Martin Leyland
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strategicthinking.bsky.social
Martin Leyland
@strategicthinking.bsky.social
Don’t hate. Debate.

Neurodivergent, Kirkby Lonsdale and Peebles loving, development consultant
Pinned
Facts matter
People matter
Respect matters
Honesty matters
Sincerity matters
Levity matters
Listening matters
Debate matters

Now….. let’s talk
Whatever your views of the actions of the Israeli government spare a thought for the lives of the Jewish people around the world who wake each day to the fear that there is an existential threat to their personal lives. Wherever they are. The members of no other comparable religious group face that.
December 14, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Facts matter
People matter
Respect matters
Honesty matters
Sincerity matters
Levity matters
Listening matters
Debate matters

Now….. let’s talk
December 13, 2025 at 10:00 AM
I’ve just seen the ticket prices for the World Cup in America. Cheapest ticket for the final? $2030. A ticket for a pool game often approaching $200 for the available cheapest.

The US is truly ripping the world off.
December 11, 2025 at 7:21 PM
The first part is undoubtably true.

The second? A bit disingenuous from a party that really wants to take us fully back into the EU. Whatever the merits, that would mean another referendum.

It would they Lib Dem’s skip that bit? I think we should be told.
The PM is sacrificing UK growth to appease the US administration.

A UK EU Customs Union is the best path forward to get Britain growing again.
December 11, 2025 at 1:47 PM
@anthonyglees.bsky.social
A slightly different issue… did you see the idiotic sometimes known as Ed Davey waving a whizzing chainsaw around in a promo clip? Against Regulation - punishable by a £20,000 fine if not trained or wearing PPE.

Will we ever get politicians worthy of the word ‘leader’?
December 9, 2025 at 8:28 PM
@brianwernham.bsky.social Seriously, can someone senior in your party please point out to that idiot leader of yours that waving a chainsaw around without proper training and safety equipment is not only setting a bad example but is contrary to just about every regulation of law and common sense.
December 9, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Ignoring for a moment all the other Strictly woes, why on earth is it ok for Rav Wilding’s appearance on Takes Two to be introduced with a caption that says ‘Rav a bit of that!’ Sexism goes both ways sometimes. Please grow up, BBC
November 21, 2025 at 6:41 PM
We’d miss it if it weren’t here…

Properly managed the BBC is about the nearest thing any of us have to unbiased news. For all its faults, we should fight to keep and protect it from egregious bullying such as we are now seeing.

#bbc
November 15, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Will someone please square the circle here and explain just why right wing bias in the BBC would target a right wing politician? It’s not making sense. Sounds more like left wing production and edit. And that’s the problem. The BBC is now the target of political interference from all angles.
November 15, 2025 at 9:28 AM
I’m a great fan of the much-missed Carl Sagan.

He once said that ‘extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’.

Why do many espouse their own far fetched claims on social media without, for one second, thinking that it might be just their own un-evidenced prejudice they are projecting?
November 12, 2025 at 9:00 AM
There is a place in this world for shouty, immoderate people who won’t debate issues, can’t tolerate alternative views or those that hold them, and who bully their opinions onto others.

It’s called X.
November 12, 2025 at 8:55 AM
How about BBC Verify doing a piece on the production company and editorial controls that led to this Trump speech fiasco arising? Incompetence it certainly was to allow the report to be aired, but we need to fight now for everything we believe the BBC stands for. It’s existential.
November 11, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Trump suing the BBC? Our BBC. Time for a little ‘UK first’ from our politicians I think. And I mean all of them.
November 10, 2025 at 10:07 PM
The Prince is no more. Common sense, at last, prevails.
October 30, 2025 at 10:34 PM
1991 was proclaimed as marking the end of the Cold War. Well, it’s feeling pretty chilly to me right now. By definition we’re right back in it, but with more players in the game.
October 30, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Has anyone else noticed how social media has rapidly morphed into antisocial media?
October 10, 2025 at 9:58 AM
What a calm, clever and independent bunch they are in Norway.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Maria Corina Machado, for her struggle for democracy in Venezuela.

She’s been in hiding for over a year.

1/2
October 10, 2025 at 9:50 AM
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded (for the year ending 31st Jan, by the way) to a person or organisation who "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
October 9, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Having just returned from Italy, where armed police are a visible, integral and comforting part of everyday life, is it not time here in the UK for our police to give our communities the same comfort?
October 2, 2025 at 6:28 PM
We’ve invented a new game at home, looking for how many times a day the BBC News strapline on to has spelling mistakes. Great fun!

Originality, quality and excellence…..

#bbc
September 6, 2025 at 7:55 AM
So…..

£1bn to build a new NHS hospital

£3bn spent on moving players between clubs in the Premier League transfer window

I feel slightly nauseous…

#nhs #premierleague
September 2, 2025 at 9:52 AM
It’s one of those simply stunning days in Kirkby Lonsdale today.

This is Barbon Fell from the top of Mill Brow. #KirkbyLonsdale
June 2, 2025 at 1:58 PM
What a game! What a team!!! A deserved win, in their back yard. Thank you, Saints for making my weekend, month, year. Shoe army! #LEIvNOR
May 3, 2025 at 6:31 PM
A first half to live long in the memory. Come on you Jimmies! The shoe army can win this. #LEIvNOR
May 3, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Yesterday in KL the Lune was about as low as it gets. No rain up in the Howgills #KirkbyLonsdale #Cumbria
April 6, 2025 at 7:42 AM