Tam Langley

Kash Patel’s FBI Is Making America Less Safe, Current and Former Employees Say (Gift Article) Forty-five current and former employees on the changes they say are undermining the agency and making America less safe.

If you have any capacity for horror left, here is a long article on Kash Patel and the current state of the FBI.

h/t @donmoyn.bsky.social

gift article link:

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Extraordinary and important to read thank you.

I'm quoted in today's @the-independent.com on a new report from parliament's Health & Social Care Committee. Here at @parentinfantfdn.bsky.social we are calling for 'Healthy Babies' services to be available in every local area, not just the 75 currently funded: www.independent.co.uk/news/health/...

Bohemian Rhapsody Flashmob consisting of 30 musicians and singers on a street in Paris.

I reckon Freddie Mercury would have loved this.

[Sorry ... had to choose the lowest quality and cut into two for BlueSky. Hopefully the audio survived.]

🧵 1/2

It really was excellent.

Delighted for you @laylamoran.bsky.social and so glad to see colleagues' understanding of the importance of parental leave. We have submitted evidence to your inquiry on the First 1001 days too. Sending love and best wishes to you all.

We're delighted to announce we've been awarded more than £1 million from The National Lottery Community Fund to create a new National Parent-Infant Relationship (PAIR) Framework!
Working with delivery partners Ideas Alliance & Anna Freud, we can't wait to get started!
Details👉 bit.ly/4jF3G75

Huge well done to my colleague @bencurran.bsky.social who ran th London marathon today for my old employer @asthmaandlung.org.uk What an amazing achievement! 👏👏👏

Making my day is Coco thinking this monkey toy is a real and present danger.

Babies eh, they suck you dry ;-)

What are babies really thinking? Rachel Carlyle meets Marie Derome, the child psychotherapist who explains the science of bonding

Lovely long-read in today's @thetimes.com explaining how babies communicate and the importance of talking to them. Also how traumatic births can impact bonding and why parents who are struggling need support. That's our mission at @parentinfantfdn.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...

@pippaheylings.bsky.social asked whether Start for Life services could be extended to every area of England, including to her South Cambridgeshire constituency.

The government confirmed that it holds the ambition to ensure that start for life services reach every child.

Photo from the first official APPG meeting on 29th October 2024. Photo includes: Lord Simon Russell of Liverpool, Tamora Langley Head of Policy and Communications, Parent-Infant Foundation, Leigh Ingham MP, Kirith Entwistle MP, Elsie Blundell MP, Maya Ellis MP, Freddie van Mierlo MP, Dr Kieran Mullan MP and Keith Reed Chief Executive, Parent-Infant Foundation.

📢New All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Babies launched!👶The new Group's purpose is to champion the needs of vulnerable babies & will be led by the elected officers @mayaellismp.bsky.social @elsieblundellmp.bsky.social Patrick Spencer MP & Freddie van Mierlo MP. More details 👉bit.ly/4f8Ved6

Fantastic hand knitted dog blanket in Brockwell park. Anyone with kids may remember Elma the Elephant's patchwork hide. Model: a sweet elderly giant lab/great dane cross. My dog in background for scale. #elephantdog

Dorothy's ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz movie sell for $28m The shoes, worn by Judy Garland in the classic 1939 movie, went for $25m more than the auctioneer's estimate.

How exciting! Think I've worked out what my surprise Christmas present is this year. Or maybe it's just a dream... www.google.com/amp/s/www.bb...

Any suggestions please for how to check if a melody you have written is new or if it's a tune you've heard and unconsciously copied? Not sure Shazam can identify single notes on a piano, I think it just does full tracks. 🙉

...challenges of insecure and poor quality housing, unemployment and poor mental health, domestic violence and trauma. Investing in the first 1001 days is key because it's when babies' brains are rapidly developing and they learn to form sounds, process the world around them and self-regulate.

...A big gap (more than 20% difference) exists here between kids entitled to free school meals. Just 51.5% are at a good level of development aged 5. This inequality gap is a scandal and demands investment not just in high quality early education but in services that support families living with...

... best start in life, one of his 6 top national prioirities.
And committed to achieve a new milestone that 75% of 5 year olds will be school-ready by 2028 (currently it's 67.7%)...

Delighted that our #SpeakUpForBabies campaign has made an impact. We secured another year of funding for the national Start for Life programme, which helps new parents and babies who are struggling with mental health, breastfeeding and bonding. Today Keir Starmer made 'giving every child the ...

...clear how the NHS, social services and local government will coordinate what they do so that vulnerable babies don't fall between the gaps, and direct funding towards early intervention services that reach babies fast with support.

...yesterday that babies are the most vulnerable people in our society. They rely totally on the adults around them. When they or their parents are in crisis, public services are crucial to averting unspeakable tragedies. Labour need to get this sorted before the spring spending review. And make...

...like parent-infant relationship support and infant feeding. The future of the programme hangs in the balance. The Chancellor said their priority is to give every child the best start in life. But the lack of clarity over accountability makes this aspiration ring hollow. A new MP made the point...

Most effective time to invest! The earlier the investment the greater the return. But national programmes like Start for Life are jointly owned by the DfE and the DHSC. So while today's Budget announced £69m for Family Hubs (the DfE's responsibility), it said nothing about DHSC funded services ...

Today's Budget epitomises the long-standing policy problem that responsibility for babies and toddlers' health and wellbeing is not held by a single government department. It's on the list of several, and the priority of none. Why does this matter? Because intervening in the early months is the ...

This has made my weekend.
Also excellent for anyone who says Germans don't have a sense of humour. youtube.com/shorts/xWcwY...

Keen to know what upside there is to the winter solstice. Best one so far seems to be Saturnalia. Slaves and masters swap roles. So that's the kids doing all the work today is it? Advice pls www.britannica.com/topic/Saturn...

True test of whether you really do have a small ego is - are you willing to share your Monzo unwrapped? Just looked at mine and it was so utterly depressingly middle aged that I am ashamed to share. Eg. Top shopping was 🙈 Ocado. #predictable #bubble #middleage

This week I have been repeatedly thinking 'why oh why did we not publish something now!?' It's such a quiet domestic news week. But then I realise why. Everyone is simply exhausted and trying to make it through the end of term school shows to Xmas without catching Covid or Noro again 🤞

Whoever dreamt up the gremlins had a dog like Coco I'm sure. Cute and friendly until you try to take away the random mouldy teabag she's found on the street. When she turns into a monster.