Gabi Greenham
@gabigreenham.bsky.social
German living in UK - still hanging on in there. Have some views…will probably share them frequently.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
This is a good point - even if you are to grant Labour benefit of the doubt on strategy (generous move right now) - last week's strategy was "we are too weak to do thing which annoys some MPs" (break manifesto pledge), this week's is "we must do even more difficult thing which annoys more MPs more"
I simply do not understand how the govt can simultaneously believe (1) they don’t have enough political capital to breach the manifesto on tax and (2) they have enough to political capital to pick an unwinnable fight with their own MPs on immigration.
November 17, 2025 at 2:38 PM
This is a good point - even if you are to grant Labour benefit of the doubt on strategy (generous move right now) - last week's strategy was "we are too weak to do thing which annoys some MPs" (break manifesto pledge), this week's is "we must do even more difficult thing which annoys more MPs more"
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
Intrigued that the Labour Party has a Denmark policy - seize jewellery and assets from asylum seekers - and also an anti-Denmark policy - don’t tax middle earners enough to support welfare state.
November 17, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Intrigued that the Labour Party has a Denmark policy - seize jewellery and assets from asylum seekers - and also an anti-Denmark policy - don’t tax middle earners enough to support welfare state.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
Just wilful performative cruelty that is entirely out of step with the majority of British people.
How many Labour MPs got into politics in order to vote for stealing jewellery off of people seeking refuge from war and persecution?
How many Labour MPs got into politics in order to vote for stealing jewellery off of people seeking refuge from war and persecution?
November 17, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Just wilful performative cruelty that is entirely out of step with the majority of British people.
How many Labour MPs got into politics in order to vote for stealing jewellery off of people seeking refuge from war and persecution?
How many Labour MPs got into politics in order to vote for stealing jewellery off of people seeking refuge from war and persecution?
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
This does seem to be a relevant question. Reading the Sun and Guardina pieces side by side it is hard to believe they are describing the same policy. That kind of spin might have worked in 1990s but in a social media ecosystem where anger goes viral is is likely to generate own goals
And once again, I ask whether Ministers and No10 realise that the readership of one paper can in fact read the contents of another.
Dark forces are stirring up anger in the UK. My asylum reforms are our chance to stop them | Shabana Mahmood
I know some of these measures will face opposition. But a country without secure borders is less safe for those who look like me, says Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:41 AM
This does seem to be a relevant question. Reading the Sun and Guardina pieces side by side it is hard to believe they are describing the same policy. That kind of spin might have worked in 1990s but in a social media ecosystem where anger goes viral is is likely to generate own goals
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
It really isn't clear how progressive and blue "Labour" can continue to co-exist politically.
These aren't disagreements over tactics and strategy. They have fundamentally different answers to core questions of political economy, society, and citizenship.
The overlap is very slim.
These aren't disagreements over tactics and strategy. They have fundamentally different answers to core questions of political economy, society, and citizenship.
The overlap is very slim.
November 17, 2025 at 8:27 AM
It really isn't clear how progressive and blue "Labour" can continue to co-exist politically.
These aren't disagreements over tactics and strategy. They have fundamentally different answers to core questions of political economy, society, and citizenship.
The overlap is very slim.
These aren't disagreements over tactics and strategy. They have fundamentally different answers to core questions of political economy, society, and citizenship.
The overlap is very slim.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
Hey Labour
Remember the majority of voters who believe in treating people decently and not stealing from those who've endured months and years of hardship fleeing war and persecution to seek a place of safety?
We're still over here 👋
Remember the majority of voters who believe in treating people decently and not stealing from those who've endured months and years of hardship fleeing war and persecution to seek a place of safety?
We're still over here 👋
November 17, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Hey Labour
Remember the majority of voters who believe in treating people decently and not stealing from those who've endured months and years of hardship fleeing war and persecution to seek a place of safety?
We're still over here 👋
Remember the majority of voters who believe in treating people decently and not stealing from those who've endured months and years of hardship fleeing war and persecution to seek a place of safety?
We're still over here 👋
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
🌍 42.5m refugees
Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries.
🇬🇧 548k refugees
= 0.78% of the UK population.
It is not refugees who tear our country apart, it is the mainstreaming of far right policies. And that’s a risk to all of us.
My letter to my MP.
#asylum #Mahmood
🧵
Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries.
🇬🇧 548k refugees
= 0.78% of the UK population.
It is not refugees who tear our country apart, it is the mainstreaming of far right policies. And that’s a risk to all of us.
My letter to my MP.
#asylum #Mahmood
🧵
![Dear [my MP’s name],
As the Home Secretary prepares to announce sweeping changes to the UK’s asylum system, I see it as both my duty as a citizen and responsibility as a migration expert to do all I can to urge policymakers to oppose the proposals—not only for what they will do to refugees, though that is the first concern, but also for what they will mean for all of us and the future society we live in.
That is why I am writing to you as my MP. This letter explains why I consider the need to oppose the Home Secretary’s proposals urgent and, at the most fundamental level, in the national and your constituents’ interest.
I was born in Germany, a country whose history taught me how quickly societies can go down dark paths; how quickly our leaders can fail in the choices they make. But the history of the displacement of people that the Nazi regime was responsible for also shaped my understanding of why refugee movements occur—and why our response to any of them can never compromise what are, and must always be, universal human rights.
Which is why what is happening in the UK now is so deeply alarming.
A manufactured crisis
As of June 2025, there were 42.5 million refugees globally. Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries; most of them immediate neighbours. Overall, five countries—Colombia, Germany, Türkiye, Iran and Uganda—host a third of the total number of refugees; Germany is the main host in the EU, hosting 2.7 million.
The UK hosts 548,000 refugees; that is 0.78% of the UK population. About 110,000 people are in receipt of asylum support; that is 0.15% of the UK population.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bru4h6s37w4hfmwhetu7veye/bafkreidmewc5timbx7nh57qyq7lm7gmhvclzidmloqhwgckpnegnddoicq@jpeg)
November 16, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
I’ll wait to see if this is actually announced. But if so… please can the PLP rise up. You owe it to your consciences, your voters, and the institution that is the Labour Party.
The Sun has been told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Monday propose confiscating jewellery, watches, necklaces from asylum seekers to meet asylum costs
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
November 17, 2025 at 4:49 AM
I’ll wait to see if this is actually announced. But if so… please can the PLP rise up. You owe it to your consciences, your voters, and the institution that is the Labour Party.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
NEW
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
By me. Enjoy.
emptycity.substack.com/p/the-letter...
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
By me. Enjoy.
emptycity.substack.com/p/the-letter...
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
emptycity.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:00 PM
NEW
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
By me. Enjoy.
emptycity.substack.com/p/the-letter...
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
By me. Enjoy.
emptycity.substack.com/p/the-letter...
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
Should Gibb be sacked? yes, obviously. He's an abomination of basic journalistic standards. His GB News channel spreads conspiracy theory & disinformation. His Jewish Chronicle newspaper spreads invented stories. He is plainly trying to undermine the BBC so it's as bad as everything else he touches.
November 10, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Should Gibb be sacked? yes, obviously. He's an abomination of basic journalistic standards. His GB News channel spreads conspiracy theory & disinformation. His Jewish Chronicle newspaper spreads invented stories. He is plainly trying to undermine the BBC so it's as bad as everything else he touches.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
The fact that the BBC has made serious culpable errors does not negate the point that there is a real and concerted right-wing media campaign to destroy it. Both points can be true at the same time and the campaign would not end even if the errors did.
November 10, 2025 at 1:08 PM
The fact that the BBC has made serious culpable errors does not negate the point that there is a real and concerted right-wing media campaign to destroy it. Both points can be true at the same time and the campaign would not end even if the errors did.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
Absolutely right. I criticise BBC News, because we need it to be as good as we know it can be. People like Farage criticise the BBC, because they work for its competitors and don't want it to exist.
🎯 Davey is spot on. "We can have criticism of the BBC, but within that, we need to recognise how valuable an institution it is [and how] precious to our country. And that's one of the reasons why people like President Trump and Nigel Farage, want to undermine the BBC." 👏🏽~AA
November 10, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Absolutely right. I criticise BBC News, because we need it to be as good as we know it can be. People like Farage criticise the BBC, because they work for its competitors and don't want it to exist.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
November 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
For some reason, a huge chunk of the country want long standing problems, caused by decades of underfunding, to be fixed within months, and expect others to pay for them.
I have no solutions, and wouldn’t get involved in politics for anything, but this fantasy of a quick fix needs to change.
I have no solutions, and wouldn’t get involved in politics for anything, but this fantasy of a quick fix needs to change.
October 28, 2025 at 6:59 AM
For some reason, a huge chunk of the country want long standing problems, caused by decades of underfunding, to be fixed within months, and expect others to pay for them.
I have no solutions, and wouldn’t get involved in politics for anything, but this fantasy of a quick fix needs to change.
I have no solutions, and wouldn’t get involved in politics for anything, but this fantasy of a quick fix needs to change.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
I apologise for my earlier comments. They were phrased poorly and unintentionally revealed what goes on in my head.
October 25, 2025 at 9:40 PM
I apologise for my earlier comments. They were phrased poorly and unintentionally revealed what goes on in my head.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
Sorry @theipaper.com but WHY is this guy talking to us about what will make the UK poorer? He was happy to grenade our economy twice…
Brexit and then his batshit budget with Truss.
He should be in political oblivion for the mess he made and the price we all have to pay for his party’s failures.
Brexit and then his batshit budget with Truss.
He should be in political oblivion for the mess he made and the price we all have to pay for his party’s failures.
October 24, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Sorry @theipaper.com but WHY is this guy talking to us about what will make the UK poorer? He was happy to grenade our economy twice…
Brexit and then his batshit budget with Truss.
He should be in political oblivion for the mess he made and the price we all have to pay for his party’s failures.
Brexit and then his batshit budget with Truss.
He should be in political oblivion for the mess he made and the price we all have to pay for his party’s failures.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
Further to this - and once again I am doing the basic research that political journalists should have done six months ago - Lam said on the record in Parliament that this *does* apply to pensions/pensioners.
October 23, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Further to this - and once again I am doing the basic research that political journalists should have done six months ago - Lam said on the record in Parliament that this *does* apply to pensions/pensioners.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
"The idea of deporting people with settled status is disgusting, and anyone proposing it should be immediately drummed out of polite society. Breaking promises made in good faith to our friends and neighbours is racist, extremist and immoral."
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
It’s racist, it’s extremist and it’s immoral
The right is still calling for deportations, and the government is still being cowardly about it. Also: London’s first green belt; some notes on a shark; and some news, on my next book.
jonn.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:22 PM
"The idea of deporting people with settled status is disgusting, and anyone proposing it should be immediately drummed out of polite society. Breaking promises made in good faith to our friends and neighbours is racist, extremist and immoral."
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
"I warn you not to fall in love with someone from another country. And if you do, I very specifically warn you that she mustn't take maternity leave."
The Conservatives have drafted the legislation.
ANY one of the conditions being met leads to ILR being revoked.
If annual income falls below £38,700 for six months (for any reason at all)
The Secretary of State would also have the powers add whatever further conditions they want.
ANY one of the conditions being met leads to ILR being revoked.
If annual income falls below £38,700 for six months (for any reason at all)
The Secretary of State would also have the powers add whatever further conditions they want.
October 21, 2025 at 10:26 PM
"I warn you not to fall in love with someone from another country. And if you do, I very specifically warn you that she mustn't take maternity leave."
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
Katie Lam has made a video - focusing on not giving new ILR grants to people who don't have it
But quietly including the Conservative proposal to be the first government since Idi Amin in 1972 to revoke the permanent leave to remain, then expel: she underplays to what extent
x.com/Katie_Lam_MP...
But quietly including the Conservative proposal to be the first government since Idi Amin in 1972 to revoke the permanent leave to remain, then expel: she underplays to what extent
x.com/Katie_Lam_MP...
x.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Katie Lam has made a video - focusing on not giving new ILR grants to people who don't have it
But quietly including the Conservative proposal to be the first government since Idi Amin in 1972 to revoke the permanent leave to remain, then expel: she underplays to what extent
x.com/Katie_Lam_MP...
But quietly including the Conservative proposal to be the first government since Idi Amin in 1972 to revoke the permanent leave to remain, then expel: she underplays to what extent
x.com/Katie_Lam_MP...
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
The @libdems.org.uk and I have written to the Conservative leader urging her to condemn the comments by one of her MPs who said large numbers of legally settled families must be deported, in order to ensure the UK is mostly “culturally coherent”.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Tory MP criticised after demanding legally settled families be deported
Katie Lam said move would make UK ‘culturally coherent’ and that a large number of people ‘need to go home’
www.theguardian.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:19 PM
The @libdems.org.uk and I have written to the Conservative leader urging her to condemn the comments by one of her MPs who said large numbers of legally settled families must be deported, in order to ensure the UK is mostly “culturally coherent”.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
'Since Brexit and covid, the size of the civil service has swollen' - gee, I wonder why?
October 8, 2025 at 10:48 AM
'Since Brexit and covid, the size of the civil service has swollen' - gee, I wonder why?
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
❓NHS waiting list in May 2010 when the Conservatives came to power: 2.60 million.
❓NHS waiting list in July 2024 when the Conservatives left power: 7.62 million.
Who's fault is it Kemi?
Source:https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/nhs-backlog-data-analysis
❓NHS waiting list in July 2024 when the Conservatives left power: 7.62 million.
Who's fault is it Kemi?
Source:https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/nhs-backlog-data-analysis
October 8, 2025 at 10:40 AM
❓NHS waiting list in May 2010 when the Conservatives came to power: 2.60 million.
❓NHS waiting list in July 2024 when the Conservatives left power: 7.62 million.
Who's fault is it Kemi?
Source:https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/nhs-backlog-data-analysis
❓NHS waiting list in July 2024 when the Conservatives left power: 7.62 million.
Who's fault is it Kemi?
Source:https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/nhs-backlog-data-analysis
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
Whoops. Priti Patel. Sitting right there. Everyone else is mentioned, except her. Camera lingers. Priti trying to cover her seething - and failing. Is alienating your Shadown Foreign Sec wise, while knives are being sharpened?
October 8, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Whoops. Priti Patel. Sitting right there. Everyone else is mentioned, except her. Camera lingers. Priti trying to cover her seething - and failing. Is alienating your Shadown Foreign Sec wise, while knives are being sharpened?
Reposted by Gabi Greenham
It's like watching AI try to learn how to speak human.
October 8, 2025 at 10:33 AM
It's like watching AI try to learn how to speak human.