they welcomed it in as a curiosity and it destroyed them

Lydia Polgreen@polgreen.bsky.social · last wk.

Uh, did Emily Wilson's Odyssey takedown crash the @lrb.co.uk website?

Great write-up here of some really encouraging news re: the growing consenus in favour of compulsory voting

Compulsory voting on the table as Burnham ponders electoral reform

Proposals seen by the prime minister’s advisers suggest a £10 fine for those who do not cast a ballot, with a ‘none of the above’ option to be included

thetimes.com

What's depressing is that so much of what's listed here is common sense and yet dragging our constitutional and parliamentary machinery into the 21st century appears to be beyond the wit of parliamentarians of any political stripe.

UCL Constitution Unit@conunitucl.bsky.social · 2w ago

Our brand new report makes 28 recommendations across seven policy areas for how to safeguard the UK constitution and protect the integrity of our democracy. Read a summary 👉 blogs.ucl.ac.uk/constitution.... Review the recommendations 👇

What does progress look like? Today, for the first time, we have a gender-balanced Cabinet💪 A milestone worth celebrating - and one built over years by women who challenged barriers, opened doors and created opportunities for others 🙏 Congratulations to everyone appointed 👏

Communicants de l'État : si vous restez sur X, vous vous exposez à ce qu'X vous coupe la parole quand il le décidera. La communication publique est une fonction trop stratégique pour pouvoir se permettre une telle vulnérabilité ! @info.gouv.fr

Nicolas Hénin@nicolashenin.net · 2w ago

On X, freedom of expression is just like the definition of hate speech: it’s all relative.

Stamp duty and council tax are terrible taxes. Land value tax could replace both - and Andy Burnham has backed it for 16 years. Who wins? Who loses? What happens to house prices? LVT could drive growth. But it isn’t easy. Our model shows its promise - and its problems.

From 2019, when the news was telling us that staring seagulls out had been proven to stop them eating your chips

1/ Irony number one: Many of the people now cheering me on spent years insisting heat pumps don't work. Air conditioners ARE heat pumps. Same refrigeration cycle, same physics, running in reverse. Most modern units do both. If AC works (it does), heat pumps work (they do).

💷 Big money is corrupting our politics The government says democracy is not for sale - but still won't cap what a mega-donor can give. Stella Creasy's amendment would. We're backing her call for a £100,000 cap on all political donations. ⤵️

Good Law Project@goodlawproject.org · 4w ago

To stop wealthy donors from influencing politics, Stella Creasy MP has proposed a vital amendment to the Representation of the People Bill to place a strict £100k cap on all individual donations. Use our quick tool to email your MP 👇 goodlaw.social/o0eb

Didn't have Kylie Jenner launching nonce goggles on my 2026 bingo card but here we are

Not saying that game was stolen from Egypt but it is now on display at museum in London.

Is there a UK-wide map — or booking system — of community-owned meeting rooms / hireable spaces / coworking? (Like Hubble is a map of privately owned ones) hubblehq.com

In Manchester to pay my respects to the new king. Slightly disappointing breakfast… is this Manchesterism?

Deeply depressing chart on "car-spreading" in this Guardian story. Tax them off the streets! www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Carspreading’ could lead to extra 2,600 crash deaths a year by 2040, study finds

Research shows steady growth in car sizes, which puts other road users at greater risk and increases emissions

theguardian.com

It’s HEREEEEE!! Bad Services ships tomorrow but here’s a sneak peak of the long awaited sequel to Good Services. good.services/writing/bad-services-has-landed

We’ve just rolled out the biggest update to the @publicinterestnews.org.uk Local News Map (map.publicinterestnews.org.uk) to date! We have added a whole new set of features and tabs. I will unpack some here below 🧵👇

It's #IndieNewsWeek. Why does independent news matter for our everyday local democracy? In Democracy Conversations episode 5, we explore the value of local news with @joe-mitchell.com from @publicinterestnews.org.uk ▶️🎙📖 Watch, listen or read www.adso.co.uk/democracy-co...

As part of #IndieNewsWeek the @bedfordindependent.co.uk has redacted some of its local news stories! Because no news is bad news. If you value local news, support it, and go along to an indie news week event near you! Here's a handy map: www.publicinterestnews.org.uk/indienewsweek/

Want to help improve our information environments? Come work with me at PINF! www.charityjob.co.uk/jobs/public-... #jobs

Some quick thoughts on Q1 2026 donations data from @electoralcommission.org.uk 🧵 HEADLINE STATS Total: £20.7m (excl. public funds) Biggest recipient: Reform £9.3m Biggest donor: Ben Delo £4m to Reform Donors giving £1m+: £9.2m (44%) from 3 donors Donors giving £250k+: £12.7m (61%) from 14 donors

It was very nice to catch up with old pals @72prufrocks.bsky.social and @gr8governance.bsky.social for this podcast!

ADSO@adso-uk.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🎙️What is responsive governance – and what role does local news play in our everyday democracy? In Democracy Conversations episode 5, we explore why local news really matters for local democracy with @joe-mitchell.com from @publicinterestnews.org.uk. ▶️ www.adso.co.uk/democracy-co...

Don’t blame me, I voted for the curlew. (Cc @curlewaction.bsky.social I feel a campaign coming on)

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · 2mo ago

Of the 18 animals on the shortlist unveiled today by the Bank of England, the barn owl, red fox and common kingfisher are the creatures the British public would most like to see feature on the next range of banknotes yougov.com/en-gb/daily-...

Extremely tricky decisions required in this vote: www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/he...

“It’s like an invisible tax levied on our communities that we pay civically, cognitively and sometimes even literally, in the form of higher local bond prices due to more wasteful government spending.” www.niemanlab.org/2026/05/you-...

You couldn’t create a more anti-news internet if you tried

What can behavioral economics add to the story of news decline?

niemanlab.org

Another scorching day. The Climate Change Committee's ratings on how ready the UK is for climate change. 🟥 Red: Insufficient 🟧 Orange: Limited 🟨 Yellow: Partial 🟩 Green: Good Delivery: 0 good. Policies/plans: just 3. We're sleepwalking into this... but hard to sleep in the heat. 🧵 1/2

Today has been the hottest day in May on record with Kew Gardens provisionally reaching 34.8°C - exceeding the previous highest May temperature in the UK by a full 2 degrees Celsius🌡️ This heat would be exceptional in the UK even in mid summer, let alone in May📈

London has committed to eliminating all road deaths and serious injuries by 2041 - but #carspreading is putting that at risk 🚗 ⬆️ Around a third of cars on London’s roads are now larger SUVs, making streets more dangerous, especially for children.

Nice to come across the RASF in London this week: rasf.eu

Corker of a story this, great photos, and a clear solution www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Stern warning: one man’s mission to clear the rotting boats poisoning Cornwall’s creeks

Unwanted vessels left to decay release fibreglass shards into the water, harming marine life. Steve Green – with his trusty van Cecil – is determined to clean things up

theguardian.com