Isabel Hardman
@IsabelHardman
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Assistant Editor @spectator , 📻 R4 Week in Westminster, Times Radio 📚 Fighting for Life,The Natural Health Service, Why We Get the Wrong Politicians
Westminster, London
Joined July 2010
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My third book, on the history of the NHS, is out now. Fighting for Life: The Twelve Battles that Made Our NHS, and the Struggle for Its Future. You can buy it here
Or listen on Audible
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Incredible how normal it is for women to be told not to go out alone after dark. Yet how strange and inexplicable this would seem if the same instruction - or even a curfew - were issued to men.
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Boris Johnson saying no one told him the Downing Street gathering was against the rules is a new level of dissociation, almost like he’s spent two years watching someone else be prime minister and is now scratching his head about the decisions they’ve taken.
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Keir Starmer's current approach seems to be to agree with Boris Johnson but in a special disappointed voice.
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I don’t know how long it will last, but after about a month of despair, the fog in my mind has lifted. Is so amazing when your mind starts working again. Extraordinary. Am still prouder of my fight against mental illness than anything else I’ve done.
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Ahhh my cat just walked in after being missing for six weeks!
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Craig Whittaker has just come out of the lobby and said" I am fucking furious and I don’t give a fuck anymore”.'
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It’s been a busy few days but I’m amazed we all missed Scotland leaving the UK in the midst of it.
The UK and Scotland must continue to work together to ensure businesses and consumers have the certainty they need as we leave the EU:
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Personally think that those who, like me, have had every possible educational advantage in life, might want to look up to someone like Angela Rayner, who got her qualifications through an infinitely harder route 🤷🏻♀️
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I can’t stop thinking about how utterly horrible this pandemic will be for victims of domestic abuse and coercive control, pulled even more tightly into the web of tyranny spun by their abusers as they are shut indoors with them.
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Our son, Jacob Arran Henry Woodcock, arrived safely last night. May you know every day how much you are loved. Cannot say enough how utterly magnificent
@KingstonHospNHS
have been through the past 10 days of fun and games.
@JZWoodcock
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Genuinely quite shocked by Boris Johnson describing as 'humbug' Paula Sheriff's complaint about his language in which she talked about Jo Cox and said that she and other colleagues had received death threats. I've transcribed what happened:
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I can’t quite believe this. But someone has found my bike. He messaged me and it is on its way to me in an uber. Driver just messaged to say he’s got it. Am crying with happiness. Life is good - even for mad people like me. Thank you everyone.
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I have to say I find the emphasis that the Metropolitan Police are putting on Couzens being an “ex” police officer pretty sickening. He was a police officer when he murdered Sarah Everard. More than that, he used that as a key part of his crime.
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Esther McVey is telling Tory conference about “3D architects” who are “doing it on a computer”. I don’t know much about the process of designing buildings but I thought that was quite normal, especially the 3D element 🏠
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Boris Johnson calling Sir Keir Starmer “Sir Beer Korma” is not a high point in contrition. On previous occasions he has become less contrite as the day has worn on. What mood will he be in when he meets Tory backbenchers later?
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Matt Hancock on the Today prog currently sounds like he’s trying to convince himself that scrapping Public Health England in the middle of a pandemic is a good idea.
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Boris Johnson is in effect telling the Commons he has no idea what’s going on in No. 10 and that his staff could be lying to him.
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Felt a bit sick typing this up. Boris Johnson says the best way to honour Jo Cox would be to ‘get Brexit done’
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Your kidding
Apostrophe society shuts down because 'ignorance and laziness have won'
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Glorious conversation between teenage girls on my train about the pros and cons of mahogany in relationships.
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The weird thing about the “barmaid’ Baroness Hale stuff is that the vast majority of people do different jobs when young to the ones they end up in. From 16 onwards, I was a shop assistant, for instance. The weird people are the ones who didn’t start this way.
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Corbyn tells
#PMQs
“the Labour Party will never abandon the poor”. Though you might say that failing to win elections and not appearing that bothered about it isn’t exactly doing right by the poor either.
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Home where she belongs. All thanks to a kind man called Shane who is refusing a reward and is just glad I’ve got her back
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Theresa May is 🔥 Priti Patel in the Commons over the Rwanda policy- says she doesn’t support it, and warns it will lead to an increase in the trafficking of women and children.
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Tory MP: “worst reshuffle I have ever witnessed in any party ever. None of it makes sense. It’s sabotage. I think someone’s trying to destroy her on the inside. I can’t think of a less dramatic reason!”
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It is possible for all these things to be true at once:
1. You can be a political activist and still be right about stuff - the hospital admitted there was inadequate cover. He is entitled to be as angry as any of us would be about our kid’s care.
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I have
#26reasonstorun
in today’s London Marathon. I’m dedicating each mile to an aspect of
@refugecharity
’s work, a survivor of domestic abuse or in memory of a woman killed by her abuser. My non-running elf will be tweeting each name as I start each mile.
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I have to say it makes my skin crawl to hear one of Ian Austin’s former party colleagues say “you’re not welcome here” while he’s merely listing facts about the Labour leadership.
Former Labour MP Ian Austin criticises Jeremy Corbyn during rule of law debate in the Commons, sparking row with Labour MP Liz McInnes
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Feels very hard not to be well enough to cover all this. I hope that my mental health returns soon. This may be a grisly political time but it is also a huge privilege to write about - and I hope those with the luck and good health to do so have chance to step back and see that.
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Really chuffed that both the Times and the Telegraph printed two of my kingfisher photos today.
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Time was when the party of opposition competed with the one in government to show they'd be better at running the country. Now it just seems to be a weird contest to see who is the most useless.
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One discrepancy in the sitting down alone outside ‘rule’ is that those of us who are lucky enough to have a private garden are all sitting in those gardens in household groups, all day. It’s a luxury that so many people don’t have and they are being shamed for that.
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We do not need women only train carriages. What we need is for men not to decide to sexually assault women.
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Got very annoyed on the train earlier when a couple opposite me were talking and laughing about R Kelly. It took me a little while to realise that they were in fact from Blackpool and talking about their daughter. Our Kelly.
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Genuinely, best Christmas ever. Am sane, surrounded by my bafflingly wonderful modern family and able to jump to the ceiling. This time last year I was so so sick and sad. I kept telling myself that every winter ends but didn’t have much hope. Now I feel it really has.
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This account is so important. Pulls us up short every day. This post is particularly painful to read and look at. Do follow if you haven’t already.
24 July 1941 | Slovak Jewish girl Františka Haberova was born in Topoľčany.
In 1942 she was deported to
#Auschwitz
and murdered in a gas chamber.
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I am becoming steadily more obsessed with these Brand Rishi graphics, the dreadful kerning aside. Once again, it’s not clear whether he’s making an economic announcement or launching an aspirational menswear line
The show must go on.
We’re introducing a world-leading £1.57 billion rescue package to help cultural, arts and heritage institutions weather the impact of coronavirus.
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I’m sorry but the government has got this whole “staycation” business shamefully wrong. If you leave your home and stay somewhere else in the UK, that’s a holiday. A staycation entails staying at home and growing progressively more stressed by unfinished DIY projects.
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I really regret going back to work repeatedly when I was too mentally ill to do so and then letting colleagues down, often in a very messy and last minute fashion. I was desperate to be well and back working effectively but funnily enough my recovery was not linear and I couldn’t
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Fantastic line from Labour’s Diana Johnson that the PM is busy trying to convince people that “he is stupid rather than dishonest”
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@toadmeister
Oh come on Toby, people can still have a shitty time even when their lives are fortunate. I know plenty of new mums with everything in their favour who’ve been beside themselves for months without having a load of weird pieces in the press to contend with.
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Shouts of “shame!” and boos as a Labour delegate tells the conference hall she stands with Rosie Duffield and she will defend her right to hold her views on biological sex.
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Sadly struggling v badly with health at the moment which is immensely frustrating given these historic times. Writing when my mind is working, but apologies to those whose messages I’m not replying to etc.
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I always like to keep an eye of the shadow shadow frontbench of Yvette Cooper, Hilary Benn and Chris Leslie, who tend to sit next to one another on the second bench from top on the Labour side. Artistic impression of their expressions while listening to Corbyn
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What I learned when my mind stopped working - my feature in tomorrow's Telegraph about how we treat mental illness
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Two ongoing stories that are increasingly hard to listen to: people trapped in unsafe homes with flammable cladding, and people who cannot see their relatives in care homes. Both groups sound frantic and as though no one in power can hear them.
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Nice to take brief moment as Tory conference ends to remember it was at the same event five years ago I had my mental breakdown. I’m by no means fixed BUT I’ve also learned what it is to keep going through hell and that better days can come. Really enjoyed the season this year.
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Just realised it’s four years since I had my breakdown at the Tory conference (yes v funny). I won’t write a worthy thread as I’ve already foisted a book about it upon you all. But I do consider myself v lucky to have seen so much kindness, often from strange places, in that time
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Read today that people don’t want to adopt black cats as they’re not easily Instagrammable. A load of tosh: our RSPCA black cat thinks she’s in a Vogue photo shoot and more importantly is supremely affectionate
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Has Rory Stewart removed his tie during the second question? Is he going to remove another item with each round as part of his latest strategy to get attention?
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MPs have NOT awarded themselves an extra £10k each to have a jolly during this pandemic. They've been given additional budget for equipment like computers so they and their staff can carry out their duties remotely. These duties include helping vulnerable constituents in crisis
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Yikes. Pressed on whether the govt should apologise for PPE shortages, Patel says: “Well, I’m *sorry* if people feel that there have been failings.” Not quite the tone to strike, surely, regardless of the reality that this is a huge challenge.
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Have a feeling today is going to feature a lot of people falling over themselves to be gratuitously unpleasant... so here’s a video of my dog announcing he’s invented a new way of moving.
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Always v amused by the number of MPs who appear at the annual CAMRA parliamentary reception, but I only go to see one visitor: the organisation’s founder and my wonderful dad
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After these PMQs It’s not so much that the wheels have come off the bus but that the bus itself has disintegrated and Boris Johnson is merely sitting at a steering wheel in a playground.
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I’ve been off sick for most of the past fortnight and it’s been pretty miserable and annoying, but today for the first time I felt up to getting out and doing some wildlife photography. Was rewarded with this lovely moment with a kestrel
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What’s wrong with this graphic? It’s a big fat lie, that’s what. Here’s what it really shows
http://t.co/1kcgbOORXR
http://t.co/4v0PgVpJDt
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This is what a woman who is very very happy to be back presenting Week in Westminster looks like
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When the apocalypse comes, there will just be Theresa May shouting about the NHS in Wales and Tim Farron giving interviews about gay sex.
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This Windrush story is so sad: the literature of those who moved to Britain from Caribbean is full of loneliness and a sense of surprise that their “Mother Britain” wasn’t as welcoming as they’d been led to believe (e.g Sam Selvon). Now Britain giving that impression again.
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It is curious that two of the women who’ve received the most high-profile abuse for their stances on biological sex,
@jk_rowling
and
@RosieDuffield1
are both survivors of domestic abuse who’ve bravely disclosed that.
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Senior Tories now telling me they expect one of Boris Johnson's inner circle, possibly Canzini, to tell him it's time to stop. PM isn't quite there psychologically, they think, but needs a hand on the shoulder from someone who he trusts.
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Wondering how many times it is acceptable to share this before I turn into a bot
“It is not too late. We have an interview prepared. Oven-ready, as Mr Johnson likes to say”
Andrew Neil issues a challenge for Boris Johnson to commit to an interview with him, to face questions on why people have “deemed him to be untrustworthy”
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Random observation: people who brag that they’re “just honest and blunt” are nearly always people who either never learned not to be rude, or feel entitled to be so.
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Absolutely loving the Tory MPs thanking Boris Johnson for his “fulsome” apology.
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I can’t imagine the panic in a Labour Shadow Cabinet meeting when someone claims they’re ignoring the elephant in the room.
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I still look better than you mate 💋
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This time last year I was on way home from Tory conf, so ill I couldn't think or work again for months. I've passed point at which I fell 💪🏻
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He’s really floundering. “I wish things had been done differently.” Done by who? Incredible dissociation here by the man running Downing Street who was at the party. Why not say “I wish I’d done things differently”.
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Everything John says in this letter about Barrow is true. It is such a wonderful town full of the finest people on earth. Will always stay our home because of that. Very proud of him.
Some sad news prompted by wonderful news - I’ve decided not to re-stand in the general election because
@IsabelHardman
and I are having a baby! 🤰🏻
Letter to my constituents:
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Amid all the outrage from Conservative MPs towards their colleague Christopher Chope on the 'upskirting' row, it's worth remembering that their party has refused to enact reforms which would stop people like him blocking bills at will
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If you're from a working class background and you go into a middle class world, there's a huge pressure to fit in. Hence working class people often end up looking and sounding more middle class than the actual middle class people around them
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Corbyn could only be more passive-aggressive in this
#marr
interview if he was writing his answers on post-it notes for the fridge door
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A small personal post responding to the misogyny I’ve been receiving as a result of my personal life
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Contrast between a truly impressive Budget speech on its own terms, let alone as a debut, from Rishi Sunak - and Corbyn’s bumbling speech responding to it.
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Politics is broken and needs fixing, so after a few months of changing a logo a lot, I’m off to join an existing party in that broken political system 🧐
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4. Everyone needs to stop being so vile to each other. Seriously, if there’s stuff you care about, you’re unlikely to fix it by tweeting abuse at either a BBC journalist or a guy whose kid is in hospital.
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Currently unclear as to whether the Tory party wants to be in government or to be in therapy
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What a very silly man. My life is awesome yet that wasn't a vaccination against mental illness.
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This is staggeringly disrespectful to all victims of abuse and coercion. How can you claim to scrutinise the forthcoming legislation on domestic abuse when you are suggesting here that victims should not be believed if they appear outwardly strong?
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Even when I interviewed an MP so boring I wasn’t sure how to actually construct a piece from what he said, I said “that was great, thanks so much” at the end. I didn’t realise basic manners were an expression of political allegiance.
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Not exactly a show of strength from Boris Johnson at PMQs today
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Re Virgin Trains/Daily Mail. Whether or not it is censorship, it is symptomatic of an age in which we feel that the best way to deal with things we disagree with is to stop them happening, rather than engaging them in argument, or ignoring them by not buying...
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Every so often, I look back on how deranged, paranoid and angry I was in the months after my breakdown 3 years ago and feel a real sense of shame. Then I log in to political twitter and realise my behaviour probably wasn’t v far away from what is now considered perfectly normal
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One of the reassuring things about politics is that even when my mental health is totally up the spout as it is now, I am never as mad as what’s going on in Westminster.
Boris Johnson engaged in a call and response with Cabinet this morning:
PM: How many hospitals are we going to build?
Cabinet in unison: 40
PM: Well done. How many more police officers?
Cabinet: 20,000
PM: That's right. How many more nurses?
Cabinet: 50,000
PM: Exactly
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I seem to remember that most of the stuff we made from Blue Peter involved a lot of toilet roll tubes and fell apart quite swiftly
Boris Johnson says his Brexit deal is the Blue Peter deal, here's the one I made earlier
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You cannot say “ex” this and “former” that when he used his job as part of his crime. You also cannot say those things when there were red flags - the indecent exposure allegations and the nickname “the Rapist” - when he was also very much a current officer.
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The rest of you who piled in and followed me around to tell me it was my fault for getting hurt can sod off. It’s been fun twitter, but from now on all you’re getting from me is links to my work stuff posted through
@buffer
so I can get better and avoid unkindness.
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Happy birthday to me. I don’t like to mention these things. Very modest. Don’t like a fuss.
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