Martin A
xzlod.bsky.social
Martin A
@xzlod.bsky.social
Resident of Edinburgh. English but a member of the Scottish Green Party.
Reposted by Martin A
Continuity Cameron. 'Slashing red tape' always means removing protection.
Hey Keir - tell us how the regulation came to exist. Was it a response to the problems caused by no regulation? It was, wasn't it.

I hate Keir Starmer. He's just a neoliberal continuation manager.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Keir Starmer will promise to slash red tape as he hosts investment summit
Unions express concern as PM to say government will ‘rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment’
www.theguardian.com
October 14, 2024 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by Martin A
This is absolute madness. Carbon capture and storage has failed time and again. Labour has slashed reliable green programmes, to pour vast sums of our money into a complete crock. The only possible explanation is lobbying by fossil fuel companies.🧵 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Labour to commit almost £22bn to fund carbon capture and storage projects
Investment will fund two CCS clusters – but environmental campaigners have criticised plans
www.theguardian.com
October 4, 2024 at 7:46 AM
Reposted by Martin A
It’s so critical that this Labour govt makes people’s lives measurably better. The last 14 years of Toryism have been pretty horrific and we need to see real change urgently. But surely we can hold them to account without helping the right to tear them down. Because then what?
September 25, 2024 at 6:39 AM
Reposted by Martin A
Or alternatively we could have a government with some vision and policies; that in turn direct the fiscal decisions and reduce that halfwit Reeves to the domestic book keeping she aspires to.

You know a budget plan based on political choices rather than on what some accountant decided?
September 24, 2024 at 11:47 AM
Reposted by Martin A
As I keep saying Starmer has vested interests and reasons for not rejoining the EU's Single Market or Customs Union, or letting young people discover Europe via Erasmus.
Thread
September 19, 2024 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by Martin A
Labour are saying they have a majority and a mandate for their policies

Yes, they have a huge majority, but they do not have a mandate

Their victory is big but shallow

Most people voted to get the Tories out, not because they were enthused by Keir Starmer or Rachel Reeves
September 8, 2024 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Martin A
For 150 years, far-right demagogues have behaved in eerily consistent ways. Yet every time one emerges, we act as if we've never seen such a thing before, and we have no idea how to respond.
My column on the startling lessons we can learn from history.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
These 21st-century demagogues aren’t mavericks – they’ve repeated on us throughout history | George Monbiot
We are nonplussed every time one emerges – but there are patterns that are totally predictable, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
September 6, 2024 at 6:26 AM
Reposted by Martin A
For years, both Conservative and Labour governments ripped into the regulations designed to protect human life, workers, consumers and the living world, favouring corporate interests over the public interest. The Grenfell Tower disaster is one of the results. 🧵
September 4, 2024 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Martin A
This is, frankly, deeply worrying as a signal of Labour's likely approach to protest rights:

"The Home Office has instructed lawyers to proceed with an appeal against a recent High Court ruling that anti-protest legislation had been created unlawfully"
www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/govern...
August 29, 2024 at 2:05 PM
This sign outside someone's garden put a smile on my face!
August 17, 2024 at 2:22 PM
All assumptions The Guardian is a left-wing newspaper and need to be thrown in the bin.

www.theguardian.com/society/arti...
Tories accuse Starmer of losing control of public sector pay with strike deals
James Cleverly also says PM ‘played by union paymasters’ in offers to train drivers and junior doctors
www.theguardian.com
August 16, 2024 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Martin A
Violent rioters who assaulted police and tried to burn down a hotel full of people got less than 3 years in jail.

Just Stop Oil protesters who only PLANNED to block roads in London were jailed for 4-5 years.

Tell me more about this two-tier policing Musk and the right-wing are talking about?
August 9, 2024 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Martin A
.@Ofcom is now responsible for the regulation of sites like this in the UK. Just one problem. Ofcom's chair, a Tory appointment, has expressed enthusiasm for far right statements. Under his leadership, Ofcom's decisions have shown blatant rightwing bias. Starmer must sack him.
August 7, 2024 at 9:36 AM
Reposted by Martin A
Scotland’s Opposition Day hijacked with chaotic scenes in the House: Hoyle, Starmer and the media combine in a disgraceful SNP stitch-up | Martin Agombar & Hannah Walker
Starmer, Hoyle, the media, and the SNP stitch-up
Scotland’s Opposition Day hijacked with chaotic scenes in the House: Hoyle, Starmer and the media combine in a disgraceful SNP stitch-up
bylines.scot
March 10, 2024 at 7:30 AM
Reposted by Martin A
March 9, 2024 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Martin A
The Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill will clamp down on our right to protest. We question the role of parliament and the media in allowing it through | Martin Agombar & Hannah Walker
Democracy under attack: Gove targets BDS with EAPB Bill
The Bill will clamp down on our right to protest. We question the role of parliament and the media in allowing it through
bylines.scot
February 18, 2024 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Martin A
If like me you’ve had enough of the absolute boll**** Rishi Sunak just fed GB News viewers in his “peoples forum” share these FACTS widely

https://youtu.be/9_SNhJYTe3s?si=NN1ZFwZK-zSkTmYv
Hold on to your seats for Rishi Sunak’s insane GB news “people’s forum”
youtu.be
February 13, 2024 at 8:14 AM
Reposted by Martin A
With scarcely a voice being raised against it, we are sliding into a police state, in which an entirely peaceful protester, trying to prevent a societal catastrophe, can get six months in jail for marching slowly down the road.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Just Stop Oil activist jailed for six months for taking part in slow march
Stephen Gingell, 57, thought to be first to receive prison sentence under new Public Order Act
www.theguardian.com
December 16, 2023 at 10:32 AM
Reposted by Martin A
Column: on Westminster sweating out an old fever and Sunak passing the point of no return. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Britain needs rescuing from the Tory cult of immaculate sovereignty | Rafael Behr
Rishi Sunak is a fool if he thinks he can govern in partnership with ideological fanatics who want him to fail, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
December 12, 2023 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Martin A
This relentless Rwanda obsession, every day, the rows, the demands to be more extreme, to defy human rights law and international responsibilities… it’s such sinister madness. The govt has lost it. Eaten up with their own failure. Becoming ever more fascist in their uselessness.
December 12, 2023 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Martin A
Why are the #COP28 talks going nowhere? Because failure is embedded in their design. This column explains why, and suggests some alternative models, that would embed success. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Cop28 is a farce rigged to fail, but there are other ways we can try to save the planet | George Mon...
Inaction and self-interest are built into climate summits. Instead, we need a voting system that can’t be subverted by fossil fuel producers, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
December 12, 2023 at 8:00 AM
How Rwanda legislation is a threat to democracy and Scottish devolved powers. My piece for Bylines Scotland.

bylines.scot/politics/sto...
Stop the boats! The draconian Rwanda plan
How the Rwanda plan violates human rights and challenges Scotland's powers of devolution
bylines.scot
December 9, 2023 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Martin A
Last night, for the first time in over 20 years, I was on #bbcqt. Someone dropped out the day before and they urgently needed to fill the seat. Though I was losing my voice, I wasn't going to wait another 20 years. You can watch the programme here:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC One - Question Time, 2023, 07/12/2023
Fiona Bruce presents an hour of topical debate from Petersfield in Hampshire.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 8, 2023 at 10:36 AM
Here's what real journalism looks like. A 2009 documentary on Israeli lobbying.

youtu.be/lby-BP5xVRI?...
Dispatches: Inside Britain's Israel Lobby 2009
Dispatches: Inside Britain's Israel Lobby - 2009Written and Presented by Peter OborneProduced and Directed by Ed HarrimanA Hardcash Production forChannel 4ht...
youtu.be
November 15, 2023 at 9:55 AM
Reposted by Martin A
🔴 Suella Braverman's Home Office spent £1.5m fighting legal challenges against its Rwanda policy and £40,000 flying 'friendly' journalists on a press trip to Rwanda.

New on my Democracy for Sale Substack

substack.com/@petergeoghe...
Note by Peter Geoghegan on Substack
The Supreme Court is due to decide on UK government’s Rwanda policy tomorrow. Remember, in March, when Suella Braverman only included ‘friendly’ media outlets on a press trip to Rwanda to show ...
substack.com
November 14, 2023 at 6:48 PM