Guys, I’m over the bloody moon my Concerto Grosso won a Sky Arts Award yesterday. And even better the award was designed by @graysonperey ! It’s completely bonkers and I love it. Huge thanks to the team @SaxophoneLil @TredegarBand@BBCNOW@bbcproms@BBCRadio3#skyartsawards
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an executive order repealing bedtime so that kids can stay up late to watch the Knicks in the NBA Finals. https://t.co/ed20eINRV4
Banning people entering the UK because they are critical of the extreme right wing Israeli government, which includes disgusting racists like Ben-Gvir & Smotrich, is a very curious move from a Labour gov. @UKLabour@ShabanaMahmood
This is counter-productive, authoritarian and chilling. The British state should not be in the business of banning commentators and journalists from entering the country, without compelling reason. Finding their views objectionable is nowhere near enough.
https://t.co/GqUMVB5bqj
Name me another job in which it’s totally fine to drink discounted booze whilst at work….? But they’ll happily throw you in prison for smoking some weed in your spare time. Replace the lot of them!
We simply do not value the arts anymore in the UK. More grim news. What are @UKLabour@lisanandy actually doing to support the creative industries in any meaningful way, or have they just given up entirely?
Royal Shakespeare Company head of music Bruce O’Neil has taken redundancy as the company presses ahead with axeing its music department, The Stage understands.
Read more 👉 https://t.co/JkCqKKsMTY
@SevenSeasSoBlue@griffo44374@UKLabour@lisanandy ‘Theatre types’ …… 😐 - most of us working in the arts are just trying our best to make stuff happen under increasingly difficult circumstances
@crewedave1@UKLabour@lisanandy@grok I’d love to tackle all your points but I have to go work, but… the pop industry also benefits from funding from the bottom up - people don’t just become pop stars earning a fortune, they start at the grass roots. Prom tickets start @ £6.50 and they are broadcast on radio 3 😌
@crewedave1@UKLabour@lisanandy I’ll give you one example: the Proms - the proms is THE biggest classical music festival on the planet. It runs for over 2 months and there are concerts every day at the Albert hall, all of them totally packed, both people sitting and standing - but sure no one gives a shit
@GuyLambertUK@UKLabour@lisanandy I don’t believe she’s been to a single prom since she stated… the proms, which pack out the Albert Hall at least twice a day for several months…
@crewedave1@NatureIsaTERF@Fox_Claire@UKLabour@lisanandy Do you listen to music? Do you watch films? Do you watch tv shows? Maybe you don’t, but there are also lots of things I don’t avail of that my tax money is used to pay for, it is what it is.
@NatureIsaTERF@Fox_Claire@UKLabour@lisanandy Other counties value the arts as a social good, something we can all engage with, not just for the wealthy who can afford it. Go and check out how much money is put into the arts in Berlin alone … the UK invests hardly anything
@crewedave1@UKLabour@lisanandy They are industries - they make a lot of money. For every £ put in 3£ goes back into the economy. The creative sector also funds local economies (travel, hotels, restaurants, bars, etc.) Musicians, actors, dancers also pay lots of tax. But sure, fuck the arts
From next year, migrants wishing to stay in the UK permanently will need to speak, listen, read and write in English to an A-level equivalent standard.
It is right that those who wish to build a life here work hard, contribute and are able to play a full part in British life.
To think when he was in opposition I used to lunch with Lammy, I believed in him and I championed him. In more than 30 years as an observer and chronicler of politics, the weakest, most pitiful and disappointing character I ever encountered.
It’s been a very strange week for those of us in the Tourette’s community. I can only hope that, as a result, more people have a better understanding of the condition than they did a week ago. Some of the commentary on here (and TV) has been appalling.
Here’s John’s post.
A man with Tourette’s thanking people for their support after a week of global humiliation. A man apologising for hurt he never intended, while refusing to apologise for having a neurological condition he cannot control.
The continued harassment of him by Hollywood for his condition is sickening.
These are the same multimillionaires who scream about inclusion from red carpets and podiums, who clap for the sanitised movie version of disability, but recoil when confronted with the real, involuntary reality of it. They invited a man with Tourette’s into the room and then acted shocked when Tourette’s did what Tourette’s does.
That’s not inclusivity. That’s hypocrisy.
Johnny has shown more integrity and decency in one Facebook post than that entire virtue soaked industry managed all week.
@Mrgregles I saw this clip yesterday and it reminded me so much of myself at that age - unable to understand what was happening to me and just wanting it all to stop, just the exhaustion of it. It does get better - send you good vibes.