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bpwilliams72.bsky.social
Liberal sort. Rambler. Singer. Gamer. Occasional writer. Recovering politico. Former lots of things (inc. Lib Dem Leader's Chief of Staff, Cabinet Office SpAd, Head of Whips' Office). Yorkshire via Essex. Posting in a strictly personal capacity.
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More than half of people who voted Labour in July say they are considering switching to the Lib Dems or the Greens at the next general election, according to new @thinksinsight.bsky.social shared with PolHome These voters appear easier to win back than those considering Reform, the poll found

Labour seem to have royally screwed this up. It's far too late to repair a huge electoral breach of trust and has defined their values. They'll lose any financial benefit and instead of winter fuel dominating, it will be the fact they've u-turned, so what else will go? inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Love the replies to this that are saying things like “this is getting traction because the right and centrists want to attack the Greens”. No. It’s getting traction because it is, above all, funny. It’s funny that someone in their 30s would have this as their business!

In the real world, however, Keir Starmer also used the words “incalculable damage”. And as importantly, none of the levers he pulled fix the “problem”:

This book is essential. It's like tearing off a set of blinders. You won't look at economics or politics the same way again.

If Cooper tries to change the rules for people who came here under a clear set of rules which are now pulled out from under them it will be a total disaster. Utter callousness and foolishness.

Having risked my life in war zones for the BBC, I know this: cuts to the World Service will be disastrous | Martin Bell

On pension savings: “If you are in your mid forties, then increasing to 15 per cent would get you a moderate retirement, and 30 per cent would fund a comfortable lifestyle.” Yes. I can certainly afford to save a third of my income 🙄 There’s a *reason* for the gap. We are not just daft.

‘The thing about first past the post is it keeps the extremists out - until it really doesn’t… this isn’t a sustainable situation’ says @robfordmancs.bsky.social at Fair Elections APPG

It’s also bonkers because there’s a clear majority across political spectrum for 5 years *or less* on settled status and they’re proposing to move it massively on the opposite direction while claiming “this is what people want and have voted for.” No it isn’t.

The worst element of what happened this week isn't even about immigration specifically. It's that Starmer surrendered against populism.

There's always a tweet.

Zarah Sultana calls out Keir Starmer Then criticises Brexit party MEP Alex Phillips "If we don't have an honest conversation about migrants and labour shortages, and how we need migrants to have public services that are functioning, then we are lying to the public"

I know the US has always been insecure about its lack of history, but guys, attempting to emulate our Middle Ages English peasant approach to dental health really isn't the way to go.😬

At last, the British will have their revenge for years of American mockery of our teeth.

Marina Purkiss, "We have a declining birthrate, an aging population, we either have immigrants and have NHS and social care, or we don't" "I can't believe Labour are making it more difficult for the social care sector to hire people. We have 131,000 vacancies"

2025: Keir Starmer suggests that pressure on housing and public services is because of migrants 2020: Keir Starmer, "Poor housing, poor public services are not the fault of the migrants, they're political failure"

Think this is (yet another) illustration of the government's overarching problem. There is no big picture project so it is essentially led by a combination of the polls and 'don't do anything that comes with too high a cost' (in of itself about being governed by the polls).

I think the use of polling like this is it is a corrective to the simplistic idea that reducing the overall number will see the government that does it greeted like a liberator. But equally think it is a public policy failure for any one occupation is too dependent on workers from outside the UK.

Starmer’s immigration focus is the dumbest, stupidest piece of political manoeuvring I’ve seen in a long time. His rhetoric is going to split his coalition and whatever he promises will only drive the racists to demand more. You can’t placate them. It’s a losing strategy.

This phrase "island of strangers" is so grim because it transforms migrants into agents of atomism. But newcomers aren't to blame. Hollowed communities, endemic loneliness, clone towns, are a function of political economy, not the immigration system. Fortress Britain won't kindle community.

This is bullshit. You can say there are costs, you can even claim the costs outweigh the benefits. But to say that immigration has caused incalculable damage is not just hugely offensive to millions of people and their families, but simply empirically demonstrably wrong

This is so stupid. Money from international students already subsidises the education of home students. That's how underfunded universities have been able to keep going.

Unveiling the government’s new immigration white paper today Keir Starmer promised net migration would fall “significantly”. Our explainer looks at the scale of net migration - and why existing projections already suggest numbers are likely to drop.

It is remarkable that people are still going 'concerns on immigration matter'. Governments have done nothing but 'engage with concerns' for decades. At what point does it become apparent that 'engaging with concerns' might have to mean 'tackling the underlying falsehoods that drive those concerns'?

"It is long overdue that patriarchy and issues of gender are treated as central to the study of the states and political regimes. (...) patriarchy stands in the way of democracy and equal citizenship. (...) patriarchy provides a lens through which the legitimacy of a regime is judged." 💡

If you thought the PM’s speech was punchy, his foreword to the immigration white paper says high net migration has done “incalculable damage” to the country. That is a serious shift in tone for a Labour government/party.

Shouldn't a 'proper integration strategy' start by asking which real world country is better than the UK at integration, and if that country exists, what investment that requires?

This is an absolutely disastrous framing to adopt. “Immigration beings great gains but it needs to be controlled to maximise benefits” was/is right there on the table. Instead they have opted to lead with the strongest possible “Nigel Farage is right, don’t vote for him” headline.

More US batshittery.

Unless Labour substantially increases the money in social care, Starmer is effectively throwing care homes, and those in them and who rely on them, under a bus. All in the name of appealing to a segment of the electorate for whom this is their most salient issue, but who will never vote for him.

Pandering to Reform over care workers is grubby and cheap. Care homes are reliant on overseas staff. Without them, many will need to close their doors, leaving families and communities to suffer the consequences. Read, like, share, subscribe below. 👇 substack.com/@nicolakelly...

Those who are uncomfortable with this Labour immigration announcement, but think it's necessary to satisfy Reform voters, this is for you. You will not satisfy. You will never satisfy.

The thing pulling this country apart is the media and until the government takes them on, nothing - NOTHING - will change.

"addicted to hiring cheap Labour" okay great looking forward to the white paper about reforming the funding of social care, and the tax rises necessary to pay for it

OK now that I've read the white paper recommendations I'd say closing the care system to overseas recruitment is the single most substantive system change. That can only plausibly work if salaries go up significantly.

In microcosm, this is why “fund defence spending with an aid cut” is really stupid. What is your strategy to prevail in these conflicts if not through funding something like the World Service in addition to your hard power?

‘I can no longer see a future in the UK’: new citizenship guidance shuts out refugees www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Particularly impressive given there are around 300k long-term unemployed people and 150k social care vacancies. Great that half of all those people happen to be in the right part of the country and suited to care work.

It's a shame that international student numbers will be cut, because only 2% of voters want their post-study work limited and they bring £37bn to the country. But Britain has gone mad and willingly chosen poverty, so there it is, nothing to be done. www.russellgroup.ac.uk/news/new-pol...

Well that’s me depressed for the weekend. As Glen acidly observes this looks like a pretty transparent effort to shift blame for coming university bankruptcies onto the institutions. Good luck with selling that to whichever MPs are about to lose their constituency’s largest employer.

I guess it would be too much for them to ask whether it would improve the country rather than whether it will win votes. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Labour going hard on immigration = 1. Damaging the economy 2. Pushing pissed off left-leaning voters to the Greens, Plaid, the SNP and the LibDems 3. Offering nowhere near enough for Reform-leaning voters All in all, politically and economically illiterate.

I don't think it can be overstated how much things are what they are because elites had their brains exposed to criticism on the internet and responded with this (which applies to them, not you, of course. you are a pig person who should shut up ). www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/o...