Dear Lucy Three weeks ago you wrote me a bizarre letter in an attempt to hold on to voters who Labour have for too long taken for granted in Gorton and Denton. First, I’d like to give my apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I've been busy on the ground with Hannah Spencer talking to voters about the issues that matter to them – lowering bills, protecting the NHS and rebuilding our public services. You'll appreciate most of your letter is out of date now, but I'm sure you'll have seen the poll that came out today, that puts us in first place and Reform in second. Labour are a distant third and it’s now clearer than ever that your party cannot win in Gorton and Denton. If you are as concerned about stopping Reform as you proposed in your letter, the course is now clear: in the spirit in which you wrote to me, you should now urge your members and former voters to back Hannah Spencer on the 26th February to stop Reform and make hope normal again. Kind regards, Zack Polanski Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales P.S – Hannah looks forward to saying hi in Parliament!

Dear Lucy Powell,

A response to your letter:

She never lived to see this moment, but it’s worth remembering that none of this would have happened without Virginia Giuffre.

She had the courage to speak out against power and privilege when it was just her word against Andrew’s.

Thanks to her, justice & accountability may finally have its day.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_M... The world owes Karen Mulder an apology. She was abused, named it and got labelled as mad, and hospitalised. We need to stop medicalising trauma and listening.

Anyone else feel like what MAGA etc is really about is the unspoken promise from Trump that white working class men will be entitled to use and abuse women and girls like the rich ones? They're unhappy the entitlement of old was being stripped away

He has erased her. Same pattern as the system you want to change. The climate movement needs to do some growing if it is going to be at all relevant in these times.

Right now you represent no real change and nothing new. I know you want to, but difficult work is needed.

Truth telling is difficult. It involves home truths that mean growth is needed internally. The man running these webinars, Phoenix, has control of the network because he changed the passwords and locked out the support team. He now claims the work of a woman as his own.

I see women, LGBT people, immigrants being harmed. I am harmed as a woman in the climate space.

I'm tired. No, I'm exhausted. And I feel hopeless. Because I feel alone sitting with all of it. No one can see anything else, see that it's all the same thing. It's feels like we're doomed.

I am feeling overwhelmed. There is so much horror, abuse, death. And there is no leadership, no pathway offered. I sit in a climate space that can only see climate. I go to work which can only see child protection. Children can't live without a world and what's a world without children?

Our whole version of reality has been groomed.

I mean, these climate activists are crazy going on about doom and collapse. It's the stuff of disaster movies. We live in a sensible world, and democracy where skilled professionals make reasoned decisions. They wouldn't be so stupid to kill us all for personal gain.

Same thing.

It's grooming.

I mean, these women are crazy saying they were raped, trafficked, tortured. That sort of thing doesn't happen, it's the stuff of movies. We live in a sensible, 'reasonable' world, these men are clearly skilled and successful at what they do. They wouldn't be so stupid and depraved.

I just wanted to say that I am in awe and wonder at the way the resistance is showing up in the US now- on a community level, on social media, it's inspiring to watch. You're amazing!

Wow 😮

The BBC coverage is absolutely terrible.

It leads on "sharply contested narratives"

It has a dramatic skew to the US government

It has posted the video but has failed to report on what it shows: it shows the US govt account is untrue

If you want to understand what is happening right now & what’s at stake, please listen to this conversation I had with historian Robert Kagan.

Europe has to wake up FAST.

Went to this talk. Lots of prescient points made by great speakers. Thank you.

Gavin Newsom attacks Europe’s ‘complicity’ over Trump Greenland demands California governor says world leaders are ‘played’ by the US president and urges them to stop rolling over

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026... This is the learning we need to do. European govts are looking after 'their own'. That's the fault in the system. U cannot separate Renee Good from Greenland from Ukraine. It's time to stand up for values. For humanity.

NEW: Stop Normalizing Fascism.

Seriously, if not now, when?
1/

Over 100 tons of dead fish in the port of Volos in central Greece, following a mass die-off attributed to extreme climate fluctuations.

This isn't normal. No time to wait. #ActOnClimate

#climate #energy #renewables

Epstein kept me 'separate' from his sexual side because I'm gay, says Lord Peter Mandelson In his first interview since being sacked as the UK's US ambassador, Lord Mandelson says he never saw any young women at Epstein's properties.

BBC News - Epstein kept me 'separate' from his sexual side because I'm gay, says Lord Peter Mandelson
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... what struck me is that while he said it was 'poor judgement' re Epstein, he went on to normalise Trump, say he was gracious. Learnt nothing. Falling for same bs

This is close to the bone. The need for power, control, subservience is so he doesn't have to face deep-seated shame based in childhood trauma- so no one can judge him. The reality is the judgement is internal and he can't escape it. He can only keep ahead of it by forcing accolades.

Do people understand that NATO's military, even without US, is bigger than US's? One thing US has lots more of is nuclear weapins... Trump's not the big bully he likes to portray

Dark personalities in the digital arena: how psychopathy and narcissism shape online political participation - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - Dark personalities in the digital arena: how psychopathy and narcissism shape online political participation

This explains so much.
People with psychopathic traits and low cognitive ability are over-represented in online political activity.
If someone is being cruel, obnoxious and ridiculous, don't try to reason with them. Chances are you won't get anywhere. Just block.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Benjamin Netanyahu blames Anthony Albanese for Bondi beach terror attack, as world leaders express horror Israeli prime minister claims the Australian government ‘let the disease’ of antisemitism spread ‘and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today’

Netanyahu is singularly responsible for the choices he has made, which has nothing to do w being Jewish. He is placing Jewish people at risk by linking what he does. Those who act on his narrative are responsible for the harm they cause to Jews. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

If you don't have a rule like this then you're not a democracy, you're a plutocracy.

This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started

Also: where’s the fecking investigation, Keir Starmer?

The Welsh parliament, Nigel Farage, @prifweinidog.gov.wales @eddavey.libdems.org.uk & @zackpolanski.bsky.social are all now in agreement that we need a govt-led inquiry into Russian interference. So what on earth is the problem??

A big win for people more outraged by a silly edit at the BBC than by a man impeached by Congress for literally inciting an insurrection being back in the White House. Pathetic.

Our children need this.

Zack with Sophy

What a morning to be on Ridge & Frost to celebrate Zohran Mamdani's win!

Improving people's lives. Focusing on inequality and empowering communities.

This is how you do it.