Dr Mel Crofts (she/her)

Finding Your Stride in the Struggle “This is the moment to find a new gear,” says organizer Daniel Hunter.

Resistance needs physical care of rest-in-motion - Exercise.

“Physiologically, what we know about adrenaline and oxytocin is that these things get lodged in your body. And so if you haven't been—this is an important time to keep your body in physical motion” organizingmythoughts.org/finding-your...

All Labour has achieved by doing so is to alienate people who may have supported them and increase the salience of issues, such as trans individuals and migrants, for the likes of Reform to hammer them on. It is a lose/lose strategy from any way you look at it. 8/

Labour is currently making the choice to abandon the principles which led people to support them in favour of chasing the votes of those who never will. In practical terms, benefits cuts, increased deportations, permanent puberty blockers ban, they've already gone further than Conservatives did. 7/

@genkitchenmp.bsky.social This would be a popular move! Can't we punch up instead of punching down all the time!? Those with wealth have seen massive increases, while those already struggling will be screwed over more #NoToDisabilityCuts #NoMoreAusterity #ProgressiveTaxation

Soaring UK crime costing up to £250bn a year, says thinktank Policy Exchange report blames austerity for breakdown in policing and criminal justice

Austerity is a false economy

Petition: Cancel Trump’s state visit Stop Trump Coalition

stoptrump.org.uk/petition-can...

That’s a wider issue in any case:

This is the SPD’s worst result ever.

It is the CDU’s second worst result.

It is the AfD’s best result so far and basically a doubling of their %

So really: no time at all for any kind of complacency; the far right was not defeated.

/endPS

PS: I should also have mentioned that many, many constituencies, especially in the east, have the AfD at well over 30%. I’ve also seen plenty of results at over 40% there. That trend is very likely to continue as results continue to come in. The east will be AfD-land, likely no other way to put it.

That doesn’t have to happen. Grown-up politics could certainly offer better.

But given Merz’s record, and how he has positioned the CDU, I certainly don’t think tonight offers a reason for any kind of celebration.

The wind has not been taken out of the far right sails.

/end

“Schlimmer geht immer”, we say in German—it can always be worse. Yes, sure. But seriously: if that’s what we have to feel grateful for, the bar is truly low

This outcome, the way it looks now, is bad.

The fact that the AfD didn’t do even better really isn’t a good way of looking at this.

So what I am saying is this:

The top three parties are either far right (AfD) or happy to let pandering to the far right determine at least some of their policy.

In so doing, they primarily just enable the original.

That’s not a win; it’s not a good outcome.

Home Office contractor collected data on UK citizens while checking migrants’ finances Official sent email to charity that suggested Home Office had data on ‘hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting Britons’

Anti-immigration policies inevitably don't "just" affect migrants. They have knock on effects which end up affecting everyone. You cannot push intrusive and hostile policies against migrants without them impacting on others.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

I do wonder how much we might start to see a backlash against the far right driven by disgust at Trump, Putin, etc in Europe.

People didn’t want to believe it could be this bad but now they get to see what the people who support the AFD like Musk are really about & overall we don’t want it.

Women, Men, And Meritocracy: A Scientific Perspective Will the current backlash against diversity and inclusion boost or harm meritocracy?

Yet women are less likely to be in leadership positions than men.

Good article here countering the meritocracy myth. www.forbes.com/sites/tomasp...

“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

A classic quote from Malcolm X, who was assassinated 60 years ago today.

UK immigration policy is stuck in a race to the bottom To eliminate the exploitation of migrants we must challenge and transform the systems and structures that make workers vulnerable to abuse.

Good piece by @focusonlabour.bsky.social on how Labour's new Borders Bill will inevitably end up benefiting human traffickers, and punishing victims.
As with previous policies, the focus on "tougher measures" continues to leave people at more risk of exploitation.
www.bigissue.com/opinion/gove...

‘We have a rule when we hear the sirens: if you’ve started operating, you don’t stop’: 24 hours with doctors on the Ukrainian frontline Like the soldiers they battle to save, combat medics in Ukraine are under constant attack. Three years after the invasion, one NHS doctor bears witness

We need facts as never before.

3 years after Putin invaded Ukraine, I spent 24 hours with combat medics on the Ukrainian frontline.

Their courage, compassion, dedication & skill are astounding.

Please read & please never stop standing up for Ukraine. 🇺🇦

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

'I don't earn enough money for family to be together - my son calls for his dad' Jade Binmuda, her partner Thanawut Sriyaemwong, and their two children had hoped to settle back in the UK after falling in love and starting a family in Thailand

Minimum Income Requirements continue to rip families apart, leave children without a parent, and destroy lives. No-one should be forced to see their family split up based on how much they earn.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

The new US rules seem to be: If you’re not a white straight male, you got your job by DEI and are fair game for being removed.

What’s worse is that their peers seem to be sitting back and letting them.

Meritocracy means if you're a white man, you get the gig.

Just once, just *once*, I would love to see some interrogate the thought process which runs "BLM makes me uncomfortable. This is clearly a problem with the movement". Like, there's another possible explanation there guys?

Student mental health difficulties are on the rise, and so are inequalities TASO's Omar Khan presents evidence that inequality is a factor in a growing student demand for mental health support

This week on Wonkhe: TASO's Omar Khan presents evidence that inequality is a factor in a growing student demand for mental health support

I have insomnia a lot lately so may as well share what’s literally keeping me up at night.

It’s a long list but tonight it’s flu. Yes, H5N1, but also seasonal flu. Firing federal scientists brings a flu-filled future.

Have you ever wondered how flu vaccine strains are chosen?

“The inhumane is being perpetrated on our watch. I’m here … to lend my unwavering solidarity to all those who recognise the unacceptable complacency of our greed-addicted governments who make nice with planet wreckers and war criminals, wherever they come from.” Tilda Swinton

This 👇🏼

Transgender references removed from Stonewall National Monument website The monument honors the Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969, in New York City's Greenwich Village.

Trans and non-binary individuals were there at the Stonewall Riots. This is the erasure of us from history as well as in the present.
We exist, have always existed.

abcnews.go.com/US/transgend...

Immigration raids: your rights, and what to do We have put together this simple blog against the backdrop of an increasingly violent and Hostile Environment towards migrants in the UK. This is particularly important in light of the recently…

Share this incredibly useful guide from @right-to-remain.bsky.social with everyone you can.
Knowing your rights, and how to protect others, is as important as ever as the Labour Government copies the hostile, anti-migrant tactics of the previous one.

Rollback on diversity policies ‘risks undoing decades of progress’, says Co-op As Donald Trump reverses discrimination initiatives in US, Co-op says it is holding firm on DEI having seen the benefits • Why is diversity, equity and inclusion in the news? A rollback of diversity initiatives in the UK risks undoing decades of…

Rollback on diversity policies ‘risks undoing decades of progress’, says Co-op

Good morning to this man, and this man only #bbcqt

If Labour lurches to the right in a desperate bid to try to court Reform voters, it simply reinforces Reform’s message, while top-down technocratic approaches also fail to inspire. Taxing the wealthy & building community resilience will make a real difference to people’s lives - & be popular
7/7