Simon
@therapod.bsky.social
Reposted by Simon
The idea of the Home Office selling off the confiscated jewellery of those who have fled war and persecution should, in an ideal world, be the death knell for this government.
November 17, 2025 at 7:28 AM
The idea of the Home Office selling off the confiscated jewellery of those who have fled war and persecution should, in an ideal world, be the death knell for this government.
Reposted by Simon
Somebody at HMRC needs to be canned for this idiotic ‘fraud-detection’ idea. And I fear future use of AI in welfare cases might well produce this kind of story regularly (as they have in Nevada for example).
UK woman who booked Oslo flight but did not fly loses child benefit ‘because she emigrated’
Exclusive: HMRC told Lisa Morris-Almond there was no record of her return to UK, but she did not take the trip
www.theguardian.com
October 30, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Somebody at HMRC needs to be canned for this idiotic ‘fraud-detection’ idea. And I fear future use of AI in welfare cases might well produce this kind of story regularly (as they have in Nevada for example).
Reposted by Simon
Research should inform policy but that’s tricky if it is almost entirely driven by policy. The independence of research is key to change because if you fund only research that responds to policy (even good policy) you’re less innovative, creative & responsive to the open options of the future.
October 24, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Research should inform policy but that’s tricky if it is almost entirely driven by policy. The independence of research is key to change because if you fund only research that responds to policy (even good policy) you’re less innovative, creative & responsive to the open options of the future.
Reposted by Simon
💥The shingles vaccine might be one of the most underrated health moves after 50.💥
New large study(174K pts):
▪️ 50% lower risk of vascular dementia
▪️ 27% fewer blood clots
▪️ 25% lower risk of heart attack or stroke
▪️ 21% lower risk of dying early
#BlueSky #MedSky #NewsSky #SciSky 🧪 #NurseSky #IDSky
New large study(174K pts):
▪️ 50% lower risk of vascular dementia
▪️ 27% fewer blood clots
▪️ 25% lower risk of heart attack or stroke
▪️ 21% lower risk of dying early
#BlueSky #MedSky #NewsSky #SciSky 🧪 #NurseSky #IDSky
October 21, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Simon
Even if we feel helpless against the evil we see in this world, we must object to it while we can. Even if we think this is not our responsibility to the people inflicted by it, it’s our responsibility to our own humanity. Even if we feel it won’t change a thing, it’s enough that it will change us.
October 13, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Even if we feel helpless against the evil we see in this world, we must object to it while we can. Even if we think this is not our responsibility to the people inflicted by it, it’s our responsibility to our own humanity. Even if we feel it won’t change a thing, it’s enough that it will change us.
Reposted by Simon
Meanwhile....
"The other prisoners also looked to be in bad shape. Their cheekbones jutted out, with some bearing the marks of recent beatings and a few unable to walk without being propped up by their relatives"
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
"The other prisoners also looked to be in bad shape. Their cheekbones jutted out, with some bearing the marks of recent beatings and a few unable to walk without being propped up by their relatives"
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
‘Locked up for 24 years’: joy and sorrow as Palestinian prisoners and detainees return home
Nearly 2,000 people, including about 1,700 seized from Gaza and held without charge, set free from Israeli jails
www.theguardian.com
October 13, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Meanwhile....
"The other prisoners also looked to be in bad shape. Their cheekbones jutted out, with some bearing the marks of recent beatings and a few unable to walk without being propped up by their relatives"
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
"The other prisoners also looked to be in bad shape. Their cheekbones jutted out, with some bearing the marks of recent beatings and a few unable to walk without being propped up by their relatives"
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Reposted by Simon
He calls Nigel Farage racist and then does literally all the same things but wearing a red tie.
October 2, 2025 at 8:03 AM
He calls Nigel Farage racist and then does literally all the same things but wearing a red tie.
Reposted by Simon
The police seem inexperienced with how to arrest a dangerous terrorist in a wheelchair.
Well done Yvette Cooper. Slow hand clap. 👏
Well done Yvette Cooper. Slow hand clap. 👏
September 29, 2025 at 8:36 PM
The police seem inexperienced with how to arrest a dangerous terrorist in a wheelchair.
Well done Yvette Cooper. Slow hand clap. 👏
Well done Yvette Cooper. Slow hand clap. 👏
Reposted by Simon
Zoe Gardiner, "The saddest thing I've heard about Trump's visit, is that he is going to get his golden carriage ride, but in private, because the great British public would have given him the rotten tomato treatment if he dared to show his face in public"
September 16, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Zoe Gardiner, "The saddest thing I've heard about Trump's visit, is that he is going to get his golden carriage ride, but in private, because the great British public would have given him the rotten tomato treatment if he dared to show his face in public"
Reposted by Simon
"When the rich rob the poor, the rich call it 'business'. When the poor fight back, the rich call it 'violence'."
Mark Twain
Mark Twain
September 15, 2025 at 9:08 PM
"When the rich rob the poor, the rich call it 'business'. When the poor fight back, the rich call it 'violence'."
Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Reposted by Simon
Every UK organisation -governmental or not- should quit X right now. Actively using that platform is no longer justifiable by anything.
September 14, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Every UK organisation -governmental or not- should quit X right now. Actively using that platform is no longer justifiable by anything.
Reposted by Simon
I’ve a contempt for our Prime Minister I’ve not felt for any of his predecessors. Not one. If you can’t take a stand on genocide, what else is there? How can any human being have so little humanity?
September 10, 2025 at 10:16 PM
I’ve a contempt for our Prime Minister I’ve not felt for any of his predecessors. Not one. If you can’t take a stand on genocide, what else is there? How can any human being have so little humanity?
Reposted by Simon
Now we can say which heatwave deaths have been directly the result of which oil giants
No excuses now not to sue the arses off them, and jail those at the top
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
No excuses now not to sue the arses off them, and jail those at the top
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Carbon emissions from oil giants directly linked to dozens of deadly heatwaves for first time
Study shows how individual fossil fuel companies are making previously impossible heatwaves happen and could have to pay compensation
www.theguardian.com
September 11, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Now we can say which heatwave deaths have been directly the result of which oil giants
No excuses now not to sue the arses off them, and jail those at the top
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
No excuses now not to sue the arses off them, and jail those at the top
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Simon
I can’t tell you how many parents’ MENTAL HEALTH problems are CAUSED and EXACERBATED by the pressure of trying to get any—let alone decent—SEND SUPPORT. If the GOVERNMENT want to reduce DIAGNOSIS, they should make SEND FUNDING easier and more RELIABLE to get, not CUT it.
August 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
I can’t tell you how many parents’ MENTAL HEALTH problems are CAUSED and EXACERBATED by the pressure of trying to get any—let alone decent—SEND SUPPORT. If the GOVERNMENT want to reduce DIAGNOSIS, they should make SEND FUNDING easier and more RELIABLE to get, not CUT it.
Reposted by Simon
While the mainstream discussions are depressingly about *how* best to remove and stop immigrants, it’s a revolutionary act nowadays to say that immigration is actually a positive thing and an essential component of a thriving country, so please join me in doing so!
August 28, 2025 at 9:17 AM
While the mainstream discussions are depressingly about *how* best to remove and stop immigrants, it’s a revolutionary act nowadays to say that immigration is actually a positive thing and an essential component of a thriving country, so please join me in doing so!
Reposted by Simon
It is very nearly the tenth anniversary of that brief moment when, for 2 or 3 days, British newspapers remembered refugees are desperate human beings who need our help, rather than scum that it's okay to threaten with violence.
August 21, 2025 at 4:44 PM
It is very nearly the tenth anniversary of that brief moment when, for 2 or 3 days, British newspapers remembered refugees are desperate human beings who need our help, rather than scum that it's okay to threaten with violence.
Reposted by Simon
Reposted by Simon
A woman was arrested by police, who sent a riot van to her door at dawn, and spent around 12 hours in custody, after she posted about her ex-partner, a serving Metropolitan police officer, on Facebook www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Met arrested woman after Facebook posts about ex-partner – a serving officer
London force sent three officers at 4.45am, who put her in the back of a van and seized her phone and computer
www.theguardian.com
August 4, 2025 at 6:52 PM
A woman was arrested by police, who sent a riot van to her door at dawn, and spent around 12 hours in custody, after she posted about her ex-partner, a serving Metropolitan police officer, on Facebook www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Simon
I prosecute and defend the most serious sexual offences in our courts.
The overwhelming majority of offenders are British-born. Overwhelmingly the victim is someone known to them, either a partner or relative.
Anybody purporting to care about protecting women might start there.
The overwhelming majority of offenders are British-born. Overwhelmingly the victim is someone known to them, either a partner or relative.
Anybody purporting to care about protecting women might start there.
August 4, 2025 at 3:29 PM
I prosecute and defend the most serious sexual offences in our courts.
The overwhelming majority of offenders are British-born. Overwhelmingly the victim is someone known to them, either a partner or relative.
Anybody purporting to care about protecting women might start there.
The overwhelming majority of offenders are British-born. Overwhelmingly the victim is someone known to them, either a partner or relative.
Anybody purporting to care about protecting women might start there.
Reposted by Simon
“How many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn’t see?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?”
Before they’re allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn’t see?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?”
July 15, 2025 at 7:30 PM
“How many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn’t see?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?”
Before they’re allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn’t see?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?”
Just turned on TV to see England vs Wales football match is on. All adverts show support for England. I'd be pretty angry if I was Welsh. Colonial oppression persists through corporations.
July 13, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Just turned on TV to see England vs Wales football match is on. All adverts show support for England. I'd be pretty angry if I was Welsh. Colonial oppression persists through corporations.
Reposted by Simon
MPs, how you vote both on the universal credit bill and the amendments both individually and as a party will be remembered forever. Even when a new welfare bill eventually comes, the ghosts of lives ruined and lost will live forever in the space between you and your constituents.
July 9, 2025 at 4:33 PM
MPs, how you vote both on the universal credit bill and the amendments both individually and as a party will be remembered forever. Even when a new welfare bill eventually comes, the ghosts of lives ruined and lost will live forever in the space between you and your constituents.
Reposted by Simon
The grim politics of austerity & racism sits very uncomfortably with Labour - as we're seeing play out right now in multiple ways.
We must do all we can to wrestle this govt to a better, more hopeful, more human place.
We must do all we can to wrestle this govt to a better, more hopeful, more human place.
July 2, 2025 at 1:34 PM
The grim politics of austerity & racism sits very uncomfortably with Labour - as we're seeing play out right now in multiple ways.
We must do all we can to wrestle this govt to a better, more hopeful, more human place.
We must do all we can to wrestle this govt to a better, more hopeful, more human place.
Reposted by Simon
Well done to Channel 4 for doing what the BBC should have done themselves www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...
Channel 4 to air BBC-commissioned documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack
BBC last week announced it had dropped the film over concerns it may create a ‘perception of partiality’
www.theguardian.com
June 29, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Well done to Channel 4 for doing what the BBC should have done themselves www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...