See tagged statuses in the local BookWyrm community
Bonfire of the standards.
Who needs therm anyway, only the ill, the disabled, consumers, the public, exporters, wobbles (have I left anyone out?)
Labour appear to be acting out their teeny tiny version of a wet Tory dream for those who would exploit and harm.
#Monbiot #Environment #Standards #Pollution #Safety #Markets #Labour
Bringing the law into disrepute - arrested for holding a copy of Private Eye
I am prepared to bet that both Starmer and Cooper are beginning to regret their poorly thought out reaction to protest/vandalism (depending on your viewpoint it might be considered both) by Palestine Action.
Act in haste, repent at leisure.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/23/private-eye-cartoon-arrest-ian-hislop-protest
#PalestineAction #Law #IllConsidered #Labour #Cooper #Starmer #Palestine #Stupidity
“#DWP cuts fallout continues as Zarah #Sultana slams Starmer over four MPs losing the whip”
by Steve Topple in The Canary @thecanaryuk @UKLabour
“So, what should have been an opportunity for #Starmer to highlight a principled stand by his MPs has instead revealed a readiness to suppress #dissent in favour of centralised control. By punishing those who stood with disabled people, Starmer undermines both democratic process and moral authority”
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2025/07/16/dwp-vote-universal-credit/
I picked cherries 🍒 in Ontario when I was a kid (14?). I was visiting family in Niagara and it was a summer job. I did it a few days: hard work up on a ladder trying to pick as fast as you can without hurting the cherries or yourself. It was hot. The experienced mostly Jamaican workers could do it way faster than me. I lasted just a few days before the owner politely told me I should find other work. 😆
I appreciate the people who work the fields for us to have fresh fruit on the table.
#work #labour #immigrant #fruit #cherries
https://union.place/@ufwupdates/114812316937352524
Look at these hoodlum protesters …..Utter bastards every one, including the 83 year old priest…. Throw the book at them - remember kids, Genocide - no problem, Silent protests - jail #brexit #tory #tories #toryscum #politics #ukpolitics #bbc #news #EU #Labour #keirstarmer #Starmer #labourparty #RejoinEU #gaza #gazagenocide #israel #IsraelTerroristState
No ok.
Source @thetimothysnyder@threads.net: https://snyder.substack.com/p/concentration-camp-labor
h/t @paula_rhodes@threads.net
#USpol #labor #labour #slavery #HumanTrafficking #ConcentrationCamp
Especially for the #Labour administration in the UK; the Supreme Court in the UK, all the #TERF and Terf adjacent people out there, the media, especially the #Guardian.
#Rights #HumanRights #ProChoice #Autonomy #Biology #Facts
Once again, for those still quoting primary school level science:
Rebecca Helm, a biologist and an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, Asheville US writes:
"Friendly neighborhood biologist here. I see a lot of people are talking about biological sexes and gender right now. Lots of folks make biological sex sex seem really simple. Well, since it’s so simple, let’s find the biological roots, shall we? Let’s talk about sex...[a thread]
If you know a bit about biology you will probably say that biological sex is caused by chromosomes, XX and you’re female, XY and you’re male. This is “chromosomal sex” but is it …
Especially for the #Labour administration in the UK; the Supreme Court in the UK, all the #TERF and Terf adjacent people out there, the media, especially the #Guardian.
#Rights #HumanRights #ProChoice #Autonomy #Biology #Facts
Once again, for those still quoting primary school level science:
Rebecca Helm, a biologist and an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, Asheville US writes:
"Friendly neighborhood biologist here. I see a lot of people are talking about biological sexes and gender right now. Lots of folks make biological sex sex seem really simple. Well, since it’s so simple, let’s find the biological roots, shall we? Let’s talk about sex...[a thread]
If you know a bit about biology you will probably say that biological sex is caused by chromosomes, XX and you’re female, XY and you’re male. This is “chromosomal sex” but is it “biological sex”? Well...
Turns out there is only ONE GENE on the Y chromosome that really matters to sex. It’s called the SRY gene. During human embryonic development the SRY protein turns on male-associated genes. Having an SRY gene makes you “genetically male”. But is this “biological sex”?
Sometimes that SRY gene pops off the Y chromosome and over to an X chromosome. Surprise! So now you’ve got an X with an SRY and a Y without an SRY. What does this mean?
A Y with no SRY means physically you’re female, chromosomally you’re male (XY) and genetically you’re female (no SRY). An X with an SRY means you’re physically male, chromsomally female (XX) and genetically male (SRY). But biological sex is simple! There must be another answer...
Sex-related genes ultimately turn on hormones in specifics areas on the body, and reception of those hormones by cells throughout the body. Is this the root of “biological sex”??
“Hormonal male” means you produce ‘normal’ levels of male-associated hormones. Except some percentage of females will have higher levels of ‘male’ hormones than some percentage of males. Ditto ditto ‘female’ hormones. And...
...if you’re developing, your body may not produce enough hormones for your genetic sex. Leading you to be genetically male or female, chromosomally male or female, hormonally non-binary, and physically non-binary. Well, except cells have something to say about this...
Maybe cells are the answer to “biological sex”?? Right?? Cells have receptors that “hear” the signal from sex hormones. But sometimes those receptors don’t work. Like a mobile phone that’s on “do not disturb’. Call and cell, they will not answer.
What does this all mean?
It means you may be genetically male or female, chromosomally male or female, hormonally male/female/non-binary, with cells that may or may not hear the male/female/non-binary call, and all this leading to a body that can be male/non-binary/female.
Try out some combinations for yourself. Notice how confusing it gets? Can you point to what the absolute cause of biological sex is? Is it fair to judge people by it?
Of course you could try appealing to the numbers. “Most people are either male or female” you say. Except that as a biologist professor I will tell you...
The reason I don’t have my students look at their own chromosome in class is because people could learn that their chromosomal sex doesn’t match their physical sex, and learning that in the middle of a 10-point assignment is JUST NOT THE TIME.
Biological sex is complicated. Before you discriminate against someone on the basis of “biological sex” & identity, ask yourself: have you seen YOUR chromosomes? Do you know the genes of the people you love? The hormones of the people you work with? The state of their cells?
Since the answer will obviously be no, please be kind, respect people’s right to tell you who they are, and remember that you don’t have all the answers. Again: biology is complicated. Kindness and respect don’t have to be.
Note: Biological classifications exist. XX, XY, XXY XXYY and all manner of variation which is why sex isn't classified as binary. You can't have a binary classification system with more than two configurations even if two of those configurations are more common than others.
Biology is a shitshow. Be kind to people."
Many thanks to Traci Drake for finding this.
On #Labour’s anniversary of coming up power, when things have been a complete $hit show all week at home #Starmer chooses to cozy up to the malevolent #Trump. Why???
Because nothing says ‘family values’ like a rapist, who pays hush money to porn stars and gets his ICE agents to quite literally rip families apart by kidnapping innocent people off the streets.
I'd like to have the self-esteem of Wes Streeting, comparing himself and his plans for the NHS to those of Clement Attlee. I wouldn't like his delusion and his cheek, though.
#wesstreeting #labour #ukpol #ukpolitics #labourparty #keirstarmer #starmer #nhs
To those of us familiar with how the Labour right manages local parties, this litany of arrogance, threats, and blackmail in the Parliamentary Labour Party will come as no surprise.
#WelfareBill #Labour #UKPolitics
‘They didn’t think we’d have the guts’: How Labour rebels forced the government’s welfare U-turn | Labour | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/29/they-didnt-think-wed-have-the-guts-how-labour-rebels-forced-the-governments-welfare-u-turn?CMP=GTUK_email
“PALESTINE ACTION BAN THREATENS ALL OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES”
by Richard Norton-Taylor in Declassified UK
@Declassified_UK @UKLabour @BBC5Live
@BBCRadio4
@guardian @Independent @thetimes @palestine
@israel
“So the message from this Labour govt is clear: protestors will face unprecedented jail sentences & fines for actions never before considered to be akin to #terrorism & for crimes that involve no violence vs individuals”
https://www.declassifieduk.org/palestine-action-ban-threatens-all-our-civil-liberties/
You can blow the limbs off a child. Fine. No problem at all. You can murder journalists, doctors & academics. You can evaporate entire families. You can starve thousands of people to death. You can burn children to a crisp. And you will NOT BE CONDEMNED BY THIS #DICTATORSHIP OF A #LABOUR GOVT.
But non-violently spray a bit of paint on an #Israeli #genocide-enabling Elbit facility or on some RAF war planes & that makes you a terrorist!
We all need to stand up and say: #ISupportPalestineAction
Keir Starmer says he ‘deeply regrets’ island of strangers speech
Reading your speech in advance is always a good thing. But start by not getting McSweeney to write it in the first place would be better
"That’s the thing with Westminster drama. Politics is only a game if you are privileged enough to be cushioned from its effects. For others, it is what decides whether there is enough food in the cupboard or whether a care worker arrives to help you wash your hair…
"…Forget the MPs who rebel over cutting disabled people’s benefits – remember those who don’t. This is Labour’s poll tax. Its tuition fees. Its Partygate. Just as the Iraq war was for Tony Blair, disability cuts is the moral stain that will mark Starmer’s government and the party for years to come. Severely disabled and ill people are going to be starved, isolated and degraded as a result of this policy. No Labour MP who backs it should be forgiven."
#UKPolitics
#DisabilityBenefits
#Labour
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/26/labour-party-disabled-people-mps-disability-cuts
