Helpfully Tim Leunig accepts as a premise that more North Sea drilling won’t make oil nor gas more affordable in the UK. But his arguments about tax and the strategic benefit of allowing more North Sea licensing are flawed in key ways (as well as in ways that James has pointed out). Long 🧵 below:

Labour won't redistribute wealth from billionaires. But they will seize belongings from those fleeing war and persecution. Absolutely disgusting. Asylum seekers are human beings — and they deserve to live in dignity just like anybody else. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

For fairly obvious reasons when people flee their countries of origin to seek asylum elsewhere they can't carry much. Often things like jewellery are all they have to hold onto. This isn't just stripping people of "assets", it is stealing their memories. 57/ www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Zohran Mamdani in New York Catherine Connolly in Ireland Rob Jetten in the Netherlands Plaid Cymru in Caerphilly The rise of the far right is not inevitable. If we work together, we can dare to hope.

In the midst of horrific mass killings and violence, British-made military equipment has been found in Sudan. It's clear our arms export licensing system is not fit for purpose; we need a full review, alongside an embargo on all arms exports to the UAE now.

Great to have helped organise @green-alliance.org.uk’s conference exploring how we can rebuild the political environmental consensus We had cross-party representation and invigorating speeches from @katiewhitemp.bsky.social, @zackpolanski.bsky.social, @pippaheylings.bsky.social & many more

"People are angry about being failed by an economic and political system. We should not be trying to protect that status quo. So what consensus are we trying to defend and for who?" Asad Rehman CEO, @friends-earth.bsky.social #GAevent

The select committee report on the asylum hotel shambles highlights a point I made repeatedly - the absurd gimicks pursued by the last govt like Rwanda took resources away from running the actual system properly.

🚨 This is a message from over 100 charities, including @greenpeaceuk.bsky.social, @sheltercharity.bsky.social, , @oxfamgb.bsky.social @savechildrenuk.bsky.social and @friends-earth.bsky.social: Scapegoating refugees won’t fix anything. It's time for real change www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The success of the far right is not only measured in votes and seats but in its impact on rhetoric, policy and ideology. The fact that a (nominally) social democratic head of government with a huge majority choses to say and do this is maybe the biggest success of the far right in Europe yet.

Farage’s plans to abolish Indefinite Leave to Remain would ruin lives and tear families apart. Rather than dismissing Reform’s xenophobic proposals as 'unrealistic' or 'unaffordable', our government should be clear that they are cruel and unjust. We must stand up for migrants' rights.

A grotesque display of opulence from the world's elite. Billionaires feast on taxpayer funded banquets while they back a genocide and burn the world. But sure, migrants are the problem.

"Elon Musk, not just supporting Tommy Robinson, but calling for violent revolution in Britain.” A billionaire encouraging people to “fight or die” via video link - is this the clearest sign of the Overton window moving yet?

Encountering the fascists outside Waterloo iandunt.substack.com/p/encounteri...

Our chief executive took to the stage at the #StandUpToRacism demonstration on 13 September to make it clear that the fight for racial justice, for climate justice and for economic justice is one and the same. And it’s a fight we can only win together. @standuptoracismuk.bsky.social

BREAKING: UN inquiry finds Israel’s war on Gaza to be genocide aje.io/2h84g2

Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, says UN inquiry

The scenes on our streets are shameful consequences of decades of austerity - government after government fanning the flames of anti migration instead of tackling inequality. We can & must make different choices. Solidarity to all communities under attack. We stand together.

Israeli President Herzog said, there are 'no innocent civilians in Gaza'. Today he is visiting the PM whilst Israel's action in Gaza amount to a genocide. The UK is responsible for upholding the Genocide Convention and the Govt should act on that today.

"A social tariff is the most direct way to support households during this parliament while wider reforms take hold. Without it, millions will continue to be left behind." @sophieoconnell.bsky.social, senior policy adviser, in our latest blog 👉 greenallianceblog.org.uk/2025/09/04/w...

England's measure for fuel poverty is inadequate. If using Scotland's threshold, 3x as many would qualify - that's 9 million people struggling to pay bills. @sophieoconnell.bsky.social outlines how we can better recognise and address the issue with a social tariff 👉

🚨REACTION: The confirmation of famine in Gaza is not caused by drought or crop failure, but by deliberate political choices. The UK Government must take action and pressure Israel to allow unconditional, safe humanitarian access. Read our full reaction 👉 oxf.am/4p3lPyD

My latest @green-alliance.org.uk blog makes the case for the right to protest on the environment to be restored. It’s not too late to reverse this worrying anti-democratic direction of travel but the government must act now. greenallianceblog.org.uk/2025/08/14/t...

We're on our fourth heatwave of the summer and with an amber heat warning in place, the time to get serious about adapting to extreme heat was yesterday London should focus adaptation efforts in low income neighbourhoods, where the worst health impacts materialise www.mylondon.news/weather/wate...

NEW ANALYSIS - English neighbourhoods that are home to the most minority-ethnic people are 15 times more likely to face extreme heat than the least diverse areas. Heatwaves are getting more severe – but the effects of rising temperatures are not being felt equally... ➡️ buff.ly/boWI6M1

An entire news crew working for Al Jazeera was killed by Israel as they sought to bring the world firsthand reporting from #Gaza. Among them was prominent journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who had been previously smeared and threatened by the IDF. #NotATarget Full statement: cpj.org/2025/08/isra...

WHEN IS IT NOT SMALL BOATS WEEK THO?? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 When is it wealth inequality week, eh?? WHEN DOES THAT COME AROUND?

💰 How much public wealth do you think was given away for free via Right to Buy?  1bn? 10bn? 100bn?  Try 200 BILLION pounds.  🧵 Here's how Britain’s most infamous housing policy became its biggest housing disaster — and near the largest privatisation in British history.

Israeli forces opened fire and shot three Palestinians — including a nine-year-old child who was shot in the back — during a raid on the Am’ari camp in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency. 🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/o8za8a

Palestinian statehood is not a bargaining chip. It is not a threat. It is an inalienable right of the Palestinian people. Our demands on this shameful government remain the same: end all arms sales to Israel, impose widespread sanctions, and stop the genocide, now.

It’s worse than “Gaza is being starved and destroyed and no one cares.” It’s that hundreds of millions *do* care and are powerless to stop it. We need a world where that can never happen, where the masses actually have political power.

A brilliant blog and report from @fairness.bsky.social’s Will Snell It was great to be involved in the workshop (during a heatwave last month) about how income inequality shapes how we experience extreme heat - a must read 🔥☀️

Yesterday I chaired the first panel at The Conduit’s Climate and the Future of Health conference on Climate Resilient Health Systems It was an honour to be on the same line up as two big inspirations - Vanessa Nakate and Mary Robinson who we can count on to speak truth to power

Reminder that without continued action on climate change, this will only get worse (we also need to do a lot more on adaptation to this weather too, higher temps are already here and the UK is very poorly set up for it) www.theguardian.com/environment/...

An amber heat warning for the UK is a reminder of how closely linked public health & climate change are🥵🌍 The govt urgently needs to improve its adaptation to more frequent heatwaves, focusing on those most vulnerable: those with existing physical & mental health conditions, the young & elderly

A Met Office study reveals that the chance of exceeding 40°C in the UK is accelerating at pace. The chance of exceeding 40°C is now over 20 times more likely than it was in the 1960s. Temperatures several degrees higher than we saw in July 2022 are possible in today’s climate. bit.ly/4lfcTU4

It’s #CleanAirDay today and here’s a reminder why we campaign. New @rcphysicians.bsky.social report out today reiterates the #Health & economic cost of #AirPollution. With 30,000 deaths a year and costs of £500m a week, government needs to finally get its act together.

Join us for our webinar at midday to discuss the impact of the Spending Review on UK transport

Gaza worse than hell on Earth, Red Cross chief tells BBC as aid centres close for day - live updates - BBC News

Promising to see TfL taking on board feedback that EVs shouldn't face the full Congestion Charge - full comment in the BBC below "It's great to see London continuing its leadership in encouraging the switch to cleaner vehicles." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

People of colour and Indigenous peoples across the world are facing the worst effects of a climate and nature emergency which they didn’t cause 🌍 Yet their struggles have been repeatedly ignored by people in positions of power, often with deliberate intent.

Labour’s ‘new’ migration plans are a continuation of a long history of racist, xenophobic immigration policies. This government says it's committed to race equality, but these plans are a form of modern day racism 🧵

Step one of the forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy should be straightforward. The scope will rightly be broad, but there is a single policy lever the Government can pull to lift half a million children out of poverty almost overnight: scrapping the two-child limit

Today marks two months of total siege since it was reimposed by the Government of Israel. All that has entered Gaza is bombs & bullets. Instead of much needed food, clothing or tents to help children survive, airstrikes continue. 1/3

Is this government intent on throwing working class people under the bus? First, Winter Fuel Allowance, then cuts to disability benefits, which cost Labour votes in the local elections, and now the Transport Secretary refuses to guarantee the £3 bus fare cap www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Netanyahu’s plan to ‘move’ Gaza’s people would be a vile act of ethnic cleansing against a population already facing genocide. Two months of total blockade have starved Palestinians. It must end now: reopen crossings, deliver aid at scale, and stop assaults on civilian lives.

In which I join the chorus of people calling out Blair and his tech-bro/oligarch backers after his unsolicited intervention in climate action. His pay checks alone disqualify him as a reliable arbiter of the possible www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Tony Blair Institute report criticising the drive to Net Zero is a decidedly odd dossier. We won’t halt climate breakdown *without* phasing out fossil fuels & to suggest solution lies in more nuclear & carbon capture rather than renewables is costly & misguided

The @thecccuk.bsky.social report reiterates what we already know: from floods to extreme heat & drought, the UK is not prepared for climate change Plans to protect health are insufficient, and it's costing lives, with 1,311 heat-related deaths last summer The government must prioritise adaptation