NEW Nerve investigation reveals extent of Palantir's enmeshment in UK state operations Peter Thiel's surveillance company has deals with government bodies amounting to at least £670m – inc. £15m contract with nuclear weapons agency By @carolecadwalla.bsky.social Charlie Young & Max Colbert 🔗⏬

🚨 The Environment Secretary has banned the water sector review from even considering public ownership as a solution to the crisis. If enough people show this is unacceptable, we could force a U-turn. Please sign the @we-own-it.bsky.social petition below 👇 weownit.org.uk/act-now/stev...

The media's framing of UBI is so frustrating. UBI would not be paid for people "to do nothing". It would be paid so people can do anything!

Donald Trump has made $60bn overnight by launching his own cryptocurrency. A financial asset that didn’t exist yesterday now represents 90% of his net worth. But worse than his naked profiteering... anyone in the world can deposit money into the President's bank account, and this cannot be traced.

My 'bounce back theory' offering a glimmer of hope in these dark times: The world may well need to hit rock bottom before there's a big enough collective awakening for things to materially improve. Trump could take the world to rock bottom sooner, so we can bounce back quicker and higher.

"Growth is our priority!" say Labour. Yet the latest figures show a 0.1% growth rate - and this is presented as good news for the government! Austerity doesn't work. It never has worked, and it never will work. You cannot cut your way to growth. For that, you need a national investment strategy.

Keir Starmer says AI will "double UK productivity within 5 years". He believes carbon capture is the answer to the climate crisis. He vocally supports and facilitates genocide. He is delusional, he is immoral and he is beholden to corporate interests. He is quite simply unfit for power.

It's not that the Tories "trashed the rules" - it's that the rules don't work. "Austerity" will never achieve financial stability because it's simply a smokescreen to transfer wealth from poor to rich.

We're seeing in real time how there is no escape from the impacts of climate change, even for the wealthiest people on the planet. If the wildfire claims the iconic Hollywood sign, it will be a hugely symbolic wake up call to the world. #ClimateActionNow

The government's real adult social care plan is the Assisted Dying Bill.

The road to fascism is lined with people telling you to stop overreacting. Yet sometimes, it's just unambiguously and unarguably laid out black and white.

Musk actually had the cheek to post this! The man has no shame.

Dear Keir, This isn't working. The people don't want business-as-usual politics. They want real change, and your latest relaunch promises little to deliver it. It's time to take on corporate interests & deliver real change to materially improve people's lives. Otherwise, it's PM Farage in 2029.

Fantastic news 🥳 It's encouraging to see that a majority of MPs recognise that our democracy isn't working. This is a crucial first step in our pursuit of a fair voting system. PR is the gateway to revitalising our democracy and delivering the real change we urgently need.

You'd think a writer would at least try and understand a concept before writing an article attempting to trash it! Sadly, this is all we've come to expect from the advocates of Labour's hollow economic strategy - just vapid propaganda and hostility towards those who have a plan for genuine progress.

The world is currently at 425 ppm CO2 (more than 20% beyond its safe limit of 350 ppm 🔥 Meanwhile, a company called Arctic Ice (UK) Ltd is shipping Greenland glacier ice to bars in the United Arab Emirates 🍸

The problems of the world seem so much further away when you get out into nature. Who can name this classic walk? #GetOutside

We're decades too late for climate mitigation alone. We must now look at deep adaptation to prepare for a radically changed world. Our leaders are continuing to fail us - and the rare few, like Clive Lewis, who are calling for system change are kept on the fringes of power.

Today is a rare example of politics working well with MPs calmly and respectfully debating a complex issue. Personally, I'm passionately in favour of the principle of assited dying but deeply fearful of the slippery slope that will inevitably follow. A tough decision I'm glad I didn't need to make.

I know it’s a parliamentary petition, but apparently they get press coverage if they go viral 😅 And this one is very meta, it’s about the coordinated disinformation poisoning our politics! Let’s get it to 100k at a rate that’s hard to ignore? petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

I had to go to the 'other place' to check this was real. I feel sick. This just legitimises the arguments of the far right and push voters towards the "full fat" options. Labour already trail the Tories in the polls, and Reform are nearly level too. History tells us how this ends. It's not well.

A crucial thread on why we are sleepwalking towards another era of Tory rule in 2029 (or worse, Reform) - and why we must turn up the volume and make our demands for a change of direction from Labour unignorable... 👇

Louise Haigh is my local MP. She's active locally and was championing much needed albeit limited nationalisation. But she certainly seems to have an honesty problem. She lied about her fraud - and she lied to me about her vote on the Gaza ceasefire. Sadly another Labour MP who cannot be trusted 🥀

This is deeply misguided. A society that exists to protect birds should not be campaiging to see them shot for sport. We need to end grouse moor shooting entirely. It's not only barbaric but it's utterly destructive to nature and the environment. Do better RSPB.

These are the warming stripes for where I live (Sheffield). You can now create them for your own area here: showyourstripes.info/s/europe/uni... The situation is now so dire, they've run out of reds to use. We cannot continue to dither and delay. We need real climate action NOW.

AI was meant to free us from menial work so we could spend more of our time on creative pursuits. But AI is increasingly being used to target the creative industries as we are pushed into more menial work. So much of our society is upside-down.

Universal Basic Income is not a panacea - but no other single policy has the potential to bring about such widespread benefits and to remodel our economy in such positive ways. For example, in trial after trial, UBI has demonstrated its transformative impact on tackling homelessness 👇

This was 'on this day' 8 years ago - but it could have been posted today. We have a new government making the same old mistakes. "Austerity" doesn't work. It's simply a smokescreen to transfer wealth from poor to rich. We called the Tories out on it. We need to call Labour out on it too.

BREAKING: Live scenes at the closing ceremony of #COP29

The overriding issue of our time is inequality. It's why ordinary people no longer feel the benefits of growth. It's why corporations are allowed to trash our planet in the name of profit. It's why fascism is on the rise around the world. For people and planet, we must tackle rampant inequality.

We have far too few MPs willing to stand up to the real culprits of our broken society. As a result, we're leaving the doors of power wide open for the far right to walk through (just as has happened in the US). Here's the rare sight of an MP who gets it... 👇

Our government must cease it's complicity in the Gaza genocide, immediately end all arms sales to Israel and do everything in its power to prevent further loss of Palestinian (and Lebanese) lives and ethnic cleansing. Anything less, and we should remove them from office as they are unfit for power.

RIP John Prescott. A titan of politics, a warrior for social justice and a trailblazer for the working class. He wasn't perfect and that was his point. He showed that anyone could get into politics regardless of their background. We need more working class people to follow in his giant footsteps.

Controversial opinion: we don't need so much farmland in Britain. 85% of our farmland is used for meat and dairy production. If we ate less meat and dairy, we could rewild large areas of farmland to capture more carbon, clean our air, improve our health and restore our ecosystems.

If we could fight climate change with bombs, the crisis would be over in a few days.

Also remember, the UK has 209,000 farms - so these changes will affect a grant total of... 0.0005% of them! (and of those affected, they still pay half the inheritance tax as the rest of us, they get 10 years to pay it and it can be avoided entirely if the farm is gifted to the children early)

As you listen to the media bluster in defence of the richest farm owners today remember: - there are only 345 farms valued £1m-£2.5m, 80 at £2.5m-£5m and 37 above £5m - the total untaxed amount is £2.65m after taking into account all reliefs So only 117 farms are actually affected by the changes.

Our politics has been captured by the billionaire class. The vast majority of politicians serve their interests, and in turn get to feather their own nests. To reclaim our politics, we're likely going to need to make ourselves ungovernable.

This is what the public thinks of Keir Starmer - but there's a solution. It's not "boring" to deliver climate action. It's not "bland" to talk about UBI. It's not "untrustworthy" to offer fair votes. It's not "weak" to take on corporate interests. Offer real change and these words will change too.

🍂 The sublime beauty of Ontario in the fall 🍂 On our recent trip, we drove 3000km, and almost every moment was photo-worthy 🤩

I hear it's a Bluesky requirement to post #ProofOfCat - so here's Milo. I'd love to say he's one of us, but he's a bit of a fascist. He believes in the supremacy of himself, is obsessed with territorial security and oversees the forceful suppression of the local bird and rabbit populations.

The world lost 50% of its wildlife in 50 years. 66% of primates are at risk of extinction (up from 50% in 2015). We're not heading towards a mass extinction event - we're already in one. We can't afford to tinker around the edges. The climate & ecological emergency demands systemic change. #COP29

🧵 Five policies I'd most like to see enacted by the Labour government: 1. Proportional representation 2. Universal Basic Income 3. 4-day working week 4. Net Zero by 2035 strategy 5. Wealth taxation Which five policies would you most like to see enacted?

Elon Musk is the leading candidate to become the world's first trillionaire by 2027. The world's 10 richest people now have more wealth than the poorest 4 billion people - half the world's population - and wealth inequality continues to soar. We need to fundamentally remodel our economic system.

For far too long Britain has prioritised: Capital over labour Finance over industry Austerity over investment The rich over the poor We need to change our priorities.

Bluesky really is a breath of fresh air 🌤️ It's just real people politely chatting about things, and respectfully disagreeing or moving on when their views don't align. I suddenly feel like I'm sane again having escaped the Muskrat sewer!

I'll be sharing more of my photography on Bluesky starting with... the walk that sparked my love of the mountains! 15 years ago, my first trip to Scotland. I saw Glencoe, immediately bought a walking jacket, and set off inexperienced & unprepared up Bidean nam Bian! Forever my favourite mountain 💙

Hey everyone 👋 I've taken the plunge and ditched X for Bluesky. A little introduction... when I'm not in the mountains, on a climbing wall or cricket field, or watching my beloved Aston Villa, I'm working to find transformative solutions to some of the problems we face as a society. #FirstPost