Caroline Aliwell

My top 4 tips for how men can be better allies to their female colleagues - especially at events.

For me there’s only one contender for Person of the Year. Gisele Pelicot. The woman who has recalibrated how we think about rape by refusing to feel shame. “It’s time we change the way we look at rape”, she said outside the court today. And…more than anyone I can think of… she’s done that. “Shame must change sides”, she said, and perhaps – perhaps – that is a little more true today than it’s ever been. But there’s something else that I want to talk about. Something that’s much more difficult to confront than the inspiration and dignity of Gisele Pelicot. 51 men. 51 men who are not all men… but who are also quite a lot of men. 51 of them in fact. And if you read about them… their backgrounds… their jobs… their families or lack of family… they’re all quite different. A firefighter…a nurse… an unemployed alcoholic. Some were abused as children. Some had comfortable upbringings with kids of their own. Six had domestic violence convictions. 45 didn’t. One was 27. Another was 74. There’s no pattern here. Nothing we can point to. Other than the fact there is no profile of a rapist. Which is perhaps the most frightening thing of all.

Just when I thought motherhood had stripped me of all dignity, it turns out that my toddler can unlock and open toilet doors in public when I'm sat on them.

European Commission 2024-2029 🇪🇺

Tomorrow at around 13.00 @EP_President Roberta Metsola and EC President @vonderleyen will hold a press conference following the Parliament’s vote on the College of Commissioners. You can follow on site or via Parliament’s webstreaming. More #EPhearings: europa.eu/!38njwQ

How on earth could you say that no one had felt pressured into something like Assisted Dying when that is the campaign message of a national organisation - saying they're dead anyway? That's why, despite advocating for dying well, I struggle with Assisted Dying in practice.

To take one example, which I know would fall out of scope of this Bill anyway, the recent @alzheimerssoc 'the long goodbye' campaign tells a story of someone living with dementia 'dying' again and again because they can't do things like cook dinner anymore.

I would not wish a painful death on anyone. But I also couldn't bear it if my Mum had felt she ought to opt for assisted dying so as not to 'put us through it' or to 'be a burden on us.' This is what I feel this Bill cannot safeguard against. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Very enjoyable reporting from @EddyWax this morning

@ClemCowton @OllieKew @rollsroycecars I can't tell you how much I needed to read that today. Spectacular. Thank you.

Begrudgingly admitting Rolls Royce’s justification for deliberately making their Spectre electric car outrageously inefficient is pretty baller 🚁

My final thought on this quick thread is that a lack of local resources or funding shouldn't stop someone from living or dying well. We've waited years for successive governments to fix social care. We don't need to wait for a 10 year plan to give people the comfort they seek now

Living well is important. But dying well is also important. Not everyone is given a choice in that, I am aware. But we should not shelf difficult conversations with our friends and families. There is never enough time, and there is never a good time to have them.

UK: The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has been published - link below. Whatever your views on the Bill, what I hope - above anything - that we can can get from this moment is an open, honest discussion about living and dying well. 1/5 bills.parliament.uk/bills/3774

Ahhh, elections really do bring about the best content in everyone. Buckle in, and grab yer popcorn...

My lovely mum died and I told myself I needed to hold it together until her funeral. Get to that day, then fall apart. 2 days ago, I found myself staring at her coffin. Expecting to absolutely fall apart as scheduled. But I just sat there. Numb. Grief is a funny old thing.

@mroutled @neilmcrowther @alzheimerssoc I'm so sorry. It's an awful advert. I can't understand how they haven't removed it. I hope your father in law is okay and gets seen soon.

I’m in a hospital waiting room with my 89 year old father in law. Several of the people here clearly have dementia. The @alzheimerssoc ad comes on telling them and the family members with them that they have died, died and died again. 😡

The @Europarl_EN hearings of the new @EU_Commission Commissioners-designate will take place between 4 and 12 November. With a mandate given by European citizens, MEPs will ask, assess, scrutinise and vote. This is European democracy 🇪🇺

The process of registering a death in the UK is the most infuriating, inefficient and needlessly complex task that someone really ought to fix.

@aliceolilly @instituteforgov Wishing you all the best. Hope you manage to catch some rest before baby's arrival. ❤️

Some 🚨personal news 🚨 I’m heading off on maternity leave until summer 2025. Looking forward to seeing from afar what my brilliant colleagues @instituteforgov get up to in the meantime. Please don’t have too much parliamentary fun without me