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Pat Blair

@patblair.bsky.social

160 followers 150 following 820 posts

30 years in med journalism: Writer, editor, host to refugees. Loves family, travel, wine and decent interesting people. Interested in health (mental and otherwise), politics and random subjects. In no party but not keen on political extremists.

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Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 8m

And certainly not Jenrick.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 21m

How poorly the leader of the Opposition responded to the PM's statement on Middle East events. Many Tory MPs took a constructive approach, unlike their leader who, glad to say, does not representi the UK on the world stage. Somewhere there surely must be a Tory potential leader of greater stature?

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 23h

You are doing well.
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Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 1d

HMRC will claw back from pensioners' who have incomee over £35,000 the £300 fuel allowance from DWP. Why can't HMRC similarly claw back rule-breaking ministers' severance money? If it can be done with pensioners, why not ministers?

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 1d

HMRC will claw back from pensioners' who have incomee over £35,000 the £300 fuel allowance from DWP. Why can't HMRC similarly claw back rule-breaking ministers' severance money? If it can be done with pensioners, why not ministers?

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 1d

We appealed on the 1st assessment of my husband's entitlement to CHC. Five years and multiple letters later, 4 years after he died we won and were repaid. But not everyone has the resilience, or finances, to continue. It cost a one-off £2000 fee to determined specialist lawyers Compass.Well worth it

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 1d

RedR has provided expert volunteers and training for countries after earthquakes, famine, civil wars and every disaster humans can face. They are the quiet heroes and heroines helping countries rebuild.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 1d

When Putin & Netanyahu have stopped their bombing hell, what are Ukraine & Gaza going to need? Civil and all engineers.
RedR International have the expertise to rebuild, training locals and NGOs. RedR UK set up in 1980 by P Guthrie, was followed by RedR Australia. It is now a Federation of nations.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 1d

RedR has provided expert volunteers and training for countries after earthquakes, famine, civil wars and every disaster humans can face. They are the quiet heroes and heroines helping countries rebuild.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 1d

When Putin & Netanyahu have stopped their bombing hell, what are Ukraine & Gaza going to need? Civil and all engineers.
RedR International have the expertise to rebuild, training locals and NGOs. RedR UK set up in 1980 by P Guthrie, was followed by RedR Australia. It is now a Federation of nations.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 1d

When Putin & Netanyahu have stopped their bombing hell, what are Ukraine & Gaza going to need? Civil and all engineers.
RedR International have the expertise to rebuild, training locals and NGOs. RedR UK set up in 1980 by P Guthrie, was followed by RedR Australia. It is now a Federation of nations.

Reposted by Pat Blair

Marie 🇨🇦 @pawbaby2.bsky.social · 3d

Zohran Mamdani didn’t hold back. His speech today on Letitia James’s indictment was 🔥 calling it exactly what it is: a political hit job meant to punish those who hold Trump accountable. “If justice can be weaponized against the just, then no one is safe.”

#USDemocracy
#Pinks

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 2d

What's more, this president has sacrificed nothing but ensured that he or his family or friends have done well financially out of his "deals". Hardly the spirit of Nobel. Trump is no humanitarian.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 2d

MAGA - Making America Grosse Again.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 2d

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Ugh! Can't get away from 4.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 2d

What does it say about America that it is able to recruit so many men as ICE agents who are brutal and seem happy to go along with their own lawlessness and cruelty? The ugly underbelly of the US is now out in the open for all the world to see.

MAGA - Make America Grosse Again!

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 3d

It suggest sthat other parties should already be opening people's eyes to Reform's myths and lies.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 3d

No penalty? Johnson won't care then. Those who breach the rules and get way with it just continue to do so. Prisons are full of those types.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 3d

Enjoy your weekend whatever you do.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 3d

And Trump wanted a Nobel prize?

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 3d

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Daren't try the others in case I get hooked! 😆

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 4d

I hold no brief for the terrorist Hamas group holding Israeli hostages and hope to see them all freed. But why are those Palestinians, including some 400 children - detained, uncharged and unsentenced by Netanyayu's Israel - called prisoners? They are Palestinian hostages, surely?

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 4d

I am fed up being exhorted to download this app and that app - the NHS app, e-Consult, MyChart, etc. I have enough apps as it is. I don't want any more. Besides, when you dig into it, most of these healthcare apps derive from US tech firms. Harvesting data? I've nothing to hide but count me out.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 4d

I don't believe the allegations at all. As an atheist, I can recite the Lord's Prayer and some of the Holy Rosary, including the Hail Mary. A non-believer, I do - and one should - respect others' religious beliefs. Maybe now I'll learn an Islamic prayer, if only to understand what's being said.
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Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 4d

"Grubby" is exactly the right word for that odious little man.

Pat Blair @patblair.bsky.social · 4d

To be clear, I do not begrudge anyone claiming Universal Credit. However, when that UC is being used to prop up employers paying less than the minimum wage (or even the Living Wage) perhaps those employers could be charged double the Living Wage for each underpaid employee, plus generous fines.

Reposted by Pat Blair

Melissa Jo Peltier @melissjpeltier.bsky.social · 4d

As an American watching our best & most crucial institutions crumble in less than a year under Trump, I suggest you make as many of these changes now, while you can.
We didn’t, obviously.