As soon as private equity enters the equation people become less important than profits. Plus public monies are diverted away from care and into profits.😢
09.03.2026 08:36
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As soon as private equity enters the equation people become less important than profits. Plus public monies are diverted away from care and into profits.😢
Labour's core voters, on which its re-election entirely depends, are crystal clear about this: they absolutely hate its illiberal, intolerant, draconian, rightwards turn. Hence the total collapse in support. So how does the government respond? #SuicideMission🤦♂️
thesecretbarrister.com/2026/03/07/k...
The Children’s Wellbeing Bill is back in the Commons for ping-pong today. A couple of weeks ago we recorded an explainer for the HEFA group on the home ed aspects - what’s expected to change and where we are in the process.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=hgdT...
Curse of Private Equity
US evidence shows:
When private equity incentives collide with clinical care, patients—especially those who are sicker, poorer, or harder to treat—are more likely to be killed or harmed.
Yet UK handing more of the NHS to PE, enabling it to make profits.
When services are so stretched it can magnify power imbalances between healthcare providers & patients. As providers, we are so limited now in what we can offer. But also important we remember we're serving the public, & even if what we can offer is limited we should aim to be open & collaborate.
Government Spending Doesn't Waste Money—It Creates It youtu.be/CupapOCZt_8?...
UK has only two days of gas stored, Iran war threatens supplies.
Maximum capacity is 12 days.
Mainland Europe has reserves of several weeks’ worth of gas.
UK storage capacity shrank after privatisation.
The Rough storage facility closed in in 2017. British Gas wanted subsidies.
British government is "still too reluctant to distance ourselves sufficiently from Donald Trump. A man who has proved to be an enemy of every decent value that the people of Britain want the country to stand for." My latest column for @yorkshirepost.co.uk
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion...
A few billionaires, corporations & opaque networks now dominate UK political funding.
Unless the new Elections Bill is strengthened, our democracy will remain at risk of corruption by the super rich.
📖 Read more 👇
tinyurl.com/48hpkj49
Screenshot of an X post by HasanAbi commenting on how to discuss trans issues with median voters. The post quotes Marco Foster, who says the anti-trans campaign in Maine is funded by an out-of-state billionaire to distract from tax discussions and notes that very few trans kids compete in high school sports there. Below is a podcast-style video still of a man speaking into a microphone.
When you hear them target any vulnerable community—immigrants, trans people, refugees—ask first why they're trying to distract and divide us. Don't fall for it.
3/ Continued investment into Ukraine’s defense industrial base (DIB) is important for not just Ukrainian security but also for the United States and its allies.
Read more: isw.pub/UkrWar030826
Celebrating the amazing women working on #LittleButFierce, @catarinaeusebio.art and @dreamwisp.bsky.social, as well as a shoutout to my tiny barbarian who's responsible for all this.
Happy #internationalwomensday!
I think the phrase “there’s plenty of people worse off” has a lot to answer for. Sure, it’s good to seek perspective, but so often I hear this phrase used to minimise our own experiences.
Just notice if you find yourself using that phrase, & maybe try adding on “…& my experiences matter too”.
The behaviour adviser to the DfE posts a photo of JK Rowling on International Women's Day. I'm not okay with this and I'm not impressed that the DfE enables this kind of behaviour from its advisers. If you're involved with his organisation then presumably you don't have a problem with it.
LONDON, UK - JUNE 10th 2018: Thousands of woman and girls march in London celebrating 100 years of the women's vote and gender equality
Feminism transformed women’s lives over the past 50 years. But misogyny, exploitation and abuse have not disappeared. On International Women’s Day, Joy Bounds asks: how far have we really come?
#IWD2026
eastangliabylines.co.uk/politics/act...
For all the constant macho, strong man leadership, that dominates our screens, I think overwhelmingly what most people want, at a deeper level, is leaders with empathy & emotional intelligence.
The most effective way to protect yourself against the oil price shock is to go green. Solar and wind keep powering regardless of the war. Batteries store energy cheaply at night and release it when expensive. Electric cars don't suffer price hikes at the pumps. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Just sent out my free weekend update. This was the most extraordinary week, when the Ukrainians stood up to help the USA and the USA stood up to help the Russians (across the board). Ukraine is saving American lives while Russia is helping end them…
open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
I fear how the government and BOE will respond to yet more fuel cost driven inflation. It has the potential to drive more people into hardship and consequently into the arms of the far right offering easy scapegoats for their woes whilst failing to address the root causes. /end
youtu.be/jn3aoRTJ5pg
Right now for some people credit is the only way they are keeping their heads just above water. Mortgages & rents are directly affected by BOE base rates, making housing more expensive will make things worse.
After years of austerity & low wage growth for most workers savings buffers are gone. 6/
Yet it all flows through eventually. The slimmer the margins and the shorter the supply chain the quicker the increased costs appear on the bill of the purchaser of the final product.
Interest rates cannot stop this type of inflation. Cheap credit isn't driving spending on optional things. 5/
The fuel oil for the ships delivering the fertiliser, or the energy used to run the port. Everything that uses some form of electricity or energy all the way down the supply chain will have increases in costs. Some might be able to delay passing that cost along longer than others. 4/
There's the electricity the supermarket uses to run the lights and tills in the store, the energy the bakery used to cook the bread, the energy used to mill the grain, the fuel to run the combine to harvest it, the fuel to run the tractor and every vehicle delivering the goods 3/
Everything uses energy so we have massive inflation because energy got more expensive. The petrol pump might be the first obvious place you see it, but it compounds all the way down the supply chain, that loaf of bread you drove to the supermarket to buy isn't just affected by the cost of fuel. 2/
What I don't understand is how those governing this country are so blind as to the problem of energy costs. It was obvious that the spike in energy costs after Russia invaded Ukraine was going to flow through into higher prices for everything because everything needs energy, more lag some places. 1/
Why is Britain allowing US bombers to take off from bases on our soil to pursue an illegal war that hits almost everyone in Britain in the pocket? This isn't an alliance. It is exploitation, bullying and insults.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Average real wage of UK workers barely moved since 2008.
Some bosses collect 1,110 times the average worker pay.
50 families have more wealth than bottom 50% of the population combined.
Super-rich buy political parties and lawmakers to advance their interests.
Did you vote for the above?
It is good to have empathy. But spending all day feeling miserable about everything bad happening in the world will not make the problems disappear. It is okay to step back sometimes and take a moment to relax and enjoy life.
The Courts and Tribunals Bill will remove your right to a jury trial for serious criminal offences.
Toff magistrates/judges will decide your fate.
Chances of miscarriage of justice will increase. Working class, poor, minorities will be the biggest losers.
I feel a bit the same about assessment. If a child puts effort into something, the least we can do is to respond in person when we possibly can. I totally get the workload arguments but we need to ask who is creating the workload and for what purpose rather than how can we do it more efficiently.