I just don't understand this stuff. Labour isn't in opposition. It's not writing for an essay competition. So don't whine, legislate: "X com has become a tool by which malignant foreign actors spread disinformation and we will bring before Parliament legislation to block it."

Neoliberalism has landed the UK with a housing crisis. Real wage cuts, reduction in workers share of gross value added, profiteering and forced sale of social housing has left millions struggling for a home. Can't deal with social problems without abandoning neoliberalism.

Keir Starmer has suggested the US is trying to interfere in British democracy after JD Vance blamed the murder of the British teenager Henry Nowak on mass migration www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Thames Water should be nationalised, says Andy Burnham. All water companies have criminal convictions, failed to meet statutory duties, dump sewage, neglect infrastructure investment, fleece customers to pay dividends. Must enforce environmental laws, bankrupt them, nationalise at knockdown prices

Court throws out £100m Rwanda claim as botched Tory deal branded waste of money. Tory Govt didn't co-operate with the EU to check crossings, strengthen borders. Spent £700m to send failed asylum seekers to Rwanda. Only four volunteers went. UK Supreme Court declared the policy unlawful in 2023.

A great article by Fred Pearce about our Earth Rover Program in BBC Science Focus. www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth...

As we face an unprecedented May heatwave, please remember that globally we haven't any idea how many are killed by extreme heat. The given estimates may be a small fraction of the real total. A huge and shocking data gap, which illustrates rich world indifference. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Coming into work after the Bank Holiday Weekend 🐝 Brain says Monday 🙃 🔎🐝 Shrill carder bumblebee 📷 Claire Fidler

What some of us have been warning of for decades is happening, faster and fiercer than most imagined, even in the mildest and most temperate corners of the world. #ClimateBreakdown

UK chancellor tells ministers to ‘buy British’ in four key industries - shipbuilding, steel-making, energy and AI. All are foreign owned, profits exported. Not self reliant for most things. Manufacturing neglected: was 30% of GDP in 1970, now 9%+. Need a fundamental economic reset.

No one ever lost money telling billionaires what they want to hear. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Hedge fund proposes £1bn buyout of Spire Healthcare, UK’s biggest private hospital operator. Your taxes boost value of Spire, make shareholders richer. Third of Spire’s revenues comes from NHS contracts - hip, knee, cataract surgery. Average profit margin estimated, up to 32%.

Keir Starmer's political failure comes down to one issue above all others: his unwillingness to put the public interest ahead of the demands of the oligarchs, corporations and foreign governments who lobby him. Whoever replaces him had better be prepared to stand up for us, or Labour's finished.

“Zionist” has become so loosely defined, and so often used as code for Jew, that I think we should consider dropping the term altogether. I’ve seen cases where it's used to camouflage blatant antisemitism (eg below) + many others in which it’s hard to tell.🧵1/5 farmsnotfactories.org/articles/zio...

As the right moves in on antisemitism, where does that leave the Jewish left?

I can see why the metaphor might be superficially appealing, but climbing Everest is not good preparation for being Prime Minister (Nor is being Director of Public Prosecutions)

Wes Streeting prepared to resign and launch Labour leadership and UK PM bid. After days of denials Streeting wants to push for quick coronation. That won't do. He is a corporate stooge, already privatizing parts of the NHS. Silence on policies. We need a proper contest.

I can see why some might think these associations qualify Streeting to be PM; millions of voters would disagree Who are they working for? A key question in politics these days

“… like so often with Reform, there is something very fishy about the whole story." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Typical English roast dinner potentially ‘drenched’ in 102 pesticides. "Agrochemical giants rake in enormous profits and farmers are trapped in a costly cycle of chemical dependency.” Stark declines in birds, butterflies and hedgehogs. Consequences for the planet?

While all eyes are on Farage, we're overlooking something even worse: the building of the very tight and truly vile operation that is Restore Britain. This excellent essay/report by Simon Pearson should wake us up to the threat - and to what exactly it is. simonpearson1.substack.com/p/tory-30

Handsworth is now Green! 💚🥳 Huge congratulations to @edfreshwater.bsky.social!

Seven more NFY from the @rbgkew.bsky.social moth trap today, including Common Swift, White Ermine, Plutella porrectella and Cochylimorpha straminea. Up to 137 for the year, comparable to 2025. #TeamMoth

"This is an historic victory.. two party politics is not just dying, it is dead" @zackpolanski.bsky.social speaking in Hackney where @zoegarbett.bsky.social is the new mayor.

Absolutely phenomenal result! Liam has run a powerhouse, community driven campaign. And he's going to be a brilliant Mayor for Lewisham. Lets go! 💚🥳

Greetings from the Eco-Populist Republic of Hackney

Absolutely incredible news. Huge congratulations to Anthony - our first ever member of the Senedd!!!! 💚🥳

Private equity owned Morrisons supermarket fined £750k for dirty bakery. Council environmental health officers found poor cleanliness, dirty equipment, inadequate staff supervision, food safety and management failures. Yet corporations demand deregulation. What would happens if govts acceded?

No one expected Keir Starmer to solve our pressing problems overnight. But what we did expect – and had every right to expect – was that he would lay out a clear vision and roadmap for doing so. Instead, we’ve had drift, appeasement and a startling absence of ideas, values and ambition. 🧵1/6

On this day 70 years ago-May 1, 1956-the polio vaccine was first made widely available to the public. The vaccine’s developer, Dr. Jonas Salk, did not patent the vaccine so that it would remain available to as many people as possible in the US and internationally. Image: Harvey Georges/AP.

Will Govts wage war on poverty and exploitation? The UK has high rate of infant mortality compared with peer countries. 5-year-olds are up to 7cm shorter than Eurpean counterparts. 1 in 4 young people have a mental health condition. 3m people are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition.

Reports of Painted Lady butterflies coming in! 3 army Ryton Wood Meadows & 2 Bishops Itchington. Please do record any sightings in iRecord 😀🦋 (older photo used below) #butterflies

British ad firm WPP’s $1.5bn greenwash of US oil industry. Helped ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP use “deceptive and misleading” communications strategies to thwart policies to tackle the climate crisis, "dangerously misleading advertising". Anything advertising industry won't lie about for money?

“If you criticise Palantir’s platform one more time, you are going to lose your job.” Solidarity to all NHS workers opposing this toxic corporation. Shame on those bullying them. But they won’t stop us. We’re going to ditch Palantir. www.ft.com/content/ff70...

Ridiculous statement from Ex Nato chief - UK unprepared for war due to an “ever-expanding welfare budget”. 25.3m people live below minimum income standard. Since 2010 HMRC hasn't collected £500bn of taxes. Does he think poor/ill make better defenders. Silence on corporate welfare, taxing the rich

Heart-breaking. bylinetimes.com/2026/04/13/m...

I don't know why this is so hard for some people to grasp. If we extend our use of fossil gas, rather than going all-out for grid batteries, heat pumps and induction hobs, we extend our dependence on *foreign* sources of gas, regardless of whether we also use the UK's last remaining reserves. 🧵

OK, you might have to suffer because of the energy crisis. But Wall Street banks are set to unveil record quaterly earnings and that's what really matters.

Odd how the minor administrative errors always seem to produce the same results. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Britain has the least generous state pension in the G7 and the highest rate of pensioner poverty in western Europe. And all I'm reading in the rightwing press is 'scrap the triple lock'.

UK banks can nudge customers to invest in shares. They will get commission, accept no responsibility for losses. Only new shares provide money for investment. Secondary shares is just churn. Another example of the state supporting finance industry, turning people into speculators archive.ph/F9XNU

Having a roof over your head and a pension pot big enough to provide a reasonable standard of living doesn't make you rich. It's the least you deserve before you kick the bucket.

Brownsea birds #4... More of the magnificent Meds. @linnetincley.bsky.social @harbourbirds.bsky.social @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social #brownseabirds

From Roger Scruton cafes to paying Matt Goodwin $10k a month, Viktor Orban has built a network of populist right think tanks, journalists and activists Today Democracy for Sale delves into Orban’s allies on the British right Well worth a read democracyforsale.substack.com/p/orbans-brits

Corporations don't pay the headline rate of UK corporation tax (CT). Effective tax rates are lower because of tax reliefs & subsidies. Despite low effective CT rates, UK is at or near the bottom of the OECD investment league. Did low tax rate persuade water companies to invest or pay dividends?

Translation: Net Zero threatens the value of our proprietor's investments. The world must cook for the sake of his portfolio.

We are facing most significant days and weeks in world history since 1945 www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/04...

A cruel penalty’: disabled people face lower benefit payments if conditions not deemed lifelong. A backbench revolt fought off previous govt attempt to cut disability benefits. Same needed again. No attempt to cut corporate welfare - auto, steel, Internet, energy, shipbuilding receive subsidies.

Yet another classic example of avoidable biological invasion. When making money comes first, it always turns out badly - and this was in the early 2000s when biosecurity concerns should have been heeded.... www.bbc.com/future/artic...