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Ben Fulford

@benmfulford.bsky.social
897 followers 1.1K following 522 posts

Deputy Head, Humanities, Cultures and Environment and Associate Professor of Christian Theology at the University of Chester. Latest: God’s Patience and our Work: Hans Frei, Generous Orthodoxy and the Ethics of Hope (SCM 2024).

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Reposted by Ben Fulford
Richard Irvine @robotforaday.bsky.social · 12h
Rishi Sunak's Conservative government quietly scrapped plans to prepare the country for wildfires - leaving us woefully unprepared for the wildfires this summer. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Revealed: Government quietly dropped plan to prepare England for wildfires
FOI request shows wildfire risk scheme scrapped, as data highlights many fire services lack proper protective gear
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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This is almost certainly true, and the UK fails women refugees in multiple ways, including by refusing safe routes to come here, wrongly rejecting asylum claims, barring family reunion & not recognising trafficking victims promptly or at all. If only Mahmood had the power to do something about this
theguardian.com
Nearly all women arriving on small boats have been raped, says Shabana Mahmood
Home secretary warns people traffickers will exploit asylum seekers because they decide who comes to the UK
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 13h
Jaws. Terrified.
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 14h
Yep. Also strange claim about impact on prayer…
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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Is there a subtle contrast being drawn between who Labour help and who the Tories help 🤔 #CPC26
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Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
What it comes down to is this. If you’re determined a motion on Zionism isn’t seen as antisemitic, you pass this amendment. Obviously. It was instead rejected twice. First in a pre-conference meeting re: all amendments, then by conference members in the hall. This is now what the Green Party is.
Suggested amendment: This motion shall not be used to pressure, proscribe or discipline members based on affiliation with Jewish community institutions, such as Synagogues, community centres or denominational groups, that describe themselves as Zionist, or used to discipline or sanction Jewish members for holding views that would be non sanctionable if expressed by non Jewish members (such as supporting a binational state, or two state solution).

The amendment was rejected.
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Excellent short series, telling some of the stories that emerge from the research behind the new Register of British Slave Traders database, much as David Olusoga did with the insights from the Legacies of British Slavery database. 1/ www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
bbc.co.uk
Finding Britain’s Slave Traders with David Olusoga - Series 1: Episode 1
David Olusoga reveals the new research that uncovers how the slave trade was driven by the monarchy, beginning with Elizabeth I, and how a royal monopoly was established.
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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The link between electricity and gas prices has already begun to break - and the government can take some credit for that... www.nesta.org.uk/blog/the-ene...
Chart showing gas bills rising by 88% and electricity bills by 68% between April and October 2022. And then gas rising by 33% and electricity by 9% between April and October 2026
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Melanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
👀 Florida attorney general to OpenAI: (www.myfloridalegal.com/sites/defaul...)
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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Superb exposition from William Pettigrew of how slave trading (let alone the whole plantation complex that depended on it) was “enmeshed in the processes that produced the nation we know today”. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/comm...
theguardian.com
Freedom-loving Britain was at the heart of the 18th century slave trade – and this register proves it | William Pettigrew
Register of British Slave Traders reveals how deeply the trafficking of Africans was embedded in the country’s politics, economy, institutions and culture
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Jonathan Calder @lordbonkers.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
One for every Labour MP to read. #ldconf
lincolnshirelive.co.uk
30 years ago, Lincoln was 'on its knees' - then the university arrived
The construction of the University of Lincoln marked a turning point in the city's fortunes
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
“Pressure is rising across every Planetary Boundary already outside the safe operating space. It means that the risk of large-scale, persistent and potentially irreversible change is increasing, while our margin for error in tackling these problems is shrinking”.
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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
My new short post, “Remigration is Genocide”, about Palestine, Germany and Uganda. If of interest, please share. www.musaokwonga.com/takes/genoci...
musaokwonga.com
Remigration is Genocide: On Palestine, Uganda and Germany. — Musa Okwonga
Genocide. We should probably start there. Genocide, the act that Israel is still committing against Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank, is something which - as someone whose family comes from t...
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Hope For The Planet @h4tp.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
We now have rigorous pooled data showing that even without active restoration efforts, cleared rainforest can rebound to 75% of their former species composition and 90% of species diversity within just thirty years. #goodnews
optimistdaily.com
Rainforest biodiversity rebounds within a single generation | The Optimist Daily
A major Ecuador study finds cleared rainforests can recover 90 percent of their species diversity in just 30 years, as long as humans leave the land alone.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
'Accounts described elephants selecting particular plants when they seemed unwell, and mothers reportedly giving medicinal plant material to their calves. ...the researchers concluded that the elephants use 35 different plant species, and that 25 of those are known locally to have medicinal uses.'
bbc.co.uk
Elephants treat themselves with medicinal plants, witnesses say
African elephants use dozens of different medicinal plants to treat themselves and their families when they are sick, research reveals.
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Better late than never.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The PM is asked if Mr Daniel Thomas ("Danny Tommo") is racist, on the BBC "Its hard to conclude he has anything but racist views", he says. He doesnt like to just throw labels but his actions have been "the worst kind of hateful behaviour".
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I’m a dual national. I’m not planing on committing any crimes anytime soon, let alone ones with a sentence of 5+ years, but if I ever did I’m not sure why my second passport should disqualify me from facing the same British justice system as everyone else and instead strip me of my citizenship
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
When I teach Susan Neiman’s Learning from the Germans, it’s the Stolperstein that students find most powerful as an example of ‘working off the past’. I don’t think Neiman would be surprised at this news, which underlines what’s at stake in that work - and the importance of learning from it.
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
There must be many tens of thousands of stories like Wendy’s. Each one is a testimony to this commitment to the worth of each person. Worth a read and then donate to support this amazing voluntary service.
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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
It’s brilliant to see two key government reviews will likely seek to end the pointless reassessment of many disabled people. I’ve written for years it’s a waste of resources and has a huge strain on disabled people forced into regularly proving their condition. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
Severely disabled young people should get fast-track access to benefits, Milburn says
Alan Milburn said 16- to 24-year-olds with most complex needs should not have to keep proving they cannot work
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Important read
“I do feel vulnerable now in this village. I feel anxious. That isn’t about asylum seekers coming into the centre. That’s about the far right. They are creating an uproar, they’ve hijacked this discussion. Yes, we all agree that this isn’t the right place for this accommodation centre. But that isn’t because women are at risk from migrant men. They talk about women as if we don’t have a voice.”
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Kirsti, an architect - directly affected - on her MP not appearing to understand that protecting [only] care workers would mean forcing out vets, architects, chefs and many others (but perhaps unwittingly for most MPs + ministers who have not spotted this) bsky.app/profile/heri...
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
If you’ve seen or shared news about programme closures at Edinburgh (not least in Theology & Religious Studies) please see this appeal from Prof Rachel Muers. The reports are misleading.
Text reads: ‘Appeal to anyone who has seen or shared the news reports about programme closures at Edinburgh, including in TRS: Please stop circulating them. They are very misleading, and are causing actual damage to our otherwise healthy department. (And for what it's worth, colleagues in Scottish Literature are saying something similar). I am now fed up with responding to anxious prospective students who think we, or some of our areas of teaching and research, are being closed down. We aren't. There are institutions where our subject is at risk but Edinburgh is not one of them. Please don't try to fit us into a narrative of "attack on the humanities" or "secularisation gone mad". Thank you.’
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Strange and welcome to have UK gov talking about severity and immanence of climate risks again. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
UK shares findings of damning climate crisis national security report suppressed under Starmer
El Niño poses critical threat to nations’ defences, says Ed Miliband in presentation to global foreign ministers
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Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
i mean who needs universities it’s not like they play a vital role in the UK’s economy, global standing and cultural vitality
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I see ‘quiet revival’ has quieyly migrated to cricket commentary (possibly without an awareness of the original context? Unless the writer is having a sly dug?) www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...
bbc.co.uk
England vs Sri Lanka: Will Jacks' career-best 5-22 helps hosts win in Durham
Will Jacks' all-round efforts help England grind out an 89-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first one-day international at Chester-le-Street.
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Emma Yeomans @yeomans.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Worrying scenes in the Channel today, for all interested in asylum policy and maritime tactics. A small boat from Normandy spent more than 30 hours at sea. Those on board now on their 2nd rescue vessel as Border Force forced to play cat and mouse with far-right activists who have their own boat.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A lot of Labour people visibly believe that a Labour government gives off tolerance particles, and therefore sitting mute is fine and good. The reality is that it took a cross party, whole society effort to make us, as Sunak says, the most successful multiethnic, multifaith democracy in the world:
thetimes.com
Rishi Sunak: Britishness must not be turned into a DNA test
I worry that the immigration debate is going far beyond arrival numbers
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 19/09/2026
I think it should be a source of deep embarrassment – and perhaps even shame – that Rishi Sunak has spoken out on this before Andy Burnham has.
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Naomi L. Jacobs @naomijacobs.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
On Tues 13th October I'm giving the annual Hook Lecture in Leeds, on disability, belonging and justice in churches and society. Please share with anyone who might be interested. Hope to see you there! #DisabilityTheology #DisabilityStudies www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-hook-l...
eventbrite.co.uk
The Hook Lecture 2026: Just Belonging
Disability, Justice and Churches by Dr Naomi Lawson Jacobs
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Chris Bertram @crookedfootball.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"RNLI crew members had been forced to take their permits off their cars after their tyres have been repeatedly slashed. Most of them have been pilloried at the school gates or turned away from local pubs. One man who worked in search and rescue had been beaten unconscious and hospitalised"
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Yakhunt @yakhunt.net · 14/09/2026
It's time to keep the cranks out of the National Trust again.
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Daniel C. Blight @danielcblight.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
***URGENT PLEASE SHARE*** University of Brighton management have announced today that they ‘give notice of termination of all collective agreements’. This is a fundamental erasure of workers' rights. Management have announced the termination of all contractual documents, which includes:
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 12/09/2026
If you ever find yourself telling an employee "Just don't use the toilet at work", take a moment, and phone a serious lawyer, because you are about to make an expensive mistake.
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Not entirely up to date: still listing Spurgeon’s College as a TRS provider. Went bust and closed in July last year.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
A serious democratic society simply cannot allow this. That's £72 million from just two men. (Both, until lately, based overseas). The average UK earner (full-time) would have to work for over 1,800 years to raise that much. It's a nuclear strike on any pretence at the equality of political power
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
The most fundamental question in politics is: whose support do you need to win and hold power? Is it warlords, aristocrats, empires or "the demos"? If the answer is "billionaires", you are not a democracy but a plutocracy. That's why democracies *must* erect barricades against capture by the rich
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 12/09/2026
A trans man in the UK has been banned in the workplace restrooms after he was forced to use the women's restrooms to comply with the new EHRC guidance. The women complained because he is visibly male and so they told him he can't use any bathroom.
A screenshot of a Reddit post from the r/LegalAdviceUK subreddit by user Dijstraanon, titled "FtM transgender facing two different issues at work? England."
The post text reads:
"Brother in law is trans FtM and presents fully as a man. He's now facing an impossible situation at work with his employer telling him that due to recent legislation he must use the toilet of his birth gender. BUT several female colleagues have raised a grievance about him using their gendered toilet.
His employer has told him that he cannot use the toilet while he is at work until they sort it out and cannot give him a timeframe to do so. They do [cut off] have disabled separate toilets.
In the mean time one of his female colleagues has accused him of sexual harassment because he was used their gendered toilet. His menstrual cycle meant he needed to use the toilet.
He's been with the employer for just over 5 years but only in this location for 18 months. The location is mainly male with just a handful of females, and his workshop only has male toilets.
I do not know how to support him and as he's not in a union there is no one to turn too right now."
The post has an orange "Comments Moderated" tag, 169 upvotes, and 134 comments.
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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This is a marvellous opportunity for teachers wanting a secure knowledge base to teach trans-Atlantic slavery in the classroom. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-driver...
eventbrite.co.uk
The Driver's Story: Labour and Power in the World of Atlantic Slavery
Free online lecture by award-winning author and historian Professor Randy M. Browne (Xaiver University)
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Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
It's really hard to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere: removing something so dilute is like removing tiny needles from a gigantic haystack, again & again, at huge energy, financial & environmental cost. Very useful thread here on why we can't just assume CO₂ removal is a magic climate pill:
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
It’s a wonderful exhibition and so close to so many of the settings. After immersing yourself in the paintings, it’s hard not to experience the Stour Valley thru Constable’s aesthetic. It seems even more vivid, somehow.
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Not only does he have the skills and connections with people to do this effectively, he also has the opportunity to contrast this with the politics of his own project and so do something that also contests with Phelps’ and Farage’s mixture of superficial condemnation and signalling legitimation.
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Day out at the archives…
View of William Brown street, Liverpool, with St George’s Hall on the right, library ahead.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
90 years ago, Parliament responded to the rise of Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts by passing the Public Order Act, which banned political uniforms, private militias and the threat of force for political objects. The debates make very resonant reading today. Here's the Liberal Robert Bernays. (Short 🧵)
You cannot conduct a fair match when one side is playing with a ball and the other with bombs and, if democracy is to survive, it must be conducted according to definite and recognised rule. One of them is that no political party should resort to any weapon other than reason and argument. The introduction of private armies, as I see it, strikes at the root of democracy. I know it is contended that the Blackshirts are not armed and, therefore, are not an army, but I do not think that argument can be upheld. … Uniformed men in military formation suggest, and are meant to suggest, the idea of force. It is no argument to reply that at this or that demonstration no force is intended. It is an inescapable fact that a uniform in politics symbolises force, to be used either now or in the future.
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Woodbrooke @woodbrooke.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This course explores historical and theological research undertaken by Woodbrooke in response to the 2022 Britain Yearly Meeting minute, which invited Friends to reflect on Quaker involvement in enslavement and trafficking and consider possible reparations. ow.ly/6JRW50ZIEvv
Examining Our Past: Historical Quaker Theologies of Enslavement 3 December - 17 December Pay as Led with Lily Chadwick and Ben Wood
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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This should be really good!
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Ancient Jew Review @ancientjewreview.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
New pod! Gabrielle Thomas talks to Mike about The problem of the Devil in Cappadocian Thought podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g... open.spotify.com/episode/48ui...
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I want the Prime Minister to look into a TV camera and say the RNLI are heroes, that we do not change policy by street violence in this country, and that he expects any criminal action to face the full force of the law. That's it. That's all he has to do.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Ryan Bridge - Founder of "Raise the Colours" flag protests - charged with 14 offences including common assault. Danny Thomas - ringleader of Dover/Portsmouth thuggery - an ex-con jailed for attempted kidnap at knifepoint. Almost like they're not "ordinary people with concerns" but criminals.
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