Derek Cobb

Semi-retired tourist & cyclist! Former London Internet Exchange CTO, BT Ops director & Network Architecture Director for Virginmedia. Support Crystal Palace FC!

[Derek Cobb @derek_cobb]

@afneil Completely out of date, and has been for a long time. Most people expect a PM to listen to their concerns and act upon them. If you're keen on suits and ties, take a trip to Savile Row

[Derek Cobb @derek_cobb]

Announcement of a 60 minute delay when it’s 90 minutes and getting covered in small black insects while queuing have only added to our joy

[Derek Cobb @derek_cobb]

Hi @LeShuttle Checked in at 7.24. 9.24 train delayed until 10.54. Fingers crossed we’re on it. Would recommend your Premium Car Parking experience for fans of delays

[Paul Holden @pauleholden]

This is what it looks like to be truly morally and politically bankrupt.

Cooper and her ilk treat Gaza like it's a comms issue, not one of the most profound moral and political outrages of a generation. Still defending their record in government, only admitting early failures of tone.

[The Green Party @TheGreenParty]

Andy Burnham says Labour got Gaza wrong. If you're sorry, prove it.

1. Call it a genocide.
2. End the arms sales.
3. Stop sharing military intelligence with Israel.

The people of Gaza can't wait any longer.

[Sangita Myska @SangitaMyska]

Labour’s rewriting of history is quite something.

The main problem was NOT that Labour was “too slow to call for a ceasefire” as Andy Burnham & Yvette Cooper now say it is.

The problem was Starmer, a human rights lawyer, saying Israel cutting off water and electricity was acceptable - and taking 9 days to correct the record.

Ongoing UK intelligence, military & trade co-operation during a genocide

Ministers refusing to listen to surgeons trying to advocate for killed/maimed children

Backing Trump & Netanyahu without question for almost two years.

The list goes on and on and on….

[Mukhtar @I_amMukhtar]

They're all changing their tunes now. They cheered for it, said that Israel had every right to cut off power and water. They've jailed pensioners for holding placards.

[Declassified UK @declassifiedUK]

Our analysis of Andy Burnham's statement:

Burnham didn't use the term genocide and instead said it was a matter for the "international courts... rather than politicians" to establish accountability. This is the same as the Starmer government and is in defiance of most of the world's human rights organisations who are referring to Israel's "genocide".

He said war crimes only "appear" to have been committed despite documentation by human rights groups and the UN, and the reason for the ICC's arrest warrant for Netanyahu.

He said the UK should be "looking" at "further sanctions... on those involved in the violence in Gaza" but did not make the obvious call for sanctions on Netanyahu who is wanted by the ICC.

Burnham said the UK should only be "looking" at a ban on trade in goods with Israel's illegal settlements (which is now the Starmer government's position), instead of explicitly calling for this now.

He did not call to end all arms exports to Israel, nor for an end to UK military cooperation such as withdrawing the 2020 military accord or ending all military training programmes.

We note his specific words. His statement was that (a) "many people feel" (only) that (b) at the "start" (only) of (c) "Israel's military action in Gaza" (not genocide) the Labour government "didn't get it right", but only apparently because Labour "was too slow to call for a ceasefire" (Yet the issue is not only that, it is that Labour has been supporting Israel through military, intelligence, trade and diplomatic support during the genocide).

[Channel 4 News @Channel4News]

The lawyer for one of Gaza’s most prominent doctors, Hussam Abu Safiya, who has been detained in Israel since 2024, has raised concerns about his physical deterioration.

A UN human rights body has called for his immediate release, as his lawyer warned that his life is in imminent danger.

[Saul Staniforth @SaulStaniforth]

'Israel says' isn't journalism.

As Israel slowly murders Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, this is shameful from the BBC

[Prem Sikka @premnsikka]

With the imminent crowning of Andy Burnham as UK PM Wes Streeting is manoeuvring into a plum job.

His time as Health Secretary was marked by privatisation, chaos and failure.

His 10 Year Health Plan extended privatisation into every aspect of the NHS.
https://t.co/bubbXREIgX

[Zack Polanski @ZackPolanski]

Director of a Gaza Hospital, Dr Hussain Abu Safiya is in horrific danger to his life.

The Foreign Secretary must demand Israel provides urgent treatment and releases him.

He's been detained by Israel without charge since 2024 and reported to have new life threatening injuries.

[Paul Holden @pauleholden]

I wholeheartedly agree. Following Electoral law is the absolute minimum we should expect of our representatives, especially if the benefits they received had a material impact on their political career. There is no democracy without transparency. If Farage hasn't reported donations in line with the law he shouldn't be an MP.

Now maybe you can ask your colleagues Steve Reed and Lisa Nandy why, as Company Directors of Labour Together, they failed to ensure that Labour Together was properly reporting donations for two years? You know, the money that was used to help get Starmer elected leader of the Labour Party?

[Derek Cobb @derek_cobb]

@Keir_Starmer To me you’ll always be an ambitious middle manager who fought his way to the top, with a lot of help. When there you offered no vision or strategy. Your authoritarian approach showed the only way you know how to deal with differing views. You were wholly unsuited to the job

[Saul Staniforth @SaulStaniforth]

So the trade deal the UK govt signed with the US will lead to lots of us dying needlessly because billions of NHS funding is being diverted from essential services to bolster the profits of US big pharma.

[Paul Holden @pauleholden]

An extremely important, devastating story. Starmer and Streeting have colluded to produce a US-UK pharma trade deal that experts say will siphon billions from the NHS and cause huge numbers of avoidable deaths. Disgraceful.

[Derek Cobb @derek_cobb]

@RupertLowe10 So you don’t understand how a fiat currency works?

[Farrukh @implausibleblog]

Left: Keir Starmer, "I'm stepping down after two years leaving the country in a better position that I found it"

Right: Police arrest an 83-year-old woman for holding a sign, after Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper proscribe a protest group, which Labour's Baron Hain said was shameful in the House of Lords

Under Starmer, the face of terrorism in the UK is elderly old women holding up signs. What a disgraceful legacy

[Prem Sikka @premnsikka]

Royal Mail boss’s pay package triples to £6.9m.

Cost of postage stamps rocketing

RM hasn't hit delivery target for 1st-class post since 2017, 2nd-class mail since 2020.

Ofcom continues to reduce targets.

Bosses rewarded for fleecing people.
https://t.co/5KHpChLSlV