Elizabeth Baker
@lizzieab.bsky.social
Looking for the common ground, there is alway something; for me and slugs it is that we both want to eat the cabbages I grow in my garden.
Political but not party political. British and European. Brexit was a mistake.
Political but not party political. British and European. Brexit was a mistake.
Billionaires shouldn't be able to buy a bigger voice in politics. Add your name to @electoralreform.bsky.social's call to put a cap on how much they can donate in the #ElectionsBill
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November 18, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Billionaires shouldn't be able to buy a bigger voice in politics. Add your name to @electoralreform.bsky.social's call to put a cap on how much they can donate in the #ElectionsBill
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
Tl;dr - if Labour want to combat racism, they should say racism is wrong, over and over, and act on that belief (e.g. by leaving certain social media sites owned by racists). That would do more to promote anti-racist norms, and protect the interests of Britain's minorities than immigration controls.
November 18, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Tl;dr - if Labour want to combat racism, they should say racism is wrong, over and over, and act on that belief (e.g. by leaving certain social media sites owned by racists). That would do more to promote anti-racist norms, and protect the interests of Britain's minorities than immigration controls.
Dear Labour party, if you speak & act to appease fake problems the far right have whipped up to create chaos & division, on which they thrive, you legitimise the fakery & voters expect you to fix it. You try harder, but you can never succeed & you've walked into their trap & aided their cause.
November 18, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Dear Labour party, if you speak & act to appease fake problems the far right have whipped up to create chaos & division, on which they thrive, you legitimise the fakery & voters expect you to fix it. You try harder, but you can never succeed & you've walked into their trap & aided their cause.
Now highly likely that tomorrow the Greens will be well ahead of Labour in the polls.
Starmer facing fresh challenge as Labour MPs condemn asylum plans
Significant divisions exposed within party as angry backbenchers vow to force changes to hardline proposals
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Now highly likely that tomorrow the Greens will be well ahead of Labour in the polls.
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
Yeah, but voters do care, Mahmood, they care a lot
They care that you’re tearing children away from the only home they’ve ever known and sentencing them to years of fear, instability, and trauma
They care that violent racist criminals like Tommy Robinson are applauding your policies
They care that you’re tearing children away from the only home they’ve ever known and sentencing them to years of fear, instability, and trauma
They care that violent racist criminals like Tommy Robinson are applauding your policies
Green MP Carla Denyer accuses Shabana Mahmood of trying to "out Reform Reform" and says "toxic racist narratives and the scapegoating of migrants" are to blame for "tearing our country apart" not migrants.
Mahmood: "I couldn't care less what any other political party has to say about these matters"
Mahmood: "I couldn't care less what any other political party has to say about these matters"
November 17, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Yeah, but voters do care, Mahmood, they care a lot
They care that you’re tearing children away from the only home they’ve ever known and sentencing them to years of fear, instability, and trauma
They care that violent racist criminals like Tommy Robinson are applauding your policies
They care that you’re tearing children away from the only home they’ve ever known and sentencing them to years of fear, instability, and trauma
They care that violent racist criminals like Tommy Robinson are applauding your policies
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
🌍 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 Elizabeth Baker
Everything about the current 'debate' around this is dismal, not just morally but because it is so stupid. For example:
It conflates asylum-seeking and illegal immigration (and sometimes with migration generally)
It shows no understanding of why there is AS
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... 1/3
It conflates asylum-seeking and illegal immigration (and sometimes with migration generally)
It shows no understanding of why there is AS
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... 1/3
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 6:49 PM
Everything about the current 'debate' around this is dismal, not just morally but because it is so stupid. For example:
It conflates asylum-seeking and illegal immigration (and sometimes with migration generally)
It shows no understanding of why there is AS
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... 1/3
It conflates asylum-seeking and illegal immigration (and sometimes with migration generally)
It shows no understanding of why there is AS
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... 1/3
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
November 16, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
Every time I hear a politician say that an issue is “dividing” this country they always then come down on the side of the right wing view of it. Just once I’d love to hear someone say “this issue is divisive, which is why I’m making the argument that kindness and compassion is important”
November 16, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Every time I hear a politician say that an issue is “dividing” this country they always then come down on the side of the right wing view of it. Just once I’d love to hear someone say “this issue is divisive, which is why I’m making the argument that kindness and compassion is important”
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
London Mayor Sadiq Khan on why the Far Right lie about London crime: “They don’t want our modern, multicultural, progressive metropolis to succeed because they can’t stomach the truth. London is a place where people of every creed, colour and culture live together in peace and mutual respect.”
November 16, 2025 at 2:03 PM
London Mayor Sadiq Khan on why the Far Right lie about London crime: “They don’t want our modern, multicultural, progressive metropolis to succeed because they can’t stomach the truth. London is a place where people of every creed, colour and culture live together in peace and mutual respect.”
Is it a consequence of poor leadership and fear of facts in case they upset people? "People are saying" so it has to be true no matter whether they are correct or not.
The racists are dictating the policies. When people voted for labour they expected this to stop.
The racists are dictating the policies. When people voted for labour they expected this to stop.
The real issue isn’t immigration, it’s the feedback loop: platforms amplify anxiety → voters feel it → politicians chase it → hollow policy follows. Until we break that cycle, we won’t get functional decisions or functional democracy.
November 16, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Is it a consequence of poor leadership and fear of facts in case they upset people? "People are saying" so it has to be true no matter whether they are correct or not.
The racists are dictating the policies. When people voted for labour they expected this to stop.
The racists are dictating the policies. When people voted for labour they expected this to stop.
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
Governments and voters are both reacting to algorithm-shaped “public opinion,” not grounded priorities. Immigration feels urgent because platforms amplify fear, pulling parties into hollow performances of toughness. The far right reads that drift as confirmation it’s winning.
Not everyone is unhappy about the Government's descent into anti-refugee politics
November 16, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Governments and voters are both reacting to algorithm-shaped “public opinion,” not grounded priorities. Immigration feels urgent because platforms amplify fear, pulling parties into hollow performances of toughness. The far right reads that drift as confirmation it’s winning.
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
Labour’s latest attack on asylum seekers is cruel & counterproductive. How does it help community cohesion to hold threat of deportation over vulnerable people? We don’t need an arms race with the hard right over asylum, we need safe routes & European cooperation #bbclaurak
November 16, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Labour’s latest attack on asylum seekers is cruel & counterproductive. How does it help community cohesion to hold threat of deportation over vulnerable people? We don’t need an arms race with the hard right over asylum, we need safe routes & European cooperation #bbclaurak
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
That's the point - they were all false, because our political culture/media militates against the truth. The question isn't therefore merely one of fiscal policy; it's how to create a political system in which intelligent policy is even possible.
November 14, 2025 at 11:00 AM
That's the point - they were all false, because our political culture/media militates against the truth. The question isn't therefore merely one of fiscal policy; it's how to create a political system in which intelligent policy is even possible.
The race for scoops, "sources", 2nd guessing, speculation & a focus on political gamesmanship is damaging to this country. You all need to stop now. Let government have space to do its job & hold them to account for what they actually do/don't do. Until the budget is announced it isn't a done deal..
Unless someone in the Treasury reassures the markets pretty soon, there’s every chance the UK will need to raise *more* tax for less in return. Total clusterfuck in the making, this.
Having a budget fall apart more than a week before it’s actually be delivered might be a new record.
Having a budget fall apart more than a week before it’s actually be delivered might be a new record.
November 14, 2025 at 11:30 AM
The race for scoops, "sources", 2nd guessing, speculation & a focus on political gamesmanship is damaging to this country. You all need to stop now. Let government have space to do its job & hold them to account for what they actually do/don't do. Until the budget is announced it isn't a done deal..
... politicians, not the public, driving anti-immigrant sentiment: “The politicians say they follow the popular mood, but maybe the popular mood is coming from what the politicians are saying, which is not based on fact.”
Almost certainly the case in UK too.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Almost certainly the case in UK too.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
The UK wants to emulate Denmark’s hardline asylum model – but what does it actually look like?
Denmark has slashed asylum numbers by granting only short-term status and by targeting ‘ghettoes’, which critics say has damaged the country’s values
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:07 AM
... politicians, not the public, driving anti-immigrant sentiment: “The politicians say they follow the popular mood, but maybe the popular mood is coming from what the politicians are saying, which is not based on fact.”
Almost certainly the case in UK too.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Almost certainly the case in UK too.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Europe attempts rapid move to Eastern Hemisphere.
November 14, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Europe attempts rapid move to Eastern Hemisphere.
This isn't leadership. It's stooping to ever lower levels to appease the baying mod who will never by satisfied; it is validating unnecessary fear and condoning racism.
Sickening rhetoric by Home Secretary. Denying access to human rights isn't "protecting the public". This is Labour further demonising those seeking asylum in language very reminiscent of the far right. Yes, some break the law, so should be prosecuted within the law. Removing rights is not the answer
November 13, 2025 at 10:58 PM
This isn't leadership. It's stooping to ever lower levels to appease the baying mod who will never by satisfied; it is validating unnecessary fear and condoning racism.
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
Please watch.
This is exactly what has been happening in the US for decades.
This is exactly what has been happening in the US for decades.
How Nigel Farage Took Over British Politics youtu.be/pfl0mxXoQss?... via @BylineTV
How Nigel Farage Took Over British Politics.
YouTube video by Byline TV
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Please watch.
This is exactly what has been happening in the US for decades.
This is exactly what has been happening in the US for decades.
Flagship sinking. Flag in tatters. Sack the Admiral.
Nigel Farage said their flagship council in Kent would be a "shop window" for how they would run the country.
Just months after taking over they're now set to slash multiple council committees as they struggle to fill posts after sacking nine of their own councillors
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/12/r...
Just months after taking over they're now set to slash multiple council committees as they struggle to fill posts after sacking nine of their own councillors
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/12/r...
Reform Council in Chaos as It Prepares to Slash Scrutiny Committees Following Wave of Councillor Suspensions
EXCLUSIVE: Reform's flagship Kent administration is planning to shut down multiple council committees as it struggles to fill posts after suspending nine of its own councillors
bylinetimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Flagship sinking. Flag in tatters. Sack the Admiral.
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
Absolutely disgusted to hear about the racism Wes Streeting mentions here directed at school children who were visiting Parliament.
He has taken the post down, rightly, to protect the children.
But it's wrong that he had to do it.
Disgusted with so many people in our country. Racism is never OK.
He has taken the post down, rightly, to protect the children.
But it's wrong that he had to do it.
Disgusted with so many people in our country. Racism is never OK.
November 11, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Absolutely disgusted to hear about the racism Wes Streeting mentions here directed at school children who were visiting Parliament.
He has taken the post down, rightly, to protect the children.
But it's wrong that he had to do it.
Disgusted with so many people in our country. Racism is never OK.
He has taken the post down, rightly, to protect the children.
But it's wrong that he had to do it.
Disgusted with so many people in our country. Racism is never OK.
Johnson has rejected any such suggestion as “complete and utter bollocks”.
It would have been surprising if he hadn't. Didn't he build his career by spouting complete and utter bollocks?
It would have been surprising if he hadn't. Didn't he build his career by spouting complete and utter bollocks?
‘Make no mistake – this was a coup’: the extraordinary downfall of the BBC’s top bosses
The whirlwind that started when Deborah Turness came under attack at a board meeting is part of a wider political story, some say
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Johnson has rejected any such suggestion as “complete and utter bollocks”.
It would have been surprising if he hadn't. Didn't he build his career by spouting complete and utter bollocks?
It would have been surprising if he hadn't. Didn't he build his career by spouting complete and utter bollocks?
Donald Trump and his regime are responsible for this. He's reached the stage of concentration camps for kids. What next? Time for other countries to start sanctioning him.
Not many people are talking about the children being harmed by #ICELawlessness but it's important to talk about.
What's happening to these kids is being paid for by our tax dollars.
We're paying for the torture of children.
I know this is beyond grim, but we must let people know about this!
What's happening to these kids is being paid for by our tax dollars.
We're paying for the torture of children.
I know this is beyond grim, but we must let people know about this!
November 10, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Donald Trump and his regime are responsible for this. He's reached the stage of concentration camps for kids. What next? Time for other countries to start sanctioning him.
Reposted by Elizabeth Baker
