Lauren Dobson-Hughes
@ldobsonhughes.bsky.social
I run an organisation that designs policy and campaigns on foreign policy, gender, health and rights. Used to work in two Parliaments. Mancunian in Canada
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
NEW: UK confirms 15% cut to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria for its next funding round, a decision aid agenices say will result in hundreds of thousands of otherwise avoidable deaths.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
UK cuts contribution to Aids, tuberculosis and malaria fund by £150m
Campaigners say 15% cut, which is smaller than had been feared, is serious setback in efforts to combat the diseases
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:18 PM
NEW: UK confirms 15% cut to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria for its next funding round, a decision aid agenices say will result in hundreds of thousands of otherwise avoidable deaths.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
I wonder how long the disconnect between online frenzies and what people see with their eyes can hold
Previously, the far right picked fights with experts over issues like climate and vaccines. Where people could ‘do their own research’ and find their own facts. You can live in an alternate reality
Previously, the far right picked fights with experts over issues like climate and vaccines. Where people could ‘do their own research’ and find their own facts. You can live in an alternate reality
November 11, 2025 at 1:59 PM
I wonder how long the disconnect between online frenzies and what people see with their eyes can hold
Previously, the far right picked fights with experts over issues like climate and vaccines. Where people could ‘do their own research’ and find their own facts. You can live in an alternate reality
Previously, the far right picked fights with experts over issues like climate and vaccines. Where people could ‘do their own research’ and find their own facts. You can live in an alternate reality
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
Reading the supposedly devastating report into BBC bias
November 10, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reading the supposedly devastating report into BBC bias
Canada loses its measles-free status
The most important factor in health isn't an innovation or medicine. It's trust
This is mostly a result of allowing a network of billionaires to spread disinformation
www.canada.ca/en/public-he...
The most important factor in health isn't an innovation or medicine. It's trust
This is mostly a result of allowing a network of billionaires to spread disinformation
www.canada.ca/en/public-he...
Statement from the Public Health Agency of Canada on Canada’s Measles Elimination Status
Following over 12 months of transmission across the country, PAHO confirms Canada's loss of measles elimination status. We are coordinating efforts with provinces and territories to restore the status...
www.canada.ca
November 10, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Canada loses its measles-free status
The most important factor in health isn't an innovation or medicine. It's trust
This is mostly a result of allowing a network of billionaires to spread disinformation
www.canada.ca/en/public-he...
The most important factor in health isn't an innovation or medicine. It's trust
This is mostly a result of allowing a network of billionaires to spread disinformation
www.canada.ca/en/public-he...
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
November 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
Even the BBC is reporting the resignation of its own Director-General as another shameful example of anti-Trump bias and lies, and then cuts to Farage saying the BBC is too Woke
Institutional capture of the BBC: Michael Prescott former political editor of the Murdoch Sunday Times - so you can guess his politics - alleges the following. All the current far right obsessions in bullet points. Laughable and totally rancid
November 10, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Even the BBC is reporting the resignation of its own Director-General as another shameful example of anti-Trump bias and lies, and then cuts to Farage saying the BBC is too Woke
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
BBC leadership seems like Starmer's No10: repeatedly blundering into gaffes and rows; handling these in a way that maximises damage sustained; responding to certain sorts of criticism with abasement and others with disdain; above all, failing to think seriously about what they're doing, why and how.
November 10, 2025 at 1:35 PM
BBC leadership seems like Starmer's No10: repeatedly blundering into gaffes and rows; handling these in a way that maximises damage sustained; responding to certain sorts of criticism with abasement and others with disdain; above all, failing to think seriously about what they're doing, why and how.
US policy is “bureaucratic theatre for an audience desperate for order amid the chaos…. In real life, the Trump administration does not bother with even the pretense of strategy. Its foreign policy is improvisation tempered by corruption” blueblaze.substack.com/p/the-thinke...
The Thinker VI
The Unbearable Lightness of Strategy
blueblaze.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:01 PM
US policy is “bureaucratic theatre for an audience desperate for order amid the chaos…. In real life, the Trump administration does not bother with even the pretense of strategy. Its foreign policy is improvisation tempered by corruption” blueblaze.substack.com/p/the-thinke...
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
Strikes me that arguments that AI will make xy & z intellectual work obsolete are broadly similar to arguing that food delivery apps make kitchens obsolete.
At a superficial level you understand the point, but there's no escaping the fact that someone in the process needs to know how to fkn cook.
At a superficial level you understand the point, but there's no escaping the fact that someone in the process needs to know how to fkn cook.
November 9, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Strikes me that arguments that AI will make xy & z intellectual work obsolete are broadly similar to arguing that food delivery apps make kitchens obsolete.
At a superficial level you understand the point, but there's no escaping the fact that someone in the process needs to know how to fkn cook.
At a superficial level you understand the point, but there's no escaping the fact that someone in the process needs to know how to fkn cook.
I regret to inform you the NIMBYs have discovered AI. Shut it all down
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
AI-powered nimbyism could grind UK planning system to a halt, experts warn
Tools that help people scan applications and find grounds for objection have potential to hit government’s housebuilding plans
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I regret to inform you the NIMBYs have discovered AI. Shut it all down
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
UK government project using AI to find benefit fraud resulted in:
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
HMRC trial of child benefit crackdown wrongly suspected fraud in 46% of cases
Exclusive: Almost half of families flagged as emigrants based on Home Office travel data were still living in UK
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:11 PM
UK government project using AI to find benefit fraud resulted in:
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Also, this is the on-edge, overly effusive smile women give to weirdos who won't stop demanding our number, in hope they'll go away and not assault us
Elon has never experienced this and neither have his biggest fans but now they can create these visuals with the help of a computermachine
November 8, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Also, this is the on-edge, overly effusive smile women give to weirdos who won't stop demanding our number, in hope they'll go away and not assault us
Good, because every other global summit the US attends, they're a wrecking ball that sucks all the time and energy, and destroys decades of progress
President Donald Trump has said no US officials will attend the G20 summit in South Africa later this month, reviving debunked claims of white Afrikaners being systematically "killed and slaughtered" in the country ➡️ u.afp.com/Sno4
November 8, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Good, because every other global summit the US attends, they're a wrecking ball that sucks all the time and energy, and destroys decades of progress
The Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Kristen Chenoweth, Idina Menzel version of For Good is possibly one of the best things I have ever heard. Just sublime www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBwr...
YouTube
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
youtube.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:45 PM
The Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Kristen Chenoweth, Idina Menzel version of For Good is possibly one of the best things I have ever heard. Just sublime www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBwr...
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
Billionaires (and wannabe billionaires) spend more on campaign donations than they would on wealth taxes. Because what they care about most isn't money. It's the ability to exchange money for power.
November 7, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Billionaires (and wannabe billionaires) spend more on campaign donations than they would on wealth taxes. Because what they care about most isn't money. It's the ability to exchange money for power.
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
am reminded of the old joke: what did James Watson discover?
Rosalind Franklin’s notes.
Rosalind Franklin’s notes.
November 7, 2025 at 9:15 PM
am reminded of the old joke: what did James Watson discover?
Rosalind Franklin’s notes.
Rosalind Franklin’s notes.
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
Thinking only of Rosalind Franklin today, and what was stolen from her (and so many other female scientists alongside her).
Rosalind Franklin and the damage of gender harassment
Spurred by a recent report on sexual harassment in academia, our columnist revisits a historical case and reflects on what has changed—and what hasn’t
www.science.org
November 7, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Thinking only of Rosalind Franklin today, and what was stolen from her (and so many other female scientists alongside her).
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
I’m here in Polokwane and the US just blocked a G20 Health Minister declaration, refused to include UHC or Equity because, well, they don’t believe in universal, taxes, equity, or solidarity they say
November 7, 2025 at 4:45 PM
I’m here in Polokwane and the US just blocked a G20 Health Minister declaration, refused to include UHC or Equity because, well, they don’t believe in universal, taxes, equity, or solidarity they say
“It’s Gen Xers, not grumpy pensioners or teenage boys beguiled by rightwing influencers, who are powering the populist insurgency now” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Meet gen X: middle-aged, enraged and radicalised by internet bile | Gaby Hinsliff
Who is driving the populist insurgency? It’s not grumpy pensioners or vulnerable teenagers – it’s my generation, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:11 PM
“It’s Gen Xers, not grumpy pensioners or teenage boys beguiled by rightwing influencers, who are powering the populist insurgency now” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
It’s logical for African states to replace lost ODA with domestic resources, namely tax
But local populations paying tax means having a social contract with the state. It means trusting the state will use that money for people
continent.substack.com/p/on-taxes-a...
But local populations paying tax means having a social contract with the state. It means trusting the state will use that money for people
continent.substack.com/p/on-taxes-a...
On taxes and our vampire states
Drained, disregarded, and discarded – we are not the tax base African governments dream of.
continent.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:00 PM
It’s logical for African states to replace lost ODA with domestic resources, namely tax
But local populations paying tax means having a social contract with the state. It means trusting the state will use that money for people
continent.substack.com/p/on-taxes-a...
But local populations paying tax means having a social contract with the state. It means trusting the state will use that money for people
continent.substack.com/p/on-taxes-a...
Good comms, good message, good solidarity. Trade unions have fought fascism for over 100 years and they’re good at it
November 7, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Good comms, good message, good solidarity. Trade unions have fought fascism for over 100 years and they’re good at it
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
"World's first potential trillionaire has killed 600,000 people, including 400,000 children" is the only headline that anyone should ever read about Elon Musk
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 1:33 AM
"World's first potential trillionaire has killed 600,000 people, including 400,000 children" is the only headline that anyone should ever read about Elon Musk
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
These are crimes against humanity. None of us is capable of truly internalizing suffering at this scale. Elon Musk and many other members of the Trump Administration should be put on trial at The Hague.
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 2:44 AM
These are crimes against humanity. None of us is capable of truly internalizing suffering at this scale. Elon Musk and many other members of the Trump Administration should be put on trial at The Hague.
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
Join us Sun., Nov. 9 at 4 pm ET for a media briefing on What's At Stake for #GenderEquality at #COP30 — Renewing the #UNFCCC #GenderActionPlan:
(All registrants will receive the recording & materials.)
👉 Register & learn more: bit.ly/4ozg4rM
#Belem #GenderJustTransition #GenderJusticeDay
(All registrants will receive the recording & materials.)
👉 Register & learn more: bit.ly/4ozg4rM
#Belem #GenderJustTransition #GenderJusticeDay
Media Briefing: What’s at Stake for Gender Equality at COP30 - WEDO
Ahead of COP30 in Belém, the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) invites you to a 30-minute virtual media briefing on the upcoming renewal of the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan (GAP), a...
bit.ly
November 7, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Join us Sun., Nov. 9 at 4 pm ET for a media briefing on What's At Stake for #GenderEquality at #COP30 — Renewing the #UNFCCC #GenderActionPlan:
(All registrants will receive the recording & materials.)
👉 Register & learn more: bit.ly/4ozg4rM
#Belem #GenderJustTransition #GenderJusticeDay
(All registrants will receive the recording & materials.)
👉 Register & learn more: bit.ly/4ozg4rM
#Belem #GenderJustTransition #GenderJusticeDay