www.bbc.com/news/article... Police and crime commissioners to be scrapped in England and Wales. Never saw the point of them, a waste of time and money. Hardly anybody voted for them, a #Tory PR stunt when they were actually cutting police numbers. Well done #Labour

The man with the job of enforcing impartiality at the BBC is former head of comms to a rightwing Tory prime minister. Let's leave it there, OK?

So #Tory Tim has been forced to resign from #BBC. The editorial issues involved don’t retract from fact that #Trump and his followers did attempt a coup on 6th January. Looking forward to the same degree of scrutiny being applied to #GBNews and the right wing press.

Some good news from America at last, Mandani wins in New York. This is really going to annoy the man baby in the White House. It’ll be interesting to see how he reacts.

Wayne Rooney was a great player, then, a not very successful manager and now a football pundit, a pretty awful pundit. All the broadcasters are actively promoting him. He seems to be on virtually every channel every other day. I’d rather he wasn’t.

It’s not been a great few days for the railway network, first #Huntingdon now a derailment at #Shap which will probably affect the WCML for days. Sympathy for all staff and passengers involved in the consequences of these events.

The #Labour government isn’t perfect but it’s a thousand times better than the #Tory regime which gave us austerity and compounded this with #Brexit, the root of the UK’s economic problems. The poisonous negativity from the press, #BBC and #Sky never relents, it’s not too late to revive #Levisson

Halloween is the ancient Celtic/Irish Samhain festival marking the onset of winter. Immigrants must have taken it to the USA where it was transformed into the nonsense we have now which was returned to the UK as a commercial opportunity in the last 20 years. The original version was better.

Now that the issue of #RachelReeves and her house has been resolved, I’m looking forward to the attention of the press switching to the circumstances surrounding the house acquired in his constituency by the MP for Clacton. I cannot understand why it hasn’t got more coverage.

Departure from Pembrey & Burry Port. 21 October 2025. #railway #photography

Re Andrew, a colleague in publishing, whose family had links to royal circles, told me years ago he was extremely promiscuous. This came back to me when the Queen paid off the late Virginia Roberts, whom he'd never met, allegedly. The royals aren't the heros in this, they were part of the cover up.

So the racism of the #Reform MP isn’t racism according to #Farage. If more black and Asian people in TV ads proves anything, it’s that they’re now an integral part of society and economically significant to businesses and brands. Maybe that’s what really annoys her or is she too thick to get that?

Time for the annual post on the pointlessness of putting the clocks back, plunging us into darkness at about 4.30pm. A gentle daily decline in the length of the day would be much better. How many benefit from this? There is also evidence that it is actually harmful to the well-being of some people.

Semaphores at Pantyffynnon. 21 October 2025. #railway #photography

For about two weeks every October, the acer in my garden explodes into colour having been fairly drab for the rest of the year. It looks even better when the sun is shining, which it wasn’t today. Isn’t nature amazing?

Crewe Junction box’s GWR lower quadrant home signals on the line from Crewe at #Shrewsbury station, close to the site of the 1907 accident. There cannot be many like these left on the UK’s railway network.

Can we please get some perspective. If Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were banned because of a risk to them it would absolutely be anti-semitism. When they are banned because they have a track record of causing violence it is just common sense. Preventing football hooliganism is normally a good idea.

www.bbc.com/news/article... Quite right to block them, the sporting blockade of South Africa helped to bring about the downfall of the apartheid regime there. Sport, Eurovision Song Contest and all cultural ties should be blocked until the Israel government stops the persecution of the Palestinians

Listening by default to bits of the radio coverage from Israel. As speaker after speaker outdo themselves to stick their tongues further up the bum of #Trump, the deranged narcissist must be absolutely loving every second of this. Utterly sickening sycophancy on an unprecedented scale.

Going to Frankfurt on Tuesday. My colleague, ironically as resolutely anti #Brexit as I am, can only access a #UK passport. Wondering how long I’ll be hanging around waiting for him. The blame for this needs to be firmly pinned on the #Brexit traitors but #UKmedia will ignore this again or blame #EU

Is there a more attractive location on the whole network than the Barmouth bridge? This view is from the summer of 2021.

Voting has opened for the #Labour deputy leader. I think I'll pass on this one. Neither candidate presses my buttons, I'd much rather have Angela back.

Our media lets us down badly : Labours accomplishments - rarely mentioned Nigel Farage’s house - dropped/ignored Nathan Gill’s admission of working for Russia - zilch Russia/Iran funding Reform/Farage - silence Instead they spread lies on the Budget/MPs/anything to discredit Labour Why????

Approaching Kirkby Stephen. 5 October 2025. #railway #photography

What a shambles of a party.

Very much enjoying House of Guinness on #Netflix or the Peaky Brewers as we’re calling it.

If Infantino had a pair, which he hasn’t, he would tell #Trump to feck off for trying to play politics with the #WorldCup. Trump 'will move World Cup games from unsafe cities' www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

Nice early start, SVR Autumn Gala. First time I’ve ever guarded a former industrial loco on a #SVR passenger service. Weather is holding up too, looking forward to a great day. No 49, Robert Stephenson Works Number 7098/1943, fine loco, credit to all at #TanfieldRailway where it’s based.

FFS #Boots have just delivered one baby grow and one baby’s T-shirt in this huge box. What a ridiculous waste of resources not just on the box but on its transport.

I think it’s fair to assume from what we know of them, that, left to their own devices, the last person either the #UK #PrimeMinister and the #King would wish to spend time with would be #Trump.

Thanks to @saveredlandlibr.bsky.social I’ve just seen there’s a #hashtag doing the rounds #TrainTuesday. What a great idea, I’m up for that.

Just been doing my journals for the #SevernValleyRailway Autumn Steam Gala, which starts on Thursday. Every year, the organisers come up with a creative and interesting schedule. From my perspective, I'll be guarding an industrial loco on a #SVR passenger service for the first time ever.

Dear #BBCNews, why do you keep referring to the ‘organiser’ of today’s ‘march’ in London, the convicted criminal Mr Yaxley Lennon, by his assumed name and not his real one?

In the midst of all the crap the world’s in, I’ve just had a great week. Wednesday saw the legend that is #EricIdle in Birmingham, just watched again one of my top five favourite films, Mike Leigh’s lovely G&S biopic Topsy Turvy, now I’m starting Monty Python’s Meaning of Life and the wine’s good.

Departure from Edale. 15 March 2025. #railway #photography

If Charlie Kirk had a gun with him he would have been able to defend himself. Is that the basic premise for unrestricted gun ownership? RIP and best wishes to family, but maybe his views would differ with hindsight?

For everyone saying political violence has no place in this country… Remember two Democratic legislators were shot in Minnesota just this year. And America shrugged and moved on.

Well done Gary, a welcome poke in the eye to the right wingers at the top of the BBC who are slowly destroying it. www.bbc.com/news/article...

First league win of the season for #STFC today, an away win as well. Maybe a flicker of light at last.

Nadine Dorries’ defects? Too many to mention.

In headless chicken mode all day and haven’t been keeping up with news but heard there’s been a reshuffle of sorts. Has #Keir finally got rid of that gobshite from Cork?

The constant non stories on Rayner are a clear sign the Tories fear her more than anyone else. But it’s also a class thing. Being massively corrupt as many Tories were, has hardly ever been a big story.

I’m a #Labour member and voter, any #Labour government is a thousand times better than a #Tory one, but I wish we’d get on the front foot, start confronting the lies of the far right. Maybe look at those running #BBCNews who helped deliver #Brexit and are still enthusiastically supporting #Farage

Are there any #UK centred anti fascist Starter Packs people could recommend?

This graphic says it all. Hey flagshaggers, ever heard of the Dublin convention? Thought not. #Brexit created the small boats issue and access to a floating #EU population an EasyJet flight from home was replaced by permanent migration from outside #EU. Thanks #Farage and those who believed his lies

What’s the point of a country if it’s not to support its citizens? Health care for profit is an aberrant model for those living in #UK. Yet, the führer of #ReformPartyLtd is on record, he wants to replace #NHS with the US model of healthcare. FFS wake up people, small boats aren’t really the problem

I grew up in Northern Ireland where both tribes mark their territory with flags and painted kerbs. You only see this in working class areas, marks of their insularity and deep insecurity. Depressing to see this madness starting in England egged on by far right agitators www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Extremes of both left and right, and day in day out the #billionaire owned right wing press, are attacking our #Labour government relentlessly. Just be careful what you wish for, start by looking at #USA, that’s their template.

Well I didn’t see that coming. To suggest that some sort of a deal has occurred is outrageous. The whole matter is pretty much closed now in the light of this, I don’t think. ‘Ghislaine Maxwell denies seeing 'inappropriate' conduct by Trump’ www.bbc.com/news/article...