UKIP have been given permission to march through Newcastle City Centre tomorrow to a hotel housing asylum seekers and people with refugee status. Please email complaints and concerns to Northumbria Police and Newcastle politicians (MPs and councillors). Link to template letter in alt text.

This special section, edited by @smhall.bsky.social and @sanvanlan.bsky.social, looks like essential reading:

I'm not a student but sometimes when I'm bored I'll sit in a lecture hall from the local university and watch a couple. I've learned a surprising amount. If you're near one that doesn't require students to scan a card to get into buildings I recommend giving it a go.

Police hunt racist vandals behind Meadow Well graffiti www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-e...

Reporting more “Stop the Boats” graffiti in North Tyneside this morning. So extraordinarily frustrating that so little is being said and done by politicians locally and nationally to actually counter the claims of the racists.

Good to see North Tyneside Council swiftly clearing the racist graffiti and the mayor - finally - publicly condemning it: “I condemn the use of these words in the strongest possible way … We will not tolerate the use of language that is meant to cause upset, intimidate and be offensive.”

Can’t have children playing in a park, can we? North Shields in 1919 - (via www.facebook.com/share/p/19bh...)

An actual North Tyneside back lane with glorious skies -

Just because I was walking past in the sun and I love it 😍

#WorldCarFreeDay A few decades ago, it was the norm for children in the UK to play out. Now, parked cars & moving traffic restrict opportunities for outdoor play. This report highlights the need to to prioritise young people & move away from car-centric urban design www.tcpa.org.uk/resources/ra...

Car-free cities are: ✅ thriving cities ✅ healthy cities ✅ care free cities ✅ fun cities ✅ active cities ✅ inclusive cities ✅ free cities #WorldCarFreeDay

Beautiful but properly autumnal morning at the allotment

Kids playing at Dockwray Square, North Shields in 1969 (the square’s second incarnation). Photo by Arthur Forrest (via FB).

More than 20 play streets in Dublin today! Any other big play street action for #worldcarfreeday? @playingout.bsky.social

THIS IS FUTURE Oxford street, featuring co-creation by visiting kids, who as always know what’s what better than most grown ups

“Long live children who spend time outdoors … Children’s play experience must be preserved.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

The date had been announced: #coffeeneur season 2025 starts on 11th October. chasingmailboxes.com/2025/09/19/c...

The financial realities of university life for some students; how do we imagine this funding system is fair, or conducive to a positive university experience for many?

"Britain must burn more fossil fuels and bills must rise in order to power the robot that'll fire everyone. How else will I afford my next private island?"

Als ik ooit de baas van dit land word, gaan we weer fanatiek speelplastieken maken.

📈Climate change-driven summer heat led to an additional 16,500 deaths in 854 European cities, a new study led by the Grantham Institute and the @lshtm.bsky.social estimates 🧵 Watch Dr @clairbarnes.bsky.social from @ic-cep.bsky.social & @gkonstantinoudis.bsky.social explain the findings.

This ⬇️ Which pretty much goes for everything these days.

Heat deaths. Let that sink in. This should be a wake-up call. It's the job of govts across the world to keep their citizens safe. Instead, from continuing oil and gas drilling to dragging their feet on making our homes and workplaces safe from extreme weather, they're failing.

If you're in London today, then there's plenty of opportunities to show Mr Trump that he's not welcome. If you miss the march, then come along to the rally in Parliament Square at 5 instead and make some noise.

Almost 900 fewer people have been injured on Welsh roads since the default speed limit was lowered from 30 to 20mph two years ago Casualties on 20 to 30mph roads between July and September 2024 were the lowest for the three month-period since records began in 1979 👏 Evidence-led policy

Disturbing stuff on the far right in the north east: “This stuff used to be fringe but now it’s embedded into society, that energy’s everywhere, and they’re trying to capture it and organise it on the street.”

How to welcome a bumper crop of new Geography students -

FOR WEDNESDAY: Here is the route of the march against Trump & the far right GATHER: 2pm Portland Place (BBC) MARCH: at 3pm RALLY: 5pm at Parliament Square!!

TLDR: Make racism shameful again. While you’re at it add fascism too.

We are at this stage where people, especially politicians and some journalists, are refusing to fact check the bollocks which is spouted, let alone call it out for what it is, racism. There's no excuse for not genuinely educating yourself at this point. 6/

Boys on bikes, Toxteth, Liverpool, 1974, photo by Tricia Porter.

Popped into a local “scarecrow festival”. More than ever, it was difficult to judge between reverence & irreverence. More than one Trump, but also 2 Ozzies, a Freddie, a Very Hungry Caterpillar, Jeremy Clarkson, a drunk woman at a bus stop & more. My favourite the little dumpy scarecrow on his own.

I’m not a clubber, but that so much good stuff is happening in North Shields (this, the mural trail, town centre improvements, etc) gives me hope amidst the crap. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/s...

After the rivers of blood speech, precisely no one in the major parties patted themselves on the back and declared free speech to be alive and well. They declared Powell a pariah, and he was only able to re-emerge in public life as the incongruous unionist MP for South Down.

I despair.

Absolutely agree with this. I know many folk have already been doing anti-fascist organising but this needs to be *everyone out*: workers, trade unions, students, religious & community groups... The crisis is now. 🚨

A vague and ineffectual response from my local council, focused on damage and safety rather than racism and offence, and even worse (obviously) from the local Tories. All this despite the appearance of “Stop the Boats” graffiti on our streets. And “artwork” 🙄 www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-e...

The actual group moving most strongly to Reform are male Gen X-ers. We need more articles on how to deal with them.

Shot, chaser Young men more likely to vote Green than Reform. Young men second most progressive group of any demographic. Combined right-wing vote barely bigger than Green vote alone for young men

Sky News says police are "overwhelmed by the numbers". Met coped perfectly well with 2x as many at the pro-Gaza rally, 5x as many at the anti-Brexit march, and 15x as many at London Pride. They're not overwhelmed by the numbers. They're overwhelmed by the ratio of violent thugs in those numbers.

Passed on to us by some dear friends. Be there if you can! Help us spread the word 🏴

This is clearly incitement. "Fight" is not figurative here. It's literal.

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.

Bath's streets are better when filled with bikes, trikes and laughter! 👏 #KidicalMass #SafeStreetsNow

Very much still not finished (and it seems to all be taking a very long time) but, as the planting progresses, it’s finally possible to get a bit of idea of what North Shields’ Bedford St might look like when all the renovations are complete.

Removing racist displays in one city = the cost of 12,000 hours of social care.

Telegraph headline feels inflammatory - there's no tearing, just careful removal of a flag from a grade 1 listed historic monument that belongs to the nation.

"I cycled to school when I was a kid, and we didn't need fancy cycle lanes." Yeah, but there's three times more traffic than there was in 1973.. Twice as many cars as there was in 1982.. ..36% more traffic on urban minor roads than there was in 1994.. ..and cars were *way* smaller, and lighter.

With the phrase “unfunded hobbyist research” the new Universities UK President continues a much longer history of contempt that UUK has shown towards the labour of all those who work in universities

Notre ville change ! Nos rues sont peu à peu rendues aux habitants, de nouveaux arbres sont plantés et les promenades facilitées et sécurisées. C'est le cas de la rue Chaptal dans le 9e ou celle du Docteur-Lecène dans le 13e !