King Alan the Great

A man goes into a pub with a bulldozer, and the barman says...

Fuck it. Just burn the book and have done with it. Wait for the movie.

a man sitting at a table with a phone and a bag that says pure in the background Alt: Kicking the television

I suspect you won't be buying AllClear travel insurance either.

I think it's worth seeing what kind of MP they are away from the Labour machine and the whips.

Who are they?

I don't see 'having nothing to lose' as a positive here.

Having a lot to lose, but doing it anyway because of their moral compass, is a positive.

If I was @zackpolanski.bsky.social, I'd insist that all defectors either:
a. Stand as a Green candidate in a by-election; or
b. Resign from their existing party and serve as an independent BEFORE opening discussions re. Greens.

But there are good and bad optics for defecting.

Labour cross a line that you can not condone. You resign and become an independent. You align with the Green party and, later, join. ✔️

Greens win G&D at a canter. You immediately defect and switch from defending Labour/Starmer to attacking. ❌️

It's definitely not clear-cut. I chose my words carefully – it's only a whiff, not a stench, but I think that whiff was absent prior to G&D.

I agree, any defectors should get on with being a good constituency Green MP and only stick their head above the parapet to endorse Green policy.

Just policy creep. A watering down of the Greens' objectives by MPs who see themselves as 'serious, experienced, MPs who understand these things better.' Eroding ambition, with what THEY believe is realistic, achievable, and (most importantly) acceptable to MSM.

Several Labour MPs in talks about defecting to Greens - report The Greens have been in informal talks with a number of Labour MPs over potential defections as the party continues to surge in the polls.

@zackpolanski.bsky.social The arrival of failed tories in the Reform Party correlates with their drop in the polls. Don't let the Greens make the same mistake with failing Labour MPs. We want new, young blood like Hannah Spencer, not the same old same old!

www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/wil...

Beautiful.

For anyone interested in Mr RobertBob's art, I can vouch for the fact that it's even more stunning in real life.

A painting of a hare in fantastical undergrowth.

I’ve added a couple more layers to my painting to bring out some of the colours.

"Utterly failed"
@rachelmillward.bsky.social lays out the reality of privatised water - explaining why water must be returned to public hands.

Before the Gorton and Denton election, I would have agreed with you. Afterwards, the whiff of opportunism is too strong to be disregarded – especially by the media.

I think the identity risk is the greater of the two threats. But both are real.

💯

... smacks of expediency and self-preservation.

I think some feel, like us, that their party has been taken from them. Unlike us they have devoted many years working for the party and – rightly or wrongly – feel the need to stay and fight.

Having said all that, I also think they are now tainted. The fact that it comes AFTER Gorton and Denton...

I think we should very closely monitor the correlation between tories defecting to Reform and Reform's dip in the polls. Greens don't want to replicate that with Labour MPs. People want change, not more of the same.

A "small number." How many is that? @dangerouscorner.bsky.social has suggested "about four." I think that is the ABSOLUTE maximum (maybe too many). How many would you say?

Rising water bills see pensioners in poverty skip baths Water bills will go up again on April 1. Pensioners like Judith are already feeling the pinch, rationing showers and laundry loads.

Pensioners in poverty skip baths as water bills rise.

Full state pension (received by 35% of pensioners) is less than 50% of minimum wage.

2m UK pensioners live in poverty.

In 2024-25, 88,000 pensioners died in poverty.

Govts don't curb profiteering.

Poverty is a political choice.

Things are not going to get better as long as oligarchs rule the roost in our democracies | George Monbiot If we want the kind of fair, functioning state Britain saw post-1945, we need to take on the economic powers that wrecked it, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

From 1941 to 1952 in the UK, the top rate of income tax was 98%. A luxury goods purchase tax introduced in 1940 later rose to 100%.
Result? The share of incomes captured by the richest 0.1% fell from 7% in 1937 to just over 1% in 1975. That's what we need today. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

To restore democracy and create a fairer, safer, greener world, we need massive taxes on the ultra-rich. As in the 1940s. People get confused about this. The main purpose of such taxes is *not* to raise revenue. The point is to stop the few dominating the many. It's an essential democratic measure.

At the root of all our problems stands one travesty: politicians’ surrender to the super-rich | George Monbiot There are many excuses for failing to tax the ultra-wealthy. The truth is that governments don’t tackle the problem because they don’t want to, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

It is THE fundamental problem. To survive and prosper we must make billionaires history. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

How much more evidence do we need? The ultra-rich and the governments supporting them will destroy everything for the sake of profit, power and pride. Nothing is precious to them - not human life, not the living world - except their own wealth and status. Our survival depends on resisting them.

I know somebody who used to work for a gardening company. One of their clients was a judge. She asked that they didn't send one particular staff member again – no reason given. He was the only non-white staff member.

I dip in to GB News and Talk because it's important to see what they are saying and getting away with.

My impression is that both are pushing the boundaries of "acceptable discourse" well beyond the limits.

Stuff like this has become normal, and it's frightening.