This electricity VAT cut is too small to make much of a difference to those struggling to pay their bills each month. It's also likely to mean most of the savings go to richer households who tend to use more electricity.

Last week, the @neweconomics.bsky.social released a report into quick transport wins to ease the cost of living for as many as possible. The headlines are around railcards and bus fare caps, but supporting them is a heap of analysis I've done that uncovers much about the state of today's railway.

And where did this money go, why hasn't it been clawed back, and who has gone to prison?

Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 3w ago

Almost £10 billion of the £15 billion that Boris Johnson's Government spent on PPE during the pandemic was wasted, the Covid Inquiry has concluded. The Inquiry found money was wasted on a "vast" scale, with companies with "connections to government" given first preference for contracts

One day, everyone will have always been against this.

Rent controls would save households up to £2,400 a year and the Government £2 billion a year. It's a no-brainer. But only the Green Party has a policy to introduce them.

🚨 BREAKING: ‘Unbiased' GMB presenter Ed Balls set for Labour return under Andy Burnham.

Devonians were horrified to learn last week of plans for a massive AI data centre near Great Torrington, north Devon. The proposals from company XLinks Ltd would cover 850 acres of farmland. But who owns the land? I decided to investigate. 1/ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Plans for massive data centre near Great Torrington in Devon

Xlinks wants to build a Devon data campus but is facing opposition from residents.

bbc.co.uk

The Merlin Bird ID app will soon allow users to contribute data to monitor bird populations and aid conservation efforts. The project at Cornell University that produced the Merlin Bird ID app was funded by NSF’s Directorate for STEM Education (EDU), which was gutted by the Trump regime. 🪶

Birdsong data from Merlin ID app to help global biodiversity project

Cornell Lab for Ornithology plans data linkup between app and population monitoring on eBird platform

theguardian.com

Portes "Theres a lot of nonsense talked, including on Sky, about the spiralling welfare bill.. as a proportion of our national income.. its lower than it was 15yrs ago & its pretty much back to what it was under Thatcher.. this idea its out of control is just wrong" Spot on!

Listen to Britain’s dawn chorus of 1976: the dramatic loss of birdsong in 50 years - @theguardian.com recreates audio landscape of past filled by loud morning symphony before 73m wild birds were lost www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Listen to Britain’s dawn chorus of 1976: the dramatic loss of birdsong in 50 years

Guardian recreates audio landscape of past filled by loud morning symphony before 73m wild birds were lost

theguardian.com

this guy has it

Abdul El-Sayed@abdulelsayed.bsky.social · last mo.

I like my chances against Mike Rogers😊

Just saw on the news that Ukraine is beating Russia now, but yesterday I was told on the news that Russia is going to be in our streets in a few years? Very confusing. Do we starve the kids or not?

US-UK drug deal could result in 229,000 excess deaths in England, analysis suggests

US-UK drug deal could result in 229,000 excess deaths in England, analysis suggests

Analysis reveals extent of impact on NHS of placating Donald Trump over price of British medicine exports The NHS will have to divert £45bn from essential services to pay for new medicines under the terms of the UK-US trade deal agreed last December, leading to more than 200,000 avoidable deaths of patients, analysis has found. Ministers have defended the deal as a way of helping British drug exports to the US avoid tariffs, and giving patients in England access to potentially life-extending drugs that would otherwise be denied. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Andy Burnham's incoming chief of staff, James Purnell, ran a lobbying firm that organised a meeting between a Labour minister and its own corporate clients – without declaring any lobbying. Yet another story about Labour and the lobbying industry... 🧵 democracyforsale.substack.com/p/burnhams-c...

Burnham's chief of staff hosted minister for confidential clients

James Purnell’s firm Flint arranged a meeting between Labour minister Douglas Alexander and several of its clients – while declaring no lobbying at all

democracyforsale.substack.com

The famous "Wedges" paper was used repeatedly to shut us up when we argued against the continued use of fossil fuels, and, esp, against carbon capture and storage and the mass use of bioenergy. "But these eminent scientists say ..." Now we learn BP co-authored it. www.propublica.org/article/wedg...

How BP Execs Influenced a Climate Study That Shaped a Generation of Global Policy

BP sponsored an elite Princeton research center to address the climate problem without getting off fossil fuels. Its key work, a paper known as “Wedges,” guided climate discourse for a generation.

propublica.org

Mamdani’s team balanced their inherited $12B deficit budget by taxing the rich whilst simultaneously giving back to the working poor. This is what grownup politics looks like.

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · last mo.

Place like Wigan and Leigh have been left behind for too long. On 30th July, vote Green. Vote for Geraldine Coggins for mayor of Greater Manchester.

Humans should not be forced off pavements by delivery robots, but that's exactly what's happening. The people who pay the price are those with the least room to give it up.

In a discussion on #politicslondon about Starmers record well done to @faizashaheen.bsky.social for mentioning Palestine & for pointing out that when it comes to scrapping the 2 child benefit cap he had to be forced to do it after suspending Labour MPs from the PLP who voted to scrap it!

What is the future of summers in England? Our choices matter. A high-emissions future will commit our children and grandchildren to live in a world where the summers of 1976 & 2025 are cold. A global net-zero emissions future means that we can stabilise the climate & those summers will be normal.

In Spain today: installation of solar panels above major irrigation channels. Channels of more than 100 kms transport water from dams to farmland. - Reduces evaporation -Provides large agricultural areas with power & supports irrigation -Decreases use of water in food production, doubling the crop.

The UK is a sitting duck when it comes to heatwaves, and for all the other effects of climate breakdown. We cannot afford any more doubt or delay. Stopping the very worst effect means clear and decisive climate action. All eyes on the candidates for PM!

The Green Party of England & Wales@greenparty.org.uk · last mo.

The country needs leadership that matches the scale of the climate crisis.

This. Labour should regard the right-wing press not as legitimate media but as enemy propaganda, and make no concessions to it.

📮We could and should TAKE BACK ROYAL MAIL Why should this 500 year old institution with a universal service obligation be owned by a Czech billionaire? It's failing to fulfil its statutory duties Use special administration process to bring it into permanent PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

Prem Sikka@premnsikka.bsky.social · last mo.

Royal Mail boss’s pay package triples to £6.9m. Cost of postage stamps rocketing RM hasn't hit delivery target for 1st-class post since 2017, 2nd-class mail since 2020. Ofcom continues to reduce targets. Bosses rewarded for fleecing people.

💬 @zackpolanski.bsky.social: "It's an existential crisis" 🔥 Extreme heat caused by the fossil fuel giants is killing people. ❌️ No more drilling in the North Sea ❌️ No airport expansion ✅️ Invest in renewables ✅️ Maximum workplace temperature ✅️ Cooler homes 🚨 Now.

People of #Dawlish South West! Today's the day to brave the heat and #VoteGreen for Scott Williams and Dawn Rivers. Scott and Dawn are two hard-working local activists with a commitment to #MakeHopeNormalAgain in our town. And a shout-out to all the polling station staff working in this heat!

It was inevitable, wasn't it🙄 Of course the Telegraph would run with something like this👇 So let's remove some of the rose-tinted spectacles and also look at some of that data comparing 1976 with modern heat waves Because the 1976 nostalgia porn is wearing a bit thin at this stage 🧵1/23

Burnham is already repeating the same mistakes as Starmer and at this rate they will burn Labour to the ground www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Burnham’s pick for chief of staff led firm that advised BP, Apple and Amazon

Appointment of James Purnell, former chief executive of Flint Global, described by one Labour MP as ‘very bad sign’

theguardian.com

1976 was long, hot and dry. But our climate has changed and this week's heatwave is now hotter and stickier as a result. We're likely to break 1976's température record today. And more concerningly, humidity is hovering at potentially dangerous levels. Take care out there.