iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Cass Macdonald @cm7505.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

@status.archiveofourown.org currently getting a cloud flare SSL handshake failure message when trying to load stories - anyone else dealing with this? #AO3

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UK Politics News // Papernaut @ukpolitics.papernaut.co · 25/03/2025

THE CANARY: Labour’s DWP cuts expose the party's descent into austerity: Voices from the frontline reveal the devastating impact on disabled claimants facing a bleak future amidst looming reforms. - by Megan Miley

thecanary.co

Terrified, humiliated: three PIP claimants tell the Canary of their fears over Labour's DWP cuts

Terrified, humiliated: three PIP claimants tell the Canary of their fears over Labour's DWP cuts from Canary on 25 March 2025

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It's ME(Jaime) @exceedhergrasp1.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Had a meeting this week where I asked detailed questions about a team's statistical plan and the response was "we'll just use AI for it".

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Michiel @murtoz.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

I did an interview last week about living with ME. This article is the result. Pleased with it overall, no glaring errors, and most of my key messages are in the article even if she didn't put some of the more 'difficult' points in there verbatim. #mecfs #pwME www.scotsman.com/health/me-ch...

scotsman.com

'My daughter has ME, she went into appointments walking and came out in a wheelchair'

There are an estimated 1.3 million people in the UK with ME 🏥

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Edinburgh Bus Users Group @edinburghbug.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Handy guide for Scottish election '26. 1. All good manifestos need: edinburghbususers.group/ebug-suggest... www.cpt-uk.org/media/cc4jqx... sestran.gov.uk/wp-content/u... 2. Edinburgh hustings details Links to candidate names & contact details, good Qs & As edinburghbususers.group/edinburgh-bu...

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Chas Booth (he/him) @chasbooth.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Along w ward colleague @katrinafaccenda.bsky.social I went on a walk & wheel around the Shore & Kirkgate area this morning w local resident @cm7505.bsky.social to see how completely inaccessible many of our streets are for disabled residents. I have a long list of actions as a result. 1/2

Photo showing Cass, a wheelchair user, blocked by scaffolding across the footway.

Photo showing a sign post positioned next to a kerb in such a way that it blocks wheelchair users.

Photo showing a flush kerb with tactile paving.

Photo showing a dropped kerb next to a drain and a large pothole.

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Cass Macdonald @cm7505.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Just home from taking local Cllrs round my ‘hood! Thanks to @chasbooth.bsky.social & @katrinafaccenda.bsky.social for taking the time to see its accessibility from a wheelchair perspective

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Michiel @murtoz.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

it's beyond pitiful. less than 0.0055% of NHS doctors & nurses with basic awareness of severe ME. This is what happens when the govt doesn't put their money where their mouth is. Just more hot air and neglect They can't be this incompetent? This has to be intentional. Protecting Sir Simon?

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Lucibee @lucibee.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

This is *pitiful*. 😞 @ashleydaltonmp.bsky.social Your department needs to try an *awful* lot harder.

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Lucibee @lucibee.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

5/n Today, I received their answer. This is the data table they sent me, of the number of people who have completed each of the 3 modules up to 20 January 2026:

Table shows the numbers completing each module, split by type of email account. An asterisk indicates there were 5 or fewer.

Module 1: An introduction to ME/CFS = 8 (.gov.uk), 51 (.ac.uk), 227 (.nhs), 85 (other).
Module 2: ME/CFS: guidance for community-based healthcare practitioners = 8 (.ac.uk), 74 (.nhs), 19 (other).
Module 3: Managing severe ME/CFS = * (.gov.uk), 7 (.ac.uk), 33 (.nhs), * (other).

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Lucibee @lucibee.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

4/n According to the Nuffield Trust, about 1.7 million people work in the NHS. This includes 188,000 doctors and around 423,000 nurses and midwives. The Royal College of Physicians has over 40,000 members. www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/the...

nuffieldtrust.org.uk

The NHS workforce in numbers

Facts on staffing and staff shortages in England.

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Lucibee @lucibee.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

3/n The UK Government stated that "The Royal College of General Practitioners, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the Royal College of Occupational Therapists agreed to share and promote NHS England’s e-learning modules," and that they were working with the Royal College of Nursing.

Extract from the UK Government's ME/CFS Delivery Plan.

Attitudes and education.

Action: DHSC will ask relevant stakeholders to:
a) consider developing a shared learning resource on ME/CFS, which could be held in an education hub,
b) request that the Medical Schools Council (MSC) encourages shared learning and the NHS England e-learning package on ME/CFS to all UK medical schools and encourages medical schools to provide undergraduates with direct patient experience,
c) use its networks to raise awareness of NHS England’s e-learning module on ME/CFS.
Progress: Discussed potential education hub with the Task and Finish Group - to be explored further.
DHSC discussed raising awareness of NHS England’s e-learning with relevant professional bodies.
The Royal College of General Practitioners, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the Royal College of Occupational Therapists agreed to share and promote NHS England’s e-learning modules. DHSC will continue to reach out to networks including the Royal College of Nursing to promote NHS England’s e-learning modules.
NICE has added e-learning to its tools and resources page, with further modules to be added as they become available.
DHSC to develop and run a public awareness initiative on ME/CFS, and signpost to e-learning and NICE guidelines as part of the initiative.
Timeline and measure of success: Sharing of resources with a wider stakeholder group and a public awareness initiative (by May 2026) are expected to improve both the public and professionals’ understanding of ME/CFS.
E-learning to be shared with stakeholders in July 2025.
NHS England’s user statistics and feedback on DHSC-led awareness initiative to be monitored and reviewed.

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Lucibee @lucibee.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

2/n The reason I asked was because the ME/CFS Delivery Plan makes some quite distinct promises (alright, "aims") about their e-learning package, including this item in their table of Agreed Actions. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Extract from the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan (UK Government, 22 July 2025).

Action: The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) will ensure that its training on ME/CFS keeps pace with research and guidance in the core postgraduate training for primary and secondary care physicians.

Progress: RCP will, for now, rely on NHS England’s e-learning modules, which are considered suitable by RCP.

Timeline and measure of success: Aim for all RCP members to undertake the e-learning by the end of 2025.

My comment: This should be easily measurable. Has it been achieved?

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Lucibee @lucibee.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

About a month ago, I made a FOIA request to the NHS England Learning Hub about their new learning modules on ME/CFS... 🧵 1/n

Email sent to NHS elearning enquiries on 12 January 2026.

Subject - Request for information.

Dear NHSE elearning hub,

I am making a freedom of information request (FOIA 2000) for the following data.

In 2024/5, the NHS England elfh e-learning hub introduced 3 new modules on ME/CFS:

1. An introduction to ME/CFS (May 2024).
2. ME/CFS: guidance for community-based healthcare practitioners (January 2025).
3. Managing Severe ME/CFS (September 2025).

Please can you tell me how many people have completed each module to date (from date of introduction), and what the breakdown is for logins by NHS staff (nhs.uk), and those in government (gov.uk), academic (ac.uk), and social care sectors (if available).

I am happy for your response to be sent to this email address.

Many thanks for your help,

Lucy B

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European Movement UK @europeanmovement.co.uk · 30/01/2026

Leaving the EU and walking away from frictionless trade has damaged businesses across the UK. As European companies turn to partners inside the bloc, repairing our relationship with Europe must be a priority.

How Brexit turned "made in Britain" into a hindrance. Brexit has greatly hampered UK design brands' ability to sell their products in the EU and turned the "made in Britain" label into a costly burden, industry leaders told Dezeen.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

To those saying, "but the Greens will split the vote": 1. Things have changed. 2. It's not the Green's fault that Starmer has the Merdas Touch (turns everything to shit) 3. When the Greens offer the only inspiring option, perhaps we should see the Labour candidate as splitting the vote.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Oh, and 4. Despite the demand for proportional representation from Labour members, Starmer won't change our ridiculous First Past the Post system. So he's in no position to blame anyone for "splitting the vote". share.google/buxD1tZ5BfKk...

share.google

Electoral reform: Strong support for proportional representation among Labour members - LabourList

Two thirds of Labour members would back change to UK voting system towards Proportional Representation, exclusive LabourList polling reveals.

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Larry the Cat @number10cat.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Let's hope this positive news gets as much attention as the people who try to convince us that the UK is a murder ravaged hellscape. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Homicides at lowest level in nearly 50 years, ONS statistics show

The 499 homicide cases in the year to September were the lowest in England and Wales since 1977.

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Open Britain @openbritain.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

If he’s in your corner, you’re fighting for the wrong team 💀 Tommy Robinson has endorsed Matt Goodwin, Reform UK’s candidate in the Gorton & Denton by-election.

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Good Law Project @goodlawproject.org · 29/01/2026

Rough day for Sex Matters

Image showing news where Sex Matters has lost (twice in a day)

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Media Matters for America @mmfa.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Chaya Raichik, who runs the social media account Libs of TikTok, has spent the days following Alex Pretti’s killing doxxing ordinary working people — teachers, nurses, school board members — for speaking out against federal immigration officials or expressing sympathy for Pretti.

mediamatters.org

Libs of TikTok is doxxing teachers and nurses who support Alex Pretti or oppose ICE, trying to get them fired

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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 30/01/2026

Thousands of obtained documents show that Clearview AI’s founders always intended to target immigrants and the political left. Now their digital dragnet is in the hands of the Trump administration.

motherjones.com

The shocking far-right agenda behind the surveillance tech used by ICE and the FBI

Clearview AI’s founders always intended to target immigrants and the political left. Now their digital dragnet is in the hands of the Trump administration.

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Equality Network @lgbtiscotland.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

We are thrilled to see that the Parliament of the Council of Europe (PACE) has voted in favour of a resolution calling for member states to ban conversion practices.

A text graphic with a purple and pink background that says 'Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Supports a Ban on Conversion Practices'

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Dr Christine Peters @microlabdoc.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Emma Harper MSP mentioned in her speech in parliament today that staff with concerns in the NHS should speak up and be listened to. No doubt intends well, but demonstrates a shallow understanding of the current state of play. Don’t ask people to speak up until you can PROVE it’s safe to do so.

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Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 14/01/2026

Denmark confirms an expanded, more permanent Danish and NATO military presence in and around Greenland, beginning today. Deployments span land, sea, and air, including protection of critical infrastructure, fighter jets, and naval operations. Sweden has committed forces; other NATO allies may follow

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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Can we join Greenland 🇬🇱 instead? Asking for a friend.

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Dean Obeidallah @deanobeidallah.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

NEW and WOW: Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada are sending troops to Greenland amid continued threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to annex the territory, multiple outlets reported. www.newsweek.com/greenland-ge...

newsweek.com

Germany, other NATO allies sending troops to Greenland amid Trump threats

Trump said Wednesday anything less than U.S. control of Greenland would be "unacceptable" in a warning to NATO allies about Arctic security.

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Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Greenland PM Jens-Frederik Nielsen: "If we have to choose between the US & Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU." "Greenland does not want to be owned by the US. Greenland does not want to be governed by the US" he later added.

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

* GREENLAND GOVERNMENT: FROM TODAY THERE WILL BE AN INCREASED MILITARY PRESENCE IN AND AROUND GREENLAND -- IN CLOSE COOPERATION WITH NATO ALLIES @reuters.com

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Anonymous @youranoncentral.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Greenland chooses Denmark

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Zöe Franklin MP @zoefranklinld.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

I’ve long campaigned on the need to abolish the two-child limit on benefits, that has left countless families in #Guildford constituency and beyond struggling, whilst deepening child poverty across the country. Read my statement👇

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Cass Macdonald @cm7505.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

A channel on @YouTube that I follow - Beardo Gets Scared has had two malicious copyright strikes meaning he’s facing being shut down. It’s an abuse of law and the system. Please tweet or post to raise awareness & get @YouTube to investigate the case #JusticeForBeardo

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Harriet Carroll: Long Covid Scientific Consultancy @angryhacademic.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Delighted to say my comment got published! 👇 There was a lot of critiques I considered about this study, but the problem is that if we critique an individual study, future studies can just avoid that particular critique. So I tried to take a different approach 🧵

Ethics of doing research against established clinical guidelines
Harriet Carroll, PhD | Lund University
I read with interest the study by Berry et al., investigating the effect of resistance exercise in patients with post-COVID-19 sequelae. However, this research raises wider ethical issues that are pervasive in long COVID research.

Post-COVID-19 sequelae encompasses several, potentially co-occurring, subtypes: deconditioning particularly in the context of hospitalisation; direct organ damage; new-onset diagnosable disease(s); and/or new-onset currently unknown disease(s)/pathology(ies). Individual symptoms may overlap across groups but have different underlying pathophysiology; for example, fatigue could be caused by autoimmunity, hypercoagulability, lung damage, nervous system damage, etc. Conducting trials—even for rehabilitation—as if these were a homogenous group with unified needs is somewhat akin to grouping multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and dysautonomia patients together because they all suffer with fatigue, sensorimotor impairments, and cognitive dysfunction, and is therefore unhelpful.

Berry et al., were aware of risks associated with exercise in some long COVID patients via discussion of post-exertional malaise (PEM) in both the participant information sheet (PIS) and manuscript. If assessed properly, PEM is the cardinal symptom of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME),[1] and in worst cases can cause permanent worsening. Accordingly, exercise—including under the premise of deconditioning—is contraindicated in ME, and NICE guidelines state any exercise programme should only be done under a ME specialist team.[2] There are no ME specialists in NHS Scotland nor the study team, as confirmed by personal correspondence with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, e.g. stating pulmonary rehabilitation physiotherapists were consulted. None of these points were explained in the PIS, nor were risks pertaining to other known pathophysiology commonly found in long COVID.[3] Therefore, by proxy, this trial contravened clinical guidelines which raises serious ethical issues—a problem that is unfortunately not unique to this study.

Further, studies focused on rehabilitation without treating ongoing underlying pathology are generally unhelpful, just as it would be unethical to rehabilitate stroke patients without first treating the stroke. Post-hospitalisation rehabilitation in recovered but deconditioned patients is well-established, again raising ethical questions regarding the purpose of studies like that conducted by Berry et al.

Regardless of study findings, it does not seem ethical to go against established clinical guidelines, particularly without specialist involvement/oversight. This also highlights problems with how studies are ethically reviewed as disease specialists are not necessarily present. Considering the overall lack of funding for diseases like ME and long COVID, it is imperative any grants are used for ethically sound, pathology-targeted, and clinically useful research.

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Lucibee @lucibee.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Korean study *just* published (10 Nov 2025) found that wearing kn94 masks (equivalent of ffp2 or n95) is protective against infection by COVID-19. Only 1 healthcare worker infected out of over 180 working for a year with COVID+ patients. Study was done in 2020 and 2021, before vaccines.

jkms.org

Effect of Personal Protective Equipment on the Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Healthcare Workers

Lee SJ, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2025 Sep;40(43):e276. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2025.40.e276

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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

To be fair, they’re losing MPs at a much faster rate.

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Good Law Project @goodlawproject.org · 02/11/2025

Nigel Farage is wrong about the European Convention on Human Rights. He thinks we should leave the ECHR to reduce migration. But not only do just a tiny number of immigration cases rely on human rights, leaving the ECHR would be an unmitigated disaster ⬇️ goodlaw.social/ngjm

goodlaw.social

Nigel Farage is wrong about the European Convention on Human Rights | Good Law Project

The Reform leader is unveiling legislation to leave the ECHR. His arguments are wrong – and that move would be a disaster.

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Cass Macdonald @cm7505.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Last week my front door was kicked in. As in not the building main door. I’m ok, cats are ok, but there’s quite a bit of damage to fix which has to wait until low cost repairs can come out. I can’t claim on insurance until I know the full costs, as far as I know (I still need to check).

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David Allsopp @doublehelix.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

These captchas are getting harder and harder

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The Bear @bearlypolitics.co.uk · 27/09/2025

Fab idea, I’m on board - but it’s worth adding that fully rejoining the EU would do that, friction free access to the world’s largest single market and give that same right to people who are over 30. Something to think about, no?

UK needs 'ambitious' EU youth migration deal, says Rachel
Reeves
The chancellor believes allowing young people to live and work in Britain would boost the economy and reduce the need for tax rises in the budget

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James MacCleary MP @jamesmaccleary.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

It's 10 months since I introduced a Bill into parliament for a youth mobility scheme with EU countries. Since then we've had warm words but no action. Again we're short of detail. I hope this isn't another damp squib because our young people deserve better. www.bbc.com/news/article...

bbc.com

Reeves pushes for EU youth migration scheme ahead of Budget

The chancellor calls for an 'ambitious' deal as she looks to boost growth ahead of the 26 November Budget.

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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 27/09/2025

A majority of people who voted Labour last year believe the UK is heading in the wrong direction. A new YouGov poll, commissioned by B4B, finds that the electoral coalition that brought Labour to power blames Brexit for where it's gone wrong. Read more: bit.ly/4mv524J

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