Saw One Battle After Another at IMAX last night. www.youtube.com/watch?v=feOQ... If you liked Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice, it has similarities. It's a spectacularly good film - warm, funny, political, sharp, complex, and incredible cinematography & acting. And I wanted to say one thing...

This is what happens when politicians act bravely and deliver progressive change. Notable from the news story where other metro mayors are still deliberating and delaying on such measures, they still have illegal air quality issues. Cough cough Manchester & Andy Burnham, Liverpool & Birmingham...

Title for this Labour conference session is quite startling. Labour has lurched rightwards in an apparent attempt to stave off Reform. That approach has unsurprisingly failed. Now they want to stop a "rising Green tide" as if it's not OK to want progressive politics or to save planet. The way...

Folks outside the USA who do urbanism, active travel etc. including me & @londoncycling.bsky.social. Starter pack of key follows from key follow & top urbanist @brenttoderian.bsky.social.

What is your town centre 'for' in this day & age? What does it offer you that the internet can't? And why can't politicians see that if everyone in your town is struggling, the centre will no matter how many giant deckchairs you put out? Town centres aren't a sodding mystery, despite most...

The far right from both sides of the pond hates London & our Mayor. Why would that be? Is it because they're racists who can't stand the way Londoners generally just get on with each other? Love, tolerance and diversity > racist, fascist hate.

Cycling really does give you wings! Watching a toddler soar up front whilst a retired tandem duo found their turbo mode was a definite ride highlight. Magical to see bikes bring out the joy in everyone, at every age, on this fun Kingston ride. @londoncycling.bsky.social @kingstoncycling.bsky.social

Ermygadddd, I’ve been on Oxford Street with my daughter today as it’s been traffic free. What a total buzz 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 All we could hear was people chatting and laughing, and not ONE engine. It was delicious. And of course people are here in huge numbers. … 1/11

I’m down at the Oxford Street car free day and I can already tell this is going to be an exceptionally joyous event. I’ll share some highlights!

Absolutely brilliant to open the Royal Docks Corridor this morning. The GLA & Newham teams have transformed this dangerous industrial road into a wonderful new public space - complete with a fab cycle lane, crossings, new lighting, beautiful planting and flood resilience.

Bumped into @willnorman.co.uk on Oxford Street today and told him pedestrianisation isn't going to go 'far enough'. What a stunning day. Huge crowds showing what is clearly overdue - the traffic needs to go and even then the street is massively crowded. Some of the cross streets had quite a few...

⏰ This weekend is your last chance to book a place on Urban Hill Climb 2025! ☀ With the forecast predicting perfect conditions for hill climbing, now is the time to get booked on: bit.ly/44R388Y

Urgent: @londoncycling.bsky.social 27/9 Urban Hill Climb places going. If you or a mate ever wanted to tackle famous Swain's Lane climb: entries.sublimetiming.com/race/35 You don't need to be fast, you just need to want to have fun. Entrants for 16-17s, women & ebike riders particularly encouraged.

Queen

Questions: 1. Why, given Mandelson has long been a rather scandal & gaffe prone politician was he ever put in for this role in the first place? (See www.theguardian.com/politics/202...) 2. What went wrong with the 'vetting' process that presumably let him claim he wasn't best mates with Epstein?...

My instinct is strongly that the answer to this act of violence is to not call for, condone or accept any more violence. If the US right demand an 'eye for an eye', if they escalate their rhetoric, the only sane response is to point out there are already too many wounded & dead from gun violence.

What a surprise that some of the folks putting up flags all over turn to be organised and by far right knuckleheads to boot. It's little Tommy Robinson behind the curtain...

Parliament Sq yesterday during tube strike. #LondonLovesCycling but... we need more routes everywhere, more capacity on routes & more priority at lights for London to be a cycling city. Non strike days London averages 1.33 m cycle journeys, 4.5% mode share. Imagine if it was like this every day...

I recently shared 2 clips of US politician Jamie Raskin tearing Farage to pieces. Yet British politicians and our media remain oddly polite to & take seriously openly racist & fascistic Reform posturing. A top down way for our elites to avoid tackling real woes? Reads that way to me too ...

Incredible academic paper that shows clearly that Labour/Starmer shifting right helps Reform/Farage, doesn't capture right of centre votes for Labour and does alienate left of centre anti-racist ones. Starmer is currently not only playing into hard right hands but also splintering left. Idiotic...

Moskowitz: Do you think the Epstein list should come out? Farage: I have no opinion on it. Raskin: It’s been reported that he’s called for it to be released Moskowitz: I have it here. Do you agree with yourself?

Nigel Farage looks uncomfortable as Jamie Raskin uses his opening statement to absolutely demolish him

well on the one hand it's bad for democracy and social cohesion that Keir Starmer is trying to appeal to the racists by pretending to be one of them, but on the other hand it's not actually working and the racists still don't want to vote for him

The only way this is 'OK' is if deep down you really just wish trans people would go away somewhere far from you or you don't believe all the trans people putting up with horrific invasive government probing etc actually exist. And guess what? It's not OK ever, Wes and Kier and Kemi etc.

Excellent if very grim reading. cmarmitage.substack.com/p/i-research... Basically, if you elect the far right then it's too late to stop fascists seizing control. America is already openly in the grip of a dictatorship. And Reform and Farage are aiming to go next.

A few weeks ago, I wandered down to Clapham in South London for a chat with Conor of Global Cycling Network to help peel back the layers of a junction dubbed as one of Britain's most dangerous for cycling. With @psimonk.bsky.social and @ianwalker.bsky.social youtu.be/d1BhyZSrZU8?...

👏 Big shout-out to @daraobriain.bsky.social for putting a spotlight on the many problems caused by councils chopping and changing e-bike hire licences! Our CEO Tom Fyans gave his thoughts on the issue to BBC London... 👇

Patchwork approach to dockless mobility is utter chaos, clearly. Quite what solution will be (I doubt that 'Devolution Bill' is going to be a complete answer FWIW) I don't know. But mainly I long for a day when dockless hire just 'works' across the board & all issues. We'll keep pushing for that...

Purlease, @london.gov.uk @willnorman.co.uk this is very silly. Actual report by ferry operator DFDS says for "cycling conditions" Paris comes top, London not even in top 10. That list is also rubbish, as it takes in not just km of bike lanes per capita, but web searches, flatness & wind. It's odd...

Sorrel & lemon risotto.

You've GOT to be kidding me! The Conservatives - who oversaw every single thing on this list - are trying to claim that only the Conservatives would "stop the madness" - that they created...? So incredulity aside, what about the list itself? Let's go Debunking! 1/34

Jaw-dropping stat by @londonermag.bsky.social in this morning's email: "The arrests at the Palestine Action rally is thought to be the single biggest mass arrest by the Met Police in modern British History, beating the previous record of 339 during the poll tax riots in 1990." FWIW then v now...

📆 Tomorrow is the last day to respond to the Regent Street consultation! Say YES to a move away from traffic, but make sure to voice the need for cycling not to be ignored in the plans 👉 bit.ly/4680I78

I went to check and this horrific tweet is up as of now. It's a real Republican candidate really doing fascist 'banter' about Auschwitz. I have no polite words left for these fascist ghouls. And far too many Americans don't appear to see the problem, just like Brits with Farage/Reform...

When government ministers suggest those gathering in Epping have "legitimate concerns" they are feeding a far right Reform narrative that most of the media hoovers up. Despite these tiny protests openly supported by extreme right thugs being dwarfed by 'lefty, woke' protests the media ignores...

This is a scandal & a disgrace from UK government. In the article linked from below Reeves says "There is nothing pro-consumer about making it harder for people to buy an affordable car for their family. That would be bad for working families." But these largely aren't simply "affordable" cars...

🚨 NEW REPORT: Today, I'm proud to launch ‘Changing the Narrative – Ending the Acceptance of Road Death in London’ 👉 www.london.gov.uk/caroline-rus... To mark the launch, I’m hosting a roundtable at City Hall today with campaigners, bereaved families, crash survivors, policy experts, TfL and more.

As a Londoner & New York fan, this stood out to me in thread: "the Adams administration has enacted safe speeds on less than 1% of eligible streets." Brooklyn rolling back 'Vision Zero' plans cos 'drivers' a) is horrifically sad to read, b) seems post-Manhattan congestion charging rather misplaced?!

Paris urban biking DOUBLED in just one year. “Cycling in Paris has transcended mere trendiness; it’s become a fundamental aspect of the city’s identity. Despite challenges like inclement weather, cyclists continue to flock to the streets, setting new records and reshaping the urban landscape.”

Boroughs like Havering deserve better than this... Huge kudos to groups like @cyclehavering.bsky.social & @haveringstreets.bsky.social for keeping doing amazing campaigning in really tough conditions. Come on Havering Council. Be better. Do better. Come on Havering residents. Be better. Do better.

Flip man. World Domination Enterprises were mighty. RIP Keith, a guitarist able to wrest sounds from that instrument no one else could...

If you're a TERF please unfollow me / stay off my timeline. This absolutely reads like Labour disappearing down one of several culture war rabbit holes it is trying desperately to out-rightwing Reform on, fuelled by shiny morally-devoid folks like Streeting... (See also 'sticking up for drivers')

There was a deeply moving vigil in memory of Barry Shonibare last night in Forest Gate. Barry died five days after being hit by a driver while cycling on a known dangerous road through Wanstead Flats. His family and friends spoke of their loss. This is the heartbreaking reality of road danger

Quite the thread...

Whatever you think of Palestine Action, their proscribing seems an utterly insane over-reach by this government. 1. There's clearly laws to deal with assaults during protests & vandalism/damage. 2. Based on info out there so far, proscribing PA means also proscribing anti-apartheid 'terrorists' ...

Really good article on the way anti trans activists are successfully advancing their agenda politically and practically...

👏 Camden are proposing major changes to Fitzjohn’s Avenue, such as 900m of segregated cycle tracks! 🫵 Respond in favour today before the consultation closes tomorrow: bit.ly/44vsc4d

The government are suggesting what is essentially nonviolent direct action is terrorism, not criminal damage, resisting arrest etc. Not only does this government seem to have a huge issue with Palestine, but also which other orgs are next for the list? JSO? XR? Greenpeace? This is deeply wrong ...

HT @peterwalker99.bsky.social & also @londoncentric.media for their intro: "Susan Hall, leader of the Conservatives in the London Assembly, has joined the advisory board of a new political organisation that... wants to send 100s of 1000s of Londoners... back to their countries of birth." WTAF?!...