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Many a mickle…

This is the second of the occasional ‘timesavers’ series I promised I’d write because after the Supreme Court ruling clarifying the categories of protected characteristics in the 2010 Equality Act, all the old myths were going around again and, like many women I know, I didn’t really want have to constantly repeat all the same…
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Politicians are the aggressors. Peoples are the peacemakers

The Freedom Flotilla is on the move, and this time the eyes of the world are on them, and a massive march to Gaza is heading the same way. This is how it always works – politicians treat the world like a chess board. They plan and action the wars, the occupations, the oppression and…
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Not a single firefighter, police officer or soldier had come

“Nearly 20 minutes had passed since Huda and her staff had come across the burning bus … she and the UN nurses gently carried burned children to waiting volunteer cars…” The drivers would take the burn victims to “the nearest accessible hospital. For most of them, that was Ramallah. The hospitals in Jerusalem were far…
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Sweet little UXB

Why am I tempted to say ‘this is a sweet little book’? It’s no such thing and anyway, I don’t say things like that but I’m trying to figure out how Xiaolu Guo has cunningly disguised an unusual and important piece of work as a sweet little book. The rare and quiet determination of someone…
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What to do about immigration

Okay, for the sake of argument, let’s do what politicians are always so keen for us to do – let’s worry about immigration. It is after all very sad that so many people are wandering the world, desperately looking for a safe place they can stay. People are moving around a lot in our times.…
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Reassurance For Helena Dollimore MP

Okay, I’m sorry – it’s a joke. Apparently, Ms Dollimore was very upset by the ‘WANTED’ poster that’s been posted around the town, the one that reads WANTED: a straight answer from Helena Dollimore so I thought I’d give her a bit of reassurance after the style of Dennis Skinner’s famous retraction. (You remember –…
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The night something broke

How did we get here? yes, corruption, yes, attacks on Corbyn, yes, failures by Corbyn — and the theft of the Labour Party but most of those tragic conversations on the left are leaving something out. Something huge. Here’s a flashback… Standing in the foyer at the 2019 Labour Party Women’s Conference in Telford, talking…
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Over to you men!

***Guest post by Paula Boulton*** Over to you now men! We women are exhausted. We’re handing over the baton to you. Here’s to broadening the bandwidth of manhood to include those who present as female. After all, they are your brothers and fathers and sons and uncles too! And can we now acknowledge that those…
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The first principle of safe-guarding

I have seen this misrepresented or sidelined in dozens of conversations on soc media lately, just as it was last time the women’s rights issue was a hot topic. This is the point that’s ill-understood: Being told to stay away because of safeguarding is not a judgement on you. Take women’s refuges for example. They…
