Georgia O'Brien

Labour’s secret plan to thwart Reform New legislation could unleash a transformation in community empowerment.

Labour has been quietly going quite hard on "community empowerment" – possibly because it's one of the few halfway coherent theories knocking around the party about how to tackle anti-politics. I've spoken to a lot of people about it for @newstatesman.com:

www.newstatesman.com/comment/2025...

Ten years ago today, the body of Alan Kurdi washed up on a beach. We looked at this photo and it was seared onto our consciousness. Ten years on, how can so much and so little have changed? How can we have let many more children drown? How can we have lost our ability to even defend their humanity?

I spent more than a decade working on human rights issues. I always understood that many friends and colleagues - and certainly all government officials - were selective in their outrage.

Still, I'm stunned by what they are willing to turn a blind eye to.

I’m proud to be a member of a political party that sees our communities as they really are: welcoming, proud, and full of potential.

Brilliant to work with the @hopenothate.org.uk team on this fantastic report. The national picture is bleak, but hope exists on a local level. Let's build on it.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the idea of “meeting people where they are” in context of rise of the Far Right, and this thread is helpful on the role that persuasion can and should play in politics.

Cannot tell if I am pleased my money was not wasted, or devastated that I may now have to shell out for Curlsmith products on the regular.

It has finally happened, a true miracle: I bought an expensive hair product after being influenced by a TikTok, and it ACTUALLY worked?

That data is fascinating, thanks for sharing! Really interested that you think the health data stories applied the most pressure: it will be interesting to see if they push these restrictions beyond the European region they’re currently limited to elsewhere.

Changes to Meta Advertising will impact charity campaigns in 2025 Meta is implementing major changes to its advertising policies starting in January 2025, which will affect how charities can use Meta's business tools. We've created this blog to share what we know so...

This by @torchbox.com is also pretty handy breakdown torchbox.com/blog/meta-ad...

Big changes to how Meta tracks paid ads by charities are here: what you need to know and do - Forward Action This short guide explains what has changed and what you need to do next

I’d say this by @forward-action.bsky.social is the easiest explainer I’ve seen if you’re looking for a quick explainer and actions to take if you’re a political campaigner / advertiser yourself. forwardaction.uk/2025/01/big-...

For sure: especially because I’d warrant a guess that the answer is a product both of an attempt to be on the right side of European regulation, and the fact that the last US election relied a lot less on the microtargeting of the past, a lot more on a broad throw-every-at-the-wall.

See I want to agree, but unleashing the worst of organic political content like their issues content policy changes seem want to do seems totally at odds with this.

In days Meta will be pulling the ability to run the most effective type of ad from political campaigners, which seems so against the grain of their pivot this week. If anyone has written anything interesting on comparing the two moves it’s making on organic vs paid, I’d love to read it.

There’s something really interesting to be written on what’s happening at Meta re: fact-checking and political content (well covered) happening at same time they are making sweeping negative changes to political ads (pretty uncovered outside of charity/campaigners space).

Mildly embarrassing that the biggest draw of moving back north for me is not the ability to buy a four bed house for the price of my small London flat, but how unbelievably good my unruly curly hair looks when not washed in London hard water.

I am so ready for the Barry Keoghan as Ringo discourse, after spending quite a bit of last year trying to explain a Prescot accent to anyone who would listen (not many).

I very much enjoyed introducing a friend to Morgan at a party last week by saying "This is Morgan, of big leaf tweet fame" and her understanding exactly what I meant.

A mock-up of a web commerce app advertising "For Sale: One Political Party", "Condition: Stronger than ever", "£3.60 a month (standard rate)", "Become a member, join now"

👋 Black Friday’s all about savings, but how about sharing instead?

We don’t just talk co-operation, we practice it. We’re owned by our members, who have a real say and stake in what we do.

✨ Become a member and co-owner of a political party today.

buff.ly/2z2air6

The assisted dying vote this week has brought up a lot of unexpected emotions for me. Like many of you, I suspect. When my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, one of the first things she told me was that she was going out on her terms. (1/?)

A funny first as a digital campaigner, adding Share to Bluesky button to our latest digital action!

I'm sure not high on @pfrazee.com's to do list, but would be great if action intent links could auto detect handles in autofilled copy so they link correctly and don't add to character count.

👋

One weird thing about the Xodus is that as someone with American family and friends, it’s markedly weird that all
my British follows have moved here but most Americans still seem to be slogging it out on X – so when I open that app it’s even more Trump doomscrolling than before.

Unless they were also making him do war-related times tables, he has no excuse for also getting rinsed by his maths teacher for being distracted, daydreaming, and never paying attention. Solid foundations for him becoming a structural engineer.

Interview: Joe Fortune, the quietly powerful Co-operative Party general secretary An actual giant of the labour movement? Sienna Rodgers speaks to the tall and quietly powerful Co-operative Party general secretary, Joe Fortune. P...

A great write up of Co-op Party General Secretary as the Mansion House speech gives weight to grow the co-operative and mutual economy @politicshome.bsky.social www.politicshome.com/thehouse/art...

👋 It’s time to turn from Bluesky lurker to Bluesky poster. Follow for all my most lukewarm takes and niche jokes on digital campaigning, political communications and, for my sins, co-operatives.

I spent most of past 10 years telling politicians and campaigners to pay less attention to twitter vs other platforms, but it was still a crucial place for reaching out to & spreading content via the type highly engaged politicos who used it regularly. That model simply doesn’t work without links.

Ultimately the same reason why journalists have largely left Twitter (link suppression) affects campaigning organisations / political parties too. We need to be able to link to press mentions, events, petitions, etc.

📣 Mutuals and co-operatives business council launched
📣 support for credit unions
📣 focus on co-operative growth

Important for the co-op movement to have such a focus in building a strong economy.

@coopparty.bsky.social

🚨 BREAKING: At tonight's Mansion House speech, Rachel Reeves announced three vital steps to support the co-operative and mutual sector, helping drive the inclusive growth our country needs.

Ahead of the Chancellor's announcement in her Mansion House speech today, news on the creation of a new Co-operatives and Mutuals Council underlines the Government's commitment to growing this key sector.