@mickrab.bsky.social
Europhile boomer who appreciates how lucky I am. London accent with Yorkshire twinges, but heart in Galway.
Savage cynic, a bit sweary, no prisoners. Tax is the price you pay for a civilised society.
Savage cynic, a bit sweary, no prisoners. Tax is the price you pay for a civilised society.
Pinned
mickrab.bsky.social
@mickrab.bsky.social
· Jan 13
The absence of a clear answer from a politician normally means the politically inconvenient answer is the truth.
Save this,it is a maxim for the ages.
Save this,it is a maxim for the ages.
Reposted
The number one thing for Labour and Labour fans is to stop being so bloody stubborn and arrogant. You’re in the shit. You need to change. That means, just for once, listen to the critics rather than telling us we’re wrong.
January 1, 2026 at 5:31 PM
The number one thing for Labour and Labour fans is to stop being so bloody stubborn and arrogant. You’re in the shit. You need to change. That means, just for once, listen to the critics rather than telling us we’re wrong.
Reposted
This government has time to become one of our great reforming governments. It needs to political will to do it | David Taylor-Gooby
Political prospects for 2026
This government has time to become one of our great reforming governments. It needs to political will to do it
northeastbylines.co.uk
December 31, 2025 at 11:13 AM
This government has time to become one of our great reforming governments. It needs to political will to do it | David Taylor-Gooby
Reposted
“Why is Gordon Ramsay singing?” asks my teen, in news that might distress Ronan Keating
January 1, 2026 at 12:19 AM
“Why is Gordon Ramsay singing?” asks my teen, in news that might distress Ronan Keating
So your NY resolution is not to procrastinate?
Don’t worry gang, no one actually starts their New Year’s resolutions on the 1st. And you’d be silly to begin on a Friday, best save it for Monday. But Monday is the 5th so you’ve kind of missed the boat anyway and can safely put it off for next year.
January 1, 2026 at 10:29 AM
So your NY resolution is not to procrastinate?
Simple answer: it's the hope that kills you.
Glad the FT is asking the question. Even if I’m not convinced they found a compelling answer.
I get that Starmer & Reeves are unpopular, I really don’t understand the extent of the dislike.
www.ft.com/content/1995... ‘There’s a real dislike, even loathing’: why voters hate Starmer and Reeves
I get that Starmer & Reeves are unpopular, I really don’t understand the extent of the dislike.
www.ft.com/content/1995... ‘There’s a real dislike, even loathing’: why voters hate Starmer and Reeves
‘There’s a real dislike, even loathing’: why voters hate Starmer and Reeves
Allies concede the prime minister and chancellor have made mistakes yet the level of disdain towards them is still striking
www.ft.com
December 31, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Simple answer: it's the hope that kills you.
Reposted
"Look, this is just the fake news media spouting woke lefty nonsense. The fact is I've never heard of Russia, I never went to school and the girlfriend I don't have bought me a house by accident."
December 31, 2025 at 9:18 AM
"Look, this is just the fake news media spouting woke lefty nonsense. The fact is I've never heard of Russia, I never went to school and the girlfriend I don't have bought me a house by accident."
Labour in a nutshell.
I think it's because there was so much hope and optimism for their government after the disaster of the Tories and they have completely and utterly blown it. I can't forgive them for their lack of vision and planning. They have been such a disappointment and I feel so angry with them about it.
December 31, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Labour in a nutshell.
Reposted
Politicians are terrified of an electorate they think is far more authoritarian and angry and right wing than it actually is, because they are out of touch because the literal media - the thing that mediates between public and polity - is corrupted
December 30, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Politicians are terrified of an electorate they think is far more authoritarian and angry and right wing than it actually is, because they are out of touch because the literal media - the thing that mediates between public and polity - is corrupted
Reposted
One of the strongest justifications for the ECHR and the Human Rights Act is that they provide (some) protection when a government wants to take punitive action against people it decides it doesn’t like - including for politically expedient, even irrational, capricious or ephemeral reasons
December 30, 2025 at 9:49 AM
One of the strongest justifications for the ECHR and the Human Rights Act is that they provide (some) protection when a government wants to take punitive action against people it decides it doesn’t like - including for politically expedient, even irrational, capricious or ephemeral reasons
Reposted
Tesco makes nearly £4bn profit.
Nearly 50% of its workforce are on Universal Credit, receiving about £600m a year.
Why isn't Tesco paying?
Nearly 50% of its workforce are on Universal Credit, receiving about £600m a year.
Why isn't Tesco paying?
December 24, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Tesco makes nearly £4bn profit.
Nearly 50% of its workforce are on Universal Credit, receiving about £600m a year.
Why isn't Tesco paying?
Nearly 50% of its workforce are on Universal Credit, receiving about £600m a year.
Why isn't Tesco paying?
And Shamima Begum most definitely is. 😄
So Boris Johnson, Prince Phillip, Andrew Bonar Law, Freddie Mercury, George I, George II, Richard E Grant, Douglas Carswell, Rudyard Kipling, Cliff Richard, Joanna Lumley and Spike Milligan weren't British?
Interesting
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Interesting
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Number of people who say Britons must be born in UK is rising, study shows
Exclusive: Research finds ‘worrying’ surge in support for hard-right narratives on national identity
www.theguardian.com
December 30, 2025 at 12:12 AM
And Shamima Begum most definitely is. 😄
And the far right.
They'll blame you for them coming and blame you again for them leaving.
Why politicians trying to appease the anti-immigrant press is a complete hiding for nothing
Why politicians trying to appease the anti-immigrant press is a complete hiding for nothing
December 29, 2025 at 8:31 PM
And the far right.
Reposted
Oh god, not this again!
A Critical Perspective on "Associate EU Citizenship" - Brexit Institute share.google/Na1V0Gd6TgXI...
A Critical Perspective on "Associate EU Citizenship" - Brexit Institute share.google/Na1V0Gd6TgXI...
A Critical Perspective on "Associate EU Citizenship" - Brexit Institute
Martijn van den Brink (Max Planck Institute, Göttingen)
share.google
December 29, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Oh god, not this again!
A Critical Perspective on "Associate EU Citizenship" - Brexit Institute share.google/Na1V0Gd6TgXI...
A Critical Perspective on "Associate EU Citizenship" - Brexit Institute share.google/Na1V0Gd6TgXI...
@chrisbjohns.bsky.social
If you see Sid (Jim), tell him.
If you see Sid (Jim), tell him.
December 29, 2025 at 6:51 PM
@chrisbjohns.bsky.social
If you see Sid (Jim), tell him.
If you see Sid (Jim), tell him.
Rule 1 of politics: Whenever you introduce a new policy, think how your opponents could use the same measure to their advantage and how you would feel if they did.
"One influencer said that in a previous interview with a government minister they were asked to pre-submit questions for approval and warned against going off subject matter"
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
December 29, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Who didn't? (Irony, I get it.)
Rearrange the words "off" and "fuck" into a well known phrase or saying.
Rearrange the words "off" and "fuck" into a well known phrase or saying.
December 29, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Who didn't? (Irony, I get it.)
Rearrange the words "off" and "fuck" into a well known phrase or saying.
Rearrange the words "off" and "fuck" into a well known phrase or saying.
Reposted
The outrageous sanctioning of EU lawmakers and citizens in order to pressure democratically-elected European governments to change their laws shows just how intent the US government is on controlling Europeans' lives.
We must go into 2026 with eyes open.
We must go into 2026 with eyes open.
The US can destroy a European's life with the swipe of a pen
This week's US sanctions against European lawmakers and privacy activists is a major escalation. And it shows the dangers of Europe relying on American economic infrastructure.
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 5:09 AM
The outrageous sanctioning of EU lawmakers and citizens in order to pressure democratically-elected European governments to change their laws shows just how intent the US government is on controlling Europeans' lives.
We must go into 2026 with eyes open.
We must go into 2026 with eyes open.
As always, follow the money.
Nigel Farage: NHS might have to be replaced by private health insurance
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Farage: NHS might have to be replaced by private health insurance
Farage: 'There is no question that healthcare provision is going to have to be very much greater in 10 years than it is today, with an ageing population, and we’re going to have to find ways to do it'
www.independent.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 9:30 AM
As always, follow the money.
Reposted
In the 1970s when they started selling off council houses in Britain it was possible to borrow 3 times your salary and buy a house. Now it is 10 times. Tax second homes, empty homes, air b n b and use the money to enable councils to renovate and regenerate.
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion...
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion...
Why life is getting harder and harder for young people these days - Andy Brown
It is well known that nostalgia isn’t what it used to be and anyone over a certain age has a tendency to look back and decide that most of what happened in their youth was positive when compared to th...
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 7:51 AM
In the 1970s when they started selling off council houses in Britain it was possible to borrow 3 times your salary and buy a house. Now it is 10 times. Tax second homes, empty homes, air b n b and use the money to enable councils to renovate and regenerate.
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion...
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion...
Reposted
Absolutely nothing going on here.
October 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Absolutely nothing going on here.
The deliberate conflating of "anti Israel" with "anti-semitism" continues apace. It's Israel's get out of jail card.
‘Reginald D Hunter: Summons against comic by Campaign Against Antisemitism quashed for seeking to have him 'cancelled'”
How can this “charity” be vindictively abusing the law to silence people it dislikes? Time for the Charity Commission to investigate. news.sky.com/story/regina...
How can this “charity” be vindictively abusing the law to silence people it dislikes? Time for the Charity Commission to investigate. news.sky.com/story/regina...
Reginald D Hunter: Summons against comic by Campaign Against Antisemitism quashed for seeking to have him 'cancelled'
A judge has quashed a summons against comedian Reginald D Hunter, brought privately by Campaign Against Antisemitism, ruling it "abusive" and intended to get the comedian "cancelled".
news.sky.com
December 28, 2025 at 11:45 AM
The deliberate conflating of "anti Israel" with "anti-semitism" continues apace. It's Israel's get out of jail card.
Reposted
‘Reginald D Hunter: Summons against comic by Campaign Against Antisemitism quashed for seeking to have him 'cancelled'”
How can this “charity” be vindictively abusing the law to silence people it dislikes? Time for the Charity Commission to investigate. news.sky.com/story/regina...
How can this “charity” be vindictively abusing the law to silence people it dislikes? Time for the Charity Commission to investigate. news.sky.com/story/regina...
Reginald D Hunter: Summons against comic by Campaign Against Antisemitism quashed for seeking to have him 'cancelled'
A judge has quashed a summons against comedian Reginald D Hunter, brought privately by Campaign Against Antisemitism, ruling it "abusive" and intended to get the comedian "cancelled".
news.sky.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:17 PM
‘Reginald D Hunter: Summons against comic by Campaign Against Antisemitism quashed for seeking to have him 'cancelled'”
How can this “charity” be vindictively abusing the law to silence people it dislikes? Time for the Charity Commission to investigate. news.sky.com/story/regina...
How can this “charity” be vindictively abusing the law to silence people it dislikes? Time for the Charity Commission to investigate. news.sky.com/story/regina...
Reposted
This message hits hard.
December 27, 2025 at 8:38 PM
This message hits hard.
Christmas joke of the year, courtesy of Private Eye.
(Apparently his mother was in Labour....)
(Apparently his mother was in Labour....)
December 27, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Christmas joke of the year, courtesy of Private Eye.
(Apparently his mother was in Labour....)
(Apparently his mother was in Labour....)
Reposted
Some people do my head in.
This arse is one of them.
Why TF would we care about his business…? Did he care about all the SMEs bankrupted by Brexit? Does he feel any anxiety or shame about just how much that stupid idea has cost our country and many of us personally.
No.
He can absolutely do one.
This arse is one of them.
Why TF would we care about his business…? Did he care about all the SMEs bankrupted by Brexit? Does he feel any anxiety or shame about just how much that stupid idea has cost our country and many of us personally.
No.
He can absolutely do one.
December 27, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Some people do my head in.
This arse is one of them.
Why TF would we care about his business…? Did he care about all the SMEs bankrupted by Brexit? Does he feel any anxiety or shame about just how much that stupid idea has cost our country and many of us personally.
No.
He can absolutely do one.
This arse is one of them.
Why TF would we care about his business…? Did he care about all the SMEs bankrupted by Brexit? Does he feel any anxiety or shame about just how much that stupid idea has cost our country and many of us personally.
No.
He can absolutely do one.