A leaked memo prompted scientists and reporters to investigate the supply of cobalt from mines in the DRC to China, revealing the departure of strategic quantities of uranium... A trade that is normally forbidden. Great work: www.lighthousereports.com/investigatio...

Congo’s Hidden Uranium Exports

How a leaked memo prompted scientists and reporters to investigate the supply of cobalt from mines in the DRC to China, revealing the departure of strategic quantities of uranium

lighthousereports.com

‘I’m not saying the Conservatives were perfect in government’ says Kemi Badenoch on R4’s Today. Understatement of the year…

‘I’m not saying the Conservatives were perfect in government’ says Kemi Badenoch on R4’s Today. Understatement of the year…

China claims neutrality but is playing an increasingly active role in the global war against democracy. My @theipaper.com column on the urgent need to remove the blinkers over Beijing's involvement in wars from Ukraine to the Middle East inews.co.uk/opinion/brit...

Britain is in a global conflict with Russia and China, whether we admit it or not

The West should remove the blinkers over Beijing as it seeks to exploit America’s weakness

inews.co.uk

China claims neutrality but is playing an increasingly active role in the global war against democracy. My @theipaper.com column on the urgent need to remove the blinkers over Beijing's involvement in wars from Ukraine to the Middle East inews.co.uk/opinion/brit...

Britain is in a global conflict with Russia and China, whether we admit it or not

The West should remove the blinkers over Beijing as it seeks to exploit America’s weakness

inews.co.uk

Why bother to read a piece by someone who does not understand that social care involves so much more than elderly care?

Meanwhile Thames Water boss complains company is running out of cash then brushes aside questions about his grotesque 14% pay increase and £99k ‘retention fee’, hiding behind usual excuses about attracting ‘talent’ and remuneration committees #R4Today

Ian Birrell@ianbirrell.bsky.social · 6d ago

Eight days later, Thames Water has still not mended this leak. Wonder how many thousands of gallons lost?

Eight days later, Thames Water has still not mended this leak. Wonder how many thousands of gallons lost?

Ian Birrell@ianbirrell.bsky.social · 2w ago

We reported a leak outside our house to Thames Water about a month ago and it’s still not been sorted…

Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK

Exclusive: Sources say Fiona Cottrell told bankers the transfers, received 24-72 hours before her donations to Reform, came from her son

theguardian.com

He’s right on this - but need to fix other key aspects of NHS also such as overlong cancer treatment waits

Paul Brand@paulbrand.bsky.social · last wk.

BREAKING: Andy Burnham says the assisted dying debate should wait until after palliative care and social care have been fixed. “It’s very challenging to introduce that wider debate” when the systems are in crisis, he says. ‘Not now’, in other words.

A few random thoughts on social care having lived, investigated and campaigned on these issues for many years….

7) Never forget that both Kemi Badenoch and Zack Polanski have belittled carers as bum wipers, showing their contempt for a highly skilled profession and why social care remains the Cinderella public service.

6) So much of talk is about dementia. Yes, it is shameful and wrong this condition is treated so differently to cancer. BUT the fastest-rising growth in demand comes from working age adults. And as so often, people with disabilities and their carers get overlooked in this debate

5) But it would be disastrous to ban all private provision since there are some great small and local providers - while some of the worst abuse of vulnerable people has been in residential units run by the state and famous charities.

4) It is great to see suggestions that Burnham will stop private equity sharks pillaging the sector and predatory financial exploitation, an issue that I have repeatedly exposed from elderly care to children’s homes….

3) Lots of talk about National Care Service but no detail. It's a good political soundbite but social care must revolve around community provision, local control, users & carers. Last things needed are top-down diktats, layers of bureaucracy and lack of transparency like the NHS.

2) The PM sends a bad signal talking of NHS collapse without sorting social care. Social care is about far more than just taking pressure off the sanctified NHS - it should be about ensuring that all citizens in our country can live their lives with independence and dignity.

1) It is good Burnham is promising to solve this conundrum since inadequate care is wrecking millions of lives. But several predecessors have said the same, so our scepticism is justified. Although Louise Casey heading up the latest review offers hope of a sensible solution.

Good thread here. I'd say that so little thought has been given to the social care workforce in the national debate because so few people can really picture what is demanded of that workforce, hence dreams a new national sevice will sort everything being a simple mental shortcut to 'do something'

Ian Birrell@ianbirrell.bsky.social · last wk.

A few random thoughts on social care having lived, investigated and campaigned on these issues for many years….

A few random thoughts on social care having lived, investigated and campaigned on these issues for many years….

My @theipaper.com column on crime, punishment and politicians cowed by media firestorms inews.co.uk/opinion/burn...

Burnham’s circuit breaker has to start here

Ian Birrell: Our prison system is a mess, absorbing the consequences of political failures in education, health and social care

inews.co.uk

The prison system is a mess, symbol of so many political failures that scar Britain. Solutions are clear from both Europe and the US, cutting costs and crime. But is Burnham really offering a circuit breaker - or, as initial signs suggest, stumbling along the same dismal path?

The prison system is a mess, symbol of so many political failures that scar Britain. Solutions are clear from both Europe and the US, cutting costs and crime. But is Burnham really offering a circuit breaker - or, as initial signs suggest, stumbling along the same dismal path?

Shame on the cabal of top scientists who mocked me and other dissidents for challenging their sordid Covid origins cover-up. It is now beyond doubt that they betrayed both humanity and science - and there should be retribution. My MoS column mol.im/a/16005037

Scientists mocked my Covid leak theory but I was right: IAN BIRRELL

Like many others, I was struck by the strange 'coincidence' that Covid erupted in the city with a secretive lab containing the world's biggest repository of bat coronaviruses.

mol.im

Shame on the cabal of top scientists who mocked me and other dissidents for challenging their sordid Covid origins cover-up. It is now beyond doubt that they betrayed both humanity and science - and there should be retribution. My MoS column mol.im/a/16005037

Scientists mocked my Covid leak theory but I was right: IAN BIRRELL

Like many others, I was struck by the strange 'coincidence' that Covid erupted in the city with a secretive lab containing the world's biggest repository of bat coronaviruses.

mol.im

‘Burnham’s first cabinet is more privately educated than Starmer’s and less ethnically diverse than Rishi Sunak’s.’ www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Was Keir Starmer’s leaving party the boozy birth of a new Labour force?

A £10,000 bar tab was drunk, there was a ‘lot of anger’, and now ex-ministers are thinking how to cooperate in future

theguardian.com

So is Andy Burnham really going to sort out social care or just take action to aid home owners confronting costs of dementia?

@martinbarrow.bsky.social · 2w ago

Ofsted has published one of the worst inspection reports into a children’s home I have read. It says: “Children are currently unsafe. Allegations of harm…have not been investigated. There is a culture of fear …this has contributed to children being harmed.” reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/2/2...

We reported a leak outside our house to Thames Water about a month ago and it’s still not been sorted…

Farewell Patrick Vallance, the scientist turned minister who symbolised pandemic hubris - my @UnHerd column unherd.com/newsroom/far...

Farewell Patrick Vallance, the scientist who symbolised pandemic hubris

Whatever happens over the next few months, Andy Burnham’s government is a major improvement on its predecessor in one significant regard: it has shed the arrogant science minister who was so contemptu...

unherd.com

Farewell Patrick Vallance, the scientist turned minister who symbolised pandemic hubris - my @UnHerd column unherd.com/newsroom/far...

Farewell Patrick Vallance, the scientist who symbolised pandemic hubris

Whatever happens over the next few months, Andy Burnham’s government is a major improvement on its predecessor in one significant regard: it has shed the arrogant science minister who was so contemptu...

unherd.com