Helen
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helstinki.bsky.social
Helen
@helstinki.bsky.social
290 followers 360 following 36 posts
It'd be fair to say I've an interest in human rights. Also I shook hands with an astronaut once. She/her.
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Reposted by Helen
liamthorp.bsky.social
The UK, where the day after a decision to take half a million children out of poverty, the media & political world has been full of sneering at those same children & their families, labelling them as ‘Benefits Street’, while the same people are moaning about a tax on £2m mansions. Shameful stuff.
November 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Reposted by Helen
justfairuk.bsky.social
🦠 The Covid-19 Inquiry’s call to commence the socio-economic duty is a vital step toward protecting those most at risk and progressing health equity.

We have long championed this, co-leading the 1ForEquality campaign. It’s time decision-making in the UK finally reflects the dignity we all deserve.
ukcovid-19inquiry.bsky.social UK Covid-19 Inquiry @ukcovid-19inquiry.bsky.social · 7d
The Chair of the UK Covid Inquiry, Baroness Hallett has made a statement on her findings and recommendations.

View the statement in full by visiting our YouTube channel 📺👇

youtube.com/watch?v=a6xY...
November 27, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by Helen
drmarymcauliffe.bsky.social
The wonderful things you see when rambling through the city - ‘a consciousness of their own dignity and worth should be encouraged in women’, Countess Markievicz #speirgorm
Photo of mural a consciousness of their own dignity and worth should be encouraged in women’, Countess Markievicz
November 27, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Helen
francesryan.bsky.social
Research shows unequivocally what the benefit limit means: kids go without food, clothes, and heating. You can think it’s unfair some parents get cash you don’t or made poor choices you didn’t. But if you think that resentment is more important than a child, I’d suggest you might reflect on that.
November 27, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Helen
justfairuk.bsky.social
🧒🧒 Just Fair welcomes the end of the cruel two-child limit - a crucial step toward fairness we have long called for.

No child’s rights to food, housing or a decent life should ever be capped by policy. Now the UK must protect these rights in law.

justfair.org.uk/statement-on...
Statement on the lifting of the two-child limit | Just Fair
Just Fair welcomes the UK Government’s decision to lift the two-child limit. This long-overdue step could make a real difference in tackling child poverty and restoring fairness to the social security...
justfair.org.uk
November 26, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Helen
dianaskelton.bsky.social
Of course there's much more work to do to overcome poverty for families, but this is a very important step!
November 26, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Helen
kartikraj.bsky.social
The UK government’s decision in today's Budget to end the cruel "two-child limit” social security policy is welcome and long-overdue. It forced growing numbers of children and families into poverty and undermined their rights.
November 26, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Helen
samfr.bsky.social
Whatever else this government do (and there's plenty of issues with this budget) ministers will always be able to point to this as an incredible important contribution to the country's future. Almost half a million kids taken out of poverty.
alexclegg.bsky.social Alex Clegg @alexclegg.bsky.social · 2d
Scrapping the two-child limit in full is a monumental decision. Well done to all involved in the Child Poverty Strategy, and everyone who has made the case against the policy.

OBR says scrapping costs £3 billion in 2029-30 and will lift 450,000 out of poverty
November 26, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Helen
francesryan.bsky.social
“The Motability scheme was set up to protect the most vulnerable. Not to subsidise the lease on a Mercedes Benz,” Reeves says.

Misleading and nasty in equal measure.
November 26, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Helen
mrpostsgood.bsky.social
"It is against the TOS to be talked into suicide by our LLM" is possibly the most evil tech bro thing I've ever read
gerritd.bsky.social Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 2d
Additionally, OpenAI argues its not liable because Raine, by using ChatGPT for self-harm, broke its terms of service
November 26, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Reposted by Helen
sandraduffy.bsky.social
@teni.bsky.social don't seem to use their bsky account so I'm posting this over here from their facebook because people should see it: one of the first things our new President Connolly did last week was write the community a letter for TDOR 🏳️‍⚧️

www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...
A letter from President Catherine Connolly to the trans community of Ireland, wishing them "warmest wishes" on TDOR. She also marks the 10th anniversary of the GRA 2015 and "reminds us that the work of safeguarding dignity and ensuring genuine inclusion remains ongoing."
November 24, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Helen
selkies.bsky.social
This is one of the illustrations from my thesis project for my Masters in Editorial Illustration, all about the role of art in sustainability/biodiversity

I'm real happy with it!
Get me to illustrate your articles and reports pls

Prints here: selkiesstudio.com/shop/here-they-come
A drawing of a flock of birds in a wooded landscape flying in front of a canvas on an easel
November 24, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Helen
enddbelfast.bsky.social
Today’s news. Huge sums of public money going to the proscribed South East Antrim UDA who were linked to the Ballymena paramilitary backed white supremacist violence, intimidation, pogroms and what should have been treated as attempted murders. [1/n]
Headline November 2025. Anger after UDA crime gangs given 1 million pounds. June 2025. UDA gang involved in Ballymena riots.
November 23, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by Helen
liamthorp.bsky.social
All the supposed ‘big brains’ in the Labour Party/government have been plotting a grim course that isn’t even based on the feeling in the country. Politicians selling their souls for absolutely zip.
yougov.co.uk YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 7d
Why do people think England flags have been raised on lampposts?

White adults
National pride: 26%
Anti-migrant/minority sentiment: 49%
Both: 19%

Ethnic minority adults
National pride: 15%
Anti-migrant/minority sentiment: 55%
Both: 20%

yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
November 22, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Helen
brendanjharkin.bsky.social
For the avoidance of doubt I am more than happy for my taxes to go towards feeding kids and making life a little easier for parents

This is a better use of public money than... off the top of my head... RAF aircraft out of Cyprus circling over Gaza to identify more people for the IDF to murder.
saraita101.bsky.social Sarah Creighton @saraita101.bsky.social · 6d
I hate to report that discourse on this is still happening and we live alongside people who would begrudge a tired mum space to get a nap in the morning.
saraita101.bsky.social Sarah Creighton @saraita101.bsky.social · 6d
Everyone responding to this sounds like my presbyterian grandma, "Awful good to yourself, aren't you?"
You're miserable but at least you feel morally righteous and you'll get your reward in heaven one day. Boring, miserable people.
November 22, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by Helen
rincewind.run
Discworld QOTD, from Feet of Clay, for Trans Day of Remembrance
“‘Do you think there’s something a bit… odd about Littlebottom?’ ‘Seems like a perfectly ordinary female to me,’ said Angua. ‘Female? He told you he was female?’ ‘She,’ Angua corrected. ‘This is Ankh-Morpork, you know. We’ve got extra pronouns here.’”
November 20, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Helen
wbur.org
MIT's famous linguistic professor Noam Chomsky was in regular and close contact with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a review of emails published by the U.S. House Oversight Committee. In the documents, Chomsky described Epstein as a "highly valued friend."
Epstein emails show close connection with MIT's Noam Chomsky
MIT's famous linguistic professor Noam Chomsky was in regular and close contact with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a review of emails published by the U.S. House Oversight Committee. In t...
www.wbur.org
November 20, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Helen
shriekinggreek.bsky.social
Today is World Children’s Day. Not generally a fan of “days” but this is an important one because it reminds us of the Rights that children should be experiencing EVERY day of the year and how much we still have to do.

Happy Children’s Day one and all. 🎉
A colourful poster outlining the 42 rights of the UNCRC
November 20, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Reposted by Helen
justfairuk.bsky.social
Everyone has the right to a safe and decent home, access to good work, and support in times of need. Human rights belong to everyone.

Read our statement on the UK Government’s proposed asylum ‘reforms’ 👇

justfair.org.uk/just-fair-st...
Just Fair statement on the UK Government’s proposed asylum 'reforms' | Just Fair
Everyone has the right to a safe and decent home, access to good work, and support in times of need. Human rights belong to everyone. Making refugee protection temporary, restricting appeals, and with...
justfair.org.uk
November 18, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Helen
amnestyuk.bsky.social
Twenty-two years ago today Section 28 was repealed.

But we're seeing history repeat itself as some in the media and in politics spread bigotry and misinformation about trans people.

1/8🧵
November 18, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Reposted by Helen
tanjabueltmann.net
Tried to get this published but no luck, so might as well ‘publish’ it here so it’s not a complete waste!

➡️ Stripping rights from refugees today endangers us all tomorrow

#asylum #Mahmood #history #humanrights
Stripping rights from refugees today endangers us all tomorrow   When I was 13, I visited a Nazi concentration camp for the first time, confronting my country’s dark history always—and rightly—a bedrock in my growing up.    One image from that visit has stayed with me ever since: a display of prisoners’ personal possessions.    It revealed a world in which those imprisoned were stripped not only of their freedom but of the last tangible traces of their humanity. That systematic erasure was the most important precondition for murdering millions.   Now, as a historian, I know that history does not flow into the present in a straight line, and direct comparisons are rarely appropriate. They certainly are not here.   But history is the one compass humanity has. Too often we choose to ignore it.    The Home Secretary’s proposals for changes to the UK’s asylum system represent such a moment of failure.    Yet the most troubling aspect of Labour’s frantic efforts to appear tough on immigration is not even the historical echoes that taking refugees’ possessions invokes. It is that cost recovery is not the real purpose of the rationale behind it.    The true aim is to appeal to a particular audience—those who take satisfaction in seeing people seeking refuge deprived of what little they have. It is hard to imagine a more troubling approach to policymaking, and that becomes even clearer when we consider the Home Secretary’s proposals in context.   As of June 2025, there were 42.5 million refugees globally. Over 70% are hosted by low- and middle-income countries. The UK hosts 548,000 refugees; that is 0.78% of the UK population. Around 110,000 people are in receipt of asylum support; that is 0.15% of the UK population.   It is unconscionable that such a small and vulnerable population can be targeted with deliberate cruelty and weaponised for assumed political gain.   And that is all this will ever be. The core miscalculation is believing that adopting these positions will neutralise Reform.    Both historical knowledge and current research show the opposite. Mainstreaming extremist policies legitimises them further and aids only the original. Each step towards Reform’s territory simply gives Reform more power.   But our political discourse has been so degraded over the last decade that many no longer even recognise policies—or the language that frames them—as extreme.    That is how the Home Secretary can speak so casually of desperate people seeking sanctuary as recipients of a ‘golden ticket’ as though the context is Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory rather than countries torn apart by war and starved by famine. Speak of her ‘moral mission’ to withdraw support, alleging that ‘illegal migration is tearing our country apart.’ And warn of ‘dark forces stirring up anger,’ oblivious to her own role: from the use of blurry, dehumanising images of refugees to spread falsehoods about their impact on communities, to the equally false description of refugee movements as illegal migration.    I suggest the Home Secretary find a mirror if she is keen to understand who is helping turn anger into hate.   Because it is the mainstreaming of far-right talking points that the Home Secretary’s proposals represent that is really tearing our country apart.   For when a policy looks like the far right, speaks to the far right and is hailed by the far right as being far right, it is far right. There is a reason Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is jubilant and speaks of ‘the Overton window having been obliterated.’   This makes a mockery of the Prime Minister’s recent comments on the urgent need to tackle racism. But it also raises alarming questions about the impact this will have on communities around the country, many of which are already deeply divided.    The proposed policies will do nothing for these struggling communities, because their problems simply do not stem from people seeking sanctuary with us. In fact: for as long as politicians focus on immigrants and refugees as the cause of our problems, they will fail to deliver for the British people.   But it is important to grasp the impact of the Home Secretary’s proposals as they carry broader consequences for all of us. Suggestions for changes to how the European Convention on Human Rights is applied are particularly concerning. Requiring judges to prioritise ‘public safety’—falsely implying refugees pose a threat—would qualify human rights for a specific group.   And once one accepts that human rights can be qualified for one group, one creates tools that can be used against anyone.   So what these proposals really mean goes far beyond asylum policy. This is about the kind of country we will have in the future. If human rights are no longer universal, they become a means for exclusion and control.    That is why stripping rights from refugees today can only enable a system that endangers all our rights tomorrow.    And that is why our historical compass matters and why we have to use it now. Because that compass tells us without doubt that when first they come for one group that is never where it ends. 
November 18, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Reposted by Helen
lottelydia.bsky.social
Indentured servitude as government policy? Great! Great news!!
crookedfootball.bsky.social Chris Bertram @crookedfootball.bsky.social · 10d
Watching the Mahmood announcement and debate. Tory backbencher (Karen Bradley) suggests putting refugees into debt and making them repay during the rest of their lives. Mahmood says she’ll think about it.
November 17, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Helen
justfairuk.bsky.social
📜 Trade union rights aren’t just workplace issues, they’re human rights.

Read our new blog on how trade unions can use economic, social & cultural rights to defend workers’ rights. @ieruk.bsky.social

justfair.org.uk/icescr-and-t...
ICESCR and trade unions: opportunities to defend and strengthen rights | Just Fair
Trade union rights aren’t just workplace issues, they’re human rights. With workers’ freedoms shrinking across the UK and globally, it’s time to use every tool at our disposal to defend the rights tha...
justfair.org.uk
November 17, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Helen
colinyeo.bsky.social
I'm reading through the white paper or whatever it is. RESTORING ORDER AND CONTROL: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy www.gov.uk/government/p...
Asylum and returns policy statement
This policy statement sets out significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and returns policy.
www.gov.uk
November 17, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Helen
peterstefanovic.bsky.social
Human rights are universal - if we start stripping away basic human rights from any section of society then none of us has rights – just privileges that can be taken away by people in power whenever they want
November 16, 2025 at 10:36 AM