If Labour won’t nationalise water, their “big overhaul” is a con. Sewage in our rivers. Bills going up. Profits protected. Public services should be in public hands.

A lot of what is said about Nature holding up development is simply not true. It’s wrong. False. At best misleading. If you’ve heard that newts are a cause of our national housing shortage, read this from @naturalengland.bsky.social naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2026/01/14/b...

Thousands left without water in the middle of winter in the UK. And those same people are now facing a massive bill hike. Privatised water is a scam. I've written to the Prime Minister asking why he won't end this rip off and bring failing South East Water into public hands.

Let’s end the week with this larval looker 🐛 And the adult’s not bad either 🦋 👑 Emperor Moth 👑 #NatureWithin #TeamMoth

🚮

Closer alignment with EU regulations, you say? Well, hopefully that will scupper the Treasury's desire to gut the Habitats Regulations then. After all, doing so would *undermine* the growth that comes from a closer relationship with the EU. bsky.app/profile/jess...

The world capitulates. 150 countries agree plan to stop global companies shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions, but US companies will be exempt from 15% global minimum tax. They make profit we fund the cost. The race to the bottom will accelerate.

Five days into the Government's 'strong start to January.' Day 1 blame the voters. Day 2, blame the civil service. Days 3-5, ignore international law. Voters & civil service didn't make a Labour government cut winter fuel payments & refuse a wealth tax. Join.greenparty.org.uk

Remember: The oligarchs who control our economy and democracy seek to divide us so they can become more powerful. They want us to turn on each other so we don't look up and see where all the wealth and power have gone. Don't fall for it.

Moth Advent 24. No question of the moth of 2025, by a county mile. I’ll never forget seeing this land on the sheet at Kenfig NNR. After a lot of swearing and input from BlueSky, ID was confirmed as The Sorcerer, just the 4th British record and a 1st for Wales. I’m still buzzing now! #TeamMoth

“One key dispute is over whether another planning or nature bill is required to change rules over protected species and measures to make it easier to build large infrastructure projects, but the changes may be made via secondary legislation.” FFS. 🤦‍♂️ www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Hedge funds pile into commodities in search of fresh source of returns. Translation: Expect more speculation. Households/Business will pay more for essentials. Hedge funds are part of shadow banking, highly leveraged and unregulated. archive.ph/x9QFw

The Green surge continues. Five more Labour councillors have joined the Green Party. A politics of hope — and in May’s local elections, it’s the Greens who will take the fight to Reform.

US puts £31bn tech ‘prosperity deal’ with Britain on ice. Trump doesn't honour agreements. It's about dominance. Demands that UK ends digital services tax on US tech companies and it's food safety rules which bar certain US agricultural products. Say NO to Trump slavery. Better off joining the EU

That sinking feeling: boys, beaches and Brexit voters – in pictures

For 50 years, Western politics has rested on a single promise: growth. But what if that promise can no longer be kept? In this video, I ask a question almost no politician dares to face: what happens to democracy when growth flatlines permanently? youtu.be/c8UJ0AsqOfo?...

Reform risk reviving Thatcher-style 'industrial destruction' in Wales, warns TUC www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

You might spot this moth in orbit this month 🛰️ The Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) can be found in areas of woodland and scrub from October through to April. 📷: Iain H Leach, Patrick Clement #MothMonday #TeamMoth

Prices for many of the most popular holiday gifts have risen an average of 26% since last year — nearly 9 times the rate of inflation. Meanwhile, Trump’s personal net worth has soared by at least $3 billion since retaking the White House. His priorities are clear.

Moth Advent 15. Thanks to @jimlabisko.bsky.social, in July I got to help with a bioblitz at a new NNR in Kent, with Dave Shenton and others. The moths were epic: 200 species in one night, and 16 lifers. The latter included this stunning Kent specialty micro Bisigna procerella. #TeamMoth

#PublicHealth or profits - you can guess which interests companies. "Carve outs are driven by political and economic interests rather than by new science on PFAS behavior" www.earth.com/news/chemica...

It will probably come as no surprise to anyone to hear Reform UK has become the most referenced oppositional party on the BBC and ITV’s major news coverage, new research has found www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/ref...

Trump has declared civilisational war on Europe. It won’t be easy – but here’s how to fight back | Paul Taylor

UK households cut spending at fastest pace in 5 years. Average real wage stuck at 2008 level. Energy, water, broadband, rents, grocery, dentist, vets prices rising at more than CPI. Poorest 20% pay higher proportion of income in taxes than the richest 20%. Can't rebuild without redistribution.

"£500m over 20 years is sod all," said @jakefiennes.bsky.social, responding to this week's announcement of govt funding for Landscape Recovery As Jake rightly points out, this is a fraction of the overall farming budget & not what was originally promised www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Butterflies are nature’s canary in the coalmine, and the release of this year’s biodiversity indicators in England signals a crisis in the wider environment. 🧵

Trump frees New York private equity executive who defrauded victims of $1.6B. Also ready to pardon a convicted drugs tsars. Whatever happened to the rule of law? Is the UK better? How many bankers prosecuted for frauds, water execs for dumping sewage, energy execs for profiteering?

Virgin Media fined £23.8m for leaving vulnerable customers 'at risk of harm'. Disconnected telecare customers during migration to digital landlines. Directors must have known but put profits before people. Execs not fined. Fines will be passed to customers. Where is the deterrent?

Labour’s economic plan will take years to deliver, Starmer says. Made difficult by poor policies. Could have Aligned taxation of dividends and capital gains with wages, lift personal allowance. Nationalised energy/water, end profiteering, cut inflation, reduce business and household costs.

The most misleading thing about Rachel Reeves’s budget? Who it was really for | Aditya Chakrabortty

Why is the left still terrified of the state’s power to create money? youtu.be/7O_3wR87yvo?...

Corporate manslaughter charges considered by police investigating the Post Office Horizon scandal. Nearly 1,000 postmasters wrongly prosecuted, lives and families destroyed. Culprits will prolong cases, escape justice. Govt must appoint a special court to speed up the process.

People living along polluted Thames file legal complaint to force water firm to act. Sewage dumping creating health hazards, bills soar, profits multiply. Possible buyers want no penalties for dumping until after 2040. Crisis deepened by govt refusal to nationalise, end profit motive.

Whilst I'm glad to celebrate it, really could we get a more accurate headline? See Margery Kempe (15th century), Maria Sibylla Merian (18th) Jeanne Baret (18th), Jane Digby (18th) and many, many more... www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...

Labour has announced a crackdown on benefit fraud. Just like the Tories in 1992. And Labour in 1997. And the coalition in 2013. And the Tories in 2023. And Labour last year. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Prime Minister Mark Carney's government announces that Canada is realigning Canada's economy away from the United States.

Why isn't non-dom status reclassified as a benefit? Then we could start cracking down on the real big league benefit scroungers.

Britain has a secrecy problem. In 2024, the govt answered just 29% of Freedom of Information requests - the lowest rate since FOI began. Secrecy fuels corruption, bad governance, scandals covered-up to protect elites. Ministers don't answer questions in parliament. Sham democracy.

Extremely disturbing - judges follow the law, they don't make it. Anyone blaming "activist judges" has serious responsibility not just for endangerment, but misleading the public observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

As #NationalTreeWeek comes to a close, we're highlighting the wonderful Dark Bordered Beauty 🌳🦋 This threatened moth, which resembles crackled bark and leaves, can be found on damp, lightly wooded heathland. 📷: Ilia Ustyantsev, George Tordoff, Martin Wain #MothsMatter #TeamMoth

Cutting benefits doesn't 'incentivise work'. But it does penalise and humiliate people on benefits, and that's the real point.

Left: Rachel Reeves, "I don't like that sort of stuff, I don't do it. I try and concentrate on policies rather than personalities" Right: Rachel Reeves mocks Zack Polanski

The only meaningful definition of 'making working pay' is increasing the minimum wage. Cutting benefits is just cutting benefits.

Why won’t so much of the left believe in the sovereign power to make money? www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/12...

If ReformUK get into government next time then we can kiss goodbye to: Paid holidays Sick pay Safer working conditions Human Rights Workers Rights Unions NHS & healthcare Social care Minimum wage Among many other things. Every person who knows a Reformer should have the conversation!.

Sovereignty? Democracy? Sorry, but we can't afford those anymore. We'll be sued if we try to defend them. This week's column is about a massive but scarcely-covered scandal. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘Posh-poor divide’: the rise in areas of England where wealth and deprivation appear side by side

Free seminar at the UK Houses of Parliament. The Post Office scandal is an example of the abuse of corporate power. Thousands of lives destroyed. Date: 16 December 2025 Time: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM Venue: Committee Room 10, Houses of Parliament, London Get ticket: www.tickettailor.com/events/prems...

🚨Now on 86,000 signatures! Let’s get it to 90,000 tonight! If a petition is what it’s going to take let’s get this done! petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

The catastrophic illegal waste dumping in Oxfordshire (see next post) is a direct result of the deregulation-by-stealth I wrote about in 2021, when my dead goldfish became a registered waste disposer. I warned it would let the mafia in. And here we are.🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...