AGC
@agc1985.bsky.social
Green, queer, socialist, widow, translator, geek (he/him). Based in Southampton, UK.
Pinned
AGC
@agc1985.bsky.social
· Sep 6
Grief in the Shadows | Virgin Radio Pridecast
shows.acast.com
How can being LGBTQ+ complicate the process of grief and bereavement? I shared my story for this radio documentary alongside other LGBT+ widows, including Jonathan Blake and Richard Coles.
Reposted by AGC
A Government of cowards.
Rather than tackle inequality - they've gone for pensioners, disabled people and now it's people fleeing war and persecution.
They can't get away with this.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
Rather than tackle inequality - they've gone for pensioners, disabled people and now it's people fleeing war and persecution.
They can't get away with this.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
November 17, 2025 at 11:16 PM
A Government of cowards.
Rather than tackle inequality - they've gone for pensioners, disabled people and now it's people fleeing war and persecution.
They can't get away with this.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
Rather than tackle inequality - they've gone for pensioners, disabled people and now it's people fleeing war and persecution.
They can't get away with this.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
Reposted by AGC
Cruel. Callous. Cowardly.
The public are seeing this Labour government for exactly who they are.
We all have a responsibility to make them pay at the ballot box.
Reject the hate. Reject them.
This is not who we are. Let's make hope normal again.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
The public are seeing this Labour government for exactly who they are.
We all have a responsibility to make them pay at the ballot box.
Reject the hate. Reject them.
This is not who we are. Let's make hope normal again.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
November 17, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Cruel. Callous. Cowardly.
The public are seeing this Labour government for exactly who they are.
We all have a responsibility to make them pay at the ballot box.
Reject the hate. Reject them.
This is not who we are. Let's make hope normal again.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
The public are seeing this Labour government for exactly who they are.
We all have a responsibility to make them pay at the ballot box.
Reject the hate. Reject them.
This is not who we are. Let's make hope normal again.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
Reposted by AGC
Labour’s asylum plan said, in the same breath, that the 1) if we don’t get hard on migrants people will become more overtly racist and 2) that most people are not racist and are kind and welcoming
This isn’t coherent? People who aren’t currently nasty to migrants won’t suddenly be nice
This isn’t coherent? People who aren’t currently nasty to migrants won’t suddenly be nice
November 17, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Labour’s asylum plan said, in the same breath, that the 1) if we don’t get hard on migrants people will become more overtly racist and 2) that most people are not racist and are kind and welcoming
This isn’t coherent? People who aren’t currently nasty to migrants won’t suddenly be nice
This isn’t coherent? People who aren’t currently nasty to migrants won’t suddenly be nice
Reposted by AGC
I don’t want to get all galaxy brained here but if the spooks had sat the politicians down and said Look: it’s very important that Britain goes fascist by 2030 and that’s that, what are you going to do about it? They would be doing pretty much all of this, wouldn’t they.
November 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I don’t want to get all galaxy brained here but if the spooks had sat the politicians down and said Look: it’s very important that Britain goes fascist by 2030 and that’s that, what are you going to do about it? They would be doing pretty much all of this, wouldn’t they.
Reposted by AGC
This excuse would be pretty grim even if Labour were now very popular thanks to their flag-saluting foreigner crackdowns, which they really are not.
November 17, 2025 at 4:47 PM
This excuse would be pretty grim even if Labour were now very popular thanks to their flag-saluting foreigner crackdowns, which they really are not.
Reposted by AGC
Somebody is briefing the Times that the Home Secretary finds inspiration in Kristi Noem's leading the Trump mass deportation effort - which has gone much too far for Americans
What a kamikaze piece of political madness that is on the eve of their asylum package
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
What a kamikaze piece of political madness that is on the eve of their asylum package
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Shabana Mahmood threatens Trump-style visa ban on three countries
Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo will face Trump-style sanctions if they do not start taking back more illegal migrants and criminals
www.thetimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Somebody is briefing the Times that the Home Secretary finds inspiration in Kristi Noem's leading the Trump mass deportation effort - which has gone much too far for Americans
What a kamikaze piece of political madness that is on the eve of their asylum package
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
What a kamikaze piece of political madness that is on the eve of their asylum package
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
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“If Labour don’t do this, we’ll get a Reform government”
Trans people, disabled people, migrants, people of colour and people seeking asylum already have a Reform government.
You just want to feel superior to those who like the idea of Nigel Farage as PM.
Trans people, disabled people, migrants, people of colour and people seeking asylum already have a Reform government.
You just want to feel superior to those who like the idea of Nigel Farage as PM.
November 17, 2025 at 7:00 PM
“If Labour don’t do this, we’ll get a Reform government”
Trans people, disabled people, migrants, people of colour and people seeking asylum already have a Reform government.
You just want to feel superior to those who like the idea of Nigel Farage as PM.
Trans people, disabled people, migrants, people of colour and people seeking asylum already have a Reform government.
You just want to feel superior to those who like the idea of Nigel Farage as PM.
Reposted by AGC
This is not 'decent moderate politics'
It is Far Right demonisation of immigrants which will make them second class 'citizens' (if they don't get deported for 20 years)
It will not solve the problem it will increase racism and empower Reform all while driving voters from Labour
It is Far Right demonisation of immigrants which will make them second class 'citizens' (if they don't get deported for 20 years)
It will not solve the problem it will increase racism and empower Reform all while driving voters from Labour
November 17, 2025 at 12:31 PM
This is not 'decent moderate politics'
It is Far Right demonisation of immigrants which will make them second class 'citizens' (if they don't get deported for 20 years)
It will not solve the problem it will increase racism and empower Reform all while driving voters from Labour
It is Far Right demonisation of immigrants which will make them second class 'citizens' (if they don't get deported for 20 years)
It will not solve the problem it will increase racism and empower Reform all while driving voters from Labour
Reposted by AGC
The Labour Party aligning itself with Tommy Robinson, fucking hell.
Despicable treachery.
Despicable treachery.
Asked how happy Keir Starmer is that Tommy Robinson is now backing his asylum plans, his spokesman replies that "the public can tell that the pace and scale of illegal immigration is out of control..."
"We must restore order... or we will lose public consent for giving refuge at all".
"We must restore order... or we will lose public consent for giving refuge at all".
November 17, 2025 at 12:31 PM
The Labour Party aligning itself with Tommy Robinson, fucking hell.
Despicable treachery.
Despicable treachery.
Reposted by AGC
The way Labour are talking about migrants validates far right narratives of dehumanisation *at a time of far right riots and racist violence*. The leadership group responsible needs to be removed right now as a matter of public safety. This is simply a factual description of the situation before us.
Honestly, the potential case for getting rid of Starmer before was the lack of any political project and absence of charisma. But now No.10 is creating a moral imperative for the PLP to act as well.
November 17, 2025 at 11:29 AM
The way Labour are talking about migrants validates far right narratives of dehumanisation *at a time of far right riots and racist violence*. The leadership group responsible needs to be removed right now as a matter of public safety. This is simply a factual description of the situation before us.
Reposted by AGC
This is a new low from a govt plumbing the depths of performative cruelty in hopes that the public won’t notice they have no answers to the real issues facing this country
A sensible, humane govt would focus on safe routes to prevent people making dangerous small boat crossings
A sensible, humane govt would focus on safe routes to prevent people making dangerous small boat crossings
November 17, 2025 at 10:14 AM
This is a new low from a govt plumbing the depths of performative cruelty in hopes that the public won’t notice they have no answers to the real issues facing this country
A sensible, humane govt would focus on safe routes to prevent people making dangerous small boat crossings
A sensible, humane govt would focus on safe routes to prevent people making dangerous small boat crossings
Reposted by AGC
🌍 42.5m refugees
Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries.
🇬🇧 548k refugees
= 0.78% of the UK population.
It is not refugees who tear our country apart, it is the mainstreaming of far right policies. And that’s a risk to all of us.
My letter to my MP.
#asylum #Mahmood
🧵
Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries.
🇬🇧 548k refugees
= 0.78% of the UK population.
It is not refugees who tear our country apart, it is the mainstreaming of far right policies. And that’s a risk to all of us.
My letter to my MP.
#asylum #Mahmood
🧵
![Dear [my MP’s name],
As the Home Secretary prepares to announce sweeping changes to the UK’s asylum system, I see it as both my duty as a citizen and responsibility as a migration expert to do all I can to urge policymakers to oppose the proposals—not only for what they will do to refugees, though that is the first concern, but also for what they will mean for all of us and the future society we live in.
That is why I am writing to you as my MP. This letter explains why I consider the need to oppose the Home Secretary’s proposals urgent and, at the most fundamental level, in the national and your constituents’ interest.
I was born in Germany, a country whose history taught me how quickly societies can go down dark paths; how quickly our leaders can fail in the choices they make. But the history of the displacement of people that the Nazi regime was responsible for also shaped my understanding of why refugee movements occur—and why our response to any of them can never compromise what are, and must always be, universal human rights.
Which is why what is happening in the UK now is so deeply alarming.
A manufactured crisis
As of June 2025, there were 42.5 million refugees globally. Over 70% of them are hosted by low- and middle-income countries; most of them immediate neighbours. Overall, five countries—Colombia, Germany, Türkiye, Iran and Uganda—host a third of the total number of refugees; Germany is the main host in the EU, hosting 2.7 million.
The UK hosts 548,000 refugees; that is 0.78% of the UK population. About 110,000 people are in receipt of asylum support; that is 0.15% of the UK population.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bru4h6s37w4hfmwhetu7veye/bafkreidmewc5timbx7nh57qyq7lm7gmhvclzidmloqhwgckpnegnddoicq@jpeg)
November 16, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by AGC
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 AGC
Bigotry is always fed by lies.
November 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Bigotry is always fed by lies.
Reposted by AGC
A BBC news reporter talks of 'what Starmer *admits* is a crisis at our borders'. By using that word 'admits' the BBC indicates that this supposed crisis is a fact. But it isn't a fact. It's a manufactured moral panic.
November 15, 2025 at 10:26 PM
A BBC news reporter talks of 'what Starmer *admits* is a crisis at our borders'. By using that word 'admits' the BBC indicates that this supposed crisis is a fact. But it isn't a fact. It's a manufactured moral panic.
Reposted by AGC
No, I'd say it's racists and those pandering to them.
November 15, 2025 at 9:58 PM
No, I'd say it's racists and those pandering to them.
Reposted by AGC
Someone should ask Starmer and Mahmood whether they think the Kindertransport, for example, should have been a return ticket. Whether Alf Dubs, rather than becoming a Labour MP and now Lord, ought to have been sent back with his family to Czechoslovakia once it was liberated from German rule.
This contribution to the volume of human misery is yet another policy from Labour based on a false premise, in this case that refugees are overly attracted to Britain. It will increase bureaucratic limbo, thus making worse the problem of "cohesion" it purports to solve.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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 9:05 AM
Someone should ask Starmer and Mahmood whether they think the Kindertransport, for example, should have been a return ticket. Whether Alf Dubs, rather than becoming a Labour MP and now Lord, ought to have been sent back with his family to Czechoslovakia once it was liberated from German rule.
Reposted by AGC
You are the ‘darker forces’, Home Secretary.
November 15, 2025 at 12:24 PM
You are the ‘darker forces’, Home Secretary.
Reposted by AGC
This by Mahmood is frankly not only disgusting, but also massively disingenuous. It equates seeking asylum with illegality, there's nothing illegal about seeking asylum no matter the route. It ignores that Labour's policies penalise those in need of protection, and plays to hard right rhetoric.
On Monday, Shabana Mahmood will announce an overhaul of the asylum system, here’s why ⬇️
November 15, 2025 at 7:33 PM
This by Mahmood is frankly not only disgusting, but also massively disingenuous. It equates seeking asylum with illegality, there's nothing illegal about seeking asylum no matter the route. It ignores that Labour's policies penalise those in need of protection, and plays to hard right rhetoric.
Reposted by AGC
just listen to the insane racist lies of those pushing the migrant panic
you really think they'll be satisfied with a reduction in asylum claims?
you really think they'll be satisfied with a reduction in asylum claims?
November 15, 2025 at 6:35 PM
just listen to the insane racist lies of those pushing the migrant panic
you really think they'll be satisfied with a reduction in asylum claims?
you really think they'll be satisfied with a reduction in asylum claims?
Reposted by AGC
If the government really intends to seize jewellery and other valuables from refugees,
either
- it is staggeringly ignorant of the historical precedents
or
- it's aware of the precedents, and thinks, yeah, we'll have some of that.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
either
- it is staggeringly ignorant of the historical precedents
or
- it's aware of the precedents, and thinks, yeah, we'll have some of that.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
No 10 tells Labour MPs it expects support for tough new asylum policies
Some backbenchers already opposing planned immigration crackdown seen as ‘economically and culturally illiterate’
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:41 AM
If the government really intends to seize jewellery and other valuables from refugees,
either
- it is staggeringly ignorant of the historical precedents
or
- it's aware of the precedents, and thinks, yeah, we'll have some of that.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
either
- it is staggeringly ignorant of the historical precedents
or
- it's aware of the precedents, and thinks, yeah, we'll have some of that.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by AGC
Cuarón said that the political/social landscape of his adaptation of Children of Men, esp. re refugees & migrants, was shaped by looking at the UK (under Labour) at the time (2004-6), and just extrapolating from there. The ongoing cruelty of Mahmood (below) & the rest of Labour brings that to mind.
What is truly pathetic about Labour is that this is all they have got. They have failed so spectacularly already, despite a whacking great majority, to even attempt to govern positively that all they have is punching down on marginalised groups and saying "oh but Reform will be worse".
November 15, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Cuarón said that the political/social landscape of his adaptation of Children of Men, esp. re refugees & migrants, was shaped by looking at the UK (under Labour) at the time (2004-6), and just extrapolating from there. The ongoing cruelty of Mahmood (below) & the rest of Labour brings that to mind.
Reposted by AGC
The cruelty competition:
This is what we are witnessing here. Who can win votes by being seen to be more cruel to a bunch of generally poor and vulnerable people?
It’s heartless and regressive strategy that is eventually most cruel to the heart of this nation.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
This is what we are witnessing here. Who can win votes by being seen to be more cruel to a bunch of generally poor and vulnerable people?
It’s heartless and regressive strategy that is eventually most cruel to the heart of this nation.
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 8:32 AM
The cruelty competition:
This is what we are witnessing here. Who can win votes by being seen to be more cruel to a bunch of generally poor and vulnerable people?
It’s heartless and regressive strategy that is eventually most cruel to the heart of this nation.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
This is what we are witnessing here. Who can win votes by being seen to be more cruel to a bunch of generally poor and vulnerable people?
It’s heartless and regressive strategy that is eventually most cruel to the heart of this nation.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by AGC
Labour are now the "darker forces" Mahmood is scaremongering about. Depriving people who have fled unimaginable horror the ability to rebuild their lives in safety and security, which this does, is sickening. Labour is sickening.
#r4today
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
#r4today
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 7:40 AM
Labour are now the "darker forces" Mahmood is scaremongering about. Depriving people who have fled unimaginable horror the ability to rebuild their lives in safety and security, which this does, is sickening. Labour is sickening.
#r4today
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
#r4today
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by AGC
I think we've already passed the stage where people believe that the Labour is doing all these to prevent a potential Reform victory. Everyone knows that there are other, more positive, ways of preventing it. No one believes that such cruelty is inevitable; we all know that this is Labour's choice.+
Labour are now the "darker forces" Mahmood is scaremongering about. Depriving people who have fled unimaginable horror the ability to rebuild their lives in safety and security, which this does, is sickening. Labour is sickening.
#r4today
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
#r4today
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 7:58 AM
I think we've already passed the stage where people believe that the Labour is doing all these to prevent a potential Reform victory. Everyone knows that there are other, more positive, ways of preventing it. No one believes that such cruelty is inevitable; we all know that this is Labour's choice.+