Gareth Forest
@garethforest
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trades unionist | started @BetterBusesWY @BetterBusesNY |💼 campaigns & political ed @EquityUK |✍️ @vittlesmagazine @tribunemagazine | ex-Brusseleir🇧🇪| 353ppm
Wakefield, England
Joined October 2011
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Thank you to every single person who supported the
@BetterBusesWY
campaign over these last four years.
Today was incredible. The tide is turning.
This is how private control over our public transport ends.
This is how we win our buses back.
Watch this space.
🚨🚌Bus adventure announcement 🚌🚨
One week from today I will deliver our 12k signature
@BetterBusesWY
petition for public control to the mayor’s office in Leeds.
I’ll live tweet my 🚌 journey from Bradford at 09.30, changing in Halifax, Hudds & Wakefield
Follow it all here🧵
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Verbatim announcement on my train to Manchester: “Sorry for the bovine incursion. We’ve got one brown one and one white one….The brown one is staring down the train in a game of chicken. I’ll let you know as soon as we get them cleared or if they start working for network rail”
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Margaret Thatcher’s bus privatisation ruined the North Yorks market town I grew up in. Young people and elderly were isolated. The market square became a car park. You couldn’t go anywhere or do anything without a car, sucking the life out of nightlife.
It was dumb & he is dumb
Talking about freedom, sat in Margaret Thatcher’s old Rover.
Earlier I spoke to
@Telegraph
about how important cars are for families to live their lives. It’s something anti-motorist Labour just don’t seem to get.
And it’s why I’m reviewing anti-car schemes across the country.
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To all the (Brexit) trolls & haters who told me, back when I was an EU civil servant working on space policy, that this wouldn’t happen...well guess what...
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The absolute state of this
The *National Coal Mining Museum* offers a 6% real terms pay cut to the lowest paid staff because they are a “charity”; claiming strikers will “deny” kids to the chance to “understand the contribution miners made to our nation”
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So proud the Telegraph have done their first hit job on me😅
To be clear, my hard left “plot” is to ask MPs to publicly support a payrise for key workers...
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@fraserjfstewart
@EmmaKosmin
I think the classe based part of this that really gets me is the receipts based system that assumes you have money to fork out in advance and you could be waiting weeks for reimbursement- versus the per diem system which is more accessible for everyone
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If you’ve got a manager like this at your work, here are some easy tips for how to deal with them…🧵 a thread 1/
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Join a union
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Just had Royal Mail round on a Sunday. Postie says post volumes are “crackers” at the moment. These guys have kept working through a pandemic & extreme summer heat.
All they’re asking for is a square deal whilst RM try to squeeze them for profit. Solidarity
@CWUnews
🙌
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Work news 🎭📽 today is my first day at
@EquityUK
!
I’m going to be their national Campaigns Officer, on secondment from the TUC for 1yr
I’m really excited to help creatives & performers build power at work
(I suspect this is the closest I’ll ever get to owning an Equity card)
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I’m missing my work Xmas party on the 15th to avoid travel disruption
But I will be proud to stand with
@RMTunion
workers on the picket line instead
The inconvenience is nothing compared to what will happen to our railways if the government win this fight
Solidarity forever
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Passengers support rail workers on strike 🙌
Mega turn out for the
@rmtunion
picket in Leeds 🪧✊
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Suggest parents take their kids to visit the picket line in solidarity with
@UnisonWakey
members on strike. Can’t think of a better way to understand the history of miners here in Yorkshire than that
@pollysmythe
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“And finally, what is the common word for a sanguineous crust?
The answer?…Scab.
Enjoy…I shall return tomorrow after 11 o’clock”
Absolutely iconic sign off from Gayle Lofthouse as
@NUJofficial
members at BBC Radio Leeds go on a 24hr strike. Solidarity
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🙌 mega turn out for a last minute solidarity demo at the
@RMTunion
picket line at Wakefield Kirkgate station
❤️ Thanks to everyone who came, spoke and showed solidarity
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In 1934 Leeds Council employed a City Architect who built the largest social housing complex in the country, inspired by Vienna’s Karl Marx-Hof.
In 1980 Newcastle opened the only metro system of its kind in England outside London.
Today No. 10 lets them bid for chess tables
The Government has published a prospectus this morning inviting local authorities to register their interest for one chess table and four seats, at the cost of £2,500.
Authorities are not expected to provide chess sets "but they may choose to do so".
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You’ve got to know you’ve got your union 100% behind you to announce a Christmas strike.
But RMT negotiators have the whole union movement behind them. Victory to the RMT ✊
The RMT's Mick Lynch announces additional strike dates on 24 December to 27 December.
He adds that 'there has been no improved offer presented to his union' and that they have "no choice" as the current offer is "extremely detrimental"
📺 Sky 501
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@TurnipRail
Incredible vibes of a MBA bro who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Courses like yours are so important for fulfilment and enjoyment of life
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I saw this town council mayor on the news just now and was astounded by her straightforward no nonsense compassion.
No equivocation, no ifs no buts. The labour front bench could take some advice
Carralyn Parkes, the mayor of Portland: "I don't think we should be accomodating asylum seekers on barges. I think human beings belong in communities and need to be cared for in communities, not on barges"
#GMB
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2 (two) miles of road tunnel versus a mass transit network for one of Europe’s largest cities cool cool
BREAKING: The Stonehenge tunnel is going ahead. The Transport Secretary has granted a Development Consent Order (DCO) to construct it. A DCO previously issued for the project was quashed by the High Court in July 2021 amid concern about the environmental impact.
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I see your french strike bbq on rails and raise you a teachers strike disco and sax
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On Tuesday morning when you’ve got no train so you’re calling RMT members every name under the sun, just remember that *this* is why they are striking 👇
This strike is about safety.
This is what happens to a public good run for private gain.
Great story
@ChrisBurn_Post
The only reliable coverage of the ticket office story is by
@yorkshirepost
:
@transportgovuk
and
@RailDeliveryGrp
said no final decision has been taken.
@RMTunion
said: "They've told us every ticket office in Britain will close."
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🚨 260 good, union jobs are set to be axed today, 24 bus routes lost, + passengers stranded, as a private bus operator collapses without notice
✋I’ve seen enough. This is a crisis with national implications. So here’s why I’m calling for a public bus company for South Yorks🧵
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Today is my last day working for the TUC. It's been a privilege to spend these last six years working for the entire union movement, and watch it grow in power.
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☕️ 🚐 the TUC’s Solidari-tea van made it to the Sheffield picket line today, brewing up coffee and comradeship for strikers and supporters at a massive rally 🙌🪧
@RMTunion
@TSSAunion
@ASLEFunion
@atgphotographer
@GazJacksonrmt
@The_TUC
@TUCYorksHumber
@eiecampaign
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@jodcoll
The footage shows it’s not about normal people concerned about safety on the roads or trying to go about their lives. They’re flinging placards at oncoming traffic on the opposite side of the road. It’s all about expressing individualised aggression nurtured by our media culture
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All solid at
@RMTunion
picket Wakefield Kirkgate national rail depot🙌
Huge turn out but management was there to “talk to the lads” so I didn’t want to interrupt 😂
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Today I am taking a 1hr 11 minute bus ride from Wakefield to Bradford for the launch of
@BetterBusesWY
vote yes campaign for public control
This is journey of 17 miles, which would take only 30 minutes by car
Don’t believe the bus companies’ spin, It’s time for public control
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Just met Arthur Scargill on a picket line. Didn’t recognise him so I asked where he got his cool UMWA
@MineWorkers
baseball cap…
Can the ground please swallow me whole now 🤦🏻♂️
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“Step one: ask MPs to do their job”
“Step two: tell people if the MP hasn’t don’t their job”
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In Hull we assemble the North Sea wind turbines with steel shipped from Indonesia, whilst the Scunthorpe steelworks lie idle 45 minutes away.
A plan for good, green union jobs in the communities relying on renewables investment is what we need to see
Let’s start with renewables.
We’ve created next to no jobs manufacturing and fabricating our wind sector, while subsidising the offshoring of thousands of jobs all over the world.
End the renewables rip off.
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I CANNOT USE THE BUSES WHERE I LIVE IN THE RED WALL BECAUSE YOU CUT THEM ALL
The "poor people don't drive" narrative is such a London bubble thing.
The pink areas on this map are where people use public transport more than driving.
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Antwerp (on the left), a city only two thirds the size of Leeds, has 12 tram lines. Leeds (on the right) has none.
a local councillor responsible for transport once told me it was because we were simply too small. It's a political choice why we can't have nice things.
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🚨🌳Green job klaxon🌳🚨
One of my final TUC projects was to get this job off the ground👇
1 yr post supporting union affiliates to put Just Transition & climate on the bargaining table in pay claims & contracts
V cool work not happening much elsewhere
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Got myself in a pickle this morning- bought off peak tickets for the wrong time & none of the info I needed to correct my journey was on the apps
But staff at the ticket office in Wakefield Westgate were able to sort me out with the cheapest fare in no time👍
#SaveTicketOffices
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@GrievesonJess
Hi Jess yes for a fee. Let me know where to send the invoice and original video file 👍
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Hi, trade unionist here. I know a thing or two about keeping cool in hot weather. Thought I’d share my wisdom with you. 💫 🧵!
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This is a poster from the campaign against Thatcher’s bus privatisation in the 1980s. Sheffield used to have some of the lowest fares in the country & a frequent, reliable bus service.
Privatisation has utterly failed. But still the government won’t see sense…
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Dropped off a coffee voucher at the
@RMTunion
picket at Wakefield Westgate this morning on the way to the library ☕️ 🪧
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Good morning! In solidarity with the Junior Doctors’ strike beginning this morning, we’re starting with the British Medical Association
@TheBMA
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300 people have turned out tonight to
#SaveOldhamColiseum
as Equity’s
@BrazierVictoria
opens the meeting
But where’s
@ace_national
?
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“The bosses, the audience, the workforce are all united in opposition to privatisation”
🗣 Equity General Secretary
@paulwfleming
speaking at Channel Four 40th Birthday demo against privatisation 🎂
@EquityUK
|
@We_OwnIt
|
@Channel4
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Today in Manchester we sent a message to
@ace_national
:
Oldham Coliseum is ours, and we deserve better
Reverse your defunding decision
You’re not serving the North by doing this. And we won’t let it stand
@juliehes
@Iankershaw
@JayMcKenna87
@paulwfleming
📸
@onlyonebimmy
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@lottelydia
Also if you take the premise of her argument it doesn’t make sense - he was a child actor in big name productions before HP
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Covid finally banished from the house. Dropped off coffees and bacon butties at the
@RMTunion
picket line at Wakefield Westgate on the way to the library
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I was holding my two year old on a walk moments ago and for the first time out of nowhere they said,
“Labor is entitled to all it creates”
I started to quietly tear up. They couldn’t see my face and I didn’t make a sound, but they said,
“Don’t cry. The union makes us strong”
I was holding my two year old daughter on a walk moments ago and for the first time out of nowhere she said,
“God is good. God is real.”
I started to quietly tear up. She couldn’t see my face and I didn’t make a sound, but she said,
“Don’t cry. It’s okay.”
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If you want to ruin Rishi Sunak’s day, help us turn North Yorkshire into a Low Traffic Neighbourhood by signing our petition for publicly controlled buses👇
@BetterBusesNY
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🚨ASLEF PICKET LINES THIS SATURDAY 🚨
Find your local picket line to support
@ASLEFunion
members on strike to oppose dangerous cuts to pay, terms, conditions that will see your safety put on the line 🚅
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Just seen another person get caught out by the on peak/off peak train ticket conditions by a matter of minutes. But for the average rail user it is simply impossible to find the definitive answer for when your off peak ticket is valid.
It should not be this hard to travel!!
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1/This is I think one of greatest Brexit risks. Don't forget govt promise of "deep"&"comprehensive" deals means more than non tariff access
A risk* that UK government will end up signing a lot of v. bad trade deals quickly to prove a point.
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@Tiiii69
Thank you for your feedback. You’ve ruined everyone’s fun because now I can’t do trades councils
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Acquired a beautiful new
@RMTunion
badge courtesy of
@Martin_Abrams
- proudly sporting it on my train back up North.
(Thanks to
@tbtpeters
for courier and storage services)
A trans persons place is in their union
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@ChrisBurn_Post
I used to work on EU regional funding in Brussels, and for all its many faults, it was at least a serious attempt to address regional inequalities and an important lifeline in communities where the government had failed to invest for years…which it looks like we’re going back to
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Beautiful service for International Workers Memorial Day at Wakefield Cathedral - including a Blessing and Rededication of the union banners
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Now a proud owner of an
@RMTunion
Yorks & Lincs Regional Council badge 🤩
Gifted by an RMT comrade on the picket line who saw me eyeing it up
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I wrote about why people bring food to picket lines & what it means to feed the will to strike for
@vittlesmagazine
Link to read it below👇
Today’s newsletter (£) by
@garethforest
is about the food and snacks shared in solidarity to feed and support striking workers at picket lines across the UK
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🚨🚌Bus adventure announcement 🚌🚨
One week from today I will deliver our 12k signature
@BetterBusesWY
petition for public control to the mayor’s office in Leeds.
I’ll live tweet my 🚌 journey from Bradford at 09.30, changing in Halifax, Hudds & Wakefield
Follow it all here🧵
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@GoingMedieval
Singing/crying god save the king as you watch the passenger who beat you to the last scone squeeze his complimentary jam out of his little plastic sachet
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It’s (forced) rhubarb season and everyone is posting photos of those iconic red & yellow boxes. So I’m resharing this piece I wrote in
@vittlesmagazine
about Wakefield - the city at the heart of Yorkshire’s rhubarb triangle
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Here’s a union 101 for all the twitters suddenly interested in union democracy
1️⃣If you vote to strike, you stay on strike until you vote to end it
2️⃣If deal is offered at the 11th hour, don’t call off the strike until that deal has been read. They want to weaken your leverage
BREAKING: Glasgow
#COP26
refuse and cleansing strike to go ahead.
Glasgow City Council has acted in bad faith and failed to give our members proper time and space to discuss the 11th hour offer from COSLA.
Strike action will commence from midnight.
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“Are we to plead?
Are we to beg?
“We want to bargain for our futures”
I could watch this on repeat all day👇
@RMTunion
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Witnessing the start of something is special
When we brought
#SummerPatrol
&
@SheffPayRise
together in 2020 to kickstart low wage worker organising in Yorkshire, I hoped but didn’t believe we’d see something like
#BaristasUnited
happen
I only want UNION coffee at Starbucks now
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Two years ago I set up a petition to bring West Yorkshire’s buses back into public control.
Today, on the back of hundreds of volunteers’ hours work, a community wide coalition, and a Labour mayor prepared to act decisively, we have won our fist major demand
Together we win 🙌
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Thanks for your submissions I will resume this tomorrow ✊🪧
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Standing room only for the
@RMTunion
fringe at
#TUCDisabledWorkers
conf on their
#SaveOurTicketOffices
campaign
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On 17 Oct 2019 I launched a petition to bring our buses back under public control.
In a campaign built during the depths of a pandemic, we united passengers, unions & climate activists to win our demand.
Our campaign changed politics in this region. Today is proof of that 👇
BREAKING: I’ve just announced my decision to bring West Yorkshire's buses back under public control!
When I was elected in 2021, I pledged to improve your bus services – and this is a huge step forward to creating the bus service that you deserve.
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@sarahwoolley01
@Independent
The Mail did this to
@ShellyAsquith
, she got NUJ to help get paid and donated to the RMT strike fund!
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The Guardian just reporting an opinion as economic “fact.”
The UK economy right now is a pretty perfect example of what happens when you *dont* borrow to invest for long term growth
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Were you even at the 155th Trades Union Congress if you didn’t get a delegation photo
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“Save our Coliseum!!”
@juliehes
leading
@EquityUK
members and trades unionists from across Manchester in solidarity against the defunding of Oldham Coliseum
It’s our theatre
It’s our community
It’s our culture
Time for a rethink
@ace_national
🚨SAVE OLDHAM COLISEUM🚨
🗓 TOMORROW Mon 14th Nov
⏰ 12pm, midday
📍Arts Council Northern Office MCR
📸 Bring your banners, placards, your solidarity ✊
Join
@EquityUK
union members, local politicians & public figures as we oppose
@ace_national
’s defunding of
@OldhamColiseum
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Equity is ready to defend the Right to Strike ✊🎭
See you all in the streets on Wednesday 1st Feb for the national day of action🪧
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Standing room only & not a dry eye in the house for TUC Regional Secretary Bill Adams’ retirement do.
He’s stood up for working people his whole life. So many people came tonight to share memories of his fight for social justice.
Put your feet up comrade, you’ve earned it
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Tory ministers stood together and toppled their boss. There’s power in a union folks ✌️
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💥Today over 100 of us assembled at Holyrood to protest the unacceptable reimposed cuts to the arts and culture sector made by the Scottish Government last week.
✋The message was clear: Stop The Cuts!
@EquityUK
@WeAreTheMU
@bectu
@ssp_playwrights
@PeterArnottGlas
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All out. All solid. ⛔️🚌⛔️
Not a single bus moving at Wakefield bus station 🙌
✊ Solidarity with
@UniteNEYH
bus drivers on strike at
@arrivayorkshire
Key workers deserve a pay rise 🌈
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Just crying through Mark Thomas’ Red Shed show about Wakefield, the miners’ strike, and working class memory 😭😭
Fundraising benefit for
#McStrike
&
@trwakefield
If you want to do something donate to
@SheffPayRise
to help them organise fast food workers
@markthomasinfo
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