Bella Grrl

Feminist. Femme dyke. Trojan horse. European. Comms. Words. Politics. Nevertheless, she persisted. Guardian-reading, tofu-eating, wokearti. Own views 🤟

[Masih Alinejad @AlinejadMasih]

Beyond sad. He’s been given a second life, but the reason want to kill him anyway. We need your help.
This young man, was scheduled to be executed alongside two other protesters in Iran on Tuesday. But before hanging him, his heart gave out from pressure. They rushed him to hospital, not out of mercy, but to keep him alive long enough to hang later.
His name is Alireza Sepahi. He is still alive.
We need international media to talk about this war being imposed on unarmed Iranians.
#StopExecutionsInIran

[Bella Grrl @BellaGrrl]

May his memory forever be a blessing 🌟

#PrimoLevi

[Auschwitz Memorial @AuschwitzMuseum]

31 July 1919 | Primo Levi was born in Turin. He was an Italian Jewish writer & chemist. From 26 February 1944 a prisoner of the German Nazi #Auschwitz camp no. 174517. In September 1947 he published his book "If this is a man". He passed away in 1987.

“I am constantly amazed by man's inhumanity to man.”

Those words by Primo Levi are still very relevant. 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz we still need this warning to reflect about our moral responsibility for the world we live in.

---

"If this is a man"

You who live safe
In your warm houses;
You who find on returning in the evening
Hot food and friendly faces:

Consider if this is a man
Who works in the mud
Who knows no peace
Who fights for a bit of bread
Who dies because of a yes and because of a no

Consider if this is a woman,
Without hair and without name
Without enough strength to remember
Vacant eyes and cold womb
Like a frog in the winter:

Reflect on the fact that this has happened:
These words I commend to you:
Inscribe them on your heart
When staying at home and going out,

Going to bed and rising up;
Repeat them to your children:
Or may your house fall down,
Illness bar your way,
Your loved ones turn away from you.

[S Sebag Montefiore @simonmontefiore]

Unbearable scenes this week. As the tyrants of Iran hang brave young people from cranes. To the disgust of most Iranians.
Many have protested.
Real bravery we can hardly conceive in our entitled comfort democracies.
One of the moral tests of our time - for our govt, UN, NGOs @andyburnham @Ed_Miliband

[Have I Got News For You @haveigotnews]

Andy Burnham's allies are objecting to Keir Starmer's determination to publish the Defence Investment Plan, saying that "it's a significant political decision with major national and global implications that was not Sir Keir’s to make". Yes, far better to leave it to a man who hasn't even been an MP for 9 years

[Damian Low @DamianLow3]

Talking of crimes…

- assaulting a police officer
- assault at a neo-Nazi rally
- football hooliganism
- using a false passport
- mortgage fraud
- contempt of court
- stalking a woman

Ring any bells?

[Damian Low @DamianLow3]

Seeing some of the embarrassingly hateful reactions to Starmer's resignation today, I thought it was worth resharing this.

The level of personal hostility directed at Keir Starmer deserves scrutiny in its own right. Not because he should be immune from criticism, but because the tone and intensity of the attacks tell us something unhealthy about the state of democratic politics.

Starmer is a conventional political figure. Cautious, legalistic, incremental. He frustrates people precisely because he is managerial rather than messianic. Yet the reaction to him often goes far beyond disagreement, tipping into visceral hatred more commonly reserved for authoritarians or demagogues.

Much of this hostility is disconnected from concrete policy. It is not about specific votes, proposals or outcomes, but about projection. A belief that Starmer embodies betrayal, bad faith or hidden malice. That kind of politics runs on suspicion rather than evidence.

This matters because democracy depends on the assumption of good faith among opponents. You can think a leader is wrong, timid, or misguided without believing they are fundamentally illegitimate. Once politics becomes moralised to the point of demonisation, compromise is reframed as treachery and pluralism as weakness.

The pattern is familiar. In fragmented, polarised systems, anger concentrates not on extremists, whose intentions are clear, but on moderates, who disappoint maximalists on all sides. The centre becomes the lightning rod precisely because it resists totalising narratives.

There is also a media and online dynamic at work. Incentives reward outrage, not proportionality. Algorithms favour contempt over analysis. Over time, this creates a political culture in which relentless personal attack feels normal, even virtuous, rather than disgusting.

None of this is a defence of Starmer’s decisions, instincts or record. Those should be argued over robustly as you do in a democracy. The problem is the substitution of critique with hostility and the quiet erosion of democratic norms that follows when political opponents are treated as enemies rather than rivals.

A democracy cannot function if every election is framed as an existential struggle against internal evil. At some point, the target may change, but the damage to trust, restraint and culture remains.

[David Lammy @DavidLammy]

I’ve known Keir since he was a lawyer. He was principled then, just as he is now, and throughout his career he has been driven by a deep sense of public service and duty to this country.

He transformed the Labour Party, rooted out antisemitism, restored trust and made our party electable again. He won a historic mandate to change Britain for the better and, most importantly, he delivered on that promise.

With Keir’s leadership, this Labour government brought stability back to our economy, cut NHS waiting lists, improved renters’ rights, began to fix the crisis we inherited in our courts and prisons, reduced small boat crossings, protected young people online, lifted half a million children out of poverty and restored Britain’s standing in the world. He put Britain back at the heart of Europe, stood firmly with Ukraine and rebuilt relationships with our allies.

Change promised, change fought for and change delivered. That is Keir Starmer’s legacy, and I am incredibly proud to have played my part in it.

[Jack Dart @JackWDart]

If people genuinely believe Burnham won’t receive the exact same media onslaught, they’ve not been paying attention.

Starmer is not, objectively, bad. This idea that he is somehow the worst PM in British history is frankly laughable.

Liz truss lasted 49 days, crashed the pound and was laughed out of Downing Street.

Since Labour took office, Keir Starmer’s government has:

• Scrapped the two-child benefit limit, lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and putting money back into some of the hardest-pressed households in the country.

• Expanded free school meals, cutting costs for families and making sure more children get a proper meal during the school day.

• Expanded funded childcare, reducing one of the biggest monthly costs facing working parents and making it easier for people to stay in work.

• Raised the National Living Wage, increasing pay for millions of low-paid workers.

• Strengthened workers’ rights, giving people greater protection against insecure work and bad employers.

• Introduced statutory sick pay from the first day of illness, so workers are less likely to choose between their health and their wages.

• Ended no-fault evictions, giving renters more security in their homes.

• Brought rail operators back into public ownership, taking key services out of failed private hands and giving the public a stronger stake in how they are run.

• Cut NHS waiting lists from their post-pandemic peak, meaning more patients are being seen sooner.

• Raised the state pension through the triple lock, protecting pensioners’ incomes against rising costs.

• Scrapped the old non-dom tax regime, making some of the wealthiest people in the country pay more fairly.

• Added VAT to private school fees, raising money from those most able to contribute.

• Removed business rates relief from private schools, ending an unjustified tax break.

• Increased neighbourhood policing, putting more officers and PCSOs back into communities.

• Helped bring knife crime down, meaning fewer families face the devastation of serious violence.

• Recorded the lowest homicide rate since the 1970s, a material improvement in public safety.

• Created Great British Energy, giving Britain a publicly owned clean energy company.

• Created the National Wealth Fund, backing investment in industry, infrastructure and clean energy.

• Passed planning reforms aimed at getting homes and major projects built faster.

• Improved relations with the EU, reducing diplomatic hostility and rebuilding practical cooperation.

• Agreed a UK-EU security partnership, strengthening cooperation on defence and European security.

• Signed a long-term partnership with Ukraine, reinforcing Britain’s support against Putin’s invasion.

• Secured new trade agreements, opening up markets for British businesses.

• Helped restore seriousness to government after years of scandal, chaos and decline.

People do not have to like Starmer. They do not have to vote Labour. But pretending this is the record of the worst Prime Minister in British history is absurd.

[Hen Mazzig @HenMazzig]

Zack Polanski, the head of England’s Green Party, was photographed wearing a shirt reading “Free Marwan.”

Marwan Barghouti is in prison for his role in orchestrating multiple terror attacks that killed innocent people.

Leaders of democratic nations must oppose terrorism. That is a baseline that cannot be allowed to change.

[The News Agents @TheNewsAgents]

"She's been gagged, but we haven't!"

Facebook whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams was forced into silence onstage in the UK this weekend - by her former employer.

Last year, she told us her story from 10 years inside Facebook....

[Bella Grrl @BellaGrrl]

@Ed_Miliband I’m so sorry for your loss. May her memory forever be a blessing ✨

[Bella Grrl @BellaGrrl]

@DMiliband I’m so sorry for your loss. May her memory forever be a blessing ✨

[Bella Grrl @BellaGrrl]

@strategywoman ❤️

[Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys]

Immigration makes Britain brilliant.

[Bella Grrl @BellaGrrl]

Over these last two weeks in British Politics I’ve wondered what Malcolm Tucker’s take would be…

[ALASTAIR CAMPBELL @campbellclaret]

Whatever complaints MPs have about Keir Starmer, they are now descending into the kind of headless chickenry that - whatever and whoever the outcome - will make the situation even worse for Labour. If there is a grand plan starring Catherine West and a few PPSs, then it doesn’t feel terribly thought through. A period of calm would do none of them any harm. The general election is a fair way off. The next legislative programme is about to be unveiled. There are better ways to reach such an important decision and better times too. You are MPs not commentators who exist to feed a frenzy.

[Bella Grrl @BellaGrrl]

@CatherineWest1 No. As a Labour member, and your constituent, you don’t speak for me. Extremely disappointed you think changing leader is going to help right now.

[David Baddiel @Baddiel]

I see that along with the usual troll-reactions justifying this morning's attack with reference to the actions of a state 4000 miles away, there's also now a fair amount of far-right "this is all your fault because immigration is a Jewish idea you Jewish cunt" posts. Interesting.

[David Baddiel @Baddiel]

Wondering if the hearts of those frustrated by small acts of petty symbolism, by the feeling that smashed windows and graffiti on bakeries are simply not enough, are cheered by the upgrade to burning ambulances this morning.

[#WOMENSART @womensart1]

“Each time a woman stands up for herself.... she stands up for all women.”
- Maya Angelou #WomensArt