Matthew McCallion

I have written an article for @TheVulnAccused blog comparing and exploring three cases involving autistic defendants wherein communication issues relating to #alexithymia and #echolalia arose when determining guilt. #Autism #Neurodiversity #CriminalLaw defendingvulnerability.wordpress.com/2023/10/13/if-…

@MissTwice 😎

💃, but in suit form

I regret to inform you that Ask Jeeves is dead. The site closed yesterday. Web 1.0 lost another founder. Ask Jeeves: 3 June 1996 - 1 May 2026. Send no memes.

Kemi Badenoch has now been forced to delete the appalling video. She should apologise directly to the Bloody Sunday families and acknowledge that the politics of prioritising the interests of soldiers over the needs of victims is wrong.

I’m astounded that @KemiBadenoch used footage of soldiers in Derry during Bloody Sunday in this video promoting the actions of the British Army. It’s disgusting, deeply offensive and an insult to the innocent civil rights protestors who soldiers killed that day.

"May I Introduce Miss Sarah Jane Smith" 🥹💙 OTD in 2006, Elisabeth Sladen returned to the role of Sarah Jane Smith in 'School Reunion' - where she met David Tennant's Tenth Doctor. For this iconic scene, we have dug out the rushes from the #DoctorWho archive to show you an exclusive new look at how this scene looked from the opposite camera. #behindthescenes #SchoolReunion

@LauraFMcConnell Ed Balls

Happy Ed Balls day to all who celebrate.

🚨 IN FULL: The 15 Labour MPs who rebelled against Keir Starmer and voted to refer him to the Privileges Committee Apsana Begum Richard Burgon Ian Bryne Mary Kelly Foy Imran Hussain Brian Leishman Emma Lewell Rebecca Long Bailey Andy McDonald John McDonnell Graham Morris Luke Myer Kate Osbourne Cat Smith Nadia Whittome

Unlike Belfast, Derry has a binding guarantee from the London and Dublin governments that this city will have 10,000 full-time students at its Magee Campus by 2030. UU - as repeatedly warned - can't deliver. So the two governments, and Stormont, now must step up.

Northern Ireland will become the first part of the UK to provide free sign language classes to all deaf children and their families, as the result of a new law bbc.in/4cAminD

Happy Ed Balls Day! 🥳

The Assisted Dying Bill has failed. And I am so glad. I’ve suffered with an eating disorder throughout my life. When I was 15, I was dangerously underweight. On an IV drip in hospital. My organs on the brink of failing. If I had been given the ‘choice’ to die, I would have taken it. MPs removed the parts of the Assisted Dying Bill that were meant to safeguard against coercion and protect vulnerable people. Assisted suicide isn’t only done “when the patient wants it”. Look no further than the countries that have already legalised it. In Spain, a girl who was gang raped and attempted to kill herself was offered euthanasia. She reportedly wanted to back out, but her organs had “already been reserved”. In the Netherlands, 40% of euthanasia deaths occur without patient consent. In Canada, it has been offered to Paralympians who asked for a mobility aid. If it happened there, it would happen here too. People would be killed against their will. The disabled. The mentally ill. Abuse victims. All have been killed by the State under the guise of “compassion”. When you are as mentally ill as I was then, you will do everything in your power to convince those around you that you are well enough to make your own decisions. When your organs are shutting down and every course of treatment has “failed” to fix you, death becomes an attractive option. If I had been given the choice to die, I would’ve taken it. No questions asked. And that’s why the Assisted Dying Bill terrified me. Because when you’re that mentally unwell, you don’t see hope. You see pain, and you want it to end. You’ll do anything to convince the people around you that you’re “of sound mind.” You’ll say whatever it takes to be left alone. But behind those words is an illness doing the talking. If this bill had existed when I was 15, I might not be here. Not because it was the right choice, but because I was sick and exhausted and desperate. I didn’t need a legal route to die. I needed someone to fight for me when I couldn’t. It tells people like the girl I was that death is the easiest option — to relieve your family, the NHS, and yourself of the burden of caring for you — instead of showing them that life can be worth the fight. I survived. I got better. But I may not have. Not if the law had made dying seem easier than recovering. The Assisted Dying Bill didn’t protect people like me. It wrote us off. It was abandonment dressed up as mercy. And I thank God that it failed.

Many supporters of the bill have said that assisted suicide wouldn't come at the expense of good palliative care. Now that assisted suicide is dead - having been rejected by the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd, and Westminster - I hope we can focus on improving palliative care.

@ADZanderWest I understand that those favouring AD/AS do so out of compassion… but millions of people do not have the agency that MPs and middle class bill-supporters possess. They have failed to understand why it is so terrifying to the vulnerable. You are not the progressive here.

#News | @cunardline has announced a landmark moment when all four Cunard ships will come together in #Liverpool for the first time 🛳 On 16 May 2028, Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria and Queen Anne will unite on the River Mersey, in what promises to be one of the most memorable occasions in Cunard’s modern history. The event will mark the first time the full fleet of four has ever assembled, and it will do so in Liverpool, Cunard’s spiritual home. Find out more ➡ cultureliverpool.co.uk/news/british-l… @VisitLiverpool

TADC: The Last Act IS COMING TO EUROPE!! Screenings added in: - United Kingdom 🇬🇧 - Ireland 🇮🇪 - Spain 🇪🇸 - Germany 🇩🇪 - France 🇫🇷 AND MORE!!!! 🇵🇹 🇨🇭 🇳🇴 🇫🇮 🇵🇱 🇦🇹 🇸🇪 🇩🇰 🇮🇸 🇮🇹 🇲🇰 🇳🇱 🇧🇪 🇱🇺 🇸🇰 🇪🇪 🇱🇻 🇨🇿 🇱🇹 🇭🇷 🇷🇸 🇧🇦 🇽🇰 🇲🇪 🇦🇱 Pre-sale tickets go on sale April 29

Yes, we’re just as excited as you 👀🎪 We wish we could say more… honestly 😅

How about we skip the melodrama and get right to the fun? 👀 It's official! Tickets for The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act will go on sale at 9am on April 29. See it at Cineworld, from June 4 🎪

Reassuringly British that the core of a major constitutional crisis between Government and the Civil Service hinges on whether or not a box was ticked on a form.

The Council of State has just concluded its deliberations on the International Protection Bill. The President has until Wednesday to decide if she will refer it to the Supreme Court.

President Catherine Connolly is holding a meeting of the Council of State to discuss the constitutionality of the International Protection Bill 2026. It is the first convening of the Council of State under Article 26 of the Constitution since Connolly took office last November.