Helen Shorter
@helensh.bsky.social
Research, policy, strategy. Construction, business, education, health. Coffee, hockey, family and friends. Peak District.
Reposted by Helen Shorter
This is exactly what the recent Trump-BBC 'scandal' was designed to achieve. The BBC is now self-censoring criticisms of Trump in the name of "impartiality"
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 10:26 AM
This is exactly what the recent Trump-BBC 'scandal' was designed to achieve. The BBC is now self-censoring criticisms of Trump in the name of "impartiality"
Reposted by Helen Shorter
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Reposted by Helen Shorter
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
siepr.stanford.edu
November 24, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
Reposted by Helen Shorter
“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.”
It costs a lot less to house people.
It costs a lot less to house people.
Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need - scoop.me
In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Why? The country applies the "Housing First" concept agains homelessness.
thebetter.news
September 21, 2025 at 6:24 AM
“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.”
It costs a lot less to house people.
It costs a lot less to house people.
Reposted by Helen Shorter
This does not look like “impartiality”. It looks like propaganda.
www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/how...
www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/how...
Reform, with 0.7% of all MPs, featured in 25% of BBC's recent 10pm news bulletins
Astonishingly, a party with 18 times as many MPs as Reform has received one-third less coverage on BBC News at 10.
www.thelondoneconomic.com
September 21, 2025 at 7:47 AM
This does not look like “impartiality”. It looks like propaganda.
www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/how...
www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/how...
Reposted by Helen Shorter
We have been living with unnecessary infections in hospitals for years. Ffp3 respirators work. They do outside too! No need to keep catching covid and risking #Longcovid. www.theguardian.com/world/2021/j...
Cambridge hospital’s mask upgrade appears to eliminate Covid risk to staff
Hospital infection study shows use of FFP3 respirators at Addenbrooke’s ‘may have cut ward-based infection to zero’
www.theguardian.com
September 21, 2025 at 10:02 AM
We have been living with unnecessary infections in hospitals for years. Ffp3 respirators work. They do outside too! No need to keep catching covid and risking #Longcovid. www.theguardian.com/world/2021/j...
Reposted by Helen Shorter
Very odd watching BBC News talking about the Lib Dem conference and mentioning how the party has struggled to break through in the media like it's nothing to do with them.
September 20, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Very odd watching BBC News talking about the Lib Dem conference and mentioning how the party has struggled to break through in the media like it's nothing to do with them.
Reposted by Helen Shorter
About that "skills shortage"?
"Employers’ annual spending on training for each member of staff has fallen by 28% in real terms since 2005, to £1,530, a level less than half the EU average."
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
"Employers’ annual spending on training for each member of staff has fallen by 28% in real terms since 2005, to £1,530, a level less than half the EU average."
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Apprenticeships have collapsed in England – Labour needs to fine-tune the solution, fast | Heather Stewart
Responsibility for vocational training and skills has bounced around Whitehall for years, and enrolment rates are down by a third. Can the latest tweaks work?
www.theguardian.com
September 14, 2025 at 3:30 PM
About that "skills shortage"?
"Employers’ annual spending on training for each member of staff has fallen by 28% in real terms since 2005, to £1,530, a level less than half the EU average."
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
"Employers’ annual spending on training for each member of staff has fallen by 28% in real terms since 2005, to £1,530, a level less than half the EU average."
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Helen Shorter
Reform is setting the "political weather" because the BBC is giving it a platform for setting the "political weather".🤷
BBC under pressure over extent of Reform UK coverage
- featured in more News at Ten bulletins than Lib Dems over six months
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...
BBC under pressure over extent of Reform UK coverage
- featured in more News at Ten bulletins than Lib Dems over six months
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...
September 13, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reform is setting the "political weather" because the BBC is giving it a platform for setting the "political weather".🤷
BBC under pressure over extent of Reform UK coverage
- featured in more News at Ten bulletins than Lib Dems over six months
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...
BBC under pressure over extent of Reform UK coverage
- featured in more News at Ten bulletins than Lib Dems over six months
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...
Reposted by Helen Shorter
Back our campaign to balance the BBC
www.libdems.org.uk/BBC
www.libdems.org.uk/BBC
Balance the BBC
The BBC is our national broadcaster, people expect and deserve balanced news coverage.
www.libdems.org.uk
September 13, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Back our campaign to balance the BBC
www.libdems.org.uk/BBC
www.libdems.org.uk/BBC
Reposted by Helen Shorter
Anyone surprised?
Reform UK Ltd conference was sponsored by crypto firm and tobacco company with Russian ties and via opaque off shore accounts
It’s against the rules
Reform UK Ltd conference was sponsored by crypto firm and tobacco company with Russian ties and via opaque off shore accounts
It’s against the rules
Reform conference sponsored by crypto firm and tobacco co...
Questions have been raised over Zebec’s shell company registration and Japan Tobacco International’s links to Russia
observer.co.uk
September 12, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Anyone surprised?
Reform UK Ltd conference was sponsored by crypto firm and tobacco company with Russian ties and via opaque off shore accounts
It’s against the rules
Reform UK Ltd conference was sponsored by crypto firm and tobacco company with Russian ties and via opaque off shore accounts
It’s against the rules
Reposted by Helen Shorter
BBC under fresh pressure over extent of Reform UK coverage
BBC under fresh pressure over extent of Reform UK coverage
Nigel Farage’s party featured in considerably more News at Ten bulletins than Lib Dems over six months, study finds
The BBC has come under renewed pressure over the amount of coverage dedicated to Reform UK after an analysis showed Nigel Farage’s party featured in a quarter of all News At Ten bulletins over six months.
Reform featured in 49 bulletins between January and July this year, whereas the Liberal Democrats – the third party in parliament with 72 MPs – featured in 17.9% of bulletins, with 35 references. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
September 12, 2025 at 8:15 AM
BBC under fresh pressure over extent of Reform UK coverage
Reposted by Helen Shorter
Since this is apparently a resigning matter, I’ll just leave this here…
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Nigel Farage uses private company to pay less tax on GB News earnings
Exclusive: Reform leader’s use of personal services firm is a practice criticised across the political spectrum
www.theguardian.com
September 5, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Since this is apparently a resigning matter, I’ll just leave this here…
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Helen Shorter
Farage has gone to the US to tell them Britain is ”awful” - If you don’t like it over here Nigel maybe don’t catch a return flight?
September 3, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Farage has gone to the US to tell them Britain is ”awful” - If you don’t like it over here Nigel maybe don’t catch a return flight?
Reposted by Helen Shorter
Your weekly reminder that voter "concern" with immigration doesn't correspond to actual immigration levels.
It corresponds to the amount of coverage the media gives immigration.
This an entirely self-fulfilling mess, and it is entirely pointless.
It corresponds to the amount of coverage the media gives immigration.
This an entirely self-fulfilling mess, and it is entirely pointless.
September 4, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Your weekly reminder that voter "concern" with immigration doesn't correspond to actual immigration levels.
It corresponds to the amount of coverage the media gives immigration.
This an entirely self-fulfilling mess, and it is entirely pointless.
It corresponds to the amount of coverage the media gives immigration.
This an entirely self-fulfilling mess, and it is entirely pointless.
Reposted by Helen Shorter
Please could you spread this sensible petition? If you are in UK.
I'm so worried it'll be left too late and we'll be exactly like US. Doomed and broken.
petition.parliament.uk/signatures/1...
I'm so worried it'll be left too late and we'll be exactly like US. Doomed and broken.
petition.parliament.uk/signatures/1...
Petition: Ensure plurality of political coverage across UK broadcast media at all times
We want to ensure that a plurality of views from all political parties in Westminster are represented and the nations parliaments are heard all year round, not just election times. The rules for coverage during elections should apply at all times.
petition.parliament.uk
August 29, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Please could you spread this sensible petition? If you are in UK.
I'm so worried it'll be left too late and we'll be exactly like US. Doomed and broken.
petition.parliament.uk/signatures/1...
I'm so worried it'll be left too late and we'll be exactly like US. Doomed and broken.
petition.parliament.uk/signatures/1...
Reposted by Helen Shorter
West Hampstead (Camden) Council By-Election Result:
🔶 LDM: 54.4% (+15.4)
🌹 LAB: 21.2% (-23.4)
🌳 CON: 10.3% (-6.3)
➡️ RFM: 7.2% (New)
🌍 GRN: 7.0% (New)
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Labour.
Changes w/ 2022.
🔶 LDM: 54.4% (+15.4)
🌹 LAB: 21.2% (-23.4)
🌳 CON: 10.3% (-6.3)
➡️ RFM: 7.2% (New)
🌍 GRN: 7.0% (New)
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Labour.
Changes w/ 2022.
August 28, 2025 at 11:48 PM
West Hampstead (Camden) Council By-Election Result:
🔶 LDM: 54.4% (+15.4)
🌹 LAB: 21.2% (-23.4)
🌳 CON: 10.3% (-6.3)
➡️ RFM: 7.2% (New)
🌍 GRN: 7.0% (New)
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Labour.
Changes w/ 2022.
🔶 LDM: 54.4% (+15.4)
🌹 LAB: 21.2% (-23.4)
🌳 CON: 10.3% (-6.3)
➡️ RFM: 7.2% (New)
🌍 GRN: 7.0% (New)
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Labour.
Changes w/ 2022.
Reposted by Helen Shorter
This
Reform UK, which has a grand total of four MPs, was just given an uninterrupted platform for an hour and a half on the BBC and Sky News channels, in order to talk about its plans for mass deportations
When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?
When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?
August 26, 2025 at 5:26 PM
This
Reposted by Helen Shorter
How wonderful. Watching BBC give 90% of its political coverage to an opposition party that has 5 seats, while ignoring 100 % an opposition party with 72 seats. The media and the far right are lovestruck bedfellows. When we have Nigel Farage as PM,we know full well who to blame. Nonsense
#libdems
#libdems
August 22, 2025 at 10:02 PM
How wonderful. Watching BBC give 90% of its political coverage to an opposition party that has 5 seats, while ignoring 100 % an opposition party with 72 seats. The media and the far right are lovestruck bedfellows. When we have Nigel Farage as PM,we know full well who to blame. Nonsense
#libdems
#libdems
Reposted by Helen Shorter
"Solar panels in China are cheaper than a same-size piece of window glass. You can use panels as siding and fencing as if it’s a building material that just happens to produce some electricity
The future is panels everywhere"-@dfeldman.org
Thread: Solar Hockey Stick of Hope bsky.app/profile/70sb...
The future is panels everywhere"-@dfeldman.org
Thread: Solar Hockey Stick of Hope bsky.app/profile/70sb...
July 15, 2025 at 9:04 PM
"Solar panels in China are cheaper than a same-size piece of window glass. You can use panels as siding and fencing as if it’s a building material that just happens to produce some electricity
The future is panels everywhere"-@dfeldman.org
Thread: Solar Hockey Stick of Hope bsky.app/profile/70sb...
The future is panels everywhere"-@dfeldman.org
Thread: Solar Hockey Stick of Hope bsky.app/profile/70sb...
Reposted by Helen Shorter
So the catch is that not only does AI have to REALLY know the subject being investigated in very great depth but the user also needs to REALLY know the subject already to spot “hallucinations.”
So are students going to be trained to use it but also be required to prove the sources it depends on?
So are students going to be trained to use it but also be required to prove the sources it depends on?
August 19, 2025 at 8:42 AM
So the catch is that not only does AI have to REALLY know the subject being investigated in very great depth but the user also needs to REALLY know the subject already to spot “hallucinations.”
So are students going to be trained to use it but also be required to prove the sources it depends on?
So are students going to be trained to use it but also be required to prove the sources it depends on?
Reposted by Helen Shorter
NEW: A new study by @oxfordcsae.bsky.social reveals that giving unconditional cash transfers to pregnant women in rural Kenya significantly reduces infant and child mortality.
Read more ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-08...
Read more ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-08...
Study finds giving pregnant women cash transfers cuts infant
A new study by Associate Professor Dennis Egger (Department of Economics and Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford) and researchers at the University of California, Berkeley
www.ox.ac.uk
August 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM
NEW: A new study by @oxfordcsae.bsky.social reveals that giving unconditional cash transfers to pregnant women in rural Kenya significantly reduces infant and child mortality.
Read more ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-08...
Read more ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-08...
Reposted by Helen Shorter
Only the @greenparty.org.uk are asking the important questions on #COVID. Very grateful to @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social
August 15, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Only the @greenparty.org.uk are asking the important questions on #COVID. Very grateful to @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social
Reposted by Helen Shorter
We are just starting to grasp what a mess we have made on this #PoisonedPlanet. And what #OneHealth impacts - including on our own #PublicHealth - could be
"It challenges the long-held assumption that PFAS primarily binds to proteins and accumulates in the liver or blood."
phys.org/news/2025-08...
"It challenges the long-held assumption that PFAS primarily binds to proteins and accumulates in the liver or blood."
phys.org/news/2025-08...
New 'forever chemicals' found in whale blubber challenge our understanding of PFAS
Scientists from Stockholm University and the Swedish Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with partners in Greenland and Canada, have identified a previously undocumented class of PFAS (poly- a...
phys.org
August 15, 2025 at 6:13 AM
We are just starting to grasp what a mess we have made on this #PoisonedPlanet. And what #OneHealth impacts - including on our own #PublicHealth - could be
"It challenges the long-held assumption that PFAS primarily binds to proteins and accumulates in the liver or blood."
phys.org/news/2025-08...
"It challenges the long-held assumption that PFAS primarily binds to proteins and accumulates in the liver or blood."
phys.org/news/2025-08...