It’s fitting that this legal case is happening in the same week as Carers Rights Day (20th Nov). We need government accountability and adequate funding for social care.

Trans People Deserve Better "Gender critical" feminism doesn't help women but it does help the far right

This piece was greenlit and then killed by a British newspaper, so I’ve decided to publish myself instead.

Trans People Deserve Better.
"Gender critical" feminism doesn't help women but it does help the far right

open.substack.com/pub/wellread...

If you don’t like being called a racist, maybe don’t make a career of saying things that appeal to racists, don’t create a political party that keeps attracting racist candidates, don’t fawn over racist world leaders, and don’t make a convicted racist the guest of honour at your party conference.

Some mushrooms with white and brown tops are growing amount dead leaves in the undergrowth. There is greenery in the background.

A brown lurcher/greyhound with a white nose is sniffing one of several mushrooms. He is wearing. Black harness and black and white checked collar. The mushrooms have white and brown tops and are growing among dead leaves. There is greenery in the background.

Trying to get pictures of things I notice on dog walks, and the dog is helping! He did not eat any mushrooms.

#lurcherlove #urbannature #dogs #dogsofbsky

“Ah," said Mr Pin. "Right. I remember. You are concerned citizens." He knew about concerned citizens. Wherever they were, they all spoke the same private language, where 'traditional values' meant 'hang someone'.

- Terry Pratchett, The Truth

You’re much closer to becoming disabled or homeless than you are to becoming rich and wealthy.

It’s not a moral failing. It’s not something you can “try harder” your way out of.

We need robust social supports & safety nets to ensure everyone is properly cared for.

A tan sighthound with a white muzzle is standing in the sunshine on grass, wearing a black harness. He’s behind a pink frame with blue paw prints on it, the National Trust logo and “Share your adventures. #poochpassport” written along the top. His back legs and tail are sticking out the far side of the frame. The shadows on the grass clearly indicate that someone is standing just out of shot holding his lead.

He didn’t fit in the dog frame though 😂
#poochpassport @nationaltrust.org.uk #lurcherlove

A narrow footpath with trees on the left hand side and a rocky crag on the right side.

A brown lurcher with a white muzzle is standing looking at the camera. He’s wearing a checked collar and black harness. He’s standing next to a table.

A tan sighthound with a white muzzle is lying on a fleecy blanket on a wooden floor with stable fixtures behind him. He’s wearing a checked collar, a black harness and a “please give me the biscuit” expression. His red lead is hooked onto a ring which must have been intended for horses harnesses.

A craggy outcrop on the left of a footpath through woods. The risks are forming a narrow archway which the path goes under. The sun is coming through the trees.

Lovely day exploring at @nationaltrust.org.uk Cragside. Me and the dog tried the Gun Walk while the others toured the house. We particularly liked the stable converted into dog friendly cafe seating, with room for him to stretch out.
#cragside #dogs #lurcherlove

Lots of tiny orange berries with a background of greenery.

Lots of little red berries on a background of greenery.

Branches covered in red berries and green leaves.

A stem with white berries with a background of greenery.

I’ve had a stressful few weeks, trying to be more aware when out and around to avoid overthinking. Spotting berries today. #urbannature

Why is it always at the furthest point of the dog walk that the heavens open?

I felt a bit smug about getting the parking space closest to the gym tonight, then realised I’m not as fully committed to extra exercise as I’d thought I was.

Government vows to respect charities’ right to protest peacefully in covenant agreement

And yet where is the government's repeal of the recent anti-protest laws? Where is the review of Blair era anti-terror laws? Where's the commitment to roll-back the plethora of public order acts? Whoever is in government, the Home Office is always in power.
share.google/ibxdLAMhTjHJ...

My top 3 would be:
3 Scooby Doo
2 Doug (from Up)
1 Gromit

Ella Baron @Guardian on the #PalestineAction ban @guardian - political cartoon gallery in London original-political-cartoon.com

Illustration of a squirrel carrying a pile of books, walking towards a tree hollow full of books.

Me after saying I wasn't gonna buy any more books for a while

How does Starmer keep doing it? He isn't stupid and you'd hope that a lawyer would be a good communicator, but to say you have shared family values with someone who has been convicted of sexual assault & who has had many well-reported extra-marital affairs is just so, so weird.

"why does restaurant food taste better than food cooked at home"

The cook does not care if you live or die and uses salt and butter accordingly

Spotted a hedgehog on tonight’s dog walk. Not a great picture as the dog spotted it too and had to be kept away!
#urbannature

YES! 👏

Thank you every Labour MP who stood firm and everyone who has supported this campaign. If we stand together and fight for what’s right we’ve proved again we can succeed

“if we agree disabled people need this support now, we have to make sure it’s there for disabled people who need it in the future”
@trusselluk.bsky.social 👏

We need MPs to vote against these cuts next week. Email yours now 👇

action.trussell.org.uk/your-mp-must...

Accepting the changes are wrong for current claimants, but still forcing them on future claimants is not an adequate concession. Labour rebels should stand firm against this.

A brown lurcher with a white muzzle is relaxing in front of a real fire in a historic pub within Beamish Museum. He’s wearing a checked black and white collar, a black harness with a red lead. He’s looking keenly just off camera with his ears pricked up - almost as if someone was holding a treat just out of shot.

A vegetable patch full of cabbages with a scarecrow in the middle. He’s wearing a light shirt, dark waistcoat and trousers and his head is made of a sack. His right sleeve has “KEN” written on it. Behind him are fields and trees. It’s cloudy.

A brown lurcher with a white muzzle is concentrating fully on a doggy ice-cream, his tongue is licking the ice-cream. He’s wearing a black and white checked collar with a similar lurcher in Bowie make up pictured on it and a black harness.

A stone pigsty. On straw are two tiny piglets, one orange and pink, one black and white. Their mother’s ear and snout are just visible above. The piglets are three days old.

Lovely day today at Beamish Museum with daughter and dog. Highlights were doggy ice cream and 3 day old piglets ❤️ Really glad to hear this evening that they’ve won Museum of the Year 🏆
#beamishmuseum #dogfriendly #lurcherlove #dogs #dogsofbluesky #dogsofbsky #museums

They’re cutting disability benefits to “get more disabled people into work”, without reforming the broken Access to Work scheme (current waiting time 30 weeks +) to effectively support disabled workers. At best it’s a lack of joined up thinking, at worst it’s targeting the most vulnerable.

Maybe they're waiting until the 10th anniversary next you to truly celebrate properly?

View from a swing in the Alnwick Gardens cherry orchard. I’m told it’s even better when the blossom’s out, but it was beautiful and peaceful today.
#alnwickgarden #northumberland

Tall pink flowers, with multiple flowers per stem, and greenery in the background. A white tailed bumble bee is visible in one of the flowers. Its wings are reflecting the sunshine.

Pale pink flowers with white stamen. A small bee is on one of the flowers.

Delphiniums blue - which I only recognised because of a half remembered poem from childhood. A white tailed bumble bee bumble bee is enjoying one of the blooms.

The most popular with the bees in the whole of Alnwick Gardens. Salvia in a purple/blue. Multiple flowers with at least three white tailed bumble bees visible. And I only remembered the name because it’s an anagram of saliva!

Noticing bees at Alnwick Garden today. And I was able to buy some flowers the bees loved to grow at home 🌺
#alnwickgardens #northumberland #bloomscrolling

Close up of a dark green leaf with a tiny orange and back creature which Google tells me is a ladybird pupa.

Looking down on the dark green plastic edge of a compost bin, with dark green leaves visible in the bin (to the bottom of the shot) and out of focus sticks outside the compost bin. On the bin itself sits a yellow and brown moth, with a fuzzy orange head and long white antennae. Google tells me it’s a burnished brass moth.

Spotting insects while gardening today. Google informs me they are a ladybird pupa and a burnished brass moth.
#urbannature

Blue and white text reading "war is not the answer" fcnl.org

#nonviolence #warisnottheanswer #lovethyneighbornoexceptions #religioussocietyoffriends