Police State UK

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

Tracking politics, policing and civil liberties in the UK.

#UKPol #UKPolitics #CivilLiberties

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

Public Key

npub14ufdzgtpza39lrjkv53kt22909msjtxqym8ha4xd26yclkevkt4sckum9k

NIP-05 Address

policestateuk_at_mastodon.me.uk@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs27yk3y9s3wcjl3etx2gm949zhjacf9nqzdnm76nx4dzv0mvkt96cpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dszkqges

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub14ufdzgtpza39lrjkv53kt22909msjtxqym8ha4xd26yclkevkt4sckum9k

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-03-24 23:03:43 UTC

"The New Mexico case is one of multiple social media-related trials taking place this year that experts have compared to the Big Tobacco suits from the 1990s due in part to allegations that the companies misled the public about the safety and potential harms of their products."
#SocialMedia #Meta #Facebook #Instagram
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/24/jury-reaches-verdict-in-meta-child-safety-trial-in-new-mexico.html

2026-03-24 18:34:47 UTC

"Greenland seems to have been a game-changer. When Trump threatened Danish sovereignty in Greenland, the allies began to cohere around a new-found defiance, and resolved not, this time, to bend. Canada's prime minister gave voice to this moment. In his pivotal speech in Davos Mark Carney said this was a moment of "rupture" with the old rules-based international order - in the new world of Great Power politics, "the middle powers" needed to act together."
#Politics
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99kkerr93ko

2026-03-24 14:37:28 UTC

- reply

She seems to be aiming to reduce the benefits (including pensions) bill by starving more OAPs and disabled people to death faster than the Tories did. Ambitious, but I think they're on track.
NHS cuts should help boost the mortality rate too. Especially if assisted dying gets on the books at some point soon.

2026-03-24 14:18:51 UTC

"Rachel Reeves has ruled out universal support to deal with any future rise in energy bills. She said contingency planning was taking place for an expected rise in energy bills but the focus was on longer-term measures to bring down bills for all and targeted support for the poorest households."
#UKPol #Labour #CostOfLiving #CostOfNeoliberalism
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/24/rachel-reeves-rules-out-universal-support-energy-bills

2026-03-24 13:38:34 UTC

"The U.S. government is insolvent. That’s not hyperbole — it’s the conclusion drawn directly from the Treasury Department’s own consolidated financial statements.
"If the $88.4 trillion in 75-year off-balance-sheet obligations were added to the $47.8 trillion in official balance sheet liabilities, total federal obligations would now exceed $136.2 trillion — roughly five times U.S. annual GDP."
#USPol
https://fortune.com/2026/03/23/us-government-insolvent-fiscal-crisis-fix/

2026-03-24 13:12:58 UTC

"Over a dozen #ReformUK candidates for the #Holyrood election are part of a Facebook group where members spread racist conspiracy theories."
#UKPol #ScotPol #Racism
https://www.thenational.scot/news/25958518.dozen-scottish-reform-candidates-part-racist-facebook-group/

2026-03-23 22:30:53 UTC

"The #Labour government has failed our community through continued austerity, welfare cuts affecting disabled people, and its complicity on the genocide in Gaza.
"There is another way - the #Greens have a plan to address structural inequality, to build local homes with local jobs, to deliver a genuinely caring economy. And only the Greens will challenge the national government, and advocate for a fairer, greener country for everyone."
#UKPol #London #Lewisham
https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/two-more-london-councillors-quit-33646679

2026-03-23 22:27:30 UTC

- reply

As a junior school child, I genuinely expected to die in a nuclear war before I finished school,
Kinda weird, and incredibly disappointing to be back there at the other end of my life now!

2026-03-23 19:57:21 UTC

- reply

I'm keen to see how their imminent elections go. Only a few more weeks, isn't it? It would be nice to have them pulling with everyone else, rather than pushing against them.
(Says the guy from Brexit Britain!)

2026-03-23 19:26:19 UTC

- reply

"Most senior #Labour figures have spent their entire careers believing their party has a rightful monopoly of British left-of-centre politics, however rightwing some of its actual policies."

2026-03-23 19:22:51 UTC

"Nowadays, with the electorate much more fragmented, and the divides much clearer and more acrimonious than in the relatively placid 1990s and 2000s, ambiguous political messages often come across as incoherent and inauthentic – common criticisms of the Starmer government."
#UKPol #Labour
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/22/labour-left-centre-win-election-fragmented-electorate

2026-03-23 15:09:07 UTC

“The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.”
~Albert Einstein
"The spread of ignorance can be stopped by people who can tell fact from fiction, think for themselves, show simple human tolerance, and, most importantly, vote!"
#Politics #Bigotry #Transphobia
https://medium.com/prismnpen/the-comforting-embrace-of-transgender-bigotry-and-ignorance-67898c175c87

2026-03-23 13:16:44 UTC

"More than £170m was given to MPs, political parties, media organisations and thinktanks aligned with the UK’s populist right over the past five years, new research from the Labour MP Liam Byrne has found."
#UKPol #ReformUK #GBNews
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/23/funding-for-populist-right-media-political-complex-exceeded-170m-in-five-years-research-finds

2026-03-23 12:25:05 UTC

"The defence from Farage’s team is that he can’t be held responsible for what people do with the messages he sends them, which is perhaps why most politicians don’t send personal endorsements to random people over the internet for money."
#UKPol #ReformUK
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/22/racist-meme-nigel-farage-cameos-online-far-right

2026-03-22 17:32:37 UTC

"#Palantir is to be granted access to a trove of highly sensitive UK financial regulation data, in a deal that has prompted fresh concerns about the US AI company’s deepening reach into the British state."
#UKPol #Labour #DataProtection
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/22/palantir-extends-reach-into-british-state-as-it-gets-access-to-sensitive-fca-data

2026-03-22 17:05:35 UTC

"We are not stopping people from standing for Reform just because they might have said something fruity in the past."
#UKPol #ScotPol #ReformUK
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj375v264rko

2026-03-22 10:20:35 UTC

"The Trump administration violated the Constitution when it sought to restrict press access to the Pentagon and limit what reporters could cover."
#USPol
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/20/federal-judge-reverses-pentagon-press-restrictions-00838904

2026-03-22 10:15:13 UTC

"Digital currency donations to #ReformUK have been turned into sterling to make them much less easy to track."
#UKPol
https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/reform-accused-of-using-third-party-to-turn-crypto-into-cash-and-hide-donors

2026-03-22 09:46:28 UTC

"The Conservative party’s chief whip has been condemned for promoting AI-generated footage created by a notorious #FarRight figure who was jailed for hate crimes against Jewish people."
#UKPol #Tories
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/22/tory-chief-whip-reposts-ai-video-created-by-far-right-figure-jailed-for-hate-crimes

2026-03-21 17:43:34 UTC

- reply

"Reni Edo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race was on the list too, with the reason for removal: “race, discrimination”."
#Irony #Racism

2026-03-21 17:37:41 UTC

"She is too scared to use her real name, or allow the school to be named. She fears that the school will try to take legal action against her and does not want to become a public figure, where she worries she may be targeted. Considering the abuse levelled at librarians in the USA for defending their collections, she may have a point."
#UKPol #Censorship #Books #Libraries #Education
https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/03/school-book-banning-escalates-in-the-uk-as-greater-manchester-secondary-school-censors-scores-of-books/

2026-03-20 21:13:20 UTC

“This incident has confirmed once and for all how poisonous and chaotic Reform is and I have no doubt that Scots will send them packing.”
#UKPol #ScotPol #ReformUK
https://www.itv.com/news/border/2026-03-19/reform-candidate-urged-to-apologise-over-appalling-social-media-posts

2026-03-20 18:49:03 UTC

"#Iran's foreign minister has warned the UK it views its choice to let the US use British bases as "participation in aggression," in a phone call with Yvette Cooper. In his account of the call with the UK foreign secretary, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said he had also criticised the "negative and biased" approach of the UK and demanded that it cease any cooperation with the United States."
#UKPol
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgkd3lqe2no

2026-03-20 18:26:46 UTC

"Many #Labour MPs said they had been frustrated with the communications strategy to brand both #ReformUK and the #Greens as extremists or simply impractical."
“The truly radical thing is taking on why the system is broken in the first place. Why can’t we build homes? Why is energy so expensive? Why do many workers pay a higher marginal tax rate than a landlord?”
#UKPol #Housing #Bills #CostOfLiving
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/20/ministers-blueprint-economic-overhaul-fears-cost-of-living-hand-election-far-right

2026-03-19 20:16:06 UTC

“Cutting international aid is a false economy – and one which puts Britain’s security at greater risk.”
#UKPol #GreenParty
https://greenparty.org.uk/2026/03/19/aid-cuts-a-false-economy/

2026-03-19 20:12:25 UTC

"In a healthy democracy, governments don't arrest people for holding paper signs."
#UKPol #Protest #PalestineAction #Proscription
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWE0H7pjYL_/

2026-03-19 19:54:32 UTC

"Nigel Farage has stopped using the personalised video platform Cameo after revelations that the #ReformUK leader has filmed a string of highly questionable paid-for clips."
"No data was obtained illegally in the Guardian investigation, which on Tuesday revealed how #Farage recorded videos supporting a convicted rioter, repeating extremist slogans, and endorsing a neo-Nazi event."
#UKPol
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/mar/19/nigel-farage-stops-using-cameo

2026-03-19 19:46:59 UTC

"The Public Order Act is extremely expansive, its definition of “assembly” and “procession” covering anything that “publicises a cause or campaign.” It’s one of the banes of my life, constantly used to subject activists to pointless investigations."
#Politics #FreeSpeech #Protest #Singapore #Authoritarianism
https://adimagazine.com/articles/no-free-labor-for-authoritarians/

2026-03-19 19:34:03 UTC

- reply

Have you read the comics? I haven't seen the TV show yet, but in the graphic novels the satire is very heavy-handed against the supes at all times. Even the supes' internal struggles are portrayed as evil vs evil most/all of the time.

2026-03-19 19:28:44 UTC

- reply

It'll be the thing about supporting a proscribed organisation, the same law behind all the #PalestineAction arrests last year.

2026-03-19 19:18:03 UTC

"The #MetPolice arrested pro-#Palestine activists against its own internal guidance, documents seen by Declassified suggest. The files also show that the force is cracking down on the use of Arabic words far beyond its controversial policing of the term #intifada."
#UKPol #Protest #Policing
https://www.declassifieduk.org/met-police-failed-to-follow-internal-guidelines-on-policing-palestine-protests/

2026-03-19 16:57:38 UTC

“Electoral Commission rules are serious legal territory. We questioned the monitoring officer’s [decision] about it. Some very experienced senior councillors — people who’ve been around far longer than I have — said they’ve never seen anything like it. They were completely outraged. Reform could have got themselves into very, very deep water.”
#UKPol #ReformUK #Kent
https://bylinetimes.com/2026/03/19/reform-kent-council-suffers-walk-out-after-party-declares-immigration-emergency-during-meningitis-outbreak/

2026-03-19 16:41:13 UTC

"Pam Bondi and deputy Todd Blanche went to Capitol Hill to try to quell bipartisan frustration over the Justice Department’s handling of millions of files related to Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation. But less than an hour into the briefing, Democrats walked out in protest of the arrangement and said they would press to enforce a subpoena for Bondi to appear for a sworn deposition next month."
“We want her under oath because we do not trust her.”
#USPol
https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-epstein-bondi-blanche-d49d96d7a53f4e8f71460a8c34155b3b

2026-03-19 16:18:05 UTC

- reply

"In a further victory for reproductive rights, peers adopted an amendment from Baroness Thornton, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) to pardon women who currently have police records or have been subjected to investigations and prosecutions for ending their own pregnancies."

2026-03-19 16:17:51 UTC

"Last night, the House of Lords voted to back #abortion reform passed by MPs last year which will take abortion out of the English and Welsh criminal law for women in relation to their own pregnancies, voted in support of an amendment to pardon women who have been prosecuted under abortion criminal law, and fought off other anti-abortion amendments designed to limit choice and access."
#UKPol
https://humanists.uk/2026/03/19/lords-vote-to-uphold-decriminalisation-of-abortion-and-secure-historic-pardons-for-women/

2026-03-19 13:08:28 UTC

"In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, #unemployment went up. #London bore the brunt of this – at its peak in 2021, 6.5% of working-age Londoners were unemployed, compared to 4.8% in the rest of the country. And then, as the country began to reopen, the unemployment rate went back to below pre-pandemic levels. Since 2023, though, while unemployment has remained around the same level in the rest of England, it’s gone up sharply in London."
#UKPol
https://trustforlondon.org.uk/news/unemployment-is-rising-among-young-people-in-london-whats-going-on/

2026-03-19 12:25:40 UTC

"One egregious skill of the would-be tyrant is the identification of grievances genuinely felt by citizens. These can be used to ascribe blame and thence to target those so selected as culpable for the woes of the nation. A political party is created to present these confected notions to the rest of the populace."
#UKPol #ReformUK #FarRight #Fascism
https://sussexbylines.co.uk/politics/democracy/we-have-been-warned/?fsp_sid=3297

2026-03-19 11:55:23 UTC

"As part of its 2026 manifesto, the Scottish #GreenParty will limit how much land can be bought by any individual or company to a maximum of 500 hectares, unless it can be proved that ownership will make a significant contribution to the common good."
#UKPol #ScotPal
https://greens.scot/news/put-land-back-into-the-peoples-hands

2026-03-19 11:35:14 UTC

"Baku considers itself indebted to the United States and Israel. Moreover, lingering territorial disputes could prompt it to turn a blind eye to additional threats to the energy market. In this case, Britain, the country most dependent on oil imports, cannot avoid a total energy collapse."
#UKPol #EUPol #MiddleEast #FossilFuels
https://bylines.scot/news/world/britain-on-the-brink-of-an-unprecedented-energy-crisis/

2026-03-18 17:15:15 UTC

“They’re doing an awful lot of engagement with MPs. It’s been going on for weeks. I hadn’t heard that they were willing to shift, but I’ve noticed that they’ve been doing loads of engagement.”
Is that supposed to be reassuring? They're listening but ignoring everything everybody says? 😆
#UKPol #Labour #Migration
https://www.politico.eu/article/keir-starmer-compromise-uk-migration-reforms-backlash-from-mps/

2026-03-18 16:38:38 UTC

"The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which is slowly working its way through Parliament at the moment, offers an opportunity to devolve local decisions to local government."
#UKPol #EngPol #Devolution
https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/could-london-eventually-approve-its-own-transport-projects-without-whitehall-delays-87758/

2026-03-18 16:33:19 UTC

"A British billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate money-laundering controls on his cryptocurrency business is funding a political base in the heart of Westminster used by “anti-woke” and right-wing activists."
#UKPol #Tories #ReformUK #Restore
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/18/crypto-billionaire-ben-delo-westminster-political-base-the-sanctuary-hosting-anti-woke-rightwing-activists

2026-03-18 16:23:52 UTC

"Jefferies, in the guise of “Steve James” (alias “Edge of the Matrix”), has turned to “auditor”-style bullying and harassment of trans people and their allies – including the newly elected #GreenParty Member of Parliament, Hannah Spencer, who was chased and harried by Jeffries and his sandwich board buddy, Alex Jardine in #Manchester the weekend before last. "
#UKPol
https://searchlightmagazine.com/2026/03/from-green-campaigner-to-harassing-green-mp-the-radicalisation-of-steve-james/

2026-03-18 09:37:26 UTC

"#ReformUK leader’s paid-for Cameo videos contain far-right slogans, misogynistic remarks, antisemitic conspiracies, and support for a rioter and a neo-Nazi event. The videos raise questions about his relationship with the far right, and who he is willing to take money from."
#UKPol #Farage
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-interactive/2026/mar/17/nigel-farage-videos-support-rioter-neonazi-event-far-right-slogans

2026-03-17 23:14:11 UTC

- reply

It's a quote from the linked article.
I did think it was a bit weird myself, but I try to remember that not everybody cares about the same things that I do 🙂

2026-03-17 17:05:52 UTC

"Coalition wrangling makes it likely that #PlaidCymru will form the next Welsh government, ending 100 years of Labour hegemony, while #ReformUK is set to become the biggest party and form the official opposition."
#UKPol #WelshPol
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/11/keir-starmer-warned-cabinet-devolved-governments

2026-03-17 17:01:56 UTC

"Rachel Reeves has announced that the Treasury will draw up plans to give regional leaders a share of national tax revenues as part of a radical plan to rebalance the English economy."
#UKPol #Devolution
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/17/rachel-reeves-plans-regional-national-tax-revenues-mais-lecture

2026-03-17 14:32:44 UTC

"Falkner left her position as #EHRC chair in November 2025 after nearly five years heading the UK’s largest regulator of equality law. During that time, the non-departmental public body became widely condemned for its sudden shift towards what many described as a “transphobic” and politically conservative approach to #HumanRights law."
#UKPol
https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/03/17/ehrc-chair-abortion-rights

2026-03-17 14:20:08 UTC

"Britain’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, attended the final talks between the US and #Iran and judged that the offer made by Tehran on its nuclear programme was significant enough to prevent a rush to war."
#USPol
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/17/uk-security-adviser-attended-us-iran-talks-and-judged-deal-was-within-reach

2026-03-17 14:15:50 UTC

"A Reddit researcher just exposed how Meta funneled over $2 billion through shadowy nonprofits to push #AgeVerification laws that would force #Apple and #Google to build #surveillance infrastructure into every device—while conveniently exempting #Meta’s own platforms from the same requirements."
#Politics #Privacy
https://www.gadgetreview.com/reddit-user-uncovers-who-is-behind-metas-2b-lobbying-for-invasive-age-verification-tech

2026-03-17 13:17:14 UTC

"The US is no longer a democracy. One of the most credible global sources on the health of democratic nations now says this outright."
“Our data on the USA goes back to 1789. What we’re seeing now is the most severe magnitude of democratic backsliding ever in the country.”
#USPol
https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2026/mar/17/trump-is-aiming-for-dictatorship-thats-the-verdict-of-the-worlds-most-credible-democracy-watchdog

2026-03-17 12:53:07 UTC

"The verdict is a clear victory for the Trump administration, which, after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, has stretched the definition of “domestic terrorist organization” to include a staggeringly broad set of “terroristic activities,” such as “extremism on migration, race, and gender”."
#USPol #Protest #Antifa
https://newrepublic.com/article/207830/trump-administration-just-won-terrifying-victory-protesters-doj-prairieland-antifa

2026-03-17 12:00:53 UTC

- reply

Simple answers to complicated questions have always been much easier to sell than they are to deliver.

2026-03-17 11:57:56 UTC

“#NATO is a defensive alliance, not an interventionist one. And that is precisely why NATO has no place here at all.”
“Europe is not part of this war. We have not started this war. And the political objectives are unclear.”
#USPol #EUPol #Israel #Iran
https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-donald-trump-strait-of-hormuz-war-iran/?reg-wall=true

2026-03-17 11:46:31 UTC

"The #GreenParty have moved into a clear second ahead of the Conservatives, according to the latest polling from YouGov."
Largely because the #Tories have dropped back rather than the Greens moving up. #ReformUK remain firmly in the lead nationally.
#UKPol
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/greens-move-ahead-of-tories-into-clear-second-in-latest-yougov-polling-404072/

2026-03-17 11:39:39 UTC

"Every hospital in England has been urged to disobey an #NHS directive to use software operated by controversial US analytics software company #Palantir."
"A coalition of #HumanRights, #health and patient organisations, and #unions sent out the plea to NHS trusts by email, out of concern over Palantir’s federated data platform."
#UKPol
https://www.bmj.com/content/392/bmj.s481

2026-03-17 11:24:42 UTC

"Pressure is rising on the government to terminate its dealings with #Palantir. The reason this is important is that Palantir was still relatively little known until #Mandelson-gate, and the #Epstein scandal more broadly."
#UKPol #Labour
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/03/a-backlash-against-palantir-has-finally-begun-in-the-uk-but-is-it-already-too-late.html

2026-03-17 09:43:47 UTC

"The Cabinet Office minister in charge of negotiations with Brussels is already working on which other parts of the economy would benefit from following EU regulations. Thomas-Symonds has instructed officials to conduct a “scoping exercise” to find out where companies are already complying with EU rules and so it no longer makes sense to apply separate UK ones. In return the two countries could then remove border checks on those goods."
#UKPol #EUPol #Trade
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/16/eu-urgent-reboot-uk-talks-stop-reset-deal-failing

2026-03-16 21:07:50 UTC

"Health secretary Wes Streeting has delivered a statement to the House of Commons in which he confirmed that funding for mental health has fallen as a proportion of #NHS spending in England.
"This spending reduction comes despite confirmation that one in five people aged 16-64 (22.6%) in England now have a common #MentalHealth condition, a 20% increase since 2014. This rises to one in four among young people."
#UKPol
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2026/03/16/streeting-announces-reduction-in-share-of-nhs-spending-for-mental-health/

2026-03-16 13:05:05 UTC

"#ReformUK has not shared the addresses of any of its digital crypto ‘wallets’ with the Electoral Commission, drastically limiting the election watchdog’s ability to monitor where Nigel Farage’s party is getting its money from."
#UKPol
https://bylinetimes.com/2026/03/16/the-elections-watchdog-doesnt-know-where-reform-uks-crypto-donations-are-coming-from/

2026-03-16 12:54:41 UTC

- reply

Probably just want to find out what happens after Trump and Putin finally die. Do things start getting sane again, or does everything stay irreparably terrible now?

2026-03-16 12:14:17 UTC

"British politicians and authorities are working intensively to escalate #censorship and mass #surveillance. When Mullvad tried to address this with the TV ad “And Then?”, it was banned on British television. The outdoor ad campaign meant to criticise the TV ban was also largely halted."
"Here, we bring you the ads that were too much for British television:"
#UKPol #OSA #CWS
https://mullvad.net/en/and-then/uk

2026-03-15 22:16:57 UTC

- reply

Yeah, they're closest to the centre line on the authoritarian/liberal axis. Except that unfortunate period where they were in coalition with the Tories. Although I think they did a lot to reduce the damage even then.

2026-03-15 19:03:12 UTC

- reply

I don't recall Lib Dems being within spitting distance of the centre since I started voting. They're very slightly left of Labour, but that's not saying much these days! They're farther to the right than the Greens are to the left, anyway.

2026-03-15 18:04:49 UTC

"The question becomes, how do you manage that? If there is a US president … very strongly moving away from the national rules-based order towards a more sort of 'might is right' approach to the world, how do you respond to that?"
#UKPol #USPol #Starmer #Trump
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/589425/britain-and-the-us-had-a-special-bond-this-war-might-have-changed-that

2026-03-15 12:43:40 UTC

"#ReformUK's plan has prompted warnings that a shift towards a less stable and more politicised civil service could result in the loss of significant expertise and of institutional memory, and would make government less effective."
#UKPol
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/14/reform-uk-government-replace-top-civil-servants-people-aligned-policies

2026-03-14 22:19:08 UTC

"With membership soaring, the #GreenParty is grappling with logistics, culture shifts and a flood of new activists."
"Before Zack Polanski took over as leader last September, the #Greens in England and Wales had around 66,000 members. They are now at 215,000, and still rising at speed."
#UKPol
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/14/green-party-membership-boom

2026-03-14 19:40:09 UTC

"Just over a week after the U.S. and Israel launched their joint war on Iran, Israeli settlers have ramped up their violence against Palestinians in the #WestBank."
#USPol #Israel #Palestine
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/10/israel-iran-war-west-bank-lockdown/

2026-03-14 10:51:47 UTC

"A tranche of documents disclosing the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador has revealed that Kier Starmer was warned of Mandelson’s “reputational risks” in 2024, before he chose the twice-fired Labour veteran to be sent to Washington."
#UKPol #Labour #LabourTogether
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/12/starmer-has-dragged-labour-into-the-gutter-says-john-mcdonnell/

2026-03-13 20:36:04 UTC

"#Meta spent a record $26.3 million on federal lobbying in 2025, deployed 86+ lobbyists across 45 states, and covertly funded a "grassroots" child safety group called the Digital Childhood Alliance (DCA) to advocate for the App Store Accountability Act - which requires app stores to verify user ages before downloads but imposes no requirements on social media platforms."
#Politics #Facebook #Instagram #Threads #SocialMedia #AgeVerification
https://github.com/upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings

2026-03-13 11:11:54 UTC

"Undercover police officers spied on the justice campaign run by the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent man shot dead by police on the tube in 2005, the #SpyCops public inquiry has heard.
"The surveillance took place while the grieving family was seeking to hold the Metropolitan police to account and uncover the truth of why officers had mistaken him for a suicide bomber when they shot him seven times in the head."
#UKPol #MetPolice
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/mar/12/undercover-officers-spied-on-family-of-jean-charles-de-menezes-shot-dead-by-met-police-inquiry-told

2026-03-13 10:52:03 UTC

"The continuous talking-over of Sian Berry by Fiona Bruce is outrageous. I could hardly hear the opinion/discussion – instead only hearing Bruce interjecting."
#UKPol #Greens #NATO #BBC
https://www.thenational.scot/news/25933328.fiona-bruce-interrupts-green-mp-five-times-nato-policy/

2026-03-12 20:14:07 UTC

“I am very doubtful of the wisdom of tying our cherished #NHS to a deal of dubious benefit with someone as fickle and faithless as Trump.”
-- Layla Moran MP
#UKPol
https://bestforbritain.substack.com/p/the-trump-drug-deal-threatens-the

2026-03-11 19:34:44 UTC

"We recognise the importance of maintaining confidence in the commission’s operational independence and ensuring it can carry out its statutory duties effectively, so we will repeal in full the power for government to impose a strategy and policy statement on the Electoral Commission."
#UKPol #Labour #Democracy #Elections #Voting
https://www.bestforbritain.org/campaign_win_government_drops_powers_over_electoral_commission

2026-03-11 16:46:53 UTC

- reply

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_White-Cain

2026-03-11 16:26:31 UTC

"In a blow to Prime Minister Keir #Starmer, #Unite said its affiliation will be reduced by 40%, or £580,000, adding that the actions of #Labour against the Birmingham bin workers will “not continue to be tolerated”. The move is unprecedented and shows the anger of Unite members, they said."
#UKPol
https://www.thenational.scot/news/25928001.union-votes-cut-affiliation-labour-500k/

2026-03-11 16:15:30 UTC

"#Migration minister Mike Tapp failed a UK citizenship test question before insisting he is a "proud Brit." Speaking at a parliamentary committee on settlement, citizenship, and integration on Tuesday, 10 March, the Labour MP for Dover and Deal admitted he did not know the height of the London Eye - one of the questions in the official UK citizenship test."
#UKPol #Immigration
https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/migration-minister-citizenship-test-mike-tapp-b2936352.html

2026-03-10 13:20:26 UTC

"Nigel Farage, leader of #ReformUK, has caused confusion over the party's stance on Britain's involvement in the Middle East conflict, stating the UK should 'not get involved'. His recent comments, made during a petrol station stunt, contradict previous statements from himself and other senior Reform UK members who had advocated for UK intervention or joining US strikes."
#UKPol
https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/nigel-farage-reform-iran-war-b2935473.html

2026-03-10 13:04:30 UTC

- reply

"If these reforms really were aimed at dealing with the backlog, they’d feature a sunset clause to restore the right to trial by jury once the backlog has been reduced, which they absolutely don’t."

2026-03-10 13:04:12 UTC

"Lammy has things backwards. He seems to think that people who are accused of crimes are automatically guilty, and it’s a fault of the system that people who are accused of serious crimes, that carry sentences of up to three years, have a pesky right to request a trial by a jury of their peers."
#UKPol #Labour
https://anotherangryvoice.substack.com/p/david-lammys-deceptive-diatribe

2026-03-10 11:58:12 UTC

"If passed, the measures would allow changes to be made through statutory instruments (rather than new primary legislation), a process that limits debate and scrutiny in Parliament. Critics say the proposals risk weakening democratic scrutiny and could grant excessive power to ministers."
This was one of the main tactics used by the Blair government to pass on average a new law every day for its entire time in office... just don't allow proper scrutiny.
#UKPol #Labour
https://www.computing.co.uk/news/2026/government/government-seeks-sweeping-powers-to-tackle-online-harms

2026-03-10 10:46:46 UTC

"MPs have voted against a proposal to ban under-16s from using social media. It had been backed by the House of Lords, but was defeated in the Commons on Monday night by 307 votes to 173."
#UKPol #Censorship #AgeVerification
https://news.sky.com/story/flatplan-13517545

2026-03-09 18:12:46 UTC

"Suddenly, the United States has produced an energy-price crisis for itself and for the whole world"
#USPol
https://www.alternet.org/trump-iran-economy/

2026-03-09 17:01:32 UTC

"Dozens of MPs and peers have signed a letter calling for a formal British apology over the Balfour Declaration in 1917, which paved the way for the creation of Israel in 1948 and the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the Nakba. Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, Labour's Nadia Whittome and Green MP Carla Denyer are some of the 45 MPs and peers who have signed a letter so far.."
#UKPol #Israel #Palestine
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/dozens-british-mps-and-peers-back-call-uk-apology-over-balfour-declaration

2026-03-09 16:31:19 UTC

- reply

🙁 Two MPs were murdered this century (one from Labour and one from Tories), and four between 1979 and 1990 (all related to The Troubles, I think). Just in case anybody thought it was a theoretical problem.
No matter what opinion we have of some or all of our politicians, nobody should be pleased about this way of demonstrating it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_MPs_killed_in_office

2026-03-09 14:07:57 UTC

"The United States is often referred to as the “World’s oldest democracy”. So why don’t we see the American-style system elsewhere? Perhaps the reason is that since the nation’s ratification of the Constitution in 1788, the world has had time to evaluate the US system and determined there are alternatives for expressing the will of the people that are more fair, moral and efficient."
#USPol #Democracy
https://bylines.scot/news/world/americas-ambiguous-republic/

2026-03-08 20:21:37 UTC

- reply

Yeah, I thought that was a weird word choice. I rarely copy-edit article quotes though.

2026-03-08 19:17:35 UTC

- reply

I think London (in England) overtook NY as the most populous city in the world again recently, so this map also shows states with a lower population than London. 😄

2026-03-08 18:46:47 UTC

- reply

"Trump’s latest crimes follow close on the heels of his kidnapping of Venezuela’s president; his threats to invade Greenland; his hypocritical upgrading of the US nuclear arsenal while prating about Iran’s hypothetical nukes; his sabotage of UN action on climate; his punitive global trade tariffs; his intrusive support for Europe’s far-right parties including Reform UK; and his unforgivable betrayal of Ukraine and appeasement of Russia. All these actions adversely affect the British people..."

2026-03-08 18:40:57 UTC

- reply

"#Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin #Netanyahu, already charged with war crimes in #Gaza, and #Trump must now face prosecution by the international criminal court for atrocities perpetrated in #Iran, notably the appalling 28 February bombing of a school in Minab. They should both be sanctioned by the UK and all other governments that still respect the UN charter, human rights and the rule of law. And their countries should be sanctioned, too."
#USPol

2026-03-08 18:38:54 UTC

"#Trump’s White House increasingly resembles a madhouse. War aims shift daily. A clueless, rambling president insists he must help pick #Iran’s next ayatollah. Meanwhile, his “secretary for war”, Pete Hegseth, rants manically about killing without mercy."
#USPol
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/08/iran-war-keir-starmer-donald-trump-us-israel

2026-03-08 15:29:32 UTC

"Britain faces no present danger. Instead, #Starmer was asked to contribute to an unannounced, unsanctioned attack on Iran by a president who can barely even iterate the objective of his intervention."
#UKPol #USPol #Trump
https://observer.co.uk/news/columnists/article/trump-says-starmer-is-no-churchill-he-has-no-idea-what-that-means

2026-03-08 13:15:03 UTC

- reply

👍 Voting is literally the least effortful thing most people can do that has a credible theory of change.
Sure, it's less likely to be impactful than local community organising etc, but it comes first on the list because it's trivially easy, not because it's best.

2026-03-08 12:54:53 UTC

"The legal basis? Not consent. Legitimate interest. Meaning they decided on their own that it’s fine. Under #GDPR, they’re supposed to balance their “interest” against your fundamental rights. Whether feeding European passports into machine learning models passes that test — well, that’s a question worth asking."
#Privacy #IdentityVerification #LinkedIn #Anthropic #OpenAI #AWS #GoogleCloud #Stripe #Twilio
https://thelocalstack.eu/posts/linkedin-identity-verification-privacy/

2026-03-08 12:35:26 UTC

- reply

"Jurors are truly, uniquely independent. They rock up and do their jobs quietly and diligently, not seeking advancement or political approval, not dependent on the whims of politicians or fearful of scapegoating by the media. And, despite the best efforts of populists – on both ends of the political spectrum – to suggest otherwise, the public recognise and respect this. Trial by jury may well be the one part of our ailing, failing criminal justice system which retains widespread public faith."

2026-03-08 12:30:40 UTC

- reply

"Juries are the only part of the criminal justice system that do not produce disproportionate outcomes based on race."
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a82009040f0b62305b91f49/lammy-review-final-report.pdf (PDF)

2026-03-08 12:28:34 UTC

- reply

"Restricting trial by jury has been paraded by the government as the only way to tackle the record backlogs and delays in the Crown Courts – caused by years of chronic underfunding and political mismanagement – yet the government has produced not a shred of credible evidence to support this claim"

2026-03-08 11:59:35 UTC

"The government intends to radically curtail the right we all hold to be tried by a jury when accused of a serious criminal offence. Around half of cases that would currently be tried by a jury will not be, if this law passes."
#UKPol #Justice
https://thesecretbarrister.com/2026/03/07/keir-starmer-and-david-lammy-are-taking-an-extraordinarily-dangerous-gamble-with-our-individual-liberty/

2026-03-07 21:41:55 UTC

- reply

I'd take any reason for prioritising people above corporate sponsors for the next few years, but it doesn't seem very likely.

2026-03-07 18:57:31 UTC

"The joint U.S.-Israel war, officials warn, could accelerate the distancing between America and its allies when it comes to defense. The European Union already has approved rules to favor its own arms-makers over American contractors — risking tens, if not hundreds of billions in future U.S. sales."
#USPol #EUPol #UKPol #Israel #Defence
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/07/allies-fear-iran-war-will-leave-them-without-u-s-weapons-they-bought-00817204