This is so sad and scary. Solidarity to @sarahowen.org.uk. The perpetrators of these incidents are responsible for their own actions. But I do wish the various voices in public discourse that thrive so greedily on stirring up hate would feel a little bit of shame, too www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 7: If you find it hard to get into the zone, you may need a sensory trigger. A “getting ready” song on your phone; a square of dark chocolate; a special scent; a series of movements. See which one works best, and keep using it. It will work faster every time you do.

📰 @louknightsmccudden.bsky.social, Head of External Affairs in BBC News: "At a time when we are seeing rollbacks in reproductive rights around the world, most notably in the US, it's encouraging that our parliament is standing up for women." Read more: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"It is unacceptable that women in England and Wales are still being arrested and investigated on suspicion of ending their own pregnancies under a Victorian law created in 1861." @louknightsmccudden.bsky.social in @cosmopolitan.co.uk ahead of Wednesday's House of Lords vote. shorturl.at/SHh34

@theguardian.com reveals that women in England are still facing investigations - despite MPs voting last June to decriminalise people ending their own pregnancies. Abortion is healthcare. Not a crime. Read more: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

I read something (I can't remember where) that being a woman in your 40s is just getting back to being the girl you were in your teens and 20s, except this time, you love her. I haven't been able to stop thinking about that since.

“That right protects gender identity and obliges Member States to provide for clear, accessible and effective procedures for the legal recognition of it…” This is a welcome decision. All trans people, regardless of where they live, should be able to transition without humiliating legal obstacles.

After Trump was reelected, he quickly pardoned anti-abortion activists convicted of harassing and threatening clinic patients and staff. Federal investigations into bomb threats against clinics suddenly vanished.

The ‘Sappho’ fresco from Pompeii. A beautiful Roman portrait of a young woman for #InternationalWomensDay She holds a writing tablet, and raises a writing stylus to her lips in thoughtful contemplation. 55-70 AD. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples 📷 by me #Archaeology

Okay, so I am definitely going to have to go freelance, at least for a while. So, if anyone has any advice on actually building up and finding freelance policy and comms works, including providing media and advocacy training, campaign planning and strategy please let me know.

People making these decisions do know you can't completely separate "successful policy outcomes" from "electoral and political success" right? Right? Bad policymaking will lose you votes in the end even if people say they want the bad policy idea in a thousand focus groups.

Plus the fact that the story is headed up by an article titled "how to make your brain three years younger in three months" should also be a clue that whatever you're about to read may not be scientifically or factually sound

"Totally unregulated sexual economy" is an incredible turn of phrase

A reminder that LGBTQIA+ orgs need you to follow them on Bluesky to free themselves of social media platforms that are getting harder to do meaningful advocacy on. I made a starter pack for you and them to make it easy. go.bsky.app/PSBhHbT

Official Opposition is designated in statute. There is support for other opposition parties, in parliament, who are not the official opposition. They all appoint party spokespeople; these other opposition teams are not the "Shadow Cabinet" researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN...

Reform's Home Affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf = accurate. Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf = inaccurate Reform's Home Affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf, who Reform seek to project as an alternate "shadow home secretary", though they are not the official opposition party with 8 seats v 116 = accurate

Shadow Home Secretary is Chris Philp MP as part of His Majesty's Opposition. The LibDems, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru have MPs as spokespeople. Reform now have a party spokesman who is not one of their eight MPs, making the pretence to hold/share this title even more of a stretch.

Tickets now on sale for our IWD festival at the Soho Theatre in Walthamstow featuring Andi Oliver, Shappi Khorsandi, Helen Pankhurst, Ashley James, Lapsley, Harriet Rose, Martha Deiros Collado, Juno Dawson and many more on Sunday 8th March sohotheatre.com/events/walth...

"Reproductive rights and equality campaigners reacted in horror after Farage hired James Orr, a rightwing theologian who opposes abortion even in cases of rape, incest or serious risk to health, to replace Zia Yusuf as his head of policy." www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

This is such a weird thing to say (from the MP, not Sam), and yeah, really indicative of the information environment they are uncritically swimming in.

Great article by @jdportes.bsky.social on the realities of immigration policy and why it feels like such a hopeless mess. Doom loop is exactly right. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/724...

Writing is thinking. It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.

"Meanwhile, Russia and China are pouring billions into state-run media. And American news organisations are crumbling under the Trump administration." The BBC World Service is far from perfect but given the wider context, I find this to be deeply sad. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Let's say polls show people want to exit a close, longstanding political & economic union. Voters are warned it will harm the economy. They want it anyway. So politicians pretend to agree it's a good idea. It does harm the economy. Now... let's see what happens to the polls!

When Reform talk about "replacing" the Tories, it reminds me of all that talk we used to hear of UKIP/Brexit Party/Reform style parties "replacing" the BNP/EDL/far right. By "replacing" the Tories, they mean, of course, that loads of Tories are joining Reform. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"For a while, it was taken as read that anti-immigrant sentiment was a function of economic anxiety. But Ratcliffe, whose fortune is estimated at £17bn, won’t be feeling too much angst in the economic department. That is truer still of Elon Musk."

This may sound old fashioned and a bit redundant, but for the love of God please read a judgement, then double check you have understood it, before commenting on it on social media.

"It is not the same to have your entire self debated, ripped apart, dissected, insulted, trampled on in this chamber and more widely as though it were a mere abstract question" (Brutally clear response to the idea that 'both sides' have found the process tough.) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Seems like a nice moment in time to share this old interview with @aiannucci.bsky.social about how certain people seemed to rather like and admire Malcolm Tucker... share.google/UkeucQw7NIJ4...

Young men are the second most liberal group in the country after young women.

The world feels bleak. It's cold. It's dark. It's January. It is all feeling pretty grim for a lot of people. But! Last weekend it was Michael Stipe’s birthday! He is still with us on this earth. So to cheer us all (myself) up, here is a 🙏Michael Stipe appreciation thread 🙏

When campaigning for abortion rights, she had death threats, red paint ("babies' blood") poured over her car, letters put through the letterbox against her "whoremongery" and placards denouncing her as antichrist. Her reaction in her own words was "It just made me brazen". I love that reaction.

After her last interview in @theguardian.com just last week, it's immensely sad to announce the death of Diane Munday at 94. Patron of @humanists.uk (first joining 70 years ago!), friend and mentor. Her exemplary life as an activist will be a permanent inspiration. humanists.uk/2026/01/11/h...

Sometimes all you can do is make the world 0.0000000000001% less awful by being a good person and it feels very meaningless but it’s also the only thing that really matters

"More than 250 people were subjected to painful electric shocks, designed to change their sexuality and gender identity, in NHS hospitals between 1965 and 1973, the BBC has discovered." www.bbc.com/news/article...

Recently, @louknightsmccudden.bsky.social , MSI UK's Head of External Relations, spoke on the @opendemocracy.net podcast about the importance of abortion decriminalisation. 🔗Listen to the episode: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNlo... #Abortion

Incredibly reasonable and impartial question for journalists to ask - and demand a real answer

The worrying rise of US anti-abortion rhetoric is in full force - how deep is Reform UK's involvement? share.google/6GuBaRun7YuU...

This reminds me of the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when Jonathan creates an alternate world where everyone thinks he's cool and popular and he can do everything. By the end of the ep he learns that he's sad and pathetic and the fantasy isn't real.

Today is International Men’s Day. So here’s to refugee men fleeing abuse, trans men denied healthcare, queer men bullied for being different, Black men racially profiled, disabled men excluded from work, and all the other men who fail at being “real men.” May we continue to cultivate our humanity.

Royal British Legion warns political activists against hijacking Faversham’s Remembrance Day parade share.google/EawQ7ntWTWfV...

"We need to remain firm against anyone who works to roll back our hard-won rights.” On the anniversary of Safe Access Zones last Friday, our Head of External Affairs @louknightsmccudden.bsky.social spoke to Stylist on the state of UK abortion rights. Read it here: www.stylist.co.uk/news/abortio...

What's this sudden obsession with hobbits from the ethnonationalists?

"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain." This James Baldwin quote is hitting harder than ever.

"But then in 2000 The Blind Assassin won the Booker prize. Whew, I thought. I no longer have to deal with reporters asking me why I didn’t win it, only with the ones who’ll be saying why I shouldn’t have." share.google/H1khJwv0xVtt...

I try to avoid "real organizers vs. fake/keyboard organizers" framings for the most part but one thing you learn quickly from organizing is how difficult it is to get people to do anything at all, how much you're competing against sociologically. people are overworked and tired

On Threads, the AP promoted this story with the caption: “Anti-abortion pregnancy centers offer much more than free ultrasounds and diapers. Here's why they're expanding as Planned Parenthood clinics close.” Do better @apnews.com

A conservative Christian group that helped overturn the right to abortion in the US is now attacking UK abortion rights. With the same tactics used to overturn #RoevWade, they're attacking abortion clinic buffer zones and gestational limits. @bradleyjane.bsky.social & Elizabeth Dias report ⬇️