Brilliant 🎯

‘The problem is that we are now recycling so much stuff that it’s impossible to recycle it all.’ @brettchristophers.bsky.social reviews three new books on the problem of trash, including 𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 by Oliver Franklin-Wallis and Alexander Clapp’s 𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘴. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Jebus, in just 2 or 3 years Pakistan has imported enough solar panels that, in some times in the coming year, panels will cover *all* the country's demand.

Great @bradford4europe.bsky.social ✉️ in @yorkshirepost.co.uk: #Brexit economic cost keeps rising – jobs, investment, productivity hit 📉 Says YP generous to #Brexit voices - 'rest of world 🤔 #Brexit = #BrexitDisaster' Make sure they 👂us 📢: 🙏write to YP or your local paper! #BrexitReality #RejoinEU

Read this! 👏🏽 getting-out-of-the-hole.uk

This is a vital essay by @johnspringford.bsky.social & @acjsissons.bsky.social - diagnosing the British malaise and providing a set of clear policy solutions. You will be much better informed for having read it getting-out-of-the-hole.uk

Wealth inequality in the UK is higher than it was 30 years ago and far greater than income inequality. The new Wealth Gap Risk Register from @fairness.bsky.social explains why this matters and how wealth disparities affect every part of society, from housing and health to gender equality.

Are we surprised? Tommy Robinson got a mention in the Epstein emails www.thecanary.co/trending/202...

“Someone with a 1-hr car commute needs to earn 40% more to be as happy as someone with a short walk to work. On the other hand, if someone shifts from a long commute to a walk, their happiness increases as much as if they’d fallen in love.” #CityMakingMath 50 reasons to want more walkable cities.

"In his speech to his party’s youth wing on Saturday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) clearly distanced himself from the far-right AfD and stressed the importance of Europe and the European Union." www.euronews.com/2025/11/16/t...

🧵On our revelations today about the BBC Coup and the Prescott Dossier. The leaked ‘BBC Bias’ memo Trump used to attack the BBC was authored by Michael Prescott — a Hanover lobbyist paid by US tech/media giants tied to Trump. Full story: bylinetimes.com/2025/11/11/b... 1/12

Bang on re BBC—the real issues of bias story open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...

John Le Carre was right about the British establishment and how the alumni of the best schools will sell out their own country for status and money and in particular a desperate desire for American attention

You may have missed this gem yesterday. From which we learn that: 1. Betting shops are really good for the mental health of isolated people. 2. Most drug-takers are not a problem. 3. Kids put tuppence in slot machines in the hope of getting rich. 4. Farage probably has a gambling industry donor.

This a big deal: "China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months" China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.

OpenAI has infringed copyright law in Germany by using song lyrics to train its artificial intelligence models, a court in Munich ruled.

Breaking: it's now official, the pro-EU D66 party came first in the Dutch election. Their best result ever. The National Press Agency has just announced the final vote count. It’s a narrow victory with D66 just 15,155 votes ahead of the far-right PVV of Geert Wilders.

Happy Halloween

Threads on Bluesky should feel more like conversations you’d have IRL. We’re testing new systems to improve reply quality. See what’s coming: bsky.social/about/blog/1...

On the left, the refurbished Lincoln bathroom. On the right, picture I took in Saddam Hussein's palace in Basra in 2005.

”Shy of thy poorness never be; be calm, be glad, be free." #Finland's national poem Maamme (Our Land) contains this small sentence, which made me think about the country's national character and life philosophy. My latest for The @economist.com. www.economist.com/europe/2025/...

🔴Dominic Cummings Lobbied Officials to Hand ‘Test and Trace’ Contracts to Palantir After Secret Meeting With Peter Thiel Exclusive: Boris Johnson’s advisor pushed for contracts to be handed to companies run by Trump-supporting tech billionaires Peter Thiel and Larry Ellison

Series of EU posters from a display in Italy, celebrating integration and its benefits

Nobody on the Remain side of the argument has ever suggested that economic growth is impossible after Brexit. Their accurate claim is that such growth is lower than it otherwise would have been, leaving us worse off. (We lose that Brexit gap's worth every year, because it never really narrows.)

Wake up, babe, the least subtle visual metaphor in history just dropped

Oh dear. Why?? This seems to miss out *both* the live project of growing a Bonsai and the creativity of building with LEGO.

Green Party recruiting in Bradford: 👍🏼👍🏾 greenparty.org.uk/get-involved...

Even though nobody wears bike helmets in the Netherlands, the fatality rate there is significantly smaller than that of the United States. What have they figured out that we haven't?

The numbers of electric vehicles sold in Europe in 2024 are in: ⚡ 1.45 million new battery-only EVs registered 📈 +32% growth in the total electric fleet 🔋 13.6% of all new car registrations are electric Europe is going full throttle to a clean future. link.europa.eu/cNKjkh

Some happy news for once! 😃😃😃https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/bbc-factual-new-programming-wild-london-david-attenborough

Prospects for collective bargaining (European style) to ensure decent pay, conditions, and workforce numbers in social care… 👍🏼

Italian strikes turn away Israeli ships 👏🏼👍🏿👏🏻👍🏾 👏🏽👍🏻 www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Spotted on Substack ❤️

Education is the enemy of fascism.

Far as I can tell, Robert Redford was: * successful at everything he tried * genuinely intelligent & insightful * desired by women * envied by men * an absolute mensch to everyone he dealt with * a tireless, lifelong philanthropist ... and he died peacefully in his sleep. 10/10 life. No notes.

👍🏼👍🏿👍🏾👍🏼👍🏿👍🏽

Anyone fancy ten-plus minutes of non-emotive charts on what's really going on with immigration in the UK? Well, either way, here you go👇 youtu.be/zTs3PDEkB2w?...