++BREAKING++ Leading climate scientists in the UK have written to senior editors in broadcast media - and OFCOM and IPSO: "To express our concern about recent media coverage of extreme weather, climate change and net-zero and to urge you…to inform public audiences of the scientific links"

Dream team! Brilliant to speak alongside new friends Finnish Cyclists Federation, Fietserbond Belgium, Capital Region Denmark, @swhitebread.bsky.social from @cyclinguk.bsky.social and Chris @modacitylife.com @dutchcycling.nl on cycling in the media, language choice, and positive, inclusive stories.

An across-government technical assessment published today recognises that "nature is the foundation of national security" and that "every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse". A rational response to this would be to get very serious about nature recovery. www.gov.uk/government/p...

This is a truly horrifying account of increasingly likely collapse of essential natural systems which would bring mass food shortages, price rises & global disorder. Commissioned from UK intelligence chiefs but scandalously suppressed by Govt, & sneaked out now while attention is elsewhere 👇

This is *really* important. Our elections regulator isn’t independent. Reform’s Arron Banks has said the Electoral Commission should be abolished The architecture of British democracy is really weak and easily ripped out. It needs to be protected now

In the last week of the 1936 campaign, FDR reminded a massive crowd in Madison Square Garden that "organized money" was "unanimous in their hate for me--and I welcome their hatred!" And then the country rewarded him with a 523-8 landslide in the electoral college. This is, in fact, good politics.

Fiona Harvey pulls no punches in this great podcast. Why do most of the media cover climate change so poorly? 1. Vested interests (follow the money). 2. Right wing papers can't now blame all thing bad on the EU: net zero is a convenient substitute. 3. Willful ignorance (hello BBC presenters!).

Why has the government failed to announce funding for Ely and Haughley junctions, a rail freight scheme that has a far superior value compared to the many roads funded today?! transportactionnetwork.org.uk/labour-splur...

In the five years leading up to the replacement of blue paint with segregated cycle tracks and floating bus stops 5 people were killed on CS2. In the ten years since they were constructed no cyclists had died and there have been no significant collisions between cycles and pedestrians at bus stops

Improving living standards, particularly for those on the lowest incomes, should be seen as a precondition for a healthy and prosperous country, not an eventual reward for growth. 3/3

New Statesman cover this week. Online tomorrow. On newsstands Thursday.

Not a lot of love for the press at the tipping points conference Rockström says the media is “getting it very wrong, seriously wrong” Dr Carlos Nobre points to a lack of coverage of the impacts of the degradation of topical forests, noting the "tremendous risk of epidemics and pandemics”

Really interesting and I think very insightful thread on Mumsnet about just how entirely different the intergenerational financial experience has been:

Interesting to ponder whether the govt would have been better to leave winter fuel alone and raise fuel duty a small amount instead. They would have been hammered for either decision...but maybe easier to move on from the fuel duty one as they could freeze in subsequent years& still get the benefit.

Thoroughly depressing statement. From this open access article: ‘Effects of city design on transport mode choice and exposure to health risks during and after a crisis: a retrospective observational analysis’ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

No-one, NO-ONE,should be granted a “request for near-blanket immunity for serious environmental crimes” If the potential buyers of Thames Water can’t clean up, they shouldn’t be allowed to buy www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Great to be at the launch of Liberals and Democrats for Nature & Climate tonight. Impressive turn out from MPs, peers and environmental NGOs inc party leader & deputy leader

We don't want: UK Energy Security. Long tern reductions in our energy bills. The UK Green Economy which grew by 10.3% last year to drive UK economic growth & prosperity. Any new jobs or investment in our area. And lets stop investment in flood defences because we like being under water...

In any other major city in Europe the streets of Soho would obviously be pedestrianised and businesses/visitors on a glorious day like today could enjoy al fresco dining. But thanks to Westminster Council and the way we give outsized power to absurd local complaints, not here!

This is why mooting 'ditching net-zero' as the solution to Labour's woes is so silly. It's a policy that is popular with their core voters, critical to progressive voters they need to woo back, and Reform voters are sceptical but it's way down their priority list.

Let's bring cars back to Carnaby Street (pedestrianised in 1973), said no-one ever.

Lincoln Square Road Closure and Accompanying Comments From The Local Facebook Page (April 2025)

This "debate" about who should use what toilet doesn’t benefit anyone. It doesn’t fix the underfunding of women's refuges, NHS waiting lists leaving women in terrible pain, mums skipping meals to feed their kids. How about we get on with tackling the real issues affecting women?

Ban smartphones for UK under-16s, urges Adolescence writer

This is the critical point. Somehow net zero - a scientific term about how to halt anthropogenic climate change - has become completely detached in much political and media discourse from climate change - the phenomenon the target was adopted to tackle.

Your daily reminder that Low Traffic Neighbourhoods reduce air pollution across an entire area. Maps are nitrogen dioxide levels Waltham Forest 2007 vs 2017, after installing LTNs and protected cycle lanes. 🌱 lcc.org.uk/campaigns/lo...

🧵 NEW: The shift to prevention in public spending is gaining momentum, with recognition at the Autumn Budget and the NHS making it a priority in its 10-year plan. Our briefing with @demos-uk.bsky.social explores how to support this fundamental change. Read now ⬇️ https://buff.ly/4gAgJUN

On LBC this morning, I spoke about why we should be far more worried the power Elon Musk is accruing, especially in light of his Open AI moves. The normalisation of his actions and activity by quite a bit of the US and even UK media is a big part of the problem. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGnt...

By the end of the week we need a list of the top 10 walking and cycling routes in Cambridgeshire that need an urgent cut back of overgrown vegetation. Please pitch your ideas now! 📷 Trumpington Road cycleway, summer 2024 (timbo, Cyclestreets photomap)

According to this article, a UK government spokesperson actually said “We are committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and recognise the importance of this to our number one mission – economic growth." ... I mean, where do you even start with that?!?

Bradford clean air zone saves health service £360,000 in first year - Doctor visits for respiratory illnesses and heart problems were down by 25% #airpollution Story by @drgaryfuller.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

My Prospect column this month is on the increasingly feral Lobby and why Labour has little choice but to ignore them www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/691...

Imagine if we paid farmers properly to enable sustainable transport in rural areas? It would: ✅ Provide travel choices that work on people’s own schedule, especially important considering infrequent bus services in rural areas ✅ Improve road safety on country lanes ✅ Increase access to nature

So, after Nick Timothy on "How to win an election" and David Frost on "How to do a great trade deal", the Telegraph adds another to its list of star columnists...

Since Trump’s victory there’s been near daily attacks in the UK media aimed at the government’s energy and net zero policies (there have been three in the last 24 hours). And yet there’s been barely a peep in defence from the government or its outriders.

Please can we have a proper economic strategy, rooted in the government's wider commitments, and not the chancellor's desperate grasping after gimmicks and headlines? We've had years of performative, hard hat chancellors. They didn't grow the economy. greenallianceblog.org.uk/2025/01/23/t...