M P Hendry

Likes astronomy, parkrun (A618792), fellrunning, orienteering, geocaching, politics.

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@nigelmp I thought Michael Winstanley spoke really well on BBCQT and what I’ve seen of the hustings. I’ve spent 30 years never voting Tory but he seemed like a decent chap. He knows he won’t be competitive this week. Shouldn’t read anything into this for Badenoch either.

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@FreedomMatty What does Great Britioh Quality mean in this shite?

[Al Carns @AlistairCarns]

A Russian tanker in the Channel. A social media ban. AI locked down by Washington.

These are not three separate stories.

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@Heccles94 Actually thought Green looked quite high on that estimate. Although the Green candidate speaks well, she was chosen late due to Green vetting issues, and I expect more will lend support to Burnham. Restore will easily come third, sadly

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@itsafrogslife Did Haigh Woodland parkrun when Nandy took part a few years ago, she was pretty quick tbf 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️ 🌳

[David Yelland @davidyelland]

As front pages go, this one's so beautiful.

[The Rev. Anton Mittens 🌹👮🎓 @MittensOff]

A tale of two cities, don't let them tell you they are the majority. The hard right were outnumber at protests across the UK today. Decency will always win.

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@LukeTryl @sundersays Has there been any data on the waspi flipflop? I think that's been Burnham's biggest unforced error. Glad he's clarified quickly but may have an impact

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@LOS_Fisher Burnham will have to take a hit on this gaffe. Have sympathy for the WASPI campaign on process followed, but the position now is now right. Difficult to give cash to those affected. Windfalls would benefit cruise industry, but with defence and other world issues ATM?

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@mattforde Liked all of them, but loved Blair, Johnson (in particular!) and Trump. Wasn't as sure about Starmer and Farage although I heard where they were coming from :D

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@AndyBurnhamFC Did they go down as a 'maybe'? 🤔

Seriously though, thank you and well done to all canvassers who are out there speaking with residents with emotions high and strongly held views on all sides👏.

[Andy Burnham for Makerfield @andy4makerfield]

Whoever this is, we’d appreciate your help on the 19th of June as we’ll have about 650 stakes to take down, but could you give it a rest for now 👍

[Andy Burnham @AndyBurnhamGM]

The media onslaught is in full swing, my garden stakes are under attack … but I’m loving every minute of this campaign!

[Don McGowan @donmcgowan]

A few weeks ago, our UK media and Nigel Farage were clamouring to 'Get Starmer Out'.

Remember that? They were using it as their slogan for Matt GPT's disastrous by-election campaign. They claimed that it was a 'referendum on Starmer's leadership'.

It didn't quite go to plan. Starmer outplayed them all on that occasion.

Here's something that we need to remember though, when JD Vance came to the UK in July of 2025, he held a series of meetings in the Cotswolds with some British politicians.

Nigel Farage.
Robert Jenrick [Tory then, Reform now].
Danny Kruger [Tory then, Reform now].
James Orr [Tory then, Reform now].

Donald Trump is a destabilising force, but I don't really think he knows why. 😵‍💫

JD Vance is far more malign. He is wrapped, head-to-toe, in the Christian Nationalism/Project 2025 movement that Farage et al. are desperately trying to bring to our shores.

Reform will lose the Makerfield by-election, they picked a lame, three-legged donkey to run the Grand National. But they started this campaign the same as the last 'Get Starmer Out', before suddenly dropping it as the realisation dawned.

OK, this has gone a bit higgledy-piggledy, so what I'm trying to get to, is that any intervention by JD Vance in UK politics, is likely at the behest of Nigel Farage.

Farage is desperate, clawing at the floor while the daemon of scrutiny drags him backwards to the pitch dark basement of obscurity.

His only possible hope of survival is an early General Election, and to have that happen, he needs Starmer on the ropes.

Cue, JD Vance with a targetted intervention about:

migrants ✅
elites ✅
inciting anger ✅
Henry Nowak ✅
death of our civilization [sic] ✅

A tirade worthy of only one man … Nigel Farage.

The man who has sought to weaponise this tragedy and incited rioting only five days ago. The man who has gone against Henry's father's own wish that the tragedy should not be used as a weapon of hatred.

Nigel Farage is a dangerous force with the backing of, probably, the next President of the USA. Both are trying to destabilise and turn our societies into fascist visions of the far-right.

Don't let them.

Have a lovely weekend. 😊

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@peterkyle - as SoS, please give the PM a nudge on this one. The government must do more to protect vulnerable people from scammers financing big tech.

[Martin Lewis @MartinSLewis]

THEY ARE BASTARDS!

We just got an email sent to MSE. The spelling was awful, and it was quite tough to understand. Lower down, the writer later explained she was 78 and her disability had stopped her being able to spell. So perhaps it is a stroke, or something similar.

I've tidied it and summarised below, changing some identifying details. In a nutshell, it was this...

"I invested, Martin, with Quotum when you first announced it on TV. What an opportunity for me to buy my own flat. My manager there passed me through to a nice man who asked me for £350 more. He showed me it was growing. I did what he told me to do."

She then goes on to explain how she really wanted her flat and she gave more and more money. And she has nothing left to help with her disability.

I'm honestly in tears typing this. These types of scam ads have now been going on for a decade. I have spent my career trying to help people with their finances. It feels visceral to get this, and to feel that this reputation has been perverted by criminals to steal from someone who is clearly so vulnerable leaves me feeling nauseous.

So many people, both vulnerable and not, lose money and see their lives and wellbeing destroyed. It's now seven years since I sued Facebook. And yet still nothing is being done.

Big tech makes £3bn a year from these scammers. We have a law in place to make them responsible for these ads they're paid to publish, yet it isn't implemented. How many more of these do I have to receive - and far worse, how many more people have to go through this?

This is relentless. It is wrong. Government has to take action! I wrote to the PM just two weeks ago on this very issue. I've not heard back yet.

(We are, of course, going to try and point her in the right direction to get help, but that will be stressful for her too)

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@JDVance Sort out your own shit before you upset a grieving family in Britain

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@HeatherJeeves Andy Burnham. Keir Starmer wants Andy Burnham to win. If Burnham loses, Labour are in big trouble. If he wins, Burnham will bring cabinet and mayoral experience to shake up Parliament. Don't underestimate Starmer's chances in any challenge either- he's resolute.

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

Prime Ministers that were under-appreciated during my lifetime (all far from perfect, but were better than we took them for): John Major, Gordon Brown, Keir Starmer.

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@georgeeaton Still seems tight for Burnham to me. At the ward level polling he is trailing in areas for which he used to be MP, and compared to the mayoral elections the swing to Reform remains sticky. I think he will win, but too tight to command a mandate as a potential PM at a GE?

[M P Hendry @BoltonMike]

@FinighanBethan @MENnewsdesk Did anyone come out with a stronger opinion of Burnham or Kenyon than when they went in?