Caroline Hurford

Formerly with WFP, the Red Cross and BBC; still doing my bit towards a better world. Own views & tweets.

[🌋🌋 Deep₿lueCrypto 🌋🌋 @DeepBlueCrypto]

@BarackObama RIP Dolly

[Caroline Hurford @CarolineHurford]

New Year's Day Parade London, 2026 (Lewisham Donation Hub) https://t.co/DPxpEdLGx4 via @YouTube

Great stuff! Fantastic show from so many lovely Lewisham Hub folk - true spirit of volunteering - Dream Big & Keep Going!!!! 🙌😍🎉🤩♥️

[Caroline Hurford @CarolineHurford]

Seeds of wisdom from my friend & former @WFP colleague: Relearning to Live Like My Great-Great-Grandmother: Embracing Heritage Climate-Smart Crops for Health and the Environment https://t.co/x4Nxu03YI9

[The Bee Guy @the_beeguy]

IF YOU THINK HIVES ARE THE ANSWER YOU DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION.

As ever I don’t seek likes/retweets for ego - so couldn’t be arsed.

But I am arsed about endangered #solitarybees/#bumblebees.
About endangered #truth.

Be arsed for #bees too.
Please share.
#retweet
18/18

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

A British writer penned the best description of Donald Trump I’ve ever read:

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

-Nate White

[Caroline Hurford @CarolineHurford]

For #Navalny’s cause and in support of #Ukraine

[Caroline Hurford @CarolineHurford]

@nexta_tv RIP Navalny. Russia has lost a bright star and the world is plunged into deeper darkness.

[Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye]

The following 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 have suspended Unrwa funding based on Israeli claims that 12 of the agency's 30,000 employees took part in Hamas attacks:

🇺🇸 US
🇨🇦 Canada
🇬🇧 UK
🇫🇮 Finland
🇦🇺 Australia
🇮🇹 Italy
🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇳🇴 Norway and 🇮🇪 Ireland said they would not follow suit. Switzerland said no decision till accusations are clarified.

𝐔𝐧𝐫𝐰𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬:
• It has 30,000 employees, 13,000 of which are in Gaza.

• Most of them are Palestine refugees and a small number of international staff.

• In Gaza, it runs 183 schools, 22 health facilities and seven women's centres, among several other facilities.

• Its schools are attended by 286,645 students in Gaza, while its medical facilities have 3.4 million average visits per year, according to UN data.

[Caroline Hurford @CarolineHurford]

@navalny @maitlis Dear Alexey, just wanted you to know that there are many of us who admire and think of you every single day. C Новым годом!
Caroline & Robin Lodge

[Caroline Hurford @CarolineHurford]

TRANSPORT FOR LONDON: Your bollards are forcing our charity to close. Please remove them⚠️ https://t.co/y0Z8wqDdjI via @UKChange

[Carl Skau @WFPChief]

From the #Rafah crossing, my urgent plea for the millions of people in #Gaza whose lives are being torn apart by this crisis:

Allow essential aid like food, medicine, and water to reach those who need it most.

The world must come together to save lives and preserve humanity.

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

Video footage show Israeli army personnel pouring cement into a water source which supplies Palestinians near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank ⤵️

[UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency @Refugees]

One in five people who lived through war have mental health challenges.

[Caroline Hurford @CarolineHurford]

At moving event today to remember brave Iranian people (especially young women) who continue resistance to regime.

[BBC Breakfast @BBCBreakfast]

British Gas has reported record profits of almost £1bn as owner Centrica and energy firm Shell released their latest results.

Labour's Ed Miliband reacted to the figures on #BBCBreakfast

https://t.co/1CFYkBEz8F

[Julie Marshall @JulieMarshall2]

Afghanistan women's soccer team representing a country that doesn't recognize them.

In addition to banning adolescent girls and women from studying at schools and universities, the Taliban have prohibited all female sports.

https://t.co/Cb3FNkYhVB

[Caroline Hurford @CarolineHurford]

Also from Alan Little on @BBCWorldatOne. A special guy!

[Lewis @lewispringle]

Moving tribute to George Alagiah on the BBC News at One, in particular from Clive Myrie who has the same warmth and standing George had. Really sad loss, he battled so courageously. RIP George.

[UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency @Refugees]

REMINDER

[Steve Rosenberg @BBCSteveR]

Story so far...There was a mutiny. But it was over in a day. But Russian air force pilots were killed. But no one was arrested. But the Kremlin denounced the mutineers as ‘traitors’. But 5 days later Prigozhin & Wagner commanders were in the Kremlin talking to Putin. All clear?

[Caroline Hurford @CarolineHurford]

Feeling Francophile today!

[Vanguard WWII - by Cadet @Vanguard_WW2]

🇫🇷 Miss Dior
Late afternoon 6 July 1944, Catherine Dior, Resistance member and sister of fashion designer Christian, is arrested by the Gestapo when she goes to meet a member of her network at Place du Trocadero in Paris... 1/7