I am still haunted by this longread from last week about a US fundamentalist couple who let their newborn die for lack of basic medical care and then filmed her coffin at her funeral, so they’d capture her resurrection for the socials. This is output and input. magazine.atavist.com/2026/pilands...

The Extremist in the Family

The Kerrs were devoted to one another and to their faith. But when one of their own rejected modern medicine in the name of God, they faced a dire question: What if her children ever needed a doctor t...

magazine.atavist.com

I think what happened to PC Andrew Harper was terrible and I have great sympathy for his loved ones. But his killers were acquitted of murder so I don’t think they should be retrospectively treated as if they were guilty.

Of course, nobody truly cares about that much - instead, this discourse will probably further worsen an already bad situation because of one individual’s actions And because we are frequently held collectively responsible for the actions of individuals in a way others are not

Rob hints at this but it’s worth reiterating that a major failure of the Starmer government was their inability to convey a consistent antiracist message or uphold norms. They confused anger about ‘the boats’ with generalised racism and since they couldn’t denounce the former they avoided the latter

Rob Ford@robfordmancs.bsky.social · yesterday

This is what happens when anti-racism norms erode, and elites bear a lot of the responsibility for norm erosion, as they have disproportionate power to set and enforce norms

If you, to take another entirely random example, describe recent immigration a "squalid chapter in our politics" a "failed experiment", and promise to "shut down the lab" you are contributing to the problem of norm erosion www.gov.uk/government/s...

PM remarks at Immigration White Paper press conference: 12 May 2025

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's remarks at a press conference on the Immigration White Paper.

gov.uk

This is what happens when anti-racism norms erode, and elites bear a lot of the responsibility for norm erosion, as they have disproportionate power to set and enforce norms

Charles EP Murphy@cepmurphy.bsky.social · 2d ago

news.sky.com/story/nhs-st... stereotypically this has been seen as Old People, but not only would the old people of now have often been born post-Windrush, lot of this will be younger people who've always lived in a diverse Britain. The guy with a pregnant wife likely millennial at oldest

I hope Ariana gets better. You’d hope in she has better resources than most to do so. But my main concern is about the culture that normalises and glamorises extreme thinness, and the effect that has on all girls and women. I don’t think we should stop talking about that in case it upsets Ariana.

I find the suggestion that we somehow owe it to Ariana Grande not to mention how clearly unwell she is really weird. As if her wellbeing is the only one that matters here, or as if she is reading my posts and is going to made more unwell by them

Striking how Reform have pivoted over the course of two days from the nonsensical claim that 'Ceuta proves we are in terrible danger' to the nonsensical claim that 'Ceuta proves there is a simple solution'.

2. Clean indoor air: helpful in a pandemic and good for health and learning at all times (and not just in schools but other buildings too) 3. Effective public health measures: testing, contact tracing, support for isolation, communication, etc 10/12

After 1st wave, we didn't run summer catch up programmes or improve ventilation in schools - we didn't even try until 2021, months after the last school closures. We didn't recommend masks (let alone good masks) in classrooms until after the last school closures. 5/12

🧵On @thenewsagents.co.uk yesterday, school closures and the lab leak theory were offered as two examples of legitimate questions that were hard to ask. Both have in fact been asked constantly since 2020. But here's a thread on why I think they were wrong and dangerous on school closures 1/12

This is an absolutely extraordinary stat: more people were recalled to prison than released Jan-March 2026. 3/4 were for breaches of licence conditions, not for committing further offences. Probation has just become incapable of managing offenders in the community & supporting rehabilitation.

Danny Shaw@dannyshaw.bsky.social · 7d ago

And - another key MoJ stat: 13,193 released prisoners were sent back to jail, Jan-March 2026 - near record number of 'recalls'. Number going back to jail *outstripped* prisoners released: 12,977 - thought to be first time this has happened. As fast as prisoners are let out, they return.

Good news. But Rayner's point that it is un-British and unfair, as well as economically and politically counterproductive, to change the rules retrospectively applies to other workers on medium- skilled work visas (technicians/chefs/etc) www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

Foreign care workers could be exempt from tough new visa rules

Andy Burnham is considering an exception to Shabana Mahmood’s reforms that increase the timeline for permanent residence from five to 15 years

thetimes.com

On Burnham’s social care speech today, it was deeply refreshing to see him make a point to thank immigrants who provide social care. I hope that reflects where we go with ILR bill but beyond that it is good to hear gratitude and openness rather than scapegoating and penny pinching.

🤞

George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · last wk.

This is surely curtains for Farage's political career. I don't think there's any coming back from it. I hope not, at any rate. Looks like there could be a strong basis for a criminal case as well. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

It just keeps coming...this is what we need MSM for. To keep digging over months to get to this stuff. Costs money too! IIRC it took @pippacrerar.bsky.social a year to stand up her party after story

John Harris@johnharris1969.bsky.social · last wk.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Casey would not qualify for disability support but would appear as disabled in the Family Resources Survey, does this mean we need to deliver better data to assess how to deliver social care? Maybe, but this is a data question not a welfare question.

Why solving the prison capacity crisis is hard but unavoidable. My piece for Arguably on why there’s no alternative to an early release scheme. www.arguably.uk/p/britain-is...

Britain is in denial on the prisons crisis

Burnham’s decision to pause early releases is good politics but bad policy

arguably.uk

Anyway, PSA for the kids, social media managers, and fans of reindustrialisation, you can almost certainly automate manufacturing trains more safely and effectively than you can automate writing contracts, just in case you were wondering.

But the next wave of proper jobs are going to need a different kind of life-long learning support, not just active support on this bit of the skills pipeline

It's never been cheaper to run for parliament.

Tim Bale@timbale.bsky.social · last wk.

JICYMI #Clacton by-election ballot paper

IT HAS HAPPENED

Luke Tryl@luketryl.bsky.social · last wk.

Our latest voting intention sees cross over. Labour move ahead by 4. Their first lead since March 2025 & highest share since Nov 24 🌹 LAB 28% (+4)
⏩ REF 24% (-2)
🌳 CON 22% (nc)
🔶 LIB DEM 12% (+1)
🟢 GREEN 8% (-3)
🟡 SNP 2% (nc) N = 2061| Dates 24-27/7| Change w 22/7

Farage in The Telegraph: ‘If voters think I’m a crook, they can get rid of me.’ It’s not how the law works but, even so, I’m assuming if Farage is serious he’ll allow the voters of Clacton to look at all his finances, speak to all his donors, and put himself up for rigorous questioning?

Just exempting care workers would be ridiculous. Basically it would be a case of designing a policy to kick out care workers, panicking when you realise how stupid an idea that is, and then kicking out a load of engineers, scientists etc out of sheer stubbornness.

But what you need to ask is does scrapping this immoral policy meet the Makerfield test?

Colin Yeo@colinyeo.bsky.social · 2w ago

The whole point of the original policy (which was and is terrible) was to target exactly this group. And now they’re going to introduce the policy and exempt them? Just abandon the policy! The whole thing is just a terrible idea.

The whole point of the original policy (which was and is terrible) was to target exactly this group. And now they’re going to introduce the policy and exempt them? Just abandon the policy! The whole thing is just a terrible idea.

Immigration Bot@immigrationbot.bsky.social · 2w ago

"Exclusive: Andy Burnham thought to be considering waiving stricter right to remain rules for people already working in the sectorHundreds of thousands of care workers could be exempted from the home secretary’s plans to toughen up the immigration system under proposals being…" — The Guardian

Legitimate concerns update

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2w ago

Most people arrested during Henry Nowak protests had been reported for domestic abuse

Faith leaders call on new PM to rethink & rebalance asylum and settlement reforms to ensure they deliver compassion as well as control www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Dozens of religious leaders call on PM to lead 'fresh start' with asylum warning

EXCLUSIVE: Senior figures from the UK's Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities have jointly written to Andy Burnham calling for a 'fresh start' on asylum and saying this is a moment to choose what k...

mirror.co.uk