Question - if wealth taxes don’t work and raise only paltry amounts, how come whenever we start seriously discussing them rich people start pouring resources into trying to start race and class wars as a distraction?

Sumo stars goofing about at tourist locations seems a more fun way to celebrate England than any number of flags.

There are 69.23 million people in the UK. Last year, 36,000 people arrived on small boats. That’s a 0.052% increase to the population. Not 10%. Not even 1%. Not even 0.1%. 0.052%. If I baked a cake, that wouldn’t even be a crumb. Why the fuck is it THE story-of-the-day in the UK, every day?

...which is not going to stop with M&S either, they're going to bombard any and all businesses with nuisance lawsuits and boycotts if a trans person is employed, it's economic warfare against a class of people to ensure that any trans person in the UK cannot make a living, and it won't stop there.

This was always the goal of bathroom bans, to fully push trans people from any semblance of public life, and it won't end there either, the "gender critical" project is currently trying to exert pressure over businesses that hire trans people in the UK, so that trans people are unemployable...

Only a fraction of those due to lose benefits are likely to start working, said @pollardtom.bsky.social. According to @jrf-uk.bsky.social there aren't enough vacancies, especially ones suitable for disabled people or in parts of the country most affected by cuts. 7/ www.ft.com/content/51d2...

Making it harder to claim personal independence payments (PIP) will NOT support more people into getting jobs. PIP is there to support with the extra costs that come from being disabled. It can be claimed whether you are working or not. 6/

We found that the vast majority of the increase in disability and incapacity benefits claims is down to two factors: rising numbers of disabled people and a rise in financial hardship. 4/ neweconomics.org/2025/05/what...

Would be remiss to not point out people are rightly countering me by highlighting other developed nations aren’t seeing a rise in disability benefit claims However, the reason for the differences seems obvious to me when money is so tight for so many (see my post below) bsky.app/profile/nadi...

Another hypothetical scenario You struggle with bipolar and have relapsed, but the waiting list to see a psychiatrist is a year. You’re employed, but on statutory sick pay right now which is too low to live on. So you claim PIP to survive costs while you wait for treatment.

Hypothetical scenario Let’s say you have a disability and part-time job. Before the cost of living crisis, you were just about getting by. However, now all your bills are much higher because of inflation but you can’t take on more work because of your disability. So you claim PIP to help with that.

‘Why has the number of PIP claimants gone up since 2019?’, I keep seeing asked in SW1 like it’s a proper mystery We have an aging population, we have had a pandemic which disabled people, and the cost of living has exploded in recent years! If you live in the real world it’s not a mystery, surely!

Sending lots of love to fellow disabled people in the UK right now We are being spoken about as if we’re a problem to be managed instead of human beings that make immense contributions to society Whether we claim PIP or not, whether we’re in work or not, we deserve to be treated with respect

Cuts to international aid are having a devastating impact on the global HIV response. A recent study published in the Lancet HIV issued a stark warning: without urgent global action, we could see 10.8 million new HIV cases and nearly 3 million deaths by 2030.

Some U.S. media (such as the Washington Post here) trace U.S.-Iranian animosity back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, conveniently forgetting that the CIA helped overthrow a democratically elected Iranian government in 1953, forcing Iranians to endure decades of the Shah’s brutal rule.

1)In July we will host the 139th Durham Miners Gala Reform UK, who in the May elections won control of Durham County Council – have chosen to criticise us publicly for not inviting them to the Gala They obviously don't understand, so we will explain...

This is Nick Clegg-post-tuition-fees level bad approval ratings. This is a cold, airless, lonely place in the nation's affections from which leaders do not often come back.

Interesting that this article doesn't mention what seems an increasingly obvious problem for LLMs - every new iteration is trained on data that has been increasingly poisoned with garbage from the previous iteration. The web is full of AI-generated nonsense, and that's now part of the input.

Polling shows Keir Starmer losing 5 points overall from 28% approval to 23% approval. He is always toxically unpopular with Reform (2% approval, from 4%) but managed to shed 17 points among Labour 2024 voters This follows May elections, polling on 2 days after Monday's Immigration White Paper 12.5

Pretty big news out of North Texas, an epicenter for far-right schoolboard takeovers: Yesterday, the GOP in Tarrant County - a bellwether for the state - went 0-11 in the three largest towns; and seven school board candidates backed by the Christian nationalist Patriot Mobile PAC also lost.

This is certainly true for girls as well. And for boys to understand about girls: the messaging about girls' societal worth is appalling, and certainly that plays into boys' expectation of what's owed them. We are all dehumanized from birth, under this system.

It doesn't have to be and it really shouldn't be. Also, this is only the case in a society that teaches straight teenage boys that their value can be determined by the number of sexual partners they have.

Masking discourse is on again and I’ll just say if you see people masking when few others are it’s likely because they’ve determined that for them, in that setting, the benefit of not catching (or spreading) whatever’s going around is worth the cost of masking. It’s rarely more complicated than that

I can't see how anyone with a variable condition will be able to qualify for PIP now under these changes. It is hard enough as it is. Another blow for #pwME #pwLC The New Nasty Party doesn't seem to give a sh*t about the 2 million of us who are literally punished by our bodies for any exertion

For decades, widely disbelieved kids were left chronically ill & disabled after virus. If they were believed, longCovid would look very different. This is an economic choice, not a medical inevitably. As yet, we don’t even have the right tests to diagnose causes journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

“This is one of the strangest, & most worrying, obstacles to long Covid research & support. After the profound trauma of the pandemic, we appear to have developed a collective amnesia about what has happened.” Excellent piece by @kathryn42.bsky.social on long Covid’s personal & social repercussions.

🎗️ #March is Long Covid Awareness Month Children continue to develop #LongCovid, facing moderate to severe impacts on their health & lives. They deserve to be seen, heard & supported. Join us in raising awareness & advocating for change. #LongCovidAwarenessMonth #LongCovidKids

Media pieces that present "think yourself better" as revolutionary secret knowledge as if it is not both the first thing that everyone who gets Long Covid tries, and the first, middle and last thing that everyone who gets Long Covid is told

New(ish) piece from Yale Medicine on #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis and #LongCovid: “The level of functional impairment in people who suffer from CFS is comparable to multiple sclerosis, AIDS, end-stage renal failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.” www.yalemedicine.org/news/long-co...

I spent an absolutely terrifying few months at severe, then a POTS diagnosis and treatment feels like it has given me my life back. But me 5 years ago would be shocked at this level of restriction at moderate ME.

The #struggle is real lol #covid #covid19 #longcovid #longcovidawareness #LongCovidAwerenessDay #health #world #worldwide #science #medical #med #medicine

Denver Gazette: “Do you struggle with the symptoms of long COVID? The Denver Gazette wants to hear your story” “We’re trying to understand the overall burden of long COVID in Colorado,” said Rick Devoss, who recently co-authored a study…’ denvergazette.com/news/coronav...

I admit I was guilty of the good old “bootstrap” mentality. I will forever honestly share my #LongCovid story to help combat that bill of goods I was sold. I have two master’s degrees & was teaching Calculus….. and then I couldn’t count by twos.

If you’re dealing with Long Covid - there’s a chance you’re also dealing with MCAS and/or POTS/Dysautonomia. They’re two of the most common comorbids - and can have a devastating impact on quality of life. New allergies? Alcohol intolerance? Dizziness? Fatigue? Fainting? A mega 🧵 of resources

Well done France! UK next please!

In fact am currently trying to trace a story about one voyage. After the Some Like It Hot opened in the US, the Wilders, the Diamonds, the Harold Mirisches, and Jack Lemmon set off for Europe aboard the United States for the London premiere.

With ALT text:

Literally all they’re doing is a private equity play. They need these offices so they’ll have to rent them back putting further strain on the budget and justifying further cuts (while their friends make money on the deal)

@RobWust appreciation post: tldr: post-exertional malaise (PEM) is NOT a choice. In 2024, an amazing paper was published showing us some key features unlocking the physiology PEM in #LongCOVID. Curious minds would read a paper like this and view 1/

"[For the Right], D.E.I...is the mere presence of a woman or nonwhite person or disabled or transgender person in any high-skilled, high-status position. And their alternative isn’t some heretofore unknown standard of merit; it is the reintroduction of something like segregation." (gift link)

For my #longcovid people - any tips on treatments for dizziness upon moving your head? I'm 4 years in and have only had occasional dizziness in that time, but it's been persistent for the last 2.5 weeks. Not that bad of a symptom, but curious about a trick to help.

A new #longcovid roadmap has been complied by 36 global experts. Published in The Lancet it delineates key drug candidates, trial design & biomarkers. Now we need ACTION! 🖇️ tinyurl.com/3nwyhd6t

Long COVID is NOT caused by deconditioning! Excellent response by Appelman, Charlton, Wüst et al.

I'm afraid what risks 'hollowing out' London is property prices, foreign consortia owning countless empty buildings, rental costs, the decimation of nightlife, gentrification and Pretification and the demise of in person shopping. It should be somewhere we want to go not have to.

I am walking from Porto in Portugal to Santiago in Sapin to help all healthcare workers debilitated by #LongCovid Help us at Supporting Healthcare Heroes UK by turning claps into cash by donating even just £1/€/$ to https://justgiving.vom/page/shh-uk

I'd you want to share your long covid experience with the UK Covid Inquiry this week, see @longcovidsupport.bsky.social's post 👇 __ #LongCovid #Covid

How many long haulers does it take to change a lightbulb? Just one—but first, we have to remember why we came into the room, lie down for 20 minutes because we got dizzy looking for the new bulb, and then spend the rest of the day recovering. 💡🤣 #longcovid #chronicillnesshumor