I do a lot of campaigning on ending violence against women and girls. Have done for years.

In January, following a debate in the House of Commons on ending violence against women and girls, some of the same individuals who openly mocked me, degraded me and made comments about raping me are now, unbelievably, trying to cast themselves as defenders of women and children. 1/ In March, I called for a wealth tax on extreme wealth to fund creaking public services, services that are on their knees after 14 years of austerity. The same individuals saying they can't get a GP appointment because of "immigrants" said I was a communist, a stupid wee girl and to let the super wealthy continue to pay virtually no taxes, leaving no money to fund public services. 2/

Absolutely disgusting to see people putting out disinformation and complete lies about a so-called vote "on an inquiry into grooming gangs. For starters, there was no "vote on a grooming gangs inquiry". It's a complete and utterly fabrication. Here's why 1/ The Children Wellbeing & Schools Bill was having a Second Reading; normally a straightforward yes/no vote. It is a Bill designed to *protect* children. Yes, you read that right. Tightening up regs around home schooling, child welfare etc. (By the way, none of this Bill applies to NI) 2/

We need to have a serious public conversation about health here. Public health. How we get well and stay well. We have high levels of trauma here, high levels of poverty- this impacts on our physical & mental health- that is much bigger than fixing Health & Social Care 1/ Health & Social Care can only be fixed through a prism of cross-departmental working. Many ppl here self medicate, in ways that are harmful to them. Others let potential health problems go as they know they can't afford to take action to change it. How wrong is that 😪 2/

My granny didn't let knickers or bras dry on the line. In case anyone saw. (She lived in the country). Looking at yourself in a mirror was a sin. Talking to a priest was forbidden. You weren't allowed back in church in those days after having a child until you were "churched". I was told not to fold my arms in case I committed the sin of drawing attention to my chest. I was not to talk to boys on the bus on the way home. Everything was your fault. Women were at fault. If anything happened, the implications from the system were that it was your fault

Bear with me, but I feel like what the Brexit debacle has done is highlight how unacquainted people within UK & indeed, the South, are with Northern Ireland. Maybe I'm just being precious, but I feel that we aren't a normal society. We have paramilitaries, segregated schools 1/ We had a conflict here for 40 years (and more) and people don't talk about it. We've people who don't ever mention what happened to them. People who get nervous when alarms go off in shops. People who still close the curtains & then turn the lights on 2/