Deaf / BSL user / Derby (You Rams 🐏) / Professional Cat herder and prolific cat misgenderer.
England
Joined July 2007
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I long for the days where our government will deliver good news for disabled and vulnerable people ie a sizable benefits uprating. Ever since 2018, it has all been about "must cuts benefits, benefits, benefits". We already have the least generous welfare system in Europe.
Tony Barlow retweeted
6 in 10 carers who faced issues working while claiming Carer’s Allowance said it affected their ability to work. 4 in 10 said they’d left work because of it.
Removing the earnings limit cliff edge is a major breakthrough after years of campaigning.
carersuk.pulse.ly/fthpzqix1u
ALT An image with a solid bright red background featuring white text. At the top, the words "BREAKING NEWS" are written in a bold, spaced-out sans-serif font. Below this, in a larger, bold font, is the headline: "Earnings cliff edge in Carer's Allowance to be scrapped". In the bottom right corner is the white logo for "carers uk", which includes an icon of three stylized, interlocking figures.
Tony Barlow retweeted
Reform plan to bring back imperial measurements to help boost US trade, not realising that US imperial measurements are different from UK ones.
So dense a black hole is empty space by comparison.
Tony Barlow retweeted
Watch this.
Lubna Speitan, author of the Greens4Palestine motion “Zionism is racism”, spells out the central obscenity of our age – the grotesque inversion whereby the victims of ethnic cleansing, Apartheid and genocide must constantly fend off accusations from their tormentors that it is they who are the racists.
“We as Palestinians are being silenced and gaslit and vilified [as we] witness the annihilation, the cold-blooded murder of our families, of our people… our children burnt with phosphorus, having to endure amputations with no anaesthetic, having their limbs torn and shredded, their bodies burnt by phosphorus, being starved to death … And to have to sit here … and try to bury my feelings so I can eloquently and diplomatically shield my anger, my rage, my anguish that every Palestinian is feeling, is an insult.” /1
Tony Barlow retweeted
Left: President Trump insults Norway calling it a sh*thouse country
Right: Visit Norway, the tourism board, trolls President Trump, displaying some of their best toilets on their Instagram 😅
My view:
Trump chose to insult Norway. Visit Norway answered with humour, confidence and a showcase of its most beautiful loos.
That’s how you turn an insult into an invitation. Congratulations to Norway for responding with such grace - and giving us another reason to visit.
I've never been to Norway, but this is just another reason to visit 😁
Tony Barlow retweeted
Basic education piece:
Not all Jewish people are Zionists.
Lots of Zionists aren't Jews.
The Board of Deputies largely self identity as Zionists.
The Media often report the Board of Deputies as the opinion of Jewish people.
Yet many Jewish people say #NotInOurName
I appreciate customer services can be accessible via webchats but they do take forever to reply. Like 5 or more minutes wait each time you send a reply. FML – at Derby, England
Human 50 Leagues
#BandstoSea – at Derby, England
Tony Barlow retweeted
using government calculations for climate harm, burning Jackdaw's gas will cause an estimated £16.1 billion in global damage and over 8,000 heat-related deaths.
all of this for 27 jobs and no impact on gas prices.
no other way to describe this than an act of violence.
Tony Barlow retweeted
So this morning, we ask if there’s a complication with welfare review. The PM has written a very watery non-committal piece about NEETS. The Milburn review is next month.
But have they just received an inconveniently timed new intervention - the Fonagy review. We discuss this on today’s podcast
*What is Fonagy*? After then Health Secretary Wes Streeting said in March 2025, that “mental wellbeing, illness, it’s a spectrum and I think definitely there’s an overdiagnosis”, he commissioned Professor Peter Fonagy to look at this and feed into the Milburn report. It was published earlier this month
*What does it say*? Fonagy appears to challenge the main point of Milburn. His report says: “Low participation should not be interpreted as lack of ability, motivation or aspiration. Work is not invariably beneficial, and an early return is not always appropriate.”
He also says “secure, well-designed and supported work can promote recovery, while insecure or unsupported work can worsen mental health”
The review rejects the "snowflake generation" narrative, finding a genuine, steep increase in mental ill-health (such as anxiety, depression, self-harm, and eating disorders) over the last three decades, particularly among young people aged 16 to 24.
And on ADHD and Autism, found “On the basis of evidence available to us we cannot conclude that overdiagnosis is occurring at scale”.
*Why a complication*? Milburn is likely to recommend that - apart from those with severe and enduring disabilities - all financial support for young people should have work and training support and requirements attached. Arguing that work per-se is automatically good, as Milburn seems to, is now challenged by Fonagy. And where drawing the line on “severe and enduring disabilities” is more complicated.
Listen:
What does Andy Burnham believe on welfare reform?
Had a new government report / commissioned after Wes Streeting blamed “overdiagnosis” and challenges this and the idea work is always beneficial - complicated the welfare picture?
Plus what is similar and different about the public spending debate in France?
podfollow.com/politics-at-sa…
Tony Barlow retweeted
Tap water no longer drinkable in Norwegian town as climate-related thawing releases heavy metals
‘ The collapse of civilisation is on the horizon ‘Sir David Attenborough
theguardian.com/environment/…
Tony Barlow retweeted
The upcoming budget must put ordinary people’s interests before those of fossil fuel shareholders.
Make polluters pay.
Tony Barlow retweeted
Martin Abram's speech to full council last night about his experiences as a Jewish man facing antisemitism, the dangers of turning antisemitism into a political football, and our drive to make Lambeth a borough of sanctuary and solidarity for all – no hatred used to divide us!
Tony Barlow retweeted
🧠 Did you know?
last part of our Basic Income series is live.
Could basic income give people more freedom?
Freedom requires real options. An income floor could strengthen them, but money is not the same as freedom.
Swipe through 👇🏾
Tony Barlow retweeted
Feelings in Kyiv running very high following latest. “If Trump had been running United States back in 1939, I think he would have been Hitler’s ally,” says an intelligence source. “And on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, Witkoff and Kushner would have built a posh hotel complex.”
Helping a friend. Anyone want a jade green BMW Z3?
tradeclassics.com/auctions/b… – at Ockbrook, England
Tony Barlow retweeted
Apparently Russian servers have been hit by a Ukrainian strike and immediately massive online hard right chatter has collapsed.
This particular chatter was in support of Germany’s AFD, their equivalent to Reform, but similar patterns are being seen in hard right movements everywhere, including the UK.
If anyone needed anymore evidence that Russia are driving a massive wave of hard right propaganda in Europe, this is it.
So, all you “patriots” - you’ve been duped by Russia, and you are about as far from patriotic as anyone can be. You are easily brainwashed though. This is how propaganda works.
