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Helen Belcher @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social · 18h

I look forward to your pictures of overcooked meringues

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Helen Belcher @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social · 19h

Isn't it just gas mark 4, ie. about 180 C?

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Helen Belcher @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social · 19h

Do they mean English or English Language A level? If a test of fluency, then presumably English Language, which is much rarer than its literature-based equivalent. Either way, I don't have it, having gone for maths and sciences.

András Forgács W @andraswf.bsky.social · 23h

Well this will certainly do it www.gov.uk/government/n...

Migrants will be required to pass A Level standard of English

Migrants will be required to pass tough new English language requirements under a law introduced in Parliament today.

www.gov.uk

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Reposted by Helen Belcher

artibartfast @artie.gay · 1d

Beau Greaves, the women's darts world champion, has beaten Luke Littler, the men's darts world champion, in a competitive match, which makes darts' ban on trans women look a wee bit silly

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Reposted by Helen Belcher

Tom Gordon MP @tomgordonld.bsky.social · 1d

The Council of Europe has warned that the UK gov’s treatment of trans people may breach human rights law.

This must be a wake up call.

We’ve seen an increase in hostility towards trans in recent years.

Everyone deserves dignity, safety, & respect - that includes trans people.

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Helen Belcher @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social · 1d

Maybe from this government but not from the Council of Europe

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Helen Belcher @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social · 1d

"not all trans people wish to obtain legal gender recognition, and in reality simply live according to their gender identity. This does not in any way diminish their right to be treated with dignity, to be protected from discrimination, and to be able to participate in all areas of everyday life."

Commissioner for Human Rights @commissionerhr.coe.int · 1d

Read my two letters to the #UK:
1. Protests: I call for a review of the legal framework and the reconsideration of provisions in the Crime & Policing Bill that could restrict freedom of assembly.
2. Trans people: I warn against exclusion&zero-sum approaches
👇#HumanRights
www.coe.int/en/web/commi...

United Kingdom: Commissioner addresses human rights issues in policing of protests and the situation of trans people - Commissioner for Human Rights - www.coe.int

Strasbourg 14/10/2025

www.coe.int

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Reposted by Helen Belcher

Victoria Collins MP @victoria-collins.bsky.social · 2d

This Hate Crime Awareness Week, let's stand together against prejudice and division. No one should live in fear because of who they are.

Together, we can send a clear message: hate has no place in the UK. @nationalhcaw.bsky.social

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Helen Belcher @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social · 2d

Was thinking “Liz Truss is back”, but too many folk would understand that.

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LGBT+ Liberal Democrats 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @pluslibdems.bsky.social · 5d

We thought the Brighton Centre looked much better when the @libdems.org.uk had our conference there a year ago.

A picture of a huge crowd of Lib Dems, including Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP and various MPs, standing outside the Brighton Centre, which has a huge Liberal Democrats decal on the main windows, all holding an enormous Trans Pride flag in the sunshine, at their Autumn Conference in 2024.

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Helen Belcher @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social · 5d

That Victoria Wood line - everywhere in Scotland is written like Ecclefechan and pronounced like Kirkcudbright

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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 7d

"15 years ago, Polish workers came here to find opportunity. Now Poland is growing twice as fast as we are," says Kemi Badenoch.

Any ideas what may have happened in the interim?

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Aieee-Iain Clark @iainjclarkart.com · 8d

Part of Russell T Davies' speech on being awarded Outstanding Contribution to Television at the Bafta Cymru awards. (via www.instagram.com/baftacymru)

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Helen Belcher @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social · 8d

Make Brits Ian again

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 8d

"Britian loses"

One of the side-effects of the implosion of the Conservative party is how beyond amateurish their entire operation is now.

Even at a senior level the quality and experience of the people working for them is just incredibly low

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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 9d

‘The current members of the Supreme Court, ten men and two women, all of them white, seem to regard the Human Rights Act as an unwelcome remnant of a past era.’

In his final piece for the 𝘓𝘙𝘉, Conor Gearty writes on the Supreme Court’s reinterpretation of the HRA: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Conor Gearty · Unwelcome Remnant: Erasing the Human Rights Act

The Supreme Court is quietly editing the Human Rights Act out of existence. In cases where human rights cannot be...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Helen Belcher @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social · 9d

... into the ground

Channel 4 News @channel4news.bsky.social · 9d

‘We have proved we can run the economy’: Conservative MP
www.channel4.com/news/we-have...

‘We have proved we can run the economy’: Conservative MP

Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge speaks to Cathy Newman at the Conservative party conference,

www.channel4.com

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Reposted by Helen Belcher

Duncan Hames @duncanhames.bsky.social · 10d

MPs are supposed to report potential conflicts of interest between their official duties and private financial affairs.
These are rules, not discretionary gestures towards openness.

Cat Neilan @catneilan.bsky.social · 10d

Exclusive: Nigel Farage has not updated his register since May, despite continuing to present his GB News show, record Cameo videos and being a verified X user

Qus are now being asked about the non-registration of his shareholding in GB parent co All Perspectives

observer.co.uk/news/politic...

‘Nine-jobs Nigel’ Farage denies not declaring extra earni...

Roles outside Parliament make Reform leader the highest-earning MP, but register of interests has not been updated since end of May

observer.co.uk

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Laura McInerney @missmc.bsky.social · 10d

Tbh, the whole anti-migrant rhetoric is already making my friends on ILR look at moving.

Of course, they’re all the ones with the money and talent *to* move. Which isn’t what politicians are selling as the consequence of ILR-bashing. But it’s what will happen.

James Bowes @jamesbowes01.bsky.social · 10d

The 10 year wait for Indefinite Leave to Remain will make the UK very unattractive for high skilled workers who often have alternatives. 2019 data (excluding the NHS and universities) shows that high skilled workers on visas are heavily concentrated in multinationals who can move jobs abroad (5/x)

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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 11d

Rampant stupidity. Politicians attack the ECHR, but ignore what it means or how it works.
It has become a target, but reality is it has very limited impact on asylum removals.
Leaving it though would have catastrophic consequences for the whole country.
#r4today

www.bbc.com/news/article...

UK will leave ECHR if Tories win election, Badenoch says

The European Convention on Human Rights has become a focal point in debates around changing immigration policy.

www.bbc.com

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Helen Belcher @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social · 10d

Are you envious?

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Joelle Grogan @joellegrogan.bsky.social · 11d

"Does the ECHR stop states from controlling their borders?"

No. The ECHR Court emphasises migration policies are up to states themselves.

"But the ECHR stops the UK from deporting foreign criminals."

No, it doesn't.

Successful human rights-based appeals against deportation are very rare.

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Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 11d

This is the 'dignity and respect' they talk about

Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · 11d

Let's be clear: this is the result of deliberate political choices to make accessing trans healthcare substantially impossible. It's what Streeting and his ilk want.

Adam Turner 🏳️‍🌈 @awjt.bsky.social · 11d

In Glasgow, there is a 224-year waiting list for gender clinic appointments.

224 YEARS.

This is institutionalised discrimination. It's unacceptable, it's ruining people's lives and it needs to change.

We have the solution. Time for politicians to act.

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Emma □ feet @scary-lil-emma.bsky.social · 11d

This unfortunately is not exaggeration.

Extract from the report detailing each of the UK's gender clinics current waiting times before first appointments.

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Adam Turner 🏳️‍🌈 @awjt.bsky.social · 11d

In Glasgow, there is a 224-year waiting list for gender clinic appointments.

224 YEARS.

This is institutionalised discrimination. It's unacceptable, it's ruining people's lives and it needs to change.

We have the solution. Time for politicians to act.

Gender Clinic Files: Some people in Scotland will never get a gender clinic appointment on a 224-year waitlist.

This system is failing to support people to transition not because it is broken, but by design. The frustrating thing is that this would not be a difficult problem to solve under a different political paradigm.

Trans+ people do not need to be assessed by gender clinics or diagnosed by psychiatrists to tell us what we already know: we are trans. The healthcare we need, especially when it comes to hormones, is already available to cis people through making an appointment with their GP.

Gender clinics are unnecessary and exist to segregate healthcare for Trans+ people. Abolishing this system and providing Trans+ healthcare in primary care, at the GP through an informed consent model, would solve many of the issues this data reveals. GPs already prescribe hormones to cis adults. Trans+ adults simply need the same access to this healthcare.

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Helen Belcher @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social · 11d

Lib Dem councillor here! The only thing I’m not is an FT columnist. Wondering if an irregular Byline Times column counts.

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