Town Halls of Greater Manchester: Stockport, Trafford, Rochdale and Wigan. #photography

Attenborough nature reserve, one of my favourite places. #photography

A field near Hessle, East Riding of Yorkshire. #photography

Blue door and red bike in Leven, East Riding of Yorkshire. #photography

"Der Adler kann nicht vom flachen Boden wegfliegen; er muß mühselig auf einen Fels oder Baumstumpf hüpfen: Von dort aber schwingt er sich zu den Sternen." (Hugo von Hofmannsthal)

I've decided that every time I get the urge to post about the government's constant anti-immigrant cruelty (on which I've already said all there is to say) I'll post a photo I've taken instead. Starting with the magnificent Guildhall in Hull, where I became a British citizen.

I've run out of patience for people making ridiculous excuses for each new cruel policy the government is putting forward. Now I just block to make my online experience more bearable.

I, as part of the British public, want refugees to be treated with human dignity. And the answer from the spokesman makes me sad.

A Labour MP I've already seen other times take good positions on immigration, pushing back on Labour's leadership cruel policy proposals. Good to see, and more of this from other MPs too, please.

A Labour MP I've already seen other times take good positions on immigration, pushing back on Labour's leadership cruel policy proposals. Good to see, and more of this from other MPs too, please.

The "island of strangers" speech (+ all the successive policies on immigration from his government) disabused me of the notion that he is fundamentally a decent man.

Maybe the government should stop making horrific proposals, how about that?

They won't take wedding rings? Wow, so generous. I can't believe this stuff is happening. Also, spare me with this "we're the best country in the world" stuff. The UK is great in many ways, but let's not exaggerate.

Protected bike lanes* are a source of joy! That feeling when you are whizzing past a huge queue of cars stuck in traffic 😎 *The one on my commute is not fully completed yet, but I could use a little bit of it this morning

❤️

In Italy we would say she has "la faccia come il culo" (the face like the arse), i.e. she is shameless

also, of course, a lot of the Northern working class are either immigrants or the children or grandchildren of immigrants.

Yeah, but for Blue Labour if you don't do manual work you're not really working class, you're a member of the nefarious *lanyard class*. Even worse if you are an immigrant, like yours truly.

Fratelli d'Italia (Italy's government party) wanted to parade through Rome with cars to protest bike lanes, but it turned out that there were too many cars (!) so they cancelled it (LOL). The guy in charge said that "300 cars would have gridlocked the city, that was not the goal" (LMAO)

They need to say it publicly, not privately. Now is the time to be upfront and speak up.

Such a weaselly answer from Mahmood. I am a very calm person, but very few things enrage me like the contempt she and other senior Labour politicians show for human rights, and the delight they show in inflicting suffering on vulnerable people.

It makes me angry to the bone for somebody to be given the responsibility of leader of a party with a noble history and to betray every value it should stand for - not even for something he believes in himself, but for a false and cynical vision of his own electorate.

why do I emphasize the Manchester-ness of this? because Blue Labour 'thinkers' try to portray themselves as authentic representatives of a neglected Northern working class. But while there's plenty of racism in the North, as anywhere else, there's also a long history of integration and anti-racism.

when I hear Starmer speak about immigration and race he's spitting in the face of the Labour voters I knew growing up in Manchester, who put themselves on the line against the National Front - and often the police - in the 1970s and 1980s.

The beautiful Ordsall Hall, Salford

«You've just listened to 'Illegal Immigration Will Tear Us Apart', the new single by No Joy Division, Shabana Mahmood with the vocals, Keir Starmer playing the drums»

Something that should be mentioned more often when we talk about "sending people back" after years, is that when you've lived for years in a country that's *your* country. I go to Italy often(ish) to see family and friends, but if I had to build a new life there it would be quite diff(erent)(icult).

I can look out of my window, and the sun is nowhere to be seen...

Aside from the ever increasing cruelty directed at refugees in the attempt to "stop the boats": even if the boats stopped tomorrow, nothing would change in the UK. Slow, short, polluting diesel trains between northern cities are not going to become the Shinkansen overnight if the boats stop coming.

November 13th-19th is Trans Awareness Week.

I said it before, but it's a strange feeling when I think of the contrast between my personal life — which has got better recently and gives me some sense of stability — and the the bin fire of British politics, with an increasingly xenophobic Labour government gleefully paving the way for Reform.

Currently going through a Chinese music phase, #NowListening to Tan Dun's violin concertos. Any recommendations are more than welcome!

Thomas Hobbes described life in the state of nature as "nasty, brutish and short". Successive UK governments seem determined to make our lives "nasty, British* and short" *because they don't want any foreigners

There is this guy, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Keir Starmer and can be heard a few years ago saying that we need to make the "positive case" for immigration and that immigrants are good for Britain. And his name is also Keir Starmer, what a coincidence!

One last thing. All those Labour supporters posting pretty infographics about all the achievements, this new proposed policy on refugees is the kind of thing that means those infographics don't make any difference to the polls. One piece of vicious xenophobia drowns it all out.

It can't be emphasised enough that the Government's current approach: - Increase ILR to 10 years, - Increase Asylum ILR to 20 years, - Removal "immediately" if your home country becomes "safe," - Loss of permanent refugee status, Is exactly the sort of thing they dismissed as radical extremism.

The *obsession* with illegal migration is leading the country on a very dark path, and Mahmood is one of those leading the way to the abyss.

If Tommy Robinson praises you, it's not a good sign.

I am (now) a Brit, but for Christmas I will probably cook a traditional Christmas meal from Verona, with tortellini with broth, and the boiled meat used to make the broth served with pearà (♥️) and green sauce, then pandoro.

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" Like their immigration policies that Labour is so keen to copy.

He seems nice.

This guy is not just a Labour MP, but the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and Citizenship!

Looking at some photos from last month I found some nice pics of Salford Cathedral, which is still undergoing restoration works and should (hopefully!) reopen next year. I am looking forward to visiting it and seeing the interior.

A great thread

Labour MPs who are not on board with the constant stream of racism and xenophobia coming from the government and party leadership (I assume there are some!) should speak up against it now. Otherwise it will be reasonable to believe they are in fact ok with it.

Thread 🧵

UK (and world) politics may be going down the toilet, but at least I can listen to 'Così fan tutte', so not all is bad. Good ol' Friedrich was right when he said that "Without music, life would be a mistake"

"The era of permanent protection is over" Just cruelty for the sake of cruelty. Targeting refugees, some of the most vulnerable people in our society, and some of the people most deserving of our protection.