Very definitely worth a read

Also (sorry, but honestly) if I had to make a list of places cis men couldn't go to because a cis man had made a women "uncomfortable" there, it would be very long and there would be literally nowhere for men to go.

Trans people have and will always exist. There is No LGB without the T. Do not become complacent - The "rights" you have today can (and will) easily be stripped away tomorrow..... #AndThenTheyCameForMe #TogetherAlwaysTogether #NohomeForHateHere

It wasnt about water fountains then, and it isnt about bathrooms now: - This is discrimination - This is segregation As we approach Pride month consider this from Marsha P Johnson - "There is no Pride for some of us, without liberation for all of us"

Villainising and attacking minority groups, has never, and must never be acceped. For those of us who remember how all gay men were branded as were a danger to society during the 1980's AIDS crisis, you must know this.

So.. my little book ist aus dem Stand auf Nr 1 der Spiegel - Bestsellerliste gelandet. Ich glaub’s nicht. A heartfelt ‚Danke‘ ❤️ an alle die es schon haben und/oder gerade lesen. Damit hatte ich wirklich nicht gerechnet. Aber das Interesse am UK ist eben doch größer als viele so denken. 🙏🙏🙏

I have put together a little video guide to Nigel Farage's umm... evolving views on hecklers. They seem to be quite dependent on whether the heckler disagrees with him (bad, boring, frightening, dangerous), or shouts abuse at a woman in the street (buy him a pint/give him a peerage).

www.maptap.gg May 21 99🎯 100🎯 97🔥 95🏆 99🎯 Final score: 975

Ah, there’s the award winning SU building. And the pigeon holes. #AVeryPeculiarPractice

Congratulations Villa! Almost as good as the last winners of the trophy. Thinking of you @waseemzaffar.bsky.social - you’d have loved this.

Absolutely love this show. Not least because I spend about a third of it going “I know where that is”

A really powerful bit of devolution

This week marks #DementiaActionWeek - an important reminder that behind every diagnosis is a person, a family, a history, and a life that still deserves to be lived fully and meaningfully. I'm supporting Alzheimer's Society Forget Me Not appeal.

Can we turn AskJeeves back on?

Birmingham looks, well, complicated at the moment. Reform don't want to be in charge because nobody will work with them, although they are the largest party. Labour don't want to be in power because the people of the city sent a clear message a few weeks ago.

So, Birmingham city council adjourns the first meeting of the year without announcing a coalition. It will reconvene on a date to be agreed.

Cutting council funding has had a generational impact on politics in this country. None of it is good.

I’m amazed anyone needs reminding of this, but local government spending power per person fell by 18% from 2010 to 2024 (would have been 26% but for increases in council tax). At the same time, social care pressures on local govt have grown a lot. The decay of the public realm is NOT a mystery

Timing is everything. As is being heard on the mic.

Sadly, not shortlisted for the seat. Pinning everything on getting the Bond gig from Amazon now.

David Howarth makes some excellent points about why Farage is in real trouble with that £5 million gift. drhow.substack.com/p/farages-5-... Is there any more?

There is a pensions crisis further down the track, but let’s not worry about that. I’m the last generation to have any real final salary scheme pension - and that’s only 10 years worth in my case. Pensioner poverty is on the cards in the post 2045 world.

It needs to be repeated time after time after time that Powell, on his own terms, was wrong, and the only way to make it sound like he was right is to pretend he meant something else and hope nobody noticed the switch.

Always loved Newcastle #AwayTheToon

“Infiltrating”…

Imagine how relieved the President of the EBU and the director general of the BBC are right now.

France were done dirty there. That song deserved more than it got. Norway was also better than those votes suggest. But Bulgaria turned out an absolute banger this year with such a strong stage performance too. #eurovision #esc

Look, I’m going all in on We Built This Village on a Trad Arr. Tune.

Has Bamford settled his long running dispute with HMRC over allegedly underpaid tax? Also, despite a poorer business performance last year, they still extracted over £800 million from the firm.

Ah, legitimate concerns right there.

A lot of people don’t seem to understand that “the cordon sanitaire against racism is rebuilt” means, e.g. “once again this stuff is said by the *Conservative leader*” let alone “a politician on the Labour right they dislike”.

I think this is an important argument to make for a couple of reasons. One, because it is true. Britain is a poorer nation in a lot of ways since we left and there are no levers to fix it. There are precious few - if any - Brexit benefits. Two, because we need to nail this to Farage.

The change in the story seems odd and inconsistent. I’m wondering if Farage wants the censure from the Standards Committee, the suspension, recall petition and the potential by-election - in which he could stand. I think he wants the attention of being the victim of the establishment.

Given the nature of vox pops and how they find people to speak into the mic, this is frankly amazing.

Nope. We’re not uncancelling a man who opposed the Race Relations Act, who was cast out by the Tory Party. Members of the shadow cabinet threatened to quit if Heath didn’t sack Powell. The man was a racist.

youtube.com/shorts/hBsv8... ‘I can’t be bought’

Apparently, Raise the Colours say they were attacked while putting up flags. Lads, we’ve seen the videos. And no, taking down flags unlawfully put up in your neighbourhood isn’t treason. Good to see Al Carns, a man who has earned the right to a view on flags, stepping up.

Always going to happen. The courts really don’t like intervening on how Parliament governs itself.

Just finishing my application for the Makerfield vacancy…

You're all reading it wrong. When a politician says "I cannot be bought" he means "But I can be rented."

This does require police action now. Somebody is going to get hurt. These plastic patriots need to stop this behaviour. The council also need to step up and enforce the Highways Act in relation to this behaviour.

Just a reminder that this is not without consequences for others. Josh Simons will have staff who will now lose their jobs. That isn’t to say that MPs shouldn’t step down and we all know the risks when we work for an MP, but there are other people out there who lives, families and bills.

Al Carns emerges from beneath the water....

That’s a very brave Chief Whip.

Please remember that every MP has staff who work specifically for that MP. If they stand down, the staff lose their jobs. There is no rule that a new MP has to hire them back.

Nice constituency you’ve got there. Be a shame if anything were to happen to you, wouldn’t it?

Stop! It is necessary for you to see graphic designer extraordinaire Margaret Calvert’s 90th birthday cake. Perfection.

"Comrades, first class has been declassified and the trolley service has been restored"

Why does the UK keep inventing these impenetrable and arcane processes for selecting a leader when "Bake Off" already exists.

That is a truly excellent piece of artwork.