Simon Whitehead
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simonsays1.bsky.social
Simon Whitehead
@simonsays1.bsky.social
640 followers 5.4K following 280 posts
Politics, gardening, history, books old and new, beer and ale glasses. Walking our dog. Financial adviser helping people ensure their financial plans support their life plans. www.eadonco.com/meet-the-team/
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simonsays1.bsky.social
Very good
stevecooke.org Grumpy Philosopher @stevecooke.org · 2d
Using a search engine is a bit like asking a librarian for help. Using GenAi is like asking an actor pretending to be a librarian for help.
November 21, 2025 at 6:11 PM
simonsays1.bsky.social
tanjabueltmann.net Tanja Bueltmann @tanjabueltmann.net · 4d
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 19, 2025 at 7:23 AM
simonsays1.bsky.social
Pure corruption
davidrvetter.bsky.social Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 10d
The fact that this person remains Health Secretary is objectively one of the most significant British political scandals of the post-Covid era. But because he's doing something the media barons like, everyone has decided it's fine.
davidrvetter.bsky.social Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 10d
Health Secretary Wes Streeting says that the British Medical Association, which represents Britain's doctors, is a threat to the NHS. Streeting took a record £225k from private healthcare-related donors in just two years.
November 13, 2025 at 8:54 AM
simonsays1.bsky.social
Chichester Cathedral in the sun
November 8, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Reposted by Simon Whitehead
bladeofthes.bsky.social
Samir Zitouni who works for LNER was the first person to try and stop the attack in Huntingdon.

He is a hero spread his name far and wide, judge people on their actions not their names or immigration status.
November 4, 2025 at 2:41 PM
simonsays1.bsky.social
This fascinating. Apart from giving a tip every time you buy a pint. Very annoying
November 5, 2025 at 8:58 AM
simonsays1.bsky.social
Interestingly direct
October 30, 2025 at 9:07 PM
simonsays1.bsky.social
This is fascinating. More English people should learn more about this important part of the world. Me included.
himalmag.bsky.social Himal Southasian @himalmag.bsky.social · Oct 12
On the precipice of generalisations, Salil Tripathi’s ‘The Gujaratis’ exposes a shameful underside of Gujarati pride, Gujarat’s conflicted cultural landscape, and the community’s broader moral and political failings.

A review essay by Hemang Ashwinkumar:
Salil Tripathi’s portrait of Gujarati pride and contradictions
INARGUABLY, these are Dickensian best-of-times to read a tome on the Gujaratis. If the opposition’s loud protests in India’s parliament are to be believed, a fo
buff.ly
October 12, 2025 at 10:46 AM
simonsays1.bsky.social
This year’s vintage ale is here
A pint glass with Fuller’s logo. I think it’s a gryphon. Like a Lion with Wings. Dark amber beer in the glass.
October 9, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Simon Whitehead
donnachadhmc.bsky.social
Please help combat BBC news blackout of Green Party!
@zackpolanski.bsky.social was the only party leader not interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg during their party conference.
So please RT his cracking conference speech..
October 5, 2025 at 8:42 PM
simonsays1.bsky.social
Came off in the wind
Large cactus style dahlia bloom with no stem. Bright pale orange colour. Spectacular
October 4, 2025 at 1:55 PM
simonsays1.bsky.social
Crab apples in the back garden
Crab apples glowing in the sun. A thick crop
September 21, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Simon Whitehead
sfrost.bsky.social
Some hopeful weekend reading.

“This is nature’s emergency recovery mechanism. We’ve buggered almost everything up but this will still bring them back.”
‘Just add water’: how to bring back ancient plants in a Norfolk ghost pond
An expert team are resurrecting ice age ponds and finding rare species returning from a ‘perfect time capsule’
www.theguardian.com
September 20, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Reposted by Simon Whitehead
louiselocock.bsky.social
Oxford people - tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 11.30 there is a gathering at the Holiday Inn Express near the Kassam Stadium to counter anti-refugee protesters.
September 19, 2025 at 12:48 PM
simonsays1.bsky.social
Interesting. I didn’t know the RA history.
aeon.co Aeon Magazine @aeon.co · Sep 16
By 1768, Joseph Wright of Derby had gained widespread praise for his new candlelight paintings. So why was he overlooked by the founders of the Royal Academy? Was it his depictions of science that went against tradition, or were there other factors at play?
Joseph Wright of Derby put science at the centre of his art | Aeon Essays
Joseph Wright of Derby put science at the centre of his art. Eclipsed in his lifetime, his work still burns with radical ideas
buff.ly
September 18, 2025 at 7:33 AM
simonsays1.bsky.social
Well produced
zackpolanski.bsky.social Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · Sep 16
How do we fix this mess?
September 16, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Reposted by Simon Whitehead
zackpolanski.bsky.social
Can't imagine why a Labour Prime Minister like Keir Starmer would be threatened by a party that is working to:

- Lower bills.
- Protect the NHS.
- Nationalise our water companies.

Ignore the name calling and his rants about me at in Parliament and join.greenparty.org.uk
Join the Green Party
Join the Green Party from just £6 a year. Become a member today - join the only party with the policies needed to tackle the climate crisis.
join.greenparty.org.uk
September 9, 2025 at 6:57 AM
simonsays1.bsky.social
This baffles me. It’s as easy as excluding students from the statistics. Why don’t they do it?
premnsikka.bsky.social Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · Sep 3
Crackdown on international students could hurt struggling UK cities.

Billions lost to local economies.

Education is a major export, being systematically harmed by xenophobic policies of successive govts.

Students going elsewhere, loss of UK soft power.

Exclude students from immigration total.
Crackdown on international students could hurt struggling UK cities, thinktank warns
University sector, which is reliant on overseas students for a quarter of income, key to economic activity in cities like Leicester and Hull
www.theguardian.com
September 3, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Reposted by Simon Whitehead
jeremycorbyn.bsky.social
Israel bombed a hospital.

Rescue workers and reporters rushed to recover the dead and the wounded.

Israel bombed the hospital again. Live on TV.

Read that again.

Our government’s legacy will be its complicity in crimes against humanity. End all arms sales to Israel, now.
August 25, 2025 at 1:31 PM
simonsays1.bsky.social
Our best pelargonium
Pink species pelargonium with small pretty flowers. Leaves and flowers are very delicate but the plant is tough
August 24, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Simon Whitehead
greenparty.org.uk
Disillusioned by Labour? While Starmer’s party loses members, more and more people are finding their political home with us — join them today! ⤵️

join.greenparty.org.uk?utm_source=j...
INDEPENDENT Labour is haemorrhaging members under Sir Keir Starmer, with one in 10 quitting last year alone. With black and white image of Keir Starmer REAL HOPE. REAL CHANGE. Green Party Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of The Green Party. both at PO Box 78066, London SE16 9GQ
August 24, 2025 at 10:02 AM
simonsays1.bsky.social
Fascinating
tim-waterman.co.uk Tim Waterman @tim-waterman.co.uk · Aug 24
On Reform UK: “This alliance between the working poor and a load of rich rightwing toffs has been the basis of fascism for a century. How can we still be living it out? I find it really upsetting.”
theguardian.com The Guardian @theguardian.com · Aug 24
‘People just lie’: How Riverford’s Guy Singh-Watson became the most brutally honest farmer in Britain
August 24, 2025 at 8:35 AM
simonsays1.bsky.social
So funny
August 18, 2025 at 9:18 PM
simonsays1.bsky.social
August 18, 2025 at 7:09 AM
simonsays1.bsky.social
Not very well known
workingclasshistory.com Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · Aug 16
#OtD 16 Aug 1842 during a Chartist general strike for universal male suffrage, troops fired on a march in Stoke-on-Trent, killing 19-year-old shoemaker Josiah Heapy and injuring others. 146 were jailed and 54 transported to Australia stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8756...
August 16, 2025 at 10:16 AM