Francesca Simon

Imam Qari Asim has made this statement from the British Muslim Network about the Manchester synagogue attack. [He is also a British Future trustee].

If you live in:

South Dakota
Louisiana
West Virginia
Wyoming
Tennessee
Mississippi
Alaska

Call your right wing Senator and ask them why they're pushing to increase their constituents healthcare prices so much.

So thrilled that FINALLY, every state primary school will have a library (most people don't know this is currently not the case) by 2029. Thanks to #LibrariesforPrimaries campaign and @literacy-trust.bsky.social for making this happen. And thanks to #RachelReevesMP for the committment

Tomorrow on my live podcast History Matters:

What the Heck is the World Thinking??

The UN meeting this week definitely raised this question.

It’s been asked a LOT at key moments—and Americans are never prepared for the answer.

Let’s talk.

Friday 10AM ET
NCHEteach.org/conversations

Summary of Trump’s speech to the UN today:

1. Your countries all suck.

2. None of you know what you are doing.

3. The US is better at everything.

4. All because of me.

5. I’m right about everything.

6. You should listen to me & do what I say.

7. And give me lots of awards.

So was I, before I became a citizen. If you marry a UK national, that's the visa. Like Patrick, paid taxes, Nat'l insurance, just like everyone else who has Indefinite Leave to Remain. So a mass deportation of spouses, amongst the tens of thousands deportees.

So under Reform’s plan to abolish the visa status Indefinite Leave to Remain (given when I married a UK citizen) I would have been deported.

So what happened to the $50K in cash Tom Homan got in the Cava bag?

Was it deposited in his bank account and reported as income that he paid taxes on?

Is it under his mattress?

Huzzah!!!!!!!!🥳

I never watch ABC, so the only response was to cancel Disney/Hulu. Join me. Only money counts in this brutal country.

AI could never replace my authors. But, without regulation, it will ruin publishing as we know it | Jonny Geller Basic principles need to be enshrined to protect the sacred craft of storytelling from this automated onslaught, says literary agent Jonny Geller

I wrote a piece in today’s @theguardian.com about how authors and readers can protect our culture and creative industries from threat of AI.
#AI #publishing #authors
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Two very important graphs.
Net migration reached record levels in 2023 - and has since halved.
The vast majority of arrivals comprises students and workers.
Arrivals in small boats and asylum seekers - less than 5%.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

This Much I Know: Francesca Simon, author, 70 | The Observer The author, known for her children’s books, talks family mysteries, odd jobs, and befriending the Queen Consort

I sound like Pollyanna and all I need are birds twittering around me, but this was a fun interview

observer.co.uk/culture/inte...

If you look up Georgia newspapers it's nearly 40,000 direct and indirect jobs... www.hyundainews.com/en-us/releas...

Kash Patel mistook Manufacturer’s Markings for trans and anti-fascist messages. Trump, Nancy Mace, and the MAGAt horde ran wild with it.

And lost 8500 jobs!

Tomorrow on my live podcast History Matters:

Is This Violence Different?

In some ways, yes—it is.

Let’s look at what this week’s shooting says re: the long history of American political violence—& the nature of the here & now.

Trust me, there’s a LOT to say.

10AM ET
NCHEteach.org/conversations

We went from superpower to stupidpower a lot quicker than anticipated.

I just registered my 28 stolen books

When people say “I want my kids to have things I never had the opportunity to have,” I did not realize they meant measles.

I’m also an immigrant. So were my grandparents and great grandparents (who were poor and spoke no English).

And when I applied for a visa to the UK there was a consulate I could go to. Where are the safe and legal routes to come here?

If you have published anything, please consider doing this. The window is closing and you should get your details registered now for a chance at a settlement. The form works wherever in the world you are based.

NFWS | Homeopathic Potion Request | National Fox Welfare Society | Homeopathic Potion Request: The NFWS Send out anywhere between 300 - 500 homeopathic potion packs each months. each pack in just postage alone costs a staggering £3.10 each.

It looks like he has mange. If you want to treat this contact www.national-fox-welfare.com/homeopathic-...

Here is the growing list of countries choosing to pause mail deliveries to the U.S. because of Trump's tariff chaos.

Did anyone vote in 2024 to become the new Hermit Kingdom?

Austria
Australia
Denmark
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
New Zealand
Singapore
Spain
South Korea
Sweden
Thailand

Today I went to the lovely #woodman pub in Highgate for breakfast and ordered Louis a sausage from the ‘dog menu.’

Apparently no items from that menu have ever been sent back to the kitchen…

In other news, I am now more than half way through War and Peace.

We’re about to get bogged down in the battle of Borodino and I keep looking at a new Elizabeth Taylor novel…

Reminder that Putin has never said he wants a trilateral meeting, had never said he would respect Ukrainian sovereignty, and has never said he wants to end the war. Not to be a downer, but the discussion of security guarantees is premature.

Fun moment on the tube when the woman sitting opposite me and I noticed we were both reading Elizabeth Taylor novels and enjoyable bookish discussion ensued.

The Last Supper, just after Judas is unmasked...