Ben casper
@beldaz78.bsky.social
Social work. Progressive. Pragmatic.
Reposted by Ben casper
🔴 For the past year @lucasamin.bsky.social and I have been investigating Palantir in the UK
What we found was a company with unrivalled political access, selling a product many data experts in the NHS don’t use, and don’t rate
Please read and share
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/its-just-a...
What we found was a company with unrivalled political access, selling a product many data experts in the NHS don’t use, and don’t rate
Please read and share
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/its-just-a...
"It's just a waste of time": inside Palantir's £330m NHS failure
Our new investigation reveals the problems with Palantir’s NHS tech - and the unrivalled political access that fuelled the firm’s march into the British state
democracyforsale.substack.com
July 14, 2026 at 4:53 PM
🔴 For the past year @lucasamin.bsky.social and I have been investigating Palantir in the UK
What we found was a company with unrivalled political access, selling a product many data experts in the NHS don’t use, and don’t rate
Please read and share
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/its-just-a...
What we found was a company with unrivalled political access, selling a product many data experts in the NHS don’t use, and don’t rate
Please read and share
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/its-just-a...
Reposted by Ben casper
Our next edition is on sale 🗞️ The unravelling of Nigel Farage
Featuring @jamesrball.com, Lucy Reade, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social, @paulmason.bsky.social and more
Subscribe: buff.ly/1wNQMSb
Featuring @jamesrball.com, Lucy Reade, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social, @paulmason.bsky.social and more
Subscribe: buff.ly/1wNQMSb
July 9, 2026 at 10:26 AM
Our next edition is on sale 🗞️ The unravelling of Nigel Farage
Featuring @jamesrball.com, Lucy Reade, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social, @paulmason.bsky.social and more
Subscribe: buff.ly/1wNQMSb
Featuring @jamesrball.com, Lucy Reade, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social, @paulmason.bsky.social and more
Subscribe: buff.ly/1wNQMSb
Reposted by Ben casper
EXC - The £5m gift to Nigel Farage by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Revealed: Farage’s £5m gift reported to UK crime agency over money laundering concerns
Exclusive: Latest Guardian revelation about gift from cryptocurrency tycoon comes as Reform UK leader forces byelection
www.theguardian.com
July 7, 2026 at 6:40 PM
EXC - The £5m gift to Nigel Farage by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Ben casper
And there it is…
www.desmog.com/2026/04/30/r...
www.desmog.com/2026/04/30/r...
Revealed: Reform’s £24 Million from Fossil Fuel Interests
Reform UK has received £24 million from oil and gas interests, accounting for more than two thirds of its total income, DeSmog can reveal. Led by Nigel Farage, the party is calling for new North Sea o...
www.desmog.com
June 26, 2026 at 6:54 PM
And there it is…
www.desmog.com/2026/04/30/r...
www.desmog.com/2026/04/30/r...
Reposted by Ben casper
The Government Estate Nature Plan has been published – revealing the first official map of all central government land, and that 37% of the public estate is being protected & managed for nature (thereby counting towards the 30by30 goal).
Thread 1/
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a3ce5...
Thread 1/
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a3ce5...
June 26, 2026 at 10:08 AM
The Government Estate Nature Plan has been published – revealing the first official map of all central government land, and that 37% of the public estate is being protected & managed for nature (thereby counting towards the 30by30 goal).
Thread 1/
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a3ce5...
Thread 1/
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a3ce5...
Reposted by Ben casper
One of the lessons of the last two years is that Labour urgently needs to stop being afraid of its own shadow.
Burnham should appoint whoever he thinks would be the best Chancellor and throw his authority behind them.
The Daily Mail will try to kill them anyway. So just govern.
Burnham should appoint whoever he thinks would be the best Chancellor and throw his authority behind them.
The Daily Mail will try to kill them anyway. So just govern.
Hard not to regard this as a classic example of a pre-emptive campaign by certain sectors, along with their media sympathisers, to discourage a new prime minister from appointing someone who might damage their interests in the long and short term.
And it will almost certainly work.
And it will almost certainly work.
Everyone is acting like Ed Miliband is Chairman Mao – it’s it's utterly mad
Ian Dunt: He's a plausible and smart candidate to be the next chancellor, not a literal communist
inews.co.uk
June 26, 2026 at 8:09 AM
One of the lessons of the last two years is that Labour urgently needs to stop being afraid of its own shadow.
Burnham should appoint whoever he thinks would be the best Chancellor and throw his authority behind them.
The Daily Mail will try to kill them anyway. So just govern.
Burnham should appoint whoever he thinks would be the best Chancellor and throw his authority behind them.
The Daily Mail will try to kill them anyway. So just govern.
Reposted by Ben casper
"Tell Jabba I'll get him his money..."
June 19, 2026 at 3:11 PM
"Tell Jabba I'll get him his money..."
Reposted by Ben casper
‘Horseshit’: I gave my verdict to Sky News on the Great Dartmoor Pony Cull Conspiracy of 2026 - a conspiracy theory grounded in nonsense, that’s festered on Musk’s hellsite & been supercharged today by the Tories - to distract from the fact nature on Dartmoor is dying: news.sky.com/story/horseh...
'Horsehs*t': Campaigners and government reject rumours of forced Dartmoor pony 'cull'
Natural England has ordered a 75% cut to livestock numbers on Dartmoor in a bid to tackle overgrazing. A group that represents livestock owners warns it will mean a dramatic reduction in the number of...
news.sky.com
June 16, 2026 at 1:33 PM
‘Horseshit’: I gave my verdict to Sky News on the Great Dartmoor Pony Cull Conspiracy of 2026 - a conspiracy theory grounded in nonsense, that’s festered on Musk’s hellsite & been supercharged today by the Tories - to distract from the fact nature on Dartmoor is dying: news.sky.com/story/horseh...
Reposted by Ben casper
This is a huge story.
www.ft.com/content/dd79...
www.ft.com/content/dd79...
Arson targeting Keir Starmer properties originated in Russia
Handler was affiliated with a pro-Kremlin hacktivist group
www.ft.com
June 15, 2026 at 11:54 AM
This is a huge story.
www.ft.com/content/dd79...
www.ft.com/content/dd79...
Reposted by Ben casper
No Toby Young, you were not too right wing for MI6. You were too shit. These things can be related, but in your case they were entirely separate.
spectator.com/article/was-...
spectator.com/article/was-...
Was I too right-wing for MI6?
Like many people, I’ve been bemoaning the woke capture of our security services for some time. In 2024, Sir Richard Moore, then the head of MI6, resigned from the Garrick Club during the row over the ...
spectator.com
June 11, 2026 at 11:26 AM
No Toby Young, you were not too right wing for MI6. You were too shit. These things can be related, but in your case they were entirely separate.
spectator.com/article/was-...
spectator.com/article/was-...
Another fantastic episode. I spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to hold big conversations we can all take part in, and promote the role of your "ordinary" person in our politics. BBQT clearly not the venue. Televised versions of citizens assemblies?
Sunday School: Bruising encounters
⁉️ Makerfield's dud Question Time
👑 Crown clown Andrew latest
🤬 What does Censored even mean now?
With @pimlicat.bsky.social & @mrkennycampbell.bsky.social
🍏 open.spotify.com/episode/5xiM...
🎧 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
⁉️ Makerfield's dud Question Time
👑 Crown clown Andrew latest
🤬 What does Censored even mean now?
With @pimlicat.bsky.social & @mrkennycampbell.bsky.social
🍏 open.spotify.com/episode/5xiM...
🎧 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
Sunday School: Bruising encounters
Quiet Riot · Episode
open.spotify.com
June 7, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Another fantastic episode. I spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to hold big conversations we can all take part in, and promote the role of your "ordinary" person in our politics. BBQT clearly not the venue. Televised versions of citizens assemblies?
Absolutely this. Listened to much analysis this week, but not much of it includes this level of information.
I urge you to listen to the opening ten minutes of our discussion on the matter, where we establish the basic facts.
🆕 The Rage in Farage
@sturdyalex.bsky.social, @pimlicat.bsky.social, & guest @christabelcoops.bsky.social discuss the exploitation of Henry Nowak’s murder, as Farage invites disorder for the third summer in a row.
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/4elm...
🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
@sturdyalex.bsky.social, @pimlicat.bsky.social, & guest @christabelcoops.bsky.social discuss the exploitation of Henry Nowak’s murder, as Farage invites disorder for the third summer in a row.
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/4elm...
🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
June 7, 2026 at 9:29 AM
Absolutely this. Listened to much analysis this week, but not much of it includes this level of information.
Reposted by Ben casper
It was kind of Robert Jenrick to set me up for an obvious joke at his expense.
May 19, 2026 at 7:33 AM
It was kind of Robert Jenrick to set me up for an obvious joke at his expense.
Reposted by Ben casper
If he’s not careful, we’ll all be annoyed with Zack from now if his ego has now become too big to work collaboratively in everyone’s best interests. He can’t win a general election but he could help define a progressive majority in parliament which is worth far more to us than petty point scoring.
May 15, 2026 at 6:37 PM
If he’s not careful, we’ll all be annoyed with Zack from now if his ego has now become too big to work collaboratively in everyone’s best interests. He can’t win a general election but he could help define a progressive majority in parliament which is worth far more to us than petty point scoring.
Reposted by Ben casper
I see Simon Heffer, in Michael Gove's Spectator, is once again repeating his lie that Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech wasn't about race..
I debated Heffer recently (at the Oxford Litfest) - here's what I said.
archive.ph/bqKZF
I debated Heffer recently (at the Oxford Litfest) - here's what I said.
archive.ph/bqKZF
May 15, 2026 at 7:34 AM
I see Simon Heffer, in Michael Gove's Spectator, is once again repeating his lie that Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech wasn't about race..
I debated Heffer recently (at the Oxford Litfest) - here's what I said.
archive.ph/bqKZF
I debated Heffer recently (at the Oxford Litfest) - here's what I said.
archive.ph/bqKZF
Reposted by Ben casper
William Hawkins (1895-1990) American Artist
May 14, 2026 at 6:38 PM
William Hawkins (1895-1990) American Artist
Reposted by Ben casper
Worn down if I'm honest. Constant drumbeat of 'Nigel is right', the view you get now that he's gone too 'soft'. 'No Labour MPs' sign at the pub down the road. Constant pictures of chainmail knights 'turning back the boats' as if they're dragons. Overt deportation talk for the first time in my life.
May 14, 2026 at 8:22 AM
Worn down if I'm honest. Constant drumbeat of 'Nigel is right', the view you get now that he's gone too 'soft'. 'No Labour MPs' sign at the pub down the road. Constant pictures of chainmail knights 'turning back the boats' as if they're dragons. Overt deportation talk for the first time in my life.
Reposted by Ben casper
BREAKING - Parliamentary Standards Commissioner will launch an investigation into Farage's £5m donation.
May 13, 2026 at 11:39 AM
BREAKING - Parliamentary Standards Commissioner will launch an investigation into Farage's £5m donation.
Reposted by Ben casper
🔴 Daniel Green's tracker for LabourList provides the current verdict from Labour MPs on their support for the Prime Minister.
👍️ Backing PM: 156
👎️ Calling for PM to resign/set out a timetable: 92
❓️ Unknown/yet to announce: 155
labourlist.org/2026/05/labo...
👍️ Backing PM: 156
👎️ Calling for PM to resign/set out a timetable: 92
❓️ Unknown/yet to announce: 155
labourlist.org/2026/05/labo...
May 12, 2026 at 5:44 PM
🔴 Daniel Green's tracker for LabourList provides the current verdict from Labour MPs on their support for the Prime Minister.
👍️ Backing PM: 156
👎️ Calling for PM to resign/set out a timetable: 92
❓️ Unknown/yet to announce: 155
labourlist.org/2026/05/labo...
👍️ Backing PM: 156
👎️ Calling for PM to resign/set out a timetable: 92
❓️ Unknown/yet to announce: 155
labourlist.org/2026/05/labo...
Another great episode. Andrew also reflects some of my own feelings in trying to understand both sides more deeply, in that it has become quite polarised. What I also feel is missing are examples of how the legislation will work in real life, the benefits, and risks.
BONUS EPISODE 💥
Naomi and CEO of Humanists UK Andrew Copson discuss:
🩼 How sabotage not votes ended the Terminally Ill Adults Bill
⚖️ Fresh impetus for Lords reform
🔮 The future of a new Bill
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/7tQa...
🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
@andrewcopson.bsky.social
Naomi and CEO of Humanists UK Andrew Copson discuss:
🩼 How sabotage not votes ended the Terminally Ill Adults Bill
⚖️ Fresh impetus for Lords reform
🔮 The future of a new Bill
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/7tQa...
🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
@andrewcopson.bsky.social
What next for the assisted dying debate?
open.spotify.com
April 28, 2026 at 9:32 AM
Another great episode. Andrew also reflects some of my own feelings in trying to understand both sides more deeply, in that it has become quite polarised. What I also feel is missing are examples of how the legislation will work in real life, the benefits, and risks.
Reposted by Ben casper
We had an excellent meeting with President Zelenskyy in Cyprus today.
Ukraine's brave resistance against Russia is unwavering. So is Europe's support.
In light of Ukraine's sustained reform effort, accession talks should start without delay.
Our joint statement ↓
link.europa.eu/8VNVwT
Ukraine's brave resistance against Russia is unwavering. So is Europe's support.
In light of Ukraine's sustained reform effort, accession talks should start without delay.
Our joint statement ↓
link.europa.eu/8VNVwT
April 23, 2026 at 3:27 PM
We had an excellent meeting with President Zelenskyy in Cyprus today.
Ukraine's brave resistance against Russia is unwavering. So is Europe's support.
In light of Ukraine's sustained reform effort, accession talks should start without delay.
Our joint statement ↓
link.europa.eu/8VNVwT
Ukraine's brave resistance against Russia is unwavering. So is Europe's support.
In light of Ukraine's sustained reform effort, accession talks should start without delay.
Our joint statement ↓
link.europa.eu/8VNVwT
Reposted by Ben casper
Mail is running a poll on whether the UK should rejoin the EU.
Takes seconds to vote and it's going hilariously well...
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Takes seconds to vote and it's going hilariously well...
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
April 14, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Mail is running a poll on whether the UK should rejoin the EU.
Takes seconds to vote and it's going hilariously well...
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Takes seconds to vote and it's going hilariously well...
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Ben casper
i hope the white house sends vance to campaign for Reform in britain
April 12, 2026 at 7:05 PM
i hope the white house sends vance to campaign for Reform in britain
Reposted by Ben casper
“We call upon all sides to implement the ceasefire, including in Lebanon.”
A key and important sentence in a welcome joint statement from our government, European countries, Canada and Japan.
A key and important sentence in a welcome joint statement from our government, European countries, Canada and Japan.
April 8, 2026 at 8:48 PM
“We call upon all sides to implement the ceasefire, including in Lebanon.”
A key and important sentence in a welcome joint statement from our government, European countries, Canada and Japan.
A key and important sentence in a welcome joint statement from our government, European countries, Canada and Japan.