Under a Binface government, anyone who doesn’t accept human-made climate change as fact will be sent back to school, from Year 1 right the way to A Levels, to see if anything goes in the second time round. #VoteBinface

I see BBC News has given up bothering about prejudicing trials, contempt of court etc.

At last - Routledge have set a publication date for my book on their website:

Sounds fascinating - and now on my kindle. I used to live in Balham, and drink at the Bedford. Though as far as i recall, I didn’t poison Charles Bravo 🧪

If Fuckface applies for the Chiltern Hundreds (or whatever the other one is), can his application be rejected so he’s stuck being anMP? Genuine constitutional question.

Sure Al, and I’m thinking of throwing my hat into the ring for the papacy next time round. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Surely Shabana Mahmood now has no option but to resign. Can’t remain in office if she’s lost control of her ministers and Number Ten won’t back her.

‘The Dynamics of Death: Peterborough Coroner's Court, 1856-1905’ Very much looking forward to reading this.

Six months to Christmas.

Of course, the real problem is that Ed Miliband is such a net zero extremist

Reform UK councillors have introduced a motion to rescind King's Lynn and West Norfolk's climate emergency declaration and deprioritise decarbonisation efforts The council were going to vote on it on Thursday But the meeting has been postponed due to extreme heat

Had plans to visit @bishopsgateinst.bsky.social on Wednesday to consult the diaries kept by the Chartist Ernest Jones, but can’t help thinking train and tube journeys would be a huge mistake in this weather. The visit will have to wait.

Henry Clubb - Chartist, vegetarian, pacifist, anti-slavery veteran of the American civil war, founder of utopian communities - was born #OnThisDay 21 June 1827. His is one of 42 stories told in Chartist Lives www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

Well, that was interesting. Bought at auction a one-page poem handwritten by the Chartist Ernest Jones in the 1840s. It was coming from Germany. First attempt to deliver, it was turned back by UK Customs! Obviously very dangerous stuff, nineteenth century poetry. #Chartism #19thC

Well, that was interesting. Bought at auction a one-page poem handwritten by the Chartist Ernest Jones in the 1840s. It was coming from Germany. First attempt to deliver, it was turned back by UK Customs! Obviously very dangerous stuff, nineteenth century poetry. #Chartism #19thC

It's out! Where We Stand, Where We Fall! Alive in the world! Available to order from Herne Books (www.hernebooks.com/product-page...)

London radical publisher, free-thinker and Chartist Henry Hetherington born #OnThisDay 17 June 1792 www.chartistancestors.co.uk/henry-hether...

Printing Types: their History, Forms & Use. A Study in Survivals. Explore 360+ original illustrations and specimens spanning nearly 500 years. www.c82.net/printing-typ...

Also on parliamentary reporting we have this on the history of the reporters' gallery, where the catering arrangements included 'a bottle of whisky on tap, a loaf or two of stale bread, and a most nauseous-looking ham’: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2025/09/08/t...

We've just been catching up on @histparl.bsky.social 's director @jhdavey.bsky.social talking about the history of Hansard. For more on the history of parliamentary reporting in the 19th century, see victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/r...

Can anyone help identify the address? It is likely to be a London address of the late 1840s/early 1850s. #handwriting

John Stuart Mill presents first mass petition to Parliament calling for women to get the vote #OnThisDay 7 June 1866 www.parliament.uk/about/living...

Royal assent to the Reform Act #OnThisDay 7 June 1832 gave some northern towns representation in Parliament for the first time. The Act’s limitation of the franchise to the middle classes and the Whig government’s refusal to go further led in part to the emergence of Chartism later in the decade.

#OnThisDay 1849 the Commons discussed - and rejected - Joseph Hume's 'Little Charter' of electoral reforms (household franchise, the ballot, triennial Parliaments & more equal distribution of seats): api.parliament.uk/historic-han...

I just backed @polypartist.bsky.social LOOSE CANNONS: a history of freethinking humanist rebels! on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/tom...

4 June 1848: Ernest Jones tells a 15,000 strong crowd at Bonner’s Fields in East London, ‘Only organise and you will see the green flag [of Chartism] floating over Downing Street’. Arrested for sedition, he spends the next two years in prison. www.chartistancestors.co.uk/ernest-jones...

And more #PublicDomain books I've got Google to release from 'snippet view': Maps and Plans in the Public Record Office: books.google.co.uk/books?id=zys... Sample Census 1966 books.google.co.uk/books?id=fyo... Consolidated list of Govt publications, 1925: books.google.co.uk/books?id=cyd...

Fun fact. I had to wait on Kersal Moor for Melvyn Bragg, to record an on location segment, but he and his producer were an hour late.

I am, and always will be, a south Lancashire Chartist.

#Chartism #C19th “Come forth in your MAJESTIC MYRIADS”.Thousands of Chartists gather on Kersal Moor near Manchester #OnThisDay 25 May 1839. The bill poster advertising the “grand moral demonstration” is amazing!

The Society for the Study of Labour History stands in solidarity with those affected and emphasises the importance of protecting history and humanities departments from the threat of closure at the University of Hertfordshire, and elsewhere. Read our statement: sslh.org.uk/2026/05/22/s...

My piece here on makeshift arrangements for the prorogations which took place after the Oct 1834 fire at Westminster. Featuring lost wigs, the Lord Chancellor finding his way through the still smouldering ruins of the old Palace and a chair borrowed from St James's Palace being used as the throne.

#C19th #Chartism William Hill, the first editor of the Northern Star newspaper, died #OnThisDay 17 May 1867. His somewhat controversial story is one of 42 told in Chartist Lives (now in paperback, hardback and kindle) www.amazon.co.uk/Chartist-Liv...

Visited Athelhampton House near Dorchester today. Wonderful Tudor mansion and gardens that I was previously unaware of. No pictures allowed inside, which is a shame, but the gardens (and River Piddle) are very photogenic.

"AI" literally falsifying the historical record. On an industrial scale.

I’ve very much enjoyed helping to build a new website for the John Clare Society. And relieved to have it pretty well finished in advance of this year’s John Clare Festival. #C19th #Poetry #RuralEngland johnclaresociety.org

I’ve very much enjoyed helping to build a new website for the John Clare Society. And relieved to have it pretty well finished in advance of this year’s John Clare Festival. #C19th #Poetry #RuralEngland johnclaresociety.org

#Chartism #C19th #History The great Chartist orator Henry Vincent was born #OnThisDay 10 May 1813. His story is told in my book Chartist Lives www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

I was never a fan of proportional representation when we had in effect a two-party system, but FTP is now indefensible. If the response to today’s results does not include PR before the next general election, we are all fucked.

Chartist Lives - the paperback #Chartism #C19th #BritishHistory 🗃️ www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

#Chartism The Second Petition for the People’s Charter, with 3,317,702 signatures, was taken to Parliament in procession #OnThisDay 2 May 1842 www.chartistancestors.co.uk/presenting-t...

Dr Vic Clarke @vjctorianist.bsky.social recently delivered a talk on Joshua Hobson, his radical publishing, and work on the Northern Star newspaper for the annual Luddite Memorial Lecture in Huddersfield. Find out more about the event and their future plans here: sslh.org.uk/2026/05/01/j...

Allen Davenport, Spencean Radical and Chartist, was born #OnThisDay 1 May 1775. His story is told in Chartist Lives… www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

George Julian Harney: a new portrait #Chartism #C19th #History chartistancestors.blog/2026/04/23/a...

I'm pleased to announce I'm a founding co-editor of the new @manchesterup.bsky.social book series, Radical Histories. Do let me know if you have a proposal for a book that fits our inclusive remit on radical histories. manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/series/radic...

#Chartism #C19th Is this really George Julian Harney? It’s such a bizarre portrait. The suggestion is that it was taken during his years in the United States, and the inscription on the back seems to show that it was sent to Jane Cowen, daughter of the Newcastle radical MP Joseph Cowen. It’s on eBay

Trump setting himself up for a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. It’s his version of sticking a pencil up each nostril and going ‘wibble’.

#Chartism #C19th Is this really George Julian Harney? It’s such a bizarre portrait. The suggestion is that it was taken during his years in the United States, and the inscription on the back seems to show that it was sent to Jane Cowen, daughter of the Newcastle radical MP Joseph Cowen. It’s on eBay

The second Chartist convention met #OnThisDay 12 April 1842 to organise the presentation to Parliament of a petition signed by 3,315,712 people in support of the People’s Charter. www.chartistancestors.co.uk/second-conve...

On 10 April 1848, Chartists marched to Kennington Common with the third Petition for the Charter under the anxiously watchful eye of the authorities. Thomas James Arnold, a police magistrate, drew these cartoons depicting his meetings with the military. www.chartistancestors.co.uk/cartoons-dep...