BB

Beige bang. Lover of cheese beanos.

[Gary Lineker @GaryLineker]

This might be the worst VAR decision I’ve seen (and there’s a lot of competition). Extraordinary given the significance.

[Sam Bowman @s8mb]

Only two years ago Labour pledged to allow 1.5 million homes to be built during this Parliament. Among people I know, one of the main reasons to vote Labour was the hope that they would build some houses.

Since then, only ~217k new homes have been completed in England. Housing starts have fallen to their lowest in over a decade – even lower than during Covid. Housebuilding in London is down by 75% – to 5,891 starts in 2025 compared to a target of 88,000.

This failure is shared by the Conservatives, who introduced a swathe of terrible building safety regulations after Grenfell that have made it impossible to build in London (and have, incidentally, helped to ruin many leaseholders as well). But Labour hasn't touched these rules. And it has done nothing of note to make it easier to build in other ways.

It has also passed a Renters' Rights Act that locks landlords into tenants indefinitely unless they sell or move back in to the property. Tenants can challenge any rent rise, and face no penalty for wrongful claims (under the old system, they faced the risk of their rent being raised, which cannot happen anymore).

The law even introduces de facto rent controls by allowing new tenants to immediately challenge rents they have just agreed to. It is designed to clog up the tribunals, and tenants have every incentive to challenge rent rises under any circumstance.

The natural response of landlords has been to leave the market ever since these rules were first floated (again, under the Conservatives). That has driven rents up even higher and made it harder to find places to rent.

Today the trend is so obvious that the government is now floating *explicit* rent controls, on top of the de facto ones introduced in the Renters' Rights Act.

The doom spiral we are in is pretty clear:

- Do nothing significant to expand housing supply;
- Introduce "renters' rights" that make it much riskier and costlier to be a landlord;
- When landlords sell their properties, driving up rents and the scarcity of rented homes, introduce 'temporary' rent controls. ← You are here
- With an election looming, extend the rent controls so they are de facto permanent.
- As even more landlords sell to flee the market, introduce a ban on selling rental properties into owner-occupation.
- You have now expropriated 19% of the English housing market, and destroyed the build-to-let sector altogether.

If I was a landlord, I would sell to get out of the market ASAP while it's still possible. For renters, this will make it even harder to find decent places to live and move around when circumstances change (eg, you have a new job or want to start a family).

Much of the British left seems intent on destroying the private rental market. But Labour has also managed to preside over the worst collapse in housebuilding in modern times, apart from the financial crisis, after campaigning on promises to expand it. An abject failure in almost every way.

[Paul Mason @paulmasonnews]

All those decent Green activists who came in fighting for the planet and ended up with a leader shilling for Putin

[Labourball @labourball]

Quick jolly in Russia before returning to lecture us on how the UK Govt is imperialist

[Amanda🌍 #FreeThemAll @Amandalavan1]

A 19-year-old Iranian girl named Saghar Gholami is at an immediate risk of public execution by the Islamic regime in Iran. Since her arrest, she had no access to legal representation or contact with her family.

We refuse to look away.
We refuse to be silent.
Keep her name alive

[Anthony Scaramucci @Scaramucci]

Martha Stewart made $45,000 in profits. 👇🏼

They caught her. They prosecuted her. She spent five months in federal prison.

Members of Congress are making hundreds of millions.

And the head of the enforcement division tasked with policing this resigned last week.

She couldn’t get the agency focused on it.

Now let’s talk about the bipartisan nature of this corruption.

Because I want to be clear, this is not a Republican problem.

This is a Washington problem.

That’s the scandal.

As an American I am embarrassed by it.

As an American I want it to stop.

Get Citizens United off the books. Pass the Bets Off Act. Reinstate the Stock Act with teeth.

Or just keep watching them get rich while you pay the price.

[Marian L Tupy @Marian_L_Tupy]

Coincidence? I think not. Happy 250th birthday, Wealth of Nations!

[Marian L Tupy @Marian_L_Tupy]

The last 250 years have been a game-changer for humanity, and Adam Smith's insights have played an important role in making us so much better off.

[The Lincoln Project @ProjectLincoln]

An image we won't soon forget. Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to look at Epstein survivors pictured behind her on the Hill today.

[Occupy Democrats @OccupyDemocrats]

BREAKING: The family of Alex Pretti releases a powerful statement about his senseless murder at the hands of Trump's masked fascist goons.

Please share this far and wide...

"We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital," the family said in a statement provided to CNN.

"Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman."

"The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed."

"Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you."

It is our responsibility as Americans to get the truth out there. Petti was not attempting to harm anyone. He was swarmed, beaten, and disarmed by vicious federal agents who were looking for someone to hurt. Once they had removed his gun — which he had a legal permit to carry — they executed him in cold blood by firing numerous bullets into him. Then, the Trump administration proceeded to immediately falsely smear him as a "terrorist" who wanted to carry out a mass shooting against law enforcement. They're utterly shameless.

“He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” said Pretti's father Alex. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”

Rest in power Alex. The rest of us will carry on the fight.

Please like and share.

[Cathy Young 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 @CathyYoung63]

I'm generally of the opinion that you should read a piece before pronouncing on it, but this is on a par with "Why Stalin Was a Misunderstood Humanitarian" or "Why Howard the Duck Is Actually a Masterpiece"

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

IRAN UPDATE SUNDAY NIGHT: THE MASS MURDER BEGINS
Over 500 people have now been killed in Iran and over 10,500 arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA), a US-based group whose estimates of fatalities and casualties have proved accurate in previous Iranian uprisings.
It signals a dramatic escalation in regime violence and repression against protestors.
The regime’s crackdown has toughened over the past three days, with soldiers shutting down towns and security forces initiating a close-range shoot-to-kill policy.
The protests now enter their third week and look like being the bloodiest since the 2019 protests
Iran’s internet and telecoms blackout means the actual number of deaths is probably much higher than 500.
Reports coming in of dozens of body bags being dumped on roads and hospitals overwhelmed with seriously wounded protesters shot by regime forces.

[𝐍𝐢𝐨���� 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 🇮🇷 ✡︎ @NiohBerg]

🔴 BREAKING:

THIS IS TEHRAN TONIGHT.

THE REVOLUTION CONTINUES.

[Matt Ridley @mattwridley]

Really? 11 million people older than the oldest ever human being alive today? And only 3 million of them are actually dead? Hmm

[BB @beigebangs]

@spectator Nah. No-one is seeing it. O’Brien has integrity and charisma in spades.

[Jay in Kyiv @JayinKyiv]

Putin's world is imploding..

Belgrade, now.

Next stop, Budapest.

[BB @beigebangs]

@NavalismHQ spam
account

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

Donald Trump doesn't give a damn about democracy: ANDREW NEIL https://t.co/6e4UTUxGta

[BB @beigebangs]

@spectator Oh, shut up

[Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 @AndrewYang]

The original sin of the DNC was sandbagging Bernie in 2016 that led straight to Trump. They did it again in 2024 by preventing a primary to Biden.