“..no social policy so nauseating to the party faithful that it can’t be made grosser still with a relish of cruelty”

Really enjoyed “The Invention of Essex” thanks. Underlined so many passages. We (and my sisters) “got away” as did most of my youth club friends. More Epping Forest side than the estuaries. Still occasional reunions in Woodford 50+ years on. Need to set up a reading group!!

James Comey’s lawyers are expected to appear in court Wednesday to argue that the case against the former FBI director should be dismissed because the Justice Department effectively allowed itself to be taken captive by President Trump’s desire to seek political revenge.

Sixty seven years ago today (Nov 19, 1958) – US public health doctor warns of long-term problem of carbon dioxide build-up... "might even slowly melt the polar ice caps" Reported in the Times the following day. allouryesterdays.info/2023/11/18/n...

We must copy Denmark Social Democrats' hardline anti-asylum measures in order to win back voters' trust, says Shabana Mahmood. Meanwhile in Denmark:

I've been saying this for months. If they deleted the app from their phones, they could get on with dealing with their manifesto.

Ghastly watch the membership drop further

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Billionaires Junk Tanks and BBC “balance” blocking action on climate change. Excellent from @georgemonbiot.bsky.social as usual.

Trump: -"Things happen" Investigations by Turkey and the UN Rapporteur: - Killed, dismembered on site by a specialist with equipment brought for that purpose, then remains were disposed of in acid and incinerated in tandoori outdoor oven at the consul’s residence www.bbc.com/news/article...

Good thread. In short, we'd all be better off if Labour leadership obsessed about Spain instead of Denmark, where the centre left's hardline stance on immigration has - and you'll never guess what's coming - hugely alienated their base for few returns elsewhere.

Large numbers of dangerous toys are being sold online in the EU via marketplaces such as Temu, Shein and Amazon despite a promised crackdown, according to an industry survey. on.ft.com/3K2hnAc

Sometimes you just have to murder and dismember a critical journalist. Things happen!

toddler in chief 🍊 screaming for ABC to lose its license simply for asking a question about the #EPSTEIN files INNOCENT people don't freak out like this, they simply answer the question and move on he's GUILTY AS F*&K RELEASE THE FILES & JUSTICE FOR THE SURVIVORS newrepublic.com/post/203362/...

Baroness Jones, "When you create an atmosphere of fear and distrust, which is what Reform UK have done" "And the Labour government mimics it making things worse" Baroness Jones, "If we want to stop the small boats, we create safe managed routes. That's the only way to do it"

I am excited about a European digital platform for job seekers from non-EU countries ("EU Talent Pool"). Including comprehensive and appropriate information about the recruitment procedures in the Member States and their rights, particularly with regard to decent working conditions.

‘Dangerous nostalgia’: did Spain’s ‘pact of forgetting’ after Franco leave new generation open to far right?

‘Build, baby, build’: the pro-development Labour activists — and their backers in big business www.ft.com/content/c957...

This piece is about the US but what Robert Reich has to say about TAXES & LOW WAGES applies to us here too. UK taxpayers are subsidising the low wages paid by so many employers, many of which are large corporations making huge profits #TaxWealthNotWork open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

I’m going to be sharing an interesting and important collaboration with @mayors4climate.bsky.social shortly. Stay tuned, and please consider giving them a follow, as they’re doing important work. #ClimateAction

What a shocking waste of opportunity this government has proved to be. It has squandered its time and attention on ridiculous fiscal rules, persecuting refugees and trashing ecosystems in the name of growth, while failing to deliver what we so desperately want. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Poland’s Chief of the General Staff, General Wiesław Kukuła, has warned that a recent wave of cyberattacks and suspected sabotage marks a "pre-war" phase preparing the conditions for possible future aggression. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/russia-prepa...

As Labour proposes limiting the protection of the ECHR, we must remember what it was set up to do; protect us all from abuses of power by our govts. Be v wary then of anyone calling to do that. You may not be the target now. But why shouldn’t you be next? bestforbritain.substack.com/p/why-we-and...

What the Home Sec announced today is not the politics of compromise but of being compromised. Labour has just increased the salience of an issue they will always be outbid on by the right.

“Helsinki hasn’t registered a single traffic-related fatality in the past year…Citing data that shows the risk of pedestrian fatality is cut in half by reducing a car’s speed from 40 to 30km/hr, city officials imposed the lower limit in most of Helsinki’s residential areas & city center in 2021.”

Also as a friend just pointed out, how does it make sense to send people home at a time they are most likely to have started paying tax or contributing in many other ways to their local communities?

I am not sure these are the biggest reforms for decades/for a generation. Core proposal is incredibly similar in analysis, spirit and content to 2022 Nationality and Borders Act of Priti Patel (offer temporary protection of 30 months) The 2023 Illegal Migration Act more sweeping Both failed

A shocking new @greenpeace.org report shows that the Amazon Forest is now breathing dirtier air than the world’s biggest cities It's a stark warning that the Amazon's crisis is not only about the loss of life that comes from deforestation. www.greenpeace.org/internationa...

"..Has ALREADY KILLED Hundreds of Thousands..."

This is my average-height wife next to one of the Dodge RAM trucks (called “utes” here in NZ) that are becoming more common on our roads. I contend nobody needs a vehicle this large in an urban setting. It’s purely for self-esteem.

Trigger warning. “In crashes, SUVs are more likely to strike vital organs in the core of adults’ bodies & heads of children. Hitting pedestrians above their center of gravity means they’re more likely to be knocked forward & down and then be driven over.” Plus more likely to hit in the 1st place.

Words are now failing me. Maybe they’ll steal the clothes off their back next.

'The Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC) will be meeting with UK parliamentarians, Caribbean diplomats, academics and civil society groups from 17 to 20 November.' 1/2

Spicy MN Gov! 😆 COURIER has compiled the 20,000 documents from Epstein's estate, released by the US House Oversight Committee on November 12, 2025, into an easily searchable repository. Find something interesting? Let us know: [email protected] journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/sea...

Birmingham City Council are inviting expressions of interest from schools to make improvements to walking, wheeling and cycling journeys. Schools have until 28 November 2025 to submit forms at: www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/...

ATE restates *lane* width guidance which has been around years and the Daily Nazi somehow manages to twist it around with a pack of lies. "Edmund King, AA president and a cyclist, said: 'It is impossible and impractical to change the widths of all our roads, which have evolved since Roman times."

Edmund King is a pro-car lobbyist who doesn't understand the subject. Absolutely nobody is saying and road widths are going to be changed because roads are engineered, they don't evolve. If we are engineering roads to protect people cycling then we're going to be mostly building cycle tracks.

Don’t know most members can see how wrong it is

Keir Starmer putting the inhumane in human rights lawyer.

Google

Interesting to see so many great British patriots right now begging an American president to bankrupt one of Britain’s last remaining truly national institutions.

In Northfield, Minnesota, masked ICE GOONS violently abducted a father. The Goons smashed a car window, beat and dragged the man at gunpoint, while his teenage son filmed the incident and begged them to stop. The father has not been seen since. (November 11, 2025)

BREAKING: The NYT is reporting that Trump personally called Republican Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace to try to get them to remove their signatures on the Epstein File Discharge Petition. Mace didn't pick up, and Boebert reportedly doesn't plan on removing her name.

This statement not acceptable and I suspect not sustainable. Large majority of public support principle of asylum, support letting people stay permanently. Majority for that among Labour and other progressive parties’ voters is overwhelming. The Reform voters this is aimed at will never vote Labour

Unexploded ordnance can kill and maim long after bombs stop falling. In Gaza Israel is restricting both the experts and the equipment needed for the clearance

Yet another evidence review argues very strongly that simply providing alternatives to driving doesn't reduce driving This isn't surprising, if only thanks to habit. If I unthinkingly jump in my car for every trip (as many do), new buses won't change that www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

There’s a fit and proper person test to pass before any appointment to a governance role in the NHS and elsewhere. Would the owners of these US data companies pass it?

Are Peter Thiel's multiple mentions in the Epstein Files (see recent releases), his involvement with Musk, and, his general well known despicable dodginess- are these not enough to stop the malevolent and reckless transfer of our medical data and systems to yet another American tech-bro psychopath?

The SNP government in Scotland has not sold our NHS data to Palantir Will you please stop conflating England with “Britain” “the Country” or the UK FFS