These are the types of spending we cannot afford (let alone the human cost)

There were options for funding that didn't involve diversion. E.g. raising taxes. He wasn't chancellor so we don't know what he would have done. If a war breaks out due to insufficient defence spending, what happens to spending on health, education etc? Defence spending isn't what caused austerity:

He should read a book (other than the bible)! Mali gained independence in 1960 Ghana in 1957 He might also want to look at the charts of European child mortality. This pattern is the same across Africa (and the world)

For context the France spike is larger than COVID spikes?!

Yep the numbers have turned up. Excess deaths in selected countries are huge due to the heatwave

Seeing as the newspapers are currently running stories suggesting Burnham is all four horsemen, he may as well just ignore them? The (rabid) right-wing press are the only thing in between us and restoring the economy and spending power and solving small boats - all solvable via the EU single market

Suspiciously close

Net Zero (sending the grey line plummeting) is the only way to get the blue line back into the safe zone (green area). And we don't have decades to do it, it needs to be in freefall right now. Charts like this should be the only front page anyone prints for several years.

Did you see this? FIFA painted over a historic public artwork about protecting the oceans... for an ad?! Seems too on the nose but hey it is 2026 www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Starmer and the rest of Labour need to reflect on this list. Yes immigration salience is high (and whose fault is that), but it's not the only thing on this list. Ten times as many voters feel Labour has been too right wing rather than left wing.

Russia is losing it's war of choice against Ukraine. Which is why it targeted a World Heritage Site amongst other civilian locations last night. All this achieves is a larger reparations bill when Russia eventually surrenders

Likewise talking about increases in defence spending to say "enough will never be enough" without showing spending levels. The increase in the last few years is insignificant. We are clearly not in a peace dividend era any more. To me the world looks far more like 1980 than 2000.

no you do not need to understand the concerns of racists

"Everyone has the right to express their view but..." ~ Hilary Benn, Labour Secretary of State for Northern Ireland These are not protests. Literal race riots. Chocolate teapots come to mind.

"Beautiful civilised society" Male life expectancy at birth 67 years and falling. No independent press or judiciary. Median income £600 per month. 20% lack indoor plumbing and sanitation. Kidnaps thousands of children and attacks others. Currently loading anti-aircraft defenses onto rooftops

Worrying that we all know the DIP won't do what we all think it should!

Accuracy varies by gender and skin tone and lowers significantly around 18+ - the exact place that the government will try to identify. We don't know if the government is using the best vendor since it is going via a small middleman. Other vendors have lower accuracy levels. Yoti accuracy:

Here's what average May temperatures look like from 1890 onwards. Not scary at all!

Disgusting, predictable and illogical. This 'nebulous third space' is also used by able-bodied people who are desperate. Should the government tell those people which toilet to use too? Also disabilities are increasing - call for more provision? No. Attack the 0.5% of people who are trans? Sure.

The Tories are no longer part of decent society, they have given up any pretence of caring about anti-racist norms, one-nation conservatism is extinct. Badenoch is too dim and/or deluded to understand what she's doing though.

Yes this is a subtweet of this ahistorical and very Western-centric reaction to the idea that smartphones might be involved. I get why it's a popular idea, but like we've had major global problems before and even more severe regional ones without birth rates collapsing

It's quite a Western-centered and recent viewpoint to think that people are currently put off by the idea of bringing children into this world. And ignores broader trends - urbanisation, female education, mortality below the age of 5, access to contraception.

Go on then, guess it's a useful shorthand I can point at later!

Pretty similar. Apparently I should live in Sweden

I agree with you that its identity is distorted and it's embarrassed of its socially liberal core but in 2024 its support wasn't ALL middle class. It has fairly even support by class. I'd say core support is 30-something and educated but can be working class - just not like old stereotypes of class

Hey Labour MPs who are still defending Starmer's leadership, look at this chart of the 2026 local elections, in a Labour heartland and figure out what the problem is. (It's not a difficult problem)

Healthy life expectancy in dramatic decline in the UK, more so than other rich countries (so it's not all COVID). The actual costs of austerity are people's healthy lives, meanwhile the rich got richer. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The UK right now is on an insane 2.1% fossil fuels for electricity. Unthinkable even a few years ago. What!? ☀️ @energydashboard.bsky.social

I had an interesting conversation recently where somebody told me that the 2022 price shock didn't really cause any problems, while I was open-mouthed, before realising they just didn't know anyone who felt the cost of living impacts, and didn't see measures like food bank usage

As distasteful as Polymarket is, there's a clear signal there at the moment: