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Helen Pidd

@helenpidd.bsky.social
7.1K followers 287 following 103 posts

Host of Today in Focus, the Guardian’s daily news podcast. Former North of England editor. Nominated for best host at the 2025 British Podcast Awards. Contact me in confidence helen.pidd@theguardian.com

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Reposted by Helen Pidd
Joshi Herrmann @joshih.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Looking forward to our big Andy Burnham event in Westminster tomorrow night, with esteemed guests like @bethrigby.bsky.social, @helenpidd.bsky.social, @patrickmaguire.bsky.social and @jackdulhanty.bsky.social. 10 tickets left, I'm told. Grab em. www.tickettailor.com/events/millm...
tickettailor.com
Select tickets – Populist or Pragmatist: Who Is the Real Andy Burnham? – The London Scottish Drill Hall, 95 Horseferry Rd, London
Populist or Pragmatist: Who Is the Real Andy Burnham? – The London Scottish Drill Hall, 95 Horseferry Rd, London, Wed 9 Sep 2026 - Hosted by The Londoner and The Mill For the best part of 20 years, An...
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Reposted by Helen Pidd
Joshi Herrmann @joshih.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Who is the real Andy Burnham - the Manchester Model one or the dismantling neoliberalism one? Find out at our SPECIAL EVENT featuring leading Burnhamologists like Patrick Maguire, Beth Rigby, @helenpidd.bsky.social, @jackdulhanty.bsky.social and me. www.tickettailor.com/events/millm...
tickettailor.com
Buy tickets – Populist or Pragmatist: Who Is the Real Andy Burnham? – The London Scottish Drill Hall, 95 Horseferry Rd, London
Populist or Pragmatist: Who Is the Real Andy Burnham? – The London Scottish Drill Hall, 95 Horseferry Rd, London, Wed 9 Sep 2026 - Hosted by The Londoner and The Mill For the best part of 20 years, An...
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Are you also feeling the pressure to mess with your face? I am! Today I had a great chat with @jessicadefino.skystack.xyz about all of my contradictory feelings about what she calls "aesthetic inflation" thttps://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2026/jul/31/the-pressure-to-change-your-face-podcast
theguardian.com
The pressure to change your face - podcast
Guardian US beauty columnist Jessica DeFino explores the rise of ‘tweakments’ and cosmetic procedures – and the pressure it puts on everyone to get something done
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
First we came for your government. Now we're taking the south's flowers too - great story by @helenahorton.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Hotter summers may force RHS to move hydrangeas to north of England
Exclusive: British garden staple becomes plant most frequently reported as suffering in heat, charity reports
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Really interesting episode today, reporting on the @EmbassyVillage for rough sleepers in Manchester - which was supported by @andyburnham as mayor. Such an inspiring place www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
Can Andy Burnham end rough sleeping? – podcast
In the wake of the new PM’s bold pledge, Helen Pidd heads to a village for homeless people in Greater Manchester, where the former mayor first promised to take action
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
A new village for homeless people has opened in manchester. I find Embassy a very inspiring charity and I really hope this succeeds www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
A ‘dress rehearsal’ for life: inside the Manchester project helping homeless men rebuild
Embassy Village offers 40 canal-side flats and support with budgeting, cooking and finding work, to help men start new lives and rediscover community
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
On Today's podcast, MP Charlotte Nichols tells me about what it was like going through a rape trial and losing. It was an honour to be trusted with her story, which reveals so much about the criminal justice system in England. www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
Charlotte Nichols MP on her rape trial ordeal – podcast
MP for Warrington North shares her experience as a complainant in a rape trial where the man she accused was acquitted
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Henry Dyer @direthoughts.com · 18/03/2026
Fantastic video podcast with @helenpidd.bsky.social and the Today in Focus team talking about Farage on Cameo. Really brilliant editing and presentation of the material we’ve analysed. www.theguardian.com/news/video/2...
theguardian.com
What Nigel Farage will say for money
The Reform UK leader has a lucrative side-hustle sending paid-for Cameo messages. But an analysis of more than 4,000 of them show they include videos for a neo-Nazi group and a rioter. Henry Dyer repo...
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
I spent the last four weeks on the ground in Gorton and Denton for this special episode of Today in Focus www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
On the ground in the byelection that could end Starmer – podcast
Reform and the Greens both insist they can win Gorton and Denton from Labour – and if they do, it could be another nail in the prime minister’s coffin. Helen Pidd reports on how the candidates and vot...
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Dignity is overrated. I had the best time going behind the scenes on the best show on telly (GLADIATORS!!!) www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
theguardian.com
‘Bring me a gigantic Gladiator who can cradle me like a baby!’: behind the scenes of the most joyous show on TV
When it first returned to our screens, people said Gladiators was a tired format. They had clearly forgotten the joy of watching half-clad hulks with silly names go to battle, says superfan Helen Pidd...
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
A nice one from the festive archives about how my family used to spend Christmas at a psychiatric hospital www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
theguardian.com
I was five and visiting a psychiatric hospital. I had the time of my life!
I toddled round the ward giving sweets to old women and wondering why so many of them were clutching teddies. It taught me not to be scared of people with mental illness
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
What happens when Reform UK takes over your local council? I’ve been keeping very close tabs on Lancashire County Council since May for this magazine piece www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Infighting, broken promises and insisting on the national anthem: what seven months of Reform UK in charge actually looks like
Nigel Farage’s party is gunning for power – so what is it like in the places where they’ve already got it? We embedded with Lancashire county council to find out what happens when rhetoric meets reali...
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Jonathan Freedland @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Delighted to talk to the great @helenpidd.bsky.social for the latest @todayinfocus.bsky.social - all about the Epstein files open.spotify.com/episode/4B8s...
open.spotify.com
Donald Trump’s Epstein U-turn
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
With producer @eleanorbiggs.bsky.social I spent a few months reporting from Crawley, the migrant hotel capital of Britain, to look at whether the disproportionate numbers of asylum seekers and refugees (mostly Afghans) put really do put pressure on services www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
On the ground in the refugee and asylum capital of Britain - podcast
Helen Pidd heads to Crawley, West Sussex, the place in the UK with the highest number of asylum seekers and supported refugees relative to its population
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Yes I started off as a music critic. A bad one. Critiquing music in an entertaining and illuminating — but fair — way is actually really hard.
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
20 years ago I became part of a select club of Guardian critics who awarded something zero stars www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
theguardian.com
The Guardian has only ever published 15 zero-star reviews. Here they all are
As Kim Kardashian’s All’s Fair sets a new low for TV, we revisit every single thing our critics have mercilessly panned. Brace yourself for the Mount Rushmore of rubbish!
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Tom Phillips @tomphillips.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Today’s podcast on the downfall of Jair (with the brilliant @helenpidd.bsky.social) www.theguardian.com/world/audio/...
theguardian.com
The downfall of Jair Bolsonaro – podcast
Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has been handed a 27-year sentence for an attempted coup – is there any way his political career can continue? Tom Phillips reports
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
For today’s podcast I went to talk to protesters outside my local asylum hotel in Stockport, as well as marchers at Tommy Robinson’s march to try to understand if the far right is now a mass movement podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t... -ñ
podcasts.apple.com
Today in Focus
Daily News Podcast · Updated daily · Hosted by Nosheen Iqbal and Helen Pidd, Today in Focus brings you closer to Guardian journalism. Combining storytelling with insightful analysis and personal testi...
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
This is a lot more interesting than Henry makes it sound
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Reposted by Helen Pidd
Lisa Bachelor @lisabachelor.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
I’m so thrilled that the Guardian’s @helenpidd.bsky.social made an excellent Today in Focus podcast about the seaside town of Morecambe for Seascape’s Against The Tide series. Please do take a listen, it’s extremely thorough and full of inspiring young people www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
Sun, sea and struggle: growing up in England’s coastal towns – podcast
Helen Pidd grew up in Morecambe, and life in seaside towns has only got harder since she was a teenager. She went back to find out why
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Very cool to be nominated as best podcast host alongside some actual legends. Bet Louis Theroux is quaking in his boots. I’m nothing without the amazing Today in Focus team @theguardian.com #BritishPodcastAwards
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Ben Quinn @benquinn75.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Will the Epping hotel riots spark another summer of unrest? Spoke to @helenpidd.bsky.social on the Guardian’s Today In Focus Podcast www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
Will the Epping hotel riots spark another summer of unrest? – podcast
A year after Southport, what’s driving the turmoil in Essex? Ben Quinn reports
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
Is manchester becoming too much like london? Come with me on a trip around a high rise city of OnlyFans creators, £6 pints and ever richer overseas students www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
theguardian.com
‘All those posh apartments. It’s a playground for the rich’: is Manchester turning into London?
£6 a pint, £199 a month for gym membership, £1,200 to rent a studio flat? The Guardian’s former North of England editor asks if the city she’s worked in for 12 years is changing for the better – or wo...
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
It’s official - the north could not be in safer hands with @joshhalliday.bsky.social in charge. Defo recommend a midlife career pivot. www.inpublishing.co.uk/articles/the...
inpublishing.co.uk
The Guardian announces new appointments
The Guardian has announced a number of appointments.
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
It's my favourite day of the year: Whit Friday! I'm not playing in "the greatest show on earth" this year, just spectating. But here is my dispatch from the front lines of brass banding in 2016 www.theguardian.com/music/2016/m...
theguardian.com
Different drum: novice snares gig in the greatest free show on Earth
The annual brass band battle, fought across villages on the old Lancashire-Yorkshire border, is part Wacky Races and part Brassed Off
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
We are booked in to the stockport curry pyramid for our Manchester Guardian night out and I cannot wait on.ft.com/4kRAvxB%E2%8... Motorway icon turned buffet titan — Jay Rayner reviews the Royal Nawaab Pyramid @joshhalliday.bsky.social @hannahalothman.bsky.social @robynvinter.bsky.social
on.ft.com
Motorway icon turned buffet titan — Jay Rayner reviews the Royal Nawaab Pyramid
How did this enormous, impressive new Indian restaurant outsmart a struggling industry?
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Archie Bland @archiebland.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
The great Today In Focus team of @helenpidd.bsky.social @alexatack.bsky.social and @samikent.bsky.social made an episode about Max and did him proud. You can listen to it here: www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
My son Max, the boy who came back to life - podcast
Guardian journalist Archie Bland describes the day his seven-week-old son stopped breathing, and the life he has led in the two years since
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
On today’s podcast, @archiebland.bsky.social talks about the day his son, Max, stopped breathing, and learning to advocate for a disabled child. This episode brims with love as well as rage at an ableist world and it was an honour to be trusted with Max’s story www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
My son Max, the boy who came back to life - podcast
Guardian journalist Archie Bland describes the day his seven-week-old son stopped breathing, and the life he has led in the two years since
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
8 years since the arena bomb 🐝 🐝 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
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Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
And the winners of the Paul Foot Award for investigative and campaigning journalism 2025 are... Patrick Butler and Josh Halliday of The Guardian. #PaulFootAward2025 www.private-eye.co.uk/paul-foot-aw...
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
A Reform official in Runcorn tells @joshhalliday.bsky.social: “Those planning to vote Reform roughly fall into two groups: ‘those who set their alarm for work in the morning and are angry at those who don’t – and those who don’t.” How will they satisfy both? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
‘Labour have done nothing but lie’: grievances fuel Runcorn byelection battle
‘Dogfight’ between Labour and Reform UK is turning ugly after Nigel Farage’s party put immigration centre stage
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
For today's pod I went on the road in Runcorn. Despite an obvious Reform surge, there are still voters keeping the Labour faith (sometimes reluctantly and often just to keep Farage out). Lots of love for Mike Amesbury too, in spite of those drunken punches. www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
Labour v Reform UK: on the road in Runcorn – podcast
Helen Pidd heads to the industrial town before this week’s byelection. How will Labour fare in its first big electoral test since taking power? Kiran Stacey reports
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Possibly the best Today in Focus ever, and it’s not one of mine: Michael Safi goes inside an Isis prison in Syria. So many astonishing scenes open.spotify.com/episode/639D...
open.spotify.com
Inside the Islamic State prisons the west is trying to forget
Today in Focus · Episode
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Another favourite: my best friend @lexytopping.bsky.social and I talk about friendship across the parenting divide: what happens when one of you has kids and the other can’t. This one made listeners laugh and cry in equal measure: open.spotify.com/episode/0Siv...
open.spotify.com
Friendship across the parenting divide
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Some of my favourite @todayinfocus.bsky.social episodes: meeting the Cork school kids behind the summer banger of 2024: The Spark. Joy from start to finish open.spotify.com/episode/55w7...
open.spotify.com
Creating The Spark: the kids behind 2024’s surprise summer hit
Today in Focus · Episode
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
The Guardian's unbeatable North of England line-up: @joshhalliday.bsky.social, @hannahalothman.bsky.social and Chris Osuh in Manchester, @robynvinter.bsky.social in Leeds & Mark Brown in County Durham. Plus investigations supremos @maevemcclenaghan.bsky.social and David Conn.
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Hannah Al-Othman @hannahalothman.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Took a huge risk last year, leaving my (very good) staff job for a fixed term contract at the Guardian, and I am so happy to say it has paid off 🍾🎉🙌🏽 And congratulations to my esteemed colleagues, who have also had their roles made permanent after a brilliant almost-year in the job(s) 🎈🎊👏🏽
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
I’m not leaving the north, btw. I will carry on making lots of episodes out and about up here as well as from our studio in London.
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
I’m very happy to say that I’m staying on as a permanent presenter on the Guardian’s daily podcast, Today in Focus. The great @joshhalliday.bsky.social becomes North of England editor. Change is good!
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
I’m very chuffed to be nominated for best new presenter at the @radioacademy.bsky.social Arias 2025 alongside some really top notch people. Thanks to the excellent @todayinfocus.bsky.social team @theguardian.com for everything.
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Today's episode is special - a bit of a weepy one but joyous too. @johnharris1969.bsky.social on how music — especially the Beatles and Kraftwerk — bridged a communication gap between him and his autistic son, James. We spent an afternoon in Somerset with them www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
How the Beatles helped my autistic son find his voice – podcast
John Harris on how music helped him connect with his autistic son James
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
On today's podcast I talk to teenage boys in Manchester about Adolescence, influencers, porn, toxic masculinity, girls and much more. www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
Adolescence: what teen boys really think of girls, influencers and porn – podcast
Boys face a barrage of toxic influences. We talk to sixth-formers about the pressures and joys they experience
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
This thread is heartbreaking - do read Josh’s story today
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
I absolutely love today’s episode, about having a baby with your best mate, instead of a romantic partner. That’s what @nicolaslawson.bsky.social did with her friend Tom podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com
Having a baby with your best mate
Podcast Episode · Today in Focus · 21/03/2025 · 33m
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Michael Savage @michaelsavage.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Great to hear @bbcradio4.bsky.social Today programme follow up on our @theguardian.com investigation into the TV crisis this morning. Broadcasters, big production companies - speak to me about it! Michael.savage@theguardian.com
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Luke Harding @lukeharding1968.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Here's my new guardian podcast on that Oval office meeting, and Donald Trump's betrayal of Ukraine. With thanks to @helenpidd.bsky.social and Today in Focus www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
Trump v Zelenskyy: the view from Ukraine – podcast
What do Ukrainians make of the two presidents’ fractious meeting – and would they support a Trump-led peace deal? Luke Harding reports
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Jamie Fahey @jamiefahey.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
A first for the @theguardian.com ⬇️ Paid work experience in London head office for working-class youngsters keen on journalism ✅ Must be 18 or older ✅ Help with accommodation costs ✅ Application deadline 30 March ✍️ workforus.theguardian.com/jobs/606/
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
A great example of what I think makes our podcast so special. My co-host Michael Safi takes a trip through the new Syria - it's funny, moving, sad and scary... and illuminating throughout. Production by @alexatack.bsky.social & sound by @tomglasser.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
Joy, hope and murder in free Syria – podcast
Syria has a new leader, and for thousands it is a time of celebration and optimism. But old enmities and fears about what comes next haunt the country. Michael Safi reports
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Really interesting chat on today's podcast with @ashifakassam.bsky.social about how Spain is opening its doors to immigrants while many country's are closing theirs www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
theguardian.com
Can Spain make immigration a vote-winner? – podcast
How much is immigration responsible for Spain’s economic growth? Ashifa Kassam reports
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Helen Pidd @helenpidd.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Quite breathtaking cruelty from the DWP here - stopping a mum's carers' allowance when her daughter went into hospital for 5 weeks... as if she would spend that period miraculously working, instead of being at her child's bedside. By @joshhalliday.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
theguardian.com
Mother had carer’s allowance stopped while with disabled daughter in hospital
Rachel Adam-Smith says stopping benefits when loved ones are in hospital fails to recognise carers’ ongoing role
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