Paula Collar

lawyer, writer, escapologist

[Sophy Ridge @SophyRidgeSky]

We've had a new report out into maternity and neonatal care and honestly... there's not a single surprise in it.

It's still - and I don't use these words lightly - a total disgrace. We've had multiple reports telling us this. And yet the same problems keep happening.

Women not being listened to - mums and babies being harmed or even dying - when they shouldn't be. So many people have their own stories - I'm sure if you're listening to this right now you might have your own story - or know someone who does.

There's one thing I wanted to pick out from the report by Baroness Valerie Amos.

The investigation heard cases of women who had lost babies being placed on wards with newborns.

This might seem like a little thing. But can you imagine losing a baby. The worst moment of your entire life. All those hopes and dreams for your child's future. Carrying the baby inside you - feeling it grow - and then the blood, the desperation that maybe it's going to be ok, surely it's got to be ok, and then the reality that you've lost your child.

And then what happens? You're put on a ward full of other mothers just like you... but these mums have their little babies in their arms.

That is not just negligent. It is cruel.

And it also happens systematically throughout the NHS. Having a miscarriage? Go to the maternity unit. Just had a scan where you'd hope to see your baby kicking but actually find out it doesn't have a heart beat? Go and sit down with all the happily pregnant mums.

This is symptomatic of a system where women are treated like vessels not like people who should be heard and listened to.

Because bringing life into the world can be the happiest time of your life. But it can also be the worst time of your life.

Either way - it's the most important moment. And that's why we've got to get this right.

[Paula Collar @paulacollar]

So interesting! https://t.co/D70HMr3dNk

[The Figen @TheFigen_]

The dog realizes they won and celebrates.

[dominic dyer @domdyer70]

The Netherlands has achieved a remarkable milestone by becoming the first country in the world to completely eliminate stray dogs without euthanasia. The government implemented strict animal welfare laws, mandatory pet registration, heavy fines for abandonment, and nationwide sterilisation drives. Shelters worked closely with rescue teams to ensure every stray dog was rehabilitated and placed in a loving home. Public awareness campaigns encouraged adoption over buying, helping transform the country’s approach to animal care. This compassionate, coordinated effort resulted in every dog finding a safe, permanent home — setting a global benchmark for humane animal welfare.

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

The Big Hoolie street ceilidh in St Andrews, Fife.

Happy St Andrews Day to all you magnificent Scots around the world! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Kevin Bridges @kevinbridges86]

Good to get away. Great to get home.
.
Monday 1st Dec: Mailing list Pre-Sale. You can join on https://t.co/OPjVw9VUsX

Thursday 4th Dec: General
Sale

Back in the game and here if you need me…

[New Scientist @newscientist]

Getting covid-19 for the first time slightly increased the risk of heart inflammation, blood clots and bleeding disorders among children, whereas being vaccinated against the virus was much safer and sometimes protective https://t.co/JcIJK3EMhv

[Chay Bowes @BowesChay]

A Warning from History.

A year after WW1 ended, A French Pilot, Jacques Trolley de Prévaux, flew an Airship from the Belgian coast to the devastated battlefields of France where millions died.

Lost for decades this is part of what he saw remastered in color and HD.

[Dr. M.F. Khan @Dr_TheHistories]

At 40 years old—sick, isolated, and ruled by her father like a prisoner—she wrote the most famous love poem in the English language. Then she ran away with the man who inspired it. If you think Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s life was simply a romantic fairy tale, you’ve been fed the simplified version.

Elizabeth Barrett was born March 6, 1806, a prodigy from the very beginning. At 8, she devoured Homer in Greek. At 11, she finished her own epic poem. At 14, her proud father privately printed her work—unheard-of in a world where most girls weren’t educated at all. She was brilliant. She was unstoppable. Until a sudden collapse changed everything.

At 15, a mysterious spinal injury—perhaps a riding fall, perhaps disease—left her in unending pain. Her body failed her. Her spirit refused to break. For decades she lived confined to a darkened room, dependent on laudanum to survive another hour.

And she wrote.
Through agony, loneliness, and fogs of morphine—she wrote poems that shook Victorian literature.

By her late 30s, Elizabeth was an international sensation—critics adored her, readers worshipped her, and she was even considered for Poet Laureate before Tennyson received the title. But fame could not free her. Her father, Edward Barrett Moulton-Barrett, controlled every detail of her life. He forbade all of his twelve children from marrying. Anyone who dared to disobey was instantly and permanently cast out.

Elizabeth—bedridden, financially reliant—seemed doomed to live and die under his tyranny.
Then a letter changed everything.
January 1845:
“I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett…”
It was sent by Robert Browning—bold, passionate, a fellow poet six years younger. That single letter sparked one of the greatest correspondences in literary history: 574 handwritten letters over 20 months. They fell in love without ever touching hands.
Genius recognized genius. Admiration became affection. Then devotion. But if Elizabeth tried to marry him, she would lose everything she knew—her home, her security, her family. Still, she gathered her courage.

On September 12, 1846, at age 40, Elizabeth slipped out of her father’s house with only her maid beside her. She married Robert Browning in secret. A week later, the couple fled to Italy before her father discovered her defiance.
He never spoke to her again.
Every letter she sent home was returned unopened.
Even after his death, he left her nothing.

Elizabeth’s heart cracked—but her spirit came alive. Florence transformed her. The sun warmed her damaged body, her health improved, and in 1849 at 43—she gave birth to her son, Robert “Pen” Browning, defying doctors who insisted pregnancy would kill her.
And she wrote the poetry that would echo across centuries.

In 1850 she published Sonnets from the Portuguese—44 intimate poems written during her courtship. The title was a ruse—“translations” that were actually her most private feelings. Robert’s nickname for her, “my little Portuguese,” provided the disguise.

Inside that volume is Sonnet 43:
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…”

Those words have become shorthand for eternal love—recited at weddings, printed on cards, memorized by lovers everywhere.
But if we reduce Elizabeth to a romantic poet, we erase the fire that made her dangerous.

She wielded her pen like a blade against injustice.

• “The Cry of the Children” (1843) exposed the brutal exploitation of child labor in coal mines and factories—so blistering that Parliament was forced to confront reform.

• “The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point” (1848) condemned slavery with a voice more personal and raw than Britain wanted to hear—especially because her own family fortune was built on slave-run plantations.

• “Aurora Leigh” (1856) a radical, feminist epic about a woman refusing to let society silence her; it tackled sexual violence, poverty, and women’s independence—and became one of the best-selling poems of the century.

#drthehistories

[The English Oak Project @TheKentAcorn]

My father told me that the wind helps the trees sing

And that if you listen carefully you will hear fragments of music familiar to you

I am currently surrounded by a symphony of my musical life, and it reminds me of him

[Cian McCarthy @arealmofwonder]

Rest in peace, Patricia Routledge 🙏🏻

In memory of her, I encourage everyone to read these words of hers from February last year.

Whether young or old, you're bound to get something out of it.

*****

"I’ll be turning 95 this coming Monday. In my younger years, I was often filled with worry — worry that I wasn’t quite good enough, that no one would cast me again, that I wouldn’t live up to my mother’s hopes. But these days begin in peace, and end in gratitude.

My life didn’t quite take shape until my forties. I had worked steadily — on provincial stages, in radio plays, in West End productions — but I often felt adrift, as though I was searching for a home within myself that I hadn’t quite found.

At 50, I accepted a television role that many would later associate me with — Hyacinth Bucket, of Keeping Up Appearances. I thought it would be a small part in a little series. I never imagined that it would take me into people’s living rooms and hearts around the world. And truthfully, that role taught me to accept my own quirks. It healed something in me.

At 60, I began learning Italian — not for work, but so I could sing opera in its native language. I also learned how to live alone without feeling lonely. I read poetry aloud each evening, not to perfect my diction, but to quiet my soul.

At 70, I returned to the Shakespearean stage — something I once believed I had aged out of. But this time, I had nothing to prove. I stood on those boards with stillness, and audiences felt that. I was no longer performing. I was simply being.

At 80, I took up watercolour painting. I painted flowers from my garden, old hats from my youth, and faces I remembered from the London Underground. Each painting was a quiet memory made visible.

Now, at 95, I write letters by hand. I’m learning to bake rye bread. I still breathe deeply every morning. I still adore laughter — though I no longer try to make anyone laugh. I love the quiet more than ever.

I’m writing this to tell you something simple:

Growing older is not the closing act. It can be the most exquisite chapter — if you let yourself bloom again.

Let these years ahead be your TREASURE YEARS.

You don’t need to be famous. You don’t need to be flawless.

You only need to show up — fully — for the life that is still yours.

With love and gentleness,

Patricia Routledge

*****

Once more, rest in peace. 🤍

[#WOMENSART @womensart1]

Queen of Spades, 1909, by Margaret Macdonald, one of the defining artists of Art Nouveau and the Glasgow School #WomensArt

[New Scientist @newscientist]

The US withdrawal from the World Health Organization formally takes one year, but the country has already stopped sharing influenza surveillance with the international body, which could impact the efficacy of the next flu vaccine https://t.co/1igpqQZbS9

[Lucy Powell MP @LucyMPowell]

This #IWD, really proud of this photo celebrating the record-breaking number of women MPs elected in this Parliament - 263.

It’s not quite 50:50 but we are getting there.

[Lesley Riddoch @LesleyRiddoch]

30 years ago Scotsman became Scotswoman - first time a paper's masthead changed & women took on all editorial roles. What were the 1995 headlines & why? Scotswoman film with Elaine C Smith & Lesley Riddoch launch this Sat March 8th #InternationalWomensDay https://t.co/uztaIxkcs8

[EHRC @EHRC]

Latest news! All GPs must comply with PSED (Public Sector Equality Duty).
We can support you with our new guidance. Find out more: https://t.co/4QspZgKJ5z

[CDAC Network @CDACN]

📺 CDAC’s Executive Director, Helen McElhinney, announces our pledge to ‘advance collective understanding, practices and influencing on how to mitigate and prevent online hate speech, mis- and disinformation’ at the @Refugees #RefugeeForum last week

#CommIsAid

[Rebecca Thomas @Rebeccasmt]

‘Locked up for 10 years’: Inside the national scandal facing people with learning disabilities and autism

https://t.co/N8Dk54H01r

[Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law @BinghamCentre]

Are you an academic or practising lawyer interested in analysing how Bills affect #ruleoflaw and identifying where changes are needed? Apply for a 2-yr Project Lead role on our Monitoring of Legislation project! Details: https://t.co/Fu87Zda76n. Past work: https://t.co/eQzvXfKxfc