Today I want to talk about Jessβ Rule and Marthaβs Rule, two new initiatives across NHS England that I think are really important and you should know about.
Tl;dr: if your symptoms are not improving or getting worse, at home or in hospital, you have the right and Drs the responsibility to review.
06.03.2026 16:39
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Dear Shabana,
I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank.
You said: βA party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to
make a perilous crossing on small boats.β
I suppose I shouldnβt be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton
and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government
who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division.
When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there
to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done
in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the
flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney.
As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking
points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I
filled water tanks and picked up litter.
What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop
the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country.
Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it.
It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping
migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and
croissants to refugees and food parcels.
When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She
said βwe have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for
refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers
whilst risking death on the seas.β
She said βmaybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on
the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when β¦
Dear Shabana,
Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.
05.03.2026 16:59
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Rows of people wearing orange lanyards in a House of Commons committee hearing. At the front is Catherine sporting her "I'm about to perform an appendectomy" mask and looking particularly snazzy.
Here is my run-down of today's Science, Information & Technology Committee hearing (House of Commons) where @jonbutterworth.bsky.social @si-wills.bsky.social & I argued for no funding cuts, & Prof. Michele Doughtery explained why they were needed. The public gallery again packed with physicists ππ©βπ¬βοΈ
04.03.2026 15:02
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Photo of a small open blossom with 5 white petals, and bright green leaves, growing in front of a dark green metal street cabinet. Dark fronds in the background.
Unexpected beauty on an unlovely verge
04.03.2026 09:49
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A headline from GB News stating: Motorists switch to using public transport to avoid paying Β£5 daily congestion charge
In shock news, motorists have switched to public transport to avoid paying the Oxford Congestion Charge.
A spokesperson* said: "This is exactly what was meant to happen, and it did."
03.03.2026 12:51
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1908: the Lancet, one of the most respected scientific journals, calls for 18 age limit on reading in bed amidst a moral panic surrounding children becoming "addicted" to novels, which were "designed to keep kids hooked" and destroy their attention/mental health
03.03.2026 17:13
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Markets latest: Gas price soars 93% since start of conflict
Drone strikes across the Middle East and Iran's effective closure of a key shipping route are spooking investors and traders. Follow the latest on the global markets.
This is a good moment for Europe & UK to remember that they can stick up wind and solar, insulates houses, far quicker than they can find new gas in e.g. North Sea
If you're chasing more gas, it's now a case of which unreliable regime you prefer to depend on
news.sky.com/story/market...
03.03.2026 09:08
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Friend of mine was on a work trip to the US. Decided to go for a walk just to stretch his legs. Got picked up by the police because he was walking, which was suspicious.
02.03.2026 16:34
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Just throwing it out there: telling people that they have legitimate grievances about immigration will never reduce the sense of grievance. This isn't how anything works and a government that paid even the merest attention to social science research would know their approach helps the far-right.
02.03.2026 08:30
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Knowing the abject state of UK journalism, I wonβt be holding my breath that a single journalist will ask this obvious question.
28.02.2026 13:22
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SCAM
LABOUR CAUGHT CREATING FAKE TACTICAL VOTING WEBSITE
Screenshot of a tweet that reads:
The Movement Forward | StopTheTories.vote @MVTFWD
A Warning: there is no tactical voting site called "Tactical Choice"
If you choose to vote tactically it's important to seek independent, impartial advice. And always check the source online, as printed leaflets could be out of date, or even intentionally misleading.
#GortonAndDenton
Promoted by Miles Thorpe on behalf of Hannah Spencer, both at 173 Mount Road, Gorton, Manchester, M18 7QT.
On the eve of the Gorton & Denton by-election the Labour Party have invented a fake tactical voting organisation to put on their leaflets.
Lying to voters is all they have left.
All the (real) tactical voting organisations agree: only a Green vote can stop Reform on Thursday.
25.02.2026 21:57
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Yes! I stopped cycling after too many dangerous manoeuvres by car drivers
25.02.2026 12:54
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Thank you for doing this.
25.02.2026 12:50
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so you've probably heard about the London measles outbreak. A lot of people are talking about anti-vax misinformation, but that's not actually the problem here. The problem is austerity. π§΅
23.02.2026 14:41
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Ministers to consider removing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from line of succession
Move would follow any police investigation after former prince questioned on suspicion of misconduct in public office
Ministers to consider removing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from line of succession.
Govt can also use legislative time to create laws to prosecute
Water company execs.
People behind the Post Office and Grenfell scandals.
Corporate execs for tax abuse.
22.02.2026 08:39
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This looks like a great resource. Lots to think about.
22.02.2026 00:28
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Starmer 2.0: could a more authentic PM revive Labourβs appeal?
After surviving a coup, and with his critics chastened, No 10 insiders say a more combative PM is up for taking the fight to Reform UK
Condemning Reform, Ratcliffe and Lam's racist rhetoric is an important and very welcome shift.
But it means little unless accompanied by changes to the government's own *policies* -especially the vindictive and counterproductive earned settlement proposals.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
21.02.2026 10:18
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Frank Wilhoitβs law: Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.
21.02.2026 11:02
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Itβs funny and beautiful and I feel lucky to have read it. Thank you for sharing and I hope you get whatever youβre looking forward to today.
19.02.2026 21:59
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Reform will try to sell you that it's a fight between left and right.
Green Party will remind you that it's really a fight between top and bottom.
19.02.2026 18:54
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You can get the MMR vaccine as an adult from your gp, itβs not too late to protect yourself and others. And of course make sure your kids are up to date with theirs!
18.02.2026 11:05
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Wrote this for @migrantvoice.bsky.social on hostility of this government's changes to immigration rules for "earned settlement". We hear politicians talk about "British values", "integration" and "fairness". Labour destroys any concept of all three with its treatment of migrants through this policy.
17.02.2026 15:11
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15.02.2026 14:00
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TV show pitch: βTome Teamβ, where a group of rare books librarians and book historians are sent to investigate an uncatalogued library for interesting incunabula, marginalia and provenances - and they have just three days to do it.
14.02.2026 18:57
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I am one of the most published academics on the childhood social transition, with 5 peer reviewed articles that relate to the topic.
There is so much evidence of benefit of social transition.
There is no evidence of harm. Not one jot.
This will literally kill trans kids. No exaggeration.
12.02.2026 17:51
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Crescent Earth at lower left, and crescent Moon (its brightness enhanced) at upper right. Behind, the endless black of space.
This is Earth and the Moon, photographed by a spacecraft in Mars orbit.
08.02.2026 02:21
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We're really proud of the platform we've built at Bold Politics in just four months and whilst we've loved having the hosts of Match of the Day and Loose Women on, it's also important that we share the stories of people without platforms too.
05.02.2026 19:52
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Harriet Harman said on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast (24.5.25) that the prison estate is used according to security, thereβs complete discretion, and especially dangerous women prisoners have always been held in the male estate. Why do we never hear about that?
05.02.2026 20:00
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