Will complain about this when I’m home. It’s worth it. The weight of complaints against that analysis-free Mason puff piece on the Reform conference did make them amend it.

Very thrilled by this generous post about my book

stroudbookfestival.org.uk/events/match... Tickets on sale @stroudbookfestival.bsky.social Will be discussing 'The Matchbox Girl' (about the real Dr Asperger) 7.30-8.30 pm on Saturday 8 November in Lansdown Hall. Drinks to follow. Hope to see you there. (Many other great events at the Book Fest).

Thank you @katebarker.bsky.social . There was a section on the inaccurately negative impression of autism and autistic people that is part of this whole sorry saga. Got lost in the editing but important not to lose sight of it in the conversation 🤔😗

Why on earth is the BBC running a live blog of this American hate fest? The murder of Charlie Kirk was sad and significant, but do we really need live coverage of a series of white men seeking to make political capital from it? Why is a public service broadcaster amplifying his hateful views?

"Keshed is brazen in its brutality and its brilliance. Ferocious, fearless, tender and immaculately observed, it's a propulsive, take-no-prisoners masterclass in voice, style and atmosphere." - Jae Auxjera

This name of this writer, poet, performer won't be familiar cos their identity has been fluid over the last few years and didn't want their previous work mentioning, which I have to respect, of course. But another unbelievable one, the response so far has been uniformly mind-fucking.

Friends do consider following @pressjustice.bsky.social New charity (linked to @hackedoff.bsky.social ) which educates young people about media ethics and enables them to look at press articles in a critical manner. Husband @stephenstroud.bsky.social is Chair of Trustees and helped to set this up.

Ever wondered what 1,300 books like? Thanks @goldsborobooks.bsky.social and @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social Book out on 6 November. It tells the story of the real Dr Asperger - was he an amazing pioneer of autism research or a Nazi collaborator? #fiction #historicalfiction

‘Business secretary Peter Kyle was asked by Sky News’ Trevor Phillips this morning if the demonstration – organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson – “disturbed” him. Kyle said the number of people who turned out for the protest shows free speech is “alive and well” in the UK.’ For shame

this is a moving inmersive essay from playwright and poet Dan O’Brien, who experienced both 9/11 and the LA fires firsthand, on the increasingly suffocating sense of ambient catastrophe, and what we might need to survive www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Best of luck to @andrewgallix.bsky.social, launching his mind-bending satirical thriller Loren Ipsum this evening. One of the unsung heroes of the UK lit scene as i alluded to in @thebookseller.com this month. www.thebookseller.com/spotlight/li...

Totally recommend this book for those, like myself, who have always worked in the book world but have never been able to comprehend the madness of the whole thing ..... So much suddenly became clear (and most not good).

Amazing small press which was winner of The Republic of Consciousness Prize when I was a judge. Only started recently but already have an impact. Do follow and support.

The arrest of five spokespeople from the ‘Lift the Ban’ campaign against the proscription of pro-Gaza group Palestine Action – now designated a ‘terror’ organisation – has now been damned as ‘chilling’ by the Liberal Democrats and the human rights group Amnesty International

🔴 Palestine Action Arrests Condemned as ‘Deeply Alarming’ While British Press Remains Silent The Liberal Democrats described the arrests of campaigners against the ban on the group as a “dangerous precedent” for free speech, yet the British press remains mysteriously quiet about it

New novel 'The Matchbox Girl' out from @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social November. 12 year old Adelheid tells the story of real Dr Asperger and the staff of the Curative Education Ward in Nazi occupied Vienna. Who tells the stories of the people who were not heroes? res.cloudinary.com/bloomsbury-a...

BREAKING: Met Police arrest 50 of 600-700 ‘terrorist supporters’ before the 2pm chime. “We will keep going. Our numbers are already growing for the next wave of action in September.” Read here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Why The Palestine Action Protest Will Be A Particularly Tough Test For Yvette Cooper And The Police The Home Office has to handle both the logistics and its image this weekend. www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/police...

Statement from Defend Our Juries just now

PS: You may have read this story already. The BBC ran a version of it yesterday We shared our FOI docs with their reporter and press office. Their response? To publish the story - our story - without even notifying us. A £6bn public broadcaster selling out a tiny investigative newsletter. Nice. 😔

The Terrorism Act 2000 specifically ensures that it is lawful to organise for the de-proscription of a group. There should be no law in democracy that cannot be opposed. That is the very mark of democracy itself. Help us share legal info elsewhere: www.wedonotcomply.org

It appears that the web hosts for our campaign website have been contacted to suggest that we may be in breach of their T&Cs There’s no breach - we’ve checked. The impact of this is that 1000s of people are blocked from legal information to ensure their legal rights are upheld!

BREAKING Defend Our Juries website taken down as attack on freedom of speech worsens - blocking access to important legal info for protestors. This is what happens when the Government uses anti-terror law to silence dissent. www.wedonotcomply.org <— legal info here instead!

Brilliant! I judged last year and loved every minute. Small presses are where all the interesting writing is right now! And you are working with @marinabenjamin.bsky.social and @stuhennigan.bsky.social so, overall, I can't think of anything better! Enjoy it and I'm looking forward to the long list!

Manchester University Press has acquired Richard Smyth’s Greenshirts, a new book that uncovers the "deep, often obscured entanglements between fascist ideologies and environmental thought" over the past 150 years 👇

Congratulations. Fascinating and challenging subject. Looking forward to it.

Just to be clear, the other post shows the US terms. My post shows the non-US terms. Insane rights grab, including to train LLMs on the content you transfer.

Would love to get to this but can't. Sounds like it will be a great evening.

I never expected, as an ex EU antitrust lawyer, to be spending quite so much time discussing tax...... @patmillsuk.bsky.social www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

“In two separate letters to Yvette Cooper, the Network for Police Monitoring lawyers’ group and the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers said that proscribing the group would set a dangerous precedent.” - writes Haroon Siddique. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

MPs approve plan to proscribe Palestine Action as terrorist group. The plans will now need to pass through the House of Lords before coming into effect, and Palestine Action have been granted a hearing in the High Court to challenge the plans. www.bbc.com/news/article...

The ban on Palestine Action will rebound on Labour, writes Dr Lynne Jones. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Lit Hub open letter from writers to publishers. Do add your name. The theft of writers work is the greatest heist the world has ever seen. Hopefully publishers are on our side! We could do with a petition or open letter from readers as well. Any chance? lithub.com/against-ai-a...

So proud of husband @stephenstroud.bsky.social GB News is little better than Punch and Judy ...... but he stood up to Jacob Rees Mogg and called out some scare mongering nonsense. @patrioticmillionaires.org Here to stay and ready to pay, as they say.

The public is naturally interested in the lives of our sports stars, but there need to be boundaries to press intrusion, which we will explore next week.

We do not need new roads; we need better transport options. Think of what could be done with £9.2bn, which is to be spent on just 14 miles of road! It could transform bus services and/or cycling and pedestrian infrastructure across Britain. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Anyone who can call these "metal monstrosities" - while completely ignoring the thousands of enormous cars, parked on our roads and used barely 5% of the time - needs their head checking

Like I've said before, if you have any doubts about climate change, just go to a super-boring insurance conference and listen to the super-boring panels where they dryly talk about the growing threat of disasters so catastrophic and unpredictable in scope they simply cannot be insured at any price.

Pretty amazing. Thank you San Francisco.

It is very likely now that Rachel Reeves will pledge more money for carbon capture on Wednesday Watch the video below to see WHY this happening (spoiler: lobbying) And read my SubStack with @sioldridge.bsky.social on how the CCS chimera will eat hundreds of billions more scrapcc.org/400BN-CCS-SST

I am looking forward to chairing this event next month.

Baroness Kidron is doing the work that so many politicians all over the world should be doing. She's using her position of power to stand up for the creative sector against AI companies and their belief that our work is there's to do what they want with. #supportartists #noAI

A remarkable man who gave so much to #stroud I met him when in my twenties and he changed my thinking on many issues.

Hear bloody hear

Congratulations to @colincraiggrant.bsky.social plus The Royal Literary Fund (and many other supports I am sure). Today Writers Mosaic has an insert in The Bookseller. Great to see exciting new work showcased in such a positive way. Events @hayfestival.bsky.social and other events across the country

Friends, readers, @bsky.app #bookpeople please join us for the launch of my debut English novel, The Orange Notebooks, 22/05, Waterstones,Trafalgar Sqr, 6.30pm (published by 🔥 @ofmooseandmen.bsky.social) I'll be in conversation with wonderful Catherine Taylor. There will be talk, books and wine!

Teaching @arvonfoundation.bsky.social course starting 5 May. One week online course focusing on historical fiction. Will be teaching with friend and amazing writer Rebecca Abrams. Couple of slots still to fill. Do join us and gain confidence, inspiration, skills. www.arvon.org/writing-cour...

Thank you to everyone who has signed the petition which now stands at 40,000+! You can #DoTheWriteThing & stop #MetaBookThieves by adding your signature here ✒️ authr.uk/sp40