There is apparently an unlimited amount of airtime available to discuss the non-existent "cost of living" benefits of new North Sea oil & gas drilling but the effect of one failed harvest after another on consumer prices? Never mind about that.
UK harvest on track for historic lows after drought and heatwaves…
New analysis of industry forecasts suggests 2026 could be the worst harvest on record costing farmers hundreds of millions in lost revenue
eciu.net
You see, it's shit like this - running scared of *just stating the obvious* - that boils my piss about Labour. Throwing away every teachable moment, always ceding the information ground to their opponents. In short, offering no leadership.
Josiah Mortimer@josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 3d agoAsked whether the third drought in five years is a result of the climate crisis, there was no direct attribution from No 10 at lobby earlier, but the PM's spokesman said: "You've got ministers on record as speaking to the impact of climate change and the impact it has on the country and on services"
Burnham could use this moment to hammer home the threat of climate change and remind people why transitioning away from fossil fuels is so important but no, instead we get this pish. Starmer all over again.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 7d agoBurnham promises ‘pragmatic’ approach to North Sea oil and gas
This is the thing: as satisfying as it is to make fun of headbangers in The Telegraph the UK has seen a change of PM during a summer of rolling heatwaves, drought and now fire yet I don't think I've heard a single "serious" figure mention climate once.
Robert Saunders@robertsaunders.bsky.social · 7d agoThe anti-climate lobby has been all over UK media this week, pushing stories designed to counter action. There's been almost no pushback from political leaders. Governments need to use these scenes as a teaching moment, to show what climate change means &what it costs www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The ideal type of democracy being one structured around the opinions of wealthy Tory grandees with a regular column in The Times, the success of which is all around us to see.
David Klemperer@dmk1793.bsky.social · last wk.A compelling example here of how quickly arguments against compulsory voting descend into arguments against democracy: "we don't want those people voting, they'll just vote for goodies for themselves"
Decided to check in on a local colony of Chalk Hill Blues and managed to pester some of the males into actually opening up for me. @upperthames.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social
As many have noticed this has been a good year for Painted Lady butterflies but thanks to their fidgety nature & powerful flight getting a decent picture of one is easier said than done. This week I finally got one I'm happy with. @upperthames.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social
Decided to check in on a local colony of Chalk Hill Blues and managed to pester some of the males into actually opening up for me. @upperthames.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social
As many have noticed this has been a good year for Painted Lady butterflies but thanks to their fidgety nature & powerful flight getting a decent picture of one is easier said than done. This week I finally got one I'm happy with. @upperthames.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social
A lot of people paid to understand politics still like to pretend that Starmer's near universal unpopularity is a big mystery when it is in fact quite simple: he fell over backwards to please a right that would always consider him illegitimate and went out of his way to alienate the left.
The unspoken background is that people who don't understand anything about the subject just assume that economics is mean and nasty, so the meaner someone is, the better they probably are at economics things.
Jonathan Portes@jdportes.bsky.social · 3w agoThe idea that pursuing a restrictionist/illiberal migration policy makes you 'rightwing' economically and therefore more likely to be a fiscal conservative is just such a basic fail on every level.
I've tried and failed for years to get a half decent photo of an Emperor dragonfly but today I go to a local wood with no particular aim in mind and there's one chilling out right next to the car.
I've tried and failed for years to get a half decent photo of an Emperor dragonfly but today I go to a local wood with no particular aim in mind and there's one chilling out right next to the car.
If theory is your thing by all means have at it but when the super rich and indeed, the world's *richest* man devote themselves to a politics of frothing racial resentment I reckon you don't need a string of degrees to figure out what's going on.
Matt Binder@mattbinder.bsky.social · last mo.this guy is the co-founder of Airbnb
Unless Andy Burham & his people have the guts to point out that welfare spending as a percentage of GDP has barely shifted in 30 years and is on the low side by European standards I predict hyper-Starmerisation, and frankly the early signs are not good.
Saul Staniforth@saulstaniforth.bsky.social · last mo."a big Q is how to cut the welfare bill, I think theres an agreement it has to be cut" Yes theres an effort by politicians/media to convince us it has to be cut, when the reality is welfare spend is c.10.6% of GDP & as a proportion thats lower than most other European countries.
UK journalists hard at work trying to figure out what amount of At War precludes spending on such luxuries as "housing" but which definitely doesn't necessitate wartime levels of taxation.
flyingrodent@flyingrodent.bsky.social · last mo.I suggest that if we want to drastically reorder national priorities like this, then we should have an election and ask the public what they make of it.
If I were European I would simply solve the heatwave using good old American moxie. But I will not use said moxie to solve the USA's intractable social problems because America is a real country and I am very busy.
None of the people who go on about "maxing out" what's left of the UK's North Sea reserves really believe it would do anything to reduce energy bills: the point is stymie in whatever way possible an energy transition that threatens the reach of American Petro-fascism.
Sam Bright@writesbright.bsky.social · last mo.🔴 NEW 🔴 Farage, Badenoch and a bunch of MAGA leaders have been preaching to the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship this week. Among the major themes has been the apparent need to drill more fossil fuels. It turns out the conference is funded by oil companies, as well as Trump and Reform donors.
None of the people who go on about "maxing out" what's left of the UK's North Sea reserves really believe it would do anything to reduce energy bills: the point is stymie in whatever way possible an energy transition that threatens the reach of American Petro-fascism.
Sam Bright@writesbright.bsky.social · last mo.🔴 NEW 🔴 Farage, Badenoch and a bunch of MAGA leaders have been preaching to the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship this week. Among the major themes has been the apparent need to drill more fossil fuels. It turns out the conference is funded by oil companies, as well as Trump and Reform donors.
The obscene, unprecedented heat blasting Western Europe right now is literally killing people and every tedious American on this stupid site using it as an opportunity to dust off their shite "teehee Brits" patter can take a long running jump into hell.
There a few things that gets my alarm bells ringing quite like draconian "think of the children" legislation that is suddenly adopted as received wisdom without anyone caring to ask how it would work or if it would even work at all.
Matt Gallagher@mattmgallagher.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe UK's youth social media ban will require *all adults* to submit their biometric and personal data to a host of third-party ID verification providers. Some have questionable privacy records – and ties to the Israeli Govt and Peter Thiel. 🧵 bylinetimes.com/2025/07/31/t...
Since they're fairly common around here and not as eye-catching as some of their flashier relatives I tend to overlook White helleborine but this year I decided to give them a bit more attention and it's given me a new appreciation for their elegance. @ukorchids.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
Since they're fairly common around here and not as eye-catching as some of their flashier relatives I tend to overlook White helleborine but this year I decided to give them a bit more attention and it's given me a new appreciation for their elegance. @ukorchids.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
Comical really that we had years of squealing about how large numbers of members of the public funding a political party led to extreme and unrepresentative politics, in a way that taking big bungs from billionaires and companies presumably does not
Peter Geoghegan@petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 2mo ago61% of all political donations in the last quarter came from just 14 people Reform took in £9.3m from a handful of super rich donors British democracy is being bought. We urgently need action to take the money out of our politics
Find it very hard to take all the talk about banning social media for under-16s seriously when British political discourse is increasingly defined by whichever call for race war is currently racking up the most views on X The Everything App.
Late for #wildflowerhour - I spent a long time going through a couple of week's worth of pictures to find some of my favourite Fly Orchid snaps. Why? Because I really like them! @ukorchids.bsky.social
