josh.politics.co.uk - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

“A government that has shown itself to be drifting in the breeze of public opinion is liable to be buffeted again. “The prime minister will come under further pressure from disquieted MPs in the coming months, over welfare policy for instance.” www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

submitted 10 hours ago • 3 comments

“Starmer’s motivation for the retreat did not reflect a change of heart — but a loss of nerve. “Specifically, it was a response to an unholy alliance of focus group feedback, canvasser testimony, polling data and, above all, the verdict handed down by voters at the local elections.”

submitted 16 hours ago • 3 comments

“A lack of direction, a lack of clear purpose, ultimately, is this government’s real ‘original sin’.” www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

submitted 1 day ago • 13 comments

Neat analysis of the paradoxes illustrated by this 'U-turn'

submitted 1 day ago • 3 comments

Winter fuel retreat signifies Labour’s lack of direction U-turns reveal. Keir Starmer participated in the defining saga of his premiership as a passive observer Some thoughts on why in my latest long-read for @politics.co.uk 👇 www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

submitted 1 day ago • 4 comments

I've written for @politics.co.uk: Market towns and villages should have the power to run youth services. This is about trust — in local people, young people and parish councils. Rural Britain can’t afford to lose another generation. 🔗 www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

“Renewing Britain’s partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is not optional — it is imperative”, writes Labour MP @emily4mk.bsky.social 🗣️ Strategic leadership means investing in the life-saving power of vaccines

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

David Miliband warns Labour must not be seen as ‘defending failed status quo’ The former foreign sec has written the forward to an @ippr.bsky.social report that urges progressive parties to “reinvent or die” in the face of rising support for the populist right Story 👇

submitted 2 days ago • 5 comments

Chagos deal critics would ‘weaken security of the British people’, says defence secretary www.politics.co.uk/parliament/c...

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

“We are united against this sort of gutter politics” 🟡 Senior SNP MP @petewishart.bsky.social says Reform UK advert targeting Anas Sarwar is ‘racist‘ For more politics content: www.politics.co.uk/subscribe/ ✅

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

Politics@Lunch has gone out. Free sign up here: www.politics.co.uk/subscribe/

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

🚨 NEW: Conservatives called 2024 election to ‘hoodwink’ public over prisons crisis, says Mahmood “Rather than confront their failure, they chose to hide it and hoodwink the public into re-electing them”, the justice secretary told MPs Story ⤵️ www.politics.co.uk/parliament/c...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

NEW: Former cabinet minister Michael Gove has just been introduced to the House of Lords

submitted 3 days ago • 23 comments

Net migration to the UK fell to 431,000 in 2024, down almost 50 per cent, the ONS has estimated In a piece for @politics.co.uk yesterday, @sundersays.bsky.social urged politicians to “seize the opportunity provided by falling net migration to open a different immigration debate.”

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

“We can, and must, do better than continuing to award contracts to organisations with a proven history of deploying flawed large-scale IT systems”, writes Lord Bellingham 🗣️ Why is Fujitsu still bidding for government contracts? www.politics.co.uk/comment/2025...

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

🚨 NEW: Sentencing review proposals will spark ‘crime wave’, Robert Jenrick claims “This is a license for criminals to be out on our streets, terrorising communities, and that’s wrong”, the shadow justice secretary said Full story ⤵️ www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/05...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

“Kemi Badenoch’s inability to deviate from the rigid strictures set out by her script is seeing opportunity after opportunity squandered on the floor of the commons.” www.politics.co.uk/news-feature...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

“It took mere minutes for the Lib Dems to capitalise with a press release ridiculing the ‘world’s longest U-turn’. CCHQ, meanwhile, spent the best part of two hours pulling together a quote from Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary.” www.politics.co.uk/news-feature...

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

“It’s telling that Keir Starmer is willing to announce a major U-turn mere seconds before the individual in theory best-placed to benefit is due to scrutinise him.” www.politics.co.uk/news-feature...

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

“The scale of public misperception of the trends should be a constructive challenge to both politicians and to broadcasters too”, writes @sundersays.bsky.social of @britishfuture.bsky.social 🗣️ How does politics respond to the UK’s best-kept secret — falling immigration?

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

#PMQs verdict: Keir Starmer confronts his ‘original sin’ Some thoughts on another session in which Kemi Badenoch was thwarted by her own strict script. Not being able to think on her feet is proving fatal Latest for @politics.co.uk 👇 www.politics.co.uk/news-feature...

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Keir Starmer to Reform's Lee Anderson at #PMQs: “It's very good he's standing in for [Farage], there was no sign of him yesterday. He was the first through the e-gates, somewhere in the South of France. Nice work if you can get it”

submitted 4 days ago • 7 comments

🚨 #PMQs: Strong hint the winter fuel payment cut will be reconsidered PM tells MPs: “We want to ensure that as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments. “We will only make decisions we can afford, that is why we will look at that as part of a fiscal event”

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments

From YouGov: Just 4% of 2024 Reform voters say they are likely to consider voting Labour

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments

Labour Party spokesperson, responds to Nigel Farage confirming he is on holiday:

submitted 5 days ago • 4 comments

David Lammy to Priti Patel: “It seems the [Conservative frontbench] is refusing to confront the appalling reality of what is happening in Gaza and what the Netanyahu govt is doing... “It is wrong. It is appalling. Will she condemn it?”

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

“Reports as to the Conservative Party's death, far from being greatly exaggerated, are apparently coming to pass.” Politics@Lunch has gone out. Free sign up here: www.politics.co.uk/subscribe/

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

🚨 NEW: The Conservative Party is ‘becoming completely irrelevant’, says Rachel Reeves “We have secured three trade agreements which are backed by British businesses... and every single one of them, the party opposite opposes”, Reeves told the commons Story ⤵️ www.politics.co.uk/parliament/t...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Reform not bothering to include the Conservative Party on this poll graphic. Real vibe shift in recent days - the Conservative Party’s opponents are coming to terms with a landscape in which the Tories are, at best, a marginal concern 1/…

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

From YouGov: Two thirds of Britons (66%) favour closer relationship with the EU Majority (53%) support Britain rejoining the European Union

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

🚨 NEW: Conservative Party slumps to fourth behind Lib Dems, new poll shows Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said the new YouGov survey for Sky News/The Times is not “at all surprising” Full story ⤵️ www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/05...

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

🚨Tory-Lib Dem crossover poll: ➡️ Reform UK - 29%(+1) 🔴 Labour - 22%(-1) 🟠 Lib Dem - 17%(+1), 🔵 Tory - 16%(-2) 🟢 Green - 10%(+1) 18/19 May via YouGov / Sky News / Times

submitted 5 days ago • 3 comments

“How are the Conservatives supposed to signal that they have changed, while addressing old issues using the same stale and overly performative rhetoric?” www.politics.co.uk/politicslunc...

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

“Hitting the same notes harder, faster and more intensely will not convince sceptical voters that some tired tune is worth listening to.” www.politics.co.uk/politicslunc...

submitted 6 days ago • 3 comments

Kemi Badenoch will lose any ‘Brexit war’ she starts Some thoughts on the UK-EU summit and the Conservative leader's 'tweet first, ask questions later' approach to opposition Latest for @politics.co.uk 👇 www.politics.co.uk/politicslunc...

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

‘Britain is back on the world stage’ — Keir Starmer’s UK-EU summit remarks in full www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/05...

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

A UK-EU youth mobility scheme would enrich lives, broaden horizons & bolster our economic growth. My piece for @politics.co.uk 👇 www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

submitted 6 days ago • 11 comments

🚨 Badenoch in Brussels last week: — ‘I am not going to let the Conservative Party disappear’ — ‘We are the serious party, we have the experience’ — ‘I’m the new kid on the block, I’m the insurgent now’ — ‘I need to remind people that the Conservative Party which disappointed them is not me’

submitted 6 days ago • 5 comments

“I believe that a youth mobility scheme for 18-30 year olds would hugely enrich their lives”, writes @marshadecordova.bsky.social, co-chair of the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly 🗣️ UK-EU summit can be a turning point for young people’s opportunities www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment