Chaminda Jayanetti
@cjayanetti.bsky.social
Freelance journalist covering British politics and public services - NHS, education, care, housing, disability, benefits. Not a tribalist.
I like good things and I don't like bad things.
I like good things and I don't like bad things.
Pinned
Disabled people could face benefit cuts – even if they cannot work
Long-term claimants of employment and support allowance could be moved over to a new, time-limited disability benefit – equating to cuts.
www.bigissue.com
NEW: Planned welfare reform could see big benefit cuts for disabled people who can't work, Citizens Advice has warned
The government wants to replace long-term ESA disability benefits with a new, much more time-limited benefit called Unemployment Insurance (UI) www.bigissue.com/news/social-...
The government wants to replace long-term ESA disability benefits with a new, much more time-limited benefit called Unemployment Insurance (UI) www.bigissue.com/news/social-...
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
No greater love hath a man than to lay down his subordinates for his life
February 9, 2026 at 7:46 PM
No greater love hath a man than to lay down his subordinates for his life
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Major news on SEND funding this evening…
All the details here ⬇️⬇️
All the details here ⬇️⬇️
Breaking: The government has pledged write off 90 per cent of councils’ historic SEND deficits – estimated to be worth £5 billion
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/government-to-write-off-90-of-councils-send-deficits/
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/government-to-write-off-90-of-councils-send-deficits/
Government to write of 90% of councils' SEND deficits
Local authorities will get a grant to cover all but 10% of deficits accrued by the end of 2025-26
schoolsweek.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Major news on SEND funding this evening…
All the details here ⬇️⬇️
All the details here ⬇️⬇️
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
a reminder that Tim Allan, who quit Starmer's Downing St today, previously spun for....not only Kazakhstan and Qatar but also Vladimir Putin’s government
www.ft.com/content/a0a8...
www.ft.com/content/a0a8...
From Blair to Putin to Starmer: PR chief Tim Allan’s CV
Former New Labour spin-doctor has faced criticism over his choice of clients, including Russia’s government
www.ft.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:58 PM
a reminder that Tim Allan, who quit Starmer's Downing St today, previously spun for....not only Kazakhstan and Qatar but also Vladimir Putin’s government
www.ft.com/content/a0a8...
www.ft.com/content/a0a8...
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Huge breaking news. Anas Sarwar is going to call for Sir Keir Starmer to quit. Emergency press conference at 2.30pm. Follow @heraldscotland.bsky.social live blog here www.heraldscotland.com/news/2583840...
Anas Sarwar to call for Keir Starmer to stand down as Prime Minister
Anas Sarwar is set to address reporters in Glasgow city centre this afternoon.
www.heraldscotland.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:16 PM
Huge breaking news. Anas Sarwar is going to call for Sir Keir Starmer to quit. Emergency press conference at 2.30pm. Follow @heraldscotland.bsky.social live blog here www.heraldscotland.com/news/2583840...
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
In danger of repeating myself, but the tone mismatch between the way they talk about MMcS and then the facts of Labour polling around 19% average (and Starmer at -50) is very disorienting.
February 9, 2026 at 12:02 PM
In danger of repeating myself, but the tone mismatch between the way they talk about MMcS and then the facts of Labour polling around 19% average (and Starmer at -50) is very disorienting.
I think Britain's most regular finishing position down the years among its Winter Olympics medal contenders is fourth
February 9, 2026 at 12:56 PM
I think Britain's most regular finishing position down the years among its Winter Olympics medal contenders is fourth
"Journalism largely consists in saying 'Tim Allan has resigned' to people who never knew Tim Allan was employed"
- GK Chesterton
- GK Chesterton
February 9, 2026 at 11:39 AM
"Journalism largely consists in saying 'Tim Allan has resigned' to people who never knew Tim Allan was employed"
- GK Chesterton
- GK Chesterton
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Re-upping this for the Monday crowd... I think my favourite, most revealing detail is that the guy seems to not realise he's in trouble because London Centric's reporting didn't hit anything like his view counts, so therefore it can't really matter.
Hate-filled fake videos about London are everywhere. We've obtained a recording of a TikToker confessing to secretly filming Londoners in their homes for clicks.
He says it's not political. He just wants to make money from far-right anger.
Read what he says: www.londoncentric.media/p/london-tik...
He says it's not political. He just wants to make money from far-right anger.
Read what he says: www.londoncentric.media/p/london-tik...
February 9, 2026 at 9:42 AM
Re-upping this for the Monday crowd... I think my favourite, most revealing detail is that the guy seems to not realise he's in trouble because London Centric's reporting didn't hit anything like his view counts, so therefore it can't really matter.
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
reflecting on a piece I wrote for OpenDemocracy in 2017, about what it was like to grow up & live in a demographic reliant on labour-run council services, as those councils gradually fell under the spell of mandelsonianism
February 9, 2026 at 9:48 AM
reflecting on a piece I wrote for OpenDemocracy in 2017, about what it was like to grow up & live in a demographic reliant on labour-run council services, as those councils gradually fell under the spell of mandelsonianism
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Exclusive: One of England’s first PFI schools struck a secret deal for taxpayers to cover a £1m 'bullet payment' to break free of its contract
Analysis also suggests PFI owners of English schools could have made as much as £85.7m in profits in one year
schoolsweek.co.uk/secret-1m-ba...
Analysis also suggests PFI owners of English schools could have made as much as £85.7m in profits in one year
schoolsweek.co.uk/secret-1m-ba...
Secret £1m bailout as PFI windfalls and school woes grow
Deal to cover £1m 'bullet payment' revealed as figures suggest PFI firms could have made £86m in one year
schoolsweek.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 9:12 AM
Exclusive: One of England’s first PFI schools struck a secret deal for taxpayers to cover a £1m 'bullet payment' to break free of its contract
Analysis also suggests PFI owners of English schools could have made as much as £85.7m in profits in one year
schoolsweek.co.uk/secret-1m-ba...
Analysis also suggests PFI owners of English schools could have made as much as £85.7m in profits in one year
schoolsweek.co.uk/secret-1m-ba...
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
New analysis @ippr.org that 300,000 children currently in Britain will be adversely affected by government’s settlement reforms. The government consultation closes on Thursday. Dozens of MPs are concerned that impacts to their constituents & families feel unfair
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
300,000 children face 10-year wait for settled status under UK plans, says IPPR
Thinktank analysis says proposed ‘earned settlement’ changes could trap families in prolonged insecurity
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:14 AM
New analysis @ippr.org that 300,000 children currently in Britain will be adversely affected by government’s settlement reforms. The government consultation closes on Thursday. Dozens of MPs are concerned that impacts to their constituents & families feel unfair
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
only because i keep seeing this on my tl from multiple sources: the image on the right looks like it's the exact same photo, but edited to remove the reform banners. the door looks very strange, and they also apparently forgot to remove what looks like a small reform sticker in the window
February 8, 2026 at 10:26 PM
only because i keep seeing this on my tl from multiple sources: the image on the right looks like it's the exact same photo, but edited to remove the reform banners. the door looks very strange, and they also apparently forgot to remove what looks like a small reform sticker in the window
A prime minister forced by his adviser. Morgan the power bottom
Alakeson, alongside Jill Cuthbertson, will now share the chief of staff role
Meanwhile Starmer was described as ‘a pescatarian forced to eat dog meat’
observer.co.uk/news/politic...
Meanwhile Starmer was described as ‘a pescatarian forced to eat dog meat’
observer.co.uk/news/politic...
‘A pescatarian forced to eat dog meat’: the Starmer-McSwe...
Starmer’s former aide Morgan McSweeney saw the prime minister as his creation. Now that McSweeney is gone, so too has the imbalanced relationship between chief of staff and PM
observer.co.uk
February 8, 2026 at 10:09 PM
A prime minister forced by his adviser. Morgan the power bottom
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Exclusive: Investigators carrying out developed vetting (DV) on Mandelson failed to ask interviewees about his relationship with Epstein
One of those interviewed during this phase told @theobserveruk.bsky.social there was “not a single question on Jeffrey Epstein”
observer.co.uk/news/politic...
One of those interviewed during this phase told @theobserveruk.bsky.social there was “not a single question on Jeffrey Epstein”
observer.co.uk/news/politic...
Cabinet Office failed to query Mandelson’s relationship w...
Investigators carrying out security vetting on Peter Mandelson failed to ask interviewees about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, despite the fact the pair’s connection was in the public domain.D...
observer.co.uk
February 8, 2026 at 11:16 AM
Exclusive: Investigators carrying out developed vetting (DV) on Mandelson failed to ask interviewees about his relationship with Epstein
One of those interviewed during this phase told @theobserveruk.bsky.social there was “not a single question on Jeffrey Epstein”
observer.co.uk/news/politic...
One of those interviewed during this phase told @theobserveruk.bsky.social there was “not a single question on Jeffrey Epstein”
observer.co.uk/news/politic...
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Was cutting up a 1960s Woman’s Realm magazine for collage material & found this unabashedly insatiable size queen penguin
February 8, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Was cutting up a 1960s Woman’s Realm magazine for collage material & found this unabashedly insatiable size queen penguin
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Utterly unscientific and doesn’t just apply to LFC but the less these characters speak with the accent of the place their club comes from, the angrier they seem to be.
February 8, 2026 at 7:58 PM
Utterly unscientific and doesn’t just apply to LFC but the less these characters speak with the accent of the place their club comes from, the angrier they seem to be.
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
If I could be arsed I would write a long read on my theory that football phone ins directly contributed to the coarsening of our culture by making rage baits and the opinions of morons mainstream
February 8, 2026 at 9:02 PM
If I could be arsed I would write a long read on my theory that football phone ins directly contributed to the coarsening of our culture by making rage baits and the opinions of morons mainstream
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Just beyond parody at this point
February 8, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Just beyond parody at this point
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
If that VAR had come at 1-1 and not 2-1... hooboy
February 8, 2026 at 6:33 PM
If that VAR had come at 1-1 and not 2-1... hooboy
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
I'm not posting here as regularly as I should, but away from the headlines about Keir Starmer's fate, here's a smaller story about the Westminster Epstein fallout you may have missed. This isn't just a Mandelson scandal - it's about women's bodies and how we treat them
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
It’s years too late, but at least Ed Davey is learning fr...
The Lib Dem leader has finally taken action against a peer who was at the centre of 2013 inquiry involving complaints by four women
observer.co.uk
February 8, 2026 at 5:36 PM
I'm not posting here as regularly as I should, but away from the headlines about Keir Starmer's fate, here's a smaller story about the Westminster Epstein fallout you may have missed. This isn't just a Mandelson scandal - it's about women's bodies and how we treat them
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
mashallah he is gone, to celebrate I've made the piece I wrote last year about arguably the most embarrassing project I've ever worked on free to read: youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/so-about-t...
February 8, 2026 at 3:59 PM
mashallah he is gone, to celebrate I've made the piece I wrote last year about arguably the most embarrassing project I've ever worked on free to read: youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/so-about-t...
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
Good morning 3.
February 8, 2026 at 11:48 AM
Good morning 3.
Reposted by Chaminda Jayanetti
The most frustrating aspect of this is the "prison of accounting conventions" (government edition) h/t @dsquareddigest.bsky.social . The need for these operations doesn't go away, they don't get cheaper to do by pushing them out into the future.
🚨 Thousands of NHS patients waiting for hip replacements and other routine operations are having their surgery cancelled so the health service can save money www.thetimes.com/article/5b97...
Thousands of operations cancelled to save NHS money
Spending limits are expected to affect up to 140,000 patients by April
www.thetimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 9:18 AM
The most frustrating aspect of this is the "prison of accounting conventions" (government edition) h/t @dsquareddigest.bsky.social . The need for these operations doesn't go away, they don't get cheaper to do by pushing them out into the future.