Chris Brierley

From Journo to Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner now championing #netzero @netzerochris 😀

[Chris Brierley @briers79]

WE NEED ELECTORAL REFORM!

Peoples voices are not being heard and media perpetuate the two party conversation.

[Andy Burnham @AndyBurnhamGM]

So good to see this recognition of what’s happening in GM.👇🏻

It is based on:

🐝 setting high, long-term ambitions and sticking to them

🐝 strong partnership between public, private and other sectors

🐝 collaborative ‘place-first’ politics

And we’re only getting started! 💪🏻

[Chris Brierley @briers79]

Surprised on #Gloucestershire #roads

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨 NEW: The Government has rated councils in England red, amber or green based on how well they're fixing potholes using Government funding

[Department for Energy Security and Net Zero @energygovuk]

Dr Alan Whitehead CBE @alanwhiteheadmp
has been appointed as Minister of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero @energygovuk.

[Chris Brierley @briers79]

Found myself agreeing with lots of what Clive Lewis says.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

Believe it or not, I had an old school friend on today’s marches in London. He sent me some photos from the crowd.

We went to middle school together and grew up on the same Eastern District council estate in Northampton.

I asked him why he was there. He gave me two answers:
1.“The government doesn’t listen to us.”
2.“I want to feel proud of my country again.”

He wore a Union Jack, not a St George’s Cross as he said that one had been hijacked by racists.

He wasn’t there for Hopkins, Musk, or any of the professional ‘grifters’ as he put it. He was there to feel part of something bigger, though he admitted there were a lot of, in his words, “assholes” there.

He’s an electrician. He’s smart. He’s not racist, but he’s not “PC” either. He’s not a fan of Keir Starmer but he also believes Farage would be a disaster.

Oh yes, he’s a bundle of contradictions! But aren’t we all?

I don’t know what ‘box’ we put him or the millions like him in. And I think pretending they’re all racists or fascists would be a massive mistake.

Some were. But not all.

This is about something bigger than immigration slogans or GDP numbers. For decades we’ve hollowed out our national life, underfunding and undermining the very institutions that once brought us together.

Karl Polanyi, writing in The Great Transformation, argued that when markets are “disembodied” from society, when land, labour, and life itself are treated as commodities
society pushes back. He called this the “double movement”: people seeking to protect themselves, to reclaim dignity and meaning when everything solid seems to melt into air.

That’s what I saw in my friend’s photos. Not just anger, but a demand for belonging.

We’ve replaced collective experience with atomisation. Without getting too nostalgic, programmes like the BBC’s Generation Game once pulled in millions every Saturday night, giving us something we could all talk about on Monday morning. Now we watch Netflix, Disney+, Prime, or Paramount, alone, in algorithmic silos.

Football used to be affordable and rooted in community; now it’s millionaires playing for the profitability of billionaires. The NHS, the post office, the railways - all chipped away, run down, sold off or centralised, leaving people feeling powerless and disconnected.

And don’t get me wrong: some kind of “Hovis Labour” nostalgia for the 1950s isn’t the answer. The country back then was often intolerant, grey, and deeply unequal. But what we’ve built since is a society that gives people little to hold in common, no collective story about who we are or what we’re for.

I reckon that’s partly why my mate marched. Not because he wants to turn back the clock. But because he wants to feel pride again. Pride in a country that is inclusive, fair, and offers a role for everyone. Pride in a nation that has a respected place in the world, tackles grotesque inequality, and gives people something real to believe in.

Polanyi warned that when democracies fail to provide a humane alternative, the backlash can turn authoritarian. This is how fascism grew in the 1930s, not because everyone became a true believer, but because millions felt abandoned and looked for strength, identity, and meaning wherever they could find it.

If Labour and progressives don’t offer that story of renewal, if we don’t rebuild our national institutions, restore collective pride, and re-embed markets within society, the far right will do it for us, in their own image.

And by then, it will be too late.

[Saul Staniforth @SaulStaniforth]

"They were the cheer leaders for privatisation & deregulation in the 1980s. Thats left us with high water bills, high energy bills, unaffordable rail fares.. & what I would say to my party is, don't lean in their direction"

Andy Burnham on Reform

[Chris Brierley @briers79]

https://t.co/ENmdovJzbU

[Gordon Brown @GordonBrown]

15 UK anti-poverty leaders have today published a joint letter saying “Getting rid of the two-child limit is the most cost-effective way to lift 350,000 kids out of poverty, while reducing the depth of poverty for 700,000 more.”

https://t.co/GlIvy3OrMy

[Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy]

How Britain privatised itself into failure

Britain outsourced its state – now private firms profit while public services crumble. In Failed State, Sam Freedman explains what went wrong

https://t.co/1UoMJ8PjpW

[Beth Rigby @BethRigby]

ELECTORAL DYSFUNCTION NEW EP
@Eluned_Morgan was a good sport & good conversationalist, appearing on #ED to talk about first year as First Minister, the rise of Reform and risk to Labour in next year’s Senedd elections. From rating PM to biting the bullet on wealth taxes..👇🏻

[Chris Brierley @briers79]

Now it makes sense why @AndyBurnhamGM went to #texas recently 👏🏻

[guynewey @guynewey]

👀👀👀

[Chris Brierley @briers79]

After the buzz of @wembleystadium @OfficialOAFC my 7 year old son (Will) came back from @worldscouting Beavers with a sock puppet called @hudson_mathew - he’s been put to bed in his sister’s (Liv) doll house! Night night Matthew

[Chris Brierley @briers79]

About time !!!

[BBC Breakfast @BBCBreakfast]

'It's just common sense'

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told #BBCBreakfast the "vast majority" of new build homes in England will be required to fit solar panels under changes to be published this year

https://t.co/rS5Z3WYp7v

[National League on DAZN @DAZN_NationalLg]

@OfficialOAFC are the National League Promotion Final Winners! 🥳

[The92Bible @The92Bible]

Wembley congratulates @OfficialOAFC 👏

Welcome back to the Football League, #OAFC!

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

Circa 50,000+ for the National League play-off final (and would have been more but for Wembley Park Tube closure/ticketing mess). Remarkable support, fifth tier English football, the pyramid matters hugely. #TheVanarama

[The92Bible @The92Bible]

2025/26 EFL League Two Map 🗺️

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

There’s such a fighting spirit to Oldham Athletic. So close to going out of existence in 21/22. But great fans and good people like Frank Rothwell and Darren Royle refused to let their club die. They fought and survived. They were so close to losing the National League play-off but they fought and recovered and won. Resilience on and off the pitch.

You have to feel for Southend United, who’ve also been through the mill in recent years, winding-up threat, transfer embargo, points deduction, prolonged takeover. Their fighting spirit kept them alive. Amazing tifo at Wembley said it all: never give up. Southend gave everything and contributed fully to an epic play-off.

The quality shown by both sides, and the depth of support (gate: 52,115 and could have been more but for transport/ticket fiasco) is another reminder of the legitimacy of the campaign to have #3UP from the National League. #oafc #southendunited

[Enterprise National League @NL_Enterprise]

A new National League record 👥

Thank you for your incredible support 👏

[Chris Brierley @briers79]

Amazing content !!! Thank you 🙏🏻

[Dale Harris @DSHarris_94]

Our media team have done some hours this last few weeks.

Not that they don’t every week but this play off campaign has been propped up by unreal videos & content. 👏🏻

#oafc | @OfficialOAFC

[EFL @EFL]

What a game! 🤯

Congratulations @OfficialOAFC - and welcome back! 👏