Penelope Woods

Audience Researcher & Theatre Historian | cofounder of Poetry Vs Colonialism | RA on Empire Migration Belonging at Oxford & UCL

[Ben Kentish @BenKentish]

NEW: My latest @theipaper column on why alarmist, exaggerated warnings from private schools about Labour’s VAT policy were given so much attention - and what it says about Britain. Read here👇

[James Graham @mrJamesGraham]

41% of state schools now have no GCSE drama at all.

Creativity has collapsed in eduction over the last decade, despite the last remaining teachers striving to keep arts accessible to all kids, not just lucky kids.

This #WorldTheatreDay let’s keep the pressure on to fulfil the government’s pledge to restore arts to the core curriculum

[Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 @JoshEakle]

Read the full piece from @TIME:

https://t.co/Cvw68zc1rU

[Penelope Woods @newaudiencesold]

What are these nonsense numbers? Can we get a little numerical literacy here please? @TimHarford @ONS @YvetteCooperMP

[Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ]

Britain deserves better than this.

[Naz Shah MP @NazShahBfd]

I apologised to the members of the Assisted Dying Bill committee tonight as I had to leave early.

I didn’t want to but had to because my hearing aids need to recharge after 15 hours use and without them I cannot hear or take part in the committee.

Hearing isn’t a choice for me.

I’ve raised this issue repeatedly with members of the committee and it’s sad that I’m unable to continue today.

I have chosen to give up a lot, especially during Ramadan, to make sure I can contribute in this committee and in politics. 

I wanted to stay as long as I could for these hugely important discussions and it is frustrating that I cannot because of my disability.

[Cllr Pete Lowe 🌹📈 @LabourPete]

After 41 years I have resigned as leader of Dudley Labour Group...and the Labour Party.

I cannot be true to my principles and condemn the Tory cuts to the most vulnerable and not condemn the Government.

People before Party...Principle before Power!

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[Mark Thakkar @brunellus]

Do you need help with medieval Latin? I offer language teaching *and* research assistance, so if you just want a quick answer – e.g. a transcription, translation or manuscript identification – I can do that too. Details: https://t.co/kOUhuLNrQM #medievalLatin #medievalTwitter

[Penelope Woods @newaudiencesold]

@MichaelRosenYes @X This is absolutely horrendous. I’m so sorry

[Penelope Woods @newaudiencesold]

@ProofreadJulia @ObserverUK Curious to see the word “poppy” used as an adjective in the Guardian this weekend, to describe colours-that-pop, since poppy itself can meaningfully be a colour adjective it seemed odd not to indicate it here e.g. pop-y (if clunky). Interesting how these neologisms emerge.

[Penelope Woods @newaudiencesold]

@FITfashionstory Shocking to see appropriation of aesthetics - blue & white porcelain-like decoration, “pagoda” sleeves, just ten years after the brutality of the Opium Wars. Luxury, design and art always enmeshed in politics and politics of this period always steeped in exploitation and blood

[Penelope Woods @newaudiencesold]

@_esmeallman @brokensleep Congratulations Esme! Really looking forward to reading x

[Penelope Woods @newaudiencesold]

Stop this ignorant & racist misinformation being spread online. @YvetteCooperMP @metpoliceuk @ipso @ZoeJardiniere

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

A Brit who wants to bring their American, Japanese, Australian, or Canadian spouse to the UK is treated like a genuine criminal by the Home Office.

That's in stark comparison to their warm embrace of male illegal migrants, mainly from alien cultures that share none of our values and hold zero respect for women. Do we want these men in our country? No, we don't. Red carpet for them, a cold bureaucratic wall for Brits and their spouses.

Speak to anybody who has gone through the process - it is brutal, demeaning and actually quite cruel. Couples are kept apart for months, and it costs a fortune. They have to pay £1,035 a year for the NHS, why do illegal migrants get access for free?

Thousands and thousands of pounds are spent. Bureaucratic delays and incompetence are rife, of course.

These are people who want to come, contribute, integrate, build a life and raise their children in our country with their husband or wife.

They should be welcomed - they are trying to do things properly. Illegal migrants are not, and should not be allowed to stay.

Enormously crack down on fraud, naturally - especially on arranged marriages and all of that nonsense. But the constituents I have spoken with are not fraudsters, they just want to see their husbands and wives.

I want pro-family policies. We need to make it easier for Brits to have children, here.

Honestly, the Home Office is such a disgraceful organisation. I truly detest what these snakes have done to this country.

If a British lad marries an American girl and they want to build a life together in the UK, that should be encouraged. You might question their sanity in choosing Britain at the moment, but still...

Hundreds of thousands of legal migrants from Nigeria, Pakistan or wherever else come and bring their dependants - many students! It's a joke. Put brutally, British people should have far more rights than them.

It's our country.

It's all upside down. We're putting thousands of illegal migrants in hotel accommodation, paying for their laundry and food, but a decent taxpaying Brit is treated like a criminal by his or her own Government for having the audacity to marry an Australian or Canadian.

It's insanity.

Our immigration system is disgusting - it benefits ALL the wrong people, and puts Brits at the stinking bottom of the pile.

[Faiza Shaheen @faizashaheen]

There are millions of us that feel this way, don’t forget that. We’re just not represented in our current electoral system

[Chineke! Foundation @Chineke4Change]

Auditions for the Chineke! Junior Orchestra Residential Course 2025 are now open, and we warmly invite young musicians aged 11-22, especially from Black and/or global majority backgrounds, to apply for this transformative orchestral opportunity 👉 https://t.co/o0wcIMEp7e

[Penelope Woods @newaudiencesold]

@z_00pIz Welcome!! ❤️

[Penelope Woods @newaudiencesold]

@ruth_millington Oh that really IS exciting…

[Penelope Woods @newaudiencesold]

@ChemistryNCL This is wonderful! So sad to hear staff and research fund cuts planned at Newcastle University.

[Theatres Trust @TheatresTrust]

📅Tomorrow (Tues 28 Jan) we announce the 2025 Theatres at Risk Register

There are currently 39 theatres on the register, but check in with us tomorrow to find out what has changed...

#TheatresAtRisk