Sue Gill

2015 Shabana Mahmood really needs to have a word with 2025 Shabana Mahmood

Of course you know why a private market in health care is so bad for health.

The best way to make money is to sell a drug that relieves the symptoms of, but does not cure, a very uncomfortable chronic condition.

The worst way to make money is to prevent illness through social change.

How have Labour watched the Tories spend 2-3 years parroting Farage then lose an election badly and conclude a similar strategy is the best course of action?
I. Really. Genuinely. Do Not. Get. It.

Dear [my MP’s name], As the Home Secretary prepares to announce sweeping changes to the UK’s asylum system, I see it as both my duty as a citizen and responsibility as a migration expert to do all I can to urge policymakers to oppose the proposals—not only for what they will do to refugees, though that is the first concern, but also for what they will mean for all of us and the future society we live in.  That is why I am writing to you as my MP. This letter explains why I consider the need to oppose the Home Secretary’s proposals urgent and, at the most fundamental level, in the national and your constituents’ interest. I was born in Germany, a country whose history taught me how quickly societies can go down dark paths; how quickly our leaders can fail in the choices they make. But the history of the displacement of people that the Nazi regime was responsible for also shaped my understanding of why refugee movements occur—and why our response to any of them can never compromise what are, and must always be, universal human rights. Which is why what is happening in the UK now is so deeply alarming. A manufactured crisis As of June 2025, there were 42.5 million refugees globally. Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries; most of them immediate neighbours. Overall, five countries—Colombia, Germany, Türkiye, Iran and Uganda—host a third of the total number of refugees; Germany is the main host in the EU, hosting 2.7 million. The UK hosts 548,000 refugees; that is 0.78% of the UK population. About 110,000 people are in receipt of asylum support; that is 0.15% of the UK population.

🌍 42.5m refugees
Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries.

🇬🇧 548k refugees
= 0.78% of the UK population.

It is not refugees who tear our country apart, it is the mainstreaming of far right policies. And that’s a risk to all of us.

My letter to my MP.

#asylum #Mahmood

🧵

Cornwall council offered suppliers £6m to staff illegal children’s… Regulators intervene after UK local authority accused of normalising unlawful placements

Cornwall Council... What on earth?

www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...

Houchen’s deprivation failure exposed – official Middlesbrough remains the local authority with the highest proportion of most deprived neighbourhoods in England

◾ >9 years since Tees Valley voted for supposed benefits of Brexit

◾ >8 since Houchen was elected Mayor of Tees Valley

◾ >6 since Johnson promised to level up left-behind areas

...Middlesbrough remains the local authority with the highest proportion of most deprived neighbourhoods in England.

I wonder when he will start suing news outlets for describing his barefaced lies about the 2020 election as barefaced lies…

Inside the BBC: What really went on Podcast Episode · The News Agents · 10/11/2025 · 35m

The more I think about, the more I realise that the attack on the BBC really is terribly thinly veiled - and listening to @newsagents.bsky.social’s episode today, you can see just how dangerous things are right now.

A very good episode from the people who know the BBC best.

Which one is more English?

The UK Must Urgently Distance Itself From Elon Musk and Space X, Warns Parliamentary Report The UK's infrastructure has become far too reliant on the far-right billionaire, who could 'politicise' our reliance upon his companies, the report warns

The UK Must Urgently Distance Itself From Elon Musk and Space X, Warns Parliamentary Report

The UK’s infrastructure has become far too reliant on the far-right billionaire, who could ‘politicise’ our reliance upon his companies, the report warns

bylinetimes.com/2025/11/04/t...

Exactly! Same in the UK for high net worth political donors.

I don't look at cesspit X but I am sure they are silent there today. There are wonderful human beings like Samir + awful human beings like the person who stabbed so many.The colour of their skin or their religion doesn't have any bearing on whether they are good or bad.I wish people understood this

The first thing Yaxley-Lennon did on leaving court was to thank Elon Musk for funding his legal costs.

That's Elon Musk who has repeatedly called for civil war in the UK.

As of typing this - all of the major politicians and platforms maintain a presence on X and it is time for them all to leave.

SEND Reform: It’s not (just) about the money… Another day, another article about how the cost of provision for pupils with special needs (SEND) is bankrupting the country. This morning (Friday 31st October 2025) I read in the Guardian about a …

NEW BLOG POST: SEND Reform - It's not (just) about the money...

There is no amount of funding which can “put things right” because a rotten system can never be “right”.

johncosgrove55.wordpress.com/2025/11/02/s...

Charles Corrigan is accused of Murdering someone outside a train station in August this year.

Does anyone remember that happening?

No because the Media and the trolls on Social Media completely ignore crimes unless they can use them for their own racist agenda.

Let's just take a moment to reflect on the self-sacrifice and hope this person embodies - not the evil, hateful monsters thirsting for violence.

I know this won't surprise anyone here but Musk's reprogrammed artificial intelligence is spreading misinformation about yesterday's attack on a train

The driver "managed to contact the control centre at Network Rail and get the train diverted onto the slow line", Calder says. "That was absolutely crucial because this train was scheduled to be travelling through Huntingdon station on the tracks with no platform at 125mph." "It didn't stop in the middle of nowhere, which would have been very difficult." Calder thinks this was handled in the "safest possible way" thanks to the "incredible professionalism from the driver and the police". Train drivers are trained on how to take appropriate action, he adds,

Next time someone tells you that train drivers "just push buttons" show them this from the BBC

This shouldn't need pointing out, but immigration is not the cause of some arsehole attacking people with a knife. The, not insignificant, detail of said arsehole being born in UK aside. People claiming it is, e.g. Goodwin, Hannan et al, are showing themselves up for being ethno-nationalist racists.

More than 50 child asylum seekers still missing after disappearing from Kent care Council data obtained by the Guardian shows 345 children have gone missing in recent years, many probably taken by traffickers

Jesus Christ. We go mad about one bloke we wrongly released, yet hear next to nothing about this horror? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

If people believe this kind of crap we're in a seriously bad place when it comes to combating disinformation.

Nigel Farage says this summer’s Raise the Colours movement was led by ‘ordinary people’ expressing their patriotism. Our reporters in five cities had a look and that’s not what we found.

The Rose Field with Philip Pullman Join Philip Pullman and Michael Rosen in conversation about storytelling and The Rose Field.

Next Friday, I'll be interviewing Philip Pullman about his new book.
www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id...

University tuition fees in England to rise with inflation every year from 2026 Bridget Phillipson confirmed the plans for the next two years, with fees to increase automatically after that.

University tuition fees in England to rise with inflation from 2026.

Student debt is £267bn, could double in a decade. Due to low wages unlikely to be repaid. Young people burdened.

Most European countries don't charge uni fees. England destroying social mobility. Must abolish tuition fees.

Lib Dem's Daisy Cooper calls for an assessment into the threat Elon Musk poses to UK democracy after Tommy Robinson said Musk is paying for his legal fees

In other words, Reform UK Ltd will now concentrate on accelerating environmental suicide.

And if you're mad enough to vote for them, *you* will have the privilege of paying for it, too!

It's win-win! If you're a lunatic... 🤮

Internet’s down, ofsted in.

This is a major shift in Labour comms. It seems Brexit will be blamed for the budget.
But naming the issue is not enough. They now need to name the solution or be left behind parties that will.

Boris Johnson breached rules designed to stop abuse of contacts made in public office, watchdog finds Johnson found to have breached rules after refusing to answer specific questions about allegations published by the Guardian Boris Johnson breached rules designed to stop the abuse of contacts and access made in public office, an ethics watchdog has found. Last month the Guardian published revelations about Johnson’s conduct since leaving office. The Boris Files, a trove of documents from the former prime minister’s private office seen by the Guardian, suggested he repeatedly broke rules forbidding him from exploiting contacts made in office for private gain. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson breached rules designed to stop abuse of contacts made in public office, watchdog finds

Polanski expertly dismantling the "rich people will move if we tax them" narrative, while Denham nimbly demonstrates how very patriotic such people are.