Harry Bignell (she/her)

“This howling wind was seemingly coming from the centre of the earth. At that point I honestly thought that it was the end of us. Typhoon Haiyan made me realise that what was happening to us wasn’t just a natural disaster – it was the result of global injustice.” What is at stake this #COP30 👇

Democracy is under siege and billionaires are pulling the strings.
We talk with @ituc.bsky.social's Luc Triangle about the fight against inequality & the threat of this ‘billionaire coup.’

𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒗𝒔. 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒑 out now. Listen: www.equals.ink/p/workers-vs...

"We shouldn't be pitting the poorest against the poorest.
The 50 richest families in Britain are worth £500bn, the same wealth as half of Britain, why aren't we taxing the top 1%? This would raise £25bn!"
@unitesharon.bsky.social
#WealthTax

We're in London today with a big old bus to tell our Govt this country cannot afford cuts. Instead they should tax us, the super rich. A 2% wealth tax alone could raise up to £460mln a week. @Keir_starmer - invest in a fairer economy. Patriotic Millionaires say Tax Our Wealth

We shouldn't be pitting the poorest against the poorest. The 50 richest families in Britain are worth £500bn, the same wealth as half of Britain, why aren't we taxing the top 1%? It would raise £25bn. ⤵️

Anatomy of a Fall: What the Rise and Fall of the UK Aid Budget tells us about Making Change Happen - Activism Influence and Change UK aid advocacy veteran Katy Chakrabortty unpacks the implosion of UK aid, and the lessons for activists Snapshot 1: It’s a grey morning late in the winter of 2013. I am on the grass square outside the UK Houses of Parliament in an ill-fitting suit and wearing a plastic mask giving me the face of

Defense spending through aid cuts has become the depressing answer to Trump's question: "How are you going to defend yourselves if I stop the US protecting you?" Brilliant, nuanced analysis from @oxfamgb.bsky.social Katy Chakrabortty on UK ODA cuts and how we got here blogs.lse.ac.uk/activism-inf...

Spent the weekend walking in the Cotswolds and got to try out my new camera. Same subjects, better quality.

'Balancing the books' on the backs of poor and disabled people was wrong when the Tories did it, and it would be wrong now.

It’s a political choice - one that could push 700,000 households into poverty.

Our government should instead tax the ballooning wealth of the super-rich.

Rachel Reeves warned of 'moral bankruptcy' as she prepares cuts The Chancellor is under fire from Jeremy Corbyn and charities warn against pushing people deeper into poverty with cuts to benefits and foreign aid

“It is morally bankrupt to make people living in poverty at home or around the world pay the greatest price for Government spending decisions...when the extreme wealth of the UK’s super rich is skyrocketing but goes untouched.” @oxfamgb.bsky.social www.express.co.uk/news/politic...

As of today, a new term has entered our language. A “rubio” is a spineless lump of nothing. Example: Don’t be such a rubio.

Pouting, shouting at someone and declaring them "not very nice" whilst you tell them to give up their people's sovereignty, land and freedom is about as dystopian as it gets. US politics feels akin to watching a capricious small child swinging around a wrecking ball at present.

I think this is the closest many of us have ever got to seeing the real Trump. The only consistent thread in his entire unhinged rant was the love & praise for Vladimir Putin. Zelensky has more courage & dignity in his little finger than every member of Trump's regime & fan club combined.

It's been obvious since January 6 that he was an enemy of the USA, the UK & the whole of the free world. Everybody still in his camp understands this as completely as everybody against it. They just prioritise personal interest over the national & international. And they know it. They all know it.

'Starmer is putting missiles before medicine and it won't serve UK's interests' Writing for The Mirror, Dr Halima Begum, chief executive of Oxfam UK, said that compassion has gone out the window - while international aid helps the UK's self-interest

"Missiles before medicine" - Our CEO @halimabegum.bsky.social on the British government cutting the international aid budget to fund defence spending.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

"This is for me, one of the most cynical and crass decisions I've seen the Prime Minister make for a very long time."

Our director @nickdearden.bsky.social on @cnnipr.bsky.social this morning discussing this government's cuts to foreign aid ⤵️

The government has announced it will pay for more weapons and bombs by cutting support for the world's poorest people.

A deplorable decision that will only create a more unstable and unequal world.

What is the government doing to bring about peace?

Presenting UK ODA and support to Ukraine as a zero sum game is a false dichotomy that will have ramification for the most vulnerable around the world, before coming back to bite the UK in the arse at home too.

The global development architecture is far from perfect - and it is unhelpful to suggest otherwise. But to pretend that this money would be better spent on defense is boggling.

This is as bleak as it is unsurprising from a govt that continues to seek to appease the right-wing who never voted for them in the first place. Labour will never beat them at their own game at it is beyond disappointing to see it trying to. An immoral, illogical move that will cost countless lives.

Watch RSC's #Kyoto last week. Seamlessly acted - what could have been a dry and inaccessible piece on climate bureaucracy, was actually an exciting and infuriating depiction of the insidious hold the oil lobby and its apologists have (then & now) on global climate negotiations www.rsc.org.uk/kyoto/

The wealth of the new trillionaire class will not be built on merit The world looks set to see five trillionaires by the end of the decade — and more billionaires are now being created through inheritance than entrepreneurialism. Anjela Taneja and Harry Bignell int…

“More billionaires are now being created through inheritance than entrepreneurialism” – Anjela Taneja and @hbignell.bsky.social on Oxfam’s 2025 global inequalities report and the scale of unearned wealth #LSEInequalitiesBlog

US aid cuts are an opportunity to reimagine global health The global south should become self-reliant by investing in health.

"Govts in the global south must come to the realization that the prosperity of their people lies not in the hands of the US White House, but in their own agency, development and self-reliance." Call no Govts to react to USAID cuts by investing in local health systems www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The wealth of the new trillionaire class will not be built on merit The world looks set to see five trillionaires by the end of the decade — and more billionaires are now being created through inheritance than entrepreneurialism. Anjela Taneja and Harry Bignell int…

“The world looks set to see five trillionaires by the end of the decade” – Oxfam’s Anjela Taneja and @hbignell.bsky.social in our latest blog post #LSEInequalitiesBlog

Grateful to recharge in Devon for a week after a busy time. Back at it now 🙌

Nazi salutes in week one.
State-sanctioned ethnic cleansing in week four.
But all the scumbag apologists who dared to talk about ‘over-reaction’ are still too bent and/or invested to row back.

Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory,

"What President Trump proposes is nonsense, it's unlawful"

"People talk of ethnic cleansing, no, this is worse"

"He's inciting to commit forced displacement which is an international clime"

i don’t even know if crime is the right word for the illegal destruction of USAID. it is an autocratic power grab and a direct attack on the sovereignty of the american people

It’s important to know that a lot of productive activity is happening in person and offline, too.

Not all of it can be broadcast online, but we’ve had hundreds of people showing up to our trainings, mobilizations, and more.

Keep going. Tyranny is eroded by a sea of small acts. Everything matters.

"He...was – like me – subject to intense activity of the right-wing press who wished to smear his character. He was very much of the Left, and wanted a socially just and fair society."

Capitalism is evolving so fast, my dictionary is lagging behind. First, it's billionaires, now we're just casually adding trillionaire to the mix. Spellcheck's like, 'I can't even... 🤯💸 #FightInequality #TaxTheRich #TakersNotMakers