Another day of attempting to steer people from disinformation and arguing with the council. I had a mental breakdown. I really wanted to quit there and then. But I'm still here, and I'm still running, I'm still investigating, and I will not give up. This investigation could turn someone psychotic.

As an investigative journalist, I want to hear all sides. I've finally now spoken to the council press office after many attempts! I've given Manchester City Council one final opportunity to comment before publishing our full investigation, Wednesday 9pm, on Wythenshawe's Civic £750m regeneration.

Regular readers of Queer Love Riot, will know that I'm obsessed with Wythenshawe. Despite being objectively strange at times, and the fact the local square is a never ending construction area, there's a certain magic to it. It's not just a council estate. This place is an entire bloody experience.

@bevcraig.bsky.social I have CC'd you an email today regarding the TC1180 government tender for Wythenshawe's Civic. I have been completely unable to contact the council. This is an opportunity to reach out to a journalist to comment before the matter gets referred to the national auditors' office.

I'n really pissed about the lack of legal protections for kids in this country especially for queer families. If you have a chronic disability, it ESPECIALLY feels impossible. It is depressing that you this day, we still aren't able to tax the billionaires properly to fund women's health research.

32.7% use AI tools in the EU. At this point the solution in 5 years would be a compulsory licensing scheme for each type of model (small, large, specialised) ran by a regulator. Let's call it the Office of Automation. Modelling on drone regulations would go a long way to reduce harm from AI. (1/4)

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... Possibly the best gift you could give to the Daily Mail and Reform if this were successful. This country's politics are completely beyond parody. Sure, let's use an obscure law from 1539 to force controversial legislation through. I can foresee no issues at all.

High printer activity at Queer Love Riot this evening. It appears that we are now printing all the evidence regarding Greater Manchester regenerations. It's going to be an interesting one for Manchester City Council! Prepare yourselves for shenanigans. Watch this space.

Here are all the people nominated for Woodhouse Park. You can expect only the best press coverage of this ward's election as I'm bloody on the ballot. 🤣

More sloppy journalism from @manchestereveningnews.co.uk. Imagine reporting on a guy who calls your entire region "a dumping ground" and thinking to yourself this is not problematic to publish at all! The North West and its people are simply beautiful. Never let any extremist twat claim otherwise.

Preventing sexual harassment at work is “political.” Offering flexible working arrangements for disabled folk is “political.” Letting gay folks talk about their partners at work is “political.” All organisations are implicated in politics. Controversy should not dictate if something is political.

hormuzstraitmonitor.com If anyone would like to see a summary of what's happening on the Strait of Hormuz, this is a fantastic website. This war is absolutely terrible. Is it really worth it to fuck up an entire country to profit off US stock prices?

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... Looking forward to see which poor member of the public was persuaded to become a Reform candidate in my area. I've given the Editor-in-Chief a heads up. Maybe we'll receive a call too? 🤣

I live in Leicestershire. Controlled by RefUK, previously Tory. Despite the promises Farage made publicly and is now weaselling my council TAX has gone UP 🤬

Cutting through all the Trump rhetoric: The current plan of the Trump administration is to destroy power plants & other civil infrastructure if Iran does not comply with the threats. It is unlikely at this point that we are going to see a massive escalation, but the situation is still concerning.

IEA analysis shows this is a worse oil crisis than the 70s & 20s combined. This is the point at which fixing your energy tariffs would be worth considering, and ensuring in the summer your insulation is up to scratch. Even if the war stops tomorrow, energy prices won't become cheap any time soon.

Doesn't go far enough. This will only help high earners and will do nothing for those who will never earn enough to repay in full in the first place. What would ACTUALLY help as a policy: Students who haven't completed their bachelor's degrees should not have to repay anything to Student Finance.

www.thepinknews.com/2026/04/03/w... In the latest news, PinkNews has turned into a government propaganda outlet. When you proudly declare yourself as a journalist free newsroom, is anyone surprised that this is the end result?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Ultimately, if Labour wants to go for these voters, these people do want to see efficient councils, and the solution is more devolution of power to local areas. When funding is so centralised and opaque, inevitably people get frustrated, and decide to vote in protest.

I need to talk about something that happened today. On an estate in Wythenshawe, I saw animal abuse by a dog owner. I'm really frustrated as this doesn't represent us in Wythenshawe at all. I will propose policies to help dogs locally. As someone who loves animals, this was really hard to witness.

The nomination is in. Standing is a form of closure. I survived pure hell, and now I can help in politics so my experiences don't have to happen to others in silence. When I was 18, I came close to death due to state failure which is why I have PTSD today. I'm thankful, and incredibly emotional.

I'm glad I was able to make a difference to democracy yesterday. After struggling to find the nominations space, the returning officer has taken on my feedback, and extra signage to Manchester's Central Library for candidates was put up. I appreciate this at a time when election staff are so busy!

From the 3rd April to 6th April, there will be no tram service between Firswood and the City Centre. Manchester Airport to Firswood service only & replacement buses will be in operation. I appreciate the kind gentleman letting me take a photo of the signage before it's been even officially put up!

Transition in Agony is a book about my experiences, becoming who I am today. It is also a book that was written entirely in Wythenshawe, and therefore forms a part of local literature! I'm going to talk to Wythenshawe Library today to see if we can work on making a physical copy available to read.

🛣️ Significant congestion on the Mancunian Way, with essentially the whole of the south of the city at a standstill with long tailbacks on Princess Road. It's not even 5pm yet! Quite frankly, it's a complete joke that such an important artery of the city hasn't been rebuilt properly since the 1960s.

The GP has also refused to prescribe yet another common mental health medication stating that the NHS won't prescribe it. That's three medications which have been refused. At this point I'm left wondering if there's actually any plan under NICE guidelines for those who can't take antidepressants.

queerloveriot.com/including-yo... New Queer Love Riot long read is out! In this report, I reflect on my political journey, but also talk about what challenges lie ahead with progressive left-wing parties. I talk about beating Reform with devolution and also challenges with grassroots campaigning.

Just was misgendered twice. I don't care. I'm here to do a job and ultimately judge me on my results. Not everyone is going to be supportive of my transition but that doesn't mean that you're not equally as important. Open dialog is how to resolve issues in common, not merely identity politics.

Indigo is actively trying to strike off trans patients to make their numbers look better, where they will even cancel surgery referrals if you don't attend. Of course people never get suddenly ill, never have to be hospitalised and trans people have zero access needs. This needs a legal challenge.

Oh my god, I've just had a misprint on about 500 leaflets and had to manually correct each and every one. Fortunately, it's all fixed now, but that was not a pleasant night. Possibly the most frustrating campaign of all time. 🤣

I'm on a Northern stopper service to Preston. Combined with the uneven track, this has to be the single most depressing commuting experience in the world. Tables and plug sockets cannot make up for the fact this has to be the slowest train in existence, stopping every five seconds for no reason.

Major announcement! 🗳️ I am now running as an independent candidate for Woodhouse Park's 2026 local elections & I'll be on the ballot paper! Due to the nature of Queer Love Riot, you may see some crossover of topics in my political reporting, but nothing else will change aside from more disclosure.

I have now requested an internal review from Manchester City Council regarding my Wythenshawe Civic FOIA. This is a ludicrous battle, as given the fact that we actually do know the answers to many of these issues via other means, I can confidently state there's zero reason to hide this information.

Our investigation into Wythenshawe's regeneration is now complete. Six months of hard work, to get the full picture. If any journalist, councillor, or anyone with information would like to contribute anything before we release the report next week, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Well, this is a plot twist. Of course, this won't stop the fact money has been already donated to Reform via Bitcoin, but this is a major step towards normality. Starmer, in a rare moment, has done the right thing for once. We need a full on public inquiry into crypto and electoral interference.

Yesterday was the most stressful day I had in months, and I completely crashed out by the end of it. New writer's desk is now finally in, and I'm making headway in terms of making things easier for myself in regards to being able to write. I'll be back up to speed with things pretty soon I hope. 💜

This rule change does not do what the transphobes think it does. Trans girls will still be in Girlguiding. A lot more people will stay in the closet, but fundamentally they'll still be trans. The point at which we should be properly worried, is if this starts a gender witchhunt for young children.

Regulation on the private sector in the UK to cover pre-existing conditions in healthcare insurance would allow people to choose in medical treatment. It shouldn't be barebones provision, versus unaffordable private care. Both approaches have a place in well-functioning, modern healthcare systems.

My Editor-in-Chief asked me about treatment for a health condition they have, and whether the NHS would give them medication that's prescribed abroad. I laughed. At times, NICE guidelines rival the bloody Amish in conservatism. GPs need real treatment options to be able to help their patients more.

I decided that rest is far more productive than a day of travelling to check my sodium levels. Ready salted crisps aren't the bloody answer to an epileptic fit that needs an actual specialist! Computer systems have sadly also replaced human receptionists at my surgery. Not everything needs triage.

Oh look! This case report is point blank what I've experienced in the NHS! The health service has been negligent by not performing a single FUCKING test for epilepsy in SEVEN YEARS. Looking forward to stapling this paper to my GP's head as untreated epilepsy can be dangerous. I need an urgent EEG.

Morę changes at Queer Love Riot include a print room. The little office that I use will not work in summer, as it's going to be absolutely unbearable with the heat. Instead, that's where all the printers will be kept. Laser printers. Inkjet printers. Label printers. Thankfully it's noise dampened!

Website currently down as I am rewiring networking. Sophie (the server) is getting permanent air conditioning. Changes are coming as I am building a space to do audio work. I've spent weeks thinking about how to make that work in a tiny house. I'm getting a writer's desk on Tuesday. I'm excited.

In the last few days, I have been having full on convulsions. I am now ordering an anticonvulsant. If this works, I likely have epilepsy & the NHS has failed to diagnose it for years. I will be royally pissed if I actually have a treatable condition, and I've been sent down mental health instead.

Everybody knows about T4T, the sexual orientation where trans people are into other trans people. But I'd like to propose to you Q4Q, or "Queer for Queer". Fundamentally different from pansexuality, in that the queer part is a requirement. There's a flag in this. I'll give it a go at some point.

A lack of permanence in ADHD means the advice of living in the present doesn't really work for me. I've been told this by people for years; in reality, I need the opposite to keep myself level. That's why NHS therapy shouldn't be one size fits all, as ultimately we all have different brain wiring.

Earlier today, I overheard one of my neighbours have a conversation with a Reformer around migration and refugees. My neighbour laughed at his suggestion. Far-right rhetoric doesn't resonate. People have had enough. Fear, uncertainty and doubt will rule this election cycle. Reality, will prevail.

www.wearequeeraf.com/pinknews-to-... ...what the fuck is the point of PinkNews?!

Here's one recent example from the Manchester Mill. The cost of living crisis is real but we're certainly not getting out of this mess through via national depression. Nostalgia is a dangerous perspective if used incorrectly and plays into the hands of awful politics. @manchestermill.bsky.social

This morning I woke up, I checked the news, and saw one of the most depressing sets of headlines. We're making a change at QLR. We will now only release stories, when there's at least a few positive aspects to discuss. I've never seen the UK media be so pessimistic about the state of this country.