Tony Brett Young

I write a bit and we walk a lot. From Brisbane and Brum, but will always be Aussie, Londoner and European. Lib Dem and SUFC supporter, and we live with myeloma.

[Malala Yousafzai @Malala]

Exactly 12 years ago today, a Taliban gunman pointed his gun at my head and shot me for daring to speak up for girls’ right to go to school.

I want to thank every person for your solidarity and support, from praying for my recovery to helping me in my work for girls’ access to education, both in my home country of Pakistan and around the world.

Most years, I spend October 9th like any other day, with gratitude for having lived another year. But today, I am in New York to address the American Society of International Law (ASIL), a prestigious group of legal experts who have chosen to honour @MalalaFund and its work alongside Afghan activists fighting to protect the right to education for girls in Afghanistan. These women worked tirelessly before the fall of Kabul in 2021, and fearlessly since, to keep girls learning under the most impossible circumstances. It is humbling to stand alongside them and gratifying to see them receive the recognition they deserve.

The Taliban continue to point literal and metaphoric weapons at girls and women in Afghanistan every day, from public beatings to ruthless edicts that ban them from learning, working and living freely. The brutality of the Taliban’s oppressive system against women is so extreme that Afghan activists and human rights defenders are calling it gender apartheid.

Right now, Afghan women and girls need more than words of sympathy. I call on governments and influential institutions to leverage their power, and through international law, hold the Taliban accountable. I especially call on Muslim leaders and institutions to play a leading role in challenging the Taliban’s misuse of religion and culture.

Just as people stood with me and my friends more than a decade ago, I hope people will stand in solidarity with Afghan girls and women now.

❤️ @Hmosadiq @zarqayaftali @deemahiram @metra_mehran @RahelaHSidiqi @SHalaimzai

[Dave Sumner Smith @davesumnersmith]

Wouldn't the @LibDems be a more effective main Opposition party than the @Conservatives?

[Tony Brett Young @TonyBrettYoung]

It's a special thrill when your son's first book arrives. 'Kingdom of Trials' by James Brett Young tells the true story of Belgian Kevin Maes' fight to avoid a lifetime in a Thai prison on a dubious murder charge. Available from @amazon

[Luke Taylor MP @LukeTaylorLD]

Late last week we learned the sad news of the passing of Marlene Heron.

When I was first elected as a Councillor and the Chair of Sutton Local Committee, I was so lucky to have her there to offer her wisdom and support.

She will be dearly missed across Sutton and the Lib Dems.

[Dave Sumner Smith @davesumnersmith]

It's a dire selection of extremists vying to take charge of the @Conservatives.

Wouldn't you prefer @EdwardJDavey to be Leader of the Opposition?

[RS Archer @archer_rs]

Some good news for those who enjoy a drink at an English pub.

[Tony Brett Young @TonyBrettYoung]

Another of the fabulous free city performances by members of Birmingham's #CBSO.

[Tony Brett Young @TonyBrettYoung]

@henrymoeranBBC The greatest Test match, and finish, was the tied Test in Brisbane between Australia and WI in 1960. It also turned into the greatest series and at the end the Windies team were given a ticker-tape farewell.

[Tony Brett Young @TonyBrettYoung]

@implausibleblog He's the inarticulate voice of the inarticulate!

[BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS]

Steve Bray says we need to rejoin the Single Market, no Referendum just do it.

RT if you agree.

[Nick Reeves #RejoinEU #NAFO #FBPE @nickreeves9876]

Please retweet if you want the Labour government to do its utmost to restore the Freedom of Movement that was robbed from us by the worst abuses of democracy in modern British history.

[Charlie Maynard MP 🔶 @cammaynard]

This is not a record we want to break. Falling four places in a year is bad news. Our government is busy looking everywhere else but the obvious place. Get us back inside the single market and the customs union ASAP.

[Liberal Democrats @LibDems]

Liberal Democrats have always championed electoral reform and Proportional Representation .

First Past the Post is the wrong system and it distorts democracy. Our 72 MPs will continue to fight for fair votes for all. @JessBrownFuller

[Tony Brett Young @TonyBrettYoung]

Flowers for our Sal, still desperately missed six years on.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

Possibly the most incredible Beethoven Ode to Joy flashmob by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Nuremberg and the Hans-Sachs-Choir in front of the St. Lorenz Church in Nuremberg, Germany.

[📹 Evenord-Bank eG-KG]

[Australia House @AusHouseLondon]

Great to host Deputy PM and Defence Minister @RichardMarlesMP for the first Australia 🇦🇺- UK 🇬🇧 Bilateral Ministerial visit since the 4 July UK Election.

[Tony Brett Young @TonyBrettYoung]

@RuthCadbury @JamesTCobbler I agree Ruth, and generous of you to say so. Hope you get another appropriate role.

[Samuel West 💙💛 @exitthelemming]

Timpson’s are well-known for employing ex-offenders to help them back into work. They pay their tax. They value their staff. And then there’s this.

CEO James Timpson (who’s also Chair of the Prison Reform Trust) is the new Prisons Minister. Great appointment

[Steve Chalke @SteveChalke]

Huge applause for Sir Jack Petchey, who died yesterday aged 98. Jack’s was a life lived for others. I owe him and the Petchey Foundation - which he founded and funded - so much, as does the whole @Oasis_UK movement and the children and families we serve.

[Tony Brett Young @TonyBrettYoung]

@bbcpaddy Paddy O'Connell must be the BBC's natural successor to Huw Edwards for state occasion commentaries - so natural, professional, but with real compassion.