Another day of attempting to steer people from disinformation and arguing with the council.
I had a mental breakdown. I really wanted to quit there and then.
But I'm still here, and I'm still running, I'm still investigating, and I will not give up. This investigation could turn someone psychotic.
As an investigative journalist, I want to hear all sides. I've finally now spoken to the council press office after many attempts!
I've given Manchester City Council one final opportunity to comment before publishing our full investigation, Wednesday 9pm, on Wythenshawe's Civic £750m regeneration.
Regular readers of Queer Love Riot, will know that I'm obsessed with Wythenshawe.
Despite being objectively strange at times, and the fact the local square is a never ending construction area, there's a certain magic to it.
It's not just a council estate. This place is an entire bloody experience.
@bevcraig.bsky.social I have CC'd you an email today regarding the TC1180 government tender for Wythenshawe's Civic.
I have been completely unable to contact the council. This is an opportunity to reach out to a journalist to comment before the matter gets referred to the national auditors' office.
I'n really pissed about the lack of legal protections for kids in this country especially for queer families.
If you have a chronic disability, it ESPECIALLY feels impossible.
It is depressing that you this day, we still aren't able to tax the billionaires properly to fund women's health research.
It's narrative journalism, and as a narrative journalist, to me that's a framing device.
The same problems what led to the Henry VIII statues is the same reason why this SI would be problematic, i.e. government overreach.
But to those who don't read narrative often, yeah, a little jarring to read!
As for the take, "obscure law from 1593" is neutral, but I see your interpretation.
The point of the article is for people to learn about SIs & help people understand that SIs have been bickered about for 500 years, and will for 500 years more.
It's a clever condensing of concepts to a word count.
Reform currently is still polling to win the GE if held tomorrow. That is alone a good reason to wait.
As for SIs, the huge risk is from incomplete legislation on a highly technical, divisive issue.
It needs to be primary as it will need MPs in their sectors to weigh in, not just a few ministers.
The idea is to allow for action on the most egregious cases, and to not criminalise innocent people, avoiding the draconian Online Safety Act implementations.
Regulators should push users into licensing and only ever use criminal penalties as a very last resort in repeated, outright non-compliance.
I would rather see heavy AI users audited regularly, heavy fines introduced for illegal use, and prison sentences for people who do awful things with the tech.
As usual prohibition is not the way forward. It's how AI gets more dangerous if we wink and nod and don't introduce legal oversight. (4/4)
I believe the ethics are very similar as for the Manhattan project, e.g. nuclear power stations are a form of harm reduction for fossil fuels. The goal is ultimately gradual denuclearisation.
We'd eventually see the same with AI, as a safer technology replaces current dangerous technologies. (3/4)
A simple model or a home use model would require a cheap license of £20 a year with a small exam to ensure some knowledge of AI ethics, with exemptions for the smallest of models.
A very complex model license could be £1000+ a year and require an extensive AI ethics exam to ensure safe use. (2/4)
32.7% use AI tools in the EU.
At this point the solution in 5 years would be a compulsory licensing scheme for each type of model (small, large, specialised) ran by a regulator.
Let's call it the Office of Automation. Modelling on drone regulations would go a long way to reduce harm from AI. (1/4)
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Possibly the best gift you could give to the Daily Mail and Reform if this were successful.
This country's politics are completely beyond parody. Sure, let's use an obscure law from 1539 to force controversial legislation through. I can foresee no issues at all.
High printer activity at Queer Love Riot this evening.
It appears that we are now printing all the evidence regarding Greater Manchester regenerations. It's going to be an interesting one for Manchester City Council!
Prepare yourselves for shenanigans. Watch this space.
Here are all the people nominated for Woodhouse Park.
You can expect only the best press coverage of this ward's election as I'm bloody on the ballot. 🤣
More sloppy journalism from @manchestereveningnews.co.uk.
Imagine reporting on a guy who calls your entire region "a dumping ground" and thinking to yourself this is not problematic to publish at all!
The North West and its people are simply beautiful. Never let any extremist twat claim otherwise.
Preventing sexual harassment at work is “political.”
Offering flexible working arrangements for disabled folk is “political.”
Letting gay folks talk about their partners at work is “political.”
All organisations are implicated in politics. Controversy should not dictate if something is political.
hormuzstraitmonitor.com
If anyone would like to see a summary of what's happening on the Strait of Hormuz, this is a fantastic website.
This war is absolutely terrible. Is it really worth it to fuck up an entire country to profit off US stock prices?
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Looking forward to see which poor member of the public was persuaded to become a Reform candidate in my area.
I've given the Editor-in-Chief a heads up. Maybe we'll receive a call too? 🤣
I live in Leicestershire. Controlled by RefUK, previously Tory. Despite the promises Farage made publicly and is now weaselling my council TAX has gone UP 🤬
Cutting through all the Trump rhetoric:
The current plan of the Trump administration is to destroy power plants & other civil infrastructure if Iran does not comply with the threats.
It is unlikely at this point that we are going to see a massive escalation, but the situation is still concerning.
IEA analysis shows this is a worse oil crisis than the 70s & 20s combined.
This is the point at which fixing your energy tariffs would be worth considering, and ensuring in the summer your insulation is up to scratch.
Even if the war stops tomorrow, energy prices won't become cheap any time soon.
Doesn't go far enough. This will only help high earners and will do nothing for those who will never earn enough to repay in full in the first place.
What would ACTUALLY help as a policy: Students who haven't completed their bachelor's degrees should not have to repay anything to Student Finance.
www.thepinknews.com/2026/04/03/w...
In the latest news, PinkNews has turned into a government propaganda outlet.
When you proudly declare yourself as a journalist free newsroom, is anyone surprised that this is the end result?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Ultimately, if Labour wants to go for these voters, these people do want to see efficient councils, and the solution is more devolution of power to local areas.
When funding is so centralised and opaque, inevitably people get frustrated, and decide to vote in protest.
I have decided to log it with the RSPCA tomorrow when they are open. Can't do much with the information but morally I feel it is the right thing to do.
I need to talk about something that happened today.
On an estate in Wythenshawe, I saw animal abuse by a dog owner. I'm really frustrated as this doesn't represent us in Wythenshawe at all.
I will propose policies to help dogs locally. As someone who loves animals, this was really hard to witness.
Me! (with pink tie)
The nomination is in.
Standing is a form of closure. I survived pure hell, and now I can help in politics so my experiences don't have to happen to others in silence.
When I was 18, I came close to death due to state failure which is why I have PTSD today.
I'm thankful, and incredibly emotional.
I'm glad I was able to make a difference to democracy yesterday.
After struggling to find the nominations space, the returning officer has taken on my feedback, and extra signage to Manchester's Central Library for candidates was put up.
I appreciate this at a time when election staff are so busy!