Mike Haywood

[PoliticsJOE @PoliticsJOE_UK]

How much of Labour's 2024 manifesto did Keir Starmer stick to?

[Jack Dart @JackWDart]

If people genuinely believe Burnham won’t receive the exact same media onslaught, they’ve not been paying attention.

Starmer is not, objectively, bad. This idea that he is somehow the worst PM in British history is frankly laughable.

Liz truss lasted 49 days, crashed the pound and was laughed out of Downing Street.

Since Labour took office, Keir Starmer’s government has:

• Scrapped the two-child benefit limit, lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and putting money back into some of the hardest-pressed households in the country.

• Expanded free school meals, cutting costs for families and making sure more children get a proper meal during the school day.

• Expanded funded childcare, reducing one of the biggest monthly costs facing working parents and making it easier for people to stay in work.

• Raised the National Living Wage, increasing pay for millions of low-paid workers.

• Strengthened workers’ rights, giving people greater protection against insecure work and bad employers.

• Introduced statutory sick pay from the first day of illness, so workers are less likely to choose between their health and their wages.

• Ended no-fault evictions, giving renters more security in their homes.

• Brought rail operators back into public ownership, taking key services out of failed private hands and giving the public a stronger stake in how they are run.

• Cut NHS waiting lists from their post-pandemic peak, meaning more patients are being seen sooner.

• Raised the state pension through the triple lock, protecting pensioners’ incomes against rising costs.

• Scrapped the old non-dom tax regime, making some of the wealthiest people in the country pay more fairly.

• Added VAT to private school fees, raising money from those most able to contribute.

• Removed business rates relief from private schools, ending an unjustified tax break.

• Increased neighbourhood policing, putting more officers and PCSOs back into communities.

• Helped bring knife crime down, meaning fewer families face the devastation of serious violence.

• Recorded the lowest homicide rate since the 1970s, a material improvement in public safety.

• Created Great British Energy, giving Britain a publicly owned clean energy company.

• Created the National Wealth Fund, backing investment in industry, infrastructure and clean energy.

• Passed planning reforms aimed at getting homes and major projects built faster.

• Improved relations with the EU, reducing diplomatic hostility and rebuilding practical cooperation.

• Agreed a UK-EU security partnership, strengthening cooperation on defence and European security.

• Signed a long-term partnership with Ukraine, reinforcing Britain’s support against Putin’s invasion.

• Secured new trade agreements, opening up markets for British businesses.

• Helped restore seriousness to government after years of scandal, chaos and decline.

People do not have to like Starmer. They do not have to vote Labour. But pretending this is the record of the worst Prime Minister in British history is absurd.

[Aston Villa @AVFCOfficial]

ASTON VILLA HAVE WON THE EUROPA LEAGUE!!!!! 🏆

[Ezri Konsa @EzriKonsa]

Believe, Villans.

Before the Final, I wanted to take in the moment to share a few words with you all 💜

https://t.co/axZBb34j4J

[Tara Lynn Thompson @TaraLynnSays]

After reading Matt Shumer’s “Something Big is Coming” yesterday, which has hit 55M views, I started searching high and low for any and all counter arguments.

Not because I believed he wasn’t being honest. Or revealing valid a tectonic shift coming.

But because there is always two sides (minimum) to every story. Not sometimes. All times.

Forming opinions based on one side is how you get lobotomies becoming accepted psychiatric practice for twenty years.

So, is there any other viewpoint other than the end of the world as we know it where we’re all noodling at the local lake for our dinner?

Perhaps.

And, if so, this is the best I’ve seen.

Take a deep breath. And read it. You’ll take a deep breath after reading it, too.

[𝔗𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 @politicsusa46]

For anyone who would like to hear Mark Carney’s outstanding Davos speech in full here it is. This is what true global leadership looks like.

Canada should be immensely proud today, because they are leading the fight back when others dare not.

🎥 TikTok - https://t.co/BExGV2YIDq

[𝙷𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚖𝚊𝚗 @shagbark_hick]

Kids are portable. There's no reason you can't continue to do interesting things as a parent.

But the messaging is very much: "your life is over if you have a kid." This is not "trad" in any way, it's actually a VERY NEW idea.

Not that long ago, parents went to parties, bars, moved cross-country multiple times as needed, took trips, and so on -- and they did it with kids. Whatever they would've done anyway, they just toted their kids along, and they were fine.

Now, parenthood is widely viewed as a total social death and a full-stop barrier on really doing anything but living a completely routinized life. And if you don't do it like that, people make it out like you're a bad parent.

Obviously, you have to modify how you do things and be sensitive to the kids' needs to some degree, but whenever I've gotten elderly people talking about this subject, they all say it was never a big deal.

I think fertility rates could be helped very quickly if we put an end to this novel, senseless stigma -- because presently, the messaging is: "no more adventures forever the very second you have a kid," and that makes adventurous people think: "huh, maybe I should freeze my eggs / put off marriage / not bother trying to have kids til I'm 65"

[Betano UK @Betano_UK]

𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 🟣🔵

We're giving away 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 of tickets to Aston Villa v Crystal Palace. 🎟️

To enter:
🖱️ Follow @betano_UK
🔁 Retweet this post

T&Cs apply.

#AVFC

[Mike Haywood @michaelcondreyh]

@mikesmith187 Henry or nothing. Absolute beast

[Adam Rossi @rossiadam]

Don’t like how you’re thinking? Change WHERE you’re thinking.

When I was spending long hours writing code, I would sometimes spend 20 hours straight trying to fix a pernicious bug or to make an algorithm more efficient.

Then the answer would hit me the next day as I walked in the woods.

Why?

Because the brain doesn’t run on logic alone.

It needs novelty, variation, and surprise.

And many times the brain works best when you are not actively trying to solve a problem.

"Aha!" moments and idea recombination thrive when your surroundings change.

And you don’t need a sabbatical or vacation to trigger it.

• Work from a different coffee shop
• Rearrange your desk, paint a wall
• Take a different route home
• Drive to a nearby town that you have not explored
• Hike a new trail or park

Even a small change breaks your brain out of autopilot.

And when your senses get rewired, your ideas often do too.

Try someplace new this week if you're in a rut.

(Pic: Walking and talking with my boys)

[Adam Rossi @rossiadam]

Stop scrolling and watch this clip.

I know you have seen it before. Watch it again.

This is finest example of Memento Mori in cinema.

When we are on our deathbeds, we won’t be thinking about the bullshit that we are worried about now.

We will think about the people we love.

[Mike Haywood @michaelcondreyh]

@rossiadam Don’t worry you’ll be fine here - lots of the stuff you see on here is either downright false or conveniently misses out lots of relevant information! Freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from accountability

[Supertanskiii @supertanskiii]

This really puts shit into perspective.

[Mike Haywood @michaelcondreyh]

@merterdir @Porkchop_EXP 1 out of 9999 isn’t 1%. Did you go to school in America? That would explain your attempt at maths 🤣

[Football Tweet ⚽ @Footballtweet]

The future king of England is a brilliant football pundit. 🤴🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[Blake Burge @blakeaburge]

The older I get, the more I realize:
Quiet is underrated
Mornings are magic
You don’t need many friends, just a few good ones
Health is everything
Drama is a choice
Most 'urgent' things aren't actually that important
Saying no is a superpower
The simple life is the good life.

[SMB Attorney @SMB_Attorney]

As you get older, you’ll realize that the $200 dinner and the $10 meal satisfy the same hunger.

The designer sunglasses block the same sun as the gas station pair.

A private jet and a middle seat both land at the same airport.

A Tesla and a Toyota sit in the same traffic.

True peace is not found in luxury or labels.

Stay kind and grateful.

The sunset looks the same no matter how much you paid to see it.

[signüll @signulll]

i was recently having a convo with my buddy (largely as a joke) about how to truly succeed in bureaucracies.

we discussed how one of the biggest mistakes ppl make in very bigcorp life, especially in bloated orgs, is thinking simplification is the goal. it’s not. simplification is punished. it reveals too much. it threatens power structures, uncovers incompetence, & removes the need for whole teams. simplification will create enemies.

the real game is complexification. not in a chaotic way. it has to be fashionable complexity. complexity that looks like intelligence. introduce ambiguity. spin up cross functional workstreams. launch studies with no end state. raise questions that can’t be answered. build “alignment” across 12 stakeholders. this is how you win.

if you want to succeed in bureaucracies make things seem hard. then make them even harder. inject process. delay clarity. make your presence essential to navigating the mess you helped create.

that’s how you get promoted.

[Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek]

The UK economy is doing better than you think.

Forget the doom and gloom for a moment. There are growing signs it’s quietly gaining strength.

Here are 7 bright spots:

[Keir Starmer @Keir_Starmer]

I want people to be proud of where they live.

Today we've announced £1.5 billion of funding to empower communities to build thriving high streets, parks, youth clubs, libraries, and cultural venues.

Supporting local growth.

Breathing life back into your neighbourhood.