In principle, I’m not actually automatically opposed to ID cards. However, from how the present UK government is going about this and related matters, it’s a straightforward nope, not on your life. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

Nicola Sturgeon on Kamala Harris’s book. Eloquent and blistering. observer.co.uk/culture/book...

Im honoured to know Chris and her incredible work for the Lib Dems nationally and in Manchester - "exceptional woman" is right, and she deserves huge praise and the Patsy Calton Prize. Anyone seeking to tear her down should be ashamed.

Worth a read by Ben Williams, on why Liberals should continue to argue against digital ID cards in the UK. Ben is the sort of Liberal who can properly articulate both the principled and practical issues at play here - we should all take note. #StillNO2ID

You guys, so many Romance girlies are reading "On Tyranny" that they've broken the Goodreads recommendations algorithm. 10/10; no notes. #romancelandia

I get really frustrated by higher education and employability discussions in the UK because both attackers and defenders work from the basis of several assumptions which I just think are objectively wrong.

Reminder to come see Doctor Who & The Ark at Riverside on October 4th with @themindrobber.bsky.social We have discovered New Facts about TARDIS floors, the Monoid Statue and the Two-Headed Zebra 🦓 riversidestudios.co.uk/see-and-do/d...

Yesterday, we received an email from a Daily Mail journalist asking us to comment on the attempt by a trans-exclusionary group to change our party's rules. For the avoidance of doubt, or misrepresentation of our position, we reproduce our response in full here... 1/4

Musk is more extreme than Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech in addressing citizens, not just government policy "Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming for you ... fight back or die" legitimises violence (against government, police, asylum seekers, minorities) bsky.app/profile/pale...

So let's talk about why this sucks. I am so angry and so disappointed, but I also know that a lot of people might not understand why I and my queer friends are feeling this way. Read on for an explanation 🧵(1/14)

Happy birthday, Christopher Neame! Disciple of Dracula, AD 1972 Doctor Who villain* Licence to Kill Both Blake’s 7 AND Babylon 5 as well as both Dallas AND Dynasty – you don’t get many of those to the pound! Perhaps most strikingly, sharp-cheekboned Secret Army agent Curtis.

Sedation dentistry is no longer weird. Phone cameras are really good. The price of solar panels has dropped by tens of thousands. Southern white rhinos, giant pandas, Arabian oryx and Stellar sea lions are no longer endangered. And, I can testify, modern cancer treatments are fucking amazing.

"What if no matter...?" By Tom Paxton. Feels relevant today. And on more other days than it really should do, to be honest. youtu.be/I1E0C3dV_Gc?...

Just passed two young guys speaking the most incredible mishmash of Arabic and English, both spoken with a heavy Sheffield accent. I love this. I just do not understand why people feels this threatens their identity in some way. I only wish I could slip between languages as easily. #LoveSheffield

"The 6-3 decision of the conservative-majority court allows agents to stops suspects based solely on their race, language or job, while a legal challenge to the recent immigration sweeps in LA works its way through the courts." *based solely on their race, language or job*

Just had the spooky but cool experience of looking out of our bathroom window into the darkness of the cemetery we overlook, and seeing two glowing eyes staring back at me. I'm guessing, judging by angles, that the moon was reflecting from the window into the eyes of a passing cat.

Slightly diminish a book: Murder on the Transpennine Express (with thanks to @thasceles.bsky.social for the inspiration)

Slightly diminish a book: Doctor Who in a Mildly Diverting Side Quest with the Daleks

Amazingly, I can go to this (and will). This is a great format for watching old Who - individual episodes separated by 5-10 minutes of discussion and listing things to watch out for. And watching along with fellow fans is always lovely.

people saying the wuthering heights trailer is bad because it's horny and the book is not: did we read the same book?

But when we join forces we're unstoppable. And if you want to see that in action, come along to the How To Survive Conference training session with @hannahk-ld.bsky.social (Type A queen) and me (Type B monster) at 9.30am in The Westbourne Suite at the BIC #LDConf

Sadly too many Type As are sniffy about Type Bs and vice versa. "Bloody Leaflet Delivery Cultists" "Bloody unrealistic head in the clouds idiots" Etc.

What is rarely acknowledged is that both types are needed for the party to survive. Without type B there is nothing for Type A to put on their leaflets except bland platitudes. Without Type A the work Type B put in is pointless because nobody knows about it.

There are basically two types of Lib Dem, and if you're talking to one you can easily find out which they are by asking what they would do about X problem. Type A will want to do street stalls and pepper their neighbourhood with leaflets and posters Type B will want to write a conference motion

Oh lordy, I think I might actually have been in the room for that one.

This is absolutely batshit and amazing. I didn’t even know that some ant species have to mate with a different species to produce workers (!!!) but they are literally mating with another species, ripping out their own DNA, and producing a clone of the male they mates with. That is NUTS

This is good. Much better than the framing from the press I saw for most of yesterday: metro.co.uk/2025/09/03/g...

Oh dear

Yeah. If this device does indeed detect many suspect cases of early heart failure that were being missed, even if only 1/3rd of them turn out to be genuine, that’s a win, right? And the worst case of being in the 2/3rds group is a bit of worry and an unnecessary (but perfectly safe) echocardiogram?

This is a prime example of: -misleading headline -missing context (gives rate of false negatives but tools with high false negatives are used in medicine all the time, so that rate might not be significant) -use of "AI": conflating generative AI with the analytical AI that's widely used in medicine

I'm proud of England too. Here's some hi res flag artwork for anybody who wants to hoist it.

If you see this, post a chef

Very sad to hear we've lost Christopher H Bidmead. Always struck me as a very genial chap who took his work seriously but not himself. Hard to over-express my admiration for Frontios, and the ideas in Logopolis and Castrovalva, where mathematics is treated as where philosophy and poetry meet.

I doubt anyone who follows me hasn't seen Night Of The Demon, but if you haven't you can put that right tonight. A wonderful British horror. And I think the Demon is wonderful and gives the film a genuinely nightmare feel.

Every actor takes a turn stealing the film. You think Isaacs has it and then Simon Russell Beale just brings the terror.

Everyone should watch Death of Stalin. It’s a great film. It may be the bleakest, blackest comedy I’ve ever seen. And made me cry laughing.

Had an article published in the #Quaker magazine "the Friend." I really hope that Quakers in Britain can be the safe space for trans folk that it's always been for me as a gay guy. thefriend.org/article/look... #LGBT+ #theology

Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution, by Una McCormack fromtheheartofeurope.eu/doctor-who-t... I liked Una McCormack's novelization much more than the TV story.

What a terrific essay. reactormag.com/i-didnt-expe...

Shout out for the Hat Museum in Stockport - a genuinely fascinating tour of an old industry that once dominated the town. Well worth a visit.

"If you’re a transphobe, tell the people you’re dating. Even if they’re cis, I’m sure they’d also like to know so that they can make an informed decision about whether to sleep with you." Powerful NEW guest blog by Jenby <3 CN: transphobia www.girlonthenet.com/blog/no-sex-...

Read up on the openAI chatbot and the teenager who committed suicide and what the eff Abject failure of safeguarding. Also: because that chatbot says the right words some people will inevitably think it's a person. That's how humans are wired. So that risk is baked in and should be part of use cases

Maybe we need to talk more about fear, and quickly before it’s too late, because I don’t see it mentioned. Lots of correct critique of the yes-people surrounding the fascists of our age and the court stenographers who report on them, not much discussion of the likely driver staring us in the face.

New John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme klaxon: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... I went to the recording of this and it is incredible.

Already registered and looking forward to it. Also eyeing up dropping a fortune on a train trip across Canada afterwards.

Only four is very hard. And there’s an even chance I’d just go for The Macra Terror. Full stop. Otherwise (today’s choice): The Daleks’ Master Plan – Destruction of Time The Massacre – Bell of Doom The Macra Terror Episode 1 The Evil of the Daleks Episode 6

As Robert Jenrick’s looking for attention again, a re-up of what it was like to work with him.