David Bull CBE

Quit ChatGPT: right now! Your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism | Rutger Bregman As a historian, I’ve studied the major consumer boycotts of history. We can take down ChatGPT and send a powerful signal to Silicon Valley, says author and historian Rutger Bregman

Quit ChatGPT: right now! Your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism | Rutger Bregman. I have deleted my account. Will move to Anthropic if I need another subscription. Corporate ethics matters.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Latest YouGov poll (the first after the Gorton and Denton by election) has Reform down to 23%, Greens up 4 to 21% and Con and Lab each on 16. Exciting!

Labour must stop channelling Reform and unite with progressives. That’s the lesson from Gorton and Denton | Sadiq Khan The threat to the party in some parts of our country is now existential. But we can progress, as we have in London, by being bold and strong in our core beliefs, says London mayor Sadiq Khan

Well said @sadiqkhanlondon.bsky.social Labour must stop channelling Reform and unite with progressives. That’s the lesson from Gorton and Denton | Sadiq Khan
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Latest poll is interesting. Reform down, Greens second and Lab/Con on their lowest combined title in recent polls of 32%.

Coco Gauff: ‘I don’t think people should be dying in the streets just for existing’ The world No 5 says she has been disturbed by events back home, and is not afraid to speak up about issues in the United States

Go Coco! What a star! Coco Gauff: ‘I don’t think people should be dying in the streets just for existing’
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...

Together Alliance: Become a Co-Signatory The voices of division in our country are growing louder. But we can change things together. Together Alliance is mobilising and organising across the country to bring a message of hope over fear, pri...

I just took action with @theactionnetwork.bsky.social: Together Alliance: Become a Co-Signatory. Take action here: actionnetwork.org/forms/togeth...

Aid cuts could cause 22m avoidable deaths by 2030, study finds Modelling suggests 5.4m children under five among those who could die if budgets of donor countries such as UK and US continue to be slashed

Aid cuts could cause 22m avoidable deaths by 2030. This Lancet study explains the dreadful impact. And this from @onecampaign.bsky.social adds the security argument. This the thing I most can't stomach from this Labour Govt. cdn.one.org/pdfs/ONE_MSC....
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

‘Handmaid’s Tale future’: Reform’s Matt Goodwin sparks outcry with fertility comments Byelection candidate accused of indulging ‘alt right fantasy’ by suggesting women need ‘biological reality’ check

OMG! How can anyone (especially any woman) even consider voting for Reform when this kind of opinion is espoused by a senior member? Truly shocking! ‘Handmaid’s Tale future’: Reform’s Matt Goodwin sparks outcry with fertility comments.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

UK loses measles elimination status Decision made after outbreaks in 2024, when there were nearly 3,000 cases in England and Wales.

UK has lost its official status as a country that has achieved elimination of measles, as vaccination rates have fallen below the 95% required to achieve herd immunity. So sad, and likely due vaccine misinformation. If you haven't already, get your kids vaccinated ASAP. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Sorry, Trump and Farage – London is no lawless ‘warzone’. Violent crime is lower than ever | Sadiq Khan Reform’s new candidate for mayor claims people pity Londoners for living in an unsafe capital. But the evidence is clear: we’re making our streets safer, says mayor of London Sadiq Khan

"Last year, something extraordinary happened in London. As the conversation about crime got even louder, London quietly reached the lowest per capita homicide rate in its recorded history." ~AA

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

To anybody still using X: sexual abuse content is the final straw, it’s time to leave | Marie Le Conte It was hard for me to quit Elon Musk’s poisoned platform, but I urge others to do the same, especially in light of Grok’s imagery of women and children, says journalist Marie Le Conte

To anybody still using X: sexual abuse content is the final straw, it’s time to leave | Well said @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Imprisoned hunger striker linked to Palestine Action tells friend: ‘I’m dying’ Francesca Nadin visited Heba Muraisi, 31, in a Wakefield prison at the weekend and says ‘her body is shutting down’

This is so sad and tragic. I wish for an end to this unnecessary suffering. Why can't these young people be granted bail - they are no threat and have not been convicted of any offence? I hope a way can be found to end their hunger strike and save their lives.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The Guardian view on hard times for Britain’s charities: struggling to do more with less | Editorial Editorial: Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today, the challenges facing the voluntary sector as it attempts to cope with an ongoing funding ...

Timely reminder of vital work of Britain's charities & the unprecedented pressures they face, not least due to the Government's aid cuts. The Guardian view on hard times for Britain’s charities: struggling to do more with less. Plus give all the support you can.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Why are opinion polls so volatile at the moment? Just this month, Reform has varied between 25 (latest) & 33% (in the last week!) ; Greens between 9 & 19; Lab 14 & 22; LD 10 & 15; Con more stable 18-20. Are voters volatile or is it due to different polling methodologies? @markpackuk.bsky.social?

Demand David Lammy act now to preserve the lives of the hunger strikers

I'm very worried about the young activists on hunger strike following their lengthy imprisonment on remand without trial for their protest over Israel's actions in Gaza. Please consider this action from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/LammyHungerS...

Also they have said that doctors are leaving in droves because of low pay. That doesn't seem to compute with also saying demand for job vacancies is outstripping supply?

Junior doctors this morning complaining there were 30k applications for 10k training jobs. That's average of 3 applicants per job. Seems v low, esp as each candidate probably applies for several jobs. What am I missing here? In my charity sector work I regularly had hundreds of applications per job.

Tourists to US would have to reveal five years of social media activity under new Trump plan Plan would apply to countries not currently required to get visas to the US, including Britain and France

Tourists to US would have to reveal five years of social media activity under new Trump plan. So much for free speech! And a big hit for the US tourism industry.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Media and opposition seem to be trying to make something out of nothing in the budget fallout. It is such a non story. Rachel Reeves should not be pushed out by all this bullshit. There was no "surplus", after needed important spending and headroom. Without tax increases there would have been a gap.

The Guardian view on the inequality emergency: why a Nobel prize winner’s warning must be heeded | Editorial Editorial: Rising economic division is destabilising nations and eroding accountability. Joseph Stiglitz’s G20 blueprint offers a way toward global economic renewal

We have an inequality emergency: 2.3 bn people are moderately or severely food insecure – 335 million more than 2019, while billionaires’ assets are worth 1/6th of global GDP. Shockingly, billionaire wealth is rising almost in lockstep with global food insecurity.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Ben Jennings on Kemi Badenoch’s reaction to the lifting of the two-child benefit cap – cartoon Rachel Reeves’s decision to reverse the Tory policy will lift an estimated 450,000 children out of poverty

Ben Jennings on Kemi Badenoch’s reaction to the lifting of the two-child benefit cap – cartoon. This sums up the Tory attitude perfectly!
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

UK rejects visa for girl left destitute in Jamaica by Hurricane Melissa Lati-Yana Brown’s parents had asked for application to be expedited so she could join them in UK after house ruined

UK rejects visa for girl left destitute in Jamaica by Hurricane Melissa. This is just so wrong on every level. The UK has a legal and moral obligation to out the best interests of the child as the primary consideration. Surely that is to be with her parents.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Individual American Donors Are Shifting to Domestic Needs: Implications for Philanthropy - Impakter So far in 2025, the United States has faced a series of unprecedented challenges, including heightened political polarization, economic uncertainty,

2025 funding cuts to global nutrition programs = 44% of 2022 level. 40% by UK, 37% France, 30% Neths, 25% Belg. These cuts will “cut off treatment for 2.3 million children in low- and middle-income countries,” which would “lead to 369,000 extra child deaths a year". impakter.com/individual-a...

Children lifted out of poverty; higher minimum wage; higher contribution from people with £2m+ properties, dividends etc; more funds for NHS, regions, nations; lower energy bills... These address inequality & tackle poverty - a +ve mission for a Labour Government. More wld b good. But not at all bad

Farage talks about the "desperate establishment" as though he isn't part of it. He went to a posh public school and is very wealthy former City trader - very much more part of the establishment than those who criticise him for his behaviour at school. Don't be fooled.

Could you do better than Reeves as chancellor? Play our interactive budget game Can you pull the levers of power to deliver a successful budget? Can you keep backbenchers happy without upsetting the bond markets? And can you do it all while keeping the books balanced? Try our bud...

Guardian budget game. I ended with £38.7bn surplus w'out spooking markets or upsetting polls. 2p on higher rate income tax, gambling tax, CGT reforms, higher council tax on big homes, remove 2 child benefit cap, pension tax relief cap @ 20%. Cash left to boost NHS
www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...

Latest YouGov poll has Reform down to 25% - the lowest of all recent polls. Lab+LD+Green=50%. Reform+Con=43%. Definitely nowhere near a Farage majority or even a right-wing coalition. But parties on the other side will need to work together.

Why does @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social lable tonight's guest @tomhfharwood.bsky.social as "journalist and broadcaster" (which makes him sound like an independent commentator) when he is actually Deputy Political Editor of GB News, a pro Brexit campaigner, & a former Tory candidate. Hardly independent!?

Rachel Reeves is studiously ignoring the cause of Britain’s woes: the Brexit-shaped hole in its roof | Jonathan Freedland The autumn budget will mop up some damage, but the true source of the economic crisis is clear. The government should now fix it – tragically, it won’t, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland

Good piece from @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social. Every public service is desperate for more cash. We need more money than we’ve got. Reeves will scrabble around to find a few billion, but none of those efforts will address the fundamental problem" - Brexit. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Asylum changes seek to use children as a weapon, says Labour peer Alf Dubs Dubs, who was a child refugee, says Shabana Mahmood’s ‘shabby’ plans will increase community tensions

Asylum changes seek to use children as a weapon, says Labour peer Alf Dubs. I have huge respect for Alf Dubs. His views can't just be dismissed. He knows what he's talking about. Government needs to listen to him and make adjustments accordingly. I hope they do.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...