From Christmas symbol to an endangered migrant – the turtle dove’s numbers have fallen 98% – but renewed habitat work will help it endure | Kate Moore

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my true love shouldn’t send two turtle doves… because they’re now one of the UK’s fastest-declining birds. Let’s give them what they really need: habitat, protection & a future. #12DaysofChristmas #TurtleDoves

If you pass the orchard at dusk, you might miss it — unless you look up. Stephen McNair opens our Christmas series with a partridge roosting against the tide of change. eastangliabylines.co.uk/lifestyle/cu...

Great read. Spread it far and wide. 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 Mitt Romney Is Right: Tax the Rich Before the Pitchforks Come Out open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...

At a time when billionaires and oligarchs own the majority of our press, when local journalism is in decline, and social media is rife with misinformation and abuse, there has never been a greater need for citizen journalism Who funds us? No one...except you. Become a friends of Bylines supporter:

Remember Starmer's "urgent" review into foreign interference after Nathan Gill? Well, there's already two ex-UK ambassadors working in Westminster on behalf of a pro-Russian foreign government whose de facto leader is under UK sanctions... New on D4S: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/ex-uk-amba...

Reform UK Led Council Care Home Closures Under threat: Derbyshire: 8 Lancashire: 10 We need to talk about Reform UK Councils and their ability to provide care services. #ReformDoesntCare

They claimed Brexit would make goods cheaper. 🤷‍♂️ Under the new rules, anyone in the UK receiving a gift from the EU worth more than £39 may now face a bill for import VAT - with many items charged at 20%. For goods costing more than £135, customs duties may also apply. www.bbc.co.uk/news/busines...

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic... Trail hunting has been used as a cover for illegal hunting for far too long, and it’s time we put a stop to it. I’m proud to back a Government that is protecting our wildlife and ending the loophole.

Councillor charged with 26 child-related sexual offences eastangliabylines.co.uk/politics/jus...

Please make sure you’re a backer of this community. It’s revolutionising how media works - structurally… putting the news mix and content generation into everyone’s hands. ✊

More than 75% of Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters think PM should open talks on joining EU customs union YouGov poll for the Times suggests even 40% of Conservative voters support such a move www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

How about someone writing a piece on the emotional, social and practical losses we suffered individually because of Brexit? It’s not all about money and the economy. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Apparently it will mean yet another reset. Although it may not be Starmer conducting it and God help is if it is Streeting. Much for you to muse upon in the bier kellers of Bavaria as you eat the bratwurst and drink the lowenbrau. Bon chance and enjoy the festive season.

It's almost as if people have contrived to turn immigration into an obsession

#Starmer, #Farage, #Lowe & so many other characters all come under the microscope in this week's diary. @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social highlights foibles, weaknesses & stupidity across the political spectrum.

@pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social ~ Pecksniff: Trump’s bullying the BBC is bad news for Starmer – and Farage too ~ https://eastangliabylines.co.uk/pecksniff/pecksniffs-diary-20-12-25/

Honestly, this week’s diary explains everything... - Trump spending Christmas threatening the BBC. - MI6 warning of war while Britain reaches for the sherry. - Santa, according to YouGov, would vote Green. Meanwhile am off to Bavaria for hock and cake.

Honestly, this week’s diary explains everything... - Trump spending Christmas threatening the BBC. - MI6 warning of war while Britain reaches for the sherry. - Santa, according to YouGov, would vote Green. Meanwhile am off to Bavaria for hock and cake.

The new government strategy on violence against women heavily emphasises prevention, including working with boys before they develop unhealthy attitudes. Putting in practice some initiatives from the Angiolini Report could be a really good start. Read more here ⤵️

The idea of “imported” violence against women and girls is a deeply comforting fiction - one that allows people to avoid looking at where it actually happens: within our homes and behind closed doors.

BREAKING: Hundreds of foreign prison staff 'offered emergency extension to visa' to stop the prison system collapsing Sources suggest Home Secretary had previously been reluctant to make the exemption as part of her drive to reduce net migration news.sky.com/story/hundre...

As the government launches its new policy over violence against women and girls, we go to Nigel Farage for Reform’s response.

A great piece by Green Party Deputy Leader @rachelmillward.bsky.social Migration and asylum are not modern anomalies. They are as old as humanity itself. Yet we have allowed our politics to strip them of their humanity, turning people into numbers, threats, slogans. @bylinetimes.bsky.social

Seems like everyone's bothering about Jane Austen at the moment... eastangliabylines.co.uk/lifestyle/hu...

It may not dominate headlines, but the new Employment Rights Act could shape more lives than most “crisis” stories. A major shift in how the UK treats workers, unions and insecure employment. Stephen McNair reports

I wonder if a time will come when Western liberal democracies (if they then exist) will start fighting over •more• migrants - to feed their ageing populations un-replenished by a fallen birth rate?

🧑‍🏫 The Liberal Democrats have been warmly enthusiastic, calling it “a moment of real opportunity and a clear step towards repairing the disastrous Conservative Brexit deal” https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/dec/17/how-will-erasmus-work-for-the-uk

🔥 The “Friends of Bylines Network” scheme… … citizen journalism can break the grip of mainstream media on the news mix we consume. HOW? Because community roots go deeper than superficial mainstream broadcasters. Check it out, share & get involved—> bylinesnetwork.co.uk/friends-of-b...

“What disturbs us is less what happened years ago, hurtful as it was, but rather your refusal to acknowledge your past behaviour or apologise for it” If Farage was made to acknowledge his past behaviour or apologise for it, his career would have ended years ago. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Good news for young people. The UK will rejoin the Erasmus programme 5 years after ending its participation as part of the deal to leave the EU. Via BBC

This is Reform’s base support. This is the type of people who support Farage. Racist is too nice a word for them. www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbourn...

Part Two of the Angiolini Inquiry makes clear how far we still have to go: 26% of forces lack basic policies for investigating sexual offences. Violence against women won’t fall until prevention stops being “just words”. eastangliabylines.co.uk/politics/jus...

Today marks Jane Austen’s 250th birthday. In our pastiche tribute, we asked ourselves: what would she make of East Anglia Bylines? The answer, we fear, involves raised eyebrows and a great many dashes. eastangliabylines.co.uk/lifestyle/hu...

🔥 WE’RE changing the media. Citizen journalism is peer-to-peer news, it’s forging information networks from the grassroots up, sidestepping the top-down mainstream media. An utterly new model. Become a friend of the Bylines Network and stand with us as we build media as it should be. 👇👇

In 1906, Bishops Hill rescued poor London children from poverty. In the 1970s, it built a community and taught thousands of adults new skills. Now, its future is uncertain. Is this the end of a century of public purpose? Stephen McNair has the story eastangliabylines.co.uk/lifestyle/co...

Mr @chrisgrey.bsky.social hits it out of the park this week. No other word for it. Sometimes gross, Chris's blog can feel a bit like the Domesday book, listing out the disfiguring effects of Brexitism. But there is still room for poetry. Joining has to be about identity. 1

What does poetry look like when the land beneath it is sinking? Alice Willitts’ _Kiss My Earth_ offers one answer. Aidan Baker's been reading it. eastangliabylines.co.uk/lifestyle/cu...

* Eight-million majority for rejoining and still no political courage. * Farage high-lifing it at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. * Far-right movements draw quiet encouragement from across the Atlantic. All this and more from Mr Peck-sniff.

🔥 New economic reports show a 6-8% drop in GDP, but the real threat is a world where autocracies thrive. The UK must choose: stand with Europe or face a dangerous future. 📢 Find out why this decision matters. Paul Browne reports eastangliabylines.co.uk/politics/sta...

* Eight-million majority for rejoining and still no political courage. * Farage high-lifing it at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. * Far-right movements draw quiet encouragement from across the Atlantic. All this and more from Mr Peck-sniff.

“Every bit of data shows that immigrants provide a healthy contribution to our economy, providing far more in return than they claim on benefits. So the statement is not only poisonous, it is factually wrong in its implications.” Thank you, wish more journalists would say this.

" PM still terrified of touching Europe despite a historic public appetite for closer EU ties grows... * Your Party continues its amoeba-like fragmentation * Trump openly hints at abandoning Ukraine while attacking Europe. & as for Lettuce Liz, oh my... eastangliabylines.co.uk/pecksniff/pe...

Ah, @pecksniffsdiary.bsky.social time. Starmer: grow a spine or prepare to be removed. Failing us on EU ties and failing to stand up to Trump. Farage: swanning around the world at someone else's expense (as usual), paid by us to do what?

" PM still terrified of touching Europe despite a historic public appetite for closer EU ties grows... * Your Party continues its amoeba-like fragmentation * Trump openly hints at abandoning Ukraine while attacking Europe. & as for Lettuce Liz, oh my... eastangliabylines.co.uk/pecksniff/pe...

* Eight-million majority for rejoining and still no political courage. * Farage high-lifing it at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. * Far-right movements draw quiet encouragement from across the Atlantic. All this and more from Mr Peck-sniff.

🔥 Four years. Millions of people. A result that changes the conversation. France’s national health agencies dug deep into long-term mortality after Covid-19 mRNA vaccination. The signal they found is strong – and very hard to ignore 👇

People fleeing war and persecution aren’t asking for much - just to be treated with dignity and given the chance to rebuild their shattered lives. Everyone has the right to be safe and to feel like they belong.

“GB News Accused of ‘Circling the Wagons’ to Downplay Nigel Farage Racism Scandal Engulfing Their Star Presenter. The Reform UK leader is being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to present shows on the channel” No surprises there bylinetimes.com/2025/12/05/g...