Helen Lewis

staff writer, @theatlantic | contact me: [email protected]

[Helen Lewis @helenlewis]

@janeclarejones Men Explain The Mitford Sisters To Me

[Helen Lewis @helenlewis]

@jpodhoretz @janeclarejones No, I meant Diana. Her memoirs are excellent. I like Nancy as a historical biographer but less as a novelist (though Wigs on the Green is a brutal takedown of Unity and the BUF). Decca is probably the best writer of them all, but I don't agree with her politics either!

[Gabriel Pogrund @Gabriel_Pogrund]

Well done to @PeterKGeoghegan and Khadija Sharife for winning the @PrivateEyeNews Paul Foot Award — and revealing a conspiracy which for some time succeeded in suppressing scrutiny and defaming not just Sunday Times reporters, but those without the same resources to defend themselves including, above all, Paul Holden @StarmertheFraud.

He was trashed for supplying us with bulletproof documents which posed a question which years later has still never been answered: why did the entity which made Keir Starmer leader fail to declare hundreds upon thousands of pounds when it had been told it needed to?

The alacrity with which Labour ministers and MPs rightly scrutinise, for instance, Farage’s finances strangely still eludes them on this. Still some grumble about the supposed factual identity of Starmer’s adversaries — and in so doing, either inadvertently or otherwise give oxygen to many of the report’s lurid claims.

Which is why fearless journalism was the only remedy. Peter and Khadija recognised that and the whole fourth estate is fortunate they did.

And a final word: only a few of us know the sacrifices some people have made to bring this information into the public domain. Thank you to them — and let’s all remember that, according to Hansard, at least one source is being hounded by Apco, the appalling firm behind the report.

[Lewis Goodall @lewis_goodall]

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

[Luke Tryl @LukeTryl]

Some reflections on Makerfield groups so far:
1. People really feel the weight of the vote. People are *far* more engaged than I've had in a by-election. For some its a burden, some a privilege. They don't see this as just electing 1 MP, but a decision with UK wide ramifications

[ProPublica @propublica]

1/ At 17 weeks pregnant, Emily Waldorf was suddenly faced with a life-threatening situation: Her baby’s foot was dipping out of her cervix.

Doctors told her the longer her cervix stayed open, the higher her risk of infection.

They knew how to treat her. There was one issue…🧵

[The Atlantic @TheAtlantic]

Terry Pratchett, one of England’s funniest writers, is in danger of being lost to history, @helenlewis writes: https://t.co/hLmJMu9etI

[Robert Colvile @rcolvile]

Very good piece on the awful logic of the Peckham planning decision https://t.co/B2zlGrpXkg

[Jonathan Chait @jonathanchait]

If you haven't read @helenlewis on the right's new fascination with masculinity, do so. It helps explain this https://t.co/1LC6TP2btX

[Tonia Antoniazzi @ToniaAntoniazzi]

This is diabolically disgraceful, to put it lightly.
There is absolutely nothing in this horrific case that suggests a “limited understanding of consent.” These girls were threatened at knife point, raped, and filmed — and that footage then shared /🧵1

[Helen Lewis @helenlewis]

@thinkingshivers @MindMechanical @pupperpowell One writing tip that many people find useful is to read their work aloud. Your ear is a better editor than your eye. I bump on that exposition sentence about Roland Garros etc because the sub-clauses sound like written prose, not speech.

[🪺  🕊️ Tanya Szendeffy 🕊️🪺 @TanyaSzendeffy]

I find it extremely offensive for a start. I lived nearby for years and do not find it squalid. Have you read the decision? Do you know on what grounds the application was refused? Heritage grounds. Squalid is a very strong word. I worked behind the scenes to defend this on heritage grounds. This is not about being anti development. I am not at all but your assessment leaves me startled.

[Helen Lewis @helenlewis]

@Brahmski @JonahDispatch Your god has apparently deserted you: https://t.co/i5eDjyQ0h0

[Helen Lewis @helenlewis]

@EllieCumbo It's going to be a lot harder to shift any private flats now than it was in 2024.

[Helen Lewis @helenlewis]

Bio bought four properties in Gambia since becoming first lady, and has use of the presidential palace. Meanwhile, there are 18,000 people on Southwark's housing waiting list. Someone is living in a B&B so this family can keep a pied a terre in London.
https://t.co/g2yWhEj85j

[Ed West @edwest]

Sierra Leone's first lady has social housing in inner London https://t.co/1mMs2WJwwK

[Helen Lewis @helenlewis]

@EllieCumbo The minutes cite "uncertainty around the availability of GLA grant funding, not securing planning permission as soon as was hoped, build cost increases, regulatory changes, sales values remaining flat, and sale rates decreasing". All of which sound plausible to me...

[Helen Lewis @helenlewis]

@helendennis80 Makes sense. FWIW I live in Lewisham and our town centre has switched from low-rise to multiple new tower blocks in the last decade, and it’s worked out fine.

[Helen Lewis @helenlewis]

@EllieCumbo I don’t think this is a “great day for Peckham”. I think it’s a sad day, because zero affordable homes will be built. (I also have more sympathy for developers than most people in Labour, because their costs have gone up so much in recent years.)

[Helen Lewis @helenlewis]

@EllieCumbo As I said to Helen, my point was about the comms on here, which presented this as a victory against development. I don’t think that’s the right tone to strike given the depth of the crisis.

[Helen Lewis @helenlewis]

@helendennis80 Regardless of the wider picture, I found the council and councillors’ posts tone-deaf. None of the Twitter comms around this have explained the site issues. (And all of these homes would have been affordable to *someone*.)