Prof Christina Pagel

Once again, another mealy-mouthed half defence of the earned settlement proposals from someone who clearly hasn't read them/doesn't understand them.

As Badenoch's letter (accurately) makes clear, there is only a modest difference in degree between Mahmood's proposals and Tory policy.

New Ayatollah just dropped.

Optical illusion of a woman bent over some papers. Her sunglasses are pushed up and she is wearing a hair band so the top of her head looks exactly like a Muppet face

Sorry I know the world is in a terrible fix but I've been laughing at this for ten minutes now

I’ve spent years, decades, obsessing over the Bush Administration’s Iraq WMD lies, writing about them, debunking them.

I can think of no lie about Iraq WMDs told by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al that comes even close to the enormity and absurdity of this lie from Donald Trump.

If you think I'm overstating concerns about the loyalties of US tech companies - check out this memo from Anthropic CEO to staff on their battle with the Trump administration.

He's going to try and make Marco Rubio President of Iran isn't he?

(As if he'd heard of Mojtaba Khamenei before this week).

Kennedy's new US autism panel to examine potential causes A U.S. autism advisory board remade by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to include vaccine skeptics aims to steer federal research spending toward investigating causes of the condition, as well as other issues ​like co-occurring medical disorders, according to some new panel members.

A U.S. autism advisory board remade by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to include vaccine skeptics aims to steer federal research spending toward investigating causes of the condition, as well as other issues ​like co-occurring medical disorders, according to some...

TAT: [Attacking science]

‘A subversion of the justice system’: DoJ shifts into Trump’s ‘political wing’ as criminal investigations accelerate President has ‘succeeded in completely politicizing’ justice department, experts say, using it to punish his enemies

Trump's Department of Justice (DoJ) has increasingly become his administration’s “political wing” with criminal investigations of economic and political foes and an FBI raid of a Georgia election office seeking evidence for Trump’s debunked clai...

TAT: [Suppressing dissent | Undermining democracy]

F.D.A. Faces Upset Over Denials of New Drugs Agency officials promise fast reviews of new treatments while vowing they will not be a “rubber stamp” for the industry. But patients with rare diseases view recent decisions as signs that the doors are closing on their options.

In the Trump administration, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) drug review process has undergone a considerable shift, brought into stark relief in recent weeks by the agency’s refusal to consider Moderna’s flu vaccine, and then its reversal of that decision. The ...

TAT: [Attacking science]

DOJ admits 47,635 Epstein files — including Trump allegations — were removed Justice Department expects to restore missing documents that were taken offline for review

The Department of Justice (DoJ) admitted to witholding nearly 48,000 Epstein files, including materials that might implicate Trump. Although the DoJ stated the files were taken offline for review, it is required to release all files by federal...

TAT: [Controlling information | Suppressing dissent]

Trump asks Texas Senate candidate he does not endorse to drop out of race President Trump said the Texas Republican Senate candidate that does not get his endorsement should drop out of the race, announcing on Wednesday that he will throw his weight behind the race “soon…

Trump asked the Texas Senate candidate he won't endorse to drop out of race, although he has not announced who that is yet. Republican candidates Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn were unable to win a majority and face a run-off in May.

TAT: [Undermining democracy]

Senate votes down resolution to prevent Trump from continuing war with Iran War powers vote broke along party lines with almost all Democrats in support and most Republicans opposed

The Senate voted down resolution to prevent Trump from continuing war with Iran. The resolution, votes on largely along party lines, would have required Trump receive Congress’s permission before continuing the war with Iran.

TAT: [Foreign policy | Undermining democracy]

Noem denies blocking investigations, as inspector general says he’s been ‘systematically obstructed’ Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem denied that she was blocking 11 different inspector general investigations of her department, including in a criminal matter, even as she blasted the inspect…

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem denied that she was blocking 11 different inspector general investigations of her department, including in a criminal matter, even as she blasted the inspector general for wanting “unfettered access to...

TAT: [Controlling information | Undermining democracy]

Delighted to have been on this really interesting panel in Berlin last week, hosted by the British Council & the Alexander Humboldt Foundation about how to protect academic freedom in science over the coming years...

Spring is springing

Your regular reminder than a large majority of voters - and overwhelming majority of Labour voters - favour giving settled migrants access to the welfare state after five years or less. The Home Secretary is not reforming rules in line with public opinion. She is doing the opposite.

It's disgusting to suggest that care workers "contribute less". They're are absolutely invaluable.

"would otherwise receive immediate access to welfare and social housing" is BS.

Correct: "after 5 years working in a care home, would be eligible to apply for welfare and social housing on the same basis as the rest of us."

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Deliberately misleading/disingenous.

I think the problem is actually the opposite - once you get to a GE campaign, policy announcements are scrutinised *a lot*. But what happens is that parties are then incentivised to announce as little as possible, and the media isn't well set up to scrutinise *that*

There is just something deeply disturbing and offensive about watching a Labour govt keep kicking the most vulnerable in our society.

There is just something deeply disturbing and offensive about watching a Labour govt keep kicking the most vulnerable in our society.

Clinical trial reforms that once seemed radical How randomized controlled trials, preregistration, and results reporting became standard practice.

New post!

It may seem ambitious to ask for individual patient data from clinical trials to be shared, anonymized, for use by other researchers.

But the history of medicine shows us that clinical trials have already undergone a series of transformations that once seemed equally bold:

Proud to participate in panel discussion in Parliament on how we ensure #covidinquiry recommendations implemented in full.

Thank you @chrischirp.bsky.social @jolyon.goodlawproject.org @nathanoswin.bsky.social
Debbie Abrahams MP, John Chisholm BMA

Act now, save lives.

@cbffjuk.bsky.social

Hilarious. The Republican Party:

US to auction oil and gas drilling rights in Alaska's Cook Inlet The Trump administration on Wednesday will offer more than 1 million acres (404,686 hectares) in Alaska's ​Cook Inlet to oil and gas ‌drillers, a key test of industry appetite for investment in the region.

The Trump administration will offer more than 1 million acres (404,686 hectares) in Alaska's ​Cook Inlet to oil and gas ‌drillers, a key test of industry appetite for investment in the region. The sale is the first of six ​Alaska offshore oil and gas auctions mandated ​t...

TAT: [Attacking science]

Westlake man dies while in ICE custody at Adelanto detention center, LA councilmember says Alberto Gutierrez Reyes lived in L.A.'s Westlake District, according to his family. He's being remembered as a beloved neighbor, father and devoted husband.

A detainee, Alberto Gutierrez Reyes, died while in ICE custody at Adelanto detention center in California. This is the 9th known death of a detainee in ICE custody since the beginning of 2026.

TAT: [Nationalism]

Trump DOJ Pushes to Sideline State Bar Ethics Investigations (3) The Justice Department is seeking to empower Attorney General Pam Bondi to suspend state bar ethics investigations into current and former DOJ lawyers—a step outside attorneys quickly criticized as an illegal intervention into state-run processes.

Justice Department (DoJ) has proposed a regulation seeking to authorize Attorney General Pam Bondi to suspend state bar ethics investigations into current and former DOJ lawyers. The proposal aims to halt state-level ethics proceedings against DOJ lawyers while the d...

TAT: [Undermining democracy]

Kash Patel gutted FBI counterintelligence team tasked with tracking Iranian threats days before US strikes, sources say | CNN Politics

According to sources, FBI Director Kash Patel fired a dozen agents and staff members from an FBI counterintelligence unit tasked with monitoring threats from Iran days before the US launched its attack on Iran. Staff were fired because they had been involved in an inve...

TAT: [Suppressing dissent]

U.S. sub sinks Iranian warship off Sri Lanka, killing 87 and expanding war zone A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, killing dozens of sailors and dramatically widening Washington's pursuit of the Iranian navy.

A US submarine sinking a lonely, dinky Iranian surface ship an ocean away from the theater of the main conflict—and 9000
miles from North America—makes it pretty clear the US is fighting a general war, without the declaration required by the Constitution. www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...