Chris Goldsmith
@mazdachris.bsky.social
Motorsport enthusiast, sci-fi nerd, data governance professional, sometime cosplayer.
Former Prince Andrew?
November 26, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Former Prince Andrew?
This is a hate crime
November 16, 2025 at 6:27 PM
This is a hate crime
Worse than that, even. At least a focus group can have a representative sample set. This is government policy determined by their political rivals and the media outlets they own. I'm sure, given the choice, most people would prefer a modest tax rise over cut services and/or increased borrowing.
November 14, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Worse than that, even. At least a focus group can have a representative sample set. This is government policy determined by their political rivals and the media outlets they own. I'm sure, given the choice, most people would prefer a modest tax rise over cut services and/or increased borrowing.
Agree with the principle here, and I don't think they should let potential attack lines dictate political position. But there's a nuanced argument against doing things which are going to be spectacularly unpopular with the public and damaging to the credibility of leadership.
November 6, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Agree with the principle here, and I don't think they should let potential attack lines dictate political position. But there's a nuanced argument against doing things which are going to be spectacularly unpopular with the public and damaging to the credibility of leadership.
There's a difference between not upsetting, and appeasing. At the moment Labour have allowed the right to dominate the narrative and set the agenda. There's something to be said for forming a compelling counterargument rather than just trying to silence. Banning X would play into the right's hands.
November 6, 2025 at 3:27 PM
There's a difference between not upsetting, and appeasing. At the moment Labour have allowed the right to dominate the narrative and set the agenda. There's something to be said for forming a compelling counterargument rather than just trying to silence. Banning X would play into the right's hands.
And then get absolutely slaughtered by every single right-leaning pundit, commentator, politician, and media outlet, for censoring political ideas. The whole thing is a trap.
November 6, 2025 at 11:20 AM
And then get absolutely slaughtered by every single right-leaning pundit, commentator, politician, and media outlet, for censoring political ideas. The whole thing is a trap.
It’s basically the dotcom bubble happening all over again but a hundred times stupider, thanks to the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. And with a side helping of massive global damage to boot.
November 4, 2025 at 8:59 PM
It’s basically the dotcom bubble happening all over again but a hundred times stupider, thanks to the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. And with a side helping of massive global damage to boot.
I suspect fowl play
October 21, 2025 at 4:17 PM
I suspect fowl play
Is a statement from the government the only admissible medium for establishing whether China is considered a threat? The UK Gov position on China seems to be well enough documented that ten minutes on Google makes it pretty clear - commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
UK-China relations: recent developments
This paper looks at how UK-China relations have recently deteriorated, as well as the UK's and China's policies towards one another, the UK's national security concerns, and trade and investment links...
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
October 15, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Is a statement from the government the only admissible medium for establishing whether China is considered a threat? The UK Gov position on China seems to be well enough documented that ten minutes on Google makes it pretty clear - commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
Would have been super helpful if one of the TV news channels could have mentioned this, rather than showing two and a half hours of Donald Trump sniffing his own farts. But sure, millions of people without data is less important I suppose.
October 13, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Would have been super helpful if one of the TV news channels could have mentioned this, rather than showing two and a half hours of Donald Trump sniffing his own farts. But sure, millions of people without data is less important I suppose.
What does it say about the world that so many - possibly all, in fact - billionaires appear to be absolute morons? That so much wealth and power can be in the hands of such inadequate simpletons?
October 8, 2025 at 5:18 PM
What does it say about the world that so many - possibly all, in fact - billionaires appear to be absolute morons? That so much wealth and power can be in the hands of such inadequate simpletons?
I once argued on an F1 forum that drivers shouldn’t swear during interviews since my 8 year old child is able to moderate her language depending on the audience so there’s no excuse for it. I got about 5 people screaming that I was an abusive parent in response.
October 6, 2025 at 7:04 AM
I once argued on an F1 forum that drivers shouldn’t swear during interviews since my 8 year old child is able to moderate her language depending on the audience so there’s no excuse for it. I got about 5 people screaming that I was an abusive parent in response.
I wonder what political party those racists will be voting for..
October 2, 2025 at 11:18 AM
I wonder what political party those racists will be voting for..
This is the thing for me. It's not an ideological argument against private services in principle. It's an argument from the perspective that more expensive services (on average) drive up NHS costs over the long term. And using PSPs to make up for underinvestment is bad policy.
September 30, 2025 at 3:41 PM
This is the thing for me. It's not an ideological argument against private services in principle. It's an argument from the perspective that more expensive services (on average) drive up NHS costs over the long term. And using PSPs to make up for underinvestment is bad policy.
Indeed. No criticism of voluntary work - I've done plenty myself and enjoyed it thoroughly. But I'd contest the idea that if you don't do it then you might be subject to having your visa cancelled and being told to leave the country.
September 30, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Indeed. No criticism of voluntary work - I've done plenty myself and enjoyed it thoroughly. But I'd contest the idea that if you don't do it then you might be subject to having your visa cancelled and being told to leave the country.
I'm sure we can imagine many things, and then make arbitrary judgements about what our imagination tells us. I'm not sure it's a useful thought experiment. Do you have any evidence that NHS services are cheaper through private provision than in-house? I've never read anything that supports that.
September 30, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I'm sure we can imagine many things, and then make arbitrary judgements about what our imagination tells us. I'm not sure it's a useful thought experiment. Do you have any evidence that NHS services are cheaper through private provision than in-house? I've never read anything that supports that.
Somewhat diluted by the bizarre notion that ILR should be contingent on doing some kind of voluntary community service like litter picking or cleaning graffiti, even if you're an NHS doctor, scientist, or professional footballer..
September 30, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Somewhat diluted by the bizarre notion that ILR should be contingent on doing some kind of voluntary community service like litter picking or cleaning graffiti, even if you're an NHS doctor, scientist, or professional footballer..
Sure, as a patient you only care about getting better. But in terms of how the NHS is funded, paying for services through profit-making businesses is always going to add costs. Especially when the NHS doesn't have the capacity for BAU already.
September 30, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Sure, as a patient you only care about getting better. But in terms of how the NHS is funded, paying for services through profit-making businesses is always going to add costs. Especially when the NHS doesn't have the capacity for BAU already.
Because the crisis doesn't pass. The crisis comes about because NHS services are over capacity and can't meet demand even outside of a crisis. Hence the historic trend in waiting list times going ever upwards. It needs investment, not overpriced outsourcing.
September 30, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Because the crisis doesn't pass. The crisis comes about because NHS services are over capacity and can't meet demand even outside of a crisis. Hence the historic trend in waiting list times going ever upwards. It needs investment, not overpriced outsourcing.
I'm not going to spend my afternoon exhaustively finding you examples of all the above. But here's a report from September last year by the British Medical Association on the rapid rise of the use of private service providers for NHS procedures: www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-s...
NHS outsourcing
Given the current scale of the NHS elective care waiting list, the Government has renewed its focus on the independent sector’s role in delivering NHS-funded care.
www.bma.org.uk
September 30, 2025 at 12:48 PM
I'm not going to spend my afternoon exhaustively finding you examples of all the above. But here's a report from September last year by the British Medical Association on the rapid rise of the use of private service providers for NHS procedures: www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-s...
This. Plus private sector outsourcing of NHS services has driven up costs across the board with no improvement to provision. Same story with social housing, energy, transport, council services, and on and on. Lack of investment, covered up with expensive outsourcing.
September 30, 2025 at 12:24 PM
This. Plus private sector outsourcing of NHS services has driven up costs across the board with no improvement to provision. Same story with social housing, energy, transport, council services, and on and on. Lack of investment, covered up with expensive outsourcing.
Yeah, it merely allows their political rivals (who are racist fascists) to set the agenda and dominate the conversation. Whoever is advising them that this is an important, vote-winning strategy (over 3 years from an election) is either mad or a double-agent for Reform.
September 23, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Yeah, it merely allows their political rivals (who are racist fascists) to set the agenda and dominate the conversation. Whoever is advising them that this is an important, vote-winning strategy (over 3 years from an election) is either mad or a double-agent for Reform.
There's something deeply, deeply disturbing about a law under which you may be arrested and potentially charged, simply for publicly expressing an opinion that you think the law is unjust.
September 12, 2025 at 1:20 PM
There's something deeply, deeply disturbing about a law under which you may be arrested and potentially charged, simply for publicly expressing an opinion that you think the law is unjust.
Burn the witch..
September 10, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Burn the witch..