Zel Ouse (Hazel F-R)

Mast year in Sussex.

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)

IMPORTANT 🧵

We've been seeing how RFK Jr & anti-vax lobby has been steadily and effectively reducing access to vaccines in the US.

But it could happen in UK too.

It's a threat worth considering given Malhotra's speech at Reform conf & big overlap between anti-vax and RW populsim.

Read on!
1/11

Right now, Donald Trump is at a lavish banquet at Windsor Castle, while in Gaza a genocide is unfolding.

He alone can stop the assault on Gaza City, end the aid blockade and secure the release of hostages - Keir Starmer must make that clear to him before this visit ends.

Over 35,000 women were hospitalised with HG in 2023/24 according to Pregnancy Sickness Support with up to 2,000 pregnancies being terminated due to inadequate care. Yet, the govt is not including HG in its Maternal Safety Review - I am pressing them to change this absurd decision. 5/6

Kate knows extreme morning sickness is hell. Why’s help so hard to find? Doctors are reluctant to prescribe Xonvea, the drug for hyperemesis gravidarum, even though it’s so debilitating that some women consider abortion or suicide

Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is extreme pregnancy sickness. It is hugely debilitating and misunderstood. My partner and I spoke about our own experience following my question on it to the Prime minister.

It is time for change. 🧵1/6

www.thetimes.com/article/5e39...

A screengrab from ITV Meridian of Alison being interviewed next to a water leak.

A hosepipe ban has started in Mid Sussex — yet leaks have been running for months in places like Chanctonbury Road in Burgess Hill.

I spoke to ITV Meridian about why South East Water must act

📺 Watch the clip: www.itv.com/news/meridia...

Where's his shadow? @fullfact.org can you help with this one?

Sadly, this is how it feels.

Poignantly observed.

An rainbow arrangement of garden flowers placed on white fabric

Our brains love the colour gradation in rainbows, maybe due to our ancestors searching for sources of water. Looking at plants helps us recover from stress & looking at something we think is beautiful causes dopamine release.
I've posted this photo to alter your brain biochemistry for the better 🌿

Latest Covid variants and outlook for UK summer There probably will be a Covid summer wave.

Quick COVID update from me discussing latest variants and prospects for summer here.

open.substack.com/pub/christin...

The Beaker People are a warning from history that in thousands of years’ time we’ll be known as The Plastic Bottle People

A reminder that when the Sycamore Gap tree was cut down people immediately started blaming immigrants and teenagers...

It was neither. It was two white Englishmen in their 30s.

Cross-party MPs brand voting system ‘dangerous’ in an era of electoral volatility - Politics.co.uk A cross-party group has described the local elections as a “dress rehearsal” for future “chaotic and unrepresentative” results.

“We’re now the biggest APPG in Parliament and the public supports our call for a National Commission for Electoral Reform by a margin of five to one. The government should listen and act.”

💬 @alexsobel.co.uk, Chair of @appgfairelections.bsky.social

🧵 1/3
www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/05...

It is absolutely reckless to continue with First Past The Post, which could hand majority power to a party with a dwindling minority of votes... Especially amidst concerns about electoral interference. Change the system before it's too late.

Labour’s great nature sellout is the worst attack on England’s ecosystems I’ve seen in my lifetime | George Monbiot The horrifying planning bill, which rips up environmental protections, was drafted with CEOs in mind. We know because Keir Starmer told us, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

1. Because this issue is critical, but has received remarkably little coverage, here's a thread pulling out the key themes from my article yesterday, on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which puts decades of environmental protections to the torch. 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Labour’s great nature sellout is the worst attack on England’s ecosystems I’ve seen in my lifetime | George Monbiot The horrifying planning bill, which rips up environmental protections, was drafted with CEOs in mind. We know because Keir Starmer told us, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

"The government’s planning and infrastructure bill is the worst assault on England’s ecosystems in living memory. It erases decades of environmental protections, including legislation we inherited from the EU, which even the Tories promised to uphold." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

You want to know the truth about why there are so many cases of autism, ADD, ADHD today?

It's the same reason why there are more planets and stars today compared to decades ago.

You're all caught up now. Leave the kids alone.

Sellotape, yes. Using up the space on a bought cassette, no. I just took it as an artifact of different length A&B sides and would end up listening to the white noise because fast-forwarding made the tape bumpy and the sound underwatery. Wish I'd had your idea! Genius.

The stages in a Donald Trump deal:
1. Lie about something being a problem
2. Do something to "fix" it, which causes an actual problem
3. Say you won't reverse what you've done
4. Reverse what you've done
5. Say "Art of the deal"

"When was the last time you said 'thank you,' Mr. Penguin?"

So the Ammonite Order of architecture exists just enough to get its own Wikipedia page. This is from Gideon Mantell's house Castle Place on Lewes High St, designed by Amon Wilds.

Brexit a key factor in worst UK medicine shortages in four years, report says Nuffield Trust says supply chains have shifted, with drugs for epilepsy and cystic fibrosis among those now scarce Drug shortages in the UK have risen to their worst level for four years, official figures show, with Brexit considered a key reason so many medications are scarce. Drug companies notified the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about disruptions to supply 1,938 times during last year – the highest number since the 1,967 seen in 2021. Continue reading...

Brexit a key factor in worst UK medicine shortages in four years, report says

Simple and powerful little video

Thousands of people are ditching Tesla. Here’s one of them with a message you can see from space.

Location: Black Rock Sands, Wales, UK

Led By Donkeys is 100% funded by small donations.

KLAXON 🚨: Indie SAGE has come out of retirement to release a new short report standing up for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the sciences!

DEI is not just the right thing to do, it *improves* the quality of the science. Please read and share.

independentsage.org/wp-content/u...

1/2

It’s a very good point.

This stance is for the birds.

Ignoring the scale of US and global shifts is a threat to our own national interest.

Trump’s evolving oligarchy is hostile to UK values—our future lies with Europe.

🇺🇸🇪🇺🇬🇧London, US Embassy