Thick as mince and thick as thieves. A column about the absolute idiots European legislators have made of themselves over the naming of food, at the behest of meat lobbyists. You laugh and then you weep. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Can jurors apply their conscience when giving a verdict? Or must they only consider the evidence? And are the two even mutually exclusive? @nicolacutcher.bsky.social investigates, via a fossil fuel protest case.

@natashawalter.bsky.social @georgemonbiot.bsky.social

Can jurors apply their conscience when giving a verdict? Or must they only consider the evidence? And are the two even mutually exclusive? @nicolacutcher.bsky.social investigates, via a fossil fuel protest case.

Do jurors have the right to apply their conscience to a case or could it be a criminal offence for them to do so? A recent hearing before the RCJ puts the centuries-old principle of jury equity on the line. I’ve written about it for @prospect_uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/71...

Exclusive: Farmers and landowners fear Defra is putting its flagship Landscape Recovery schemes at risk. While the large-scale projects are intended to last 20-30 years, the government could pull the plug at any time with a year’s notice. cutcher.co.uk/linklog/2025...

Just subscribed to @thenerve.news having listened to the founders on the latest Media Confidential podcast. We need more journalists with nerve! Enjoyed Stewart Lee satirising Grok. Excited to follow the journalism to come! (I’d love to write for it too!) thenerve.news

Deeply saddened that Nabil Shaban has died. A towering inspiration with his mischievous and irrepressible spirit. He did incredible things and was a font of extraordinary stories. There’s nobody like him. I was so lucky to know him. Love you Nabs! www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/o...

Our latest newsletter is out! It covers the expose of Red Tractor, the Wye legal case and shares three new films - plus more…. Read it here and click the link to subscribe to our monthly mailing list. mailchi.mp/e0d20b9c272c...

Huge news! Red Tractor = false advertising. I broke this original story in The Times over 2 years ago…. And River Action took it to the Advertising Standards Authority

Emerging young filmmaker Mykyta Osadchyi has made a compelling 25 minute documentary about the River Wye. It gives an excellent overview of the issues and our campaign to save the Wye. Here’s a trailer, but you can watch the full film on YouTube here: youtu.be/i45B-NfPr-4?...

Hay Festival Winter Weekend! 🌿💙 Our Deputy Chair, Jim Murray will be joining @nicolacutcher.bsky.social in a conversation to spotlight the crisis facing our rivers and the hope for change. 🗓 Saturday 29 November, 2.30pm 📍 Hay Castle 🔗 Find out more: www.hayfestival.com/winter-weeke...

Delighted to be interviewing the actor and activist James Murray about the state of our rivers. Join us on Saturday 29 November at 2.30pm in Hay Castle!

Congratulations to the newly elected Leader of the Green Party of England & Wales, @zackpolanski.bsky.social

This is the riverbed of the River Dore in Herefordshire today. What a drought. There were still crayfish under the rocks. Eerie scene.

It is so so SO refreshing to hear a UK farmer say simply we need to eat less meat. This whole interview with Guy Watson-Singh is excellent. I also completely agree we need to spend more on food and much much less on rent. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Brilliant to see The Observer devote its front page to examining the government’s treatment of Palestine Action. Excellent coverage inside. Is Yvette Cooper becoming increasingly desperate by resorting to smears?

I saw many atrocities as a senior aid official in Gaza. Now Israeli authorities are trying to silence us

Brilliant long-read from @abistephenson.bsky.social in the Guardian about extreme pregnancy sickness - how much suffering it causes and why it’s so weirdly neglected. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

This is a refreshingly frank take on Welsh farming from politician Lee Waters. Recommend reading… amanwy.blogspot.com/2025/07/we-n...

Our latest newsletter dropped this morning with a bumper round-up of news affecting the Wye this month. Read all about bathing water quality, toxic sewage sludge, legal victories and lots of ways you can help defend our rivers… mailchi.mp/3d36ecfd57b1...

Just found an old script from Dumbshow Theatre for ‘Electric Dreams’ which was based on The Shock Doctrine. The opening line feels especially pertinent today: “We’re not terrorists, we’re librarians”.

Screenwriter Ronan Bennett rousingly condemns the government’s position on Palestine Action. What a last line! www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/fre...

Proscribing Palestine Action is a huge over-reach by the state. People of conscience holding placards have been arrested for ‘terrorism’ offences. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This 83-year-old priest has just been arrested for holding a sign which read: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” According to Starmer’s new law, this puts her in the same category as an ISIS or Al-Qaeda terrorist, with a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

How on earth has Keir Starmer, the human rights lawyer who defended peaceful non-violent direct action, ended up proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist group? Make it make sense.

🚨 Take part in one of the most important public events since the March for Clean Water! Join us at the UK River Summit 2025 and demand answers from those in power. This is your chance to challenge the status quo and push for urgent water reform. 🎟️ Book your place now - www.theriversummit.com

And a Agriculture and food panel including 🍗: ⭐ Amy Fairman - Head of Campaigns at River Action ⭐ Ruth Westcott - Campaign Coordnator at Sustain ⭐ @nicolacutcher.bsky.social - Journalist and founding member of Friends of the Wye ⭐ Martin Lines - Chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network UK

I support Palestine Action. I hate all forms of violence. I wish no harm on anyone. I just want a kinder, fairer, greener world. Apparently this makes me a terrorist. But I am the opposite of a terrorist.

Join us this Saturday in Talgarth at the BMC ‘Beth Nawr?’ Festival. Our @nicolacutcher.bsky.social will be running a workshop from 5pm to 7pm on ‘How to Protect Rivers’ with legendary river guardian @paulpowlesland.bsky.social Tickets here: blackmountainscollege.uk/events/beth-...

In 2001, as the Terrorism Act 2000 came into force, I warned that it could be used to ban non-violent protest groups and imprison those who support them. Government spokespeople and cheerleaders told me I was talking rubbish. And here we are. #PalestineAction www.monbiot.com/2001/02/22/w...

"Ministers repeatedly dodge the simple question: has the UK government conducted a risk assessment of genocide in Gaza? If not, why not? And if so, what does it say?" Read my op-ed on the UK's duty to prevent genocide in Gaza here: parliamentnews.co.uk/we-cannot-wa...

Peaceful direct action is not terrorism. Crucial film by @georgemonbiot.bsky.social in support of Palestine Action. www.doubledown.news/watch/2025/j...

If you are not concerned by the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation because you think it doesn’t impact you, you are wrong. This is an authoritarian abuse of power by the government & it curtails all of our civil liberties #r4today

Shouldn’t every journalist be asking Keir Starmer and David Lammy this question? @georgemonbiot.bsky.social 👇

Why isn’t the Royal Navy (with allies) landing on the beach with aid for Gaza? When children are starving and civilians are being murdered trying to get food - and PM Keir Starmer says the situation is ‘intolerable’ - why are we tolerating it? We need political and military action to save lives.

I stand with #PalestineAction. Lock me up as a terrorist, Yvette Cooper. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Israel kills innocent Palestinians. Activists spray-paint a plane. Guess which the UK government calls terrorism | Sally Rooney

I find this episode so triggering because it reminds me of when a BBC exec told me that I didn’t just have to be impartial, I had to be ‘perceived to be impartial’. That undid me and I wrote about it for @opendemocracy.net ten years ago! I stand by every word. www.opendemocracy.net/en/ourbeeb/b...

@arusbridger.bsky.social any chance of dissecting this on Media Confidential? I’d be fascinated to hear Ben De Pear’s account of this nightmare experience.

BBC says it dropped Gaza: Doctors Under Attack because it “risked creating a perception of partiality”. Red flag Impartiality is vital. But when the BBC strives for ‘perceived impartiality’, it’s lost in second-guessing public opinion & timid of press attacks. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

The BBC will not screen the documentary about medics in Gaza under attack - which it commissioned. Basement Films released this apology on their Instagram account.

DEFRA recently noted “strong support for mandatory method of production labelling” - labels that tell consumers how farm animals are kept. So will the government get on with honest labelling? For context, here’s my piece from @newhumanist.bsky.social: newhumanist.org.uk/articles/623...

Huge win for our rivers today!! Well done Alison Caffyn & River Action for winning this case and setting a vital precedent - planners must examine the cumulative impact of factory farms and consider what happens to all the manure generated… riveractionuk.com/news/river-c...

The plunder of our seas by industrial fishing is a monstrosity in which almost everyone unwittingly collaborates. For decades this truth has been deliberately hidden from us. Now at last the consensus is cracking. This week's column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Huge congratulations to @doctoroxford.com for winning the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction. The Story of a Heart is a book that marvels at medical ingenuity, celebrates the best of the NHS and reminds us of our common humanity and capacity for generosity in the darkest times.

Oooh, you mean it's OK to leave, realise it's a mistake, then rejoin? 😉