One thing I wanted to highlight in my most recent Substack was how quickly nebulous (mostly Islamophobic) suspicion around mass Palestine protests has calcified into hysterical fact. A quick example: On Sat, a separate rally to the mass march was organised by an Islamic fundamentalist group. Different location, different people. At that rally, a video was captured of a man shouting 'jihad'.

https://x.com/hurryupharry/status/1715732342604505530?s=20/video/1

Maybe you've never heard of 'Maya Lothian-McLean' @afneil because that's not my name. Merci for the write up tho! dailymail.co.uk/debate/article… Andrew Neil is really mad at the NYT publishing op-eds from names he doesn't recognise lol. Only Andrew Neil is allowed to publish with the NYT!

what is this hunny #LoveIsland it brings me no joy to report that the interpol are on their way to apprehend Laura for aesthetic crimes (with secondary charges of bad hosting) #LoveIsland

Bridgerton popularising string covers of pop music has a lot to answer for... and I lap up every single one #LoveIsland Gemma is 19 and I hope in a few years she stops taking herself so seriously. Life will be more fun! And she won't dress like she's starring in the Dallas reboot #LoveIsland

Got down to Colnbook Removal Centre; at the moment activists are still blocking the road, trying to buy time for remaining people yet to be moved to flight News in: injunction has been successful - one of those detained will not be on flight

Outside the Home Office for @novaramedia, live tweeting today’s demo against the #Rwanda deportations which are set to begin tomorrow. Protesters are starting to gather in earnest, as police struggle to usher traffic down Marsham Street. .@bencsmoke is leading speakers today; he starts by noting the presence of @HackneyCopWatch and Legal Observers to support in response to police presence.

Fun fact about Matt Faulding: he met someone close to me recently who was introduced to him as not being a Starmer fan. Faulding said: 'Oh are you another antisemitic lefty?'. Began introducing him to others – including a London Lab politican – as an "antisemitic lefty"

https://twitter.com/AaronBastani/status/1470354490771611653

It was just a massive joke to them; they were making gags about the left being wholly antisemitic and about "rooting them all out". The only thing he knew about this person was they didn't like Starmer – that was enough in Faulding's head to deem him antisemitic.

"If we don't make a difference, 'no justice, no peace' means nothing" says Brenda Weinberg, sister of Brian Douglas in a pensive speech at the UFFC march. She says we should have owned the street today, not been pushed off the road. She's right. Protesting isn't the be all and end all but I've noticed faltering attendance from those who could very easily come and show up. And we need people to show up.

The story of Wray & Nephew rum - now an iconic Jamaican export - is so fascinating to me. As with so many stories out of Jamaica, it's inextricable from British colonialism. John Wray, the founder of the brand, was a Scottish wheelwright and tavern owner in Kingston. The 'nephew' of Wray & Nephew was Col. Charles James Ward who built the business up after his death and was a major Kingston philanthropist, bequeathing the Ward Theatre to city. He was also a prominent politician

End of 'freedom week' and I'm interested to know if anyone has personally relaxed their behaviour or if Delta fears have meant nothing much has changed. I took the tube this week and the ratio of masks to maskless was the same as before but have no idea what clubs/bars are like as I haven't ventured to one since legal restrictions lifted

The Maya Forstater appeal was solely about whether the first tribunal erred in concluding her transphobic beliefs were philosophical or not. The judgement decided it did. It specifically outlines this doesn't mean Forstater is free to harass, discriminate & misgender trans people "That does not mean, however, that those with gender-critical beliefs can indiscriminately & gratuitously refer to trans persons in terms other than they would wish. Such conduct could [...] amount to harassment of, or discrimination against, a trans person."

New episode of @BroccoliContent's Human Resources, hosted by me, drops today. And it's a really special one. We're heading to Wales – Powys to be exact – to uncover a history that binds together Welsh labourers and enslaved Africans through the threads of a particular cloth... Have you heard of Welsh Plains Cloth? It was made from a type of wool. It was rough & hard. In the 18th century, it was the centre of a cottage industry that sprang up in mid-Wales, that increased the fortunes of the communities making it. It had another name too: Negro Cloth.

gal-dem.com isn't down, just FYI, if you'd like to go and read some good features. Want to read about the archival project documenting sex worker histories? Right here, baby! gal-dem.com/heaux-history-…

There's been a lot of talk about a gossip forums. Recently my name has cropped up on an infamous one, with notable posts from a user who also posts viciously about influencers, including people like Tolly from The Receipts, Ben Anderson, Rochelle Humes & a friend of mine This user 'lumpfish' is a 'VIP member' of this forum. They comment voraciously &without any empathy for the people they're talking about. The 3rd shot is their response to someone going quiet on socials after taking part in speculation that saw someone's hair fall out from stress

Just seen another high profile media appointment of someone who drove young staff to despair with bullying, misogyny and racism. Now going to be leading a youth-focused brand despite not understanding that audience at all. These people only fail upwards. I wonder if the timing of an investigation into bullying allegations had anything to do with the move to a new gig... who's to say!

What's really annoying is Calvin Robinson here is articulating a right-wing version of an intersectional solidarity approach that is only going to become more powerful for the Tories and co in courting white & ethnic minority voters alike

https://twitter.com/talkRADIO/status/1379564030034128903

It's a warped, disingenuous version of the solidarity politics we should pursue on the left because it denies the existence of structural racism etc but it recognises that people of colour aren't a monolith and have multiple motivations

Good to see the horror of TL laid bare

https://twitter.com/sarahmanavis/status/1379724762533015554

Found out about TL when some of my friends got mentioned on it. I love gossiping but this isn't gossip, it's obsession. I know privacy online is a myth but this goes beyond anything. Makes my skin crawl, no matter whether the person being talked about is a mate or not.

massivesci.com/articles/covid… Interesting study from last year about the impact of Covid-19 on drug use; alcohol use increased, as did use of the likes of Valium & Xanax Cocaine and MDMA use was down reportedly, even though respondents said there was no trouble in obtaining them, which obviously speaks to them being more situational drugs. However, anecdotally I know groups where use of cocaine, k etc has increased b/c ppl are doing it

This man is worse than an undercover cop it seems - he's an idiot who does their job of agitating for them without even being paid

https://twitter.com/ProjPM/status/1378752035437350916

Sorry, word just in that I have to 'respect him' because of solidarity. Thanks for letting me know!

The VISION he has!

https://twitter.com/LilNasX/status/1375266773646204929

Lil Nas X, Cardi and fka twigs all have the same visionary energy, they make work that's truly exciting

Watching PMQs really drives home how many terrible young (mostly men, it must be said) Tories hate any migration and love to suck up to Priti Patel. They're all in bad blazers. They're not chinless wonders, they're in the Ben Bradley mould.