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Accustomed as they have become to getting a say on who leads the Tory Party Conservative members quite obviously have no vote on who might lead Labour.

But they most certainly have a view.

Now before we go further I should say two things. We did ask if Kemi Badenoch should remain leader of the Conservatives after the results which, whilst they had some sparks of optimism, were still not good.

The answer was so big it hardly warrants a graphic – 93 per cent said she should stay.

3.5% said she should go and 3.5% wanted her to stay for now but go before an election.

The second an perhaps more curious point is  that this Survey was held over from April to be put into the field over the weekend following the local elections.

It closed completely just as Keir Starmer was due to make his make-or-break speech to try and stave off the absolute meltdown this week has since become for him.

When it closed: Andy Burnham had not so much set foot on a train to London and Wes Streeting was waiting to see – I doubt with much expectation – if Monday’s Starmer pulpit drone would have the effect Kemi Badenoch’s evisceration of Labour in the Commons on Wednesday had on her backbenchers.

It did not. Quite the opposite

But our responders didn’t know that for a fact when they voted on who they expected to lead Labour into the next election;

They already thought it would be Andy Burnham.

Burnham was out in front on just over thirty per cent, Starmer second but ten per cent behind. Streeting, who resigned yesterday but didn’t launch an official challenge (those his actions undoubtedly mean there will be one) managed less than half Burnham’s total.

Again none of those who responded knew Josh Simons MP, ironically once head of the Starmer backing ‘Labour Together’, would further fragment the wider Labour movement after Streeting’s resignation by resigning his Makerfield seat so Burnham could stand in the coming by-election, an intention Burnham has now confirmed.

Now it’s true ConservativeHome was less interested in who Tory members thought would lead Labour into the next election than we were from a purely political advantage standpoint in who they’d prefer to lead Labour into the next election. A resounding win for the current Prime Minister – for all the wrong reasons.

There are many wise strategists who know that ‘Commons performance’ alone does not make a leader, nor a winner, and they are correct. Kemi Badenoch is a wise enough woman to know that – but it helps. And since, as CCHQ themselves felt bold enough to tweet after her blistering Kings speech response, ‘This is Kemi Badenoch’s chamber, you’re just sitting in it’ it’s perhaps a reflection of her relentless questioning of Keir Starmer and pursuit of his failings that Tory members would prefer him to stay.

There are some of that group however who will undoubtedly have felt that for all his faults Keir Starmer may not be as bad for the country as some of his rivals for the job.

It’s worth just noting though the comparison of expectation for Burnham to lead 30.97% with the preference for him to lead 3.85%.

In all the smoke and mirrors and speculation – some of it wild nonsense to fill the airwaves and ‘socials’ – there isn’t an Elephant in the Room, there’s a herd.

No candidate including the incumbent will reduce welfare spending, and the others will probably argue to borrow more.

If Starmer and his supporters’ argument was that he provided stability in the country and the markets, then why has this all occurred in the first place? Because people including voters in last week’s elections and a third of his own backbenchers have decided he doesn’t and he can’t.

If Starmer had no plan, there’s precious little sign of what plan or vision his rivals have. Badenoch’s team brought an alternative to the oddly back seat product that was the actual King’s speech.

Starmer, who at some point, probably soon, will be leaving Downing Street, had one rather well delivered line about the election results aimed straight at Badenoch:

“We both have in common that we suffered disappointing election results. The difference between us is she has noticed”

She has, and she’s very wise not to ignore that. The bouquets for Wednesday’s speech, the alternative Kings Speech policy programme, and not being afraid to lay out the reason why successive PMs have failed – and will do so again – unless they accept that the entire system of government is constraining them.

She says she has a plan, and I truly believe she does, but she knows it has to include rehabilitating the Tory brand, not just her own, and not just in London but across the country.

Otherwise she’ll be taking a bow, but not a crown, however much she’s unafraid of the member for Clacton – who wasn’t even there.

The post Our Survey: Tories expect Burnham to lead Labour to the next election but would ‘prefer’ Starmer did appeared first on Conservative Home.

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Benjamin Netanyahu claims he paid a “secret visit” to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during his illegal and unprovoked attacks on Iran.

The UAE has denied the visit, which brings into question both states’ motives.

Conflicting statements

The statement on X, from the official account of the Prime Minister of Israel, stated:

In the midst of Operation Roaring Lion, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited the United Arab Emirates, where he met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.

This visit has led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the UAE.

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However, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) then stated:

The United Arab Emirates denies reports circulating regarding an alleged visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the UAE, or receiving any Israeli military delegation in the country.

The UAE reaffirms that its relations with Israel are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known and officially declared Abraham Accords, and are not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements. Accordingly, any claims regarding unannounced visits or undisclosed arrangements are entirely unfounded unless officially announced by the relevant authorities in the UAE.

The UAE calls on media outlets to exercise accuracy and professionalism, and to refrain from circulating unverified information or promoting misleading political narratives.

The head of Netanyahu’s office at the time, Ziv Agmon, also contradicted the UAE’s claims. He stated that Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed personally welcomed and drove Netanyahu:

A former Netanyahu aide who says he accompanied the Israeli PM during the reportedly secret Abu Dhabi visit is now openly contradicting the UAE denial.

– Zeev Agmon, as quoted in Iranian channels, claims Mohammed bin Zayed personally welcomed Netanyahu together with members of…

— Babak Vahdad (@BabakVahdad) May 13, 2026

This comes days only after both Reuters and the WSJ revealed the UAE carried out secret military strikes on Iran.

Additionally, according to Israeli and US officials, Israel sent the UAE an Iron Dome air defence system, along with troops to operate it.

Iran fired around 550 ballistic and cruise missiles and more than 2,200 drones at the UAE. Most were intercepted. However, some hit military and civilian targets in the country.

Abraham Accords

Iran has previously criticised the UAE over its close ties to Israel. The Abraham Accords of 2020 formalised these ties.

Essentially, the United States mediated an agreement between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel, promising to normalise ties between these Arab Gulf states and Israel. Since then, Morocco and Sudan both joined the Accords.

The Accords established full diplomatic relations and included plans to advance economic, security, and other ties.

However, the UAE government found it hard to deal with Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and other far-right genocidal maniacs, who came to power in Israel in 2022.

The first paragraph of the Accords states:

We, the undersigned, recognize the importance of maintaining and strengthening peace in the Middle East and around the world based on mutual understanding and coexistence, as well as respect for human dignity and freedom, including religious freedom.

Obviously, by committing its illegal war on Iran, carrying out multiple genocides and illegal occupations in Lebanon and Gaza, and its additional illegal occupation in the Syrian Golan Heights, Israel has failed to abide by even the first paragraph.

Nothing says “mutual understanding and coexistence” and “respect for human dignity” like waging multiple genocides at the same time.

Flight plans don’t lie

Since Netanyahu’s alleged visit to the UAE, open source activists have published the route and flight data for two private aircraft that travelled from Tel Aviv to Al Ain in the UAE on March 26.

The visit occured on March 26th, Netanyahu reportedly traveled with two Israeli private jets (reg M-ULTI & M-ARVA) https://t.co/yaOutzkPmn pic.twitter.com/d2J9xZwFCa

— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) May 13, 2026

This means the UAE no longer has plausible deniability.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, has since said that those “colluding with Israel” will be “held to account”:

Netanyahu has now publicly revealed what Iran’s security services long ago conveyed to our leadership.

Enmity with the Great People of Iran is a foolish gamble. Collusion with Israel in doing so: unforgivable.

Those colluding with Israel to sow division will be held to account.

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) May 13, 2026

More lies…

This is not the first time that either Israel or the UAE have lied about their shady dealings.

Israel previously claimed that the UAE attacked an Iranian desalination plant. However, the UAE firmly denied the allegations and slammed Israel’s lies.

We know Israel lies. However, we also know that there is nothing it loves more than refusing to take accountability, stitching other people up and damaging their reputations in the process.

And as social media users have pointed out, it is also distinctly possible that the UAE wanted to keep the visit a secret, and either Netanyahu played the UAE, or the UAE panicked after Abbas Aragchi’s Tweet:

Netanyahu tweets from his PM office Twitter handle that he visited UAE during the war and helped UAE with several things.

Then @araghchi tweets that neighbours doing such things against neighbours has consequences.

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Exactly 7 minutes late UAE issues an official denial from its…

— Mir Mohammad Alikhan (@MirMAKOfficial) May 14, 2026

The UAE may be attempting to hide its direct involvement in Israel and the US’s illegal attacks on Iran. Or Israel may be stitching it up. Either way, both states are directly involved in illegal attacks against Iranian civilians and Israel’s ongoing genocides in both Gaza and Lebanon.

Featured image via HG

By HG

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The UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has had punitive and abusive sanctions imposed on her by the Trump administration suspended by a US court.

In granting the preliminary injunction, the Judge presiding over her case affirmed:

Protecting the Freedom of speech is always just the public interest.

Hailing this victory for civil rights and freedoms, Albanese said:

Thanks to my daughter and my husband for stepping up to defend me, and everyone who has helped so far.

Adding:

Together we are One.

BREAKING! US court ha suspended the US sanctions against me!
As the judge says: "Protecting the Freedom of speech is always just the public interest".
Thanks to my daughter and my husband for stepping up to defend me, and everyone who has helped so far.

Together we are One. pic.twitter.com/z6L3tb7Esp

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) May 13, 2026

Francesca Albanese: ‘US court has suspended the US sanctions against me!’

This wonderful – and restorative – news from Francesca Albanese will likely relieve many across the world who draw inspiration and strength from her persistent courage to speak truth to power. Unsurprisingly, Albanese herself also clearly feels that relief. Bringing this case to the US courts was her daughter and husband, who evidently share her beautiful resistance to oppression and injustice.

The UN official posted the memorandum opinion put forward by the Judge presiding over her case against Donald Trump, in which it said:

Plaintiffs L.C., a minor, and her father Massimiliano Cali bring suit against various federal defendants challenging the designation and sanctioning of Francesca Albanese, their mother and wife, respectively.

Albanese is a scholar and author who has published widely on human rights issues, including on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Plaintiffs allege that defendants are sanctioning Albanese because of her speech – namely, Albanese’s non-binding recommendation to the International Criminal Court to pursue war-crimes prosecutions against Israeli and American nationals.

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Plaintiffs allege that they are harmed by defendants’ sanctioning of Albanese and seek a preliminary injunction.

Finishing:

For the following reasons, I will GRANT plaintiffs’ motion.

We assume that this is where the Judge made the statement posted by Albanese, in which the court recognised that freedom of speech is – and always will be – in the public interest.

The interim decision by the US judge gives me respite but the battle is not over. ICC judges and Palestinian NGOs remain sanctioned with no recourse to justice. The stakes are incredibly high.
Please sign and share the petition: DEFEND THE DEFENDERS!https://t.co/DiWhUOx0Ks https://t.co/2GM7ihctz9

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) May 14, 2026

This is just a reprieve, the fight for justice is not over

Nevertheless, this is a preliminary injunction and we will undoubtedly see further attempts to push through this blatant move to censor officials or public figures who dare call out the murderous, genocidal regime of Zionist Israel.

Pushing back against Israel’s moves once again to place itself as the victim, despite its genocide of Palestinians, Albanese posted since the injunction:

Israel the victim???

If narcissism were a crime, this could be added to the lot to be considered by the court. https://t.co/iO1bTPw5do

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) May 13, 2026

True to form, Albanese once again refuses to centre her own hardship in this victory though.

Replying to a message showing concern for the “huge toll” this undoubtedly had on the UN official, she said:

What has taken a huge toll on me is the genocide of the Palestinian people, unfolding and still unrestrained. Seeing what men and women can do to other men and women, and children and older people, has been sickening.

We have extensively reported, and relied on as many people do, Albanese’s restoring and inspiring resistance to injustice.

In April, our own Skwawkbox wrote about how the Guardian still wanted to defend Israel despite speaking to Francesca Albanese about the lawfare being used against her:

Borger also fails to point out the illegality of the sanctions the US has imposed on Albanese. But he does at least give some attention to their impact on the steadfast UN volunteer. And that’s where Albanese’s courage is given chance to shine through. Trump’s sanctions are massive blow to any prospect of a normal life – Albanese is unable to use a credit card, is severely limited in access to banking and relies on cash lent by family members. Yet she is without self-pity, even as she honestly describes the blow and its injustice:

“It was bad. That sort of puts you together with mass murderers and drug dealers of international proportions. It was a paradox of facing one of the harshest forms of punishment without due process, because I’ve not even been afforded the possibility to defend myself. I’ve just been sanctioned without trial.”

Despite awareness of the serious risks to her own safety and that of her family, Albanese continues to use her position and influence to advocate for those rendered powerless – in stark contrast to much of the Western political establishment.

But the cravenness of corporate media makes the courage of those who do stand up shine all the brighter – and so it is here. Albanese freely admits that the impact of the sanctions has been “brutal” enough to make her pause and consider, but she is unbowed:

“That is when I started wondering: is it worth it? I have two kids. What if they harm them? I cannot take this responsibility. There is a lot that I’m putting on the line, but, at the same time, I don’t have any alternative. I still need to continue to throw water on the fire and I have a bigger bucket right now … and strong arms.”

The fight is not over until Palestine sees justice

Once again, this principled and brave official shows that her sense of justice is formidable and will take a hell of a lot to offset her moral compass. As a result, this will undoubtedly rejuvenate and inspire the millions across the world who feel disgusted, heartbroken, and appalled by Israel’s continuing genocide.

Moreover, those running for leadership in the Labour Party will do well to recognise the huge – and growing – solidarity with the suffering of Palestinians and their inalienable right to take back their homeland. This might run against the will of their backers and nefarious Zionist influencers, but they should remember it is ordinary people who see them elected.

It follows, then, that ordinary people have the power to remove the Zionist rot from our political establishment so that all lives can finally begin to matter.

After all, we have seen where hierarchies of human life can lead – whether in the Holocaust or in apartheid-era South Africa. But we have also seen the power of ordinary people to bring murderous, corrupt, and abusive regimes down.

Like Albanese proves time and again, that resistance to injustice must be unwavering.

Featured image via the Canary

By Maddison Wheeldon

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Nathaniel Menday, the newly elected Reform UK councillor for Sheffield Woodhouse, has been suspended from the party over his history of white-supremacist social media posts. The far-right party is now investigating the councillor’s posts, “which have brought the party into disrepute.”

The only problem? The Times had already published on Menday’s bigotry weeks before the election. However, Reform only suspended him after the Sheffield Star uncovered another slew of bile, including a post on Twitter stating:

Compared to many continental countries people here are fatter, uglier and poorly dressed.

On top of this we have a disgusting, almost subhuman underclass of people bringing the place down.

Self-identified ‘ethno-nationalist’

On 22 April, more than a fortnight before the elections, the Times wrote that:

Nathaniel Menday, standing for Reform in Woodhouse, Sheffield, has called himself an “ethno-nationalist” and encouraged the use of white supremacist symbols. Last October, he asked a fellow Sheffield United fan to add a sonnenrad “sun wheel” emblem to a flag — a symbol widely used by neo-Nazis.

In January 2024, he shared a picture of Berlin’s Olympiastadion and wrote: “Whichever group of people built this must have been real visionaries!” The stadium was built by Nazi Germany to host the 1936 Olympics and designed by Albert Speer, the munitions minister who was convicted at the Nuremberg trials of crimes against humanity.

Likewise, Menday also blamed “Jewish people in the West” for the antisemitism they suffer because they “overwhelmingly favour open borders.”

In spite of Menday’s vile support for white supremacy being known well in advance of the polls, he nevertheless received 1,987 votes. By comparison, Labour’s Danny Allsebrook – the second-place candidate – received just 890.

‘I am not antisemitic’

When the Times approached him for comment before the elections, Menday stated that:

I am not antisemitic nor do I have any Nazi sympathies.

I have flirted with what could reasonably be referred to as ‘far-right ideology’ but ultimately I have come to reject its core tenets.

I am passionate about my country but I am and always have been motivated by love, not hate.

Sure, you were calling people a “subhuman underclass” out of love.

On top of all this, the Sheffield Star published further records of Menday’s bigotry on 13 May:

You’d tell us if you’re a Nazi, right?

Back in April, BBC Essex asked Nigel Farage if his party had vetted its local election candidates. The Reform leader stated that:

I know that our candidates will be held to a higher standard than any of the other parties.

That’s because we are the challengers. We are the ones taking on the establishment. Yet we have done a good, thorough professional job.

On 11 May, when yet another Reform councillors resigned over his rascist posting history (noticing a pattern?, the Canary wrote that:

That “thorough professional job” raises an important question. That is, did Reform know about Prior’s disgusting comments and not care, or was Farage simply lying?

Importantly, thanks to Nathaniel Menday, we now have an answer: it’s both! Regarding Menday’s disgusting tweets, a Reform spokesperson said:

Cllr Menday has been suspended from Reform UK pending investigation after he failed to declare social media posts which have brought the party into disrepute.

Reform UK does not support such comments.

So, we now know that the party’s idea of a “thorough professional job” boils down to asking ‘Are you a white supremacist? You have to tell us if you are?’ Likewise, it’s obvious that the party didn’t care about Menday’s self-identified ethno-nationalism, because – again – that was already well publicised.

Reform UK are a party of disgusting bigots. This alone should be enough reason to avoid them, but on top of that its MPs and councillors don’t do their fucking work. These far-right jackasses are a danger, pure and simple, and the UK will spend the next election cycle learning the truth of that statement.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alex/Rose Cocker

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The State Opening of Parliament is always a momentous occasion where the government sets out its plans for the next parliamentary session via King Charles.

The monarch makes a grand entrance to the Palace of Westminster, dressed in all his finery, and reads out the legislation the government plans to focus on over the next year or so.

But there’s a shadow hanging over the whole of Westminster right now after more than 80 Labour MPs called for the prime minister to resign and four of his ministers quit.

It comes after the party took a drubbing at the elections in England, Scotland and Wales last week.

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But Keir Starmer has insisted he is staying in post, even after four of his own ministers and four ministerial aides quit and urged him to set out a timetable for his own departure.

Now all eyes are on his rival in cabinet, health secretary Wes Streeting, who has long-held ambitions to be prime minister.

His allies even briefed the media that he was considering resigning from government on Thursday to launch his own leadership bid moments before the King began speaking in the House of Lords.

So the combination of pomp and ceremony and the backdrop of a possible Westminster coup led to some very bizarre moments across the day,

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1. Streeting’s Dramatic Downing Street Entrance

The health secretary went to 10 Downing Street for a tense coffee with the prime minister just hours before the King was due to arrive in parliament.

He was expected to ask Starmer about his plan to get the government back on track – though speculation mounted over whether Streeting’s own leadership bid might come up.

The exact contents of that meeting have been kept under wraps so far – but Streeting stalked out of Downing Street after less than 20 minutes.

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He pointedly ignored the press’s attempts to get his attention and walked very quickly away from Number 10.

2. ‘Not Now, Andy!’

Torcuil Crichton, the Labour MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, got a few laughs when he shouted “not now, Andy” as Black Rod knocked on the front door on the Commons.

The Black Rod is a parliamentary official who has the door of the Commons shut in their face and has to knock three times before they are allowed in.

It’s a symbolic moment dating back to the Civil War.

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But Crichton’s humour overshadowed it by joking about Andy Burnham, another potential rival for Keir Starmer.

He is not an MP but the mayor of Greater Manchester, and desperate to get a seat in the Commons so he can challenge the PM – hence he would be knocking at the door.

3. Streeting In Isolation

As speculation about the health secretary quitting grew, Streeting was mysteriously absent from the front bench.

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He chose not to sit on the front bench but lurked by the Speaker’s chair, away from his cabinet colleagues.

Naturally, that only fuelled theories that he is close to leaving government.

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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Content warning: this article contains references to self-harm, suicide attempts and sexual assault, addiction.

I have had one hell of a life. Once a homeless little gutter punk who hopped from one addiction to another, here I am writing for the Canary. This is the story of how medical misogyny ignored my ‘textbook’ ADHD for over 20 years, driving me into self-medicating and leading me to a life on the streets. And now my hormones are crashing and my male GP nearly fucked my life all over again.

Medical misogyny — a childhood ruined

I was the weird kid in a private school I didn’t want to be in. My dad was in the military and it was common to stick army kids in boarding schools to give them a more ‘stable’ life.

I’m laughing, because mine was anything but.

Trapped in a place where I was bullied relentlessly, 13-year-old me hid in the woods to smoke weed pretty much every night. I was chasing a dopamine hit I didn’t understand. In the classrooms nearby, four lads had been diagnosed with ADHD and given the support they needed to thrive. I was simply labelled ‘disruptive’ and told I wasn’t applying myself. That I should shut up in class.

This disparity is a statistical fact.

Boys are referred for ADHD assessments three times more often than girls. And this happened in the early 2000’s, when diagnosis rates were even lower. ADHD simply wasn’t identified in girls back then. Now, boys are diagnosed on average by age seven. Women, on the other hand, are left to spiral until their late fucking 30s.

When I was caught self harming at age 12, a male therapist dismissed my cuts and anguish as puberty. He did fuck all for me. Girls with undiagnosed ADHD are four to five timess more likely to self-harm than neurotypicals.

The system of medical misogyny didn’t see a kid in crisis. They saw a ‘typical’ teenage girl. But behind the scenes I was broken, desperate to know why I wasn’t like everyone else.

Why I felt broken.

A dopamine-seeking spiral

By the time I left school, the lack of structure was a death sentence for an unmedicated teen. I traded college life for smoking weed in a graveyard. I was kicked out of there and moved into what was basically a drug den at the age of 17. Speed gave me the focus the system denied me. Ecstasy made the depression disappear. And weed quieted the constant screaming of my anxiety.

Adults with untreated ADHD are twice as likely to struggle with substance abuse.

And fuck, did I struggle.

I didn’t know it, but at the time I was self-medicating in a world I didn’t quite fit into. I was chasing the dopamine that my brain couldn’t give me.

It was a male doctor who stuck me with the Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis. Approximately 40%–50% of women with ADHD are first slapped with this diagnosis. Or Bipolar.

A male doctor openly called me ‘attention-seeking’ whilst prescribing me another SSRI that didn’t fucking work. My arms and legs were shredded, tendons hit and sewn back up as I cut deep enough to sever them.

My life descended into total chaos. I ended up hooked on ketamine, sleeping on the streets and friends’ sofas.

Ketamine was a wonder drug to me. It left me catatonic, in a state where literally nothing mattered. My risky behaviours ended in two abortions and a severe sexual assault. A&E kept releasing me back to the streets, despite several suicide attempts. Zero aftercare. Just another addict who was craving attention in their eyes. I look back at who I was and I want to cry.

Even now, medical misogyny still ruins my life

The turning point only came when I took matters into my own hands. Friends literally dragged me off the drugs and alcohol, kicking and screaming. Literally poured my whisky down the sink and escorted me everywhere for months. It was only then, with a clear head, that I realised I had ADHD. My first GP dismissed it so I went out and researched the shit out of it. I came back with assessment criteria and demanded a female GP. She instantly put me on the waiting list which was six fucking years.

So I saved and paid for it myself. The verdict was immediate: I was a ‘textbook’ case of female ADHD. And I cried as she called the wasted decades of my life disgusting. As she told me I had been failed by an NHS which literally fails all women with the condition.

And I found around seven years of peace. I thought the battle was over. But then the perimenopause hit. And it hits women with ADHD so much harder. Estrogen acts like the scaffolding for dopamine in the brain. When that estrogen drops, symptoms are fucking wild. Studies show women with ADHD are 87% more likely to report extreme psychological symptoms during perimenopause. And it hits us waaaayy earlier.

Despite this, my MALE GP ordered blood tests six fucking times. Because they came back ‘normal’, he told me it couldn’t be the menopause. This is a dangerous fallacy. The British Menopause Society states that blood tests are often ‘misleading’ because hormone level fluctuate wildly. I even told the guy we were doing them at the wrong times, that when I was getting tested I didn’t feel as bad.

My life was stolen, but now I’m reclaiming it

He ignored the dizzy spells which frequently have me collapsing. Ignored the hot flushes, sleepless nights, weird body hair and fucked up periods. After ten years of being clean, I found myself in the kitchen with a knife to my wrists. I knew it wasn’t right. One thing I pride myself on is staying on top of my mental health because I know if I don’t, I’m only one drink away from hurting myself and spiralling. Women experiencing menopause have the highest suicide rate of any female age group, a risk that triples for those with unmanaged ADHD.

It took months of dismissal before I demanded a female GP. She was fucking amazing. Recognising the symptoms instantly, she confirmed the blood tests were dog shit and I was suffering a textbook hormone crash.

I am finally on the right path, but the cost has been my life. I am finally settled. In a job I love, living a life I have had to fight tooth and nail to build. Now I face another hurdle that will take months to fix, all because a man refused to believe I know my own body.

The story of my life isn’t bad luck. This is what medical misogyny does to women. How many others are out there, in the same place I was, because they aren’t being heard? I tried to kill myself so many times. How many women have succeeded?

We are being gaslit by a profession that refuses to listen. And that shit needs to change. Now.

Featured image via Freepix

By Antifabot

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