Tootfinder

Good piece from Nesrine Malik.
"The supposedly unifying thread of all these new policies is “integration”: this mythical concept that has taken on the quality of a religious ideal. ... It depends upon the children’s centre that links parents to others in the community and pools advice and resources. It depends on the libraries that provide literature and history and local knowledge. It depends on youth clubs and midwife visits and community centres and public-sector workers ...
"Yet all of these services have been hollowed out by years of austerity, pushing people back into their own small networks and atomised lives."
I'm remembering when one of the Nottingham leisure centres was closed, a youth worker explaining that the youth club there had been neutral ground for local kids from different areas to be able to hang out safely. I think it's unlikely the benefits of that had been costed in when the council decided to close the place. Even purely economically, I think it was a false economy, let alone quality of life and community-building.
#austerity #migration #integration #LabourParty #UKLaw #UKPol #libraries #LeisureCentres #ThirdSpaces #citizenship

"Let’s be crystal clear about what this law actually accomplishes: It makes it harder for adults to access perfectly legal (and often helpful) information and services. It forces people to create detailed trails of their online activity linked to their real identities. It drives users toward less secure platforms and services. It destroys small online communities that can’t afford compliance costs. And it teaches an entire generation that bypassing government surveillance is a basic life skill.
"Meanwhile, the actual harms it purports to address? Those remain entirely unaddressed. Predators will simply move to unregulated platforms, encrypted messaging, or services that don’t comply. Or they’ll just use VPNs. The law creates the illusion of safety while actually making everyone less secure.
"This is what happens when politicians decide to regulate technology they don’t understand, targeting problems they can’t define, with solutions that don’t work."
- Mike Masnick
#OnlineSafetyAct #OSA #UKLaw

Didn't know about this till now!
"Nottingham Against Transphobia hold die-in in city centre"
"... to demand justice from the Labour government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and show the general public the stark reality trans people are currently facing. ...
"The demonstration in Nottingham saw dozens of participations carry out a die-in where they lay silently on the ground as the sound of a steady heartbeat played from a loud speaker. One attendee was dressed as the Grim Reaper and wore a mask plastered with the face of prime minister Keir Starmer, standing ominously amongst the participants on the floor."
#trans #protest #Nottingham #England #UKlaw #EHRC

“I’ve been a very law-abiding citizen and very respectful of authority all my life but I knew I had to do this and it was my duty to do this.”
- Deborah Hinton, 81
“The focus shouldn’t be on Palestine Action. The focus should be on what the government isn’t doing for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”
- Father John McGowan, 75
“As a former officer in the British army, I am horrified that the government is misusing our armed forces to be complicit in the genocide rather than to end it.”
- Chris Romberg, 75
“Palestine Action’s methods sit very uneasily with me. It’s difficult to accept that vandalism is the only way to go. However, I feel we have to do something and I support their stand against genocide.”
- Richard Whitmore-Jones, 74
“The policeman said: ‘You’re a bit heavy.’ He had to call one of his friends over to help carry me. I thought that was a bit of a liberty.”
- Trevelyan Evans, 64
#PalestineAction #protests #UKLaw #Gaza #Palestine #Israel

521 arrests yesterday "for displaying placards in support of Palestine Action at Westminster's Parliament Square".
Bad for the reputation of the law, bad for the country.
Also, preposterous to contend that this is a good use of police time. Go and retrieve some stolen bikes!
#UKLaw #UKPol #London #police #PalestineAction

I said already that the Palestine Action proscription was bringing the law into disrepute.
Now we see how it's bringing the law into disrepute even with police officers charged with enforcing it.
“I was told to help in the arrest of a disabled person for holding up the sign stating they opposed genocide and supported Palestine Action, which I did.
“I did it knowing it had nothing to do with upholding justice or our professional values, just to protect my job and livelihood. My father was an officer, and the reason I came into the police. I know he would be ashamed and turning in his grave if he saw what I did. ...
“Instead of catching real criminals and terrorists, we are arresting pensioners and disabled people calling for the saving of children’s lives ... It makes me question why I’m even in this career anymore.”
- police officer
People in the Crown Prosecution Service not happy about it either apparently. Interesting article.
(I don't like that they used "mad" in the headline though. I realise it was a quote, but I bet there were some other quotable words they could've chosen.)
#PalestineAction #police #CPS #UKLaw #UKPol

Good short thread from @…, summarising some of why the "age verification" framework is bad, plus Peter Kyle's disgraceful comment the other day.
(a lot packed into a few words!)
#OnlineSafetyAct #AgeVerification #PeterKyle #UK #UKLaw

"After Saturday’s protest, the chair of the Metropolitan police federation said officers policing protests in London were “emotionally and physically exhausted”.
"Paula Dodds said: “Enough is enough. Our concentration should be on keeping people safe at a time when the country is on heightened alert from a terrorist attack. And instead officers are being drawn in to facilitate these relentless protests.”"
Well that's the government's fault for having completely unnecessarily created this conflict and brought the law into disrepute!
No wonder the police are "emotionally exhausted", when they have to keep on arresting peaceful old people like their grandparents, and being mocked for it! Not what any of them probably imagined their job was gonna be!
But this to me is the worst bit of news in that article:
"The planned new power follows protest-related measures in the crime and policing bill going through parliament, which bans the possession of face coverings ... at protests"
Planning to ban masks, in the time of covid. Denial or what.
I wonder if they've done an "impact assessment" for that bit of the law, because it certainly would disproportionately affect people disabled with Long Covid & similar things.
#UKLaw #masks #London #protests #Palestine #CovidIsntOver #KeirStarmer

"This consultation will last for 8 weeks from 23 June 2025 until 18 August 2025. Responses must be received by 23:59 on 18 August 2025."
(see previous post for context)
#ToxicChemicals #law #UKLaw #UKPol #Brexit

Useful analysis from Nour Haidar on the wider implications of proscribing Palestine Action, inc blurring the difference between property-harm and people-harm.
#UK #terrorism #law #UKPol #UKlaw #PalestineAction

"Want to import toxic chemicals into Britain with scant scrutiny? Labour says: go right ahead"
George Monbiot explains:
"Yes, these proposals might reduce costs for business. But the inevitable result is to transfer them to society. ...
"Many have paid with their lives, health, education or livelihoods for previous “bonfires of red tape”: through the Grenfell Tower disaster, filthy rivers, collapsing classrooms, consumer rip-offs and the 2008 financial crisis. But as long as these costs can be shifted off corporate and current government balance sheets, that is deemed a win for business and win for the Treasury."
#ToxicChemicals #law #UKLaw #UKPol #KeirStarmer #RachelReeves #LabourParty