Children’s hospices in England are in crisis and have started turning away families because of a lack of government funding and falls in corporate donations, charities have warned.
Latest #ToryBritain snapshots…
Epilepsy patients left high and dry following PIP benefit reform
Helen Purdon, 47, had been on disability living allowance (DLA) for 10 years, following a diagnosis of epilepsy, which means she has seizures every 10 to 15 days. She is unable to work and assumed her transfer to PIP would be seamless. But she was wrong.
Chronically ill father hung himself after cruel DWP stopped his benefits, inquest told
A chronically ill father hung himself shortly after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) took the cruel decision to stop his lifeline benefit payments, an inquest has heard.
NHS crisis forces 500,000 patients to find new GP after mass surgery closures
Surgery closures have left a record 519,000 patients needing to move to new GP clinics in one year, figures show.
Dying dad with only six months to live told to reapply for his benefits
The Department of Work and Pensions told a terminally ill man to reapply for his benefits – despite having just six months to live.
“I just don’t want to feel like I’m letting them down”
Parts of Britain are now said to have child poverty rates of 50%. Channel 4 News spoke to James and Naomi who struggled to provide for their children after losing their jobs and home.
Latest #ToryPersonalities news…
Boris Johnson’s links to soft drinks and tobacco lobbyists revealed after he announces review of ‘sin taxes’
Boris Johnson is under pressure to reveal his campaign’s links to the soft drinks and tobacco industries after he announced plans to cut “sin taxes” if he becomes prime minister.
Boris Johnson praises Trump, saying US president has ‘many, many good qualities’
Boris Johnson has lavished praise on Donald Trump, saying the US president has “many, many good qualities” and lauding his record in office.
Jeremy Hunt lobbied on behalf of businessman who later gave his campaign £10,000
Tory leadership contender Jeremy Hunt changed his position on a redevelopment in his constituency and lobbied on behalf of a businessman who later gave £10,000 to his leadership campaign.
Boris Johnson ‘called the French “turds”‘ over Brexit in comment cut from BBC documentary
Boris Johnson reportedly accused the French of being “turds” over their Brexit stance in a remark that was removed from a BBC documentary while he was foreign secretary.
Nearly half of Tory members would not want Muslim PM – poll
Nearly half of Conservative Party members would prefer not to have a Muslim prime minister, a survey into the scale of Islamophobia in the party has suggested.
Boris Johnson refuses to appear on Sky Tory leadership debate
Boris Johnson’s refusal to face public scrutiny as he runs for the Conservative party leadership has prompted Sky News to cancel a televised debate this week.
#ToryNHS…
NHS crisis forces 500,000 patients to find new GP after mass surgery closures
Surgery closures have left a record 519,000 patients needing to move to new GP clinics in one year, figures show.
#ToryEconomy…
Austerity and inequality fuelling mental illness, says top UN envoy
Austerity, inequality and job insecurity are bad for mental health and governments should counteract them if they want to face up to the rising prevalence of mental illness, the UN’s top health envoy has said.
#VotingToryKills…
Chronically ill father hung himself after cruel DWP stopped his benefits, inquest told
A chronically ill father hung himself shortly after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) took the cruel decision to stop his lifeline benefit payments, an inquest has heard.
#ToryHousing…
Construction of homes for social rent drops 80% in a decade
The number of new homes built for social rent has fallen by almost four-fifths in a decade, according to official figures that come as more than 1 million families are stuck on waiting lists for council housing in England.
#ToriesAgainstYoungPeople…
Sure Start cuts leave vulnerable children at risk of abuse and neglect
Years of funding cuts to children’s centres mean some of the poorest and most vulnerable families in Britain have nowhere to turn for help and support, a leading charity has warned.
#ToriesHarmingCommunities…
Council football pitches being closed at alarming rate
British football’s recent success is in danger, according to union GMB, after figures showed that more than 700 council pitches have been lost to Tory austerity.
#ToriesIgnoringSafety…
Tory Police Minister admits cuts to police numbers are fuelling knife crime rise
Tory Police Minister Nick Hurd has admitted that police cuts are a “factor” driving Britain’s rocketing knife crime.
#ToryPowerAbuses…
Victims of the Tories’ hostile environment policies tell Glastonbury of their pain
Victims of the Tory Government’s hostile environment spoke at the Glastonbury Festival about the impact of losing their jobs and being separated from their partners.
#ToryEnvironment…
The Tories are ‘working hand in hand with the fracking industry,’ Labour charges
Tory ministers have held more than 30 meetings with leaders of the controversial fracking gas extraction industry — but not one with opponents.
#ToryBrexit…
Boris Johnson insists he’ll get No Deal Brexit through Parliament – MPs don’t agree
Boris Johnson has insisted he was ready to take the UK out of the EU even without a deal on October 31 – even though it could cause catastrophic damage.
#ToryForeignPolicy…
Boris Johnson praises Trump, saying US president has ‘many, many good qualities’
Boris Johnson has lavished praise on Donald Trump, saying the US president has “many, many good qualities” and lauding his record in office.
#ToryRetirement…
Thousands of old and disabled people could be impacted by social care cuts, report says
Thousands of old and disabled people are at risk of losing vital support because long-term funding for adult social care has been neglected by successive governments, care chiefs have warned.
#ToryWarOnThePoor…
Parents are starving themselves for up to a week to feed their children
Struggling parents are starving themselves for up to a week so they can afford to feed their children, a foodbank manager has claimed.
#ToryWarOnDisabledPeople…
Thousands of old and disabled people could be impacted by social care cuts, report says
Thousands of old and disabled people are at risk of losing vital support because long-term funding for adult social care has been neglected by successive governments, care chiefs have warned.
#AntiToryUprising…
Greenpeace activist: “Mark Field needs anger management”
Bruised and still shaken, Janet Barker is incredulous at the violent reaction of the Foreign Office minister Mark Field to her peaceful protest with fellow Greenpeace activists at the chancellor’s Mansion House speech.
Celebrity voices against the Tories…
Chumbawamba’s former guitarist labels Gove a ‘stuck-up, lying, money-grubbing, privileged git’
Michael Gove has been labelled a “stuck-up, lying, money-grubbing, privileged git” by Chumbawamba’s former guitarist after the Tory leadership hopeful aligned himself with the anti-authoritarian pop group’s 1998 hit Tubthumping.
Anti-Tory columns
Journalists
“Boris Johnson is still lying, and still no one cares”
Tom Peck writes in the Independent: “Boris Johnson’s position on Brexit is still meaningless garbage. He still wants to ‘disaggregate bits of the withdrawal agreement’. He still wants to deal with the Irish border question ‘during the implementation period’, all the while continuing to have ‘frictionless trade’ with the European Union.”
Indie bloggers
Tory austerity fanaticism is nonsensical backwards-economics
“It’s surely no coincidence that the two regions with by far the highest levels of public investment in infrastructure and public transport also have the biggest per capita surpluses, while the three most austerity-blighted regions with the lowest levels of investment are the ones with the worst per capita deficits.”
Opposition politician highlights…
“Boris Johnson doesn’t care about Northern Ireland – and he doesn’t even care that you know that”
“Boris Johnson either doesn’t know much or couldn’t care less about the complications of the Irish border. As foreign secretary, despite it being at the very centre of the whole Brexit morass, he ludicrously compared the international frontier to the boundary between two London boroughs.”
Spotlight on media bias…
Labour Party complains to regulator over coverage of cemetery visit
The Labour Party has formally complained to the press regulator Ipso about the coverage by several British newspapers of Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to lay a wreath at a cemetery in Tunisia.
Funny news…
Mhairi Black had the perfect response to Twitter troll who said she looks like a lesbian
When a Twitter user felt compelled to tell Mhairi Black that they instantly think “lesbian” when they look at her, Mhairi – an openly lesbian woman – fired back: “Inspiring observational skills you have James. I’m willing to wager that when straight women see you they think nothing at all.”
Anonymous artist ‘Wanksy’ draws penises on potholes to make cash-strapped councils fix them
After another cyclist friend was injured by potholes, Wanksy, an artist from Greater Manchester, England, decided to act. He used washable paint to draw penises around potholes in his neighbourhood, and suddenly, they were repaired in 48 hours.
Here’s some of what you missed at Conservative Party Conference…
Couldn’t make it to Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham this week? Here’s some of what you missed…
Theresa May drag queens: ‘We’ve dined out on her leopard-print heels for years!’
“Theresa was the obvious baddie. It was 2016, just after Brexit and the departure of David Cameron. I thought: ‘We finally have a real Conservative villain.’ She’s very Dickensian, there’s something of Scrooge about her. I could picture her creeping up the stairs, candle in hand, swiping coal off people.”
Satire…
Neighbours call police to Jeremy Hunt’s house after hearing screams from the NHS
Police have investigated a disturbance at Jeremy Hunt’s house after neighbours claim they heard screams of ‘Look what you did to me’ and ‘You fucking ruined me’ from the NHS.
Arts…
Glastonbury 2019: Stormzy gets crowd to shout ‘F**k Boris’ on live BBC TV
Stormzy‘s headlining set at Glastonbury, which aired live on the BBC, saw the crowd chant along to the words “F**k Boris”, in reference to Boris Johnson, the frontrunner to succeed Theresa May as the prime minister of the UK.
#StopTheTories Community…
Greens expected to stand aside to support Lib Dems’ by-election fight
The Green Party is expected to stand aside for the Brecon & Radnorshire by-election in a bid to show ‘Remain unity’.
Brecon & Radnorshire by-election date confirmed as criminal Tory fights to stay
The Tory party has formally triggered a crucial by-election that could see Lib Dems unseat a convicted criminal.
Tory MP Chris Davies removed and by-election triggered after losing recall petition over faked invoices
Expenses cheat MP Chris Davies has been stripped of his seat, plunging the next Conservative leader into a perilous by-election. A recall petition easily cleared the 10 per cent threshold for triggering a by-election, with 19 per cent of local voters – a total of 10,005 people – demanding Mr Davies be removed.
Tory members happy to trash UK economy and destroy their own party to get Brexit, poll finds
Conservative Party members would happily support the break-up of the UK, “significant damage” to the British economy and even the destruction of their own party in order to secure Brexit, a poll has found.
Boris Johnson could lose his seat as voters under 50 abandon Conservatives
Boris Johnson could lose his Uxbridge & South Ruislip seat to a surge of younger voters, research shows.
Campaign Together crowdfunder: Stop the Tories at the next election
“Campaign Together is a grassroots movement of people from all political parties and none that want to stop the Tories from winning the next election. Last year, we flipped two seats away from the Tories and helped to elect left-wing candidates in Bristol and Oxford.
#AntiToryDIY
Non-party DIY anti-Tory campaigning: a full guide to doing it legally
Anyone is allowed to publish and distribute non-party election campaign material, including: flyers, leaflets etc, or paid Facebook advertising. As a grass-roots DIY election campaigner, there is just one law […]
Facebook page publishing toolkit
Want your own easy and fun publishing project? If you can lay your hands on any money at all, you can place Facebook sponsored posts (paid advertising), to reach hundreds of the Facebook users of your choice that we normally don’t reach…