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.

History of Parliament@histparl.bsky.social · 5mo ago

In honour of #WorldBookDay today, @jhdavey.bsky.social searched through the (digital) pages of Hansard to see which fictional characters have made an appearance in the House of Commons chamber... Read all about it via our substack:

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

The Hidden Costs of Homelessness: how the cost of living in temporary accommodation is pushing families deeper into poverty

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bit.ly

📣📣📣 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! 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

The Elysian Singers@elysiansingers.bsky.social · last yr.

Locusts! Frogs! Flies! Darkness! The vivid word-painting in Handel’s Great Escape oratorio Israel in Egypt is even more dynamic (and shorter) than his Messiah. Come hear us sing it on 12 July in the marvellous acoustic of St. Gabriel’s, Pimlico. www.tickettailor.com/events/theel...

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!

Joe O'Hara@joeoharadcu.bsky.social · last yr.

Beautifully written piece by @claremoriarty.bsky.social on the need for parents to be courageous enough to let children take risks. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025... #edchatie #educationalresearch

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...

Risk and Responsibility

Dame Clare Moriarty DCB, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, reflects on the Committee’s Early Warning Signs report.

cspl.blog.gov.uk

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...

Benefit cuts will push more people into poverty, warns Citizens Advice boss

Exclusive: Clare Moriarty hits out at Labour’s plan as ‘short-term action’ with ‘long-term consequences’ in rare intervention

theguardian.com

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