Matt "Winter is here"
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mattrobb.bsky.social
Matt "Winter is here"
@mattrobb.bsky.social
Politics, Education, Strategy, LFC and FF
No conspiracists, anti-vax, QAnon etc please.
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
In these times of rancour & division, it’s comforting to find things on which we can all agree: Kent County Council, for example, really does provide a perfect illustration of how well Reform would run the country. I agree with Nigel!
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Kent fire authority 'in disarray' amid Reform UK video leak row
A firefighters union claims Reform UK suspending councillors is impacting the local fire authority.
www.bbc.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.

New piece from me.

open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
Finally, a bit of a reality check from our 2024 election book (out soon!) for everyone hyperventilating about collapsing public trust in the BBC - free to air TV (mostly the BBC) is still the most widely consumed and widely trusted source of news - blows print, online & social media out of the water
November 11, 2025 at 12:51 PM
This article is noting that Kelvin Mackenzie - yes, him - was invited to talk about journalistic standards on the BBC

But there's no right-wing agenda to wreck the BBC. Oh, no.
November 11, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
"Funnily enough Andy [Wigmore], the only time I ever experienced political interference in one of my investigations at the BBC, was when I was investigating you and Arron Banks

Your mate Robbie Gibb put a stop to a story we were running."

- former BBC investigative reporter Manveen Rana, 2022
November 10, 2025 at 6:24 AM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
I read this morning that Michael Prescott is a close friend of Robbie Gibb on the BBC board ex GB News. Perhaps that tells the story😡
November 10, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
Michael Prescott and Sir Robbie Gibb both bailed out of journalism years ago, and enjoy lucrative careers in corporate PR. And now they are the arbiters of BBC editorial standards. Go figure www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
The BBC has bigger impartiality problems than its coverage of Trump
It is the BBC’s entire governance structure–rather than individual stories–that should cause most concern
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 7:59 AM
This is the most revealing post of all…. How Trump’s anti DEI order is being used to erase history
16/ "[The memorial] allegedly evaded Trump's executive order to halt policies promoting diversity and inclusion." /end

Sources:
🔹 www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
🔹 blogs.loc.gov/folklife/201...
🔹 web.archive.org/web/20250720...
November 9, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Illustrative history
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
Black American soldiers literally dug these WWII graves. Traumatic. To acknowledge that fact at a cemetery they helped construct is something the Heritage Foundation cannot accept. As Veterans Day approaches, never forget that this country both compels and disrespects Black military service. Always.
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 1:20 PM
'kinell.
Two panels commemorating the contribution of Black American soldiers towards the liberation of the Netherlands in World War Two have been quietly removed from a cemetery in Limburg. It follows a complaint by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission.
nrc.nl NRC @nrc.nl · 4d
Op Margraten zijn twee panelen over zwarte Amerikaanse bevrijders van Nederland opeens weg. ‘Past bij beleid van de regering-Trump’
November 9, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
A majority of the days the government has ever been shut down, Donald Trump was president. www.howtoreadthisch.art/red-versus-b...
November 8, 2025 at 7:04 PM
60% swing for Latinos against Trump

Pity he had to deport their mums before they realised he was a racist nutjob...
Passaic County precinct analysis shows strong correlation between % Latino and swing

Some Latino Trump voters switched to Democrats, but swing also due to compositional change

Latino communities saw more churn in electorate — it looks like many Trump voters stayed home, and new voters broke D

2/3
November 8, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
This year Pakistan became the world’s second-largest importer of solar panels. It has become a laboratory for the green-energy transition in the global south
How China sparked a rooftop solar revolution in Pakistan
It is a test case for the green transition in the Global South
econ.st
November 8, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Rogan, of all people, asking what he presumably thought was a gimme question, exposing Musk as a ludicrous propagandist
Musk: "Mandani is a charismatic swindler."

Rogan, pulling off his mask to reveal @ichotiner.bsky.social: "What else has he done that makes him a swindler?"

Musk:
November 8, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Clear post on why the 'simple answer' to council taxes possibly being preferred by Reeves...isn't simple, or fair

Revalue, sunset clause this, or just find a better solution
NEW: Reported plans to double tax rates on the top two council tax bands would cause huge distortions and unequal treatment between owners of expensive homes across England

One area where homes cost £500k would barely be touched

By me, for Politics Home www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Why Council Tax Reform Is Fraught With Difficulty
New analysis shows why council tax reform is such a hard task for the government as it faces widespread calls for the system to be updated.
www.politicshome.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
It wasn’t even valuing polling over policy - the polling consistently showed people believed taxes had to go up to fix public services, expected Labour to do this and on balance though it a price worth paying. It was a triumph of comms/campaigns people vibes over policy AND polling
November 8, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Legendary scenes...
November 8, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Why populism...
At least we aren’t suffering alone.
November 8, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
Reform voters on the reintroduction of flogging...
November 7, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Do Americans have any idea he lies whenever he speaks? Polls suggest this idea is slowly percolating
November 7, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
This is horrible.

#Thugs
ICE grabs father by the neck—send him into violent seizure while his arms lock up around his toddler.

"He's having seizure and they're trying to rip the baby out of his hands!"

Agents then handcuff him—before putting in ambulance with his child.

Mother is detained by agents as target of arrest.
November 7, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Second order consequences with consequences…
Immigration raids during Trump II have increased daily student absences by 22 percent in the California Central Valley, with largest increases among the youngest students.
November 7, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
Worth a thousand words and whatnot. And just a reminder from Uncle George. It's never too late to admit your ass got played.
November 6, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Matt "Winter is here"
When I went to Congress, I wrongly considered Nancy Pelosi my political enemy. Over time, I developed immense respect for her, even when we disagreed. She, better than anyone, defended democracy against Trump in his 1st term. She’s an American giant. Well done Madame Speaker.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nancy Pelosi won't seek reelection, ending her storied career in the US House.
November 6, 2025 at 3:58 PM