Social Worker. Fostering Services Manager, Action for Children NI. BASW NI Committee. Co-author 'Social Work & Co-production' - ESSA shortlist 2022. 'If adoption is the answer, what was the question?' in The Future of Children's Social Care (eds Sen/Kerr)
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Everybody in NI politics needs to make clear that violence against people of colour is incompatible with civilisation let alone culture and everybody in a church should be repeating that it is incompatible with Christianity. Violence should be a red line. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Single transferable vote in multi-member constituencies, no lists. The sooner the better.
š We're pleased to publish a Terms of Reference for a National Commission on Electoral Reform āļø This is a ready to go plan to independently review how Parliament is elected, promote a national conversation, and build consensus on a way forward š§µ 1/3
An important intervention from human rights NGOs in Northern Ireland whose are very familar with the operation of the 1998 Agreement. Any argument that claims that it is not, is very much a marginal perspective which has no basis in the text of the 1998 Agreement
Significant intervention from some of NI's leading civil society groups working on rights and peacebuilding in response to today's Policy Exchange report claiming that the GFA does not restrict the UK's from withdrawing from the ECHR and on the importance of the ECHR for NI:
Alongside @swu-uk.bsky.social and @unison.org.uk we have urged Social Work England to meet with us to discuss our ongoing concerns regarding the fee increase, the consultation process & the regulator's operational performance. Read our full statement š basw.co.uk/articles/joi...
"entirely groundless" This is how public discourse is being is being debased. The GFA expressly requires access to court in Northern Ireland for ECHR. But what Straw says is not tested, just repeated, and so a "both sides" "debate" is created. The actualitƩ drowns. Sad to watch in real time.
Cross-party MPs publish āready to goā blueprint for electoral reform commission āWe believe the government has a responsibility to urgently address the use of [FPTP] for general electionsā¦ā #FPTP #ProportionalRepresentation #getPRdone www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/09...
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will tomorrow table a motion in Parliament in an attempt to force the Government to publish legal advice it has received on potential breaches of international law in the Israel-Gaza conflict
'A swoop of swallows' by UK textile artist Rachel Wright, machine embroidered on calico with various fabrics #UnravellingWomensArt #summer
Weāre over 10k. Thx folks! Now, could we possibly get to 100kin 2 weeks? Wouldnāt that be something? 13th Sept is deadline. We want to hear ALL our parties regularly -not just one. We elected a parliament &parliaments regardless of opinion polls. Sign sign sign petition.parliament.uk/petitions/71...
The BBC need to get better at challenging Farage's lies.
Gavin Newsom is exactly right, Trump is doing everything we told you he would do and more. It's time to wake the hell up, America. Authoritarianism is here.
No, Lord Falconer. Labour should stop pandering to this nonsense. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Step back and take it in: the US is entering full authoritarian mode by Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Corporate Americaās playbook: 1) Exploit workers to maximize profits 2) Use profits to buy Congress 3) Use Congress to pass union-busting laws 4) Use these laws to further exploit workers 5) Repeat Let's break the cycle and keep building back a powerful labor movement.
I can
Autocratsā Playbook: page 17. Criminalise your opponents. I mean, at this stage it writes itself. www.foxnews.com/video/637738...
3. They are the kind of people we should contain and shun, in other words. Yet, astonishingly, the Labour Party is competing with Reform and the Conservatives to appease and attract such men, while dissing and burning its own base. We could reasonably ask what in the name of God is going on.
Nearly 70% of Americans support labor unions. Why? Because more and more people know that unions ensure workers get higher paychecks, safer working conditions, and a real voice in both the workplace and our democracy. It's what every worker deserves.
A federal judge has ordered Florida to shut down "Alligator Alcatraz," after the state spent a staggering $218M to build the now-vacant detention camp. Closing it will run taxpayers another $20M. An utterly cruel and costly waste.
Trump's approval ratings are tanking. He hasn't done squat to help working people. The Epstein scandal haunts him. He's a tyrant with his back against the wall, so he and his cronies are rigging elections in Texas. Understand what's going on here.
DOGE isn't fighting fraud ā it's potentially exposing Americans to more of it. And now a Social Security Administration whistleblower is resigning after apparently being punished for trying to warn the public. Nothing about this fake government agency is "efficient."
Memphis, Houston, and Kansas City all have more violent crime than DC, but the National Guard isnāt there because theyāre in red states. Itās a show of force and, more so, a distraction. Trump wants us talking about anything other than his collapsing health and Jeffrey Epstein.
Living a moral life in an age of bullies requires collective action; it cannot be done alone. Each of us must organize and participate in a vast network of moral resistance. From this solidarity we will grow stronger. This is what our current moment requires.
Can't wait
Delighted with this review of New Arcana in the the Poetry Book Society autumn brochure š @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social
šØLaunch details for New Arcana!šØ I'll be in Galway, Dublin, Belfast & online. Please do come along if you can, & spread the word. š®āØļøšš @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social @gutterbookshop.bsky.social
Rylan Clark's ITV This Morning migrant rant wrong on three points www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
Just a random reminder that trickle-down economics was invented by conservatives in the 1980s to justify massive tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. Itās been nothing short of a disaster.
As I expected Ed Daveyās decision to boycott Trump banquet banished from any bulletins by 6pm. A chance for broadcasters to have the leader of the 3rd largest party set the agenda. Had it been Farage it would still be leading. Fairness now, sign the petition. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/71...
It would be much better to have a coherent tax system in which everyone is taxed in roughly the same way. Adding yet another distortion is the wrong answer.
Promotes freedom of speech then refuses to speak to local press. Nottingham Reform off to a solid start. www.nottinghampost.com/news/news-op...
š” Our Expert Insights Series provides opportunities to learn directly from subject matter experts. Get inspired by our fantastic guest trainers and expand your knowledge and skills. Find out more š basw.co.uk/training-cpd...
š Interested in joining BASW? As the UKās largest professional association for social work, our membership delivers all you need to protect, support and develop your career. From student to retirement and everything in between. Find out more š basw.co.uk/why-join-basw
Latest @theguardian.com cartoon www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Back in the UKKK
But he doesn't care. Same shtick as Brexit
3. The police throw the book at leftwing protesters for being seen in a public place, while giving the far right & farmers free rein. 4. A cabinet minister, Jonathan Reynolds, says protesters outside asylum hotels are āupset for legitimate reasonsā. No minister says this about Gaza protesters.
Here's how the real two-tier Britain works: 1. Whatever Nigel Farage says, however stupid, is looped and discussed by the media, while left-wing voices are treated as noises off. 2. Tiny far-right protests get massive airtime, while 10s of 000s gathering for Palestine or green causes are ignored.š§µ
Not for the first time I am wondering why there is so little understanding in the UK of common law - particularly among those who seem to think this would be part of what makes Britain great if only judges didn't keep making law...
Labourās reluctance to name Brexit as the cause of so many problems hasnāt stopped Reformās rise. Itās time to try the truth www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Starmer: Leaving ECHR puts UK āon par with Russia and Belarusā The prime minister has defended the human rights convention, saying it underpinned international trade and security deals as well as the Good Friday agreement š www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Brexit - championed by Farage - has been a significant factor in many of the UKās problems - itās time UK news shows and Labour started pointing that out
I thank you. George Orwell taught me everything I know - 1984 and Animal Farm required reading more than ever - particularly in the Fourth Estate.
The UK is doing a bang up job of auditioning for the part of Airstrip One
Nobody puts anything to Farage just like no one challenges Trump. BBC and Sky News seem to be pathologically allergic to giving him the scrutiny they give others. Parties with much larger numbers of MPs are not afforded the same air time and privileges.
Has anyone put it to Nigel Farage that his two main policies have been Brexit and Donald Trump?
This is straight out of the populist, authoritarian, Trump playbook. Say stuff that is just not true because it will go without challenge in the media and other politicians just don't know how to respond to this stuff. Brexit and immigration is his mess and he's not offering solutions.
Some of the framing of this has been deeply problematic. The UK government cannot unilaterally 'reopen' the GFA. It is part of an international treaty signed with the Republic of Ireland. It can be changed following agreement, but there is close to zero chance of that happening with the ECHR.
Cost of Trump's D.C. Occupation: $1.1M per day. Cost to operate public housing for D.C.'s entire homeless population: $169,226 per day. It's not about what this country can or canāt afford. Itās about priorities.
The battle of our day is no longer about Democrats versus Republicans or left versus right. The choice right now is democracy or dictatorship. And we're sliding faster than I ever thought possible into the latter. Everyone must choose which side theyāre on.
It is unfathomable to me that western politicians have not found a way to distinguish the cruelty of what is happening in Gaza from self-defence after 2 years. In turning a blind eye to killing on this scale, every tyrant in the future has a new precedent- and international law appears impotent.
The President and SecDef love yes men. Thatās very, very dangerous. My latest in @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/donald-tru...
It's not asylum seekers who jack up rents, undermine the NHS, hold down wages and keep people insecure. It's capital. The role of the far right is to shift the blame for decades of economic attacks by the rich and powerful onto powerless people who have only just arrived here.
This looks like joy
What a lovely day that was with wonderful facilitation from Kathy - so much to learn and still lots of space for all the interesting, poignant and funny voices in the room. I think we all took away lots with us.
With masked 'police' on the streets and gerrymandering. What are the Democrats doing? What are non-Trump Republicans doing?
Tyrants view educated citizens as their greatest enemy. Slaveholders stopped the enslaved from learning to read. Nazis burned books. Dictators censor media. Thatās why Trump is attacking education, science, museums, and the arts ā to prevent us from learning. It's Fascism 101.
Denmark/ Greenland www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
That moment when your favourite VM Redwood Tree gets a play š but it's only No 74 š¢
A triumph of self editing as a poet
Impressed that you managed to keep it to so few reasons
Todayās poem is called āHow Much I Dislike the Daily Mailā.
What is the legal recourse here?
"Party of small government." Hello? This is what authoritarianism looks like. www.cnn.com/2025/08/19/p...
I don't know who needs to hear this, but an economy controlled by a handful of oligarchs isn't a "free market."
www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2...
STV multi member constituencies- no lists
Good to this from Social Workers in Israel
āMerging truth with misinformation is once more straight out of the populist playlook: confuse people until they no longer know what to believe. Then, unable to believe anything at all, they are left only with feelings" inews.co.uk/opinion/robe...
This weekend's @theipaper.com cartoon #Trump #Putin #Ukraine
Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847) composed more than 460 works, which were published under her lauded composer brother, Felix Mendelssohn's name #WomensArt
Happy National Relaxation Day to all those who celebrate.
Latest @theguardian.com cartoon www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Number crunching: Monthly cut to universal credit for newly sick and disabled claimants from 2026 From the latest Private Eye, out now.
Treasury underestimated how many wealthy people would spend Ā£Ā£Ā£ hundreds of thousands to save a few bob in tax bit.ly/4ljeCr2 they paid Ā£515m in advance - some could afford to pay five years in advance. Donāt try to tax us weāre too rich and too clever!
Iāve been in training all year - and Iām glad to now finally declare myself beach body ready.
Ever shifting light mirrored in wet sand. #wildatlanticway
"Looking to our own history, backing electoral reform would be a pragmatic Conservative step." Cross-party support for fixing the voting system is growing. Even most Conservative voters now back it. It's time to give everyone a fair voice in Westminster.
It reveal the attitude that care work (and early years work) is low skilled (and therefore low paid). Quality care is highly skilled. It's a wonderful thing to watch when it is done well. And when properly supported, highly fulfilling.
š„BOOM! @bsky.app just hit 38 MILLION users! Letās keep going!
Reminder: Tariffs aren't paid by other countries, no matter what Trump says. A tariff is an import tax, raising the price of almost everything we buy. Tariffs are also regressive ā taking a higher percentage out of the paychecks of working people than out of the wealthy.
The mathematician John Venn was born on this day in 1834. To commemorate the occasion, hereās a poem in the form of a Venn diagram.
Multi-member STV only. No lists-that suits parties and weakens direct accountability. STV creates opportunities independents
No lists. STV multi-member constituencies like NI. Leaves space for independents. Lists are all about parties
Did you know AVP Ireland released a newsletter in June 2025? Here is a link to read it: quakers-in-ireland.ie/wp-content/u... #QuakersIreland #Quakers #FaithInAction #Alternativestoviolence #AVP #PeaceTestimony
Remember when games were just games? Super Mario Bros š Now Children can shop in-game on Robloxāreal money, real products. My latest blog breaks it down for parents. https://go.waynedenner.com/eUY0wF #OnlineSafety #eSafety #Parenting
The great Peggy Seeger is 90 and still making brave, adventurous roots music. In fact her new album Teleology is one of my favourite albums of 2025 so far. Tunes from it and loads more from 8 on BBC Radio Ulster & Sounds.#ralphmcleancountry #PeggySeeger
In tennis they call this unforced errors
A third of teenage vapers become smokers compared to 1.5% of non-vapers bit.ly/477JaZcn but some academics say that is not proof one leads to the other.
Banks too big and important to tax, Chancellor warned as Barclays makes Ā£5.2bn profit in just six months bit.ly/45cKQ11 @thefca fined the bank Ā£42m earlier this month and Ā£40mn last November for money laundering and other failings.
Spot on as always - "This is a case that should not even need to be made"
A *third* of the Commons has called on the PM to recognise Palestine as a state. Never seen anything quite like this.
