Joe Cottrell-Boyce

Thrilled by the positive response to #Stephen but remember this isn’t history. Although the @metpoliceuk closed the case last year, the Lawrence family have only ever had partial justice. There are still three suspected killers walking free…

Very happy to have a story featured alongside some brilliant writers in the latest issue of Banshee bansheepress.org/read/introduci…

@DespoticInroad Still bad wools though.

Actually enjoying some of the rampant denialism on show in the replies. Yes, strictly speaking, these are "wools". But these are also people who (mainly) speak like Scousers, who elect the LIVERPOOL CITY REGION Mayor, who live a 10 minute drive from LIVERPOOL JOHN LENNON AIRPORT & the car plants of Speke/Halewood. Liverpool City Council proper isn't up for grabs today – but if Starmer is leader in May 2027 you'll see the North Ends wards go the same way as Halton (to Reform), and the South End for the Greens/LDs. There's absolutely no question. Liverpool's "Leftwing" tradition is very misunderstood.

@lemnsissay @MichaelNAngus @coolkiddo @BBCRadio4 Hi Lemn, I’m not sure why you would say this, when the judgement is available for all to read? Key findings of mismanagement in charity commission report were upheld.

@JCBoyce85 @MichaelNAngus @coolkiddo @BBCRadio4 Not true. Exonerated. I shalln't argue back and forth. It is a point of law. For anyone else reading this thread.

Dear #whistledownproductions and @BBCRadio4 Camilla Batmangelidjh was the first lead of a national children's organisation "kids company" who openly spoke about 'love' as an essential part of their work. Also her academic research on trauma informed work with young people and families was years ahead of its time. Today her academically based practise of love and trauma informed practise are utilised by heads of children's services up and down the country. There will never be another time when so many men in power brought down a single woman in public life with lies. The workers of Kids Company spread around the country and the world as the charity was taken down. The lies of her accusers were uncovered in a forensic examination lasting years. Camilla and kids company were fully exonerated in a court of law, but you didn't read about that. In light of the brilliant groundbreaking work of Kids Company and in light of the exoneration It would make for a very very special REUNION ON RADIO 4. A reunion for the founders and some of the workers of Kids Company and some of fans and foes ....... sort of like the miners strike - too soon? How so? @bellafreud #KidsCompany @michaelgove @David_Cameron @BBCr4today @BBCRadio4 @BBCR4Researcher @BBCreunion standard.co.uk/comment/camila… theguardian.com/society/2024/j…

@lemnsissay @MichaelNAngus @coolkiddo @BBCRadio4 Working in Camden as a social worker during the same period I also experienced concerning practices & massively inflated claims re reach & impact. They weren’t exonerated - 2025 high court judgment upheld the finding of mismanagement.

@MichaelNAngus @coolkiddo @BBCRadio4 Shocking and dubious. Fully exonerated by a court of law.

@JDaviesPhD I think it’s more complicated — many Gen Z are politicised & link inequality to “mental health crisis”. Medicalisation is symptom of wider malaise; politics captured by hyper-liberal individualism, focused on self-advocacy & competing rights, with no concept of the common good.

Gen Z has been so depoliticised by over-medicalisation, that it's not pushing back. The mental health industry is largely responsible for this, as it’s told us that redemption isn't to be found in structural reform, but in finding the right diagnosis or illness/neuro identity.

This scale of corruption is hard to fathom. Mandelson has to do jail time surely.

Starmer’s Control Freakery Is a Gift to Reform My article for @tribunemagazine tribunemag.co.uk/2026/01/starme…

@s8mb @Ben_Bradley_32 But surely following that logic, we should also abolish fathers?

Very few men are paedophiles. But men are much more likely to abuse children than women are. Male nursery workers sexually abusing the children in their care happens far more than female nursery workers doing the same, even though there are far more women working in these roles. These stories are just from the past few months. This is not an acceptable risk for the sake of giving children "male role models" at nursery. This is not an important thing to prioritise at all, you sound like you're on another planet.

I think men should not be allowed to work in nurseries and women should not be allowed to work as guards in male prisons. I reckon most people agree with me, yet it seems to happen quite a lot. Is there a legal/regulatory reason for this - eg, equality legislation?

Labour's hyperfactional need for control has resulted in them alienating a majority of voters in Manchester - one of their historic strongholds. It is vital that the people in Gorton & Denton have the final say in who their candidates are.

@KimJohnsonMP Can we still call it factionalism when the Starmer faction is just Keir, adrift on a raft, surrounded by screeching monkeys, having lost all his men?

How power corrupts! Nasty factionalism on full display today. Members are rightly furious: power should lie with Gorton & Denton CLP members. This is as undemocratic as it gets. This is weak leadership & Starmer cannot be trusted.

I just signed a @mainstreamlbr petition - Guarantee a Fair and Open Selection for the Gorton and Denton By-election. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/guar…

Labour must reverse this decision if it is serious about putting country before party. We urge the party to reconsider in the interests of taking on Reform and building the strongest possible team in Westminster. Agree? Take action👇 actionnetwork.org/petitions/guar…

🚨NEW Majority of Manchester voters polled say Labour "wrong" to block Burnham in exclusive polling in @NewStatesman👇 54% say Labour "wrong" to block Burnham's bid (8% say it's "right") 62% say Burnham should be "free to seek selection as an MP" 53% agree with the claim that "petty personal or factional politics" are behind the decision to block Burnham 50% say they would interpret the decision as a sign of weakness from Labour (5% say it shows strength) Just 7% agree with the NEC's stated reason that a mayoral by-election would be an expensive incovenience for locals 33% even say the party blocking Burnham would make them "less likely" to vote Labour The poll is also the latest to suggest a Burnham candidacy would help Labour beat Reform in Gorton and Denton Comes amid political backlash across Labour today about the leadership's decision to bar Burnham The polling of 1,000 GMCA residents was carried out rapidly over the past 48 hours in Manchester by @FindoutnowUK

In the knifing of Burnham, no senior Labour politician got blood on their hands. Shabana Mahmood, shielded by convention, chaired the crucial NEC meeting but did not vote (on the morning media round she had praised Burnham as an “exceptional politician”). Deputy Leader Lucy Powell, unsurprisingly, cast a lonely vote for Burnham. Wes Streeting condemned the anonymous briefings against Burnham as “disgraceful” and, without endorsing Burnham’s run, said the party needed “the best possible candidate” in Gorton and Denton. Ed Miliband said Burnham should be allowed to stand. So did Sadiq Khan. Those publicly trashing Burnham’s run were a selection of backbenchers. The figures on the NEC who voted to block Burnham are not household names. This is a decision that will be entirely put at the door of Keir Starmer. And if this decision results in the loss a safe Labour seat, in the party’s heartland of Greater Manchester, the Prime Minister will find that it is very, very lonely at the top.

Blocking Andy Burnham from standing in Gorton and Denton is a serious political and democratic error. Local Labour members should have the right to decide who represents them. Taking that decision out of their hands reinforces exactly the sense of distance and control that is driving people away from mainstream politics. This comes at a moment when the threat from Reform is real and growing. If Labour cannot win and hold seats like Gorton and Denton, we are in far deeper trouble nationally. Andy Burnham is one of the strongest, most credible figures Labour has when it comes to connecting with voters who feel ignored and taken for granted. Instead of focusing on that fight, this decision risks weeks of unnecessary internal conflict and damaging media coverage. That will not hurt those who made the call, but local members, activists and candidates working flat out ahead of the May elections. Decisions of this significance should be taken transparently by the full governing body of the party, not imposed through a narrower process that leaves more questions than answers. At a time of deep public cynicism, Labour should be expanding democratic choice, not restricting it. We should be trusting our members and our communities, not signalling that decisions are stitched up elsewhere. This needs to be urgently reconsidered.

Starmer has sealed his fate — and perhaps the country’s. Willing to lose a by-election to block Burnham… If that happens, it could = an earlier leadership challenge minus a candidate who can take on Reform. Never have stakes so high been in the hands of such moral midgets.

A senior Labour source texts: Keir Starmer is letting his people hand the party over to Wes Streeting

Whatever political authority this Labour govt had left is now gone

🤔

@paulmasonnews 😂

#IStandWithStarmer - best Labour PM since Wilson - leading Europe, delivering social justice and standing tall for Britain. Clear?