OK. Not the slightest bit sorry, my account will now be a #Eurovision account for the next many hours.
My top five going in are probably...
- Finland
- Sweden
- Ukraine
- Italy
- Norway
Now. I've picked out a pair of sequinned fishnets, but I cannot work out what else... 😱
Help me out, guys, have a gone too serious for #Eurovision ??
Wary to start livetweeting it as I usually get too smashed to carry on but... OK, for now, Cyprus was sexy and fun. Put that on in a club and I'll dance. Not bad. #Eurovision
Dramatic smokey staging doing lots to elevate Albania's entry... although I always appreciate a native language entry and she has a heck of a voice #Eurovision
I enjoy Blegium tbh, but it's not the vibe for this show imho, too moody #Eurovision
Ooh Russia's up with a woman from a refugee background, victim of a lot of racism and bigotry from some Russians. Gotta stan #Eurovision
Huge extra points for bringing in videos of diverse Russian women on the screen - "Are you ready for change?" Aahhhh omg here love her!! 💘 Russia just got bumped waayy up my list!! #Eurovision
Malta is fun - catnip to the crowd here with me, they love it. Meh. Middling. #Eurovision
I mean Serbia is meh as a song, but the performance has the energy we are living for! Those extensions are wi-i-ild #Eurovision
Fab to have an openly trans woman presenting this year. Looking incredible Nicky 🤩🤩
I mean anyone who doesn't enjoy this cutie is just hating on UK for the sake of it ... which I understand of course. But come on,its joyous 😊 #Eurovision
Greece! Points already for the catsuit already. Όμορφη!!
OMG INVISIBLE MAN!!!!!!!!!!
10 points for the invisible man!!! #Eurovision
Switzerland and I'm sorry but I don't see the appeal. Très meh. #Eurovision
Look we know Iceland is awesome... but I'm sorry I don't APPROVE of coming back with the same act again... even though ok it was great #Eurovision
Spain is a pretty boy with great hair, a nice voice and a pretty song. No complaints. #Eurovision
I think T this point I have to stop tweeting or I'll break my rule on drunk tweeting. Enjoy the show,folks. Still Finland to come. Think of me I will be jamming 😉😊🥰😘 #Eurovision
With my extremely taking this very seriously indeed face on,
The gap between popular vote & so-called experts should get #EUROVISION to reassess itself.
The people want fun. The people want rock. The people must be heard.
At least I think that was my main rant last night...?
Also idc about all the hot takes on the UK.
I just continue to be amazed that there are people, lots of them, out there who just don't watch this show. Out of choice????
It's SO GOOD THOUGH like why? Whyy?? Do not try to tell me I DO NOT CARE WHY. Massive loss for those ppl😁🤷♀️
(I think I started on that rant around the Lithuania point. The why would you not watch this rant. Its just golden.)
Final final thought I promise I'll be back regular programming of migration rants soon but here's my revised post-final top 5:
1. Finland (robbed) 2. Sweden 3. Netherlands 4. Italy 5. .... I think Russia squeezes in
Gimme yours!!
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Priti Patel will be announcing some re-hashed and possibly some new immigration policies today at an event by @BrightblueGB, nominally the progressive think tank of the Tory party.
Patel will be once again claiming overwhelming public support for her anti-migrant and anti-refugee agenda, despite extremely limited evidence of anything of the kind.
Immigration is not a top concern in the country any more, but by God she's sure trying to change that.
Thanks to those who pointed out I in fact did mean @WeAreBrightBlue who are running the event alongside @britishfuture and who have put on a very interesting-looking couple of panels to follow on from the Home Secretary's speech discussing the challenges her policies provoke.
Today @jameskirkup has a piece in the Times explaining where he thinks people who campaign for a less brutal immigration system go wrong
He's far from alone in taking this view from a generally liberal perspective, so without any personal antagonism to him, I'm going to respond👇
The first charge - that we want open borders.
Well, we might well see that as the end goal, yes, but it's not a fair charge. When people stand up against deportations it 1. doesn't follow that anyone should be able to come in, just that these people shouldn't be forced out
2. Is not necessarily the appropriate time for advocates to start discussing who they *would* kick out. Not talking about who it is legitimate to deport, when talking about not deporting one or other individual, does not = calling for open borders.
This is a strange straw man.
Someone asked me, and I think they have a point perhaps, whether the attempted deportation of 2 Indian men from Kenmure Street is linked to the new pact with India on migration.
It's possible. Having this deal in place will make undocumented Indians more of a target, but...
Given the feedback loop that exists in immigration enforcement "intelligence" (which is largely based on evidence collected from previous raids, and denunciations from members of the public, which they dont monitor ethnicity data for, nor publish how they control for quality...)
Due to this Indian communities are already one of the most targeted demographics.
However, this new deal may mean they are specifically seeking to pursue Indian people who they have on radar as deportation flights ought to be smoothly facilitated to India because of the deal.
Also Tuesday @BellRibeiroAddy tabled an EDM in support of @JCWI_UK's campaign #WeAreHere
It calls for a new route to regularisation for our undocumented migrant population & better routes to secure permanent status for all migrants making the UK their home edm.parliament.uk/early-day-moti…
I wrote an article for @GreenWorld_UK about how Priti Patel's Nasty New Plan for Immigration shows she has learned all the wrong lessons from the Covid pandemic, continuing to push migrant workers into precarity, exposing them to greater risk greenworld.org.uk/article/govern…
They don't even have right to rent checks in Scotland (thanks to @JCWI_UK's legal challenge) but the politics of it are insidious.
The divisions and hostility creep way beyond the supposed intended reach of these policies and these are the results.
Our case against Right to Rent, that criminalises renting a home to a migrant without checking their status showed how the policy is poorly understood & results in many landlords simply refusing to rent to any migrant.
That's the racist impact we see here jcwi.org.uk/right-to-rent
Most immigrants in our system are forced into a "temporary" status for years or even a decade before they can get a permanent status. Patel loves this despite the pointless misery it causes.
Now they want to do the same for people recognised as fleeing persecution. #r4today
People who are recognised as fulfilling the extremely stringent requirements of the refugee process are by definition victims of trauma and persecution.
Making their lives unstable for years, denying them support, is obviously cruel, unnecessary & counter-productive. #r4today