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Jill Hayward

@frdragonspouse.bsky.social
1.7K followers 944 following 6K posts

Still all the things I was over at the Other Place. And still angry. Preoccupations: politics, education, disability and inclusive feminism. 🏳️‍⚧️ The only true feminism is intersectional 💜🤍💚 Cishet trans ally. Widow. Socialist. She/her.

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Reposted by Jill Hayward
Rose Schmits @roseschmits.bsky.social · 7h
Like do what you do but for gods sake you cannot invoke trusting in labour to trans people
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Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 6h
This headline reads like they are going to teach kids how to be misogynistic, which, tbf, is probably what the BBC are hoping it is
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Pete Apps @peteapps.bsky.social · 8h
The CPS has committed to making charging decisions before the 10th anniversary on June 14 next year. If they charge, trials (assuming not guilty pleas) would follow in 2028/29
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Pete Apps @peteapps.bsky.social · 8h
When we last had an update in May, the Met was considering charges for 57 individuals and 20 companies. Which mean they have submitted files on all but three of them. No names or further details yet
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Pete Apps @peteapps.bsky.social · 8h
Breaking: the Met Police has submitted charging files to the Crown Prosecution Service resulting from its Grenfell fire investigation. The files cover 54 individuals and 20 companies and cover charges including fraud, misconduct in public office and manslaughter
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Nolan Principles Matter. End the #GazaGenocide💔💙 @philildo.bsky.social · 13h
Our energy bills are out of control. Meanwhile, the banks are making huge windfall profits and paying bumper bonuses. Can you join me and sign this petition calling on the chancellor to introduce a windfall tax on bank profits to cut energy bills? www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/ta...
megaphone.org.uk
Tax the banks — cut our bills!
Our energy bills are out of control. Meanwhile, the banks are making huge windfall profits and paying bumper bonuses. Sign this petition calling on the chancellor to introduce a windfall tax on bank ...
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Jill Hayward @frdragonspouse.bsky.social · 11h
I take it i missed the bit of Burnham's speech where he undertook to abolish trans segregation and denial of healthcare?
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Ed Poole @edpoole1975.bsky.social · 12h
Things that would take ten seconds to announce: Reversing Labour's segregation and persecution of trans people. Safe legal routes for refugees. Renationalising water. No more drilling. No more Palantir.
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The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 29/09/2026
"It is clear that Labour needs the Greens to keep them in check everyday to push them towards the real transformation this country needs." @zackpolanski.bsky.social reacts to the Prime Minister's speech at Labour conference.
HOPE IS NOT JUST A SLOGAN, IT NEEDS TO MEAN REAL CHANGE

ZACK POLANSKI
LEADER OF THE GREEN PARTY

"Unlike his predecessor, we have a PM who talks like he gets it. But sadly like his predecessor he isn’t prepared to break from the powerful and wealthy interests that have created an inequality, affordability and a climate crisis.
 
Hope is not just a slogan, it needs to mean real change. The speech today had no wealth taxes, no rent controls, no water nationalisation and a strong hint of more North Sea drilling.
 
It is disappointing that we have a country ready to break from the last 40 years, a Labour government with the majority to do it, and yet what we see are more half measures, reannouncements and tinkering."

Green Party
Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of the Green Party of England and Wales c/o PO Box Green Party, London SE1P 6YL
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Ed Poole @edpoole1975.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
With Green Party conference coming up I interviewed Green Party members proposing some of the motions for debate and voting by the membership. A thread!
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Joel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · 12h
I’ve seen the pitch document for The Day Today and it’s about a paragraph long. I paraphrase but: “This show worked brilliantly on the radio and we know what we’re doing.” A world in which that is a viable pitch document is something that we surrendered without a fight, which is so sad.
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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 13h
"We've spoken to 84yo Hilary.. her energy bill is going up by £57/mth. How are people supposed to afford it?" Burnham: "What we've got to do is address the root cause, which is the conflict in the M/E" Is allowing the US to use UK bases to bomb Iran addressing the root cause?
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Steve Chambers @planningtransport.co.uk · 29/09/2026
"aim" and "where possible" is not "will".
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Jill Hayward @frdragonspouse.bsky.social · 12h
Remember when feminists fought *not* to be defined by their biology?
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GeekOnALeash 🏳️‍⚧️ @geekonaleash.co.uk · 29/09/2026
I have written to @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social to ask some important questions relating to her appearance and comments on The Daily T's Sunday Showdown, where she stated she was "a woman, defined by my biology", and that a women’s refuge should be for those of us who are “biologically women"
"... When asked whether you would have allowed a trans woman fleeing domestic abuse into the women’s refuge you once managed, you answered: “No.”

You said that alternative provision could be made, and that a women’s refuge should be for those of us who are “biologically women”.

That deserves considerably more scrutiny than another political soundbite.

You have chosen to justify your position by appealing to biology, so I would like you to explain what you mean by that claim in biological terms, rather than simply referring back to the law, the Supreme Court or the EHRC.

What, biologically, is a woman?

The scientific picture is considerably more complicated than the neat binary your statement suggests. Sex-related biology involves multiple characteristics, including chromosomes, gonads, reproductive anatomy, hormones and secondary sex characteristics. These characteristics do not always align in the stereotypical way, which is why medicine recognises differences of sex development. Contemporary scientific literature describes sex-related biology as involving multiple interacting characteristics rather than one single biological test that can infallibly sort every human being into one of two boxes.

You already know this. Biologists, doctors and other experts sent you an open letter specifically explaining these issues. They warned that reducing human sex biology to an immutable binary is an oversimplification and that policy built upon that oversimplification can cause real harm.

That does not mean biological sex is meaningless. It obviously is not. Female and male reproductive biology are real and medically important. But acknowledging that doesn't require pretending every human body is a perfectly standard biological specimen.

So let us get away from slogans.

You say that you are a woman “defined by my biology”. You say that I am not.

What, precisely, is the biological distinction you are making?""...And how would you establish it?

Would you take my blood? Sequence my chromosomes? Examine my gonads? Inspect my anatomy? Measure my hormones? Demand medical records?

Because the moment “biologically a woman” has to become a real-world test rather than a political phrase, the simplicity disappears.

And nowhere is that more obvious than in the refuge you once managed.

Imagine a woman arriving at the door after fleeing an abusive partner. She is terrified. She has no passport, no birth certificate and no medical records. She may have left everything behind to get herself and her children somewhere safe.

You have said the refuge should be for women who are “biologically women”.

So how does the refuge establish that?

Does she need to prove her chromosomes before being allowed through the door? Does somebody examine her body? Does she have to produce evidence of her reproductive anatomy? Or does a member of staff simply look at her and decide whether she appears sufficiently female?

Because the last option is not biology.

It is gender policing.

And then comes the question you cannot escape: how would you identify a trans woman without simply assuming that she is trans?

You cannot see somebody's chromosomes. You cannot see their gonads. You cannot see their hormone levels. You cannot see their developmental history.

If your answer is appearance, you have created a system in which women can be challenged because they are too masculine, too tall, too muscular, too deep-voiced, too gender-nonconforming or do not conform to somebody else's idea of what a woman is supposed to look like.

That is not a minor administrative problem. It is the policing of women's bodies, dressed up as biological certainty.

And feminism should recognise that for what it is....""...Sex and gender are related, but they're not interchangeable concepts. Sex encompasses biological characteristics and processes; gender also encompasses the social and personal dimensions through which human beings understand and live their gender. The scientific literature itself recognises that these concepts interact in complex ways rather than functioning as two completely separate boxes.
...You have experience running a women's refuge. You know what a woman arriving at that door needs. She does not need a politician's abstract definition of womanhood. She needs safety.

So I am asking you, as Minister for Women and Equalities, to answer some very straightforward questions.

What biological characteristics make you a woman and make me not one?

How would you establish that distinction in practice?

How does your definition account for women with differences of sex development?

What happens to women whose chromosomes do not fit the stereotypical XX model?

What happens to women who cannot produce eggs, who have no ovaries, who have undergone hysterectomy or who have otherwise experienced changes to their reproductive anatomy?

And most importantly:

How does a frightened woman fleeing domestic abuse prove that she is “biologically a woman” without being subjected to exactly the kind of bodily scrutiny and gender policing that feminists have spent generations challenging?

If your answer is that she does not have to prove it, then why should a trans woman?

If your answer is documentation, what happens to the woman who has none?

If your answer is appearance, whose idea of female appearance are you using?

And if there is no practical biological test, then perhaps “biology” is not quite the straightforward answer you have presented it as.

Women fleeing violence need refuge workers asking whether they are safe, not whether they can pass an ideological biology exam.....""...You have chosen to draw a line between yourself and me by saying that you are a woman defined by biology and that women like me are not. I am therefore asking you to explain where that line actually is.

Not in a court judgment.

Not in an EHRC document.

Not in a political slogan.

In biology.

Because if you cannot define the biological test, and cannot explain how it could be applied fairly to women standing at the door of a refuge, then “biologically a woman” is not the clear, objective safeguard you claim it is.

It is simply a phrase being used to decide which women are allowed through the door.

And when the woman on the other side of that door is fleeing an abuser, that is not an abstract debate.

That is somebody's life.

Yours sincerely,

A woman who apparently needs a biology exam to prove it,'
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🍁🇨🇦Team Canada Forever🇨🇦🍁 @teamcanadaforever.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Today’s front page in Scotland 📰 New satellite pictures lay bare Israel's destruction of Gaza
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J.-P. Janson De Couët @jpjansondecouet.bsky.social · 18h
Labour’s motto shouldn’t be “HOPE AGAIN” (nicked from the Greens), but “HALF ARSED AGAIN”.
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Ashleeee 🌊🪭 @reactiveashley.cat · 20h
what?
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chiller @chiller.eurosky.social · 29/09/2026
For clarity: I don't want public control. I want public ownership.
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Pumpkin Spiced Hannah 🖤🩶🤍💜🇵🇸 @tooriekep.bsky.social · 20h
What's that? Wizard Thatcher has said fuck all about those 57 scrotes at Cornell Uni?
static.klipy.com
Vladimir Brichta: Pretends to Be Shocked in Novela
Alt: Vladimir Brichta: Pretends to Be Shocked in Novela
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ᚅᚓᚃ ᚆᚐᚔᚏᚇᚑ ᚃᚆᚑ ᚇᚔᚄ @ciara2001.eurosky.social · 21h
Some poor screenwriter is out there screaming "slow down" at the news, at they swiftly start a rewrite to turn their action film into a comedy
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 21h
It's nice to see attendance here surpass the terf events taking place, but this is still deeply pathetic. Labour *caused* the problems these speakers are inveighing against. They have a massive majority they could fix them with, but they won't. Labour can't restore the trans rights they destroyed.
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We can conclude here that either 1) these lads have been assured none of this is going to happen, or 2) somewhere in Labour HQ there is a drawer full of evidence against them that’s so utterly damning, all of these guys will squeak “Oh yes I love nationalising things” like their nuts are in a vice.
Times Radio
@TimesRadio • 2h
"Was that a better speech than any that you can imagine yourself ever delivering?"
X
"100%."
Wes Streeting says he feels "completely vindicated" by his decision to back Andy Burnham.
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John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A cash-strapped rural police force struggles to deal with Red Diesel gangs. Until its chief inspector realises can get the Met Police to deal with the problem... ...if he pretends they're Iranian. A new six part comedy starring Toby Jones.
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Jill Hayward @frdragonspouse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
So they've raised the SPA by 7 years over the course of my working life, and just as I get within a few years of one of the worst pensions in Europe, they toy with dropping the triple lock. I wonder why young people don't see the point of working? Becoming part of society isn't much of a draw.
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Trans+ Solidarity Alliance @transsolidarity.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Today is Andy Burnham’s first party conference speech as PM. We’ve taken your messages from the mass lobby on tour to Labour conference in Liverpool, with our friends at @transactualuk.bsky.social and @scottishtrans.bsky.social We aren’t going anywhere.
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Dr. Sandra Duffy Golden @sandraduffy.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
@fiercemum.bsky.social and I are really pleased to see this one out.
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It is time for people of courage to walk away from Labour www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/09... They have had their chance. They have blown it. We need a real alternative in this country now. They will never be it again.
taxresearch.org.uk
It is time for people of courage to walk away from Labour
As I say on fiscal rules in the glossary to this blog: Fiscal rules are targets set by governments to limit borrowing, debt, or deficits over time. They are presented as if they are neutral, technical...
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
In ‘super intelligence’ news.
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รℓσαɳε ℓყรɓεƭɦ @sloanelysbeth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
labour aren't on the centre-left and mamdani has the same politics as polanski. we all know exactly how james and co talk about and smear polanski. if mamdani were british they'd do the same to him.
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UnicornsRockUK @unicornsrockuk.northsky.social · 29/09/2026
But yeah, the average private pension is £8k a year 🙄 Maybe because a few billionaires retire off a multi million pot whilst half of pensioners, ie mostly women, don't even get full state pension.
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UnicornsRockUK @unicornsrockuk.northsky.social · 29/09/2026
A third of uk pensioners dont vave a private pension. 50% of people claiming state pension don't meet even the basic level of contributions, so dont get even the basic weekly entitlement.
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Phil McDuff @mcduff.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Honestly incredible the extent to which so many people have convinced themselves that opposing universal benefits is somehow a progressive position. One of the main ways the centre left has radicalised itself into austerity Osborneism, tbh.
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Gift @giftmacher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Means testing is just wedge used to turn the obviously outrageous "should we have this social net at all" into "who deserves this social net?". Every edge case is then used as an argument to diminish provision until it's gone. Cynically using people's sense of fairness to fuck everyone over.
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Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Still putting ‘bomb plot’ in headlines in the glaring absence of any bombs. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Rubio says foreign actor was ‘clearly’ behind suspected RAF Fairford bomb plot
The US secretary of state offered no evidence for his claims, and also said many people were ‘disturbed’ that the five suspects had been released on bail
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Dr Alex Fitzpatrick @animalarchaeology.com · 29/09/2026
again - you cannot claim to be ‘pro-immigrant’ or an ‘ally’ while also continuing to support the Labour Party as it currently stands
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🔴 BREAKING: BP, Uber, Amazon and more paying Tony Blair's think tank $25,000 for “networking” opportunities with politicians and policy makers at party conferences Experts say "looks and smells like cash for access" Full story on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-t...
democracyforsale.substack.com
BREAKING: Tony Blair Institute’s $25,000 corporate network “smells like cash for access”
Exclusive documents show Tony Blair's think tank offers corporate members such as BP and Uber "networking" at party conferences and "a stronger voice" in policy debates.
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Jill Hayward @frdragonspouse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Whenever I hear this, I'm transported back to the time mum played it at the wrong speed. The "Oh, those Russians!" at the end sounded like Arthur Mullard... (One for older followers, there).
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Tom Scott @tom--scott.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Outstandingly dishonest even by Nigel Farage's standards. Farage knows that the men arrested at Fairford would not have been released if they were still suspected to be terrorists. He's stirring up fear, hatred & resentment against both immigrants & the police. Pure malice.
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J.-P. Janson De Couët @jpjansondecouet.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I don’t see how you can whine on about asylum seekers in small boats whilst backing the RAF helping with city destruction.
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The Scales ⚖️ @shakethescales.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Burnham's going to end the triple lock on pensions. He'll use the need to fund social care as his excuse...
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
All the right-wing parties are vying for the cruel vote. And our right-wing media is making people crueller by convincing them it's the poor and vulnerable who are getting everything not the millionaires and the tax-dodgers.
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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Lord Walney: "The idea of calling this a genocide is repugnant.. the way that Ireland made a fuss about this [football match] is reprehensible" How does genocide happen? Because of people like Lord Walney. There is no genocide without genocide denial
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Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
As Andy Burnham decides to make pensioners poorer instead of taxing the mega-rich or rejoining the EU, a reminder of how the UK compares with the rest of Western Europe on pensions.
Luxembourg: £2436
Switzerland: £2400
Norway: £2164
Denmark: £1822
Holland: £1403
Italy: Men £1437, Women £1056
Belgium: £1401
Malta: £1400 - £1600
Spain: £1341
France: £1296
Germany: £1281
Sweden: £1226
Austria: £1121 (min)
Ireland: £1115 (min)
UK: £1045
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Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Green Party surge in New Zealand could be crucial, opening the possibility of a potential coalition with Lab & Opportunity to defeat the hard right coalition.
ASIA PACIFIC / POLITICS
New Zealand election on knife edge as Greens surge to 16%, poll shows
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Elizabeth Taylor @elizabethtaylor47.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is just bollocks. When my dad and grandma faced the most disgusting racism in the 60s and 70s (more extreme than what would ever be considered mistreat today) migration was far lower and many Brits were facing plenty ‘inwards’
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Those who think AI is going to largely automate white collar jobs in the next couple of years don’t understand the nature of work - @sarahoconnorft.ft.com nails it www.ft.com/content/4aad...
It is not obvious that AI agents could eliminate the need for this type of work, since it involves persuasion, contestation and the exchange of tacit knowledge and experience that is spread across different departments, and often exists inside people's heads rather than in a neatly codified handbook on the intranet.
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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Lord Gove: "The thing that is really perplexing to me is why these people have been released on bail.." Kevin Maguire: "My guess would be, its because the police have found no evidence of terrorism" #GMB
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Nolan Principles Matter. End the #GazaGenocide💔💙 @philildo.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Buying a new home on a flood plain? In flood zone 3? A home like those that the Planning Inspectorate (read desperate UK gov't willing to build anywhere to meet targets) recently ignored the sequential test on? Good luck with getting insurance. Will existing homes become unsaleable? #ClimateCrisis
bbc.co.uk
Aviva boss warns more homes will be uninsurable due to flood risk
Aviva boss Amanda Blanc said England was "for sure" building homes that might be uninsurable at some point in the future.
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Ruth! @ruthholliday.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We are selling my partner’s mum’s house to pay her £1500 a week care home fee. If she lives another two years everything she worked for will be gone. Abolishing the triple lock would have cut the £184.90 a week she has lived on for the last 10 years. Don’t cut pensions. Raise inheritance tax!
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