David Costa
@drc1649.bsky.social
Retired Labour Party political operative, now WEC member and Branch Secretary - all views here entirely my own.
Reposted by David Costa
Reform: the home for failed Tories. In this case failed in the sense of failed to pay HMRC loads of tax he owed
NEW: Former Tory Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi defects to Reform.
Most senior member of the last Conservative govt yet to join the party.
Most senior member of the last Conservative govt yet to join the party.
January 12, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Reform: the home for failed Tories. In this case failed in the sense of failed to pay HMRC loads of tax he owed
Reposted by David Costa
Nigel Farage has just said Reform will vote AGAINST lifting the 2 child cap, despite promising to lift it in May.
Reform doesn’t care about working class kids - or their families.
Reform doesn’t care about working class kids - or their families.
January 8, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Nigel Farage has just said Reform will vote AGAINST lifting the 2 child cap, despite promising to lift it in May.
Reform doesn’t care about working class kids - or their families.
Reform doesn’t care about working class kids - or their families.
Reposted by David Costa
Go round the outside.
December 30, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Go round the outside.
Reposted by David Costa
This was the government's position on "human rights defender" Abd El-Fattah in 2023, while Robert Jenrick sat in cabinet, Cleverly was Foreign Sec, and Sunak was PM - a position confirmed no fewer than ten times on the floor of both the Commons and the Lords.
Did Bob object back then? Thought not.
Did Bob object back then? Thought not.
December 28, 2025 at 11:22 AM
This was the government's position on "human rights defender" Abd El-Fattah in 2023, while Robert Jenrick sat in cabinet, Cleverly was Foreign Sec, and Sunak was PM - a position confirmed no fewer than ten times on the floor of both the Commons and the Lords.
Did Bob object back then? Thought not.
Did Bob object back then? Thought not.
Reposted by David Costa
Once again landowners getting preferential treatment. The rest of us pay for their pampering.
December 23, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Once again landowners getting preferential treatment. The rest of us pay for their pampering.
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
Pubs can’t be doing that badly if they think they can afford to alienate a chunk of potential customers who support Labour. Personally I’ll be boycotting any establishment displaying these signs.
Pubs can’t be doing that badly if they think they can afford to alienate a chunk of potential customers who support Labour. Personally I’ll be boycotting any establishment displaying these signs.
‘You’re barred!’: Labour’s battle with pubs promises a new year headache
A protest barring MPs from pubs is exposing deeper tensions between politicians and the communities they represent
www.theguardian.com
December 21, 2025 at 9:35 AM
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
Pubs can’t be doing that badly if they think they can afford to alienate a chunk of potential customers who support Labour. Personally I’ll be boycotting any establishment displaying these signs.
Pubs can’t be doing that badly if they think they can afford to alienate a chunk of potential customers who support Labour. Personally I’ll be boycotting any establishment displaying these signs.
Reposted by David Costa
Opposition Lords are STILL voting to water down key measures in the Employment Rights Bill - risking delaying rights like access to Sick Pay from Day 1.
The Lords must get out of the way and let the Bill pass, so we can deliver the new rights working people need.
www.labourunions.org.uk/stoptheblock
The Lords must get out of the way and let the Bill pass, so we can deliver the new rights working people need.
www.labourunions.org.uk/stoptheblock
December 10, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Opposition Lords are STILL voting to water down key measures in the Employment Rights Bill - risking delaying rights like access to Sick Pay from Day 1.
The Lords must get out of the way and let the Bill pass, so we can deliver the new rights working people need.
www.labourunions.org.uk/stoptheblock
The Lords must get out of the way and let the Bill pass, so we can deliver the new rights working people need.
www.labourunions.org.uk/stoptheblock
Reposted by David Costa
To be fair these people told us for five years ‘Why don’t you f*** off and join the Torys’ - so they are only following their own advice.
Zarah Sultana voted with the Tories in every vote on the Employment Rights Bill last night.
That includes voting to keep the Lords' wrecking amendments on strike ballot thresholds and to keep the 2016 Trade Union Act's restrictions on unions' political funds.
That includes voting to keep the Lords' wrecking amendments on strike ballot thresholds and to keep the 2016 Trade Union Act's restrictions on unions' political funds.
December 9, 2025 at 1:06 PM
To be fair these people told us for five years ‘Why don’t you f*** off and join the Torys’ - so they are only following their own advice.
Reposted by David Costa
Holding Musk accountable. What a novel idea. Hopefully the UK govt follows the EU's lead on this front.
Twitter becomes the first site to take a hit from the EU Digital Services Act
*ELON MUSK'S X HIT WITH €120M EU FINE FOR CONTENT LAW BREACHES
*EU COMMISSION SAYS X MADE 3 VIOLATIONS OF DIGITAL SERVICES ACT
*EU GIVES X 60 DAYS TO PROVIDE SOLUTIONS, 90 DAYS TO IMPLEMENT
*ELON MUSK'S X HIT WITH €120M EU FINE FOR CONTENT LAW BREACHES
*EU COMMISSION SAYS X MADE 3 VIOLATIONS OF DIGITAL SERVICES ACT
*EU GIVES X 60 DAYS TO PROVIDE SOLUTIONS, 90 DAYS TO IMPLEMENT
December 5, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Holding Musk accountable. What a novel idea. Hopefully the UK govt follows the EU's lead on this front.
Reposted by David Costa
The true pleasure of Bluesky.
"When I look around, I see people who often took a big professional risk because they would not comply. In many cases, they had profiles they had built up for years. They let it go. They did this because they refused to extinguish their moral character."
"When I look around, I see people who often took a big professional risk because they would not comply. In many cases, they had profiles they had built up for years. They let it go. They did this because they refused to extinguish their moral character."
Thank God for Bluesky: A little love letter to the people who would not compromise with Nazis iandunt.substack.com/p/thank-god-...
Thank God for Bluesky
Yes, it's eager. Yes, it's censorious. But it has the very considerable advantage of not being fascist.
iandunt.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 1:25 PM
The true pleasure of Bluesky.
"When I look around, I see people who often took a big professional risk because they would not comply. In many cases, they had profiles they had built up for years. They let it go. They did this because they refused to extinguish their moral character."
"When I look around, I see people who often took a big professional risk because they would not comply. In many cases, they had profiles they had built up for years. They let it go. They did this because they refused to extinguish their moral character."
Reposted by David Costa
I see @zackpolanski.bsky.social and his party are so committed to taxing the wealthy that last night a majority of his MPs voted to exempt major landowners from paying the same taxes the rest of us do.
He's just a Lib Dem in drag.
He's just a Lib Dem in drag.
December 3, 2025 at 8:59 AM
I see @zackpolanski.bsky.social and his party are so committed to taxing the wealthy that last night a majority of his MPs voted to exempt major landowners from paying the same taxes the rest of us do.
He's just a Lib Dem in drag.
He's just a Lib Dem in drag.
Reposted by David Costa
I wonder what it is about Rachel Reeves that they hate: a woman who went to a comprehensive school, who rose from relatively humble origins to the top and who still speaks with a South London accent. I wonder why they hate her so much. It's a mystery.
December 3, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I wonder what it is about Rachel Reeves that they hate: a woman who went to a comprehensive school, who rose from relatively humble origins to the top and who still speaks with a South London accent. I wonder why they hate her so much. It's a mystery.
Reposted by David Costa
Truly shocking that Rachel Reeves had the audacity to call herself the U14 girls chess champions when she won the U14 girls chess championship but some bloke thought she was talking about something else.
December 3, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Truly shocking that Rachel Reeves had the audacity to call herself the U14 girls chess champions when she won the U14 girls chess championship but some bloke thought she was talking about something else.
Reposted by David Costa
Reposted by David Costa
Watched BBC 6 o clock news. Just a completely unserious broadcast. Chris Mason, acting like a children's entertainer, giving a prolonged impenetrable editorial. Not a whiff of informative content about the Budget or what it means for the country. Just playschool blah blah bollocks.
December 1, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Watched BBC 6 o clock news. Just a completely unserious broadcast. Chris Mason, acting like a children's entertainer, giving a prolonged impenetrable editorial. Not a whiff of informative content about the Budget or what it means for the country. Just playschool blah blah bollocks.
Reposted by David Costa
The OBR is run independently from Government. It literally was somebody else's fault.
You'd think Kemi Badenoch would know that given her own party created it in Government, but apparently not
You'd think Kemi Badenoch would know that given her own party created it in Government, but apparently not
December 1, 2025 at 5:31 PM
The OBR is run independently from Government. It literally was somebody else's fault.
You'd think Kemi Badenoch would know that given her own party created it in Government, but apparently not
You'd think Kemi Badenoch would know that given her own party created it in Government, but apparently not
Reposted by David Costa
No that's not *your* on *our behalf*. Your job is to report the story, presenting all sides fairly and then *we* call it. What Mason is saying here is fundamentally not what the bbc is for!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
December 1, 2025 at 11:29 AM
No that's not *your* on *our behalf*. Your job is to report the story, presenting all sides fairly and then *we* call it. What Mason is saying here is fundamentally not what the bbc is for!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by David Costa
Mason declares that in his judgement we have been misled by Rachel Reeves.
It feels unprecedented that the BBC has made a "call" on a story, and is something that was absent throughout the terms of notorious liars such as Johnson.
There were certainly no "calls" about Brexit lies.
#r4today
It feels unprecedented that the BBC has made a "call" on a story, and is something that was absent throughout the terms of notorious liars such as Johnson.
There were certainly no "calls" about Brexit lies.
#r4today
December 1, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Mason declares that in his judgement we have been misled by Rachel Reeves.
It feels unprecedented that the BBC has made a "call" on a story, and is something that was absent throughout the terms of notorious liars such as Johnson.
There were certainly no "calls" about Brexit lies.
#r4today
It feels unprecedented that the BBC has made a "call" on a story, and is something that was absent throughout the terms of notorious liars such as Johnson.
There were certainly no "calls" about Brexit lies.
#r4today
Reposted by David Costa
What we're seeing is exactly what we saw in the late 1940s, the late 1960s and the mid- to late 1970s: a concerted and hysterical campaign to delegitimise a Labour government, and indeed the very idea of Labour governments at all.
December 1, 2025 at 8:44 AM
What we're seeing is exactly what we saw in the late 1940s, the late 1960s and the mid- to late 1970s: a concerted and hysterical campaign to delegitimise a Labour government, and indeed the very idea of Labour governments at all.
Reposted by David Costa
For those in the UK, still with any doubt about the bias, the unfairness & the arrogance of BBC Tory Laura K, try watching a bit of her show today.
Count the times she interrupts Rachel Reeves mid sentence- I lost count.
Then count the times she interrupts Kemi Badenoch...
Zero.
Count the times she interrupts Rachel Reeves mid sentence- I lost count.
Then count the times she interrupts Kemi Badenoch...
Zero.
November 30, 2025 at 10:08 AM
For those in the UK, still with any doubt about the bias, the unfairness & the arrogance of BBC Tory Laura K, try watching a bit of her show today.
Count the times she interrupts Rachel Reeves mid sentence- I lost count.
Then count the times she interrupts Kemi Badenoch...
Zero.
Count the times she interrupts Rachel Reeves mid sentence- I lost count.
Then count the times she interrupts Kemi Badenoch...
Zero.
labourlist.org/2025/11/stra...
Excellent explainer from the union side - everyone should read before falling for the u-turn, dilution or betrayal narratives.
Excellent explainer from the union side - everyone should read before falling for the u-turn, dilution or betrayal narratives.
'To deliver day-one rights, unions like mine chose strategy over stalemate' - LabourList
Unions secured stronger rights by returning to the negotiating table—delivering real protections for workers now says Mike Clancy of Prospect
labourlist.org
November 29, 2025 at 11:58 AM
labourlist.org/2025/11/stra...
Excellent explainer from the union side - everyone should read before falling for the u-turn, dilution or betrayal narratives.
Excellent explainer from the union side - everyone should read before falling for the u-turn, dilution or betrayal narratives.
Reposted by David Costa
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Reposted by David Costa
The Chancellor has scrapped the two-child limit, benefitting more than half a million families.
In April 2025, out of families impacted by the limit:
- 6 in 10 had 3 children.
- 6 in 10 had at least one person in work.
- And 6 in 10 are receiving a health or disability benefit.
In April 2025, out of families impacted by the limit:
- 6 in 10 had 3 children.
- 6 in 10 had at least one person in work.
- And 6 in 10 are receiving a health or disability benefit.
November 26, 2025 at 1:45 PM
The Chancellor has scrapped the two-child limit, benefitting more than half a million families.
In April 2025, out of families impacted by the limit:
- 6 in 10 had 3 children.
- 6 in 10 had at least one person in work.
- And 6 in 10 are receiving a health or disability benefit.
In April 2025, out of families impacted by the limit:
- 6 in 10 had 3 children.
- 6 in 10 had at least one person in work.
- And 6 in 10 are receiving a health or disability benefit.
Reposted by David Costa
This is right. I sat through the programme for my posts.
Other than the edit-fail, it was a boringly balanced programme.
Other than the edit-fail, it was a boringly balanced programme.
Prescott says the Panorama programme was aggressively anti-Trump. Neutral and experienced journalists who have seen the programme found it admirably balanced
November 24, 2025 at 4:32 PM
This is right. I sat through the programme for my posts.
Other than the edit-fail, it was a boringly balanced programme.
Other than the edit-fail, it was a boringly balanced programme.
“Bring a popular mayor back to parliament so he can become leader!” cried dissident Tories in 2015. How did that story end?
November 23, 2025 at 10:39 AM
“Bring a popular mayor back to parliament so he can become leader!” cried dissident Tories in 2015. How did that story end?