Ewan Somerville
@ewansomerville
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Senior Journalist @BBCNews | commissioning+editing online news and features | [email protected]
Joined September 2017
JK Rowling: "I’ve looked around and realised that it has to be someone who can take the hit. And it has to be me. I can afford it.”. The author's words at the #FiLiA2023 conference are found only in the Telegraph today.
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Oxford University's vice-chancellor has used the famous matriculation ceremonies to tell every new student that they must “hear the other side” of arguments and prepare to be offended .
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The first drag queen “story hour” for children in a UK-wide tour of council libraries has descended into chaos after it was stormed by protesters and the performer was given a police escort .
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The NHS has U-turned on controversial transgender plans after a revolt by midwives. NHS England now facing questions over "ideological capture" and use of taxpayer cash after "no evidence base" for new 'birthing people' training for maternity wards.
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Mermaids is refusing to let staff see a report into ousted boss Susie Green’s leadership because there are not "safe spaces" in which to read it. More whistleblowers have now approached the @Telegraph after "very heated and hostile" meeting today.
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NEW: The Charity Commission has launched a full statutory inquiry into Mermaids, the scandal-hit child transgender group. The escalation follows “newly identified issues about the charity’s governance and management”. More to follow @Telegraph .
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Cambridge University students are hosting the UK's first "re-platforming" event for academics & researchers who have been no-platformed over their views. More in @Telegraph today
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EXC: Trans activists have hounded Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi off University of Warwick's campus, accusing him of “inciting hatred” by defining women as “adult human females". Watch below @Telegraph .
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The National Police LGBT+ Network is being investigated after blocking critics of wokery on Twitter. "This is not Iran, we do not have 'morality police'," says @WeAreFairCop @BadLawTeam .
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Midwifery students at Edinburgh Napier University are being taught how to help men give birth, in a guide experts say is "inclusion to the point of nonsense". Regulator the Nursing & Midwifery Council told @Telegraph the module has "clear inaccuracies".
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Training by Mermaids has been scrapped at the NHS trust replacing the Tavistock clinic, after concerns were raised in The Telegraph.
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54 peers have formally complained to Ofcom about Channel 4’s “irresponsible attack” on Britain’s equality chief, saying the broadcaster is “complicit” in an attempted coup to overthrow her. Full details of their letter here as backlash grows:.
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NEW: Britain's equality watchdog has suspended an investigation into its chief Baroness Falkner amid a growing backlash over an attempted coup by trans-activist civil servants.
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Excl: Ministry of Justice staff given 35-point list of "transphobic coded language" they shouldn't use to be trans allies - including "gender critical", "protecting women and girls", "sex is immutable" & "same-sex attracted". More p4 Sunday Telegraph.
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Feminist student societies can exclude transgender women, University of Bristol students’ union chiefs have admitted after landmark legal action . More in the Sunday @Telegraph .
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EXC: Mermaids boss Susie Green was forced out amid a staff revolt, including complaints that she wasn't transgender & "shoved her head in the sand" over scandals. Whistleblower tells @Telegraph how disarray inside the charity was "the nail in the coffin".
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Comes as Nadhim Zahawi is spearheading a new Govt law cracking down on campus cancel culture. A DfE source said: "This proves the need for the Freedom of Speech Bill and is more evidence against those who say there is no such thing as a chilling culture on campus.".
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The family of Elianne Andam, 15, who was stabbed in Croydon, paid tribute tonight just yards from where she died to an "intelligent, thoughtful, kind" girl who dreamed of becoming a lawyer, as her parents saved to send her to private school
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Midwives are in revolt over new NHS transgender training plans which “could be a repeat of the Tavistock scandal”. NHS England £100k scheme, which uses the term "birthing people" nine times, has “no evidence base” & is "ideological", say 300 experts.
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Call drag queens “pantomime dames” to fool protesters, council librarians have been urged in a crisis meeting leaked to the Telegraph amid embattled “story hour” sessions for children .
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Academics have demanded an apology from the London School of Economics over what they claim is a “hostile environment” for students and staff with gender-critical views. @ProfAliceS warned of an "ideological cabal" in LSE's Gender Studies department.
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Scandal-hit charity Mermaids is offering to help 16-year-olds change their name without their parents’ knowledge, raising fresh questions amid investigation by the Charity Commission - more in today's @Telegraph .
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Staff at quango NHS Health Education England told to phone the police & use social media to call out transphobic language, as its £190k-a-year chief exec defends Stonewall training .
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NEW: PhD student @BristolUni on verge of losing visa after she complained about a transgender student bullying her for 18 months. She’s faced a barrage of abuse by trans activists &even “masked protestors”. My latest for @thesundaytimes w/ @SianGriffiths6.
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Sajid Javid praised by parents of trans-identifying children for "finally waking up" to harm in "ideological" gender clinics as he orders an NHS inquiry, after "brave" campaigners stood up to trans charities. More in Sunday @Telegraph/@BayswaterSG .
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Excl: Jesus could have been transgender, according to a University of Cambridge dean. Worshippers were left “in tears” at the Trinity College service, shouted "heresy" at the dean and felt "unwelcome in the Church". More in the Sunday Telegraph.
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'Far-Left' Russell Group university bosses accused of forcing out their own equality & diversity adviser, after staff protested that his support for Prof Kathleen Stock was 'threatening'. More in the Sunday Telegraph.
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Exc: Male-born sex offenders who identify as women can be placed on female-only NHS wards, hospital trusts have said in guidance . Medical staff say they fear speaking out about patient safety risks. More on front page & p4 @Telegraph
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The Cabinet minister had to be ushered away from campus by security guards in dramatic scenes, as he was pursued by activists brandishing trans flags, placards and chanting "Zahawi is a transphobe". They cited his biological definition women & his defence of Prof Kathleen Stock.
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"Our history is getting thrown away for people who are illegal immigrants.". Watch as hundreds of residents gathered tonight at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire against Home Office plans to turn the former Dambusters base into a 1,500-strong migrant camp. Thread :
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Today a story that I pitched and have been working on for a couple of weeks, is a page lead on p10 of @thesundaytimes. Pretty chuffed
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NEW: NHS equality chief leads mutiny against EHRC's landmark guidance that trans people can be excluded from single-sex wards, as CEO of top women's hospital is among NHS bosses lining up to publicly condemn it . More in tomorrow's @Telegraph .
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EXC: Top Great Ormond St trainee doctors Zoom conference axed after trans activists refused to debate, sent dossiers of allegations about gender-critical speakers, Mermaids intervened, and two feminist writers cancelled. @HJoyceGender @cwknews @Telegraph.
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Women's rights campaigner Dr Nicola Williams told Telegraph: "It's either that the woke producers didn't do the basics with research, or they didn't care. This apology means nothing unless they also issue an on-air clarification.".
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EXC: Oxford University has given Prof @selina_todd .two security guards to accompany her in every lecture she teaches after finding threats issued by transgender activists on campus put her at risk of attack. Me in @Telegraph w/ @camillahmturner .
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I'm delighted to have joined @BBCNews as a Senior Journalist on the website, app and wider digital team. New email in bio and excited for the busy months of news ahead.
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EXC: Police forces threatened with legal action over their links to Stonewall amid impartiality concerns . Dorset Police, North Wales Police & Civil Nuclear Constabulary all quit controversial charity's diversity training @WeAreFairCop.
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A second insider told me: “Staff are very upset & outraged that our wellbeing is being used as an excuse to bury the report, when it’s all about Mermaids wanting to protect what’s left of its reputation.”. It follows revelations in Saturday's Telegraph:
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'Trans widows’ face being trapped in loveless marriages if their spouses no longer need their permission to change gender, MPs have been warned. We hear from these women in today's Sunday @Telegraph .
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NEW: The @EHRC chief is "determined to fight" an attempted coup by civil servants over her trans stance, her allies have told The Telegraph. Baroness Falkner is preparing a "robust" defence against dossier of "ideological" & "vexatious" complaints. More P1 & inside @Telegraph
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UCL academics have compared a feminist conference today promoting women’s rights to “enabling eugenics”. Police were also called to the campus as trans activists banged on windows and allegedly assaulted a woman, who the Sunday Telegraph has spoken to.
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🚨Some personal news: delighted to be joining the @Telegraph full-time in January on the Editorial Graduate Programme, based in London. DMs are always open for stories!.
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EXC: Oxford college accused of ‘draconian’ free speech assault for hosting a transgender debate which BANS “language which denies the validity of trans identity”. Prof @selina_todd said she’s “stunned” by the rules. Me for @Telegraph w/ @camillahmturner.
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Drag queen story time classes for primary school children touring council libraries across the UK this summer have sparked fury from parents who say they "conflate sex and gender" @FamEdTrust @SafeSchools_UK @Telegraph .
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So today I was in my sleepy Devon town and *that* pasty from @BBCR1 had turned up. What are the chances? Feel honoured to have met you, pasty #PassThePasty @gregjames
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Exc: Sheffield University professor - Chair of Sociology Sally Hines - criticised for tweets including: “Can transphobic lesbians still be shaggable?”. The Russell Group university declined to say whether or not they will investigate my findings.
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Stonewall has been accused of “eroding” gender pay gap monitoring among civil servants after fresh diversity training surfaced. Employers are told to have five options for 'what is your gender' question & marked down for sex-based data.
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.@HJoyceGender: it's "outrageous. Children are being harmed by gender clinics, yet when I try to blow the whistle to the child psychiatrists of the future, I'm slandered, insulted & silenced". @cwknews: after Cass Review, it's "unconscionable" for NHS to silence cautious voices.
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The leaked email was marked “official sensitive” and sent to thousands this month through the HM Prison and Probation Service diversity team. MoJ staff member said: "It came across as very aggressive towards anyone who believes in biological reality. I feel upset and powerless.".
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My latest for tomorrow's @Telegraph: Pupils being put at risk by transgender books in schools that 'misrepresent' medical knowledge, academic claims.
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NEW: University of East Anglia ‘no-platforms’ esteemed Prof @Docstockk following threats of protest from transgender activists. They cited ‘academic freedom’ as a reason for cancelling. Me in @Telegraph w/ @camillahmturner .
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At 7am today I turned up at work only to realise I wasn’t on the rota. So I went to a cafe set on finding a scoop. little did I know, what I found would be a national splash, feat on BBC news at 10, lead @Telegraph home page all afternoon & make every paper. I’ve had worse days.
Thursday's front page: 55% for an A in maths - headteachers criticise government reforms as leaked documents reveal A-level boundaries #tomorrowspaperstoday #skypapers #bbcpapers
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Stonewall urges Government depts & public bodies to drop the term 'mother' to boost their equality ranking . Campaigners calling for public inquiry into charity's extensive influence. Front page @Telegraph.
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Exc - Council becomes first in UK to scrap trans advice for nearly 500 schools after girl challenged it at High Court, arguing it infringed on her right to privacy. A judge found its lawfulness "sufficiently arguable". My story on p6 of today's @thetimes.
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Stonewall's boss has been accused of incorrectly suggesting that gender-critical campaigners support Uganda’s gay ban - despite LGB Alliance sponsoring Uganda Pride last year. In today's @Telegraph: .
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The @Tate Britain is under fire for inviting a “storytime drag queen” to perform a half-term show for children. Parents have told the gallery to stop "actively and one-sidedly promoting gender ideology to children”.
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I worked hard on this news feature for The @Independent on an issue really close to me - mental health in the LGBT+ community. 4K people have shared Pat’s story, please read it too 💛 @PAPYRUS_tweets .
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A "reckless" doctor who wrongly prescribed puberty blockers to a nine-year-old child via GenderGP after a ten minute chat on Skype has been struck off. Michael Webberley’s treatment of 24 patients was deemed a "catalogue of failings". More in @Telegraph .
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Vice-chancellors told to actively promote, not just protect, freedom of speech or "be on the wrong side of history” & face fines. The universities minister said: "Let me take a moment to inform the intolerant few - their brief period of power is over".
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Olympian Sharron Davies MBE @sharrond62, the campaign's first ambassador, told the Telegraph it would let voters “know if their MP will stand up for women”. A source close to the campaign said: "This is about transparency and honesty.”. @WhatIsAWomanUK.
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EHRC said: "This investigation has been paused. This is while we seek legal advice on the impact of leaked confidential information. We must ensure its integrity & that it is fair to all parties concerned.". Comes hours after 54 peers backed the Baroness:.
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Thanks to the academics who spoke to me for my @thesundaytimes story today. Many more said they were too scared to speak publicly. Professors are being bullied & probed in their own universities for wanting free speech upheld alongside trans rights.
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New: Universities will inform families of mental health concerns about students, in landmark regulatory guidelines to prevent suicides . Bereaved parents told me flagging warning signs is vital to save students before it's too late -Sunday @Telegraph
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Wrote about my experience in the hope that it helps LGBT+ students struggling during the pandemic .
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One trans widow told the @Telegraph: “We had been together for 23 years. He has undergone the full gender change & I have found this an incredibly difficult emotional, lonely journey". Another told me: "We are terrified to speak. We are often trapped. We have very little support".
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Children referred for puberty blockers after just one consultation at Tavistock clinic, as ex staff governor tells @Telegraph it has left a "growing group of detransitioners who will not go anywhere near the NHS".
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Raquel is another brave woman in academia speaking out. last week in @thesundaytimes we reported at least a dozen professors are being bullied into silence as students make formal complaints over their scrutiny of trans policies. They call it censorship.
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I love how the SNP have no fear to stand up for Scotland's democratic right in Westminster, even as deluded tories continue to slur away into their insular existence. Bravo @IanBlackfordMP & colleagues for walking out today, bravo 👏🏻 #PMQs.
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The shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has flown business class to New York - weeks after Labour criticised "luxury" air travel. "As always for Labour, it’s one rule for them and one for everybody else," says @markjenkinsonmp .
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My EXCL for tomorrow's @thesundaytimes: Professors fear 'censorship' as they face formal university investigations after students cry 'transphobia' over their scrutiny of trans policies on campus | story w/@SianGriffiths6 .
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Schools could be forced to share diversity training materials with parents under a Lords amendment proposed by a former education secretary to stop pupils being "indoctrinated". Parents have been denied access to contentious curricula under FOI laws.
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The NHS must reinstate the word “woman” in cancer and pregnancy guidance, 1,200 staff in the health service have demanded. Replacing women with "people" in NHS comms is "discriminatory" and "harms women", the open letter seen by the Telegraph says.
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.@transwidows, a new support group seeing rising demand, said the feelings of these women are forgotten, as activists call for the GRA spouse exit clause to be scrapped. In evidence to MPs, the group warns women fear being stuck in same-sex marriages they didn't sign up to.
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Calls for public inquiry into Stonewall's "capture" of Whitehall & 250 public bodies with "misleading" advice. We reveal how controversial charity's diversity training really works &lengths MI6, MoJ etc go for 'equality index'. Investigation: P1, P8 today.
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Bristol Uni student feminist society disciplined for 'women-only' meetings on male violence that excluded trans women. Lawyers warn that institutions risk unlawful policies by conflating sex & gender. Story in the Sunday @Telegraph .
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They say you’ll never visit a place like Sheffield. Well this guy embodies everything original about this city, and he’ll be dearly missed as Lord Mayor both from a journalist’s and a citizen’s view. Love ya Magid x.
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Chants of "sisters, united, we'll never be defeated" as hundreds gather to remember Sarah Everard here on Clapham Common
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An internal audit of Mermaids by the Social Justice Collective is understood to be highly critical. Whistleblower claimed "one of the big issues with Susie was she is incapable of being self-reflective", adding: "The way [Mermaids] goes about safeguarding. needs to be modernised".
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It's the first time someone inside Mermaids has spoken out, after an "emergency meeting" on Friday. It has faced exodus of staff, with “upset” among some junior trans staff who alleged they were “treated like children” by Ms Green and their complaints “fell on deaf ears”.
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New: Members boycott Royal College of Nursing after its chief rejected gender-critical “smears” in the trans debate. Nurses "terrified" to discuss trans healthcare or the Cass Report at RCN's upcoming conference & are quitting. @sexnotgenderNM @Telegraph.
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The university that launched Britain's first ever Pride march has abandoned trans charity Stonewall.
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"They decided to fight back & would not listen - they embraced a faith, an ideology, where evidence is offensive". The long battle for change at the Tavistock transgender clinic, shut down because it's not safe for children.
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Simply for submitting a bullying complaint about a trans student at Bristol, Raquel was called ‘heinous scum’ by trans activists multiple times, and says they threatened her with eggs, milkshakes & punches. The trans group Sister Not Cister UK urged followers to give her ‘hell’.
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Leading cancer doctor @ProfKarolSikora said he was almost cancelled from the Conservative Party Conference because an NHS supplier sponsoring an event “didn’t like his thoughts”.
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A student has instructed lawyers and is considering legal action against Bristol University over an alleged two-year campaign of bullying by transgender activists. My story in today's @thetimes .
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Citizens Advice facing backlash from staff for an “ideological instruction” to wear gender pronoun badges, with some insiders "deeply unhappy" & insisting the charity must remain impartial. More in Sunday Telegraph .
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Universities 'in a zero-Covid fantasy land' as two-thirds keep online teaching . Robert Halfon, select committee chair, tells @Telegraph A-level students need honesty on how many in-person classes they'll get at uni, not vague prospectuses @UsforThemUK.
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Oxford professor Michael Biggs branded it a “really inappropriate” clampdown on freedom of speech: “It simply encourages fragility. it suggests the normal discourse of intellectual life is somehow threatening to people’s safety. This is a disservice to the scholars themselves.”.
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Excl: Stonewall "holding No 10 to ransom" as Telegraph reveals £650,000 taxpayer cash wasted on govt's global LGBT summit, scrapped when charity led mass boycott. MPs suggest "sending Stonewall the bill". Conf budget was £8.1 million, £5m already approved.
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EXC: a string of major public sector employers have cut ties with the LGBT charity Stonewall, as disquiet mounts over its diversity training on transgender issues . In tomorrow's Sunday @Telegraph.
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