History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children. Nelson Mandela
A few days ago, commenting on the Tory government’s failure to take seriously the threat to children’s lives posed by school buildings containing RAAC, I highlighted that the Treasury had cut necessary funding to replace these buildings by 50%. At the time of writing I had assumed the Treasury didn’t know the critical nature of the problem and it was just the Treasury doing what all treasuries do – saving money.
I could not of been more mistaken!
On the BBC Today programme (04/09/23) Jonathan Slater, who ran the Department of Education for four years up until the mid 2020's, described how official civil service requests for more money for critical repairs to those schools that were liable to collapse were repeatedly rejected by the Treasury.
“It’s frustrating, of course, when for you the most important thing is for priority to be given to safety…. We were able to present them with really good data. WE WERNT JUST SAYING THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT RISK OF FATALITY, WE WERE SAYING THERE IS A CRITICAL RISK TO LIFE IF THE PROGRAMME IS NOT FUNDED.” (My emphasis)
Rishi Sunak was Chancellor at the time and his response to this “significant risk of fatality" and "critical risk to life" was to CUT THE FUNDING BY 50%
In other words, Rishi Sunak, knowingly and deliberately risked serious injury and the death of our children, prioritising spending cuts over children’s lives.
He is not fit to be Prime Minister. He is not fit to be in public office. He is not a fit human being.
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I will be gone for about a week from the middle of next week on bc ill go to my grandmas birthday and have to cross half the country for that so yay!
Anyways they dont have internet and i cant take my laptop so no new art
But ill try to write some stuff for rlgl au when i have time there
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HELLOOOO ALL!!
I come bearin Kitt Todd art cus I know how much y'all love them, plus I was in th' mood t' draw them a bunch. (Thank you MSI fer bein what I listen too while drawin.)
I have plen'y of Kitt lore here—it isn't 100% historically accurate.. but I'm tryin here. History was nev'r m' favorite subject.
Feat. Pre-trans Kitt n their four younger siblings.
Tfem goals tbh
I know it says "9 years old" in th' first drawin—but I meant t' write "10 years old" whoops. I fuck up ages quite a lot here lol
Not m' favorite drawin I've done; fucked up th' face.
Kitt (Todd) is the oldest of five!! They were born in 1926, a few years b'fore The Great Depression n all'at.
Their parents are neglectful. Wit their mom sufferin from severe Postpartum Depression n their father nev'r bein home cus of work, th' responsibility of raisin their siblings was left on their shoulders. They were only six.
Douglas n Todd are best friends!! They met when Todd moved into a trailer home/park down in the South (sometime durin the 1930s) fer' their father's work.
They were both each other's first crush!! They were some of the older kids on the lot (who didn't have t' work yet) so they gathered a lot of the kids t'gether n they all had fun.
When Douglas was 12-ish he moved out of the park n t' a different state cus his father found a better job elsewhere.
Finally th' siblings!! (In age/birth order)
First is Kitt, who we all know n love. They're the (Oldest; age 34—they/them pronouns. Transfemme Non-binary, Gay.)
They legally changed their name t' Leslie in order t' start a new life after gettin out of a horrifically abusive relationship. (That ex is th' reason why they became a sex worker in th' first place. (They've been in the Sex Industry since they were 18.))
They moved away from their family, out of th' South, when they turned 22—b'fore endin up in Skid Row (age 26.)
They started workin at The Gutter (age 30) as it was the only place that'd higher "someone like them." There they met Audrey, who is one of their best friends, n, eventually, their love interest, Orin.
Second is Eugene. (Second Born; Age 32—he/him pronouns. Cis Male, Heterosexual.)
There's not much t' say bout Kitt's other siblin's, mostly cus I finally started thinkin bout them more a few days prior. But he's a door-to-door salesman.
He has a wife named Kathleen n a daughter, Tamsin. They're expectin a baby boy soon. (Named Archie)
Third is Lester!! (Middle child; age 31—(ignore how it says 34. It's wrong)—he/him. Cis Male, Panromantic Asexual.)
He's a hippie n he's pretty cool. Th' only kid that still keeps in contact wit Kitt after all this time.
Last are the twins.
Virginia (Second Youngest (but older by two minutes); age 28—she/her. Cis Female, Biromantic Heterosexual.)
She's works at a hair salon as a stylist!! She's single and own a pet cat name Jewels.
An'
Constance (Youngest; age 28—she/her. Cis Female, Heterosexual.)
She works as a school teacher, n is engaged to a pilot named Herb Brewer. She's already expectin a baby, who they hope to name Peter (or Polly.)
I feel like I should mention that I nev'r came up wit a family name fer' these guys.. uhhh... I guess suggestions are open fer that?
If there's any misspellin's or anythin.. ignore it. I've been drawin n starin at a phone screen fer th' last 10 hours lol
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