Andy Shaw

@redandy54.bsky.social

208

Posts

Policy person working in debt advice. Reluctant trail runner. Occasional (and very bad) sim racer. Owner of at least one opinion (used). He/him

Posts Replies Media

I do hope Starmer steers clear of the instinct to pay tribute to his predecessor and thank him for his service. He should instead acknowledge the real and justified anger people feel towards the Tories for asset-stripping our nation and damaging our society.

Update your style guides, everybody: following the general election, he's now known as The Disgraced Former MP Liam Fox

Forget the Tories, Reform and even the Lib Dems and Greens. The true opposition in the new parliament will be Labour's colossal back benches, full of ex-public sector workers and local councillors who will in no way tolerate anything resembling continuing austerity.

Having sat in the BBC general election studio all night, Peter Mandelson is now on the Today programme - doing little to dispel rumours that he might secretly be a vampire.

First Tory MP elected to the new parliament and of course it's Mark Francois

Obviously Keir Starmer's first act as PM should be to block that rancid, corrupt honours list.

It's general election day! Don’t forget to post your "Don't forget to vote" posts, folks!

According to Sky, the LibDems have ‘one last stunt’ ready for the end of the campaign.

This terrible scenario of a party having a large parliamentary majority and being able to do whatever it wants. Tell us, Mr Sunak, what would such a fanciful, unprecedented situation look like?

Sunak to warn Labour would use landslide to shift politics to the leftwww.theguardian.com Tories make last-ditch attempt to persuade their voters to turn out for Thursday’s election

One recent and worrying trend in UK politics is the attempt to reframe scrutiny as abuse. This Tory MP voted to allow the discharge of raw sewage into rivers and is complaining about being held to account for it

Tory deputy chair dismissed sewage crisis as ‘political football’www.theguardian.com Angela Richardson accuses campaigners against polluted water of putting Conservative MPs in danger

"Let's not be complacent," says Wes Streeting, while campaigning to win a seat with a 20,000 Conservative majority

‘Complacency terrifies me’: on the doorstep with Labour’s Wes Streetingwww.theguardian.com Shadow minister, in demand for his campaigning ability, believes some on left ‘allow perfect to be the enemy of good’

One wonders what Kevin Craig wanted in return for his £100,000, apart from the opportunity to contest a no-hope seat for the Labour Party

Today's campaign diary feels like a microcosm of what the two big parties are all about. Keir Starmer is visiting the families of knife crime victims; Rishi Sunak is having tea with the Emperor of Japan.

According to the leaflet I received today, my local Reform Party candidate is pledging to stop all small boat crossings, which shouldn't be too difficult here in Penistone and Stocksbridge.

I do wonder about this pledge to "immediately stop no-fault evictions." The "how" is important. Resurrecting the Tory Renters' Reform Bill, with all its pro-landlord compromises, would be a massive disappointment.

Labour under pressure to be more radical about reforming private rentingwww.theguardian.com Campaigners fear current plans will allow landlords to find new ways to evict tenants if party wins power

The Savanta MRP poll is obviously nonsense, but do not underestimate its power in further demoralising Tory politicians and the few activists they have left. More of this pls

He will appear on the ballot paper as a Reform Party candidate but will receive no support or campaigning resources from the party. Just like every other Reform Party candidate

Reform UK candidate resigns over previous comments backing BNPwww.theguardian.com Grant StClair-Armstrong will appear on the ballot paper but be an independent if he wins against Kemi Badenoch

If IDS wins in Chingford it will be entirely the fault of the racists who kicked Faiza Shaheen out of the Labour Party at the last minute. To describe her courageous fight against injustice as a "vanity campaign" is disgusting.

I know this is bad faith nonsense and we shouldn't engage at all, but it strikes me that the private school discourse always starts from the wrong place. Why *shouldn't* they pay taxes like any other business? Removing the exemption should be seen as righting a historic wrong.

Just f*** right off Daily Telegraph.

You know who else went without Sky TV as a child? Winston Churchill. So really Rishi Sunak is a man of the people

One of the (many) interesting things in here is the instinct among Tory MPs to direct their fury at Sunak's campaign staff rather than the PM himself ... when posh boys are in trouble, they sack the servants, as someone once said.

‘D-day was the final straw’: Sunak’s blunders ignite Tory party furywww.theguardian.com Long-serving party members and MPs left aghast by unforced errors, poor strategy and a growing sense of resignation

With Rishi Sunak campaigning in Devon today, presumably he will be stopping by a seaside arcade to play a game of Wipeout with some local young people

Rishi Sunak pledges to bring back proper binmen

Lol, but also, lmao

Michael Gove — a Cabinet veteran and key player in Britain’s Brexit campaign — will not stand as a Conservative MP in the upcoming general election.

Michael Gove quits as Tory election exodus continueswww.politico.eu The housing minister is just the latest Conservative MP to throw in the towel.

Tired of his campaign being too on the nose, this weekend Sunak will visit a football ground where, against the wishes of the club staff, the owner is demolishing one of the stands. "We're due to lose hundreds of seats," the manager will say

This latest one inspired by Sunak's Day Three campaign: visiting the factory where they made the Titanic. Tomorrow: a factory where they make 'Exit' signs.

I'm going to collect the kids. NO ONE call a general election while I'm out, you hear?

If Rishi Sunak is going to call a general election, this afternoon would be the stupidest time to do so. It means he gets absolutely bodied at PMQs, avoiding question after question about election timing, immediately before he makes the announcement.

Quite right too. Children should learn about these things in the same way my generation did - from magazines we found under hedges.

Sex education in English schools set to be banned before children are ninewww.theguardian.com Education secretary Gillian Keegan to announce guidelines for phased discussion of topics depending on pupils’ age

Apart from the QE2 route (which I can do in various ways, e.g. via Alan Johnson), two alternative routes via my grandfathers:

Taking this prompt from Twitter because I think it's fun: How many handshakes does it take for you to get to Hitler? 0. me 1. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd 2. Elizabeth II 3. Edward VIII 4. Hitler

ME: Politicians aren't all the same, that's just lazy stereotyping POLITICIANS: