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Gaby Hinsliff

@gabyhinsliff.bsky.social
61K followers 801 following 3.6K posts

Guardian columnist & writer, author of Half a Wife, sometimes on telly/Guardian Politics Weekly podcast. No, I didn't write the headline. Event host & speaker www.specialistspeakers.com/?p=2705

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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 14h
it might backfire horribly on him but if so, boy is Andy Burnham going out with a bang. Do wonder if that speech could only have been made by someone who was out of Westminster for the madness years & isn't as scared of the public - he's gambling on them still grudgingly respecting conviction
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Mark Wallace @wallaceme.bsky.social · 14h
Most striking of all is that this is explicitly a very *pro-politics* speech, a direct rebuttal to the anti-politics that is so widespread. And rightly so: politics can change things, it is an admirable thing to choose to engage in and a duty for us all to step forward and pursue.
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Ellie Mae O'Hagan @elliemaeohagan.bsky.social · 14h
I think it is very good that the PM is being so publicly vulnerable about grieving his father. That is also a form of leadership
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 15h
Burnham starting confidently on housing with big themes from his Manchester years: bad landlords (as mayor he introduced a good landlord charter), suspending right to buy on newbuilds, as well as housebuilding & leasehold reform. Now onto water...
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 16h
If Andy Burnham is planning to talk about his late father in this speech (re social care) so soon after his father died, as some are suggesting, then frankly that's as tough as doing a eulogy at your parent's funeral & I wish him all the luck. (tho the vibe at liverpool was v supportive)
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
All this + for parents of teens: don’t despair if they were voracious readers as kids, then stop around 13. It can come back later (as a parent of a 19yo who is, amazingly, reading again now reading is not too associated with set texts at school =work)
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Since I wrote this a week ago on the case for pausing frontier AI, I've read tons of interesting stuff about techy ways to turn off taps but strikingly little on what leverage financial markets have over an industry reliant on borrowing billions & I am..curious www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Tech whistleblowers warn AI could wipe out humanity. Doomspeak or not, we must take these claims seriously | Gaby Hinsliff
AI agents have hacked databases and taken on a life of their own – now is the time to pause risky research before it is too late, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I’ve been a bit quiet on here lately, and this was why www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Losing a parent is a bewildering, lonely experience. Here are the things I wish I had known before | Gaby Hinsliff
There’ll be exhaustion, love tinged with occasional rage, even moments of black humour. But my mum would want me to tell you: don’t be afraid, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Morning all. Interesting @guardianheather.bsky.social piece touching on wider issue: so much govt policy (& public emotion) is based on statistical data about what’s supposedly happening to the country, what if some of our stats suck? www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
A positive new report raises the question: was Reeves undermined by dodgy data? | Heather Stewart
Assessment’s finding of a jump in UK productivity emphasises urgent need to appoint a national statistician
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Driving home tonight it briefly rained, and for an alarming number of seconds I genuinely couldn’t work out what that weird unfamiliar noise of something hitting the windscreen was?
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Look I’m very keen to be prepared but I’ve just had four identical govt fire alerts in about half an hour, I will categorically not be lighting any disposable barbecues, can we give it a rest now
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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Leaders of flag-raising group Raise the Colours Oxfordshire placed trackers on highway workers’ cars to find out their home addresses, the High Court has heard. RTC then attempted to intimidate the highway staff into no longer removing flags by repeating their addresses to them.
Flags on the Abingdon Road
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Hilary Osborne @hilaryosborne.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Bit of an emotional rollercoaster this one. Beautiful www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
theguardian.com
The pet I’ll never forget: Karl, the tabby who went to college and learned to use a toilet
He could seem judgmental, even moody. But the whole neighbourhood mourned when this remarkable moggy went to meet his maker
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
finally a working definition of British values
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
here in numbers, something i wrote about last week: Burnham often sounds like he's talking to Reform voters (immigration, all the blokey nostalgia) but is in reality winning over Lab-to Greens (the biggest group it lost) without the Starmer era public angsting about do-we-pitch-Green-or-Reform
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Glaxton T. 49ersWolf @8stringandsushi.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
This war is now a Teams meeting.
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
it will upset people but i think this is the right decision. The choice over how to die with dignity envisaged in the right to die bill isn't a real choice while social care is so broken - it's basically 'dignitas or else we can't make any promises' for too many people & that's just wrong.
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 27/07/2026
I say this with nothing but love in my heart for the fatherland but can you imagine any other country looking at wildfires and thinking "quick, get a philosopher on the line"
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
just got a PR email translated i think from Polish that opens 'I hope you are well, or even better' which is now my new favourite greeting, who doesn't want to be BETTER THAN WELL? peak monday optimism
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Feels slightly mad that the top story on BBC bulletin is ‘PM to work from the north today’. (yes, I do know devolution is important)
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Pros: none of these appointments are mad/baffling, and some are real round pegs in round holes. Cons: if you were expecting wild radicalism (I wasn’t, but some people definitely were hoping) this ain’t it www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
Ministerial Appointments: July 2026
The King has been pleased to approve the following appointments.
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Pretty sure Hamish Falconer, newly promoted to minister attending cabinet, is currently on honeymoon? Could be forgiven for missing the day one photo call.
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Enough Of That Now @andygilder.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Lovely tribute to the Blairs
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Can’t believe Lisa Nandy is still not the culture secretary.
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Liam Thorp @liamthorp.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Not surprised to see Knowsley MP Anneliese Midgley get chief whip. She’s known as a brilliant organiser and fixer. Wrote this about her background and life a few weeks ago for anyone interested.
liverpoolecho.co.uk
The Merseyside MP helping to power Andy Burnham's rise
Knowsley MP Anneliese Midgley was one of the key figures behind the successful Makerfield campaign - but what is her background and what role could she play in a Burnham administration?
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 20/07/2026
oh so a while back I used to run these fun interviews with MPs for Parliament's in-house magazine - did one with John Healey, which I really enjoyed at the time, and you may like also: www.politicshome.com/thehouse/art...
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
early days but i think all the 'Andy's too nice to be properly ruthless' was wide of the mark. In the last week we've seen outriders frozen out & what's looking like quite a purge in govt. (even that promise to MPs about more relaxed whipping included a warning that he sets the political direction)
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
in other Manchesterism-in-action news, weather forecast says it will...actually rain this week? Burnham needs to be taking credit for that with the Well The Garden Needed It crowd imho
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Burnham starting off by promising to end rough sleeping is fascinating: it was his big cause in Manchester, made real early progress, pioneered a whole-system approach (prevention as well as housing provision) but then figures rising again. He argued Manchester could only get so far by itself...
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Political honeymoon latest: encountered my first anti-Burnham protest outside parliament (over oil and gas drilling). To govern is to choose etc.
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Kicking off what is officially Burnham Weekend by recording BBC Radio Four’s Week at Westminster live shortly
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
This on schools in heatwave is pretty upsetting but have also heard some horror stories about nursing homes & hospital waiting rooms. Both ends of the age spectrum struggling www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
‘Children were calling for their mummies’: UK pupils struggle in 40C-plus classrooms
Teachers call for schools to be urgently adapted for hot weather amid reports of nausea, fainting and heatstroke
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
I can't lie, I'm really shocked by this. And some people now urgently need to delete posts made earlier. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Police launch murder investigation into death of Ann Widdecombe
Body of former MP, 78, found with serious injuries at her Dartmoor home on Thursday morning
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
yes yes football whatever but the TENNIS
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Have not seen Labour MPs just enjoying themselves like this in a while (ps one under-acknowledged good thing over the last year is MPs being given freer rein with their social media content- relaxing a bit is definitely paying off)
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Jess Asato MP @jessasatomp.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Don’t forget to take part in NOWIE’s Big Survey on experiences of women in the event’s industry 👇 nowie.typeform.com/big-survey
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
smart piece by @jtcbooks.bsky.social about something i hadn't really thought about til i read it, which is always the best starting point www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
thetimes.com
Beware! How Mr Nice Guy became the ultimate villain
From the hit film Obsession to a raft of zeitgeist novels, men who think they are sensitive are causing a world of pain. What does it say about us today?
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
nobel peace prize latest (also FYI if you were thinking of ordering heating oil at any point in the near future)
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Morning all. This is very interesting (ok in a nerdy way, but this is a nerdy platform, don't @ me)
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Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
EXC - The £5m gift to Nigel Farage by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Revealed: Farage’s £5m gift reported to UK crime agency over money laundering concerns
Exclusive: Latest Guardian revelation about gift from cryptocurrency tycoon comes as Reform UK leader forces byelection
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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 07/07/2026
bsky.app/profile/robe...
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
whoever stands in accursed Farage v Farage byelection, for the love of god can they just be clear that the point is less what he spent the £ on & more OUR RIGHT TO KNOW HE'D GOT IT. His need for security is real. The point is: what might you do for someone you believe is literally saving your life.
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
So Nigel Farage has basically called a recall by election against himself, before any of his constituents could do it, and this is somehow supposed to prove rules don’t matter. Or something.
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
im sorry but everyone has gone mad www.lbc.co.uk/article/star...
lbc.co.uk
Sir Keir Starmer stepped in to stop FIFA bringing forward England vs Mexico kick-off | LBC
The Prime Minister is said to advised the FA to block the move over fears it would give the co-hosts an unfair advantage
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Thoughts and prayers with teachers this morning facing a class that hasn’t slept, also parents (me) who said it was ridiculous staying up til 3am just to watch England er lose
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
How has it gone from ‘so hot I might die’ to ‘walking the dog in the rain, in a cagoule, will need a hot coffee when I get in to warm up’ in the space of about 12 hours???
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Suspect quite a few junior ministers are now realising that for next three weeks they can say what they like because frankly who is the boss of them right now www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Mahmood in standoff with Starmer over sacking of her junior minister
No 10 refused demand to immediately remove immigration minister over breach of ministerial code
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Update: train is-hotter than the centre of the earth, they’re giving out free water & people getting off are wishing the entire remaining carriage luck, consider this a PSA
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
My main lesson from this week is that menopausal women are basically heatwave queens. Too hot to sleep at night? Irritated all day as a result? Yeah already doing that 365 days a year, way ahead of you. Crucially, tend to already own those little handheld fans plus selection of wafty dresses.
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
ok CrossCountry trains veterans: got to get from Manchester to Oxford today (yes it is essential travel, work is great and everything but i would quite like to go home thanks), how is the ahem aircon experience?
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