Glad to hear that police officers in Bristol did not suffer broken bones or a punctured lung - and given this was widely reported to underline the violent nature of the protests, it's important that these details are publicised.
Avon and Somerset Police reported as fact that their officers had suffered broken bones and a punctured lung. Thankfully, this did not happen.

Why did they state this as fact? The truth matters in a climate in which our authorities seek to suppress our rights and freedoms.
Claims that Bristol police officers suffered broken bones and a collapsed lung formed the basis of horrified headlines in national media outlets.

That's used to justify demonising protesters and clamping down on the right to protest.

But these reports were entirely false.
The media simply regurgitating as fact anything the police tells them is a big problem.

Here is how the death of Ian Tomlinson was originally reported by the Evening Standard. These reports were only discredited because someone filmed his unlawful killing, as the inquest found.
And, indeed, as people are leaving the comments:

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More from @OwenJones84

22 Mar
Fascinating to see how "merciless purge of the Left" is absolutely fine and acceptable language, but "kill the Bill" - the same slogan as the trade union campaign against Ted Heath's anti-union legislation in the 1970s - makes you "fascist-adjacent". Image
Might I politely suggest that calling for "a merciless purge of the Left" makes you sound rather more fascist-adjacent than being part of a campaign to stop a right-wing government crushing peaceful protest by law.
Might I also politely suggest that if you have a record of writing disgusting racist articles for a hard right newspaper, you've lost any right to call anyone else "fascist-adjacent". Image
Read 4 tweets
4 Mar
This is worse result for Labour than the 2019 election.
Ok, all the people who said opinion polls must be taken very seriously 2015-2019 are now saying that actually opinion polls are irrelevant. Glad to know the rules have now in fact changed.
For all the people pointing to the vaccine rollout.

This is the the result of the failure to pin one of the world’s worst death tolls, death rates and economic hits on the Tories.

Instead Labour bet the house on competence rather than vision - a strategy the vaccine destroyed.
Read 5 tweets
24 Feb
The Labour leadership is now positioning itself to the right of the Tories on economic policy and refusing to rule out opposing Rishi Sunak hiking taxes on big businesses - and specifically those who have profiteered from the pandemic.

Farcical. Grotesque. Indefensible.
Who on earth is this supposed to be appeal to?

Lost Scottish voters? lol

The Red Wall? The polling consistently shows Labour to Tory voters are to the left on economics - which the Tories are adeptly exploiting.

So even by crude political logic, what on earth is the strategy
There's growing frustration among shadow ministers about this, who fear the Labour leader's office lack politics and veto any talk of Labour supporting tax rises, even if it means being outflanked by the Tories from the left.
Read 4 tweets
22 Feb
It's exhausting debating lockdown sceptics who point to economic damage to prematurely cut restrictions.

We have one of the world's worst death tolls AND recessions because we repeatedly locked down too late.

The virus is the threat to the economy. How has this not been learnt!
When people say "It's easy to support lockdown measures when it's not your business or job you're worried about."

But not locking down quickly means infections spiral out of control, so you have to impose longer, harsher restrictions which cause more damage to businesses or jobs
It's ridiculous that I still find myself debating this on TV after nearly a year of this total nightmare. How is it not completely obvious that not suppressing the virus leads to a worse economic shock in the medium and long term?

express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-rad…
Read 5 tweets
25 Jan
One of the most important themes in 'It's A Sin' was about gay/bi people and shame - caused by growing up in a society that saw gay/bi people as would-be sexual predators, violators of biological reality, threats to children, immoral, deviants, and generally undesirable.
That sense of shame afflicts lots of gay/bi people to varying degrees, and fuels higher levels of mental distress and, as a consequence, significantly higher risk of abusive relationships with drugs and alcohol.
While HIV rates remain significantly higher among gay and bisexual men, treatments now allow those with HIV to live healthy lives.

Alcohol and drug abuse as a response to shame and trauma caused by homophobia is today a bigger problem in Western nations.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Read 35 tweets
20 Jan
Lady Gaga looks sensational, 10/10
Nothing but respect for MY President!
one thing you really have to admire about right-wing is their sense of humour

Read 5 tweets

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