Lauren Dobson-Hughes
@ldobsonhughes.bsky.social
I run an organisation that designs policy and campaigns on foreign policy, gender, health and rights. Used to work in two Parliaments. Mancunian in Canada
One day, this period will end. What goes up must come down. We can’t control the outcome, but we can control whether we emerge with our integrity
November 27, 2025 at 10:36 PM
One day, this period will end. What goes up must come down. We can’t control the outcome, but we can control whether we emerge with our integrity
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
The "don't have an extra kid if you can't afford it" brigade get awfully upset when you suggest they don't stay in their £2m house if they can't afford it, don't they?
November 27, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The "don't have an extra kid if you can't afford it" brigade get awfully upset when you suggest they don't stay in their £2m house if they can't afford it, don't they?
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
The UK, where the day after a decision to take half a million children out of poverty, the media & political world has been full of sneering at those same children & their families, labelling them as ‘Benefits Street’, while the same people are moaning about a tax on £2m mansions. Shameful stuff.
November 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
The UK, where the day after a decision to take half a million children out of poverty, the media & political world has been full of sneering at those same children & their families, labelling them as ‘Benefits Street’, while the same people are moaning about a tax on £2m mansions. Shameful stuff.
Well, this is the most depressing story you'll read all month. No aspect of it isn't depressing
defector.com/why-wont-nor...
defector.com/why-wont-nor...
Why Won’t Nora The Leopard Seal Abandon Her Dead Pups? | Defector
In the fall of 2021, Renato Borras-Chavez, a marine mammal ecologist at the University of Rhode Island, spotted a leopard seal on an ice floe. Borras-Chavez was on a research expedition to a glacial f...
defector.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Well, this is the most depressing story you'll read all month. No aspect of it isn't depressing
defector.com/why-wont-nor...
defector.com/why-wont-nor...
The problem with using ChatGPT to draft your lawsuit is it tells you your homophobia is a protected disability and therefore, everyone must be forced to remove rainbow flags because they distress you
Spoiler: that's not how the law works
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Spoiler: that's not how the law works
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Bank customer with ‘phobia of Pride flags’ loses case against NatWest
Mark Jennings claimed Pride-related paraphernalia at bank branch caused him ‘severe psychological distress’
www.independent.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 9:02 PM
The problem with using ChatGPT to draft your lawsuit is it tells you your homophobia is a protected disability and therefore, everyone must be forced to remove rainbow flags because they distress you
Spoiler: that's not how the law works
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Spoiler: that's not how the law works
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
I will believe in the end of identity politics when steel and lumber (28,000 jobs and 105,000 jobs respectively) stop getting bailouts, while higher education (310,000 jobs) collapses in front of our eyes because it's full of ivory tower elites
November 26, 2025 at 8:38 PM
I will believe in the end of identity politics when steel and lumber (28,000 jobs and 105,000 jobs respectively) stop getting bailouts, while higher education (310,000 jobs) collapses in front of our eyes because it's full of ivory tower elites
When you think about it, every day is AIDS Day when your funding cuts have caused 134,000 adult deaths and 14,300 child deaths from HIV this year alone
pepfar.impactcounter.com
pepfar.impactcounter.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:45 PM
When you think about it, every day is AIDS Day when your funding cuts have caused 134,000 adult deaths and 14,300 child deaths from HIV this year alone
pepfar.impactcounter.com
pepfar.impactcounter.com
The race for United Nations Secretary General kicks off this week
The US has objected to encouraging female candidates on the grounds that appointments should be merit-based only
*Stares at all current US officials with eyebrows raised so high they're on the moon*
www.reuters.com/world/un-kic...
The US has objected to encouraging female candidates on the grounds that appointments should be merit-based only
*Stares at all current US officials with eyebrows raised so high they're on the moon*
www.reuters.com/world/un-kic...
www.reuters.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:36 PM
The race for United Nations Secretary General kicks off this week
The US has objected to encouraging female candidates on the grounds that appointments should be merit-based only
*Stares at all current US officials with eyebrows raised so high they're on the moon*
www.reuters.com/world/un-kic...
The US has objected to encouraging female candidates on the grounds that appointments should be merit-based only
*Stares at all current US officials with eyebrows raised so high they're on the moon*
www.reuters.com/world/un-kic...
Only men who don’t look after their own kids think women have children for the £17.25 a week in child benefit
November 26, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Only men who don’t look after their own kids think women have children for the £17.25 a week in child benefit
*Taps the Marilyn Frye 1983 sign again*
November 26, 2025 at 5:15 PM
*Taps the Marilyn Frye 1983 sign again*
You shouldn't go into politics to worry about bond markets or VC deals
If you do nothing else with your political career, lifting half a million children out of poverty is more than most politicians ever achieve
If you do nothing else with your political career, lifting half a million children out of poverty is more than most politicians ever achieve
And the two child benefit limit is abolished. An enormous victory for those who have campaigned tirelessly for eight long years through successive governments. This will lift at least 450,000 children out of poverty. Fewer kids will be hungry. No more women forced to disclose their rape.
November 26, 2025 at 2:03 PM
You shouldn't go into politics to worry about bond markets or VC deals
If you do nothing else with your political career, lifting half a million children out of poverty is more than most politicians ever achieve
If you do nothing else with your political career, lifting half a million children out of poverty is more than most politicians ever achieve
Reposted by Lauren Dobson-Hughes
Over 60 per cent of gambling profits come from just 5 per cent of users, many of whom are at high risk of serious harm, including debt, mental health issues, family breakdown and suicide
November 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Over 60 per cent of gambling profits come from just 5 per cent of users, many of whom are at high risk of serious harm, including debt, mental health issues, family breakdown and suicide
In divisive times, we should all bask in the warm glow of a sublime Nigel Farage burn
Reeves: "We are ramping up sanctions on Russia and we are freezing known Russian assets. But let me be clear, I don't actually mean the honourable mention for Clacton."
November 26, 2025 at 1:20 PM
In divisive times, we should all bask in the warm glow of a sublime Nigel Farage burn
My kingdom for feminist economics. It is entirely unsurprising that women defer decisions on their money to male partners, except when the decisions are secret from male partners. Then women spend their money on what they actually want
voxdev.org/topic/social...
voxdev.org/topic/social...
November 25, 2025 at 11:36 PM
My kingdom for feminist economics. It is entirely unsurprising that women defer decisions on their money to male partners, except when the decisions are secret from male partners. Then women spend their money on what they actually want
voxdev.org/topic/social...
voxdev.org/topic/social...
Tomorrow is the UK budget. A relief to everyone who has been subject to four months of daily budget leaks, retractions, gossip and trial balloons, and feels like they’ve suffered through ten budgets already www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Millions of UK workers to get pay rise as Reeves plans increased minimum wage
Chancellor says people must be ‘properly rewarded for their hard work’ with 16- to 21-year-olds also in line for raise
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Tomorrow is the UK budget. A relief to everyone who has been subject to four months of daily budget leaks, retractions, gossip and trial balloons, and feels like they’ve suffered through ten budgets already www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
EU’s highest court rules same-sex marriages must be respected throughout the bloc, and rebuked Poland for refusing to recognise a marriage between two of its citizens that took place in Germany
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
EU court rules entire bloc must respect same-sex marriages in rebuke to Poland
Couple who married in Germany had their right to a ‘normal family life’ impeded, court of justice finds
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:56 PM
EU’s highest court rules same-sex marriages must be respected throughout the bloc, and rebuked Poland for refusing to recognise a marriage between two of its citizens that took place in Germany
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Take a few million of all the new defence spending, and fund African excellence in disease surveillance and Disease X tracking
For the cost of a wing mirror on a fighter jet, we could avoid the next pandemic www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
For the cost of a wing mirror on a fighter jet, we could avoid the next pandemic www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Inside the African lab hunting for Disease X – and the next pandemic
As rich countries turn their back on foreign aid, the Institut Pasteur in Senegal is preparing the continent to fight deadly diseases that can spread silently across borders. Rachel Schraer reports
www.independent.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Take a few million of all the new defence spending, and fund African excellence in disease surveillance and Disease X tracking
For the cost of a wing mirror on a fighter jet, we could avoid the next pandemic www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
For the cost of a wing mirror on a fighter jet, we could avoid the next pandemic www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Even fictitious positive portrayals of refugees are now unacceptable to racists in the UK
I wonder if you begin to suspect you might be the baddie, when you're threatening violence to children over a school play
I also have bad news about the whole nativity thingy
www.bbc.com/news/article...
I wonder if you begin to suspect you might be the baddie, when you're threatening violence to children over a school play
I also have bad news about the whole nativity thingy
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Inverness school's Christmas show cancelled after 'racist' abuse
Highland Council says some of the online messages were directed at staff at the primary.
www.bbc.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Even fictitious positive portrayals of refugees are now unacceptable to racists in the UK
I wonder if you begin to suspect you might be the baddie, when you're threatening violence to children over a school play
I also have bad news about the whole nativity thingy
www.bbc.com/news/article...
I wonder if you begin to suspect you might be the baddie, when you're threatening violence to children over a school play
I also have bad news about the whole nativity thingy
www.bbc.com/news/article...
An excellent proposal to get the UK out of its economic hole.
Infrastructure investment, first class universities, cities as knowledge hubs, flexible labour market, and boosting value-add sectors
Naturally, the UK is doing the exact opposite in every conceivable way
www.ft.com/content/17e1...
Infrastructure investment, first class universities, cities as knowledge hubs, flexible labour market, and boosting value-add sectors
Naturally, the UK is doing the exact opposite in every conceivable way
www.ft.com/content/17e1...
How to get the UK out of its economic hole
Reeves’ challenge is to remedy the disaster that Brexit has been for the country
www.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:22 PM
An excellent proposal to get the UK out of its economic hole.
Infrastructure investment, first class universities, cities as knowledge hubs, flexible labour market, and boosting value-add sectors
Naturally, the UK is doing the exact opposite in every conceivable way
www.ft.com/content/17e1...
Infrastructure investment, first class universities, cities as knowledge hubs, flexible labour market, and boosting value-add sectors
Naturally, the UK is doing the exact opposite in every conceivable way
www.ft.com/content/17e1...
Do Less Things, Do Them Really Well: A Recipe for Canadian Aid.
Spurred by an excellent @charlesjkenny.bsky.social piece on global aid, I did some thinking about what this should mean for Canada
ldhconsulting.org/2025/11/25/d...
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
Spurred by an excellent @charlesjkenny.bsky.social piece on global aid, I did some thinking about what this should mean for Canada
ldhconsulting.org/2025/11/25/d...
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
Do Less Things, Do Them Really Well: A Recipe for Canadian Aid
Even before the Budget 2025 announcement of $2.7bn in cuts to Canada’s aid budget, there was a recognition Canadian aid needed to change. Partly driven by the destruction of USAID, partly by the el…
ldhconsulting.org
November 25, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Do Less Things, Do Them Really Well: A Recipe for Canadian Aid.
Spurred by an excellent @charlesjkenny.bsky.social piece on global aid, I did some thinking about what this should mean for Canada
ldhconsulting.org/2025/11/25/d...
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
Spurred by an excellent @charlesjkenny.bsky.social piece on global aid, I did some thinking about what this should mean for Canada
ldhconsulting.org/2025/11/25/d...
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
Superb summary of the Global Fund replenishment, and why it holds a mirror up to broader geopolitical shifts. "The rhetoric of shared responsibility persists but the financial backbone that sustains it is weakening"
aidspan.org/Blog/view/32...
aidspan.org/Blog/view/32...
GFO Aidspan
aidspan.org
November 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Superb summary of the Global Fund replenishment, and why it holds a mirror up to broader geopolitical shifts. "The rhetoric of shared responsibility persists but the financial backbone that sustains it is weakening"
aidspan.org/Blog/view/32...
aidspan.org/Blog/view/32...
Harrowing account of how Denmark uses cod psychology and general knowledge tests to remove Greenlandic children from their mothers www.bbc.com/news/article...
November 25, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Harrowing account of how Denmark uses cod psychology and general knowledge tests to remove Greenlandic children from their mothers www.bbc.com/news/article...
UK now at the point where the former Chair of the Racial Equalities Commission is calling for campaigns of terror against people of colour on the streets of the UK
Trevor Philips in the Times, calling for a Trump/Miller-style of random deportations based on skin colour.
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
November 24, 2025 at 11:05 PM
UK now at the point where the former Chair of the Racial Equalities Commission is calling for campaigns of terror against people of colour on the streets of the UK
Th irony of all this is that feminist analysis is the best way to understand current geopolitics and shifts in and between many countries
Nobody understands raw power and how it gets (mis)used like feminists nationalnewswatch.com/2025/11/24/g...
Nobody understands raw power and how it gets (mis)used like feminists nationalnewswatch.com/2025/11/24/g...
MPs swipe at Carney's claim that Canada has no feminist foreign policy
National Newswatch: Canada's most comprehensive site for political news and views.
nationalnewswatch.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Th irony of all this is that feminist analysis is the best way to understand current geopolitics and shifts in and between many countries
Nobody understands raw power and how it gets (mis)used like feminists nationalnewswatch.com/2025/11/24/g...
Nobody understands raw power and how it gets (mis)used like feminists nationalnewswatch.com/2025/11/24/g...
Mr Beast and Rockefeller: The most unlikely partnership but somehow it works www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/beast-p...
Beast Philanthropy and Rockefeller Foundation Launch Strategic Partnership
GREENVILLE, NC; NEW YORK | November 24, 2025 — Beast Philanthropy, the charitable organization founded by Jimmy Donaldson, the world’s #1 creator known
www.rockefellerfoundation.org
November 24, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Mr Beast and Rockefeller: The most unlikely partnership but somehow it works www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/beast-p...