Judith Fairbairn

@judithfairbairn

Enjoy discussing public service, UBI, voting systems, governance, urban planning. PhD in educational measurement at UCL IoE. Career in language testing. 🇬🇧 🇨🇦

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Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· May 20

Don’t we have to stick with the manifesto (or call a general election)?

Text re EU from the manifesto: “With Labour, Britain will stay outside of the EU. But to seize the opportunities ahead, we must make Brexit work. We will reset the
relationship and seek to deepen ties with our European friends, neighbours and allies. That does not mean reopening the divisions of the past. There will be no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement.”

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Feb 28

Yes, not great. The new MP exudes joy and bringing people together. He should have sent something like this by @johnslingermp.bsky.social

Gorton and Denton by-election result
It is disappointing. I feel sorry for Angeliki, who was a brilliant candidate running a very good campaign.
The important thing now is perspective.
The Conservatives lost all but one of 21 by-elections between 2010 and 2015, and yet increased their share of the vote in the general election.
We should stay calm and focus on supporting the Prime Minister and ministers to deliver change as effectively and quickly as possible. The economy is showing real signs of progress. All of that would be undermined if the lesson drawn from this is internal Labour Party debate, which the public is simply not interested in.
We don't need a "shift to the left" - this is a Labour government already delivering on Labour values. People want a stable government whose ministers are focused on their interests, not simplistic solutions.
We're in government, and governments lose by-elections. We need to dust ourselves down and get on with the job

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Feb 5

Agree and I didn’t support his appointment as Ambassador at the time (and was surprised how many people did). But I understood why he was appointed. This comment sums up it up. Plus he’s an expert on trade (tariffs).

A quote from David Frum: The thing Keir Starmer cannot say: “Of course I knew the man had sinister secret ties to Jeffrey Epstein. That’s why I chose him. The job was to protect Britain from the madness of President Caligula. Epstein connections are a bona fide job qualification for that mission.”

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Feb 2

Lifelong learning is such a wonderful initiative. I saw a great programme in Singapore where each citizen received credits to spend on learning. Hope we can overcome the change processes and develop something similar.

A picture of me in front of the Lifelong Learning Institute in Singapore.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jan 25

My only worry is that it splits the progressive vote and Farage/Tories win. I voted for Polanski when he stood in an election for London Assembly. Regretted it. We have to compromise and vote tactically (unfortunately).

West Central London election 2021 results.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jan 25

I read this one last month on the tube. Who does it remind you of? 🤔

Epitaph on a Tyrant by WH Auden

“Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after,
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew human folly like the back of his hand,
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,
And when he cried the little children died in the streets.”

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jan 25

I love Poems on the Underground. I even bought one at a British Council fundraiser.

Poem on the Underground: “Break my branches, saw me into bits, the birds will still sing in my roots.” Translated from French.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jan 18

Always wrong

Photo of Hannan with quote: “Absolutely nobody is talking about threatening our place in the Single Market.”

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Dec 16

Missing the cycle route upset me too. What a pity.

At the outset of HS2, a cycling and walking path running alongside the whole of the route was suggested. John Grimshaw, a civil engineer who has built hundreds of miles of cycleways, was commissioned to produce a report for the Department for Transport in 2013, identifying cycling routes from London to Manchester and Leeds. A works access road has been built alongside much of HS2 to enable contractors to reach work sites. It is six metres wide and “of very high quality”, said Grimshaw. He knows because he cycled along it – chased by HS2 security. “It’s the best road in Bucks. If it had been built just 10 metres to either side, it could’ve been turned into an end-to-end cycle path.” Instead the road, which he estimates has cost £200m-300m, will have to be dug up once the line is built. More millions “completely wasted”, said Grimshaw.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Dec 9

New law in 2021 with a list of which flags can be flown. EU flag does not fall under any category. My council also had to remove the EU flag. www.gov.uk/government/p...

List of which flags are allowed to be flown) not EU). See link for details.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Nov 18

Refugees will be encouraged to move to a work or study visa as soon as possible.

“The government does not believe that refugees should seek to remain on core protection long-term. We want to encourage refugees to integrate more fully into the communities providing them sanctuary. To address this, we will encourage refugees to switch out of the Core Protection route wherever possible. We will introduce a new, in-country Protection Work and Study route. A person granted protection will be eligible to apply to move into this route if they obtain employment or commence study at an appropriate level and pay a fee. Once on this route, they will become eligible to ‘earn’ settlement sooner than they would under core protection alone.” https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-and-returns-policy-statement/restoring-order-and-control-a-statement-on-the-governments-asylum-and-returns-policy#part-i-reducing-arrivals

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Nov 2

They might be learning. MAGA red hat “build baby build” by Labour MP Steve Reed. ‘DOGE’ list of savings by Labour MP Luke Charters.

List of Labour savings (e.g., £180m+ clawback on PPE fraud) referred to as DOGE.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Sep 17

Beautiful poem. Thank you Sir Sadiq Khan. Love this poem too about London:

Poem: “The London Breed” by Benjamin Zephaniah

I love dis great polluted place
Where pop stars come to live their dreams
Here ravers come for drum and bass
And politicians plan their schemes,
The music of the world is here
Dis city can play any song
They came to here from everywhere
Tis they that made dis city strong.

A world of food displayed on streets
Where all the world can come and dine
On meals that end with bitter sweets
And cultures melt and intertwine,
Two hundred languages give voice
To fifteen thousand changing years
And all religions can rejoice
With exiled souls and pioneers.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Sep 16

“Make no mistake - this is a law for the 97, but it is also a law for the sub-postmasters who suffered because of the Horizon scandal, the victims of infected blood, and those who died in the terrible Grenfell Tower fire.” Keir Starmer

PM Starmer’s statement on the new Hillsborough law.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jul 8

Excellent article, as usual. I really hope Terry Burns is successful tomorrow. My view on the government would diminish if his amendment fails. It’s obviously the right thing to do.

The amendment is very simple. It would introduce a one-in-one-out policy for the Lords until the next general election, at which point it would become one-in-two-out until the Lords was the same size as the Commons. Afterwards, there would be a rule that the Lords must be smaller than the Commons.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jul 6

I’ve been thinking exactly the same. So depressing and frightening to follow. I hope they pull out of it.

Cartoon of two people walking and talking. Caption: “My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.”

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jul 5

I don’t really understand these comments. The ideology/narrative seems so clear to me, summarised below. Essentially, it’s about security: financial, environmental and personal.

Labour’s 5 missions: financial growth, environment, crime reduction, education, NHS.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jun 20

Not really. We voted tactically to get rid of the Tories. My Labour MP won by 152 votes. There was no other option. In FPTP, we have to compromise before elections. My constituency is very remain and so is our Labour MP.

Table showing list of people standing to be MP. Ben Coleman won by 152 votes over the Tory (Greg Hands).

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jun 19

Great report above worth reading. Maybe FoM isn’t the problem to closer alignment with EU? Could Labour have focused on food safety to gauge our appetite? Is European Court of Justice a bigger hurdle? @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social @therestpolitics.bsky.social @mrjamesob.bsky.social

Graph from report in previous post showing 68% of UK citizens would allow EU citizens to travel, live and work in the UK - and UK citizens to do the same throughout the EU. 51% accept EU food/product safety. Only 41% would allow ECJ jurisdiction.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jun 14

It’s ambiguous how the audience is chosen. We wouldn’t expect to see SNP supporters in the audience outside Scotland. QT is in Greenford next week- safe Labour seat, with not much Reform support (Tories #2 and Green #3). I wouldn’t expect a Reform representative 🤨 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ealing_...

Vote in 2024: Labour in first place with 20,663 votes, followed by Conservatives
(8144), Green (4056) and Reform (3948).

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jun 11

Reminds me of the Brexit protest march. Only protest march I’ve ever been on. A million people showed up. No incidents, very civil. No media coverage.

Me on a Brexit protest march. Getting ready in my West London for Europe T-shirt.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Jun 6

I recently bumped into an American family at the JFK memorial at Runnymede. We had a nice talk about democracy. They were worried, maybe even scared. I’ve thought about them a lot. By the way, Runnymede near Heathrow is an excellent place to go right now to think about freedom. Very inspiring.

John F Kennedy memorial: “Let every nation whether it wishes us well or ill that we shall pay any price bear any burden meet any hardship support any friend or oppose any foe in order to assure the survival and success of liberty”

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· May 19

It was at the home of the Magna Carta. An inspiring place (Runnymede). A much needed reminder about freedom under law and a must visit place for everyone. Hope Trump sees it when he comes for the state visit.

Magna Carta: “No free man shall be taken, imprisoned, stripped of his rights or possessions, outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we proceed against or prosecute him except by the lawful judgement of his peers and by the law of the land.”

This passed into law on 15 June 1215 and remains on the statute book today.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· May 12

Attenborough for the Nobel Prize

Attenborough: This is a picture of a dead honeybee. The pollen on her legs is from dandelions. Her tongue is sticking out due to what killed her that was on the dandelions.
It’s spring, dandelions are the bees first food. This bee is dead from weed killer spread on what we see as weeds, but what nature sees as food. Please don’t spray for weeds until you see the blackberries blooming. In this area, weeds, flowers and fruit trees are bees only source of food until middle of June. There are FAR more weeds than flowers or fruit trees, so it's their only food source. No bees, no food crops for us and we all starve.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· May 5

Photo taken from my window. Lest we forget WWll. That generation who understood fascism will soon not be with us.

Photo of the VE planes flying over London today. The noise was deafening in West London. The clouds were somber and grey.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Apr 19

Agree re hereditary peers in the House of Lords. They need to go. One of my favourites re tactical voting:

"Voting isn't marriage, it's public transport. You're not waiting for "the one" who is absolutely perfect - you're getting the bus. And if there isn't a bus headed to your destination, you don't not travel - you take the one
going closest."

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Mar 23

Ahh, Mr. Dressup (lovely person) with Casey and Finnegan.

Picture of Mr Dressup with Casey and Finnegan.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Mar 22

And recommended by an FT journalist

Recommended by Stephen Bush, FY journalist.

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Mar 22

Chaminda Jayanetti

Judith Fairbairn@judithfairbairn· Mar 18

Would have loved to vote Lib Dem but this was my choice. Labour won by 152 votes. In our system, you have to compromise before the election. The country was not ready for FOM at the time.