Andy Shaw
@redandy54.bsky.social
Policy person working in debt advice. Reluctant trail runner. Occasional (and very bad) sim racer. Owner of at least one opinion (used). He/him
And another thing: Steve Smith is not mad. Please don't put in the newspaper that he got mad
Steve Smith bites back at Panesar’s sandpaper sledge with Mastermind jibe
Australia’s first Test team announcement was overshadowed by an extraordinary verbal attack on Monty Panesar
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:01 AM
And another thing: Steve Smith is not mad. Please don't put in the newspaper that he got mad
Look, it's a New Episode of Debt Reckoning! It's been a while, but I think we got away with it. Available via all the podcast distribution facilities:
Front Loading the Joy (Debt advice news)
open.spotify.com
October 31, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Look, it's a New Episode of Debt Reckoning! It's been a while, but I think we got away with it. Available via all the podcast distribution facilities:
Wes is going to be furious when he finds out who's responsible for making trans people less safe than they did a decade ago
Health Secretary Wes Streeting says the government must recognise and respond to a "increasingly visible tide of racism" . He acknowledges trans people feel less safe today than a decade ago.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
September 16, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Wes is going to be furious when he finds out who's responsible for making trans people less safe than they did a decade ago
Probably because if you sacked everyone in Starmer's inner circle who was being abusive about Diane Abbot circa 2017, there wouldn't be many of them left
Whatever you think of these messages, the reality is this story and Paul Ovenden's subsequent resignation has provoked pure fury from long-serving Labour aides. Many saying they do not believe Starmer should have accepted his resignation.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Senior Starmer adviser quits over offensive Diane Abbott messages
Departure of political strategy director Paul Ovenden is yet another setback for PM after Mandelson and Rayner exits
www.theguardian.com
September 15, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Probably because if you sacked everyone in Starmer's inner circle who was being abusive about Diane Abbot circa 2017, there wouldn't be many of them left
Given that we live in the worst of all possible timelines, expecting Starmer to confirm Jas Athwal as the new housing minister this afternoon.
September 5, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Given that we live in the worst of all possible timelines, expecting Starmer to confirm Jas Athwal as the new housing minister this afternoon.
The problem with this analysis is that it relies on Jake Berry having the right political instincts, and, well
So, I both wholly agree and wholly disagree with Jox's view here, in that Jake Berry, while mediocre, is essentially at prime age and rank to be a retread in the 2029 intake, and that he is leaving says something about what his ilk view as the better bet.
July 10, 2025 at 6:12 AM
The problem with this analysis is that it relies on Jake Berry having the right political instincts, and, well
Re: the Runcorn by-election result. Turns out if people vote for change, they actually want you to deliver change. Who knew?
May 2, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Re: the Runcorn by-election result. Turns out if people vote for change, they actually want you to deliver change. Who knew?
NEW: The cat has discovered the tortoise
March 6, 2025 at 5:52 PM
NEW: The cat has discovered the tortoise
Reposted by Andy Shaw
The latest episode of Debt Reckoning, the IMA podcast, is out now. We’re joined by @debtadviser.bsky.social of Greater Manchester Money Advice Group, to discuss the prospect of writing off up to £1bn worth of energy debt. Listen and subscribe on Spotify: buff.ly/3K52CZQ
March 4, 2025 at 12:05 PM
The latest episode of Debt Reckoning, the IMA podcast, is out now. We’re joined by @debtadviser.bsky.social of Greater Manchester Money Advice Group, to discuss the prospect of writing off up to £1bn worth of energy debt. Listen and subscribe on Spotify: buff.ly/3K52CZQ
At risk of tapping the sign again: As with grooming gangs, a "proper enquiry" is one where the conclusions have already been drawn before any evidence is gathered. Funnily enough those conclusions align exactly with what the person proposing the "proper enquiry" already thought
Reform attacking the public inquiry - with no basis - to 'commission a proper COVD enquiry' seems part of a general attempt to corrode trust in every process/institution
February 10, 2025 at 9:26 AM
At risk of tapping the sign again: As with grooming gangs, a "proper enquiry" is one where the conclusions have already been drawn before any evidence is gathered. Funnily enough those conclusions align exactly with what the person proposing the "proper enquiry" already thought
Delighted I can once again verify my identity with #proofofcat
January 11, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Delighted I can once again verify my identity with #proofofcat
The latest episode of our podcast is out today and it was a fun one to record. Give it a listen if you enjoy quizzes, #debtadvice and/or remembering stuff.
Debt Reckoning
Podcast · Institute of Money Advisers · The podcast of the Institute of Money Advisers, and the Internet's only debt advice podcast. Join Andy Shaw and Antonio Pupino, plus guests, as we discuss topic...
open.spotify.com
January 10, 2025 at 11:32 AM
The latest episode of our podcast is out today and it was a fun one to record. Give it a listen if you enjoy quizzes, #debtadvice and/or remembering stuff.
Paging @benitocereno.bsky.social
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of the surprisingly large number of Christmas songs in which Father Christmas is depicted as one or all of the following: a bad employer, a terrible husband, an actively menacing presence.
from the edits of today's newsletter I have learned that I have been living in ignorance about the name of the red-nosed reindeer for decades
December 18, 2024 at 6:06 PM
Paging @benitocereno.bsky.social
Pleased to see this firm discouragement of horse cannibalism
December 15, 2024 at 3:31 PM
Pleased to see this firm discouragement of horse cannibalism
The worst Mr Men story is Mr Dizzy, where the central message is, "Being bullied? Have you considered Changing Your Entire Personality so that you don't get bullied anymore?"
The best one is Mr Lazy. Don't @ me
The best one is Mr Lazy. Don't @ me
December 13, 2024 at 7:05 PM
The worst Mr Men story is Mr Dizzy, where the central message is, "Being bullied? Have you considered Changing Your Entire Personality so that you don't get bullied anymore?"
The best one is Mr Lazy. Don't @ me
The best one is Mr Lazy. Don't @ me
I wonder if any other Cabinet members had any, er, unfortunate episodes in their past they'd rather didn't leak
November 29, 2024 at 6:47 AM
I wonder if any other Cabinet members had any, er, unfortunate episodes in their past they'd rather didn't leak
If Wes Streeting won't adhere to the government's neutrality policy on assisted dying, Keir Starmer should sack him. Show some of that ruthless streak we've heard so much about www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
Cancel study into the cost to NHS of assisted dying, Harman tells Streeting
Health secretary risks tainting the debate by turning it into an issue of pounds and pence, Labour grandee says
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2024 at 8:26 AM
If Wes Streeting won't adhere to the government's neutrality policy on assisted dying, Keir Starmer should sack him. Show some of that ruthless streak we've heard so much about www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
Lol, but also, and I cannot stress this enough, lmao
Conservative Party Leadership Election - 4th Round Result:
Badenoch: 42 (+12)
Jenrick: 41 (+10)
Cleverly: 37 (-2)
James Cleverly has therefore been eliminated.
Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick progress to the member's vote.
Badenoch: 42 (+12)
Jenrick: 41 (+10)
Cleverly: 37 (-2)
James Cleverly has therefore been eliminated.
Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick progress to the member's vote.
October 9, 2024 at 2:34 PM
Lol, but also, and I cannot stress this enough, lmao
Parachuting someone who was recently rejected by the electorate into a top role is exactly the kind of undemocratic, contemptuous move we (rightly) criticised the Tories for. You can't be a government of service if you ignore the public's view on who should serve.
Cabinet ministers call for Jonathan Ashworth role at 10 Downing Street after weeks of infighting
Senior party figures want the former Leicester MP to be given key post after party squanders electoral honeymoon over rivalry and free gifts row
www.theguardian.com
September 29, 2024 at 8:56 AM
Parachuting someone who was recently rejected by the electorate into a top role is exactly the kind of undemocratic, contemptuous move we (rightly) criticised the Tories for. You can't be a government of service if you ignore the public's view on who should serve.
So what the Treasury analysis tells us is that the non-dom policy is win-win. Either we raise a boatload of money or the asset-strippers who have helped make the country virtually unliveable for most of us will leave. Starmer and Reeves should proceed at pace.
Labour crackdown on non-doms may raise no money, officials fear
Exclusive: Watchdog may conclude that emigration of wealthy individuals could actually cost Treasury revenue
www.theguardian.com
September 26, 2024 at 7:19 AM
So what the Treasury analysis tells us is that the non-dom policy is win-win. Either we raise a boatload of money or the asset-strippers who have helped make the country virtually unliveable for most of us will leave. Starmer and Reeves should proceed at pace.
My Dad would have enjoyed Keir Starmer's speech today, if only because "1066 and All That" was one of his favourite books.
September 24, 2024 at 4:17 PM
My Dad would have enjoyed Keir Starmer's speech today, if only because "1066 and All That" was one of his favourite books.
The UK military wasting huge sums of public money on equipment that serves no purpose beyond impressing foreigners? For a moment I thought this was an article about nuclear weapons
Soaring cost of King’s Guards' real fur bearskin caps revealed
Bearskin caps worn by soldiers outside Buckingham Palace cost more than £2,000 each, says MOD.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 12, 2024 at 6:35 AM
The UK military wasting huge sums of public money on equipment that serves no purpose beyond impressing foreigners? For a moment I thought this was an article about nuclear weapons
Pretty depressing that apparently no Labour MPs are prepared to speak up for universalism as a principle
September 10, 2024 at 9:58 AM
Pretty depressing that apparently no Labour MPs are prepared to speak up for universalism as a principle
Keir Starmer's mission to "Fix the foundations of the economy" should include action to phase out unproductive, rent-seeking economic activity.
Labour MP accused of renting out ant-infested flats with black mould
Jas Athwal, the Ilford South MP, ‘shocked’ by allegations and ‘profoundly sorry’ for condition of his properties
www.theguardian.com
September 2, 2024 at 12:31 PM
Keir Starmer's mission to "Fix the foundations of the economy" should include action to phase out unproductive, rent-seeking economic activity.