Photo. A narrow country road, wide enough for only 3 walkers / 2 bikes / 1 vehicle, grass growing in the middle of the road. Trees meeting overhead. Yellow bushes in the background. Heavy grey sky visible through the leaves.
Walking through a green tree tunnel is a treat at this time of year.
The swing in the pleats is charming. I’ve seen monumental sculptures of people sitting together with their hands on each others’ knees and cat mummies with cheeky grins painted on. Maybe there’s symbolism I don’t understand, but I get the impression the ancient Egyptians were a lot of fun.
Today I want to talk about Jess’ Rule and Martha’s 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.
Dear Shabana, I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank. You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to make a perilous crossing on small boats.” I suppose I shouldn’t 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 “we 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.” She said “maybe 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 …
Dear Shabana,
Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.
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 🔭👩🔬⚛️
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
A headline from GB News stating: Motorists switch to using public transport to avoid paying £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."
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
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...
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.
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.
Knowing the abject state of UK journalism, I won’t be holding my breath that a single journalist will ask this obvious question.
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.
Yes! I stopped cycling after too many dangerous manoeuvres by car drivers
Thank you for doing this.
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. 🧵
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.
This looks like a great resource. Lots to think about.
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...
Frank Wilhoit’s 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.
It’s funny and beautiful and I feel lucky to have read it. Thank you for sharing and I hope you get whatever you’re looking forward to today.
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.
You can get the MMR vaccine as an adult from your gp, it’s not too late to protect yourself and others. And of course make sure your kids are up to date with theirs!
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.
TV show pitch: ‘Tome Team’, 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.
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.
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.
