Sue Lukes
@suelukes.bsky.social
Expert on local services esp housing, migration, migrant communities, community safety, human rights. First UK councillor migrant champion. she/her pronouns. Post in Spanish and English 💜💙🤍💜💙🤍
Reposted by Sue Lukes
🧵/ Today a damning parliamentary report on the state of palliative care services in England was published.
Services are patchy, underfunded & “ill-equipped” to address end-of-life needs.
Bereavement support is “frequently inaccessible.
The palliative care workforce is in a “critical” situation”.
Services are patchy, underfunded & “ill-equipped” to address end-of-life needs.
Bereavement support is “frequently inaccessible.
The palliative care workforce is in a “critical” situation”.
November 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
🧵/ Today a damning parliamentary report on the state of palliative care services in England was published.
Services are patchy, underfunded & “ill-equipped” to address end-of-life needs.
Bereavement support is “frequently inaccessible.
The palliative care workforce is in a “critical” situation”.
Services are patchy, underfunded & “ill-equipped” to address end-of-life needs.
Bereavement support is “frequently inaccessible.
The palliative care workforce is in a “critical” situation”.
Reposted by Sue Lukes
Also not all welfare spending is the same. Eliminating child poverty is to an extent not just redistribution but an investment in their education, employment, future earnings, tax payments, and propensity to be involved in crime.
Welfare spending is currently 1.2% of GDP *lower* than in 2012-13.
Abolition of two-child cap is best viewed as a correction than an increase.
Abolition of two-child cap is best viewed as a correction than an increase.
Is welfare spending ''out of control''?
Total welfare spending in Britain in 2025-26 is estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP.
That's just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP since 2012-13⤵️
buff.ly/s5mz97u
Total welfare spending in Britain in 2025-26 is estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP.
That's just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP since 2012-13⤵️
buff.ly/s5mz97u
November 28, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Also not all welfare spending is the same. Eliminating child poverty is to an extent not just redistribution but an investment in their education, employment, future earnings, tax payments, and propensity to be involved in crime.
Reposted by Sue Lukes
A quick reminder of who Nigel Farage was most concerned about when Putin's tanks first rolled into Ukraine
November 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
A quick reminder of who Nigel Farage was most concerned about when Putin's tanks first rolled into Ukraine
Reposted by Sue Lukes
The "guy making a case about low taxes" was in fact Karl Williams of the Centre for Policy Studies - author of the fictional/fabricated and now withdrawn "£234 billion" cost number cited by Katie Lam and Reform.
Funnily Amol Rajan didn't ask him about that.. 😉
Funnily Amol Rajan didn't ask him about that.. 😉
And again I wonder why a super expert like Portes is not on BBC4 today instead of a guy making a case about low taxes
Fewer workers. Fewer international students. More people leaving.
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 28, 2025 at 8:24 AM
The "guy making a case about low taxes" was in fact Karl Williams of the Centre for Policy Studies - author of the fictional/fabricated and now withdrawn "£234 billion" cost number cited by Katie Lam and Reform.
Funnily Amol Rajan didn't ask him about that.. 😉
Funnily Amol Rajan didn't ask him about that.. 😉
Reposted by Sue Lukes
Agree with every word of this
We've gone from 9% of social care staff coming from outside the UK and EEA in 2021/22 to almost 25% in 2024/25
The govt has no near-term replacement
It means either:
1) staffing shortages or
2) councils spending far more to attract staff, with no extra funding
We've gone from 9% of social care staff coming from outside the UK and EEA in 2021/22 to almost 25% in 2024/25
The govt has no near-term replacement
It means either:
1) staffing shortages or
2) councils spending far more to attract staff, with no extra funding
November 28, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Agree with every word of this
We've gone from 9% of social care staff coming from outside the UK and EEA in 2021/22 to almost 25% in 2024/25
The govt has no near-term replacement
It means either:
1) staffing shortages or
2) councils spending far more to attract staff, with no extra funding
We've gone from 9% of social care staff coming from outside the UK and EEA in 2021/22 to almost 25% in 2024/25
The govt has no near-term replacement
It means either:
1) staffing shortages or
2) councils spending far more to attract staff, with no extra funding
Reposted by Sue Lukes
The UK, where the day after a decision to take half a million children out of poverty, the media & political world has been full of sneering at those same children & their families, labelling them as ‘Benefits Street’, while the same people are moaning about a tax on £2m mansions. Shameful stuff.
November 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
The UK, where the day after a decision to take half a million children out of poverty, the media & political world has been full of sneering at those same children & their families, labelling them as ‘Benefits Street’, while the same people are moaning about a tax on £2m mansions. Shameful stuff.
Reposted by Sue Lukes
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Reposted by Sue Lukes
70% of the additional spending from removing the two-child limit will go to families who are in work. This is targeting support for low-income working households who are being priced out of a decent standard of living despite doing everything asked of them.
November 27, 2025 at 4:38 PM
70% of the additional spending from removing the two-child limit will go to families who are in work. This is targeting support for low-income working households who are being priced out of a decent standard of living despite doing everything asked of them.
Reposted by Sue Lukes
Fewer workers. Fewer international students. More people leaving.
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK net migration falls sharply with drop in arrivals for work and study
Provisional figures for net migration to the UK show levels dropped to 204,000 in the year to June 2025.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Fewer workers. Fewer international students. More people leaving.
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Sue Lukes
The territories Ukraine holds are Ukraine, you absolute genocidal maniac
Putin: “When Ukrainians troops withdraw from the territories they hold, then we will cease hostilities; If they don’t leave, we will achieve this by military means “
November 27, 2025 at 10:44 PM
The territories Ukraine holds are Ukraine, you absolute genocidal maniac
Reposted by Sue Lukes
Literally every expert in how to help children: pls get rid of 2 child limit, here is the evidence about why this would help children
Government: ok we will get rid of 2 child limit and help children
Journalists: why is the government putting party before country
Government: ok we will get rid of 2 child limit and help children
Journalists: why is the government putting party before country
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Literally every expert in how to help children: pls get rid of 2 child limit, here is the evidence about why this would help children
Government: ok we will get rid of 2 child limit and help children
Journalists: why is the government putting party before country
Government: ok we will get rid of 2 child limit and help children
Journalists: why is the government putting party before country
Reposted by Sue Lukes
The bishop’s message is blunt – you can’t build community cohesion by stoking fear. And Norfolk, he says, has a long history of doing the opposite. Owen Sennitt reports
eastangliabylines.co.uk/immigration/...
eastangliabylines.co.uk/immigration/...
New: Bishop warns asylum plans will fuel division
A senior Church of England bishop has criticised government asylum reforms, warning they will make integration significantly harder
eastangliabylines.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The bishop’s message is blunt – you can’t build community cohesion by stoking fear. And Norfolk, he says, has a long history of doing the opposite. Owen Sennitt reports
eastangliabylines.co.uk/immigration/...
eastangliabylines.co.uk/immigration/...
Reposted by Sue Lukes
I'm with @monkemma.bsky.social on this one.
"I doubt Jesus would have minded plastic Tesco trees being called snowy pine cone trees, but he may well have been disturbed by the racism and anti-migrant rhetoric around at the moment."
open.substack.com/pub/monkdebu...
"I doubt Jesus would have minded plastic Tesco trees being called snowy pine cone trees, but he may well have been disturbed by the racism and anti-migrant rhetoric around at the moment."
open.substack.com/pub/monkdebu...
No, Tesco Hasn’t Cancelled Christmas
A myth-busting explainer on Tesco trees, ‘renamed’ cakes, and the real purpose behind these manufactured panics.
open.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I'm with @monkemma.bsky.social on this one.
"I doubt Jesus would have minded plastic Tesco trees being called snowy pine cone trees, but he may well have been disturbed by the racism and anti-migrant rhetoric around at the moment."
open.substack.com/pub/monkdebu...
"I doubt Jesus would have minded plastic Tesco trees being called snowy pine cone trees, but he may well have been disturbed by the racism and anti-migrant rhetoric around at the moment."
open.substack.com/pub/monkdebu...
Reposted by Sue Lukes
It's part of the electionification of everything, which is why we as a country are failing to have a proper conversation about our actual problems. It's bad for the left *and* the right.
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 10:17 PM
It's part of the electionification of everything, which is why we as a country are failing to have a proper conversation about our actual problems. It's bad for the left *and* the right.
Reposted by Sue Lukes
"a single person of this demographic may have committed a crime, therefore we must punish the entire demographic" is a policy response you may recognize from fascist governments dedicated to ethnic cleansing elsewhere.
November 27, 2025 at 5:52 AM
"a single person of this demographic may have committed a crime, therefore we must punish the entire demographic" is a policy response you may recognize from fascist governments dedicated to ethnic cleansing elsewhere.
Reposted by Sue Lukes
"I remembered how we all worked together in the Miners support group during the strike, when the watchword was solidarity.
But over time, that social cohesion has frayed and the bond between Labour and the people it claimed to represent has gone."
But over time, that social cohesion has frayed and the bond between Labour and the people it claimed to represent has gone."
From Labour heartlands to hope: Why the Valleys are ready for change
The Green Party’s candidate in the recent Caerffili by-election sets out his view on how Greens could revive valleys communities
bylines.cymru
November 27, 2025 at 12:14 PM
"I remembered how we all worked together in the Miners support group during the strike, when the watchword was solidarity.
But over time, that social cohesion has frayed and the bond between Labour and the people it claimed to represent has gone."
But over time, that social cohesion has frayed and the bond between Labour and the people it claimed to represent has gone."
Reposted by Sue Lukes
Por más discursos obreristas que haga Vox en los barrios de Madrid a la hora de la verdad, jamás se equivocan votando. Especialmente en materia de vivienda. Siempre con el PP, siempre a favor de la especulación tinyurl.com/nh2hm53x
El Congreso tumba la ley de Sumar para prohibir a fondos de inversión comprar pisos, que el PSOE no ha apoyado
El Pleno del Congreso, con la abstención del PSOE, ha rechazado este jueves admitir a trámite la...
tinyurl.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Por más discursos obreristas que haga Vox en los barrios de Madrid a la hora de la verdad, jamás se equivocan votando. Especialmente en materia de vivienda. Siempre con el PP, siempre a favor de la especulación tinyurl.com/nh2hm53x
Reposted by Sue Lukes
As political scandals go, a grubby backroom deal to, errrr, lift 450,000 children out of poverty is at least a novel one.
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 1:30 PM
As political scandals go, a grubby backroom deal to, errrr, lift 450,000 children out of poverty is at least a novel one.
Reposted by Sue Lukes
Just be Labour!
John McDonnell MP sets out his thoughts on today’s Budget. The wave of relief that swept over the Parliamentary Labour Party was palpable when they heard the Chancellor confirm that the two child cap was at last to be scrapped. This is a huge victory for all those Labour MPs and…
John McDonnell MP sets out his thoughts on today’s Budget. The wave of relief that swept over the Parliamentary Labour Party was palpable when they heard the Chancellor confirm that the two child cap was at last to be scrapped. This is a huge victory for all those Labour MPs and…
Just be Labour!
John McDonnell MP sets out his thoughts on today’s Budget. The wave of relief that swept over the Parliamentary Labour Party was palpable when they heard the Chancellor confirm that the two child cap was at last to be scrapped. This is a huge victory for all those Labour MPs and campaigning groups, who fought so hard to lift 500,000 children out of poverty.
labourhub.org.uk
November 26, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Just be Labour!
John McDonnell MP sets out his thoughts on today’s Budget. The wave of relief that swept over the Parliamentary Labour Party was palpable when they heard the Chancellor confirm that the two child cap was at last to be scrapped. This is a huge victory for all those Labour MPs and…
John McDonnell MP sets out his thoughts on today’s Budget. The wave of relief that swept over the Parliamentary Labour Party was palpable when they heard the Chancellor confirm that the two child cap was at last to be scrapped. This is a huge victory for all those Labour MPs and…
Reposted by Sue Lukes
“The risk for Keir Starmer’s government, which is promising to get a grip on numbers, is that constant crisis messaging only reinforces the public belief that asylum and immigration are out of control," says @sundersays.bsky.social
November 27, 2025 at 7:44 AM
“The risk for Keir Starmer’s government, which is promising to get a grip on numbers, is that constant crisis messaging only reinforces the public belief that asylum and immigration are out of control," says @sundersays.bsky.social
Reposted by Sue Lukes
The findings show the limitations of an immigration debate focused largely on asylum and competing promises to reduce numbers. If UK is returning to more ‘normal’ levels of net migration – from the unprecedented peak of 900,000+ in YE June 2023 – the debate needs to keep pace.
November 27, 2025 at 7:44 AM
The findings show the limitations of an immigration debate focused largely on asylum and competing promises to reduce numbers. If UK is returning to more ‘normal’ levels of net migration – from the unprecedented peak of 900,000+ in YE June 2023 – the debate needs to keep pace.
Reposted by Sue Lukes
New govt settlement plans are tougher than most voters prefer. Half say graduate-level migrants should qualify within 5 years; 53% want mid-skilled to wait under 10 years. Only 21% back a 15-year wait for low-skilled workers—many think it should be 5 years or less.
November 27, 2025 at 7:44 AM
New govt settlement plans are tougher than most voters prefer. Half say graduate-level migrants should qualify within 5 years; 53% want mid-skilled to wait under 10 years. Only 21% back a 15-year wait for low-skilled workers—many think it should be 5 years or less.
Reposted by Sue Lukes
People struggle, however, to say what migration for work they would cut – only a minority would reduce migration for study, or indeed for work in most occupations tested in the research, such as doctors, care workers, lorry drivers or seasonal farm workers.
November 27, 2025 at 7:44 AM
People struggle, however, to say what migration for work they would cut – only a minority would reduce migration for study, or indeed for work in most occupations tested in the research, such as doctors, care workers, lorry drivers or seasonal farm workers.
Reposted by Sue Lukes
The two child benefit cap is the biggest single driver of child poverty.
It imposes hardship on kids, ignores changing family circumstances - and as the research shows, has no impact on family size.
Labour were forced to drop it - because people fought for it.
Pressure works!
It imposes hardship on kids, ignores changing family circumstances - and as the research shows, has no impact on family size.
Labour were forced to drop it - because people fought for it.
Pressure works!
November 27, 2025 at 7:45 AM
The two child benefit cap is the biggest single driver of child poverty.
It imposes hardship on kids, ignores changing family circumstances - and as the research shows, has no impact on family size.
Labour were forced to drop it - because people fought for it.
Pressure works!
It imposes hardship on kids, ignores changing family circumstances - and as the research shows, has no impact on family size.
Labour were forced to drop it - because people fought for it.
Pressure works!
Reposted by Sue Lukes
I don’t think this Telegraph contributor has actually watched the Empire series by @davidolusoga.bsky.social that he’s attacking. He suggests Olusoga focuses only on atrocities such as Amritsar, when that massacre wasn’t mentioned, and gets the date range wrong, saying it ends with WWI.
November 26, 2025 at 9:43 PM
I don’t think this Telegraph contributor has actually watched the Empire series by @davidolusoga.bsky.social that he’s attacking. He suggests Olusoga focuses only on atrocities such as Amritsar, when that massacre wasn’t mentioned, and gets the date range wrong, saying it ends with WWI.