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Tom Rank

@tomrank.bsky.social
659 followers 314 following 1.2K posts

Reflections on literature, education - and other ramblings. Was @literaryconnect in the other place 😀 www.literaryconnections.co.uk

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Alistair Coleman @alistaircoleman.bsky.social · 38m
This is undisguised racism. It’s not about “concerned citizens” or “legitimate concerns”, it’s pure naked racism.
theboltonnews.co.uk
Windows smashed, fires lit as terrifying 'No HMO' attacks spread to local homes
A series of attacks of vandalism have swept across parts of Salford, including Walkden, Little Hulton, and into parts of Kearsley.
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English and Media Centre @engmediacentre.bsky.social · 2h
Inspiring story about reading www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
theguardian.com
A moment that changed me: I learned to read and write – at 42
I had worked for 25 years, married and started a family. But a crisis at the supermarket reminded me there was something missing from my life
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 1h
NEW: Charities and volunteers who help asylum seekers get to the UK should face potential criminal prosecution, Nigel Farage has said in an interview with a rightwing US podcaster. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Nigel Farage says charities that help asylum seekers get to UK should be prosecuted
Reform leader did not say who should be targeted but party figures have been critical of small boat rescues by RNLI
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 1h
This is so moving to read, in light of where we are now.
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Migrant Voice @migrantvoice.bsky.social · 19h
Our response to proposed policies announced by Reform’s Robert Jenrick to suspend the asylum system entirely for five years and to allow the Royal Marines to use lethal force to stop the boats. 👇
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Praxis, for migrants and refugees @praxisprojects.bsky.social · 2h
Whether it's 20 people or 200, people seeking asylum deserve safe accommodation & shouldn't be warehoused in hotels, camps or remote sites What we actually need: ⏰ Faster & fairer decisions on asylum 👨‍⚕️Allow asylum seekers to work 🏘️ Proper investment in housing for all www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Could 200 asylum seekers be housed in Cambridgeshire fens?
After protesters marched thorough a village, what are the plans for asylum seekers in Fenland?
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Wulfhelm @wulfhelm.bsky.social · 2h
Gone, but not forgotten.
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 2h
Pretty extraordinary for the Jewish Chronicle to run an op ed & news story about Nigel Farage warning of antisemitism in the Greens without mentioning that he is the only serving major party leader to have been criticised by Jewish groups for using tropes linked to antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Exclusive: Nigel Farage calls on Labour to rule out pacts with Green Party
After Polanksi’s party calls Zionism racist, former Labour minister says: I’m no fan of Reform leader but he’s right hereLabour must rule out electoral pacts with the Greens who have embraced antisemitic dogma
Reform UK’s leader says sectarian politics and importation of fundamentalism have no place in our democracy
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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 2h
The editors let Nigel Farage write for the Jewish Chronicle. Nigel Farage. A man who got a standing ovation from Nazis (www.dw.com/en/nigel-far...) before they were mainstream. What a shameful day.
dw.com
Farage speaks to Germany's far-right AfD
Nigel Farage, the ex-leader of UKIP and a chief Brexit campaigner, has addressed a rally of Germany's far-right AfD party in Berlin. He received a standing ovation as a model of right-wing political a...
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3h
To test or not to test, that is a question.
ft.com
Top London private school reverses plan to scrap GCSEs
Latymer Upper School’s changes pledge for a new curriculum following pushback from universities
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Odd This Day @oddthisday.bsky.social · 5h
There’s really only one way to mark the 99th anniversary of Roger Moore’s birth
Marc Haynes’ story: As a 7 year old in about 1983, … I was with my grandad in Nice Airport and saw Roger Moore Sitting at the departure gate, ... told my granddad i'd just seen James Bond and asked if we could go over so I could get his autograph. …so we walked over and he popped me in front of Roger Moore, with the words "my grandson says you're famous. Can you sign this?" As charming as you'd expect, Roger asks my name and signs the back of my plane ticket... I'm ecstatic, but …I glance down at the signature. … it definitely doesn't say 'James Bond'. ...I tell my grandad he's signed it wrong, … so my grandad heads back to Roger Moore...
"he says you've signed the wrong name. He says your name is James Bond." Roger Moore's face crinkled up with realisation and he beckoned me over. …he leant over, looked from side to side, raised an eyebrow and in a hushed voice said "I have to sign my name as 'Roger Moore because otherwise...Blofeld might find out I was here." He asked me not to tell anyone …and thanked me for keeping his secret. I went back to our seats, my nerves absolutely jangling with delight. My grandad asked me if he'd signed 'James Bond.' No, I said.
I'd got it wrong. I was working with James Bond now. Many years later, I was working on a recording that involved UNICEF, and Roger Moore was doing a piece to camera as an ambassador. He was lovely and while the cameramen were setting up, I told him the story. He …had a chuckle and said "Well, I don't remember but I'm glad you got to meet James Bond." So that was lovely. And then he did something so brilliant. After the filming, he walked past me in the corridor, heading out to his car - but as he got level, he paused looked both ways, raised an eyebrow and in a hushed voice said, "Of course I remember our meeting in Nice. But I didn't say anything in there, because those cameramen - any one of them could be working for Blofeld."
I was as delighted at 30 as I had been at 7. What a man. What a tremendous man.
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Brian Moses @brianmosespoet.bsky.social · 15h
Daily poetry prompt: Try rhyming mid line. Stoats wear coats even when the sun shines. Armadillos choose pillows for sleepy snores. Crocodiles wear smiles when the unaware go swimming. More here: brian-moses.blogspot.com/2021/01/rhym...
brian-moses.blogspot.com
Welcome to the Ssssssnake Hotel
TRY RHYMING MID LINE ANIMAL FUN. Stoats wear coats even when the sun shines.  Armadillos choose pillows for sleepy snores. Crocodiles wear ...
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Michael Rosen @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social · 17h
New poetry workshop video to help children (or anyone) write poems. This is on our YouTube channel. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJPb...
youtube.com
The YoYo | Michael Rosen Poetry Workshop: Series 2
YouTube video by Kids’ Poems and Stories With Michael Rosen
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Tom Rank @tomrank.bsky.social · 17h
I must say that when I read this in the morning I expected to see quoted at some point!
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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
1/3 Obviously I was aware of, or did some of the original research behind, much of this, but great to see @johncollingridge.bsky.social dig further into the (hedge) funding behind Biggar’s comprehensive anti-progressive activism: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Lobbying, lawyers and a media blitz: the fight to kill the Church of England’s £100m slavery compensation fund
Some of Britain’s wealthiest financiers, including Sir Paul Marshall, have given a platform to critical coverage or are linked to its leading opponent
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Ian Duhig @ianduhig.bsky.social · 23h
"Sorry to hear about your insect thing, Gregor, but y'know, two baristas phoned in sick and we really need you to cover their shifts. Just keep your head down in case the Environmental Health Officers come sniffing around. Chin up: you might get a book out of this!"
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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Disabled people don't own their Motability cars. They give up their other benefits to pay to lease them. The cars have vital adaptations for disabled use. They make active life - and employment - possible, for thousands and thousands of people: our fellow-citizens. But Nigel Says Fuck'Em...
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History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
🧵Leeds possessed one of the best tramway systems in the country. Originally drawn by horse from October 1891, it was home to the first electric tramway in Britain powered by means of the overhead wire. The electrification was complete ten years later.
Leeds tram (number 399) travels along route number 5 to the Corn Exchange, via Meadow Lane.' Courtesy of Leeds Museums and Galleries.
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Sir Almaviva @ilcontealmaviva.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Also the language is despicable: the "danger to Britain's [...] social fabric" of allowing immigrants and their relatives to settle? Extremely inflammatory and irresponsible language. You can feel that the writer barely considers care workers (and immigrants) as human beings.
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EngLangBlog @englangblog.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
@stancarey.bsky.social just reading this from 2013/14 (!) allthingslinguistic.com/post/6750731... and wondering if you've written anything/got any thoughts about 'be more NOUN' constructions. I can think of 'Be more dog' from 2013 but thinkin about more recent ones too.
allthingslinguistic.com
Where “because noun” probably came from
There’s been a flurry of new articles recently on the “because noun” construction, many of which quote a post I made over a year ago. I have some new thoughts since then, including a different hypothe...
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History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
🧵In the summer of 1797, 22-year-old J. M. W. Turner embarked on an eight-week tour of Northern England that transformed his early career. While passing through West Yorkshire, Turner was captivated by the medieval Chantry Bridge spanning the River Calder in Wakefield. He initially captured
The Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin on the Wakefield Bridge over the River Calder. It was created as a watercolour around 1798 by the celebrated English landscape artist J. M. W. Turner (held in the collection of the British Museum
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
The idea that this would be a "catastophic burden" on the economy is a real zombie fact. Even on the worst case (and wrong) scenarios dreamt up by anti-migration think-tanks it is not close to "catastrophic".
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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
The other day I talked to an aunt who has truly seen everything, and she couldn’t overstate how much more racist England now feels. When a working-class black woman in her mid-seventies tells you it’s bad, then it’s really bad.
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EngLangBlog @englangblog.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Ragebait for Paper 2 Q3 😂
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
The Times, once again, calling for mass deportations of care workers and other legal migrant workers.
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Tom Rank @tomrank.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Plenty of apps will help you avoid those. And if you're on Octopus (like us), their app sometimes secures discounts as well as making it a bit easier to pay.
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Helen @helenpins.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
David Olusoga is so good at what he does. Every series I watch makes me want to change the way I teach, because he explains everything so brilliantly. #historyteacher 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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Mr RobertBob @mrrobertbob.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Robert Jenrick moving up from painting over children’s cartoons to cold blooded murder. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
mirror.co.uk
Outrage as Reform MP says navy should be allowed to use lethal force in Channel
Reform MP Robert Jenrick said that if Nigel Farage becomes PM, marines will be able to use 'lethal force' to stop small boats - a statement branded 'horrific' by Labour peer Lord Alf Dubs, who fled th...
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herenowandthere.bsky.social @herenowandthere.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Wrote on a a question I have been thinking about a lot lately: not what should we do, but how do we continue doing what we must? So here are my thoughts on an anti-fascist spirituality. ehttps://sojo.net/articles/opinion/what-antifascist-spirituality-looks
sojo.net
This Is What An Antifascist Spirituality Looks Like
At the beginning of the second Trump administration, a homemade yard sign appeared in my neighborhood. It quoted the German Protestant pastor Martin Niemöller’s “First They Came” poem. Promoting both ...
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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
The 1951 UN Refugee Convention is one of the legacies of the defeat of Nazism, inspired by the knowledge of the countless Jewish and other people who had been unable to escape, so I guess it’s unsurprising that Reform want to reverse it
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
“I always have to remind myself of Hitler’s words, that he is not making speeches for professors.” Victor Klemperer.
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Tom Rank @tomrank.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Agreed - it's always been more sensible to look for a second-hand vehicle. That's what we did and can confirm similar figures. Even using a public charger you should be well in pocket now.
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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Feels like not enough people are aware of how fully cooked the internal combustion engine is. My mum's old diesel Honda currently costs £120 to fill up, on which it'll do just under 300 miles. My sister's EV costs £6 for a full charge which will take her 280 miles.
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💛Magda Teter🟦📖 @mteter-historian.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
This ⬇️ The caption says: "You are looking at the most dangerous animal in the world. It alone of all the animals that ever lived can exterminate (and has) entire species of animals. Now it has achieved the power to wipe out all life on earth."
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Tom Rank @tomrank.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
This seems to be reported as if this were news when the effect of the push for free schools and academies was apparent from the very start .
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Tes magazine @tesmagazine.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
‘The incoherence of England’s school system threatens to derail not only this government’s education priorities but also its flagship public service reforms,' writes @amberdellar.bsky.social of @instituteforgovernment.org.uk, arguing the split nature of our education system can no longer be ignored
tes.com
Our incoherent school system is getting in the way of reform
The complicated structure of our school system is a problem for Andy Burnham because his education policies require a level of coordination that isn’t currently achievable, says Amber Dellar from the…
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History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Last one for today. St Wilfrid’s Church, Burnsall, stands beside the River Wharfe in the Yorkshire Dales. Local tradition holds that St Wilfrid of Ripon, whose feast day it is today, visited in the 7th century, preaching Christianity to the people and baptising converts in the river. Although the
St Wilfrid's Church is the parish church in the Dale's village  of Burnsall, It is dedicated to Saint Wilfrid, who local legend says preached from a rock by the River Wharfe in the late 7th century. A church has stood on the site since at least 875 (evidenced by Anglo-Scandinavian carved stones), rebuilt  around the 11th-13th centuries with later alterations and a Victorian restoration in 1858–59. Image: Michael Garlick CC BY-SA 2,0
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Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Sorta bonkers hearing in which a UK farmer keeps saying solar power on farmland is not the end of the world, won't take up that much land and provides a useful diversified source of income, while MPs keep instisting to him to that solar on farmland is a nightmare parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...
parliamentlive.tv
Parliamentlive.tv
Public Accounts Committee
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Alf Dubs calls the comment "horrific" in the Mirror "It's against international law to endanger lives at sea, all these things are horrific." "I think this goes against all our traditions, whatever Farage thinks about these people, they're people who are fleeing for their safety in this country."
Lord Dubs said: "It's against international law to endanger lives at sea, all these things are horrific." And he continued: "I think this goes against all our traditions, whatever Farage thinks about these people, they're people who are fleeing for their safety in this country."

He said: "The idea of using force in this country and endangering their lives is totally, totally wrong."

Lord Dubs, who was six when he arrived in the UK from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, said Britain had led the way in protecting refugees, said it was depressing that a mainstream party is now talking about closing the asylum system.

He said: "I think it's very depressing that we've suddenly taken a step back. We took the lead in setting up the European Court of Human Rights and the Geneva convention, this is part of our British tradition, we believe that people should have a route to safety.

"I'm not saying we should take everybody, but we should play our part and not opt out of it."
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Robert Jenrick for Reform says that Royal Marines using "lethal force" on small boats could end it in days. "Deploy the Royal Marines into the Channel. If they need to use lethal force then they'll be able to do so. I think the problem would come to an end within a matter of days."
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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Big win for the performatively serious "defence" (military) hawks. We're prolonging our reliance on fossil fuels to own...Russia? And we're dialling back efforts to tackle what is plainly our no1 security risk measured by severity and likelihood of impact, i.e. the climate crisis.
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Warwick Mansell @warwickmansell.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “This comprehensive piece of research gives us the clearest picture yet of how excessive pay for MAT CEOs is driving waste and inefficiency in the schools system.”
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Warwick Mansell @warwickmansell.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Revealed: £100,000 pay premium for leaders of England’s largest academy chains educationuncovered.co.uk/news/reveale... , my research for Campaign for State Education finds. (Full report available here: www.campaignforstateeducation.org.uk/_files/ugd/3...)
educationuncovered.co.uk
Education Uncovered | News| Revealed: £100,000 pay premium for leaders of England’s largest academy chains
Direct comparison of salaries of CEOs of largest chains against those of local authority children’s services directors, overseeing similar numbers of pupils, shows six-figure disparity.
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Tom Rank @tomrank.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
There is also the plausible but also uncomfortably possible reading that the tiger is the Nazi who, readers will recall, stole Judith's pink rabbit. (Though the tiger does seem too friendly.) I think @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social posted some thoughts about this some while ago on The Other Place.
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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
This would be a truly terrible idea, decimating the heat pump industry and leaving UK climate and energy policy in disarray www.nesta.org.uk/blog/four-re...
nesta.org.uk
Four reasons why scrapping the Boiler Upgrade Scheme would leave the UK’s energy policy in disarray
Four reasons why scrapping the Boiler Upgrade Scheme would leave the UK’s energy policy in disarray
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Ellie Mae O'Hagan @elliemaeohagan.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
The extent of our reliance on fossil fuels poses a national security risk that is simply unacceptable in the current geopolitical climate. Making that worse by defunding the only alternative is wrong. You can read the full report here: www.e3g.org/publications...
e3g.org
The Home Front: A strategic security review of British homes
UK homes’ reliance on gas represents an Achilles heel to the country’s national security. The energy shocks resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz i...
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Ellie Mae O'Hagan @elliemaeohagan.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Earlier this year, E3G released a big report with the Department of War Studies at Kings College which showed that our dependence on gas is a major national security risk. Cutting heat pumps to fund defence is like not paying for a flu jab so you can buy lemsip. It makes no sense.
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Ian McMillan @imcmillan.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Me and great conductor/composer Ben Crick, excited about Marriage of Figaro!
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Warwick Mansell @warwickmansell.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
This, published Friday, is a brilliant investigation by @schoolsweek.bsky.social 's @jackydys.bsky.social into high academy executive pay and the justifications offered by some chains. Fragmentation of system comes through: schoolsweek.co.uk/our-ceos-des...
schoolsweek.co.uk
Revealed: How academy trusts justified bumper CEO salaries
Schools Week lifts the lid on DfE's secret discussions with trusts at the centre of CEO pay controversy
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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
This is absolutely correct. Blaming the Russians is externalising the problem.
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