Philp gulps his way through another interview. And calling people ‘scumbags’ on live radio gives away a lot about this MP and his party #r4today

It was funny a few years ago, in a dark way, to hear UK government ministers proclaiming "We've ended Freedom of Movement," as some kind of achievement. The only FoM they'd ended was OURS. Everyone else just had one less country to move freely in. Even THAT wasn't an achievement, but a tragedy.

Important reminder 🚨 Nigel Farage (a millionaire) thinks the minimum wage is too high.

No.

Cases from Nepal show degraded land can regenerate when locals enforce grazing bans, curb logging, and patrol forests—no costly tree-planting needed. Native species rebound within years, suggesting community-led protection and natural regeneration are more effective and sustainable.

The Countryside Alliance are once again talking out of their (top) hat. 80% of the public, rural & urban, think fox hunting should remain illegal. The ‘rural culture war’ is a myth, as @jon-moses.bsky.social shows here: national.thelead.uk/p/the-rural-... bsky.app/profile/theg...

We have been bringing the festive cheer to our friends at Natural England and the NFU in London recently – highlighting the continued badger cull. 240,000 badgers dead and nothing to show for it. It must end. Sign up to our newsletter for updates → wildjustice.org/newsletter

North Sumatra plans could remove protections from Batang Toru — the last habitat of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan. Conservationists warn it could push the species toward collapse, especially after recent cyclone damage.

@matthew-wright.bsky.social how about interviewing a wildlife NGO about the hare issue for some sconce-based facts. Countryside Alliance are hardly wildlife-friendly.

“If Labour pits its housing targets against nature, it will find itself in a battle with the very thing that gives people a deep sense of pride and personal joy - when both feel in short supply.” Wise words from @luketryl.bsky.social: www.ft.com/content/f456...

FOURTH White-tailed Eagle disappears - RSPB offers reward for information leading to a conviction for this one or any of the other three. New blog ⬇️⬇️ #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/12/19/f...

Even by my low expectations for Kemi Badenoch ‘violence against women and girls is something done by immigrants and nobody else’ has shocked me.

A new report from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) says that although energy related emissions in Ireland have fallen by 16% since 2018, the country has not broken the link between economic growth and fossil fuel use in a meaningful way

Even the D Telegraph thinks Pres Trump will lose his case against the BBC. Interestingly, more Americans watch/hear/read the BBC than Brits. Its US audience averages 60 million, rising to 77m in Sept. By comparison, its UK audience is approx 50m (around 85% of UK population).

🗑️💢 @europarl.europa.eu just cleared away the few remaining environmental safeguards in EU farming policy Two rushed rounds of so-called “simplifications” have gutted years of progress and handed #BigAgri exactly what it wanted: money to pollute with no strings attached ✂️ Here’s what we’ve lost ⬇️

Keir Starmer needs to stand up for the BBC against Trump's outrageous $5bn lawsuit and protect licence fee payers from being hit in the pocket. Trump wants to interfere in our democracy and undermine our national broadcaster. We cannot let him.

There is nothing surprising about what Trump said about Rob Reiner TWICE - he has the mind of a two year old - a cruel baby

Labour's ceaseless yet baseless attacks on Nature and the Environment are not going unopposed. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I challenge you to think of one thing you would less like to do

Country diary: Twenty years ago this thriving woodland didn’t even exist | Phil Gates

🔴 NEW 🔴 The Institute of Economic Affairs Banked £640,000 from Oil Giants and Murdoch “Groundbreaking investigation” reveals how the IEA has campaigned against climate action after taking cash from fossil fuel firms. 📝 @writesbright.bsky.social

Imagine the right-wing reaction if Starmer or Biden had proposed something like this

Spoiler alert… It wasn’t. It isn’t. They don’t.

'In Ukraine, the state itself is investigating the government, the cabinet, the president’s closest advisers. By contrast, it is impossible to imagine Kash Patel’s FBI investigating anyone in Trump’s White House. Any Russian who investigates Putin goes to jail" www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

How to buy yourself a needy malignant narcissist? Just offer him a phony, made up "Peace Prize" & he's all your's!!! No need for a formal ceremony as he'll snatch from the box & put it on all by himself. Both laughably pathetic AND pathetically laughable. 🤡 🫣

FML - this fawning before the over-sensitive king is embarrassing for the world. Many countries have fought revolutions (and in the UK a civil war) against monarchs & tyrants in order to get away from this ridiculous kind of self-abasement before egos of foolish leaders.

And exactly how much profit does BP make each year? www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Well well. FIFA have just trashed their peace prize at the first hurdle

This man should never, ever be prime minister www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

One can only assume this piece was written by Rubio for an audience of one. But it should forever tarnish his reputation. statedept.substack.com/p/america-we...

Watched BBC 6 o clock news. Just a completely unserious broadcast. Chris Mason, acting like a children's entertainer, giving a prolonged impenetrable editorial. Not a whiff of informative content about the Budget or what it means for the country. Just playschool blah blah bollocks.

David Davis said there wouldn't be a single downside to Brexit. Yorkshire Bylines recorded >2,000 of them from 2021-2024.

This story is starting to make me feel I’m going slightly mad - maybe RR overdid the gloom, but the tax rises are paying for a) the welfare U-turns b) the £10bn-plus increase in headroom c) scrapping the two child limit d) bits of other spending eg higher local gov costs 🤷🏻‍♀️

In a normal country, Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff would be tried for treason www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Three more school contemporaries who claim to have witnessed Nigel Farage’s alleged teenage racism have rejected the Reform UK leader’s suggestion that it was “banter”, describing it as targeted, persistent and nasty. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Boris Johnson ‘beyond contempt’ for attack on Covid inquiry’s findings and refusal to apologise Families of the Covid bereaved have reacted with horror to the lack of contrition in the former prime minister’s weekly column. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

this is abhorrent

Hugely disappointing, with world now on track to yet more heating & chaos, & poorest hit first & hardest. This process needs radically rethinking - meantime it’s vital that the Brazil-led coalition of the willing urgently delivers on plans to leave fossil fuels in the ground #COP30

The right wing elite are ruthless in protecting their own and getting what they want. They wanted Johnson. (And what a disaster that was for us). Now they want Farage. (Would be an off the scale catastrophe for the country). Time we woke up to the betrayal. www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-confid...

A climate deal without explicit language calling for a fossil fuel phaseout is like a ceasefire without explicit language calling for a suspension of hostilities. #COP30

More powerful evidence of the disaster of #Brexit from @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social. If we’re to avoid yet more austerity, we need to start by rejoining the customs union & single market. Brexit was a reckless waste of money we simply can’t afford @europeanmovement.co.uk