Anna Page

On the one hand, medical science is beginning to get a handle on the very complex physiological basis of this disease. On the other hand, we can expect the greatest medical scandal (so far) of the 21st Century – the mass mistreatment and neglect of ME/CFS sufferers – to continue.

This commission points to where the government is heading. If the problem is “overdiagnosis” – which appears to be its foregone conclusion – then large numbers of people with horrendous conditions will be put through an even more punishing regime of tests and obstacles to qualify for benefits.

In the firing line, as ever, are the UK’s hundreds of thousands of ME/CFS patients. As a practitioner once remarked, “the bastards don’t want to get better”. If there is one characteristic all the ME/CFS patients I’ve come across have in common, it is a desperation to get better.

Like the Tories, the Labour government is trying to drive down the number of people who qualify for disability benefits by insisting there has been an epidemic of “overdiagnosis”: a favourite theme of the BBC and the junktanks of Tufton Street. Never mind the science: what outcome do we want?

Just as we are beginning to understand the biochemical basis of this horrendous condition, the government appoints the man perhaps most responsible for the mischaracterisation of ME/CFS – Simon Wesseley - to its *overdiagnosis* commission. www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/controv...

Scientists develop first ‘accurate blood test’ to detect chronic fatigue syndrome Research could offer hope for ME patients – but some experts urge caution and say more studies needed

ME/CFS is a devastating condition that has long been denied, dismissed, psychologised and underdiagnosed. Research is at last starting to catch up with it, with glimmers of hope for those who have been left untreated for so long.
There's a huge BUT coming ...🧵
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

The thread on one page: skywriter.blue/pages/did:pl...

The image is an X post by user Joshua Reed Eakle from 20 hours ago, stating: "The end of due process for immigrants is the end of due process for citizens. Few understand this." The post includes a profile picture and a verified badge.

I understand this. Please tell me you do, too.

The case for calling Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz' a concentration camp This facility’s purpose fits the classic model, and its existence points to serious dangers ahead for the country.

And for those who still do not understand what is happening in the US, please pay more attention. None of it is benign in any way and some of the greatest cheerleaders of it all are published regularly in The Telegraph, The Times and The Spectator.

Source 1: www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/rc...

Nothing good will ever be found at the end of the road this leads to.

It is a complete dereliction of duty of our media in the UK, and far too many politicians, that we could *ever* get anywhere close to this point of normalising what absolutely are extremist policies.

So last hurrah or not, this is what the leader of the Conservative Party is inspired by and proposes for the UK.

Together with the proposal to leave the ECHR, it is what the completely deranged normalisation of far right anti-immigration approaches has now led to in the UK.

It’s easy to say that this is the last desperate hurrah of a dying party, but can we be clear: Trump’s ICE agents are literally kidnapping people, detaining them without due process in concentration camps (yes, this is the right term) and 1000s have disappeared. These are fascist practices.

White smoke day: the new Archbishop of Canterbury Because I am on General Synod, friends and family assume that I have some sort of hot line to the process by which the new Archbishop of Canterbury is chosen. Well, in a word, no. I have been as mu…

Delighted by the news that Bishop Sarah is to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury! I wrote this: shared-conversations.com/2025/10/03/w...

Just leaving this here, showing that educating overseas students is the only university activity that doesn‘t cost more to deliver than it brings in. Maintenance grants are very welcome, but the source of funding for them is not. They‘re making a broken funding model even more broken.

Jane Goodall has died. What a wonderful, inspiring life. RIP, Dr. Jane Goodall.

#RIPJaneGoodall

Reform's plan for a benefit clampdown Sir, Regarding Reform's plan to ban foreigners from claiming benefits ("Farage visas would make it harder to settle in the UK", news, Sep 22; "Time's Up", leading article, Sep 23), in my small company for the past ten years we have employed, on a yearly average, 32 eastern European people, two of them in senior management positions. They all pay British taxes and have had little or no unexplained absences to date. Sick leave for them is extremely low. As far as I am aware, none of them is claiming benefits for dependants. These diligent people provide compassionate care for their clients, living with them for a few weeks at a time. During the pandemic they were responsible for ensuring zero transmission of the virus to people in their care. I feel utterly ashamed that many of them will be reading about Nigel Farage's plan on their various social media platforms this morning. Chrstina Sell Managing director, Arbour

Our politics and media have become viciously obsessed with immigration. Farage has made sure of it. And in that obsession, they’ve all lost sight of the people they target. Fellow human beings trying to live and belong somewhere.
Shame on everyone responsible for this daily inhumanity
(Letter,Times)

Why are the American president's claims about autism the first item on British news bulletins?

He's not our president, the advice doesn't apply here and he's not presented any evidence to support his assertions.

So why spread these claims? What make this the biggest story in the UK?

This is an excellent point. 👇

It is depressing how little so many people look underneath the persuading headlines filled with confirmation bias to investigate what the actual implications are for themselves, families and neighbours of electing such people to positions of responsibility.

The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced. I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.

Some personal news:

I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.

Thread incoming.

substack.com/@karenattiah...

Truth bomb‼️

This man should be the one speaking on college campuses…

“They’re planning for us to turn on each other and make this culture war a civil war. I am begging you, please, for the love of God, for the love of our neighbors… do not take the bait.”

Watch

Ed Davey has written to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, urging them to join him in condemning Elon Musk's remarks yesterday

BBC under fresh pressure over extent of Reform UK coverage Nigel Farage’s party featured in considerably more News at Ten bulletins than Lib Dems over six months, study finds

As Ed Davey has said, the facts don’t lie - the BBC is fuelling Reform’s rise by plastering Farage across our screens without providing the proper scrutiny the public deserves.

Sign the Liberal Democrats' petition here today: www.libdems.org.uk/bbc

Exactly 💥

Shocked by Epstein’s birthday book? That culture was everywhere before feminism | Rebecca Solnit Feminism exposed the ubiquity of child abuse, rape, sexual harassment and domestic violence – and helped fight that culture

Shocked by Epstein’s birthday book? That culture was everywhere before feminism | Rebecca Solnit

For those with conveniently short memories:

Make no mistake, the Charlie Kirk assassination was a professional hit When I heard that Charlie Kirk had been shot, my first feeling was sadness, and then as people reminded me of the terrible things he had said and done, I did not know what to feel.

Either a lucky shot or a very adept marksman.

www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/make-no-mi...

Thank you, Senator Warren.

Elizabeth Warren on people who say Dems needs to tone down their rhetoric: "Oh, please. Why don't you start with the president of the United States? And every ugly meme he's posted and every ugly word."

Ursula von der Leyen calls for suspension of EU free trade with Israel Commission president cites illegal West Bank settlement plans, Gaza and attempts to ‘undermine two-state solution’

FINALLY. 👏👏👏