Brexit, Farage’s wet dream, 6-8% loss to GDP, £60-90 *billion* annual reduction in public revenues, investment down by 15-18%, trade with Europe reduced by 15%. observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Another Reform UK update: three of Farage’s candidates on leaked BNP membership list. hopenothate.org.uk/2026/04/25/t...

I’m sure Starmer, Streeting, Healey, et al. are all over this,… Palantir employees are talking about company’s “descent into fascism”. cc @ruthjoneslabour.bsky.social arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Sluice Farm to mouth of Ebbw and Uskmouth to Magor Pill (not including Goldcliff Pools) late am/early pm: 40 Whimbrel, Red Kite, 4 Wheatear, Cuckoo, 3 Barwit, Common Sand, Turnstone, etc. #gwentbirding #birdingbybike #lowcarbonbirding

If your best mate is this blatantly corrupt what does it say about you? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #Trump #Farage

Is Labour (or, indeed, any other party) still happy with Palantir’s involvement in,… err,… *any* government contract? cc @ruthjoneslabour.bsky.social

In case you’re confused - the £100k of tax Richard Tice failed to pay here is totally different to the - £92k of tax not properly withheld on dividends - the £600k side-stepped via highly aggressive tax avoidance Industrial scale grifting revealed by @danneidle.bsky.social and Gabriel Pogrund

It doesn't take a forensic accountant to work out whose interests Nigel Farage really serves

Reform UK update,…

What’s behind the mass bird deaths along Azerbaijan’s Caspian shore? oc-media.org/whats-behind...

Ynysyfro WeBS: essentially, naff all. Looks like the Greylag pair are back for another breeding season. #gwentbirding #lowcarbonbirding

Up to The British via Cwmcarn and mynydds Maen, Llwyd and Llanhilleth; back via the canal. Fresh Red Grouse poo (but no Red Grouse) on Mynydd Maen, Tree Pipit nr Cefn Crib, plus Goshawk and Red Kite elsewhere. #gwentbirding #birdingbybike #lowcarbonbirding

Goldcliff Pools: Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Wheatear, Spotshank, Blackwit, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Pochard, 6 Common Gull up-channel, Reed Warbler, 4 Sedge Warbler, 3 Whitethroat, etc. #gwentbirding

Oh. #climate

It’s not everyday you get wet through to your pants,… twice. #moist #pants

Up to Cwmcarn via the canal: 3+ Willow Warbler, 2 broods of Mallards, etc. Highlight: wringing out my ‘waterproof’ socks on getting home. #moist #gwentbirding #birdingbybike #lowcarbonbirding

West Usk Lighthouse/mouth of the Ebbw this arvo, in chronological order: Whitethroat, 5+ White Wag, Yellow Wag over N, Common Sand, Spotshank, Merlin low SW and 2 Whimbrel. #gwentbirding

Just in case you thought Reform are anything but a bunch of two bit shysters.

I’d bet a lot of money that *at least* 52% of these people voted for Brexit. 🙄 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Over to Caldicot, back via Uskmouth: Whitethroat all over the shop (13+), Sedge and Reed dotted about, fair number of Swallow at breeding sites but nothing too exciting. #gwentbirding #birdingbybike #lowcarbonbirding

What is @ofcom.bsky.social for?

The deputy leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice, owns a property company - Quidnet REIT. From 2020 to 2022 it paid Tice and his trust £600k in dividends. Quidnet should have paid £120k of tax on those dividends. It didn't. A 🧵 with evidence from the company's own filings:

Goldcliff Pools: Spoonbill, Ruff, Barwit, Spotshank, 16 Whimbrel, Wheatear, Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, 2 Pochard, House Martin, Swallow, 25+ Sand Martin, etc. #gwentbirding

Ynysyfro: 2 Sand Martin and 2 Stonechat. #gwentbirding

Two House Martin over the garden. #gwentbirding

Ecocide. #ecocide

Your frequent reminder that Farage wants to frack the UK - in multiple ways - and that doing so won’t make a blind bit of difference to energy bills It would, however, make us more dependent on volatile fossil fuels, make the climate crisis worse & industrialise the countryside Don’t vote Reform

Goldcliff Pools, late morning HT: Greenshank, 2 Blackwit, 12 Ringed Plover (incl. 9 up-channel), 3+ Swallow, 3 Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, 3 Pochard, 5 Stonechat, two broods of Mallard, and a Grass Snake. #gwentbirding

House Martin over the garden. #gwentbirding

Over to Wentwood/Wentwood Res, then the Nedern, Caldicot Moor and back across the levels. Five scarce/Schedule 1 breeders but not much beyond that. #gwentbirding #birdingbybike #lowcarbonbirding

Ah, Scillonian III. Watching a greasy-breakfasted birder fill a sick bag, the ill-judged attempt to throw it overboard, a stiff south-westerly, an insanely graceful parabola, and an unprovoked opening salvo slams onto the lower deck. Carnage. #memories #birding www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Up to Cwmcarn in the wind and rain: first two Mallard broods of the year, pair of Goosander, a few Blackcap, etc. #gwentbirding #birdingbybike #lowcarbonbirding #moist #breezy

So as Reform UK announce their plans for the "biggest benefit cuts ever", whilst cutting taxes for the wealthiest, their Treasurer has just sold his Chelsea Mansion for a record £275million www.ft.com/content/8daf...

NEW – Analysis: Record wind and solar saved UK from gas imports worth £1bn in March 2026 ✍️ @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org Ho Woo Nam Read here: buff.ly/wFGUgMU

Uskmouth late morning: Swallow, 5 Sand Martin, 6 singing Blackcap, 23 singing Chiffchaff, Little Owl, Bittern, etc. #gwentbirding

Saw a rare bird and haven't yet submitted to the BBRC? We still have outstanding records that do not yet have submissions including: - Scops Owl, Gower - Black-browed Albatross, Norfolk And many others on the Missing Records List: britishbirds.co.uk/rarities-com... 📷 David Carr

Remember folks, don’t vote for bastards,… don’t vote for bastards. #Reform inews.co.uk/news/grenfel...

My first Holly Blue of the year fluttered by today,… which was nice. #butterflies #flutterbies

Warning: beware ghosts riding mountain bikes without chains. #cycling

Swallow over NNW near the Farmer’s Daughter. #gwentbirding cc @matbro.bsky.social

Over to Caldicot then back into a headwind and driving rain. Few birds of note but there’s a reasonable amount of standing water on Caldicot Moor, might be worth scoping every now and then over the coming weeks. #gwentbirding #lowcarbonbirding #birdingbybike

Goldcliff Pools: adult female Hen Harrier, Great White Egret, Spotshank, 4 Ringed Plover, 3 Snipe, 11 Blackwit, etc. #gwentbirding

It’s just cats, upside down cats, all the way down. #infiniteregress #explanatoryfailure #epistemology #cats

Applications are now open to join our 2026 UCL Master's programme in human evolution. Covering the Palaeolithic, Palaeoanthropology & other key disciplines, the course is designed to equip you for a career in the deep human past. #PaPa 🦣📷https://tinyurl.com/5duy6twh

Ynysyfro: 20 Sand Martin, adult Red Kite, pair of Stonechat, singing Chiffchaff, etc. #gwentbirding

Up the canal to Cwmcarn in the rain. Pair of Goosander, lots of Chiffchaff and the odd Blackcap were the sum of it. #moist #gwentbirding #birdingbybike #lowcarbonbirding

Little pootle up to Ynysyfro to check the Osprey had gone,… it had. Had to make do with 6-7 Sand Martin and 1-2 Stonechat. #gwentbirding #birdingbybike #lowcarbonbirding

Wind & solar are currently producing 65% of Britain's electricity. Meanwhile, renewables now offer 30,000 more UK jobs than oil and gas. Meanwhile, we're in a climate emergency. Meanwhile, we're in a fossil fuel supply crisis. Meanwhile, the Tories and Reform want to scrap Net Zero. grid.iamkate.com

🔴 Reform UK Councils Are Dismantling the Fight Against Climate Change Nigel Farage’s party is spreading climate change denial, while blocking any localised action to deal with the threat, an academic analysis of Reform councils has found bylinetimes.com/2026/03/24/r...

A moist couple of hours on the western levels: a few Sand Martin near the lower Ebbw and Chiffchaff all over the shop. #birdingbybike #speedbirding #lowcarbonbirding #gwentbirding