Helen Belcher
@helenbelcherobe.bsky.social
Former Lib Dem parliamentary candidate, current Lib Dem councillor, head of TransActual, Leveson witness, former company founder, looking for a quieter life.
Reposted by Helen Belcher
Also the Romans literally had a welfare system that included cash transfers for poor children. (And subsidised grain for low income workers...).
There was no state. Who does she think crucified him, an anarchist collective?
November 28, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Also the Romans literally had a welfare system that included cash transfers for poor children. (And subsidised grain for low income workers...).
Reposted by Helen Belcher
One for all of us who worry we might go on a podcast and say something really stupid.
November 28, 2025 at 12:21 PM
One for all of us who worry we might go on a podcast and say something really stupid.
Reposted by Helen Belcher
Nigel Farage has spent £1m taking out adverts in the papers to distract from the Nathan Gill Russian bribe scandal.
We can't let him buy himself out of this. We need an investigation into Russian influence in our politics.
We can't let him buy himself out of this. We need an investigation into Russian influence in our politics.
November 27, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Nigel Farage has spent £1m taking out adverts in the papers to distract from the Nathan Gill Russian bribe scandal.
We can't let him buy himself out of this. We need an investigation into Russian influence in our politics.
We can't let him buy himself out of this. We need an investigation into Russian influence in our politics.
If only we had a press regulator.
The Times’ reporting on employment tribunals is routinely awful. The headlines are clickbait claims which the body copy often contradicts. In this case the issue was not the use of the word “fireman” but failing to challenge a campaign of persistent offensive behaviour. And he wasn’t fired. He left
November 27, 2025 at 8:11 PM
If only we had a press regulator.
It's only a short step from saying "no child is born in the wrong body" to "no one is born in the wrong body". And the phrase itself is a vicious parody of how trans people understand themselves to be.
Kemi Badenoch demands end of puberty blocker trial and claims ‘no child is born in the wrong body’
www.thepinknews.com/...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
www.thepinknews.com/...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
Kemi Badenoch calls on Wes Streeting to halt puberty blocker trial
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch criticised the NHS's puberty blockers trial and said there is "no child is born in the wrong body".
www.thepinknews.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:59 PM
It's only a short step from saying "no child is born in the wrong body" to "no one is born in the wrong body". And the phrase itself is a vicious parody of how trans people understand themselves to be.
Reposted by Helen Belcher
Next time someone asks what's the matter with Musk's Twitter, show them this:
An account in India, amplifying a billionaire from South Africa being cheered by an Irish passport holder (using an alias) to encourage civil unrest in the UK.
An account in India, amplifying a billionaire from South Africa being cheered by an Irish passport holder (using an alias) to encourage civil unrest in the UK.
November 27, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Next time someone asks what's the matter with Musk's Twitter, show them this:
An account in India, amplifying a billionaire from South Africa being cheered by an Irish passport holder (using an alias) to encourage civil unrest in the UK.
An account in India, amplifying a billionaire from South Africa being cheered by an Irish passport holder (using an alias) to encourage civil unrest in the UK.
Reposted by Helen Belcher
"a single person of this demographic may have committed a crime, therefore we must punish the entire demographic" is a policy response you may recognize from fascist governments dedicated to ethnic cleansing elsewhere.
November 27, 2025 at 5:52 AM
"a single person of this demographic may have committed a crime, therefore we must punish the entire demographic" is a policy response you may recognize from fascist governments dedicated to ethnic cleansing elsewhere.
At the moment, I'm going "so government helps you but an electric car, but now taxes you not only on energy you purchase to charge the car (which isn't a lot cheaper than petrol) but also on how far you drive in it. Mixed messages?" Presumably a one-off tax each MOT?
Oh fuck I used to be a political reporter, can't help myself. Here's the big tax policies from the leaked budget.
November 26, 2025 at 12:22 PM
At the moment, I'm going "so government helps you but an electric car, but now taxes you not only on energy you purchase to charge the car (which isn't a lot cheaper than petrol) but also on how far you drive in it. Mixed messages?" Presumably a one-off tax each MOT?
Reposted by Helen Belcher
Having a great first day as the OBR's website manager. Got all of the content queued up as a scheduled post, ready for a big day, but all of the work is done now.
Now before I put my feet up, time to take a big gulp of water and check the latest news.
Now before I put my feet up, time to take a big gulp of water and check the latest news.
November 26, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Having a great first day as the OBR's website manager. Got all of the content queued up as a scheduled post, ready for a big day, but all of the work is done now.
Now before I put my feet up, time to take a big gulp of water and check the latest news.
Now before I put my feet up, time to take a big gulp of water and check the latest news.
Reposted by Helen Belcher
That pro-trans bias just keeps showing up doesn’t it
From r/TransgenderUK: The BBC is putting together a hit piece against GenderGP.
November 25, 2025 at 5:54 PM
That pro-trans bias just keeps showing up doesn’t it
Reposted by Helen Belcher
When I asked Nigel Farage's spokesman last week, he flatly denied that his boss had ever racially abused anyone.
Now Farage is only saying he never did so in a "hurtful way".
Does he think there's a non-hurtful way to racially abuse someone?
Now Farage is only saying he never did so in a "hurtful way".
Does he think there's a non-hurtful way to racially abuse someone?
November 24, 2025 at 8:21 PM
When I asked Nigel Farage's spokesman last week, he flatly denied that his boss had ever racially abused anyone.
Now Farage is only saying he never did so in a "hurtful way".
Does he think there's a non-hurtful way to racially abuse someone?
Now Farage is only saying he never did so in a "hurtful way".
Does he think there's a non-hurtful way to racially abuse someone?
Reposted by Helen Belcher
“Building the evidence” sounds very similar to something that RFKjr said RE: acetaminophen and autism.
That time, Wes Streeting said that people should trust doctors over politicians.
Only as long as they’re saying things you haven’t found a reason to disagree with, I guess.
That time, Wes Streeting said that people should trust doctors over politicians.
Only as long as they’re saying things you haven’t found a reason to disagree with, I guess.
November 24, 2025 at 2:18 PM
“Building the evidence” sounds very similar to something that RFKjr said RE: acetaminophen and autism.
That time, Wes Streeting said that people should trust doctors over politicians.
Only as long as they’re saying things you haven’t found a reason to disagree with, I guess.
That time, Wes Streeting said that people should trust doctors over politicians.
Only as long as they’re saying things you haven’t found a reason to disagree with, I guess.
Reposted by Helen Belcher
Here's a seven-point peace plan:
November 23, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Here's a seven-point peace plan:
Reposted by Helen Belcher
"Reform would be worse" is both entirely correct and entirely irrelevant until polling day 2029. What matters right now is that Labour's approach is morally repugnant on its own terms, *and is empowering Reform*. As things stand today, its not Labour or Reform. Its Labour *then* Reform.
While it feels like I'm repeatedly slamming my head against a brick wall repeating this massively simple concept. Saying "Reform would be worse" doesn't make what Labour is doing better. Labour is now the most anti-immigration, anti-any marginalised group, government we have seen in decades. 1/
Very long thread: As with many of Labour's anti-immigration policies, this isn't new. British police have been stationed in other countries for this purpose for a long time
It does however show how Labour is pushing more on anti-immigration than previous governments. 1/
www.lbc.co.uk/article/shab...
It does however show how Labour is pushing more on anti-immigration than previous governments. 1/
www.lbc.co.uk/article/shab...
November 22, 2025 at 10:03 AM
"Reform would be worse" is both entirely correct and entirely irrelevant until polling day 2029. What matters right now is that Labour's approach is morally repugnant on its own terms, *and is empowering Reform*. As things stand today, its not Labour or Reform. Its Labour *then* Reform.
Reposted by Helen Belcher
“Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom”
November 22, 2025 at 9:09 AM
“Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom”
Reposted by Helen Belcher
Key info on the puberty blocker trial available at: transactual.org.uk/the-pathways...
Read thread to find out what the protocol says at a glance and to read a summary of our statement.
Full statement at: transactual.org.uk/blog/2025/11...
#BlockerTrial #NHS #DHSC #Trans #Nonbinary #TransRights
Read thread to find out what the protocol says at a glance and to read a summary of our statement.
Full statement at: transactual.org.uk/blog/2025/11...
#BlockerTrial #NHS #DHSC #Trans #Nonbinary #TransRights
November 22, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Key info on the puberty blocker trial available at: transactual.org.uk/the-pathways...
Read thread to find out what the protocol says at a glance and to read a summary of our statement.
Full statement at: transactual.org.uk/blog/2025/11...
#BlockerTrial #NHS #DHSC #Trans #Nonbinary #TransRights
Read thread to find out what the protocol says at a glance and to read a summary of our statement.
Full statement at: transactual.org.uk/blog/2025/11...
#BlockerTrial #NHS #DHSC #Trans #Nonbinary #TransRights
Coming late to this particular party but another, very possibly intended, consequence of such a "do you look right" policy would be to make the cost of being visibly or openly trans way too high for most people. So that's trans people who go on to the media or get engaged with campaigns.
The draft EHRC Code of Practice, as reported in the Times, now admits that there is no way to enforce the anti-trans bathroom ban other than based on policing the appearance and gender presentation of all service users.
#EHRC #TransRights #ScrapTheBathroomBan #Trans #Nonbinary #EqualityAct
#EHRC #TransRights #ScrapTheBathroomBan #Trans #Nonbinary #EqualityAct
November 21, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Coming late to this particular party but another, very possibly intended, consequence of such a "do you look right" policy would be to make the cost of being visibly or openly trans way too high for most people. So that's trans people who go on to the media or get engaged with campaigns.
Another interesting thread
1/🧵 The good people of the Cabinet Office has found a copy of the Department for Education and Employment’s drafting instructions* for the Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999.
* the Parly Counsel does vetting only in this case, so the instructions is to DfEE’s in-house lawyers
* the Parly Counsel does vetting only in this case, so the instructions is to DfEE’s in-house lawyers
Sex Discrimination Gender Reassignment Regulations 1999 Drafting Instructions - a Freedom of Information request to Government Equalities Office
Please send me copies of the Sex Discrimination Gender Reassignment Regulations 1999’s Drafting Instructions given to the Parliamentary Counsel. If you can’t locate all versions, send me any one of th...
www.whatdotheyknow.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Another interesting thread
Reposted by Helen Belcher
"Trans people could be asked about whether they should be accessing single-sex services based on their physical appearance."
No. not "trans people". ANYONE. This moral panic leads inexorably to the policing of women based on their appearance deemed to be "unfeminine".
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
No. not "trans people". ANYONE. This moral panic leads inexorably to the policing of women based on their appearance deemed to be "unfeminine".
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Trans people could be barred from services based on appearance
The new code of practice on access to single-sex services cannot gain legal force until it gets sign-off from ministers.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 3:36 PM
"Trans people could be asked about whether they should be accessing single-sex services based on their physical appearance."
No. not "trans people". ANYONE. This moral panic leads inexorably to the policing of women based on their appearance deemed to be "unfeminine".
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
No. not "trans people". ANYONE. This moral panic leads inexorably to the policing of women based on their appearance deemed to be "unfeminine".
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Helen Belcher
How many older journalists and papers look back at their role whipping up hatred against gay people like me in the 80's and 90's with pride and a sense they did right? Very few. So what do *you*, today's journos and papers, think your prospects are after re-running same campaign against trans folk?
November 20, 2025 at 11:27 PM
How many older journalists and papers look back at their role whipping up hatred against gay people like me in the 80's and 90's with pride and a sense they did right? Very few. So what do *you*, today's journos and papers, think your prospects are after re-running same campaign against trans folk?
Reposted by Helen Belcher
Not much to say about Trans Day of Remembrance anymore besides “try loving and celebrating us while we are alive”
November 20, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Not much to say about Trans Day of Remembrance anymore besides “try loving and celebrating us while we are alive”
Reposted by Helen Belcher
Discworld QOTD, from Feet of Clay, for Trans Day of Remembrance
November 20, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Discworld QOTD, from Feet of Clay, for Trans Day of Remembrance
Reposted by Helen Belcher
More than a few British-born people I know are finding Britain a less attractive place to *STAY* because of this sort of thing.
Yesterday the UK Home Secretary said in a TV interview, and I quote: "We want to make the UK a less attractive place for people to come." Job well done on that score, I'd say.
I don’t know what to say anymore other than to remind those in power that refugees are human beings with equal rights who, along with their children, deserve a safe, stable & integrated life in their communities and that what they’re breaking now with this performative cruelty can’t be fixed later.
November 19, 2025 at 9:22 AM
More than a few British-born people I know are finding Britain a less attractive place to *STAY* because of this sort of thing.
Reposted by Helen Belcher
Is it a threat to free speech when the President of the United States threatens to yank the broadcast license of a channel whose reporters are asking him challenging questions?
I ask because I feel like there used to be tons of pundits worried about free speech. Where'd they go?
I ask because I feel like there used to be tons of pundits worried about free speech. Where'd they go?
Trump in response to an Epstein question: "ABC, your company, your crappy company is one of the perpetrators. I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman, who should take a look at that."
November 18, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Is it a threat to free speech when the President of the United States threatens to yank the broadcast license of a channel whose reporters are asking him challenging questions?
I ask because I feel like there used to be tons of pundits worried about free speech. Where'd they go?
I ask because I feel like there used to be tons of pundits worried about free speech. Where'd they go?
Reposted by Helen Belcher
Trans Awareness Week
Danger - Conversion Therapist at work
Every line of this is wrong.
No-one ‘identifies as trans’. They might identify as as male or female and that might differ from their birth sex. More rarely, they may identify with a more complex identity - non-binary, gender-fluid etc.
Danger - Conversion Therapist at work
Every line of this is wrong.
No-one ‘identifies as trans’. They might identify as as male or female and that might differ from their birth sex. More rarely, they may identify with a more complex identity - non-binary, gender-fluid etc.
November 18, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Trans Awareness Week
Danger - Conversion Therapist at work
Every line of this is wrong.
No-one ‘identifies as trans’. They might identify as as male or female and that might differ from their birth sex. More rarely, they may identify with a more complex identity - non-binary, gender-fluid etc.
Danger - Conversion Therapist at work
Every line of this is wrong.
No-one ‘identifies as trans’. They might identify as as male or female and that might differ from their birth sex. More rarely, they may identify with a more complex identity - non-binary, gender-fluid etc.