Autumn. #NorfLunden

Watching Labour MPs take a wrecking ball to nature makes me so angry & so sad. Their action tonight voting down amendments to the #PlanningBill intended to protect wildlife & habitats from destruction is so reckless & so counterproductive. People didn’t vote Labour for this 👇

Under Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson crime has plummeted. Murders are at historic lows. This is due to his meaningful investment in communities to combat poverty, homelessness, & hopelessness. And now the Trump regime is trying to pretend it’s due to their ICE infiltration. Absurd!

Meanwhile in the USA 🇺🇸…

It just gets murkier and murkier… The accuser demands accountability of the BBC, but is seeming guilty of his own, equally serious editorial misdemeanours.

The remarkable story we discussed this morning. (No paywall but do consider subscribing.) www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...

UK Music, has released its annual economic report, ‘This Is Music 2025’. The report outlines the huge contribution the UK music industry makes to the economy – but also outlines some of the major challenges the sector faces.

Happy #WorldBalletDay ! A blast from the past … ‘Three Dances for Troi Gnossienes’ Choreography: Christopher Bannerman, for London Contemporary Dance Theatre (1988) Music: Erik Satie Dancer: Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp Photo: Bill Cooper. #WorldBalletDay2025

The work of Diana Catchpole, contemporary UK based illustrator and printmaker #ReframingWomenPrintmakers

If BBC News was a hotbed of left-wing wokery producing *systemically* biased coverage Jeremy Corbyn may well have been elected Prime Minister in 2019. It’s not. He wasn’t. And we got Boris Johnson instead.

One of the guests partying at Mar-a-Lago was Nigel Farage, by the way. For my British followers.

‘Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, is expected to resign after a former adviser to the corporation accused it of “serious and systemic” bias in its coverage of issues including Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights.’ www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

October marks highest number of Israeli settler attacks since records began - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/un-agency-says-october-marked-highest-number-israeli-settler-attacks

Good riddance. A pet project, as was Brexit, of Michael Gove, the man more destructive of the musical health of Britain than anyone in our modern history.

A historical moment in Parliament as Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy becomes the first Black person to ever answer a Prime Minister's question. 👏

Playwright and screenwriter Jack Thorne, creator of Netflix’s Adolescence, urges political leaders to recognise the scale of challenge facing the British theatre sector and to act before it’s too late. uktheatre.org/jack-thorne-... FreelancersMakeTheatreWork #UKArts #SaveTheArts

Businesses must respect human rights, labour rights and our environment — across whole supply chains, at home and abroad. I’ll be pressing the government on how its review will ensure that. #PeopleAndPlanet #ResponsibleBusiness

Anni Albers, Design for a rug, 1925. One of the best known Bauhsus trained textile artists of the 20thc #womensart

“Hope is alive. Hope over tyranny. Hope over big money and small ideas. Hope over despair.“ Zohran Mamdani 5th November 2025.

Meanwhile in the USA 🇺🇸 … A moment to remember! www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Monday 3 Nov 2025 - ‘Othello’ at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, starring @davidharewood.bsky.social, Toby Young, Caitlin Fitzgerald and Vinette Robinson - Magnificent! ✨✨✨ Standing Ovation! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 #OthelloOnStage.

Goodness. Closing beautifully with Vito Marcantonio: “If it be radicalism to believe that our natural resources should be used for the benefit of all, and not for the purpose of enriching just a few, then I plead guilty to the charge.”

Meanwhile in the USA 🇺🇸 …

There are some experiences you just know are going to stay with you for a lifetime. Monday’s @wigmore-hall.org.uk recital by @errollynwallen.bsky.social & Ruby Hughes was one of those! Sublime renditions of Errollyn’s songs, beautifully juxtaposed with songs by Benjamin Britten and Charles Ives.

I love how the Kanneh-Masons always come out in force to support each other. Last Monday’s concert by Jeneba Kanneh-Mason at the @wigmore-hall.org.uk , was no exception.

Last Monday I had the rare joy of attending two amazing @wigmore-hall.org.uk concerts in one day. After @errollynwallen.bsky.social & Ruby Hughes at lunchtime, I returned to hear a beautiful piano recital by Jeneba Kanneh-Mason. Huge kudos to this immensely talented young musician!

The Argyll Arcade in central Glasgow. Developed by James Robertson Reid in the 1820s as Scotland's first indoor shopping arcade, it was modelled on the Parisian Arcades of the late 1700s. It's about 150 metres long and was designed by John Baird I. #glasgow #architecture #architecturephotography

I loved ‘Dreaming While Black’ Series 2. I had the pleasure of meeting its star and creator, Adjanji Salmon, recently, and was able to tell him in person, just how much I had enjoyed it. #DreamingWhileBlack

Never take seriously those who ridicule low income people for having a smartphone or laptop. “If they’re so poor how did they buy an iPhone???” Because they’re trying to escape poverty, not the 1700s, genius. If you think basic tech access is luxury, survive a month without it.

🔥 Coming up fast!! Can citizens and journalists unite to hold back authoritarianism and protect democracy? On 4th November at 7pm, join our live (free!) online event with: ▪️George Monbiot ▪️ Nafeez Ahmed ▪️ Yasmin Alibhai-Brown ▪️ Nick Lowles Book now: bit.ly/BylinesHope

'Autumn Glow' by contemporary UK printmaker Annie Soudain #ReframingWomenPrintmakers

These unconscionable cuts to a vital lifeline fund for some of the most vulnerable children & young adults in England are staggering - a 60% reduction from £7.5K to just £3K per child and even worse - these changes were introduced without consultation, warning and no evidence base

BREAKING: ‘Multiple people' stabbed on train in Cambridgeshire www.bbc.com/news/article...

How Jamaica took out an insurance policy for itself, and why it’s about to pay off after Hurricane Melissa #Jamaica #HurricaneMelissa $150M US ‘catastrophe bond’ issued last year headed to full payout, will provide Jamaica immediate help www.cbc.ca/news/science...

We must keep Jamaica in the news and in our hearts and actions. What's happening there right now in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa is nothing short of a humanitarian emergency and it requires an immediate international aid response.

Aerial of the damage hurricane Melissa did to Jamaica.

A woman is killed by a man every 3 days in the UK... 78% are murdered by a partner/ex Yet not once have I heard Reform talk about this Not once have I heard them back measures to protect women’s safety In fact, they voted against them...

“Cinema is liberation”: as more acclaimed films emerge from Palestine, why are many still fighting to reach an audience? This year’s Oscars triumph for No Other Land should have been a watershed. But new titles still struggle to be seen. @ellenejones.bsky.social reports

Last Monday I had the rare joy of attending two amazing @wigmore-hall.org.uk concerts in one day. After @errollynwallen.bsky.social & Ruby Hughes at lunchtime, I returned to hear a beautiful piano recital by Jeneba Kanneh-Mason. Huge kudos to this immensely talented young musician!

Gotta love Private Eye. Always cuts through the crap.

Osmanthus 💖

It’s going to be weird indeed when other countries place sanctions on the U.S.

Listen to Dave McMurray “The Jungaleers,” the 2nd single from the saxophonist’s new album “I LOVE LIFE even when I’m hurting” out Nov. 14, an affirmation of his indomitable spirit & a celebration of his love for his hometown of Detroit: davemcmurray.lnk.to/TheJungaleers

#Jamaica 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

Meanwhile in the USA 🇺🇸 … Happy Halloween! 🎃

Leading choreographer Arlene Phillips and bosses of drama schools across the country have joined more than 1,000 people urging the prime minister to scrap the EBacc ahead of the imminently expected Curriculum Review. Read more 👇

🚨Almost 80,000 have now signed the petition. We are getting so close to 100,000🙏 For too long, the UK press have bullied people, harassed grieving families & destroyed lives, all to sell papers. Support the campaign to change the law by signing the petition👇 you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/a-...

What is this wahala!? How dare they! 😡 www.bbc.com/news/article...