‘Rescued’ random older couple on train. Booked 1st class from Stonehaven to MCR airport. Only told at York - where they expected to change - train went to Man Victoria and they would need to make their way from there. We all opted for the Wythenshawe tour tram - got us here but slow

As one of the world’s oldest parliamentary democracies, we might have to accept that we can’t take our country back, and if we do, they’ll just give us vouchers.

Had to call HMRC. Hold 25+ minutes. Two cheeful, helpful staff members. Query answered. If it doesn't work, just give us a call back and we'll have a look. My guess is they are chronically understaffed which is why the wait time.

I wrote something. Doesn't happen often. If you get a chance to see this, I really would. It's good.

In London, hate will never win.

As Chair, here is our cross-party joint statement from the Parliamentary Black Caucus, regarding the rising threat of racism and violence from the far-right.👇🏾

You get 1K characters so I did what I could. I’m so not the letter-to-the-Prime-Minister type. But dammit, he’s my Prime Minister. I actually voted for him so he’s my responsibility. contact.no10.gov.uk

It’s a good way of preserving carrots - if you can get them out of the glass afterwards

This, from the Quakers, is a pretty good example of how to resist pressure from bigot lobbying groups. Effectively “we legally can allow trans people to use the loo, we morally should, and we tried it and nothing bad happened”

This context is important. Images of him grandstanding - again - are not

fundamentally the problem is that if you think "hotels are where I stay on holiday and I like being on holiday so living in a hotel must be fun and it's not fair others get to do it and not me" then you have the intellectual reasoning of a little child and it's going to be hard to engage with you

I’m am being to think that we as a species may not sufficiently appreciate our opposable thumbs. Signed, badly, someone with a staved* thumb** on their more dominant hand. *It’s Scottish, I don’t know the English word. **Of course there is a long story

but “financially better off” and “doing a job you love” aren’t synonyms. arts careers are underpaid (and that isn’t universities’ fault) but that clearly doesn’t stop people from wanting to be artists.

New YouGov polling. A monumental failure of our political class to educate, a monumental failure of our media to report fairly, for a generation

As an immigrant, disinfo like this pisses me off. We don't move here penniless. We can't. EVERY international student brings £150K for tuition fees & living expenses. Then we work hard to make that money back and pay taxes. Moving countries & careers is VERY HARD and we do it and we succeed.

Potentially controversial opinion: replacing the four cheeses in your Four Cheese Ravioli bake with vegetarian stuff - that all tastes the same, and is like eating glue - is not an improvement, even if it means you can stick a V logo on it. Thank you well known store

Dmitry explaining things clearly, as ever. Thank you

In search of bad vibes open.substack.com/pub/georgina...

Skegness, one of your absolute finest people right here. Buy her a drink whenever you see her.

The PNG Courier on the crime against humanity currently being permitted to take place in Gaza. Substack - mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/the-png-co...

Why I 🧡 the web. drawafish.com Just draw the fish. Trust me. 🐟

Populism's Achilles' heel: When you actually dig into Reform's policies, the public don't want what they have to sell iandunt.substack.com/p/populisms-...

✍️ Households are tired of carrying the can for water companies Yorkshire Water’s hosepipe ban is a symptom of a broken system – it’s time to take back control of our water By Jon Trickett @jontrickett.bsky.social

For 2 years, 2 govts used a secret court to hide the truth: they put 100,000 Afghans at risk of death. They used constitutionally unprecedented methods to prevent reporting. My reflections on two years on this story and why it must ever happen again. goodallandgoodluck.substack.com/p/my-two-yea...

A video which appears to show Pfizer’s CEO discussing a goal of halving the world’s population has been edited. He was actually talking about reducing the number of people who could not afford their medicines by 50%.

When you work with demographic data, one thing that becomes immediately clear is that the race/ethnic classifications used on the census & university applications are often delineated quite arbitrarily, leaving many people (like Mamdani!) having to select categories that don’t always fit perfectly.

How much will the ethnic profile of the UK change from migration and natural change over the next one hundred years? Will 'White British' become a minority? I've tried to have a look at the data on this - and I didn't find what I thought I would. georginasturge.substack.com/p/will-white...

"May I have your name?" the faerie said. "William," she said with a smile. "Ah ah!" The faerie gave a wicked laugh. "I have your name! Now no-one will call you by it!" "Thank you," she said. "To win it back, you must- what?" "I will find me a new one," she said, "one that suits me better."

Your helpful reminder that Iran’s nuclear programme predates the Islamic Republic and may well survive it.

"It’s understandable that Ukrainians have normalised such violence. But back in the UK, most people seemed unaware of the scale of these attacks. On the train back to London, someone even told me they thought a ceasefire had been agreed." #NAFO www.theneweuropean.co.uk/luke-mcgee-i...

THREAD. When my parents' cat Bridget went missing, my dad, to try to ease his worry, painted her on a variety of historical ventures. Soon, these numbered in the dozens. After much nagging, my dad has had some postcards printed of this brilliant series: michaelcoxmoredaysthansausages.bigcartel.com

Trump has failed. What next? @LawDavF samf.substack.com/p/the-end-of...

🏳️‍⚧️ Old and trans: an uncertain future Some reflections on the impact the Supreme Court judgment and EHRC guidance is likely to have on older trans adults By Nell Stockton @yorkshirebylines.co.uk

Trying to explain the maths for pinch pleated curtains when tired to another tired person. We got there

you can read it here, if you like: youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/the-ballad...

The state of the newspapers this morning: a near-universal attack on trans people, most of it grossly exaggerating the implication of yesterday's ruling. Almost joyous in its spite.

The absence of trans people from the British media is part of the problem. I'd like to offer mentoring to trans people trying to get into journalism, free of charge. Most of my experience is obviously in political commentary, but I might be passably useful in news and other areas.

To celebrate the completion of The Library Trilogy with THE BOOK THAT HELD HER HEART, I'm giving away the full set of signed Locked Library special editions. To enter just repost. Contest held across my socials - enter elsewhere too to increase chances. Winner chosen randomly from all entries.

With thanks to @davidallengreen.bsky.social which is how I came across this.

Tariffs explained quick simply

Anyway, if MailOnline are going to stick their story behind a paywall then I'm going to make mine available for free for 24 hours. So have a read, stick this in your WhatsApp group, and just help me spread the word about where to get the real thing. www.londoncentric.media/p/harry-pott...

Wonderful!

Please share this fact sheet on Ukraine with anyone who needs it understandingwar.org/backgrounder...

the funniest thing you'll read today. and given the state of the world, make some time for funny things. (h/t to Sai from the fated mates discord for finding this one.) electricliterature.com/is-the-book-...

This is well worth a read. Good to have a constructive focus for hope these days. Winning the War for Democracy open.substack.com/pub/blairmai...

TODAY 12 February 5-7pm, I'll be holding another #AldiWineClinic both here and on Twitter simultaneously. All your questions answered, just use the hashtag (this is important) and if you repost too you could win an ALDI €100 voucher. Get your question in now with the hashtag #AldiWineClinic

I have no idea why, but a previous me decided that freezing an entire packet of sausages (12) was a good idea. There are exactly two people to feed. Not sure if batch cooking sausages is a thing (yet)

I wrote this about anti-wokeness, which is nothing more than a rebadged do-over of the tedious political correctness panics of my childhood. On how anti-woke, like 'politically incorrect' before it, is just a politically correct term for 'a dickhead'. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...

Hi Apple folks, please may I ask for some advice. Apple has just started summarising my incoming mail in the most annoying fashion. Does anyone know how to switch it off, please? I have looked at the settings, etc, but can't see anything obvious. Thanks in advance