Kate Ardern@KateAlvanley
@ardernkate.bsky.social
Public health doctor, hon Professor @salforduniversity, health policy wonk, former Director of Public Health, Scouser & @FT Women of 2020 ❤️all arts especially music & film, wildlife, photography, history, politics & sci-fi
This wasn't just someone who'd tweeted something distasteful on Twitter years before. It was a committed extremist who'd rightly ended up in prison. I'm all for reform, but those seeking it from such a sociopathic past must expect their actions to constrain future choices. That's all part of it.
NEW - The NHS has been warned by Yvette Cooper to prepare for potential annual summer crises caused by extreme heat with the same pressures as winter, as heatwaves caused by the climate crisis become routine in the UK. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
NHS must prepare for annual summer heat pressures, says Yvette Cooper
Health secretary says global heating means UK hospitals and GPs will have to prepare for summer as well as winter peaks of demand
theguardian.com
But they seemed like such nice, patriotic, community-minded chaps. (Except the ones currently facing murder, child abuse & assault charges, obviously.)
Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 2d agoLeaders of flag-raising group Raise the Colours Oxfordshire placed trackers on highway workers’ cars to find out their home addresses, the High Court has heard. RTC then attempted to intimidate the highway staff into no longer removing flags by repeating their addresses to them.
Rather cool - researchers at the University of Exeter describe how estate agents in the 19thC used ‘cosmoramas’ to give immersive views of high end properties. Large paintings with special lighting had to be viewed through peep show style convex lenses www.thetimes.com/article/1318...
‘Victorian Rightmove’ offered immersive peepshows of lavish homes
Estate agents in the 19th century created elaborate displays of homes for prospective buyers long before the video walkthrough, researchers have found
thetimes.com
Prof Jason Arday has resigned from Cambridge after the University announced plans to investigate allegations of plagiarism www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Cambridge professor Jason Arday resigns amid accusations of plagiarism
Sociology professor to stand down after university announces investigation into his qualifications and career
theguardian.com
Badenoch's two biggest flaws are that she's nowhere near as smart as she thinks she is and is incapable of admitting error. Both well illustrated by this fiasco.
Alex Partridge@alexpartridge87.bsky.social · 12h agoJoshua Bonehill-Paine steps back from being a Conservative council candidate following backlash
I can’t believe we’re still having a debate about whether there’s a trade off between job creation and measures to green the economy. There isn’t. The evidence was clear years ago - a green economy creates far more jobs than the fossil fuel economy it replaces. Come on Labour, catch up …
Government contracts to require job creation instead of green targets under new rules
Louise Haigh says taxpayer money must benefit local communities amid backlash from environmental groups
theguardian.com
Woman on a bus (reading from an article): Have you ever discussed your fantasies with your partner? Her friend: Like the one where I’m in a cottage by the sea completely on my own with a book and a cup of tea?
Pretty scary piece on Old Oak Common with this quote from Tony Travers ‘Old Oak Common is a living metaphor for the whole HS2 project, in that it has massive ongoing cost, significant delays and no real certainty as to how it will be used’ www.ft.com/content/683d...
This morning the Government published a set of reforms to public procurement. @jo3hill.bsky.social has written a Re:Act on why this looks like a good change on the surface, but on balance it's a big cause for concern. restate.substack.com/p/why-procur...
Why procurement shouldn’t be based on social value
Analysing the Government’s procurement policy changes
restate.substack.com
The Boys recording one of the greatest albums of all time — REVOLVER — at Abbey Road in 1966. This seminal album was released 60yrs ago today.
Somewhat incredibly Badenoch has just been defending this man on the Today programme
Otto English@ottoenglish.bsky.social · 2d agoJoshua Bonehill-Paine Self-styled "nationalist, fascist, theorist and supporter of white rights” who was jailed in 2015 for antisemitic online posts.... Selected as a Tory candidate.
This is pure extraction of wealth from one group of people to another We urgently need: Windfall tax on oil giants Windfall tax on banks Both are creaming money off us during a cost of living crisis Even Thatcher had the balls to tax the banks Will you @andyburnham?
My interview today with @yvettecooper-mp.bsky.social - Women should not feel pressurised into experiencing an “ideal birth”, the new health secretary says, promising a root-and-branch reform of standards after several damning maternity scandals. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Women must not feel pressure to have ‘ideal birth’, says Yvette Cooper
Exclusive: New health secretary promises root-and-branch reform after damning maternity scandals
theguardian.com
"It’s as if we launched a war against nature, and that has turned place after place into something that resembles a war zone," writes @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social. "The climate movement is a peace movement, a movement to end this war and its casualties."
We launched a war on nature. Now we are in a climate warzone | Rebecca Solnit
Summer is not what it once was. We have been robbed of one of life’s great joys
theguardian.com
#AlfredWaterhouse’s internal designs for #ManchesterTownHall www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater...
Long-lost original plans for Manchester Town Hall unearthed
Alfred Waterhouse's plans show how he had made room for everyone - from the Lord Mayor's library to the city lamplighters
manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A bit from me on devo max and the outlines of an emerging question: what will councils be for? as.ft.com/r/731ed47f-f...
Andy Burnham rewires the ‘unaccountable’ state
Prime minister’s opening devolution gambit does not lack ambition
as.ft.com
The UK has existed as a state since 1801. The current borders of the UK have been in place since 1922. Do Reform UK politicians NOT know the basics of UK history?
That Joshua Bonehill-Paine is a suitable Tory candidate but Grant Shapps and Gavin Barwell have been excluded is quite a good indicator of how many seats the Tories will realistically regain at the next election.
The NCSC has published a new statement on AI security in response to recent incidents resulting from frontier AI evaluations. Read the latest from our CTO Ollie Whitehouse: www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/ncsc-st...
NCSC statement in response to recent incidents resulting from frontier AI evaluations
A statement from Ollie Whitehouse, Chief Technology Officer at the NCSC, on AI security following recent incidents.
ncsc.gov.uk
The UK’s advanced chemical industry is in rapid decline with potentially serious implications for the country’s ability to make missiles, medicines and other strategically critical products, a new analysis has warned ft.trib.al/NmIDvxh
Tories next local elections leaflet ‘We want Nazis putting out your bins’
James Austin@jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 19h agoThis is *such* a revealing line about Kemi's world view and contempt for those who do the day to day work of keeping our society functioning
To be fair, “Councillors and council elections don’t matter” are a load-bearing part of the “Kemi Badenoch is doing well and the Conservative party’s prospects under her are looking good” thesis.
Chris Terry-Enescu@cjterry.bsky.social · 19h agoIt's OK for criminal ex-neo Nazis to run your bins is a hell of a line.
Well that's a vote of confidence for all Tory councillors.
Fairly sober testing report from the AI Security Institute: they gave internet access and removed some guardrails from latest AI models and found without them they were capable of potentially harmful activity directed at real people and organisations www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/inciden...
