What future for hyper-local TV news? – politicalbetting.com

System · August 29

What future for hyper-local TV news? – politicalbetting.com

Today marks the last day of broadcasting by Notts TV, part of a pioneering experiment in hyper-local TV services first launched by Jeremy Hunt under the Coalition government.

Read the full story here

Foxy · August 29

An interesting topic.

Sadly local news is now mostly via Facebook, with all it's manipulation, click bait and algorithms.

Leon · August 29

I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media

Scott_xP · August 29

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media

Like they did in Dundee...

Taz · August 29

Leading the news today, hopes of a reconciliation between King Charles and Harry Hewitt.

This is the stuff people are interested in. Not local guff on poorly conceived local TV stations with a handful of viewers.

Dopermean · August 29

Interesting two first posts, one bemoaning the replacement of professional journalism by social media and one saying professional local journalism is a waste, from a professional journalist.
Presumably Notts TV is regulated by OFCOM, as useless as they are, while social media isn't.

isam · August 29

Labour have lost The Beano.

https://x.com/morris_oxford/status/1961045893810880640?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q

isam · August 29

The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193

another_richard · August 29

On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.

Nigelb · August 29

DavidL said:

Nigelb said:
I have to apologise to Luckyguy.
While his suggestions regarding QE were economically eccentric, and essentially ignored the costs of what he was proposing, the recent sharp rise in interest rates has somewhat changed the situation. And while his remedy might well have been as bad as the problem he was seeking to address, he was quite right to identify a large problem which the rest of us really didn't.

In the environment, the BoE continuing its program of steadily unwinding QE (something which theEU and the US aren't doing) effectively means that it takes very large losses on its continuing gilt sales - which also help depress market prices, and create something of a downward spiral.
Also the banks are now making outsize profits (something never intended) by virtue of the scheme.

The IPPR has a report out which makes some much more sensible, and quite simple suggestions to address those two things.

You can download the full report here:

https://www.ippr.org/articles/fixing-the-leak
..after a period of making significant profits on this programme, the Bank of England is now making record losses, which is historically very unusual for central banks. The Treasury is paying for these losses, making the UK an international outlier, and the sums involved are staggering: Bank of England losses will cost the taxpayer £22 billion a year in every year of this parliament.
These losses come from two sources: valuation losses from selling government bonds below purchase value; and interest rate losses.
In this report we recommend a two-pronged approach to address this issue.
First, to recoup interest rate losses for the taxpayer currently occurring at the Bank of England, the government should implement a ‘QE reserves income levy’ on commercial banks.
Second, the government should urge the Bank of England to review and better manage the fiscal implications of its policies, in particular slowing the pace of the unwinding of quantitative easing – so-called quantitative tightening – and any future quantitative easing.

Seems like a no brainer for a Chancellor desperate for cash.
With very little downside.
We may need to do this but the downside risks are considerable. Firstly, with our 30 year gilt at or near record levels it is clear that there is limited demand for UK debt. Making gilts less attractive with taxes on profits such as suggested would, in my view, substantially increase the risk of failed auctions. Secondly, our monetary position is so lacking in credibility that we perhaps need to be "stricter" on ourselves by QT even if the US and the ECB doesn't.

These pressures are indicative of the forthcoming crisis in our fiscal affairs. Borrowing is increasing far faster than the economy is growing and the trends are not favourable. Sooner or later this bubble is going to burst and the Chancellor needs to be extremely careful about anything that might prick it. Brace.

The counter argument is that reducing the volume of gilt sales, which is what's being suggested, works counter to what you're saying.
Also it's the current account deficit which is most damaging to the gilts market; reducing that is a positive.

The banks are currently making outsize profits as a result of QT. Those ports would take a hit, but given the enormous benefits they've received from the program overall, they can live with that.

No large policy change is cost free, but the balance of risk strongly favours this idea.

Taz · August 29

Appeals court decision today on the hotel in Essex. The govt position is the asylum seekers take priority over the locals. Something their legal team made quite clear. I saw it on Twitter and assumed it was a joke so didn’t comment on it or post it here.

Be interesting to see how the decision goes. Popcorn time if the govt win.

Leon · August 29

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...

And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look

Alphabet_Soup · August 29

On the subject of hyper-local TV news, Swindon Viewpoint has been going for over 50 years in one form or another.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swindon_Viewpoint

Dopermean · August 29

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...

It's potentially a poor future for the polemical journalist, their production of disinformation challenged by AI and locals on social media. Somehow though, in this age of sociopathic billionaires, I suspect there will always be money for the craftsmen.

Taz · August 29

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.

I’m awaiting for the ‘more targetting of an aspirational working class woman’ spin on this from her fans.

malcolmg · August 29

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193

FFS

Stuartinromford · August 29

A lot of them have more-or-less given up the ghost, with a load of archive shows and just enough local news to stay within the contract.

See also all the small-scale commercial radio stations set up in the late 90s that now relay national networks. One of the last of them- Time FM in Romford- was closed a few weeks ago.

See also also the terrible state of local newspapers.

Reliable local news (which Facebook etc aren't) is clearly a good thing, but there's little sign of the public wanting it enough for it to survive.

Theuniondivvie · August 29

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look

C’mon, change the habits of a lifetime, grab your balls and tell us the ‘real’ story.

Nigelb · August 29

Taz said:
Appeals court decision today on the hotel in Essex. The govt position is the asylum seekers take priority over the locals. Something their legal team made quite clear. I saw it on Twitter and assumed it was a joke so didn’t comment on it or post it here.

Be interesting to see how the decision goes. Popcorn time if the govt win.

Their position is that a national policy, with potentially billions in extra costs if they lose this case and it becomes a broad precedent, overrides a single local planning issue.

The way you frame it suggests the asylum seekers would simply disappear if the council wins.

But you're of course right that it's a great wedge issue to highlight the government's problem is rapidly addressing the asylum backlog.

Scott_xP · August 29

Dopermean said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
It's potentially a poor future for the polemical journalist, their production of disinformation challenged by AI and locals on social media. Somehow though, in this age of sociopathic billionaires, I suspect there will always be money for the craftsmen.

@davekarpf.bsky.social‬

The single most important thing to understand about digital futurism is this:

When the digital future that Sam Altman ( or Elon, or Andreessen, etc) predicts fails to materialize, he doesn’t have to give the money back.

Stuartinromford · August 29

Taz said:
Appeals court decision today on the hotel in Essex. The govt position is the asylum seekers take priority over the locals. Something their legal team made quite clear. I saw it on Twitter and assumed it was a joke so didn’t comment on it or post it here.

Be interesting to see how the decision goes. Popcorn time if the govt win.

So the national interest (in the short term, these people have to go somewhere) overrides the local one (not near me). Nimbies are bad, in other words.

Politically, it's not a popular line, but it may well be the right one.

Taz · August 29

Stuartinromford said:
A lot of them have more-or-less given up the ghost, with a load of archive shows and just enough local news to stay within the contract.

See also all the small-scale commercial radio stations set up in the late 90s that now relay national networks. One of the last of them- Time FM in Romford- was closed a few weeks ago.

See also also the terrible state of local newspapers.

Reliable local news (which Facebook etc aren't) is clearly a good thing, but there's little sign of the public wanting it enough for it to survive.

A friend of mine was involved in the Brum one. Big Centre TV. No one cared. Hardly anyone watched apart from reruns of Crossroads which they had to drop as they couldn’t afford them.

IanB2 · August 29

By coincidence I only found out yesterday that there is such a thing as Solent TV.

JosiasJessop · August 29

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look

Where shall we look? As I said on the previous thread, there seem to be many 'stories' at various levels, many slightly different or contradictory.

Or just tell us what the 'story' is.

AnneJGP · August 29

Thank you, a very interesting header. I had no idea such hyper-local TV stations existed.

isam · August 29

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193

The Guardian are at it as well

She added: “The other big problem [for vaccine uptake] is that there are vast inequalities in uptake. We know that uptake is also lower among some ethnic minority groups, notably black Caribbean and African populations.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/28/england-needs-to-wake-up-to-faltering-infant-vaccination-rate-experts-warn

Foxy · August 29

Taz said:

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.
I’m awaiting for the ‘more targetting of an aspirational working class woman’ spin on this from her fans.

It's the different taxation of different residences for stamp duty and council tax that is the problem. If both were replaced by a property tax of perhaps 1% of value each year then the problem goes away.

Eabhal · August 29

I agree with the sentiment in the article. Unfortunately, our local media is so desperate for clicks that it actively undermines local democracy - e.g. in the last few days the EEN had claimed the Dean Bridge will be destroyed to make way for the tram - something that is flatly wrong but has generated thousands of comments and emails to councillors.

Previously, they used a photograph from Kyiv and tried to pass it off as Niddrie, on the front page. The local Reddit page, cycling forums, ultra-local volunteer papers, Bluesky are far more important for holding our councillors to account and discussing what should happen in our city.

JosiasJessop · August 29

IanB2 said:
By coincidence I only found out yesterday that there is such a thing as Solent TV.

Allegedly, (ahem), at one place I worked (on digital TV...) we had our own 'TV' show for a few days. Instead of playing the first twenty minutes of Saving Private Ryan, or a fire burning (*) someone set up a camera and put that into the encoders and multiplexers. This was then fed to the test labs and to anyone using the test streams.

It got very silly, very rapidly.

(*) Both good at showing up MPEG artifacting.

JosiasJessop · August 29

isam said:

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193
The Guardian are at it as well

She added: “The other big problem [for vaccine uptake] is that there are vast inequalities in uptake. We know that uptake is also lower among some ethnic minority groups, notably black Caribbean and African populations.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/28/england-needs-to-wake-up-to-faltering-infant-vaccination-rate-experts-warn

Indeed; this has been known for years. I vaguely STR there was some controversy over money being spent on schemes to try to improve uptake of the Covid vaccine amongst ethnic minority groups?

Though combating the b/s coming out of America via mass-murderer JFK Junior might be money better spent.

Stuartinromford · August 29

AnneJGP said:
Thank you, a very interesting header. I had no idea such hyper-local TV stations existed.

Part of their problem- if you are that small and shoestring an organisation, how much publicity can you do?

(And how sensible will that publicity be? The local TV station in Cambridge was called Cambridge Red for a while. They used Russian/jolly communist imagery as their publicity hook. But if Cambridge isn't rich, mouthy and full of students enough to sustain local media, nowhere is.)

DougSeal · August 29

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look

Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?

Scott_xP · August 29

JosiasJessop said:

IanB2 said:
By coincidence I only found out yesterday that there is such a thing as Solent TV.
Allegedly, (ahem), at one place I worked (on digital TV...) we had our own 'TV' show for a few days. Instead of playing the first twenty minutes of Saving Private Ryan, or a fire burning (*) someone set up a camera and put that into the encoders and multiplexers. This was then fed to the test labs and to anyone using the test streams.

It got very silly, very rapidly.

(*) Both good at showing up MPEG artifacting.

One of the projects we did at university was to make our own TV display using an oscilloscope. The test feed was tuned to MTV which turned out to be a perfect way to find out if your sync circuit was stable, or not...

Foxy · August 29

isam said:

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193
The Guardian are at it as well

She added: “The other big problem [for vaccine uptake] is that there are vast inequalities in uptake. We know that uptake is also lower among some ethnic minority groups, notably black Caribbean and African populations.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/28/england-needs-to-wake-up-to-faltering-infant-vaccination-rate-experts-warn

Antivaxxism is quite common in Black communities. One friend of mine traces it back to things like the Tuskegee Experiment, which is far better known about in their community.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study

There's also quite a big crossover with religious fundamentalism (Christian and Other) with Anti-vaxxism, and also mistrust of the organs of state. So similar in many ways to the USA and Reform anti-vaxxers, though Reform voters rarely have young children.

Leon · August 29

DougSeal said:

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look
Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?

It looks like a legal minefield to me, so, No. I do not wish to trouble the mods (or get banned)

But 20 minutes on X or whatever will flesh it out

Eabhal · August 29

FPT: I'm pretty clear that anyone cycling in urban areas or at any speed should wear a helmet. And that's a shame as it reflects the likelihood of being hit by a driver.

Curious that those who are so against 20mph etc are so energetically for imposing helmets through legislation though. One is a mitigation of a traumatic collision; the other helps to prevent that collision happening in the first place. It's always about offloading responsibility to the vulnerable party.

isam · August 29

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193
The Guardian are at it as well

She added: “The other big problem [for vaccine uptake] is that there are vast inequalities in uptake. We know that uptake is also lower among some ethnic minority groups, notably black Caribbean and African populations.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/28/england-needs-to-wake-up-to-faltering-infant-vaccination-rate-experts-warn
Indeed; this has been known for years. I vaguely STR there was some controversy over money being spent on schemes to try to improve uptake of the Covid vaccine amongst ethnic minority groups?

Though combating the b/s coming out of America via mass-murderer JFK Junior might be money better spent.

I thought so, that’s why I was surprised to read on here the other day that the low uptake of vaccinations in children was a white working class problem

A lot of my friends were anti vaxxers during covid, and they are all WWC, so maybe that’s where the confusion comes from.

HYUFD · August 29

Hyper local TV is a good idea otherwise you just end up with news by region. So this story is a pity.

There are also increasing online local news services too

Scott_xP · August 29

Leon said:
But 20 minutes on X or whatever will flesh it out

No, it won't. That's the point.

You yourself said it was getting murkier

Social media is REALLY, REALLY bad at reporting facts.

another_richard · August 29

Taz said:

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.
I’m awaiting for the ‘more targetting of an aspirational working class woman’ spin on this from her fans.

The working class can kiss my arse. I've got the foreman's deputy prime minister's job at last.

HYUFD · August 29

Ministers didn't review cost of council mergers

"Ministers didn't do cost review of English council mergers - BBC News" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

Foxy · August 29

DougSeal said:

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look
Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?

The "real story" is how a minor incident that would barely reach a local newspaper in decades past became a worldwide moral panic about asylum seekers attacking young Scottish girls (despite the fact no asylum seekers was involved, and the male involved was a Christian).

It has all the features of how international Social Media controlled by the algorithms of the Nerd Reich values clicks over truth, and why we need proper journalism.

AnneJGP · August 29

Nigelb said:

Taz said:
Appeals court decision today on the hotel in Essex. The govt position is the asylum seekers take priority over the locals. Something their legal team made quite clear. I saw it on Twitter and assumed it was a joke so didn’t comment on it or post it here.

Be interesting to see how the decision goes. Popcorn time if the govt win.
Their position is that a national policy, with potentially billions in extra costs if they lose this case and it becomes a broad precedent, overrides a single local planning issue.

The way you frame it suggests the asylum seekers would simply disappear if the council wins.

But you're of course right that it's a great wedge issue to highlight the government's problem is rapidly addressing the asylum backlog.

Addressing the asylum backlog isn't the only government problem highlighted here. If all those poor people were processed today, where are they all going to go then? How quickly will the sad rejects be deported? There's still the appeals process; where will they live during the interim? And those who are accepted, where will they find housing? Join all our own homeless on the streets? If the government's statement that the new immigrants take priority over those already here is effective right through, there could hardly be a more inflammatory message.

Then will tomorrow's immigrants take priority over today's? There aren't any easy answers although building more housing urgently would help.

isam · August 29

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
But 20 minutes on X or whatever will flesh it out
No, it won't. That's the point.

You yourself said it was getting murkier

Social media is REALLY, REALLY bad at reporting facts.

PB’s Gerald Ratner moment

Eabhal · August 29

DougSeal said:

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look
Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?

Just got PB's sake I'd point out that the police have warned about the baseless misinformation going round about this.

TheScreamingEagles · August 29

isam said:

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193
The Guardian are at it as well

She added: “The other big problem [for vaccine uptake] is that there are vast inequalities in uptake. We know that uptake is also lower among some ethnic minority groups, notably black Caribbean and African populations.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/28/england-needs-to-wake-up-to-faltering-infant-vaccination-rate-experts-warn
Indeed; this has been known for years. I vaguely STR there was some controversy over money being spent on schemes to try to improve uptake of the Covid vaccine amongst ethnic minority groups?

Though combating the b/s coming out of America via mass-murderer JFK Junior might be money better spent.
I thought so, that’s why I was surprised to read on here the other day that the low uptake of vaccinations in children was a white working class problem

A lot of my friends were anti vaxxers during covid, and they are all WWC, so maybe that’s where the confusion comes from.

I believe other factors were noted too such as recent arrivals and hippy middle class types.

But the white working class antivax group is a recent addition so will show up in the figures in the next few years.

But the aggressive behaviour towards medical professionals comes pretty much from the WWC based on the conversations from my father’s ex-colleagues who are of all races including WWC.

Nigelb · August 29

Something remarkable is happening in France

The PM, who will lose his job next week, went live on TV:

France's debt was accumulated to guarantee the "comfort of the boomers" at the expense of the next generation

The truth is easily said when you are politically finished
https://x.com/Valen10Francois/status/1961068133055086892

The sooner we acknowledge this truth, the better.

HYUFD · August 29

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.

The CCN based their
projections on single unitary
authorities replacing county
council areas and the district
councils in those areas.

However it looks like up to
three unitary councils per
county council area and
district councils pushing for at least that

TheScreamingEagles · August 29

Leon said:

DougSeal said:

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look
Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?
It looks like a legal minefield to me, so, No. I do not wish to trouble the mods (or get banned)

But 20 minutes on X or whatever will flesh it out

Then stop talking about it.

You’ve been warned about this enough times.

My patience and OGH’s too with you is coming to an end.

Nigelb · August 29

AnneJGP said:

Nigelb said:

Taz said:
Appeals court decision today on the hotel in Essex. The govt position is the asylum seekers take priority over the locals. Something their legal team made quite clear. I saw it on Twitter and assumed it was a joke so didn’t comment on it or post it here.

Be interesting to see how the decision goes. Popcorn time if the govt win.
Their position is that a national policy, with potentially billions in extra costs if they lose this case and it becomes a broad precedent, overrides a single local planning issue.

The way you frame it suggests the asylum seekers would simply disappear if the council wins.

But you're of course right that it's a great wedge issue to highlight the government's problem is rapidly addressing the asylum backlog.
Addressing the asylum backlog isn't the only government problem highlighted here. If all those poor people were processed today, where are they all going to go then? How quickly will the sad rejects be deported? There's still the appeals process; where will they live during the interim? And those who are accepted, where will they find housing? Join all our own homeless on the streets? If the government's statement that the new immigrants take priority over those already here is effective right through, there could hardly be a more inflammatory message.

Then will tomorrow's immigrants take priority over today's? There aren't any easy answers although building more housing urgently would help.

All of the above, agreed.

But most of that lies outside of the court's remit in this particular case.

I have my own opinions on how we ought to start dealing with the matter, but that's also beside the point here.

Leon · August 29

TheScreamingEagles said:

Leon said:

DougSeal said:

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look
Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?
It looks like a legal minefield to me, so, No. I do not wish to trouble the mods (or get banned)

But 20 minutes on X or whatever will flesh it out
Then stop talking about it.

You’ve been warned about this enough times.

My patience and OGH’s too is coming to an end.

What? I'm being incredibly mindful and NOT saying anything!

Morris_Dancer · August 29

Foxy said:

Taz said:

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.
I’m awaiting for the ‘more targetting of an aspirational working class woman’ spin on this from her fans.
It's the different taxation of different residences for stamp duty and council tax that is the problem. If both were replaced by a property tax of perhaps 1% of value each year then the problem goes away.

Dr. Foxy, what do you think the cost would be of assessing the value of every single house every year?

It may well be prohibitive, in both political and financial terms.

DecrepiterJohnL · August 29

Is tennis in danger of being replaced?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVj-5yMUIQM

Padel and pickleball have rocketed in popularity at amateur and professional levels in the past three or four years. Goldrush or bubble?

Nigelb · August 29

HYUFD said:

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.
The CCN based their
projections on single unitary
authorities replacing county
council areas and the district
councils in those areas.

However it looks like up to
three unitary councils per
county council area and
district councils pushing for at least that

Is that blank verse ?

TheScreamingEagles · August 29

Leon said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Leon said:

DougSeal said:

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look
Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?
It looks like a legal minefield to me, so, No. I do not wish to trouble the mods (or get banned)

But 20 minutes on X or whatever will flesh it out
Then stop talking about it.

You’ve been warned about this enough times.

My patience and OGH’s too is coming to an end.
What? I'm being incredibly mindful and NOT saying anything!

Except you aren’t with the hints.

Why is Lord McAlpine trending, innocent face, should be a salutary lesson for you.

boulay · August 29

HYUFD said:

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.
The CCN based their
projections on single unitary
authorities replacing county
council areas and the district
councils in those areas.

However it looks like up to
three unitary councils per
county council area and
district councils pushing for at least that

I prefer this to anything by Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Nigelb · August 29

boulay said:

HYUFD said:

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.
The CCN based their
projections on single unitary
authorities replacing county
council areas and the district
councils in those areas.

However it looks like up to
three unitary councils per
county council area and
district councils pushing for at least that
I prefer this to anything by Gerard Manley Hopkins.

More of a Brechtian flavour.

dixiedean · August 29

20 minutes on X has only ever fleshed out deluded states of mind.

Theuniondivvie · August 29

Foxy said:

DougSeal said:

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look
Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?
The "real story" is how a minor incident that would barely reach a local newspaper in decades past became a worldwide moral panic about asylum seekers attacking young Scottish girls (despite the fact no asylum seekers was involved, and the male involved was a Christian).

It has all the features of how international Social Media controlled by the algorithms of the Nerd Reich values clicks over truth, and why we need proper journalism.

Still, it's fascinating how tweeters called Daughteroftherevolution856671 with US flags in their bio have become experts on the demography and geography of Dundee.

'Monifieth which is to all intents and purposes part of Dundee..'

Carnyx · August 29

Foxy said:

DougSeal said:

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look
Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?
The "real story" is how a minor incident that would barely reach a local newspaper in decades past became a worldwide moral panic about asylum seekers attacking young Scottish girls (despite the fact no asylum seekers was involved, and the male involved was a Christian).

It has all the features of how international Social Media controlled by the algorithms of the Nerd Reich values clicks over truth, and why we need proper journalism.

I do a great deal of looking at old newspapers for research projects and the sheer volume of local journalism and reportage intil the end of the C20 just makes me want to cry. Sure, they had their axes to grind, political, owners' interests, and so on. But the contrast today is heartbreaking.

JosiasJessop · August 29

isam said:

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193
The Guardian are at it as well

She added: “The other big problem [for vaccine uptake] is that there are vast inequalities in uptake. We know that uptake is also lower among some ethnic minority groups, notably black Caribbean and African populations.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/28/england-needs-to-wake-up-to-faltering-infant-vaccination-rate-experts-warn
Indeed; this has been known for years. I vaguely STR there was some controversy over money being spent on schemes to try to improve uptake of the Covid vaccine amongst ethnic minority groups?

Though combating the b/s coming out of America via mass-murderer JFK Junior might be money better spent.
I thought so, that’s why I was surprised to read on here the other day that the low uptake of vaccinations in children was a white working class problem

A lot of my friends were anti vaxxers during covid, and they are all WWC, so maybe that’s where the confusion comes from.

I'd *guess* that there are more anti-vaxxers amongst Reform-party voters than amongst those of other parties (except perhaps Greens?) because they seem to take more notice of American new and traditional media, which is filled with JFK Jr's b/s. I'd also guess the fewest anti-vaxxers were amongst the Lib Dems. But I might be wrong.

I get lots of anti-vax b/s on my 'For you' Twix feed.

Carnyx · August 29

Theuniondivvie said:

Foxy said:

DougSeal said:

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look
Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?
The "real story" is how a minor incident that would barely reach a local newspaper in decades past became a worldwide moral panic about asylum seekers attacking young Scottish girls (despite the fact no asylum seekers was involved, and the male involved was a Christian).

It has all the features of how international Social Media controlled by the algorithms of the Nerd Reich values clicks over truth, and why we need proper journalism.
Still, it's fascinating how tweeters called Daughteroftherevolution856671 with US flags in their bio have become experts on the demography and geography of Dundee.

'Monifieth which is to all intents and purposes part of Dundee..'

Haw!

I'm reminded of how PB threw up a mushroom-fast crop of experts on Glaswegian urban sanitation. And we all know where mushrooms grow.

TimS · August 29

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193
The Guardian are at it as well

She added: “The other big problem [for vaccine uptake] is that there are vast inequalities in uptake. We know that uptake is also lower among some ethnic minority groups, notably black Caribbean and African populations.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/28/england-needs-to-wake-up-to-faltering-infant-vaccination-rate-experts-warn
Indeed; this has been known for years. I vaguely STR there was some controversy over money being spent on schemes to try to improve uptake of the Covid vaccine amongst ethnic minority groups?

Though combating the b/s coming out of America via mass-murderer JFK Junior might be money better spent.
I thought so, that’s why I was surprised to read on here the other day that the low uptake of vaccinations in children was a white working class problem

A lot of my friends were anti vaxxers during covid, and they are all WWC, so maybe that’s where the confusion comes from.
I'd *guess* that there are more anti-vaxxers amongst Reform-party voters than amongst those of other parties (except perhaps Greens?) because they seem to take more notice of American new and traditional media, which is filled with JFK Jr's b/s. I'd also guess the fewest anti-vaxxers were amongst the Lib Dems. But I might be wrong.

I get lots of anti-vax b/s on my 'For you' Twix feed.

“For you” is one of the most irritating features of X. It’s Elon trying to push stuff I’m not interested in plus loads of spammy clickbait.

boulay · August 29

Mourihno out at Galatasaray- odds on him being Forest manager by next weekend?

If Man Utd have any sense then they would snap up Nuno.

Leon · August 29

Nigelb said:

boulay said:

HYUFD said:

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.
The CCN based their
projections on single unitary
authorities replacing county
council areas and the district
councils in those areas.

However it looks like up to
three unitary councils per
county council area and
district councils pushing for at least that
I prefer this to anything by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
More of a Brechtian flavour.

County lines erased,
autumn leaves scatter the maps,
three shadows return.

Stuartinromford · August 29

HYUFD said:

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.
The CCN based their
projections on single unitary
authorities replacing county
council areas and the district
councils in those areas.

However it looks like up to
three unitary councils per
county council area and
district councils pushing for at least that

County Council Network pushing for unitary counties?

Mandy Rice-Davis would like six words.

Leon · August 29

It would actually improve BBC online journalism if all their headlines had to be haikus

JosiasJessop · August 29

dixiedean said:
20 minutes on X has only ever fleshed out deluded states of mind.

It can have its uses - though BlueSky is becoming better IMV, especially as Twix sinks further into stinking morasses of shittidom.

boulay · August 29

Theuniondivvie said:

Foxy said:

DougSeal said:

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look
Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?
The "real story" is how a minor incident that would barely reach a local newspaper in decades past became a worldwide moral panic about asylum seekers attacking young Scottish girls (despite the fact no asylum seekers was involved, and the male involved was a Christian).

It has all the features of how international Social Media controlled by the algorithms of the Nerd Reich values clicks over truth, and why we need proper journalism.
Still, it's fascinating how tweeters called Daughteroftherevolution856671 with US flags in their bio have become experts on the demography and geography of Dundee.

'Monifieth which is to all intents and purposes part of Dundee..'

If the Daughters of the American Revolution are generally like the one I’ve been friends with for decades then the tweeter is way off base from the wealthy, urbane, liberal and worldly make-up of the rest of them.

Dopermean · August 29

Morris_Dancer said:

Foxy said:

Taz said:

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.
I’m awaiting for the ‘more targetting of an aspirational working class woman’ spin on this from her fans.
It's the different taxation of different residences for stamp duty and council tax that is the problem. If both were replaced by a property tax of perhaps 1% of value each year then the problem goes away.
Dr. Foxy, what do you think the cost would be of assessing the value of every single house every year?

It may well be prohibitive, in both political and financial terms.

You wouldn't do a valuation every year, for crying out loud.
Up until 1990 there was an annual property tax on value. It was considered to be a cost-effective tax, it was dispensed with for ideological not economic reasons.

Carnyx · August 29

JosiasJessop said:

dixiedean said:
20 minutes on X has only ever fleshed out deluded states of mind.
It can have its uses - though BlueSky is becoming better IMV, especially as Twix sinks further into stinking morasses of shittidom.

Also, Bluesky is much more accessible to those who don't want to pay the sub. It's infuriating when some corporation or public body puts out stuff only on Twitter and Facebook which need subs to read. It seems not to be realised that Twitter no longer puts up the latest posts of a poster but just selects them at random if a non-subscriber tries to look up the poster's account (there seem to be exceptions to this but how it works I have no idea).

To think we dumped local newspapers for this shite.

Leon · August 29

TimS said:

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193
The Guardian are at it as well

She added: “The other big problem [for vaccine uptake] is that there are vast inequalities in uptake. We know that uptake is also lower among some ethnic minority groups, notably black Caribbean and African populations.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/28/england-needs-to-wake-up-to-faltering-infant-vaccination-rate-experts-warn
Indeed; this has been known for years. I vaguely STR there was some controversy over money being spent on schemes to try to improve uptake of the Covid vaccine amongst ethnic minority groups?

Though combating the b/s coming out of America via mass-murderer JFK Junior might be money better spent.
I thought so, that’s why I was surprised to read on here the other day that the low uptake of vaccinations in children was a white working class problem

A lot of my friends were anti vaxxers during covid, and they are all WWC, so maybe that’s where the confusion comes from.
I'd *guess* that there are more anti-vaxxers amongst Reform-party voters than amongst those of other parties (except perhaps Greens?) because they seem to take more notice of American new and traditional media, which is filled with JFK Jr's b/s. I'd also guess the fewest anti-vaxxers were amongst the Lib Dems. But I might be wrong.

I get lots of anti-vax b/s on my 'For you' Twix feed.
“For you” is one of the most irritating features of X. It’s Elon trying to push stuff I’m not interested in plus loads of spammy clickbait.

You could always go to Bluesk -

Oh, wait. LOL

DecrepiterJohnL · August 29

Nigelb said:
Something remarkable is happening in France

The PM, who will lose his job next week, went live on TV:

France's debt was accumulated to guarantee the "comfort of the boomers" at the expense of the next generation

The truth is easily said when you are politically finished
https://x.com/Valen10Francois/status/1961068133055086892

The sooner we acknowledge this truth, the better.

Is it true though? Or rather, is that the only available framing?

Could it also be said the group that has most benefited is the upper middle class whose family incomes and assets have increased markedly since the 1990s? The gap between top and bottom salaries has multiplied, the number of dual-income families likewise, and this is a multiplicative effect as lawyers marry lawyers and shop-workers marry shop-workers (so two £100k salaries against two £25k salaries) and in turn this has allowed these families to buy assets whose value has also increased.

isam · August 29

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193
The Guardian are at it as well

She added: “The other big problem [for vaccine uptake] is that there are vast inequalities in uptake. We know that uptake is also lower among some ethnic minority groups, notably black Caribbean and African populations.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/28/england-needs-to-wake-up-to-faltering-infant-vaccination-rate-experts-warn
Indeed; this has been known for years. I vaguely STR there was some controversy over money being spent on schemes to try to improve uptake of the Covid vaccine amongst ethnic minority groups?

Though combating the b/s coming out of America via mass-murderer JFK Junior might be money better spent.
I thought so, that’s why I was surprised to read on here the other day that the low uptake of vaccinations in children was a white working class problem

A lot of my friends were anti vaxxers during covid, and they are all WWC, so maybe that’s where the confusion comes from.
I'd *guess* that there are more anti-vaxxers amongst Reform-party voters than amongst those of other parties (except perhaps Greens?) because they seem to take more notice of American new and traditional media, which is filled with JFK Jr's b/s. I'd also guess the fewest anti-vaxxers were amongst the Lib Dems. But I might be wrong.

I get lots of anti-vax b/s on my 'For you' Twix feed.

“I'd *guess* that there are more anti-vaxxers amongst Reform-party voters than amongst those of other parties”

I’m sure you are correct there. The most vocal of my anti-vax friends are also the biggest fans of Trump.

There will be counter stories, but all of those I know who refused the covid jabs came through it fine, so they feel pretty vindicated, whereas a friend of mines wife died on the evening of her first jab, it caused a brain haemorrhage. Small sample size of course, but in this section of healthy forty-somethings the jabs appear to be a net bad. Perhaps those of us who were vaccinated were saved by it, although the worst I have ever felt in my life, by a huge margin, words can’t describe, was the night of my first AZ

HYUFD · August 29

Nigelb said:
Something remarkable is happening in France

The PM, who will lose his job next week, went live on TV:

France's debt was accumulated to guarantee the "comfort of the boomers" at the expense of the next generation

The truth is easily said when you are politically finished
https://x.com/Valen10Francois/status/1961068133055086892

The sooner we acknowledge this truth, the better.

France is not spending 56% of its GDP just on boomers. It also has one of the biggest public sectors and shortest working hours in the world.

In any case most boomers voted for Macron or the centre right, it is Melenchon's block most resisting cuts who the young voted for, followed by RN who the middle aged voted for

Leon · August 29

JosiasJessop said:

dixiedean said:
20 minutes on X has only ever fleshed out deluded states of mind.
It can have its uses - though BlueSky is becoming better IMV, especially as Twix sinks further into stinking morasses of shittidom.

Bluesky is down to about 36 centrist Dad users now, who all agree with each other, so maybe it just feels "cosier"

TOPPING · August 29

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Is tennis in danger of being replaced?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVj-5yMUIQM

Padel and pickleball have rocketed in popularity at amateur and professional levels in the past three or four years. Goldrush or bubble?

Isn't one of them the fastest growing sport worldwide?

I can see why, much easier than tennis. But I also think that it is short lived (you heard it here on PB first) because ultimately neither are as rewarding as tennis and tennis-playing padel/pickle-curious players will eventually return to tennis.

Theuniondivvie · August 29

boulay said:

Theuniondivvie said:

Foxy said:

DougSeal said:

Leon said:

Scott_xP said:

Leon said:
I like to support journalism but this feels like a silly waste of money when locals will do it for free on social media
Like they did in Dundee...
And they are still doing it, and digging out the real story, right now. Go have a look
Can you summarise or provide links so I can understand what the “real story” is?
The "real story" is how a minor incident that would barely reach a local newspaper in decades past became a worldwide moral panic about asylum seekers attacking young Scottish girls (despite the fact no asylum seekers was involved, and the male involved was a Christian).

It has all the features of how international Social Media controlled by the algorithms of the Nerd Reich values clicks over truth, and why we need proper journalism.
Still, it's fascinating how tweeters called Daughteroftherevolution856671 with US flags in their bio have become experts on the demography and geography of Dundee.

'Monifieth which is to all intents and purposes part of Dundee..'
If the Daughters of the American Revolution are generally like the one I’ve been friends with for decades then the tweeter is way off base from the wealthy, urbane, liberal and worldly make-up of the rest of them.

I suspect Daughteroftherevolution856671* was not in fact a Daughter of the Revolution and may not even have been American. Bit of knowing the height of the beautiful and beloved Salisbury cathedral spire thing going on I feel.

*this name was made up in the cause of a greater truth, just in case anyone checks.

JosiasJessop · August 29

Leon said:
It would actually improve BBC online journalism if all their headlines had to be haikus

It would improve your 'journalism' if you actually gave information rather than brain-dead insinuation.

Leon · August 29

JosiasJessop said:

Leon said:
It would actually improve BBC online journalism if all their headlines had to be haikus
It would improve your 'journalism' if you actually gave information rather than brain-dead insinuation.

And a very good morning to you, Josias

JosiasJessop · August 29

Leon said:

JosiasJessop said:

Leon said:
It would actually improve BBC online journalism if all their headlines had to be haikus
It would improve your 'journalism' if you actually gave information rather than brain-dead insinuation.
And a very good morning to you, Josias

And to you.

(Edit: for some reason the initial edit window is taking up nearly the whole screen...)

DecrepiterJohnL · August 29

TOPPING said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Is tennis in danger of being replaced?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVj-5yMUIQM

Padel and pickleball have rocketed in popularity at amateur and professional levels in the past three or four years. Goldrush or bubble?
Isn't one of them the fastest growing sport worldwide?

I can see why, much easier than tennis. But I also think that it is short lived (you heard it here on PB first) because ultimately neither are as rewarding as tennis and tennis-playing padel/pickle-curious players will eventually return to tennis.

Watch the video. It is also about packing the courts in to get more paying customers per acre, and then there are nascent professional tours funded by those presumably hoping for media rights to pay off.

Have esports replaced the Olympics? Has UFC replaced boxing? You know who else launched new sports leagues? ~~Hitler~~ ‘America's Hitler’.

Foss · August 29

If it’s going to survive in the longer (decade+) term then at some point BlueSky is going to have to actually figure out how to earn some money to cover its costs.

They’ve ruled out IPO and advertising and, at some point, the rich men who’s plaything it is are going to get bored and wander off/die.

bondegezou · August 29

A story about the US:

Alabama town’s first Black mayor, who had been locked out of office, wins election

https://apnews.com/article/alabama-newbern-first-black-mayor-4ee90489413deb40a8d302fc9457905b

Daveyboy1961 · August 29

I wonder many refukker gammons are of the opinion that the new chicken pox vaccine in MMR will make them allergic to chicken? Perhaps Nigel and Lice could make a statement?

bondegezou · August 29

Is the Trump administration working for the Russians??

Gabbard abruptly ousted CIA Russia expert days after Trump-Putin meeting: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/28/politics/gabbard-abruptly-ousted-cia-russia-expert-days-after-trump-putin-meeting

Nigelb · August 29

bondegezou said:
A story about the US:

Alabama town’s first Black mayor, who had been locked out of office, wins election

https://apnews.com/article/alabama-newbern-first-black-mayor-4ee90489413deb40a8d302fc9457905b

66 votes to 26.
Truly local democracy.

Nigelb · August 29

bondegezou said:
Is the Trump administration working for the Russians??

Gabbard abruptly ousted CIA Russia expert days after Trump-Putin meeting: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/28/politics/gabbard-abruptly-ousted-cia-russia-expert-days-after-trump-putin-meeting

So said the President of Portugal, just yesterday.

MattW · August 29

Good morning everyone.

What an apposite header.

I agree it is a very important question. Personally I have only occasionally looked at Notts TV. I think institutionalisation and business models are the keys.

If The Rest is Politics can charge £60 for membership, or writers can charge £6 a month for a personal substack, then there is potential. In blog-time it was difficult, but models developed - a good example is Ventnor Blog who were already up to 90k page-readers per month by 2008. Combined subscription / ads / specialisation / affiliation / donation / pro-am mix has much potential, though the dog days of Youtube have now gone imo. It's all much easier to do these days - playing with vodcasting back in 2004 was quite the challenge just for hardware.

On RefUK running away from media coverage in Notts, I've been digging a little and there seem to be enough fairly blatant violations of the Councillor Code of Conduct to be worth a complaint to the Monitoring Officer. One thing I note about RefUK Councillors when they get modest pushback is that they either try to dismiss and carry on regardless, or run away.

https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/media/1633/councillor-code-of-conduct-_final_-12072012.pdf

I think this one is important because it is the first finger of a Trump strategy - seek to undermine the normal checks and balances, and see if you get away with it..

Pulpstar · August 29

Apparently if I had an aerial I could never have received this channel despite living in the Nottinghamshire area lol.

bondegezou · August 29

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193
The Guardian are at it as well

She added: “The other big problem [for vaccine uptake] is that there are vast inequalities in uptake. We know that uptake is also lower among some ethnic minority groups, notably black Caribbean and African populations.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/28/england-needs-to-wake-up-to-faltering-infant-vaccination-rate-experts-warn
Indeed; this has been known for years. I vaguely STR there was some controversy over money being spent on schemes to try to improve uptake of the Covid vaccine amongst ethnic minority groups?

Though combating the b/s coming out of America via mass-murderer JFK Junior might be money better spent.
I thought so, that’s why I was surprised to read on here the other day that the low uptake of vaccinations in children was a white working class problem

A lot of my friends were anti vaxxers during covid, and they are all WWC, so maybe that’s where the confusion comes from.
I'd *guess* that there are more anti-vaxxers amongst Reform-party voters than amongst those of other parties (except perhaps Greens?) because they seem to take more notice of American new and traditional media, which is filled with JFK Jr's b/s. I'd also guess the fewest anti-vaxxers were amongst the Lib Dems. But I might be wrong.

I get lots of anti-vax b/s on my 'For you' Twix feed.

Reform UK 2024 manifesto:

Excess Deaths and Vaccine Harms Public Inquiry

Excess deaths are nearly as high as they were during the Covid pandemic. Young people are over-represented.

This is classic anti-vaxx stuff. Reform UK, RFK Jnr?

boulay · August 29

bondegezou said:
A story about the US:

Alabama town’s first Black mayor, who had been locked out of office, wins election

https://apnews.com/article/alabama-newbern-first-black-mayor-4ee90489413deb40a8d302fc9457905b

Vital news for us here in Britain.

Nigelb · August 29

By the end of the decade, China will generate more electricity from solar power alone than does the entire US electrical grid.

DecrepiterJohnL · August 29

bondegezou said:
Is the Trump administration working for the Russians??

Gabbard abruptly ousted CIA Russia expert days after Trump-Putin meeting: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/28/politics/gabbard-abruptly-ousted-cia-russia-expert-days-after-trump-putin-meeting

How could we tell? What would they do differently?

noneoftheabove · August 29

bondegezou said:
Is the Trump administration working for the Russians??

Gabbard abruptly ousted CIA Russia expert days after Trump-Putin meeting: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/28/politics/gabbard-abruptly-ousted-cia-russia-expert-days-after-trump-putin-meeting

Perhaps but either way it is working for the authoritarian multi billionaires who want to take, and have taken, power, wealth and control from liberal democracy into their own hands.

Morris_Dancer · August 29

Dopermean said:

Morris_Dancer said:

Foxy said:

Taz said:

another_richard said:
On other local news:

The UK government did not do its own analysis of the cost of the biggest reorganisation of councils in England for decades, the BBC has learned.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities.

Rayner's department, the ministry of local government, based its cost estimates on a 2020 report commissioned by the County Council Network (CCN) that said £2.9bn could be saved over five years.

But the CCN has since revised its analysis and now says the reorganisation could make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9wxnlnrxdo

I wonder how much time Rayner spends doing her job compared to her own housing dealings:

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has been accused of avoiding £40,000 in stamp duty on her new flat by the sea after she told authorities it was her primary residence.

Rayner, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, was said to have removed her name from the official deed to her house in Greater Manchester weeks before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

According to The Telegraph, Rayner would have had to pay £70,000 in stamp duty on a second property, so the change saved her £40,000. She is thought to have paid only £30,000.

She also told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that the house in her constituency was still her main home, before telling Brighton and Hove council that her new flat was her second home, which would change her status for council tax.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-avoided-40000-stamp-duty-on-new-seaside-flat-76m7g6zkb

As we know Rayner has a long history of dubious housing transactions.
I’m awaiting for the ‘more targetting of an aspirational working class woman’ spin on this from her fans.
It's the different taxation of different residences for stamp duty and council tax that is the problem. If both were replaced by a property tax of perhaps 1% of value each year then the problem goes away.
Dr. Foxy, what do you think the cost would be of assessing the value of every single house every year?

It may well be prohibitive, in both political and financial terms.
You wouldn't do a valuation every year, for crying out loud.
Up until 1990 there was an annual property tax on value. It was considered to be a cost-effective tax, it was dispensed with for ideological not economic reasons.

Ok, so, how often?

Individual assessments will still take a lot of time and cost initially. And the increase in cost to taxpayers will be politically difficult. It's the same reason council bands haven't been reformed, even though they should've been years ago.

Leon · August 29

DecrepiterJohnL said:

TOPPING said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Is tennis in danger of being replaced?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVj-5yMUIQM

Padel and pickleball have rocketed in popularity at amateur and professional levels in the past three or four years. Goldrush or bubble?
Isn't one of them the fastest growing sport worldwide?

I can see why, much easier than tennis. But I also think that it is short lived (you heard it here on PB first) because ultimately neither are as rewarding as tennis and tennis-playing padel/pickle-curious players will eventually return to tennis.
Watch the video. It is also about packing the courts in to get more paying customers per acre, and then there are nascent professional tours funded by those presumably hoping for media rights to pay off.

Have esports replaced the Olympics? Has UFC replaced boxing? You know who else launched new sports leagues? ~~Hitler~~ ‘America's Hitler’.

UFC really SHOULD replace boxing, tho. It is much more interesting, much more popular, and probably a lot less corrupt (tho I do not know for sure)

Taz · August 29

This is a very odd story. Woman takes $15 million worth of drugs into the US. Claims to be a victim but refuses to tell who they were as she’s scared. Try’s to leave the country. Looking at a massive sentence.

Ends up with a very small sentence.

https://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2025-08-26/one-of-the-greatest-escapes-for-a-british-offender-in-a-foreign-court

Taz · August 29

Leon said:

JosiasJessop said:

dixiedean said:
20 minutes on X has only ever fleshed out deluded states of mind.
It can have its uses - though BlueSky is becoming better IMV, especially as Twix sinks further into stinking morasses of shittidom.
Bluesky is down to about 36 centrist Dad users now, who all agree with each other, so maybe it just feels "cosier"

Sadly I’ve seen a few tedious centrist dad or mom types seem to be returning to infect Twitter with their earnest takes.

Taz · August 29

Foss said:
If it’s going to survive in the longer (decade+) term then at some point BlueSky is going to have to actually figure out how to earn some money to cover its costs.

They’ve ruled out IPO and advertising and, at some point, the rich men who’s plaything it is are going to get bored and wander off/die.

So is it just being bankrolled by wealthy people ?

Perhaps subscription model then.

MattW · August 29

Leon said:

TimS said:

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

JosiasJessop said:

isam said:

isam said:
The Times on the trend for not vaccinating children

There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/0ed4db5e-eb14-4514-9d34-4831f58348bc?shareToken=5e15a25e7e9aec91aaea1b391601e193
The Guardian are at it as well

She added: “The other big problem [for vaccine uptake] is that there are vast inequalities in uptake. We know that uptake is also lower among some ethnic minority groups, notably black Caribbean and African populations.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/28/england-needs-to-wake-up-to-faltering-infant-vaccination-rate-experts-warn
Indeed; this has been known for years. I vaguely STR there was some controversy over money being spent on schemes to try to improve uptake of the Covid vaccine amongst ethnic minority groups?

Though combating the b/s coming out of America via mass-murderer JFK Junior might be money better spent.
I thought so, that’s why I was surprised to read on here the other day that the low uptake of vaccinations in children was a white working class problem

A lot of my friends were anti vaxxers during covid, and they are all WWC, so maybe that’s where the confusion comes from.
I'd *guess* that there are more anti-vaxxers amongst Reform-party voters than amongst those of other parties (except perhaps Greens?) because they seem to take more notice of American new and traditional media, which is filled with JFK Jr's b/s. I'd also guess the fewest anti-vaxxers were amongst the Lib Dems. But I might be wrong.

I get lots of anti-vax b/s on my 'For you' Twix feed.
“For you” is one of the most irritating features of X. It’s Elon trying to push stuff I’m not interested in plus loads of spammy clickbait.
You could always go to Bluesk -

Oh, wait. LOL

We'll see - I currently run both. Bluesky is currently ticking towards 40m users.

We won't know about success for at least another 12 months, nor whether being the Next Door of social media is the correct measure.

What future for hyper-local TV news? – politicalbetting.com

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