Rachel

Cockroaches, Modi, and racist nationalism in India:

via Clare Bickle

Public Inquiries into single catastrophic events in the UK Aberfan 9 months Hillsborough 25 years Grenfell 8 years. Are these fair comparisons?

October 7th, a reminder. The Prime Minister of Israel helped finance & strengthen Hamas to ensure that there would never be unity between Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank, and therefore never a unified Palestinian state.

'Gaza is a moral tear in the universe' – Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor | Radical Thinking

Trump, Russia, Diesel, & the Wizard of Odd. Behind the curtain there's a flustered older man painting his office gold, writing deranged social media posts & admiring himself in a mirror. His dog Toto pulls the curtain aside to reveal that the diesel will be less than US trucks use in o n e day.

For potential electoral gain Netanyahu seems to have hitched a ride alongside the heroes of the Fly Dubai incident to such an extent that he is creating the impression that he himself is in some way closely associated with the heroism.

Ash Sarkar, "Every time we've had these squeezes on welfare recipients, what we've actually seen, rather than dealing with issues like long-term unemployment, is an increase in child poverty, and in-work poverty as well"

End Times Fascism by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor review – the fightback starts here

A dark blizzard of disinformation is warping the public’s perception of our great city. But we know the truth: our homicide rate is lower than every major US city, neighbourhood crimes are down and we’ve been ranked #1 city in the world 11 years in a row. My piece for The Times.

The Jerusalem regime of Netanyahu must be really desperate if the best they can do to respond to Miliband yesterday is Ophir Falk whose principal defence is that Britain & the other countries who have followed with sanctions are all 'left-wing' - when the actual common factor is: a moral compass.

Poundshop Paramilitary 'Patriots'.

And he's right about this: there's no security for Israel until there is security for Palestine. That the Starmer government could never utter such simple truths, but instead treated the Palestinian cause as yet another means of attacking the Labour left, is one of the many reasons why he had to go.

Fair play to Ed Miliband, who has broken the political consensus, spoken sense in the Commons and acknowledged our shared humanity. Of course, the government could and should go much further, especially in condemning the continuing horrors in Gaza and stopping ALL arms sales, but this is a start.

The UK government ceasing automatically to support almost anything the government of Israel does is a major shift. The next step should be to rescind the ban on #PalestineAction, to stop treating protesters as terrorists, and to acknowledge that those seeking to disrupt a genocide may have a point.

Shouting at RNLI volunteers, accusing them of being 'absolute traitors to the country' is the absolute depth of revolting (un-British) behaviour.

I'm feeling more than a little uncomfortable that The World at One has just given a very long slot to a Restore Britain supporter who wants migrant boats to be pushed back at sea & who said that he doesn't care if the consequence is that people drown. A BBC platform for someone like that? Really?

Tony Benn would call out the atrocities happening in Gaza. Tony Benn's daughter Melissa Benn on the new Pod Save the UK with @mrnishkumar.bsky.social & @zoegrunewald.bsky.social. From the latest episode of Pod Save the UK. Listen here: http://go.crooked.com/PodSaveTheUK #PodSaveTheUK

#DollyParton RIP #Covid #Moderna "Vaccine, vaccine.... .....'cos once you're dead, that's a bit too....late." Copy please to RFKjnr. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjfT...

I was arguing on Twitter with someone. Irrelevant what about. He tried " Are you on Bluesky?" as an insult ? Note to self: Use Bluesky more

Jumpy bond markets make it clear: Trump risks driving US into debt crisis | Heather Stewart

#Israel settler terrorism: "The events in Qusra Palestinian village illustrate the impotence of the IDF. Instead of bringing a police van & arresting the criminals, they've been trying to negotiate with thugs who believe themselves to be the lords of the land." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Nurdle spill response too slow Local authority teams and volunteers have been trying to clear the pellets from nearby beaches, amid serious concerns about the long-term environmental impact of the disaster northeastbylines.co.uk/news/environ...

“This incident is believed to be the largest recorded nurdle spill in Northern Europe and the UK.” @northwildlife.bsky.social

Big Mama Thornton ft. Buddy Guy🎸 🎶'Hound Dog'🎨 #bluesmusic #blues

New post: rachelshabi.substack.com/p/the-mainst...

#Prison overcrowding. Suggestion: Decriminalise (NOT legalise) drug use, as Portugal did 25 years ago. The proportion of drug-related offenders in Portuguese gaols went down sharply: From 44% in 1999, to just under 21% in 2012. (UN) Users were given syringes, etc: soundcloud.com/hughsykes/po...

#Migrant panic. 50,000 migrants got into Spanish exclave #Ceuta. Half of them, 25,000, have already gone back to Morocco, complaining that there was nothing for them in Ceuta and that they had been tricked. - reports BBC.

If Andy Burnham truly wants to put politics aside to grip social care, the Greens should be at the table. Last month, I sat down listening to the experiences of carers. We need new thinking and urgent change now: m.youtube.com/watch?v=HbJJ...

Good grief, this hits home.

#Farage, already in a hole, digging it deeper.....

The @andyburnham.bsky.social team are spinning news already. The ID card story is #BNN: Big Not News. In January, after the strong petition against it, Sir Keir Starmer had already made the scheme voluntary. In another word, pointless.

The War On Drugs Has Failed. At last some dawning of the truth that prohibitipn doesn't work, and that hard drug addiction should be treated as a health, not criminal, issue. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Wow! Musk is scared.

Five pressing questions for Reform UK about its finances

English Words of South Asian Origin bungalow shampoo pyjamas khaki jungle loot avatar bazaar pundit guru verandah thug yoga karma pukka juggernaut chutney pariah cummerbund bandanna Many more...…….

💧Water is a basic service, not a cash machine 🤑 While bills rise and sewage pours into our rivers and seas, water companies keep rewarding shareholders. Enough is enough. It's time to bring water back into public ownership. Add your name:

So #andyburnham so far amounts to: *Great mayor of Manchester **Empathy ***Beat ReformUK ..... none of which are policies.

can’t believe a narcissist is being so publicly humiliated by a reflecting pool

Nigeria and Venezuela both produce more oil than they need. The USA is running out of oil. Donald Trump wants to invade Nigeria and Venezuela. It's not a complex problem, can you solve it?

at least another 63 Palestinians killed bythen IDF and the Shifa Hospital bombed again.#Thereisnoceasefire.

Just seen a clip of @BorisJohnson at the covid enquiry. He didn't even have the respect to shave, wear a suit that fits or comb his hair. Nothing new I know but if we talk about standards in public life ....

Starmer urged to apologise as MP says rioting by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans justifies their ban from Aston Villa game – UK politics live

Please read my column today in conjunction with Aditya's. The government pretends to be delivering housing to those who need it, but is in fact just appeasing the big corporations. Then it blames nature protections, and rips those down at their behest as well. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Right to protest under ‘sustained attack’ across the west, report finds

Its fragile and there are so many buts - but amid all that right now: huge relief

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza - two years of hell on earth for Palestinians - could have ended at any time with pressure from the US president. There is no safe and peaceful future without justice, without accountability, without freedom for Palestinians