Word of the Day is ‘catchfart’ (17th century): an obsequious individual who sucks up to the boss and always follows the political wind.

A reason why public procurement should focus on creating markets for innovative solutions to real public sector needs.

A fun question. In 5 years time, what looks better? The US’s enormous bet & capex on AI? Or China’s equally enormous bet and capex on renewables?

Theory: really successful innovations were based much more on insights into consumer demand than technological supply/possibility. E.g.: - punters would buy an EV if it were cool enough - people will trust online shopping - a computer in every house - they'll provide social media content for free 1/

This is so beautiful 🥲

🌎 Share the facts on climate change with a new slide deck from Climate Central, available in English and Spanish. 🌎 www.climatecentral.org/climate-matt...

“People don’t want energy; they want hot showers and cold beer.” This is what Amory Lovins once said and so true. Most primary energy we use is wasted in converting heat to work. We don’t have to replace all primary energy - we only need to deliver the energy services more efficiently.

I am not a lawyer, just a historian, but one fundamental problem with the political debate about the EU, especially in English publications is that the whole principle of the acquis communnitaire is not understood or taken seriously. The EU is a framework of rules, not an alliance.

A fantastic piece of reporting, brilliantly illustrated data, thorough, neutral analysis, transparent data collection… and frightening conclusions. Well done @skynewsrss.bsky.social for putting in long miles on this one

Has she gone yet?

Fossil fuel lobbyists are now talking gas up as a ‘green’ fuel. To be absolutely clear, this is nonsense. Coal full life cycle emissions: 800-1,700g CO2e/kWh Gas full life cycle emissions: 290-930g CO2e/kWh Wind power full life cycle emissions: 5-15g CO2e/kWh

UK Chancellor is considering slashing funding for more energy efficient homes to pay for a reduction in energy bills It would be **such** a foolish thing to do given the impact well-delivered efficiency has on energy bills, health & well being, fuel poverty www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Great thread. High-level cherry-picking and deliberate misunderstanding of research by your local friendly right-wing racists.

What a fascinating thread. I had not realised that the rural=good / urban=bad meme had such deep roots.

The far right want you to believe that immigration causes an explosion of crime. It's simply untrue. Crime has gone down - and crucially, we are a markedly less violent society than we once were.

A global network of urbanists shaping the cities of tomorrow. From sustainability to resilience and fairness, we’re all tackling the same challenges—and we have so much to learn from each other. As climate change and other crises intensify, sharing ideas has never been more urgent.

Excellent article. On the evidence to date, AI is not creating new opportunities and capabilities for the world, It is just another tool for worker suppression and profit extraction. That is not ‘productive’ - www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...

This x 💯. And not an ounce of self reflection from any of them.

Or could it be more likely that the “…more same-day discharges, shorter hospital stays, reduced reliance on agency workers, and more evening and weekend appointments also contributed” mentioned in the article has been somewhat more impactful?

In just six months, China added 256 gigawatts (GW) of new #solar capacity — more than the entire solar infrastructure ever built by the United States. That’s enough clean energy to power over 40 million homes, marking the fastest renewable expansion in human history.

Perfect example of how raising taxes that only other people pay is mathematically impossible. The poor can’t pay all the tax because they don’t have any money. The rich can’t pay all the tax because there’s not very many of them. So the bulk of the tax burden always has to fall on the middle.

Ironically, Katie Lam was named "Parliamentary Newcomer of the Year" last night by the Spectator. It's an example of the "Boris Johnson" problem in British politics: that being loud, self-promoting and outrageous brings prizes and name-recognition. Learning your stuff & being thoughtful does not.

In a year of depressing graphics, this one is close to the worst.

This is it. We know exactly how to fix the climate crisis. We have all the technology and we know what actions we need to take. What people are hoping for is a technology that will fix everything without us having to change anything at all, and that's a fantasy. We have to do the work.

Excellent article on energy costs in the UK. Well worth a read. Teases apart a complex situation where rising costs are not just ‘gas price’ or ‘net-zero’, but a whole mix of things we need to pay for, but choose to load onto energy bills.

It's not a grassroots working class movement. "Wherever we looked for prominent flaggers and leaders of this movement, we found people smugglers and sex doll salesmen, people with dubious criminal pasts and people willing to put in a good word for Adolf Hitler." manchestermill.co.uk/the-men-who-...

⚠️ ICYMI: Our new report shatters mainstream consensus on voters' priorities and reveals that concerns around immigration are being inflamed by media exposure and political discourse, rather than being based on experience. https://www.bestforbritain.org/the_uks_biggest_challenges

⬇️ "Experts say it is increasingly clear that Brexit has played a significant role, exacerbating the post-2008 slump by hitting sectors with EU ties, and as the political turmoil led businesses to put investments on ice." https://bit.ly/3LhPqom

The underlying fundamental economics have changed dramatically: solar is now so cheap that businesses and households all around the world install it often without subsidies. Throw in batteries and the business case just keeps improving.

To expand on why this is a ridiculous claim: the Netherlands uses all paper ballots marked with a red pencil. Voting and counting are decentralized and conducted by volunteers; anyone who wants to can come watch. Among the most trustworthy elections in the world. www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/...

Kerning is important!

There’s been some good coverage of the government’s new climate plan this morning, but nothing troubling the front pages or top of the bulletins. Again, this is one of the most ambitious and consequential economic plans in modern history.

Heat waves, disease, drought and air pollution are some of the climate-related health risks that are getting more deadly, according to the latest report from global researchers focused on rising temperatures and global health.

This such a perfect patriotic 🇬🇧 Fleet Street cock-up. It's one thing for a news outlet to be duped by a competent hoaxer. Excruciating, yes, but there's a fairly long history of such fuck ups. But to put out a statement SAYING you'd been hoaxed but you'd actually just emailed the wrong guy?

The idea that LLMs are now so safe we don’t have to worry about potential mental health issues is disturbing. The very fact that they are designed to be agreeable rather than challenging and factual makes them less useful than a mate down the pub. - www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This is just mind-bendingly wrong-headed. ‘Let’s just adapt, tech will save us’ has always been a reckless strategy, but as evidence mounts that natural carbon sinks are failing it really does start to sink into a form of climate denialism. www.newsweek.com/bill-gates-d...

'[Climate change contributing to Hurricane Melissa by] strengthening top wind speed by 10 mph, and increasing potential damages by 50%.' Environmental changes that sound small can have massive effects when they key cross breakpoints and thresholds. From @environment.theguardian.com live blog.

Very well researched piece by UCL - Wind power has cut £104bn from UK energy costs since 2010. The only answers to better energy security and overall lower energy costs are more wind power and renewables - implemented in a way that allows for a just transition. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Good old Nige. Hates racists, but weirdly finds himself agreeing with them. - www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

A worrying article. Particularly the inability of LLMs to elicit information from patients and join the dots. But you can understand the temptation. - ‘DeepSeek is humane. Doctors are more like machines’: my mother’s worrying reliance on AI for health advice www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

“Why spend all this cash buying fossil fuels and trying to bury emissions when renewables are now so much cheaper, and the fuel is both infinite and free?” (We know the answer to that question. Do articles like this, here, help loose the grip of fossil fuels?) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The hard truth about the consequences of the #ClimateCrisis — wildfires, floods, storms, droughts, heat waves and more — won’t come from climate activists who are too easily ignored or even vilified. It will come from central banks. And insurance companies. And every rational evidence-based sector.

I am wholly predisposed to enthusiastically endorse this sort of point. In that spirit, let me go further…Brexit was a profound system shock (and more so than people often think) because it occasioned a deep political crisis which still continues and is manifest in many different ways.

You can make a case for freedom of speech and debate in some of these instances, but when you’ve got uncorrected claims about ‘enforced veganism’ how is that not a breach of Ofcom rules? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Some confusion this morning as the latest report from the Tony Blair Institute prompts headlines saying it is calling for the government's clean power by 2030 target to be dropped when the report categorically recommends the target is kept. www.businessgreen.com/news/4520832...

This would be a regressive step. Shows a poverty of thinking inside No10 Why? 🧵🧵 1. There are ways of bringing bills down and keeping costs lower whilst continuing to build out clean power. 2. The problems the renewables build out addresses haven't gone away www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

"A lack of rules governing the phase out of gas grids or their conversion, as well as the question of who pays, remain major obstacles for utilities to make plans." www.cleanenergywire.org/news/german-...

Cnut. He's forgotten about Cnut, who went on pilgrimage to Rome in 1027. Oh, and Edward I, who spent 2 months at the court of Gregory X in 1273. Otherwise, all over the detail, as per.

Nigel Farage promised that Reform councils would cut local government "waste" in order to slash taxes. Now the party's flagship Kent administration is set to actually raise taxes and has just started asking opposition parties for help after failing to identify the millions in savings they promised

An important point. The UK is part of a global economy and we are not free to act any way we wish. So ‘fiscal rules’ that ignore reality are pointless. - Rachel Reeves is the face of this budget. But the really big decisions are not in Labour’s hands www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...