@crosscountryuk.bsky.social as ever your train is late. Are you competing for worst train operator of the year. I’ll miss connecting bus. Hope you’ll be offering to pay for the taxi home?

Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.

Close on a hundred people demonstrated on Saturday 22 November 2025 at Campsfield to oppose the reopening of the immigration detention centre in Kidlington. It is expected that the phase I (refurbished, 140 beds) Campsfield will reopen in the coming days. keepcampsfieldclosed.uk

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

It's January 31st, 2020, and Nathan Gill is celebrating our imminent departure from the EU.... and that terrible idea of a European Army. Hmm, now I wonder who else would have been delighted about that.

Great to have @unitetheunion.bsky.social campaigning so strongly on toilet availability. It is a matter of public health and human dignity and also an issue of safety - if people are distracted by needing a toilet when driving a bus, that’s a risk that can be designed out by providing toilets.

It's rather cold & wet outside, too many impatient people going about in their 4 wheeled raincoats & showing their selfishness as they choose to speed in this weather & not give room to let others onto the roads in their 4 wheeled raincoats. Me, I had no such problem by using controlled crossings. 😉

Is it time for McSweeney to go? Well overtime in fact. For the good of the country.

The Danish Social Democrats who have pursued far right policies on immigration and governs with the centre-right are set to lose in Copenhagen for the first time in a 100 years, while the left looks set to win a major victory today.

Things happen. Heads just fall off bodies. Dismemberments can happen to anyone really. And clearly the question to ask when it comes to murdering a journalist is, "Did you like him?"

Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 27% (+1) LAB: 19% (=) CON: 17% (-1) GRN: 17% (+2) LDM: 13% (-1) SNP: 3% (=) Via @yougov.co.uk, 16-17 Nov. Changes w/ 9-10 Nov.

This is the biggest issue we face in the north, and beyond. The #ClimateEmergency is going to change everything, and in truly terrible ways. There is time to change the course we are on, and put millions of people before a handful of super-rich.

This from @stephenkb.bsky.social cuts to the heart of the matter. Does the government not understand how toxic this argument is? Do they think they can somehow weaponise it? The last governments at least had the merit not of making this kind of foul claim.

Have been thinking about “immigration has been tearing this country apart.” Surely I’m not the only person to think that it isn’t true, but inflamed rhetoric about immigration by politicians is what is tearing this country apart and so statements like that only makes it worse.

The basic problem with the temporary refugee status policy - especially one lasting up to 20 years - is it leads to very few removals (based on Denmark's experience) but does significantly worsen integration.

"Polanski was joined by many Labour MPs in opposing the government’s plans, although most of them are thought to be prepared to reluctantly support the measures." What's the point of being in Labour? Join.greenparty.org.uk

As Labour proposes limiting the protection of the ECHR, we must remember what it was set up to do; protect us all from abuses of power by our govts. Be v wary then of anyone calling to do that. You may not be the target now. But why shouldn’t you be next? bestforbritain.substack.com/p/why-we-and...

The stupidity of Farage’s latest ‘plan’ is staggering. Claiming they’d save British taxpayers money by ripping up international commitments and starting a trade war with Europe is the puerile foot-stamp of a party that uses prejudice as policy. Ruinous nonsense. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Asked if Keir Starmer believes British people want to "see refugee children pulled out of school and deported after 10 years in this country”, his spokesman says that “what the British public wants and what this government was elected on a mandate to deliver was to secure our borders"

The detail surrounding HMT DUNERA was a harrowing and well written chapter , Illegal Immigrants, in your book Notorious. If anyone has not read this excellent book then I urge you to do so.

‘In the 1980s, waste became a national export across much of the global North. Since then, firms have made vast amounts of money by sending the rich world’s waste to the global South.’ @brettchristophers.bsky.social on where our waste goes. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Just unbelievable. Appalling historical echoes, culturally stupid and blind. What would you take if you were fleeing persecution or war ffs? Your bank card?!!

Just wilful performative cruelty that is entirely out of step with the majority of British people. How many Labour MPs got into politics in order to vote for stealing jewellery off of people seeking refuge from war and persecution?

Another reminder that a 13-year study found that protected bike-lanes led to a drastic decline in fatalities for all road users. ALL ROAD USERS. And painted bike-lanes? No safety improvement at all. For sharrows, it’s actually safer to NOT have them. Via @usa.streetsblog.org @nyc.streetsblog.org

‘The report said severe skills shortages in ecology, planning and construction would be what made it impossible for the government to deliver on its housebuilding ambition’ The Bill is a sop to developers who prefer cheaper, easier option of digging up green fields. Pathetic, destructive policy

This is what many of us have been saying. Part 3 of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill is based on a myth: that we don't have enough homes because wildlife and green spaces are protected. It will solve nothing, and inflict terrible harm on our remaining ecosystems www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Labour’s latest attack on asylum seekers is cruel & counterproductive. How does it help community cohesion to hold threat of deportation over vulnerable people? We don’t need an arms race with the hard right over asylum, we need safe routes & European cooperation #bbclaurak

This is the logical consequence of Labour’s appeasement of the far right - this is an arms race Labour should never seek to win

We've joined with 15 local and national organisations, setting out 10 practical steps to address the city's road safety emergency and prevent needless deaths on our city's roads. Will you join us by co-signing the asks in 2 minutes?: betterstreetsforbirmingham....

A really good piece by @adamramsay.bsky.social about the history of the @greenparty.org.uk, going back to the very beginning (the newly found socialist streak is actually not all that new!). Especially useful for all the new members we have 😁 #GreenSurge novaramedia.com/2025/11/13/t...

Zack Polanski on President Trump, "It's difficult to call him anything other than a fool" "This is sociopathic behaviour" "He is toxic, misogynistic, racist" "I'm not a fan of Trump" Christiane Amanpour, "It's pretty clear"

They market their cars as weapons and we allow them on the same roads as children cycling to school. And I still get weird middle-aged men in my notifications obfuscating for and defending this. This is not a serious society.

Remind me what the turnout for these elections was when last held? Something like 20%-25%? Complete waste of time and money.

OMG, right? I'm old enough that I actually had the job title "secretary" and it galled me no end that I was fixing, proofreading and sometimes completely rewriting absolute shit from the dude making 20 times what I did. Profoundly stupid illiterates who run the world. Make it make sense.

It reminds me of this quote from the person who called every single person in Maxwell’s black book: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Reading about the rapid collapse of Eastern European governments in 1989 as completely rotten and corrupt leaderships disintegrated when people realised fear was all that was holding them up. Apropos of nothing.

China’s CO2 emissions have now been flat or falling for 18 months, starting in March 2024. This trend continued in the third quarter of 2025, when emissions were unchanged year-on-year. If this trend starts to move into sustained carbon emissions reduction it would be hugely significant.

Oh look. There really are "no go areas" in England. And they're marked by St George's flags www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

If this is true - this should have happened a long time ago. The Green Party alongside campaigners have been calling for this - and it's good to see maybe they've finally listened. Will reserve relief for all children being lifted out of poverty until we know it's happening.

The BBC will fuck things up from time to time. Lots of major news organisations do; just look at The Times having to memoryhole several fake news stories in a matter of weeks. No one is calling for the abolition of The Times, however. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The WEF convenes governments and corporations, potentially creating policy environments favourable to asset manager interests. Those policy environments include freeports, special economic zones, and AI Growth Zones. Zones carve out deregulated corporate territories from the host country.

👀

Labour took money from building developers before the last election so it is no great surprise that their policies do more for developers than for those who need affordable houses. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Solar’s price drop is astonishing: panels are now 98% cheaper than when I first analyzed them in 2004. Today, building a fence with solar can be cheaper than using wood.

“Heat pumps are superior in efficiency to condensing boilers, even if the heat pumps are powered by electricity from a power station burning natural gas.” Not me saying that but the late Prof Sir David MacKay. More in my @carbonbrief.org article 👇 interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/he...

One thing to say: #AxeDrax No. Cutting down trees, grinding them up, shipping them across the Atlantic and then burning them is NOT "green". #ClimateEmergency #NatureCrisis www.theguardian.com/business/202...

"New York is going to turn into a communist hellhole where poor people are barely exploitable anymore. So count me out. I’m packing up the offices of my toxic masculinity troll site and taking my miscreant talents somewhere they’ll be appreciated, like Florida or Texas."

Years ago, while watching the incredible transformations of places like Paris, we asked ourselves, “Why are these leaders breaking through the status quo?” After analyzing eleven cities around the world, we found some answers, and it starts with prioritizing impact over power. youtu.be/jHDKb0l4nHg

I've been talking about this on here for a while. We just assume it will always rain enough, so the management of water in the UK is totally disastrous. Now, after a relatively few dry months, we are approaching a calamity. We have done it to ourselves. Yet again. We are a deeply unserious country.