In which I discover that politicians really love using Alice in Wonderland as an example. Also top marks to Ed Miliband for getting the Moomins into Hansard.

Speaking to the Unsung Britain conference yesterday, @claremoriarty.bsky.social from @citizensadvice.bsky.social emphasised the importance of joined up policy making ⤵️

Fascinating rural/urban contrast in Parkrun demographics. I’m VW60-64, my son is SM25-29. Today at Hogmoor in Hampshire there were 11 in my age category and 12 in his, of a total 200 runners. Last week at Clapham Common there were 8 in my category and 99 in his, of 785 total.

We welcome the Government’s new funding to tackle homelessness, especially the support for households in temporary accommodation - an issue we highlighted last month. We look forward to further action through the Homelessness and Child Poverty strategies. Read our report here: bit.ly/4ohqiwo

📣📣📣 Reasons to come to our @elysiansingers.bsky.social concert this evening: - cracking tunes from Mr Handel - fab performances from choir & orchestra - it's in a cool church 😎 Do come along! 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

If the UCPIP Bill becomes law it will cut PIP for over 400k disabled people & UC for over 700k people who are disabled or have a long-term health condition by 2030. Government’s own impact assessment says the cuts will plunge 150k people into poverty by the end of this Parliament

If Parliament votes in favour of the UCPIP Bill it will enshrine an arbitrary cut in law. We welcome the Timms Review but once again the government is doing things in the wrong order. @CitizensAdvice is asking MPs to vote against these proposals and calling on government to step back and think again

Speaking at our event @claremoriarty.bsky.social says we need to have a more coherent set of social tariffs across a range of areas (energy, other utilities, transport etc), and a range of localities. They are need to be automatic so they don't get in the way of everyday life.

How are the cost of essentials affecting low-to-middle-income families across Britain? On Monday, join our discussion with @claremoriarty.bsky.social @peterlevell.bsky.social and @lalithatry.bsky.social chaired by @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social Sign up here ➡️ buff.ly/3NYLh0r

Proposed changes to disability benefits will create a two-tier system. If this goes ahead, from Nov 2026, new claimants who need help to cut up food, dress, wash, or use the toilet will be denied the lifeline that PIP provides 1/2

We started this glorious #SummerSolstice day with a sunrise swim at the ever-lovely Petersfield Open Air Pool and ended it watching the sunset from Butser Hill, the highest point of the South Downs

Completely endorse your view @joeoharadcu.bsky.social but I should point out that the author is not me but my brilliant namesake @quiteclare.bsky.social. Honoured as ever to be mistaken for her!

Carnivorous plants were much in evidence in Connemara last week. So for this week’s #WildflowerHour, here is round-leaved and oblong-leaved sundew, and delicate flowers of butterwort

The Committee on Standards in Public Life has published a fascinating report on early warning signs of major failures. It got me thinking about times in my career when things went wrong, and what I learned. Mostly a lot about risk. cspl.blog.gov.uk/2025/05/02/r...

Late entry for last Sunday’s #WildflowerHour #HighUpPlants challenge. St Patrick’s Cabbage just coming into flower close to the summit of Binn Idir an Dá Log, at 702m the highest of Connemara’s Maum Turk mountains

Closest I can offer to a #HighUpPlant foot #WildflowerHour are these from a Connemara hillside: milkwort & tormentil

Plus some other beauties in shades of white, pink & purple: lousewort, sea campion, marsh orchid, green-veined orchid #WildflowerHour #Connemara

It’s all about the sea pinks on the Connemara shoreline this week - masses of clumps in varying colours #WildflowerHour

Missed #WildflowerHour but these beauties were crying out to be shared. Green-winged orchids locally abundant on an outcrop at Trá An Dóilín (Coral Beach) in Connemara

📈 Child poverty is rising. Ahead of the govt’s Child Poverty Strategy, join us to explore the root causes and the policy shifts needed to reverse the trend. Speakers incl. Baroness Ruth Lister @claremoriarty.bsky.social & @tommacinnes.bsky.social 💙 #CADataInsights Register⤵️ tinyurl.com/yrvh5d3n

Useful intervention from @claremoriarty.bsky.social CEO @citizensadvice.bsky.social: “if you’re cutting benefits without a clear path to how people can receive income through other means, that’s not going to be raising their living standards or tackling poverty.” www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Meanwhile in the Dublin mountains, which got more of the week’s sunshine, gorgeous gorse & coltsfoot brightening forest tracks verges #YellowFlowers #WildflowerHour

Spring is still barely arriving in Connemara, and flowers few and far between. But the rare ones I found last week did have the good grace to be #YellowFlowers - almost-out celandine, catkins & some slightly bedraggled primroses #WildflowerHour

At first glance, this is a pile of shells in a rockpool. Keep watching and you’ll see it’s a hermit crab colony. Look out for the one that falls on its shell and flips back over, and the one that triumphantly pulls out a shell from underneath it. #Connemara #AnDóilín

Today’s announcement of a 3rd consecutive rise in the energy price cap is really worrying for millions of people already struggling to afford their energy bills & in debt to energy suppliers. Govt plans to expand the Warm Home Discount are welcome but don’t go far enough @citizensadvice.bsky.social

Durford Wood and Rogate Common in Hampshire were notably short of flower today. Just some European gorse bravely bringing colour to the scene #WildflowerHour

I’m intrigued by the variation in hazel behaviour. Some trees have catkins and virtually no sign of female flowers yet; others have a good sprinkling of female flowers while the catkins are still forming #WildflowerHour

Spring is creeping into the Ashford Hangers. Dog’s mercury unfurling and, on a sheltered path, stinking hellebore and the first primroses #WildflowerHour

I was due to have 4 meetings this afternoon with Westminster/Whitehall folk. 3 were cancelled/postponed with between 1 day & 2 hours notice. That’s not uncommon & suggests a system issue - nowhere else are meetings so freely rearranged. Logistical nightmare if you’re not Westminster based

Huge thank you to the person who handed in the bag I left on a train at Waterloo last Thursday. And props to South Western Railway for an unexpectedly efficient lost property experience

First flower photos of the year and I missed #WildflowerHour 🤦 So, better late than never, here are snowdrop from last week, and celandine & winter heliotrope from a lovely walk this morning

For you I think, @quiteclare.bsky.social!

A must-read for all lane swimmers from my brillant namesake. Sharp observation, practical advice and applied philosophy all in one short article!

Very little in flower in Connemara last week, but this sea pink was somehow hanging on by the Atlantic coast at Baile na hAbhainn. A late entry for #NewYearPlantHunt as well as this week’s #WildflowerHour

Everybody needs a fabulous Christmas concert! And our @elysiansingers.bsky.social concert will be fabulous indeed. Come along, and I guarantee you’ll leave smiling and with a bunch of festive earworms Thurs 19 Dec, 7.30pm, details and tickets here: tickettailor.com/events/theelys…

Looking forward to talking with @jessphillips at our next Citizens Advice Data Insights briefing about improving protections for women and girls. Join us on Friday to discuss actionable strategies for a safer, more equitable future for everyone ⤵️ eventbrite.co.uk/e/citizens-adv…#DataInsightsts

James MacMillan’s thrillingly expressive music switches between tenderness and outbursts of joy. Victoria’s Requiem is a 419-year-old masterpiece of contemplation and serenity. Spoil yourself tonight and come hear our unaccompanied harmony. Expect musical ravishment.

A cornucopia of loveliness from Connemara and the Burren for #WildflowerHour

Not exactly midsummer weather, but still plenty of light in the Connemara sky at 10.45pm at the summer solstice

Splashes of colour meanwhile from lots of scarlet fungus (which I know is not a flower) growing by the stream. My phone tells me this is Sarcoscypha coccinea #WildflowerHour

So, all the flowers currently out in the Ashford Hangers seem to be in shades of green. Is that a time of year thing? On a very wet walk I found stinking hellebore, golden saxifrage, dog’s mercury (male) and spurge laurel #WildflowerHour

Haven’t found much in flower in Connemara yet, but the gorse is making a great showing, along with the ever-reliable dandelion #WildflowerHour

Late for #WildflowerHour but can’t resist - finally some of the new season’s flowers appearing. Snowdrops, late and not abundant but elegant as ever; and celandine, which always feels like the real beginning of spring

I’m looking forward to meeting today’s train, predicted by the SWR app to to be 22 carriages long

On Tuesday evening I'm giving the One People Oration in Westminster Abbey, reflecting on dignity and poverty. What do we do as a society, including through the welfare system, to sustain or affront the dignity of people experiencing poverty? To book (free): www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-events...

Late! And not quite #TheWinter10 - remaining flowers in the Ashford Hangers are sparse as well as somewhat spindly. But we did find a few this morning for #WildflowerHour, including a very late rockrose, with a little fungus and seed head activity for balance

Went looking for the sheep for @pubstr.at but the dog wasn’t having any of it, so it’ll have to be a selfie today

I took this shot every day in Oct & Nov 2020, charting the progression of autumn colour in the Ashford Hangers. Now I’m mostly back in London, it’s nice when wfh coincides with beautiful sunshine

Malvern Hills looking stunning this morning, unexpected and joyous side-benefit of a visit to two local Citizens Advice offices in Worcestershire

Having been kindly invited onto this platform by @pubstrat.bsky.social I’m finding it surprisingly hard to jump in and start using it. Possibly a hangover from the other place, where I realise I’d self-censored myself into silence, but time to try and overcome it …