Gail Parker
@gailp.bsky.social
💙💛
Climate, law, politics, health, dogs, cats, science, reading. Not in any order and not necessarily all at once.
A bit of whimsy is good too. And food.
Wivenhoe, Essex
Climate, law, politics, health, dogs, cats, science, reading. Not in any order and not necessarily all at once.
A bit of whimsy is good too. And food.
Wivenhoe, Essex
Reposted by Gail Parker
TV Show Idea: DUCKS IN A ROW
The Duck family are arguing over how to row their boat, can they come together and find an agreement before they are forced to stand in a line and transform into beautiful swans
The Duck family are arguing over how to row their boat, can they come together and find an agreement before they are forced to stand in a line and transform into beautiful swans
November 16, 2025 at 4:36 PM
TV Show Idea: DUCKS IN A ROW
The Duck family are arguing over how to row their boat, can they come together and find an agreement before they are forced to stand in a line and transform into beautiful swans
The Duck family are arguing over how to row their boat, can they come together and find an agreement before they are forced to stand in a line and transform into beautiful swans
Reposted by Gail Parker
The Prime Minister said in September that we are at a fork in the road. These asylum proposals suggest we have taken the wrong turning.
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Asylum system in UK ‘out of control’ and dividing country, home secretary says
Shabana Mahmood to unveil new proposals modelled on Denmark’s controversial system
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
The Prime Minister said in September that we are at a fork in the road. These asylum proposals suggest we have taken the wrong turning.
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Gail Parker
Pretty much. We now seem to have shifted from ‘stop the boats’ to ‘punish people coming on the boats’ and that us just not right (it’s also exactly why the entire policy direction is now performative- being cruel).
I've been very soft on this Labour government. They inherited a booby-trapped nightmare and even though they're even now probably still the best of all our shitty options, the immigration thing is draconian, stupid and deliberately cruel.
Starmer and McSweeney must go. Now.
Starmer and McSweeney must go. Now.
November 16, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Pretty much. We now seem to have shifted from ‘stop the boats’ to ‘punish people coming on the boats’ and that us just not right (it’s also exactly why the entire policy direction is now performative- being cruel).
Reposted by Gail Parker
I think part of this story (on eligibility for heat pump grants) is likely to be nonsense - I'll explain in a thread below.
But it is clear that the Treasury wants to abolish the ECO levy, which funds upgrades for fuel poor homes. This would be a serious mistake
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
But it is clear that the Treasury wants to abolish the ECO levy, which funds upgrades for fuel poor homes. This would be a serious mistake
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Hundreds of thousands to lose heat pump subsidies in Reeves’s budget plan
Exclusive: Supporters say grants largely going to middle-class households, but experts warn move will slow transition from gas boilers
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I think part of this story (on eligibility for heat pump grants) is likely to be nonsense - I'll explain in a thread below.
But it is clear that the Treasury wants to abolish the ECO levy, which funds upgrades for fuel poor homes. This would be a serious mistake
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
But it is clear that the Treasury wants to abolish the ECO levy, which funds upgrades for fuel poor homes. This would be a serious mistake
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Gail Parker
This is excellent.
Essential reading from Calum Weir - on findings from some innovative polling from Labour Together.
His words
"Immigration is salient, polarising and important.
Cost of living is foundational, unifying and in some ways, even more important."
labourlist.org/2025/11/immi...
@cwp-weir.bsky.social
His words
"Immigration is salient, polarising and important.
Cost of living is foundational, unifying and in some ways, even more important."
labourlist.org/2025/11/immi...
@cwp-weir.bsky.social
'Bread, circuses, and polling errors: Are we truly measuring what matters?' - LabourList
Pollsters who ask questions that add nuance are rewarded with a richer look at the public’s outlook argues Labour Together's Calum Weir.
labourlist.org
November 16, 2025 at 12:08 PM
This is excellent.
Reposted by Gail Parker
Note that this keeps unclear what the UK government will do to refugees who may have been living in the UK for years or decades under temporary status once their countries of origin have been deemed safe.
They could just take a look at 1990s-2010s Germany to see how that worked out.
They could just take a look at 1990s-2010s Germany to see how that worked out.
"The era of permanent protection is over"
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
Refugees from 7 decades gather to commemorate 70 years of refugee in protection in the UK
YouTube video by Refugee Council
www.youtube.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Note that this keeps unclear what the UK government will do to refugees who may have been living in the UK for years or decades under temporary status once their countries of origin have been deemed safe.
They could just take a look at 1990s-2010s Germany to see how that worked out.
They could just take a look at 1990s-2010s Germany to see how that worked out.
Reposted by Gail Parker
Okay, I can't let this one go. I live in Ireland, not the UK, but the use of this image by a supposedly socialist party is so stupid and offensive, I'm going to get stuck in.
Let me explain to you why any experienced illustrator/designer could have stopped you making so many miserable mistakes. 1/
Let me explain to you why any experienced illustrator/designer could have stopped you making so many miserable mistakes. 1/
November 15, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Okay, I can't let this one go. I live in Ireland, not the UK, but the use of this image by a supposedly socialist party is so stupid and offensive, I'm going to get stuck in.
Let me explain to you why any experienced illustrator/designer could have stopped you making so many miserable mistakes. 1/
Let me explain to you why any experienced illustrator/designer could have stopped you making so many miserable mistakes. 1/
Reposted by Gail Parker
Rising seas, sinking land, and shrinking options. Owen Sennitt reports how the man who has led the Broads for 25 years sounds the alarm:
eastangliabylines.co.uk/environment/...
eastangliabylines.co.uk/environment/...
Outgoing Broads boss: the unstoppable rise of the waters
Outgoing Broads Authority chief executive John Packman warns climate change is “already biting” as rising seas threaten Norfolk’s wetlands
eastangliabylines.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Rising seas, sinking land, and shrinking options. Owen Sennitt reports how the man who has led the Broads for 25 years sounds the alarm:
eastangliabylines.co.uk/environment/...
eastangliabylines.co.uk/environment/...
Reposted by Gail Parker
A reminder that Mahmood also wants to castrate rapists.
Starmer is destroying the Labour Party.
Starmer is destroying the Labour Party.
It can't be emphasised enough that the Government's current approach:
- Increase ILR to 10 years,
- Increase Asylum ILR to 20 years,
- Removal "immediately" if your home country becomes "safe,"
- Loss of permanent refugee status,
Is exactly the sort of thing they dismissed as radical extremism.
- Increase ILR to 10 years,
- Increase Asylum ILR to 20 years,
- Removal "immediately" if your home country becomes "safe,"
- Loss of permanent refugee status,
Is exactly the sort of thing they dismissed as radical extremism.
Yvette Cooper was defined by inertia and just blew in the wind. Shabana Mahmood gets things done. And what she wants to get done is absolutely crackers.
November 16, 2025 at 8:00 AM
A reminder that Mahmood also wants to castrate rapists.
Starmer is destroying the Labour Party.
Starmer is destroying the Labour Party.
Reposted by Gail Parker
The golden age of diversity and democracy in Oz.
November 16, 2025 at 7:04 AM
The golden age of diversity and democracy in Oz.
Reposted by Gail Parker
That YouTube clip of Sir Nicholas Winton, but at the end of it the audience gets put on a bus?
"The era of permanent protection is over"
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
Refugees from 7 decades gather to commemorate 70 years of refugee in protection in the UK
YouTube video by Refugee Council
www.youtube.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:24 PM
That YouTube clip of Sir Nicholas Winton, but at the end of it the audience gets put on a bus?
Reposted by Gail Parker
At some point we have to ask why British politics keeps producing leaders who struggle to do the job.
That's partly about the pressures of the role itself, but it's also about the "pipeline": how likely are our procedures to generate leaders with the skill-set to manage those pressures?
[THREAD] 🧵
That's partly about the pressures of the role itself, but it's also about the "pipeline": how likely are our procedures to generate leaders with the skill-set to manage those pressures?
[THREAD] 🧵
Looking at this graph and wonder if something else might be going on beyond 'poor quality leader'
November 15, 2025 at 2:15 PM
At some point we have to ask why British politics keeps producing leaders who struggle to do the job.
That's partly about the pressures of the role itself, but it's also about the "pipeline": how likely are our procedures to generate leaders with the skill-set to manage those pressures?
[THREAD] 🧵
That's partly about the pressures of the role itself, but it's also about the "pipeline": how likely are our procedures to generate leaders with the skill-set to manage those pressures?
[THREAD] 🧵
Reposted by Gail Parker
"Thank Heavens Reeves froze the thresholds," says the median voter in 2029 as they walk past the derelict sports centre and down the empty high street to cast their vote.
English councils plan to sell off social clubs and sports centres to balance books
English councils plan to sell off social clubs and sports centres to balance books
Survey finds 60% of key cities councils are planning to sell assets to meet costs of adult and children’s social care
English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books, according to a survey of local authorities.
The key cities group of councils, which represents second-tier cities in England, said 60% of councils were planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:34 AM
"Thank Heavens Reeves froze the thresholds," says the median voter in 2029 as they walk past the derelict sports centre and down the empty high street to cast their vote.
Reposted by Gail Parker
the video goes on and on about illegal immigration and yet the new proposal will target legal migration by confirmed refugees
November 15, 2025 at 9:36 AM
the video goes on and on about illegal immigration and yet the new proposal will target legal migration by confirmed refugees
Reposted by Gail Parker
The ‘but the Epstein files could also harm democrats’ thing - yes. That is a good thing. There aren’t people who should be ringfenced from this cause they’re democrats. That would be mad.
November 15, 2025 at 10:42 AM
The ‘but the Epstein files could also harm democrats’ thing - yes. That is a good thing. There aren’t people who should be ringfenced from this cause they’re democrats. That would be mad.
Reposted by Gail Parker
New Substack: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-incompe... Parts of the Labour party and BBC simply don't know what their jobs should be.
On incompetence
Much of our political culture is fundamentally incompetent.
chrisdillow.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:47 AM
New Substack: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-incompe... Parts of the Labour party and BBC simply don't know what their jobs should be.
Reposted by Gail Parker
A brief thread on Trump renewing his threat to sue the BBC.
(Note I am not an American lawyer, this is perspective of an English legal commentator.)
>
(Note I am not an American lawyer, this is perspective of an English legal commentator.)
>
November 15, 2025 at 9:39 AM
A brief thread on Trump renewing his threat to sue the BBC.
(Note I am not an American lawyer, this is perspective of an English legal commentator.)
>
(Note I am not an American lawyer, this is perspective of an English legal commentator.)
>
Reposted by Gail Parker
What the BBC *should* do is await a formal response in reply to their letter. Or they should simply wait to be served with a law suit.
And take local (ie US) law advice.
Only then will they have the further information to make a rational decision on the merits of the case.
>
And take local (ie US) law advice.
Only then will they have the further information to make a rational decision on the merits of the case.
>
November 15, 2025 at 10:00 AM
What the BBC *should* do is await a formal response in reply to their letter. Or they should simply wait to be served with a law suit.
And take local (ie US) law advice.
Only then will they have the further information to make a rational decision on the merits of the case.
>
And take local (ie US) law advice.
Only then will they have the further information to make a rational decision on the merits of the case.
>
Reposted by Gail Parker
How can I vote for it? People keep telling me that I just have to be pragmatic and suck it up, but how could I see policies like this enacted and know that I’d voted for them?
This is as bad as anything proposed by Reform.
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 9:39 AM
How can I vote for it? People keep telling me that I just have to be pragmatic and suck it up, but how could I see policies like this enacted and know that I’d voted for them?
Reposted by Gail Parker
Renewable energy has lefty vibes and so we are going to gut it in favour of AI which is right-wing coded if significantly less useful, and reliant on the energy generation we're going to fail to deliver now because: see start of this sentence.
Still, how owned are the libs?
Still, how owned are the libs?
I'm kind of baffled how the "moderates" have apparently all decided to turn against climate policy at once, just as China reaches green electrostate liftoff mode. I thought these people were all about National Greatness and making Hard Choices
November 15, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Renewable energy has lefty vibes and so we are going to gut it in favour of AI which is right-wing coded if significantly less useful, and reliant on the energy generation we're going to fail to deliver now because: see start of this sentence.
Still, how owned are the libs?
Still, how owned are the libs?
Reposted by Gail Parker
This is not as bad a what Reform have planned - but thats beside the point.
It is still awful and inhumane - and any Labour person who believes in human rights should be pushing back strongly against it.
Dire.
It is still awful and inhumane - and any Labour person who believes in human rights should be pushing back strongly against it.
Dire.
This is as bad as anything proposed by Reform.
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 7:28 AM
This is not as bad a what Reform have planned - but thats beside the point.
It is still awful and inhumane - and any Labour person who believes in human rights should be pushing back strongly against it.
Dire.
It is still awful and inhumane - and any Labour person who believes in human rights should be pushing back strongly against it.
Dire.
Reposted by Gail Parker
LOL, someone at the guardian is feeling salty.
November 15, 2025 at 1:07 AM
LOL, someone at the guardian is feeling salty.
Reposted by Gail Parker
Gutted to read this. Rachel was, among many other things, a great champion of comics. She tirelessly and pretty much singlehandedly worked to celebrate them in mainstream journalism.
Wonderful and moving tribute by @timadamswrites.bsky.social to Rachel Cooke, the brilliant Observer journalist who also frequently lit up the pages of the Guardian Weekly, who has died at the age of 56.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Remembering Rachel Cooke | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Gutted to read this. Rachel was, among many other things, a great champion of comics. She tirelessly and pretty much singlehandedly worked to celebrate them in mainstream journalism.
Reposted by Gail Parker
The Starmer re-elect is dead. The souffle does not rise twice, the prime minister does not come back from that kind of approval rating, or indeed the level of hatred he inspires in the country now.
November 14, 2025 at 5:30 PM
The Starmer re-elect is dead. The souffle does not rise twice, the prime minister does not come back from that kind of approval rating, or indeed the level of hatred he inspires in the country now.
Reposted by Gail Parker
I wasn’t able to skeet quickly enough about the huge danger of a government giving the impression that it’s completely useless and doesn’t care about economic outcomes. The Truss debacle is the most egregious example (and had specific factors) but this is the same overall territory imv.
November 14, 2025 at 8:07 AM
I wasn’t able to skeet quickly enough about the huge danger of a government giving the impression that it’s completely useless and doesn’t care about economic outcomes. The Truss debacle is the most egregious example (and had specific factors) but this is the same overall territory imv.