Yet more degrading and dehumanising treatment of people seeking safety under Labour. The one in one out policy treats people seeking asylum as if they are tradable. It risks increasing trafficking and exploitation, all while causing untold harm to those affected. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026....

We are dealing with simply unfathomable levels of derangement.

Mike Tapp says he’s “really happy” about US actions in Venezuela Vomit inducing before nonsense abt asylum even starts. Pressed again & again on how rights of vulnerable ppl will be protected under his latest plans (kudos for once to #r4today presenter for that) he had nothing.

For many of those seeking asylum a mobile phone isn't just a lifeline to keep in contact with loved ones, it's an essential resource in accessing information and resources. State mandated theft is another example of Labour's dehumanisation of people seeking safety www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

I got a media request on Christmas day to talk about the "UK migration crisis". I got a media request for New Year's day morning to discuss Shamima Begum. Fine, okay, areas of my specialism. Why the ever loving is any news organisation contacting me on the last day of my break to talk about Trump?

Obviously this is mad. But the spurious precision of “23,000” is superb. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

What we:ve already seen is increased discrimination and people policing toilets, and other spaces, based purely on how someone looks. That has fairly obvious consequences including for "biological women". End of day, anti-trans/non-binary policies only cause harm www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...

Of course international diplomacy is complex and nuanced, and that becomes more complex when it is a close ally, but Trump saying US has effectively just taken control of a sovereign nation and UN planning a censure motion does mean Starmer needs to be firmer than shrugging and saying "wait and see"

If anyone needs to sit out the debate on this one it is Russia.

I'm old enough to remember a time when the president would at least have put some effort into lying to Congress first

Kidnapping the leader of a foreign state without any declaration of war and announcing it via social media is full-on rogue state stuff. From the world’s number one superpower.

I have spent a lot of time in recent years studying up on Venezuela in a variety of areas, because it has one of the largest refugee exodi in the world, mainly. My professional standpoint on Trump launching attacks against it is that bombing a country is a piss poor way to stop people fleeing it.

Maduro has overseen the largest refugee crisis in Latin America, and at one point the second largest in the world. That still does not allow Trump to launch military attacks against a sovereign nation. If the benchmark was the leader was an inhumane arse then everyone would be invading America.

Would have been nice to make it a week into 2026 without Trump starting a war in South America with Venezia, which btw will mean more people displaced and in need of asylum, while also threatening further conflict in the Middle East against Iran, which would also lead to more displacement. #r4today

Now that's been a fun project for the holiday break

There's already a severe lack of support for many children who need it. The last thing needed is stripping it back even further. It's hardly a shocker considering Labour's continued attacks on disabled individuals in general, and especially neurodivergent individuals www.thetimes.com/article/9641...

What is shameful is that people have to use irregular crossings in the first place and we have a government which is so hostile, discriminatory and inhumane towards those seeking safety. It isn't the people seeking asylum who are the issue here www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Autistic object impermanence at this time of year is so weird. I entirely forget certain decorations exist until I see them out and then when putting them away it is like "no this has such emotional meaning it goes back to...".

Mahmood will be pissed. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/...

If you were personally not racist but you ran a party that contained this level of racism, you'd resign on the basis you had somehow ended up organising racists into a serious campaigning force, which had never been your intention. On the other hand, if you *are* a racist...

There was also an increase in "push factors" and a reduction in safer alternatives, with Labour cutting key existing routes, so it is hardly a suprise. Labour learned nothing from the previous government, harsher asylum policies increase the use of irregular routes. 1/ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Begum may be 'distasteful', but it is pretty clear she was a victim of grooming and trafficking. The decision to make her defacto stateless is also clearly incompatibile with the principles of international law. Labour doubling down doesn't change that it is bad. 1/2 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Now this is a New Year's Eve party I could get behind BBC News - Seeing in the new year with dinner in a dinosaur www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Happy home-office-assigned birthday to all refugees who were disbelieved about their date of birth and un-safeguarded as one of the many experiences of state-sponsored xenophobic cruelty that is the asylum system in the U.K. Let’s keep working for a just, restorative and eminently sensible system.

Happy new year all If you know you know

Safe to say 2025 was a fairly shit year, here's hoping that 2026 at least has the ability to not buy us all a meal first.

I am waaay too tired to make predictions for 2026 beyond "Can I opt out"

Workout of the beast

Pope Leo said in a Christmas Eve sermon that the story of Jesus being born in a stable because there was no room at an inn should remind Christians that refusing to help the poor and strangers today is tantamount to rejecting God himself. For @reuters.com

The people of the DRC must be punished until their government becomes sufficiently enthusiastic about the UK‘s obsession with expelling people

Couldn't get a shuffle on could it? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The UK government back to blackmailing other countries, this time to be able to force people to return to objectively unsafe ones. Labour proving once more to be as bad, if not worse, than pretty much any previous government for decades in relation to immigration. news.sky.com/story/angola...

The Christmas present I always wanted but never got

Bit ironic how so many of those already up in arms over the King calling for unity and recognising the importance of diversity are the same people who claim to be "patriots". www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Yeah, we might not have a full roast for Christmas dinner, but we have got enough cheese and pigs in blankets between three of us to feed a brigade of guards.

can't they even give this woke nonsense a rest at Christmas? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

I have done big Christmases and small ones. Spent them with family and friends. Spent them at home, in hospitals, barracks and, on one memorable occasion, by a broken down truck in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of US soldiers. Nothing beats just celebrating it quietly with these two.

If anyone needs me for the foreseeable, you really don't.

A thread of very happy #festivepets to brighten your tl

Someone is enjoying Christmas

Matthew 2:13: an angel of the lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him” Shabana: To Stop the Donkeys we need to address enabling angels like this

i post this story every christmas, and will keep doing so until it stops making me cry merry christmas xx

Those poor kids. Imagine being excited for Santa and you get this unhinged wazzock telling you coal is beautiful and they won't let in a bad Santa. news.sky.com/story/trump-...

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Ils pourraient utiliser une autre fenêtre ? Quelle idée ridicule! Juste celui-ci news.artnet.com/art-world/lo...

Wishing everyone a merry Christmas and sending lots of love, especially to those who feel like things are getting worse, that they aren't wanted, that they are just the punching bags of society. You are amazing. You may not see them right now, but there are people all around who care. Hold in there.

Right then, my usual pissed at the world status to one side. This period can bring up a lot of issues for people, so so many. If you need help, or you can help support this those who do, here's a list of some organisations which can help/should be supporting. 1/2

It says pretty much everything about Trump's administration that they block free speech under the guise of "defending free speech". Yes he was elected, but do you know how many dictators become so after being become so after being "democratically elected"? FFS www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...