Sue Beesley

Dear Shabana, I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank. You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to make a perilous crossing on small boats.” I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division. When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney. As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I filled water tanks and picked up litter. What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country. Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it. It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and croissants to refugees and food parcels. When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She said “we have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers whilst risking death on the seas.” She said “maybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …

Dear Shabana,

Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.

A little reported fact is that the Iranian frigate destroyed 2000 miles from the combat zone was carrying ZERO AMMUNITION (a condition of the exercise it was invited to participate in).

The ship was, by any definition, defenceless.

Much like the 80+ sailors left to drown.

Infamy.

...especially when so many of those people went there to escape state influence over their lives, and in particular to avoid paying the taxes that pay for that kind of state protection...

In recent years March has been noticeably dry, following a wet winter.

Bumble overnighting on Edgeworthia. This was the more accessible of the four we could see.

YouTube video by Bold Politics with Zack Polanski How To Nationalise Water For Free

Well this is an interesting point

youtube.com/shorts/T3arp...

Will they count as one of the 'Green' panel members? Or will the Green Party MPS still get as many spots as Reform MPs from now on....

I dunno - do the wearers want the audience to look at their face, or their talent, or the achievements, or just stare at their chests? What does the wearer get out of this? Other than objectification and the constant fear of a wardrobe malfunction...

BREAKING NEWS in the world of Sticky Toffee Puddings

This IPSO adjudication against the Telegraph is quite something

Confirms their story titled: ‘We earn £345k, but soaring private school fees mean we can’t go on five holidays’ was completely fabricated, with the family involved non-existent and stock pictures used

www.ipso.co.uk/rulings/0210...

Ultimately it may depend on the outcome. The end does not justify the means, morally, but it probably will do in practice, as far as the MAGA base and probably the wider US population are concerned.

Outrage sells papers...

Noting that the Greens have been getting markedly more systematic and organised in local govt campaigns in recent years, with target modelling, central templates for literature etc. This machinery was primed and ready to go for the by-election on day one.

This is just fab. Hannah Spencer was a plumber in 2013 aged 22. She's still a plumber.

How fab is this!!!

The whole building has been slowly cooling all winter. So yes, the air temp in your appt may be 22C, but the walls are cold now so it cools down quickly. They'll take months to warm up again. Like a massive thermal heat store.

Also... they're basically saying that two thousand Asian men told their families to vote Green, and that these people, mainly Asian women, probably Muslim, would otherwise have voted Reform. Righto...

...and it's not fair, because these Muslim women would otherwise have voted for Reform, whose policies around Muslims and women are... Oh, wait a minute....

Ok. So Reform are saying, in as many words, that thousands of Asian men directed their family members to vote Green, when they would otherwise have voted Reform. Given Reform's positioning in respect of non-white people and women, this seems... far-fetched?

They really don't think these things through, do they?

Perhaps he used the headline generator to write it...

Who are they funded by? Also, were they actually inside the polling stations or outside, watching people go in?

Yes, sectarian Muslims voting for a white female plumber from a party led by a gay Jewish man... Am guessing none of the other parties will learn the right lessons from this result for their own different reasons.

...and around 4-500 leafletting at weekends and evenings... And 200 handwriting envelopes last week...

The polls missed the quality and strength of the ground campaign, notably 2,000 people turning out on polling day to encourage/remind their base to vote.

Don't forget the huge ground campaign by the Greens. Organised and very well supported. 2,000 out on polling day.

The Greens had hundreds of people out every day, including 2000 today. Very organised and enjoyable with leaflet bases in local businesses etc. That's what won it.

The Greens had 2,000 people in the constituency today, speaking to people who had promised to vote for them, encouraging/reminding them to go and do so....

Incredible insight from the BBC's political editor, minutes after the poll has closed.

Your Party under Corbyn to work with Greens on ‘coordinated left-flank offensive’ Former Labour leader says time for ‘real work’ to begin as his candidates take 14 of 24 available places on executive committee

Bit presumptuous to say that Your Party under JC would work with the @greenparty.org.uk . I mean - do they get a say in this? Last I heard, @zackpolanski.bsky.social had said no to affiliations and electoral seat trading. Quite right too.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...