaster? #iepol #MichealMartin https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/624/977/510/480/518/original/81eb861ccfd19de5.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Short Thread: #Alberta's provincial govt wants a referendum on independence from #Canada. If the rest of #Canada had a vote, it would probably choose to keep the province but expel the people. Without Alberta, east-west travel across Canada would involve a gruelling diversion north into permafrost. But oil+gas has turned Albertans into greedy reactionaries with a crush on the Great Satan and egos the size of Murican cars. A sort of icy #Texas, but with less charm and more resentment. >> https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/620/954/210/367/545/original/022720d7d14afb97.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab sadly, there are similar horrors in Germany https://mastodon.ie/@2legged/116620391261277973 npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Deirdre Wood had a humiliating defeat in the 1987 Greenwich by-election. Labour realised that by-election candidates face way more scrutiny than in a general election. So they adopted a much more intensive selection process for by-election. The Kinnock/Hattersly leadership abused the centralised system to enforce the energing neoliberal stance. 😡 But the principle of extra scrutiny was right. #GPEW are new to the frontline of by-elections, but now need to up their selection game. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab I really hope that the Greens will select a new candidate pronto. Their credibility would be very badly dented if they withdrew. I don't want to into anyone's private. But it is very very odd to see such big personal issues appearing so suddenly. One way or another, that looks a badly flawed selection. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab On Tuesday, the #ScottishParliament elected #JohnSwinney as #FirstMinisterOfScotland. That's the 5th successive term with an #SNP First Minister. And it's 23 years the last election of a #ScottishLabour First Minister: Jack McConnell in 2003. Labour dominated Scotland for 50 years. When Holyrood was established, Labour was the natural party of government. Now electing a Labour FM is a fading memory, held by people with greying hair. Labour's colour is turning to sepia. #scotpol #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/603/557/830/152/400/original/427096c48f11edbd.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab "Keir's Bye-Bye-Election" 😅🤣 Top marks to #PrivateEye for the title of this week's episode of their podcast. No, I haven't listened. But if you want to, it's at https://youtu.be/jaQ5mW4xp24 #Starmer #Makerfield #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/603/081/355/076/391/original/d585f5d90ee081c6.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab In #GreaterManchester, concern is growing that there may not be a proper #byelection in #Makerfield. Four parties have now named their candidates, but so far there has been no statement from either #LordBuckethead nor #CountBinface. Buckethead has been quiet for some time, but #Binface recently nominated himself for #Eurovision. There are now fears that he won't be rested in time for the by-election. #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/602/648/355/077/468/original/42b1c323575ab6dd.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab #Starmer and #Streeting flying rejoin-EU kites as Andy #Burnham prepares to fight a pro-#Brexit #Makerfield constituency 😅🤣 #Torygraph https://archive.is/5zHnu It's heartwarming to watch the rats of the so-called "#LabourParty" fighting among themselves 😈 #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/597/531/828/883/853/original/d0270f6adc69da7c.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab I think there are two different questions that could asked about hosting the Olympics. The question #KenLivingstone asked when the bid was suggested: will this bring a net influx of investment to London? Answer yes yes yes. National funds poured in, primarily by raiding the national lottery. Other question: is Olympics the best use of the money? I say no. In other words, Olympics is a great way of grabbing a disproportionate share of national funds,but a poor use of the funds. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab When Catherine met Charles. Today, in #Buckingham Palace, #Ireland's #PresidentConnolly met #UKania's #KingCharles. #Starmer https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/596/885/420/014/930/original/a83f9f11b9b4f422.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Dr #MargaretConnolly, the sister of President #CatherineConnolly, is one of 6 Irish citizens kidnapped by #Israeli terrorists after a #Gaza-bound aid flotilla was intercepted in the Mediterranean this morning. So far, 6 of the 15 personnel on the flotilla have been kidnapped. They had prs-recirded personal statements, which were released by the flotilla. #Palestine #PresidentConnolly https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/596/678/612/364/149/original/207de567e835724d.mp4 npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab You're right, @npub12pw…zvxn! I would indeed say no. The problem is the nature of what gets built. Communities need local, free to use sport and recreation facilities. But Olympic buildings are huge, pay-to-access centralised spectator venues focused on elite sports rather than on the health and enjoyment of partipation. Multi-city hosting just disperses the white elephants. These monstrosities don't just take funds from local amenitues; they often grab the land from public amenities. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab The Olympics are a humungous waste of public money. Their legacy is a set of trophy buildings of limited long-term use, which become expensive white elephants, draining public funds until they are abandoned. Cities are tempted by the prospect of bringing money into the city, but the money is mostly wasted. National governments should ban cities from involvement in this circus. There are much better uses of public funds. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Party leader organises event to say that he will back his own party's candidate. 🙄 Seriously. It was assumed that #Starmer would want #AndyBurnham to fail. And this denial merely strengthens the assumption. 🤣 That background noise is the sound of authority draining away. More at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/may/18/keir-starmer-labour-leadership-wes-streeting-andy-burnham-david-lammy-brexit-eu-latest-news-updates?page=with%3Ablock-6a0aeb428f0896e378f67c36#block-6a0aeb428f0896e378f67c36 #ukpol #Burnham #Makerfield https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/595/455/447/944/771/original/800ae21f87d3d3cc.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab #AndyBurnham does NOT support #ProportionalRepresentation #PR. 😡 Burnham supports #SupplementaryVote, also known as #AlternativeVote #AV, which is NOT a proportional system And he will NOT scrap the current #FirstPastThePost #FPTP before the next general election #GE2029. So #ReformUK could win a huge overall majority on 30% of votes. That makes a vote for #Burnham pointiess. He's a #Blairite who won't even introduce fair votes. 😡 There's no point to Burnham. Reject him, #Makerfield! #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/592/404/801/653/544/original/941543ff0c0b0c95.mp4 npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab BREAKING: Man optimistic he can replace hated prime minister and win over the public by doing the exact same policies, but in a Mancunian accent. #Starmer #Burnham #NormalIslandNews #Makerfield https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/590/673/311/978/847/original/18dfd0e92fd60f81.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab the neoliberalis claim that the population expects a higher standard of living than the economy can afford. But isn't the reality more a problem of distribution? Several key mechanisms have allowed big capital to grab a big chunk of the income of half the population. Housing prices have soared way beyond construction costs, energy costs have soared way beyond other countries, student debts are enormous etc. Yes, incomes have slipped. But the big problem is the looting npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Why? Because he's arrogant rat, who can't count. He hadn't got the numbers, but he ploughed on regardless. Crash! But there's scope here for a great scathing ballad. "The Rat Who Couldn't Count" https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/580/311/904/101/213/original/6aea46932bad2d36.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Labour is the bookies' current favourite to win the #Makerfield by-election. https://www.oddschecker.com/insight/politics/20260515-makerfield-by-election-odds-andy-burnham-labour-favourites But I reckon that the bookies' short 4/6 odds refect commercisl caution rather than an optimist assessment of Labour's chances. #AndyBurnham faces a stiff uphill battle, and the campaign could easily get very very difficult for him. If I was betting, then sadly I think that my money would be safest on Reform. #ukpol #Burnham https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/578/883/838/688/264/original/17d2e94ea7a2162b.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Do you prefer dictatorship? Or absolute monsrchÿ? Or just rejectionism, with mo alternative? @npub12pw…zvxn npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab The #Makerfield constituency looks like a perfect gift to #AndyBurnham: 1/ in Greater Manchester 2/ next door to his former Leigh constituency 3/ in a borough where Reform did v badly in this years local elections 4/ a seat where Labour held up well in 2024, despite a parachuted-in candidate I still don't understand why #JoshSimons is helping #Burnham. But his gift looks very helpful. #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/574/110/990/568/869/original/a95ca27d3565c835.jpg https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/574/111/063/679/841/original/3a93efe277d41a23.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab So far, this looks like good news. The #PrincelingOfDarkness has crashed off the runway, and is trying to save face. https://mastodon.ie/@2legged/116573108798995585 npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Wes #Streeting, the #PrincelingOfDarkness (loyal pal of #Mandelson), has resigned from the UK government. But he has NOT made a leadership challenge. Which he wouod have dine, if he had the numbers. Now he is trying to save some face by posing as a sort of fair process advocate. But basically, he has just crashed. 😅🤣🥂🍺 And he is no longer Health Secretary ❤️ #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/573/104/763/571/564/original/b344e71f7d6ec966.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Will nobody think of #Streeting, the #PrincelingOfDarkness? #Matt in Thursday's ##Torygraph #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/568/468/088/606/216/original/b4f5f9b4a60d962b.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab The morning's fancy dress event is over. Writers of the #UKpolitics show have changed tack. The on/off/on/off leadership challenge by the #PrincelingOfDarkness (aka #WesStreeting) is rumoured to be on again tomorrow. This is a great storyline, because the Princeling of Darkness is a rightwing ultra-Blairite extremist and even less popular than the widely-loathed #Starmer. https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/54093-political-favourability-ratings-february-2026 https://labourlist.org/2026/02/keir-starmer-wes-streeting-leadership-survati He would rapidly crash as leader, but won't get that far. #popcorn #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/567/349/079/592/731/original/26d84c962f6e863b.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab The writers of the #UKpolitics show continue to create first-rate entertainment. Lesser dramatists might have an experienced a creative crisis when the early lead characters failed. Catherine the stalking donkey was returned to her paddock. The Princeling Of Darkness couldn't get the numbers. Angie decided she was bored. So the writers switched to slapstick costume drama. Charlie Windsor dons fancy dress in a vulgar room to read a pretendy programme for the pretendy government. 😅🤣 #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/566/027/100/162/326/original/f151713900209fb4.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Massive thanks to the UK's #LabourParty for continuing to create such cracking political comedy. 😅 As #Starmer's rotten party implodes, and factions form openly, the most hated pretender of them all is on manoeuvres. His allies are resigning rapidly. Teenager Wes #Streeting, a protege of Peter #Mandelson, seems ready to pounce. As the candidate best placed to kill off the captured party, it's tempting to back young Wes as a #trojanhorse. 😈 #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/562/988/178/070/535/original/97d7611f3c7d44fe.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab JAMES CONNOLLY 110th ANNIVERSARY In the early hours of May 12th 1916, #JamesConnolly, was taken by stretcher from Dublin Castle to the stonebreakers yard in #Kilmainham Jail, strapped to a wooden chair, and executed by a #BritishArmy firing squad. James Connolly was a Marxist, a patriot, an internationalist and the leader of the revolutionary working class in the #EasterRising. His execution was among the blackest crimes of imperialism against #Ireland and the international socialist movement. https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/562/830/614/230/356/original/640c4fb5e5c3c664.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab I want to like #ClivLewis MP more than I can manage. Somehow, he always disapoints as more cautious than I expect. But I did hugely enjoy his description of #Starmer’s "reset" speech. Vogon Poetry is the 3rd-worst poetry in the world, which is roughly where Starmer fits in a ranking of leaders. Clive Lewis interviewed on Monday by #OwenJones: https://youtu.be/SqtQCQMBa4M https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/562/693/217/203/034/original/e09d73b3ec543499.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab I never understood the cult of John Smith, who died 32 years ago. He was decent & honest, a welcome contrast to most at the top of politics. But he was a cautious, small-c conservative with no inclination to reverse the neoliberalism which had already wrecked millions of lives. Smith's legacy has the advantage of an early death: his promise was never tested. But I see nothing in his politics to justify hope that he would have restored the #socialdemocracy that Labour abandoned in 1976. #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/561/133/209/048/547/original/a8ab6b4def4d5f7c.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab That aged well 🤣 https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/558/673/295/564/979/original/fd4f73bb21e134bf.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab So you don't know whether the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be forced ro resign. But you don't want to look like a thicky thicky dumb dumb in front of all your mates? #CodyDahler on the UK #LabourParty's #Starmer crisis. #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/556/947/190/280/978/original/b599a1a6ff2edbda.mp4 npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Well that didn't last long 🤣 Stalking horse / stalking donkey #CatherineWest MP has been put out to pasture after only two days. The #LabourParty's fans of #AndyBurnham were furious that she was trying to start a leadership election before #Burnham was eligible. So they mafe her eat her words. 😅 #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/556/453/765/454/425/original/7750a1632a5058c8.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Today in #UKpolitica #Starmer #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/554/917/165/793/758/original/df72bb10082c4891.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Years of joy flooded the streets of London on Sunday, as workers gathered spontaneously to celebrate the arrival in government of two universally popular young people. The new appointees are not even 80 years old, which of course makes them totally relatable to twentysomething voters. The government has announced that more spontaneous celebrations will be held throughout the week. #Starmer #ukpol #LabourParty https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/553/086/920/798/189/original/f57284fa622d178e.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab How #Starmer will keave Downing Street. #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/552/177/498/382/871/original/64c015b972289d52.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab There are many problem with private medicine, but I don't think that this issue is a free rider problem. If a treatment is successfully carried out privately, that's a 100% customer saving to the NHS. If some private cases require NHS followup, that's a reduction in the NHS's saving rather than extra cost. In theory, if the private sector was creating a lot of v bad outcomes, the cost of repair might create a net cost increase, but I don't see evidence that is happening. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab In theory, it's easy to agree that the NHS should not have to pay the cost of private failure. But there are 3 probs with this idea: 1/ Charges from NHS would create an incentive for private hospitals to not transfer. That's danger for patients. 2/ It introduces discrimination into NHS, with bad precedents. 3/ If ppl are eligible for NHS care, why should they be forced to take NHS as a monopoly? Why not use NHS as it suits? npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab After abandoning his plan to freeze pensioners, #Starmer's new idea is to put them to work. These two septuagenarians were randomly selected to be dragged in from their firesides and patronised at Downing Street. They were then shoved out the door and sent off to begin their 10-hour day cleaning floors. #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/544/588/589/241/808/original/15fd544e7f4b08e4.mp4 npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab #Starmer's premiership is now in its death phase. He may linger in office for days or months, or even a year. But his authority is gone Labour has been humiliated In Scotland, in Wales, and in dozens of councils. In many former heartlands, Labour had zero councillors re-elected. Yet he lingers on, solely because nobody is ready to challenge him. His authority is fading, respect draining. Politically, he is left to bleed out. If he wasn't such a repugnant character, I'd feel sympathy. #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/542/061/791/772/010/original/97ae2bb1bcf71030.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Robertson out! 👏🍺🥂👏🍺🥂 ❤️ #LornaSlater of the Scottish Greens has won #EdinburghCentral from the #SNP's #AngusRobertson. Robertson is a party grandee of the old sort, a hardcore centrist, pro-NATO, pro-Israel, neoliberal. Slater pushed Robertson into third place. #GoodRidance https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/539/895/649/412/885/original/dc2bd9c273cca977.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab This is a dark night for England. For the 2nd time in a decade, the toxic centre has responded to surging fash by trying to massacre the left. The assault on Greens #GPEW has been like all of 2017–19 loaded onto B52s and carpet-bombed in 7 days onto #ZackPolanski and colleagues. The malice, mendacity & brutality have reached new extremes. Tonight, I can't think of the results. My heart goes out to all those seekers after peace and justice who have been bombarded by #Sauron's #Mordor. #ukpol npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab #Starmer is doomed. The photo says it all: government benches half-empty this afternoon, as Labour MPs fled the #HouseOfCommons chamber rather than be pictured behind Starmer as he blamed everyone else for the #Mandelson debacle. HuffPo reports that the government whips were reduced to desperately scurrying around, begging and bullying Labour MPs to return to support their lying leader. #ukpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/438/515/206/233/260/original/16b55f5b83b15609.webp npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab One of the curious aspects of the NHS is that while management and ownership systems are reguosrly reinvented, the structure of services has not changed much since 1948. The 1948 model was GP practises and hospitals. 80 years later, both sectors have consolidated: GP practises have merged, cottage hospitals are almost gone, and hospitals are much fewer and much bigger. Other types of services are rare. Minor surgery centres, drop-in clinics etc, should proliferate but don't. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab It's vital to remember that medical services are a minor component of health. Health is driven primarily by good food, safe & secure housing, social stability, inancial security, access to leisure, absence of stress, lack of pollution etc. Medicine is a minor component of public health . But the last twenty years has seen a massive, sustained assault on all those key factors. Measures such as benefit sanctions and rent rises and pay freezes are brutal attacks on public health npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab The UK Foreign Office's former Chief mouser #Palmerston has died in Bermuda, where he moved in 2020 after retiting as #diplocat. 😞 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/feb/14/cat-chief-mouser-uk-foreign-office-dies-bermuda-palmerston Outranked by the great Larry the #Number10Cat, prolific tweeter Palmerston was a disreputable cat, named after the infamous Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. The original Palmerston is best known in Ireland as a cruel landlord in famine-ravaged #Sligo, and globally for starting the appalling #OpiumWars in China. https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/116/073/006/712/615/586/original/563bd0035dc84fa4.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab To my eyes, that last point is the one that really matters. What should have been the age of leisure became the age of long, insecure hours in bullshit jobs. A significant chunk of people are employed doing things that actually make the world worse, and an even larger number do pointless work. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Wouldn't that risk creating perverse incentives? Live on booze and junk food, retirement full pension at 50. Eat healthily etc, work on until yer 70. @npub12pw…zvxn npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab One in five Americans is happy to justify the shooting of #AlexPretti. 20% of them. Man goes to help woman who has been pushed to the ground, is himself beaten to the ground, piled in by at least six men, then shot ten times. But one in every five Americans think that's justified! On other words , 20% of Americans are depaved monsters. screenshot from https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2026/01/25/433e4/3 #ICE #CBP #uspol #YouGov https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/970/623/862/481/878/original/d6cf1b2bbe7fab4a.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab But the Russell Group has been very effectively positioned as the non-Oxbridge elite. Kind of brains without snobbery. I dunno whether this is the result of RG strategy or lazy media, but its well-established. This sort of positioning can be dislodged, but it requires sustained, co-ordinate effort. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab White House Release Template Statement For When ICE Murders Someone. #Satire #WWN #WaterfordWhispersNews #ICE #WhiteHouse https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/961/999/607/498/174/original/3411a0309d1a6983.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab "Siri, show me someone who can't do communications and shouldn't be allowed to try communicating". Strong "Hello fellow jocks" vibe from the reliably cringetastic #Starmer. h/t @npub1rk8…ymze https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/961/818/382/964/099/original/5871f8cac466a5d2.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab What a treat to start the week with the cheering top-of-the-frontpage news that the various factions of #RedTories which comprise the UK's so-called "#LabourParty" are indeed knocking lumps out of each other. ❤️😈😅 Soggy centrist #AndyBurham is a strange hill for anyone to die on, but here we are. A delightful #popcorn moment bringing joy to cold dark January. 🥂 screenshot from https://archive.is/Pm0ll / https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jan/25/andy-burnham-blocked-from-byelection-race-by-labour-ruling-committee https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/960/198/935/179/097/original/4075390a5baaefa7.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab THOUGHT 2/ #AlexPretti was exercising his constitutional rights as a US citizen, to film in public, to carry a legal firearm, and to offer assistance to a woman who had been assaulted. >> npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Ten thoughts on #AlexPretti, the second American citizen killed this month in #Minneapolis by #CBP or #ICE. (TLDR; the story is a hot mess of extreme contradictions) THOUGHT 1/ #AlexPretti was murdered for trying to help a victim of assault. He did not attack or threaten anyone, and was shot when restrained by at least 6 DHS personnel who he had not in any way endangered. There is no credible case that it was a lesser form of homicide. >> npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab There is no doubt that police standards are very poorly upheld. But I am as yet unpersuaded that this us the mechanism to fix the problems. The failure to exclude rogues could be attributed to lack of transparency, team culture, and regulatory capture. External validation tackles the regulatory capture problem, but may exacerbate the other two. This really needs comparative studies of reforms in many jurisdictions. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Yes, I had forgotten the term, but this does indeed seem to be a case of the Peter Principle #AndyBurnham was an unimpressive minister and was twice a weak leadership candidate. But he has sparkled as mayor. It's sad that he wants to give up the one job he does well, and clearly loves ... but that's ambition, innit? npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Yes, this will be a busy day, and nothing can be ruled out. And I agree that there will be disgruntled #Manchester supporters of #AndyBurhnham. He has become the most powerful non-London municipal politician since the Chamberlain dynasty in Birmingham, and just lost a big chunk of his municipal credibility. I think the mayoralty is the summit of Burnham's talents. Can he claw back the authority which he lost this weekend? npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab AIUI, the deadline to apply for the by-election nomination is tonight. If that's correct, then any NEC reversal would have to come this afternoon, or Burnham would miss the deadline. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Happy Sunday, as the UK's so-called "#LabourParty" blocks #AndyBurnham's return to the #HouseOfCommons. 👍 #UKLabour's National Executive Commitee has refused #Burnham's request to be allowed to apply to be the by-election candidate in #GortonAndDenton. Blocking the party's most popular man will 1/ start a huge row in the #RedTories, between fans of hard-right #Starmer and fans of soggy centrist #Burnham. 2/ hand the seat to #GPEW leader #ZackPolanski. Great work, Starmer! 😈 😂 🤣 #Popcorn https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/955/888/283/255/912/original/851f925ff8c180c7.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab The last half-decent Labour government ended just short of 50 years ago, in the summer of 1976, when #DenisHealey caved to the #IMF. It amazes that after all this time of the so-called #LabourParty producing horrors, some people prefer to cling to the half century of proven failure rather than putting their energies into building something better. I agree that #YourParty is a ahitshow, but there are strong alternatives in all parts of the #UK. @npub12pw…zvxn npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Do you actually want to save the #LabourParty? I want to see it sunk, as quickly as possible. It's primary remaining function is to block the emergence of new movements, and suck the energies of many thousands of people into a machine which destroys hope. @npub12pw…zvxn npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab I am hoping that the #NEC will be blinkered enough block #AndyBurnham, and thereby hasten the #PASOKification of the so-called "#LabourParty". It's time to give this shitshow a decent burial. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab I think It's looking great. 😈 A multi-stage fight between soggy centrist #AndyBurnham and the hard-right #starmtroopers. I'm hoping that #Starmer will block #Burnham's candidacy, triggering early battles in #UKLabour. Then Manchester native #ZackPolanski can stand against #Starmer's stooge candidate, and wipe the floor with the remains of the so-called #LabourParty. Result: #GPEW boosted, both #ZombieLabour factions weakened. #Popcorn all round, as #Pasokification looms. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Heartwarming to see the UK's so-called "#LabourParty" set for a proper punch-up, as #Starmtroopers prepare scams to block any democratic selection of a candidate. Meanwhile #AndyBurnham fans still delude themselves that their boy has what it takes. 😅 #Burnham is a soggy centrist who found his niche as a mayor, after two failed leadership bids. He lacks national leadership talent, and would be eastern alive by #ZackPolanski and #NigelFarage. #Popcorn https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jan/22/starmer-allies-stop-andy-burnham-campaign-block-parliamentary-return #ukpol npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab It Ain’t Easy Being #Greenland. 😦 It's bad enough having your tits frozen off all year round. Then the tangerine tyrant gets all handsy and won't take no for an answer. And then you realise that nobody even agrees whst shape you are. 🙄 . https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/cr/2023/06/16/it-aint-easy-being-greenland/ https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/943/996/441/759/551/original/8bc65be3b20ae51c.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Do you apply the same principle to married women? npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Sadly, I fear that the UKgov has weighed this correctly; that it is much easier to kick around a few million British children than put manners on half a dozen tech oligarchs, by banning their algoritms. There are strong ethical and social reasons for not kicking the kids, but ethics has never been a strong point of the #Starmtroopers. So they take easy psth. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab #Trump wants #Greenland. 🤣 h/t #JonathanPie https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/935/502/245/010/290/original/5b6e7edd08e6ae53.mp4 npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab I read about a guy named Robert. Fairly well known in certain circles. Famous, even. One day he stepped onto a balcony in front of thousands of people with millions more watching on TV. He was wearing a dress. Robert said "my name is Leo." #LeoXIV. The whole world said "Hi, Leo". This is exactly how hard it is to call someone by their preferred name. #Pope #trans [I stole this from a comment elsewhere] npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab In August 1916, #Denmark 🇩🇰 and the #USA 🇺🇲 signed the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, for cession of the #DanishWestIndies. Immediately before its signature, #US Secretary of State #RobertLansing signed a declaration confirming Denmark's rights to #Greenland. #Trump's breach of the promise is of course deeply dishonourable. But it's also entirely consistent with the #USA's 19th-century expansion by signing then discarding treaties with #NativeAmericans. Trump is upholding American tradition. https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/923/550/719/059/234/original/28eb7e1cb1d1416b.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab There is some interesting thinking in there. But the sheer arrogance of the wrapping is breathtaking. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab I see in this thread a lot of touching belief in variants of the phrase "Trump can’t do XYZ lawfully". Sadly, the last 12 months is the story of Trump doing whatever he wants, regardless of law or constitution. Tariffs, removing trans rights, invasion, genocide, murder at sea, demolishing the East Wing, snatch squads, torture: all "can't legally do" but all being done. These legal theories no longer describe actual power in #USA. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab California will not secede until the humongous gravy train of military spending dries up. That's not a sufficient condition for a #CalExit, but it's a necessary condition. Also, Silicon Valley is now so strong that there is probably no secession without #techbros in the driving seat. [@d_a_n_a](https://mstdn.social/@d_a_n_a ) @npub12pw…zvxn npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab The USA has been in a persistent civil war since a century before its foundation. Mostly against non-white people, but also against working class people. It is labelled as a "civil war" only when the endemic war on non-white America and poor America is turned onto chunks of white middle-class America. But don't let the colonist labels deceive. This is not the start of the American civil war. This is just an intensification of one front of the continuous civil war. @npub12pw…zvxn npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Westminster elections have at best a rather loose connection to the idea representative democracy. It's not just #FPTP limiting choice and producing wildly distorted outcomes (2024 was insane); it's the rigged seat allocation by voter registration rather than census, and the failure to ban corporate funding. The results are more of a game than a reflection of the will of the people. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Sad to watch English commentators talking of referendums as a bad idea, without qualifying the claim. Ireland has held 46 referendums since 1937. They mostly work very well. So if referendums work badly in England, that's not a referendums problem. It's an England problem. Ireland has learnt a lot about conducting referendums. But before the 2016 referendum, the British govt didn't even ask for advice. British failure doesn't make democracy a bad idea. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab #ReformUK is not new. It's just just recycled #Tories. #PlaidCymru's Liz Savilie-Roberts MP runs through some of the long list of senior Conservatives who now wear the #ReformUK label. Plaid Cymru is best-placed to stop Reform in the #Senedd elections in May. #Wales #Cymru #UKpol https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/900/352/668/593/061/original/2a31f7d7912cc6cc.mp4 npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Today, Wednesday 14th January, Heba Muraisi is close to death, on day 73 of her #hungerstrike at HMP New Hall near #Wakefield. In the 1981 Irish hunger strike, 10 men died. 7 of 10 died after 59–66 days. The longest-lived died on day 73. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Irish_hunger_strike#Participants_of_the_1981_hunger_strike Muraisi is one of the #Filton24, arrested for an anti-#genocide action at a #Bristol factory of Israeli arms maker #Elbit. She has not been convicted, is not charged with #terrorism, but is being held on remand as a terrorist. https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/893/189/566/692/205/original/616b970d84c682c6.png https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/893/189/679/352/681/original/c66dacdc4cc66ce2.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab #PlaidCymru surges in #ITV #ITVcymru poll for the #Senedd. https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2026-01-13/plaid-cymru-surges-ahead-of-reform-as-labour-in-fourth-place-in-latest-itv-poll #Plaid up 7 points to 37%, which I think is an all-time record. This poll would give Plaid Cymru 45 seats out of 96, just 4 short of an overall majority. It would give Greens #GPEW 11 seats, allowing a Plaid/Green coalition a comfortable working majority without #WelshLabour. If the result in May is close to this, it be an earthquake in Weish Politics and #ukpol. The Labour century in Wales is over. https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/889/267/879/634/050/original/fc94804b9a48418b.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab US Weighing Up Whether It Should Be Them Killing Iranians Instead Of Iranian Government https://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2026/01/12/us-weighing-up-whether-it-should-be-them-killing-iranians-instead-of-iranian-government/ These days, the #WaterfordWhispersNews #WWN headlines almost write themselves. #Satire #Iran #USA #United States https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/884/252/852/034/434/original/4320175d443a1ca9.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Suppressing Political Dissent, Who's Doing It Better? US v Iran https://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2026/01/12/suppressing-political-dissent-whos-doing-it-better-us-v-iran/ #Satire #WWN #WaterfordWhispersNews #Iran #USA #uspol #humanrights https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/884/145/750/816/988/original/6d714db1e44d74b8.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Greenland is safe. 'cos nothing good will come of messing with God's Frozen People. https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/879/029/892/026/873/original/ac68ea2aa9ae6634.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab The problem is not Trump. The problem is Murica https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/879/024/371/569/251/original/15654e803fad3ad1.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab #Greenland is safe. 'cos nothing good will come of messing with God's Frozen People. https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/878/978/445/660/896/original/bb9e5765ccda17d0.png npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab That choice reflects very well on you. Over the last few decades, I have watched several former colleagues from the disarmament world travel in the opposite direction, and take up international relations. I sighed sadly at the moves, and have seen nothing to regret that sigh. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab Thanks, @npub12pw…zvxn. It's remarkable how international relations is such a captured discipline, so closely bound to the interests of powerful states and their backers. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab I was surprised by the four options offered. So I did some page searches before reading. I found that Ian Manners's article contains no words beginning with imperial, empir, or colon. So I didn't read it. If Mr Manners is not going to even consider those concepts, I don't think he deserves much attention. npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab No surprise that the #UK Information Commissioner’s Office (#ICO) sees possible criminal fraud in #ZarahSultana's launch of a #YourParty membership system. But why has #ICO not directly notified the police? There is great #popcorn potential in #Corbyn having to give evidence against the renegade #Sultana. But crime on this scale should be investigated regardless of internal politics. #ukpol Report from #TheNewStatesman https://archive.is/hnASe / #NewStatesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2026/01/your-party-advised-to-refer-unauthorised-membership-launch-to-police https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/868/156/939/079/547/original/cd5c7f3e3d8228a3.jpg npub1ryurqxg5q6464cx2cys3l7dn6mjenjppts3khmslw82nlpxm3hhqh6myy0 Claire McNab good points, but of 250 years of the USA, FDR and civil rights are short historical blips, of about 40 years each.