This is Northumberland Calling 13.12.24

The Those who refuse to see beyond the end of their noses edition

Hello America (Particularly Central Ohio) this is Northumberland Calling

Friday the 13th and 12 days to Christmas.

This week the UK permanently blocked the use of Puberty Blockers as a way to treat gender dysphoria, except if it is administered within the NHS clinical trial which they hope to start in the new year. The Commons debate after Wes Streeting’s announcement makes for interesting reading. Some MPs do not appear to understand that not all medication is suitable for all conditions. Chemo is not offered to healthy children as a preventive measure, for example. As a friend explained to me, one of the benefits of PB for children with Precious Puberty is that their height increases. Physical growth stops with puberty and if a child goes into puberty aged 5 or 6, their height will be far less than if it is delayed. This is a different situation to children with gender dysphoria. The fact that some refuse to see is frustrating. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2024-12-11/debates/03C1AD39-5B5E-4568-BFF3-FC6DB87575E6/Puberty-SuppressingHormones#main-content

The fallout from the case Sara Sharif murder case continues. A judge has placed an order stating that neither the judge nor social workers who returned the child to her father and stepmother can be identified. Thankfully this article does not show a photo of Sara in a hijab. Sara was forced to wear a hijab to hide her father’s abuse. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/childrens-services-ignored-warnings-before-sara-sharif-murder-2l2v8t3km or https://archive.ph/5Rx6y

Also this details some of the other people involved in the decision making which put Sara into the hands of her tormentors and led directly to her death: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/who-failed-sara-sharif-p87kms9hc or https://archive.ph/FbSux

Alison Pearson’s op ed which does use the hijabed Sara photo does take aim at Western Liberal complicity. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/12/liberals-would-rather-risk-a-childs-death-than-seem-racist/ or https://archive.ph/xYv49

A Norfolk library which hosted an exhibition about ‘trans joy’ has refused to put up posters about the suffering of Afghan women under the Taliban on grounds that they don’t take political stances. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/12/local-council-trans-joy-taliban-women-library-norfolk/ or https://archive.is/Llr2c

As I know some of you are Team Kemi like me, Kemi has done a podcast for Honestly. It is interesting that she is really increasing her American profile. (this is going to be my treat once my ms is off to my editor)

Kemi Badenoch’s Fight for the UK—and the West

Apparently, Nigel Farage and Reform were surprised to discover that Badenoch and JD Vance became friends several years ago. Reform had hoped to freeze the Tories from contact with the Trump administration. They had not counted on Kemi… https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/12/kemi-badenoch-jd-vance-plan-change-future-conservatism/ or https://archive.ph/GL1Wq

Good news from Down Under as Moira Deeming won her defamation case. A rare win for women being able to speak their mind about women’s rights in Australia. https://x.com/MoiraDeemingMP/status/1866997178880987321

If you remember the library which burnt down in last summer’s riots, it has reopened with a light parade. As I contributed books to Marnie Riches ‘Reading , Not Rioting’ appeal, I was very pleased to see this library rising from the ashes. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cge91l5rd3lo

GCHQ has released its 2024 Christmas Challenge for young people. If you or someone you knows enjoys puzzles, it might be fun to have a go. It highlights some of the skills such as teamwork people at GCHQ use when dealing with information. https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/gchq-christmas-challenge-2024

Here I am in the tweaking phase of my latest. It is due on the 15^th. It needs to be in my editor’s in box. She will be getting something but I have basically figured out the plot holes which had stumped me.

Paddy feels I should be playing with him instead of writing

Everything is basically on hold including decorating for Christmas until that gets done. This means Paddy is a bit fed up.

If you want to find me during the week, I have started putting things on Celia M’s Jottings in Purple

which is where a number of refuge FP commentators are hanging out as they dislike the current FP policy on comments. The discussion is usually lively as you might expect from former FP commentators. Depending on how firmly my Procrastination Princess tiara is attached (aka how well my actual writing is going), I may end up getting distracted.

Hopefully everyone else’s week was a good one. I look forward to seeing you in the comments.

If you like what you read on here, why not subscribe? It’s free and I don’t have any plans to put in a paywall. If you want to ‘reward me’, why not buy one of my books? Currently a number of them are on special at $1.99. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michelle-Styles/author/B00288QUJM?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1729240286&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true