Every reporter interviewing Nigel Farage should ask why he doesn't admit telling a pack of lies and #ApologiseForBrexit meme via Fibbymcfibface 'is in Clacton-on-Sea' (unlike Farage!)
Kevin Hewitt
@hewittkvnvc35.bsky.social
Very enthusiastic amateur naturalist specialising in all things lepidoptera (moths & butterflies) and Birds. Volunteer with the RSPB and Butterfly Conservation.
Tories overstate net zero cost by nearly £500bn in apparent spreadsheet error. Same error amplified by right-wing think-tanks, press It suited their ideological leanings. Future historians might say - planet earth and human life was shattered by a spreadsheet error.
Tories overstate net zero cost by nearly £500bn in apparent spreadsheet error
Exclusive: Badenoch’s flagship conference policy document cites £957bn estimate, twice the total in climate advisers’ data
theguardian.com
Shell’s refineries expected to make record profits. Profit margins of $42 a barrel, up from $24 a barrel. Cashing in on global conflicts. Bumper payouts for execs and shareholders. Misery for households and businesses. Millions plunged into poverty. Must levy 100% windfall tax.
Shell expects refineries to almost double the profit from every barrel of fuel made
Record prices caused by global shortages amid shutdown of war-damaged refineries in Middle East and Russia
theguardian.com
The winner of Nobel peace prize doing what the Government of the United Kingdom will not do: calling Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide.
Saul Staniforth@saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 2d ago"The last thing I did is the report on Gaza naming what is happening there as genocide. One of the main reactions to that report [was] paying tribute to me for my courage.. why would you need courage to speak the truth?" Navi Pillay upon winning the 2026 Nobel peace prize
🔴NEW: Ben Delo has given Reform £44MILLION Delo’s money comes from his now-closed crypto exchange BitMEX In 2019, a BitMEX investor asked about the status of his investment Delo responded by sending this meme, according to court documents. There’s more, a lot more (new investigation🧵)
Trump announces deal to import Russian diesel. Yet he imposed tariffs on China and India for importing fuel from Russia. 3 weeks ago signed law threatening 500% tariffs on India and China. Now facing midterm election defeat ... and Utter bankruptcy of Trump foreign, economic and other policies.
Trump announces deal for Russian diesel as Zelensky calls it a 'gift to Putin'
Ukraine's president sharply criticised the move, calling it an "investment in war that must be ended, not prolonged".
bbc.co.uk
Thousands of active UK companies may have fraudulent directors. Anyone can form a company in the UK. Companies need one natural person as a director who can be non-UK resident. Too many small companies are fronts for crimes I have long called for companies to have one UK resident director.
UK companies face scrutiny as identity checks expose possible fraudulent directors
New UK identity rules reveal possible fraudulent company directors as overdue filings surge, raising concerns about the accuracy of corporate records.
tradersunion.com
Failures of privatisation. Royal Mail to cut up to 2,500 jobs Foreign-owned RM doesn't meet letter delivery targets even after regulator lowered them. Postage: 1st class, £1.80, 2nd class 91p. When privatized in 2013: 1st class 60p; 2nd class 50p. Poor service at triple price. Customers fleeced.
Royal Mail plans to cut 2,500 head office jobs
The postal service firm wants to cut the head office and other jobs by the end of 2027.
bbc.co.uk
Entertaining seawatch as the wind hit NW off Coastguards this PM. For a while it was quite lively, bu tailed off post 1630. Sooty Shears are always smart, one reasonably close, ditto some Manx. Best, the ranks of Brents passing by. Welcome home 🙂 @linnetincley.bsky.social #cleybirds #norfolkbirding
The threats to our resilience are the same as the threats to our democracy: corporate lobbyists shaping policy, with dire consequences for our ability to withstand crises. Burnham seems to want to change this. But is he aware of scale of the task? My column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Stockpile food – and wash your hands: is that really how to prepare for environmental catastrophe? | George Monbiot
The UK state is dumping its responsibilities on our doorsteps, while green-lighting policies that lead us closer to crisis, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
theguardian.com
Yay!! My first ever Euchromius ocellea (Silver-spotted Veneer) in this morning’s garden moth trap. Been hoping for one for these for a few years now 😊🎉 #teammoth
Tory £6bn inheritance tax cut plan Increase threshold from £1m per couple to £2m+home. In 2024-25, 30,400 estates paid IHT, may rise to 52,100 in 2029-30. IHT cut for the richest, paid by cutting benefits for old, sick, disabled, unemployed. How will it help economic growth, reindustrialization?
Kemi Badenoch says Tories would scrap inheritance tax on family homes
Tory leader says her party is "coming back", as she aims to convince voters it has changed after 2024 election defeat.
bbc.co.uk
🔴 SCOOP: The chair of a lobbying firm paid by the UAE sits on a government council advising ministers on how Britain uses sport and culture abroad. As Man City's verdict puts Abu Dhabi in the spotlight, our latest investigation 🧵 democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-u...
Revealed: UAE lobbyist advising UK government on sport and foreign policy
FGS Global chair Roland Rudd accused of "blatant conflict of interest" for advising ministers on foreign affairs while his firm lobbies for UAE embassy
democracyforsale.substack.com
Private equity owners of Boots sell it to another PE group from Canada for £6.74bn. Debt-laden PE has no long-term interest. Everything is a commodity. No UK tax levied on dividends paid to foreign owners, which sweetens cash extraction. PE dominates town centres, when it crashes ...
Canada’s Weston family buys Boots for $8.9bn
Former Selfridges owners buy UK high street institution from long-term backer Stefano Pessina
theguardian.com
BT to buy the broadband supplier TalkTalk in a £400m deal. BT is already the biggest provider with 30% of the market. If the deal is approved by the competition regulator, it would be bad news for customers. Less competition, less choice, higher prices.
BT to buy broadband supplier TalkTalk in £400m rescue deal, saving 900 jobs
Virgin Media O2 complains of ‘stitch-up’ over rival provider, which has 1.5m customers
theguardian.com
Shadow chancellor vows to cut tax in every Tory budget As always, it would be tax cuts for the rich. No mention of corporate welfare, equitable distribution of income/wealth. We haven't recovered from previous Tory follies. NHS queues, potholed road, crumbling schools. What will they cut next?
Shadow chancellor vows to cut at least one tax in every Tory budget
Shadow ministers unveiled a series of policies on day two of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
bbc.co.uk
Drax’s planned datacentre to burn 4.9m tonnes of wood to produce its electricity, nearly double the CO2 emissions of all flights from London Gatwick airport. Drax, a highly profitable company gets subsidies to burn wood and produce electricity How many lives will it ruin?
Drax datacentre could create nearly twice the yearly emissions of all Gatwick flights
Exclusive: Campaign group’s analysis of North Yorkshire plans finds datacentre would have to burn 4.9m tonnes of wood a year
theguardian.com
Devoid of ideas, Tories vow return to Thatcherite policies. They want to cut social spending, build prisons, cut taxes for the rich, free childcare for individuals earning £1m. What will they privatise, sell to foreign investors? No ideas on infrastructure investment, regulation of capitalism.
Kemi Badenoch positions herself as modern day Thatcher and vows to revive Tories
The Tory leader dismissed suggestions that her focus on cutting benefits and building more prisons signalled a return of the ‘nasty party’
independent.co.uk
Energy suppliers urge UK govt to help households struggling with energy bills. Silence on cutting profit margins, windfall taxes on excessive profits. Household energy debt heading to £7bn. 120,000 a year die in fuel poverty. We can't afford privatisation and resulting profiteering.
Suppliers pile pressure on government over energy bills
Immediate action is needed to help households struggling with bills this winter, says trade body Energy UK.
bbc.co.uk
There was a time when the Tories, however hypocritically, claimed to want to protect our natural heritage. Now they're just a party of vandals, ripping down the few protections the living world has for the sake of their rich chums. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Tories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural England
Shadow chancellor will also promise to scrap affordable homes regulations as part of strategy to refocus on growth
theguardian.com
NHS England waiting list hits 7.33m appointments for 6.21m individuals, rises for the third time in 4 months. Privatisation by stealth. NHS capacity neglected. Thousands suffer. Private sector profiteers. www.oecd.org/en/publicati... Hospital beds per 1,000 population, Comparison 2013 and 2023.
Beating up pensioners and vandalising curry houses in Gosport is not 'an expression of legitimate concern'
The Tories have announced they would abolish Natural England, support a Third Runway & pull the UK out of the Aarhus Convention - in further signs they’ve totally given up on Middle England, don’t give a toss about the environment & just want to please some wealthy grouse moor owners & raving YIMBYs
![Tory party press release: “[We will leave the Aarhus] Convention that powers the lawfare hindering every major infrastructure project in this country.”
“Abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency, moving to a more streamlined regulatory landscape to protect our environment.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:br3kmdgzf5pnbfdnd57jfo6g/bafkreidogxc5es43brvlqj3qx5mgzczudqbsu2df2ijhhwcjhcg2w32pji)
Tories to hand free childcare to those earning more than £100,000, would cost £700m to the public purse. Previously, they pledged cuts to universal credit, housing benefit, support for the long term unemployed. Continuation of the Tory war on less well-off.
Tories would expand free childcare to high earners, Badenoch says
Kemi Badenoch says those earning more than £100,000 should not be discouraged from working more
theguardian.com
UK chancellor to meet bank bosses for a pre-budget summit to discuss possible tax raid. Banks profiteering but resent windfall tax. Any chance of ending bank subsidies? Any chance of meeting pensioners, disabled, sick, poor to hear their concerns?
Healey summons UK bank chiefs to pre-budget summit next week
The chancellor, John Healey, has called in the CEOs of lenders including Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest for talks ahead of his crucial budget statement.
news.sky.com
Moths matter! 📢 Which is why we're on a mission to create the first official Red List of Britain’s Macro-moths Without this formal recognition, species risk being overlooked when national, regional and local decisions about conservation priorities and funding are made. 📷: Rob Blanken
Dividends paid to UK citizens taxed at rates of 8.75% to 39.35%, lower rate than wages. Dividends mostly go to the top 1%. £6bn a year raised if dividends taxed at the same rate as wages. More if NIC levied. Unlike the US, France, Germany, no UK tax levied on dividends paid to foreign investors.
This is how the Chancellor can increase the personal allowance and lift millions out of hardship
Sustained economic growth can’t be achieved without a major boost to the purchasing power of the bottom 50% of the population
leftfootforward.org