Most people (in the country, not here) don’t realise how much immigration has fallen in the UK. Legal and irregular. But even if they did, I doubt it would make the government any more popular. 1/

NEW | Wind and solar just produced more electricity than gas globally for the first month on record In April, they produced 531 TWh (22%), compared with 477 TWh (20%) for gas. Wind and solar generation has more than doubled in the last five years.

Most people (in the country, not here) don’t realise how much immigration has fallen in the UK. Legal and irregular. But even if they did, I doubt it would make the government any more popular. 1/

I'm reading in Madrid on 27th May. As the guest poet at The Madrid Review Live's event, titled ‘Vinos and Verse with Matthew Stewart’, I'll be giving an outing to my more Hispanic and wine-related poems, while also taking part in a Q&A with James Hartley, the editor of @madridlitmag.bsky.social...

TL;DR: make Brexit work.

Temporary licences for Russian-origin oil and gas is not the long term answer to energy insecurity. In Parliament, I called for an honest conversation about moving Britain further and faster away from fossil fuels and ending reliance on short term fixes. We need policies on demand not supply.

I wrote about how a canopy bridge made of old fire hoses in Malaysia's Penang is helping reduce human-wildlife conflict with dusky langurs in a housing development home mostly to retirees. Article for @mongabay.com in partnership with @afp.com news.mongabay.com/custom-story...

Spain announces funding for repowering wind and hydroelectric power.

This year marks the 500th anniversary of the marriage of Charles I* to Isabella of Portugal in the Real Alcázar in Seville. After the wedding they had an extended “honeymoon” in Andalucía. * aka Charles V, because he was Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and Charles I of Spain 🧵 1/

Solar plus storage in India is cheaper than building fossil fuel power plants. So they build the solar.

I'd heard of by-laws, but not bee laws.

No-one is admitting to who took the decision to ease sanctions- whether it was FO, DESNZ, HMT, No10 - but the line that somehow if Miliband had eased North Sea oil and gas restrictions in 2024 would have made any difference whatsoever to the current predicament is stupid beyond belief.

Mining is going electric: "electrification is increasingly being treated not as a standalone equipment decision, but as a systems challenge capable of reshaping the entire mine." 1/3

Heatwave in May! 😲😱 Starting tomorrow we'll live the 1st near-heatwave of the season 🌡️ This translates in the Alps by an 'explosion' of snow/ice melting ❄️🧊🔥 Snow depth is -25% / normal. During this event, we will reach melt levels similar to the record 2022! All data: @matthias-huss.bsky.social 🙏

"Tice’s comments came in a combative interview where he threatened to walk out when presented with information from the [IPCC]. Tice…declined to name advisers who convinced him the scientific consensus was wrong." Extraordinary interview by @akshatrathi.bsky.social & @oliviarudgard.bsky.social

One of most destructive acts of the Cameron-Osborne era was the decision to target austerity on local government.

Cripes. Lidl in Germany having a sale on plug and play batteries. €300 for 2.24 kWh! That is mind-bogglingly cheap. www.pv-magazine.com/2026/05/19/l...

As a mediocre middle distance runner I was once asked - half way through a meet - to do the 1500 m steeplechase (junior distance). Never been over a steeple* before. Tried leaping over one down the back straight somewhere and just about managed. Said yes. Mistake. 1/ [*barrier]

Blimey, I hadn’t realised how much the forecast rise in energy bills in July was concentrated on gas. £162 of the £208 forecast rise comes from more expensive gas… (Chart courtesy of Regen and Cornwall Insight)

I didn't intend to write about Spain again today but Judge José Luis Calama forced me to macdonnchada.substack.com/p/rodriguez-...

Oh dear. Old Speckled Hen was a Morland’s beer especially brewed for MG cars‘ 50th anniversary in Abingdon. That beer was my Dad’s invention. Greene King bought Morlands, & moved production to Bury St Edmunds And now they are selling Speckled Hen to Spanish Estrella Damm

Perhaps everyone should stop listening to and interviewing Hinton. Either he’s a complete lunatic, or he’s a hyping grifter or he‘s a psychopath. Or a combo of the above. I’m sure he did some brilliant work at some point, but that’s not relevant.

Energy bills are due to rise by about 13% in July, from about £1,650 to about £1,850 per year for a typical household - per Cornwall Insight. This is very much an Iran War effect, and I'm pretty sure you'll see gas go up by more than electricity as a result...

Some good news.

Very exciting news for me as a VoiceMap publisher - Stephen Fry has done two VoiceMap tours in London.

This is fine. Source: climatereanalyzer.org/clim/t2_dail...

DoGE "accidentally" cancelled Ebola protection whilst raiding voter data.

TRUMP: Routinely falls asleep on camera, has unexplained injuries on his makeup-caked hands, regularly makes genocidal threats, posts nonstop AI slop, compares himself to Christ, goes on unhinged rants every time he appears in public THE ATLANTIC: "He's becoming purer"

“There’s overwhelming concern about climate change in #Singapore, #Malaysia and #Indonesia and most people agree that rapidly ending coal mining and power will protect us from dangerous global warming.” – Bernadette Maheandiran, Asia Energy Finance Director at Market Forces

🇧🇷 Brazil - April 26 - BEV Trajectory 7.4% BEV 5.6% PHEV 87.1% ICE (of which 5.4%p were HEV) Trailing 12 months are: 4.2% BEV 4.1% PHEV 91.7% ICE (of which 4.9%p were HEV) Graphs are available in the Gallery: leraffl.github.io/LeRaffl-Gall...

My timeline seems to be 50% people saying Burnham will be a dangerous socialist, and 50% saying he will be exactly the same as Starmer. Not convinced either is true (which is not intended as an endorsement, just an observation).

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne.... #NSW #News

If this isn't "designed to stir up hatred" against Jews, what is? Why are the Met not arresting them?

Voter turnout in Andalucía was 52.2% at 6 pm, 7.6 percentage points higher than 4 years ago at the same time. Turnout last time was very low, but if the gap is maintained, this year will be the highest since 2008. It could be pro- and/or anti-Vox sentiment driving turnout.

Prejudice toward one community is prejudice towards us all.

The Financial Times ran an entire story of coal shipments "jumping" that is based on an algorithmic artifact in shipping data.

🔴 Most of the suspected cases are between 20 and 39 years old, with females accounting for over 60%, suggesting significant risks associated with household and caregiver transmission. Read the full Disease Outbreak News here: bit.ly/43cOnM2

WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Congo, Uganda a global health emergency reut.rs/4fr5NvK

No comment.

It’s probably the question on which I’ve moved most to the left over the past 20-30 years. Billionaires are threats to democracy. I’m not sure what practical and effective steps can be taken to deal with the threat though.

This is much worse than anything that’s happened with hantavirus so far. Even if the potential for more than regional spread is very limited to nil, if you are in that region it is very very bad news www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/...

If Burnham commits to electoral reform before the next General Election it’s in our interests to support him. The danger of Reform becoming the next government on 30% of the vote is too big. Country before party on this one.

Face it, you've run out of things to say about the Labour leadership So here's my latest substack on the govt's plans to end the SEND crisis - and what it means to take parents' legal rights away Oh, and how it ties into the Labour leadership battle chamindajayanetti.substack.com/p/send-refor...

The archaeology and history museum in Baena wasn’t the very best one we’ve been to, but it had some interesting votive offerings, fertility figurines and zoomorphic statues from the Iberian period. 1/

Anyone else having problems posting photos to Bluesky?

I hope this isn’t true. There are times when it’s more important to put country before party. This is one of them. Burnham’s longstanding commitment to a fairer voting system could transform our democracy & counter the dire threat of a Reform UK government elected on a minority of the vote

👇👇

One of the largest drops in nhs waiting lists on record, which no one will now hear about. Opportunity cost from all the leadership turmoil www.england.nhs.uk/2026/05/heal...

BREAKING: Wes Streeting has resigned and called on Keir Starmer to stand down as Prime Minister