I was struck by a piece on Radio 4 the other day, asking whether Burnham would be more "pragmatic" - meaning "positive" - about drilling in the North Sea. It was simply taken for granted that drilling was the "pragmatic" option, while opposing it was dogmatic or ideological.

James Murray@james-bg.bsky.social · 2d ago

Wrote about the deafening silence on our summer of climate impacts from Labour, the Lib Dems, the Greens, business leaders, and even some campaign groups. The dominant climate discourse from the past week has been from those who want to ditch net zero targets and trash decarbonisation policies.

It is quite strange how little the actual public inquiry we're having into the UK's Covid response - the one that's publishing in-depth reports every few months - factors into the "you're not even allowed to ask these questions" complaints. We are, in fact, officially asking these questions!

🧵On @thenewsagents.co.uk yesterday, school closures and the lab leak theory were offered as two examples of legitimate questions that were hard to ask. Both have in fact been asked constantly since 2020. But here's a thread on why I think they were wrong and dangerous on school closures 1/12

BP exiting the North Sea is a big moment in the history of the industry and Scotland’s economy. It’s been a long time coming, and marks an end to over a century of petroleum activities and more than 50 years of North Sea drilling. BP’s exit cannot be explained by short term tax policy changes 🧵

BP puts North Sea business up for sale

Chief executive Meg O’Neill says the business would be ‘better positioned as part of another company’, sparking recriminations over the basin’s high tax regime

thetimes.com

Bloody hell, it's *gorgeous*... ‪"ITV Content Services‬ are delighted to reveal that we've completed work on a new 4K restoration of Whistle Down the Wind, restored from 35mm original camera negatives Now streaming in HD on ITVX..." #FilmSky youtu.be/Q9ItJA0DdAw?...

Whistle Down the Wind | 4K Restoration Trailer

YouTube video by ITV Content Services

youtu.be

Come on in, the water's lovely! Dip into the Clyde's rich history: ancient kingdoms; majestic liners; return of the salmon; Victorian swimmers (my bit!) & more! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/digging-de... 31 Jul, 6pm, free! #Commonwealth #Watershed #rivers #Clyde #SportsHistory #swimming 1/

Digging Deeper quick-fire talks from the River Clyde

A series of quick-fire talks from people researching the history of Glasgow’s River Clyde in surprising and interesting ways.

eventbrite.co.uk

This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b

It's noticeable, too, that there wasn't a single question on the climate, at a time when Europe is experiencing catastrophic wild-fires & record-breaking heat. It's astonishing how low down the political agenda this remains in Britain, when all the environmental indicators are signalling disaster.

Elon Musk's politics are indistinguishable from Paul Golding of Britain First [except Britain First is more coded on violence, while Musk has been more openly pro-violence as inevitable, necessary, legitimate since Aug 2025] The main pro-Hitler YouTuber "Zoomer Historian" is encouraged.

This is just to say I have turned into pigs the men that were on my island and which you were probably saving to row you to Ithaca Forgive me they were disgusting so male and so disrespectful.

Jessica Ritchey@jmritchey.bsky.social · last wk.

This is just to say I have eaten the sun god's cattle on the island which you were probably saving for Apollo Forgive me they were delicious and so charred and so warm

This would be the most important local finance reform since Elizabeth I. Finally introducing local revenue sources that aren't property taxes will ensure places really benefit from local growth - more jobs and/or higher wages in a place will translate into more investment and services:

Brian Groom@groomb.bsky.social · 2w ago

Burnham plans to give England's 14 regional and metro mayors a share of income tax revenue to spend on their cities. Unclear whether this will need legislation, or whether 'equalisation measures' will be needed to prevent poorer regions from losing out.

Exciting to hear the contributions in this programme from so many knowledgeable and passionate people! Also to revisit my chat with top presenter @damedenisemina.bsky.social in the majestic Mitchell Library, another venerable #Glasgow municipal treasure. #Baths #Victorians #swimming #SportsHistory

Katherine Mackinnon@kamack.bsky.social · 2w ago

What a treat to hear such a beautiful range of voices expertly woven together by Flora Zajicek to tell the story of Govanhill Baths, inc @lucyjanes.bsky.social & Niall Murphy, the mighty @damedenisemina.bsky.social and loads of local organisers and residents. Also me! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

'From that point on, it was all downhill for Musk. He suggested that everyone read Iain Banks for a vision of the future, and Beddoes pointed out that Banks was a socialist. Musk insisted he wasn’t." He's either never read his "favourite" books or he's too stupid to understand them.

Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · 2w ago

There's a reason Elon Musk rarely does interviews with real news outlets.

Drowning prevention starts with you. Here are some water safety rules. ⬇️

I know not everyone is a fan of the Commonwealth Games but it is objectively cool to have people from all over the world cutting about and having a nice time in our city again.

On hot summer days urban Victorians cooled off by bathing in city rivers. I chat outdoor #swimming in #glasgow with @damedenisemina.bsky.social in this BBC R4 programme about @govanhillbaths.bsky.social and the community campaign to save the Baths. Sat 25 July, 8pm. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, The People's Pool

One Glasgow swimming pool reveals the story of public baths and wash houses in Britain.

bbc.co.uk

You would never get the "£50 doesn't even buy a meal quote if the topic was the benefit system, then you would have a guy going "sack of potatoes and a carrot, and you can feed a child for a month at just 3.2 pence per meal"

Sky News@news.sky.com · 2w ago

'£50 doesn't even buy a meal': What people think of Burnham's electricity VAT cut

Not sure I fully understand this but I enjoyed reading it and, as an adjunct, learned about MrBeast, so 30 minutes well spent. #NumericalSublime #data #algos #quantification #measuring #YouTube #MrBeast

Will Davies@will-davies.bsky.social · 2w ago

Thoughts on the numerical sublime open.substack.com/pub/willd10/...

Thoughts on the numerical sublime open.substack.com/pub/willd10/...

The aesthetics of ginormous numbers

Is Adam Tooze the MrBeast of social science?

open.substack.com

This disingenuous commentary doesn’t help anyone. Frauds start unravelling pretty quickly. That you apparently cannot afford to put your oven or treat yourself is quickly undermined by the question “so why are you spending £50 per week on petrol?” Then, it turns out, she has an agent and /1

Ash@queerash.bsky.social · 2w ago

Elaine in this article "can't remember the last time she used her oven" but also spends £200 a month on petrol (so driving probably ~50 miles a day?) (she's also a professional old person; she was on Good Morning Britain last year, and then also at the Nov budget, and the year before lmao)

Why Aren’t There More Imax 70mm Screens for ‘The Odyssey’? variety.com/2026/film/ne...

Alice Everett astronomer engineer, degree @girtoncollege.bsky.social worked in optics & early television. 1890 1st woman paid for astronomical work at Royal Observatory. 1903 1st woman to have paper published by Physical Society of London. d. #OTD 21 Jul 1949 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_E...

The decision to accept Jeremy Hunt's reductions in employee NICs - a tough move to oppose (a poison pill) but one that was the root cause of many of her problems. Compounded by the manifesto commitments on not raising any of the major taxes - which Labour did not need to win the election

"a gay person can hold the position of secretary of defence, and a catholic can be prime minister" is in fact extremely unusual in the context of Very Recent british history, stop acting like reading to the end of the sentence is beyond you

If confirmed Miatta Fahnbulleh as Energy+Net Zero Secretary, Angela Eagle as Environment Secretary, and Jonathan Reynolds as Business Secretary is good news for the green economy. Strong signal of both support for ambitious reforms and continuity around some of the better parts of the govt's agenda.

So very sad to hear of the death of one of my favourite artists, Christine Borland. I was lucky enough to interview her for Art Uk a few years ago and she was so generous and interesting. artuk.org/discover/sto...

Seven questions with Christine Borland

Explore 1 million artworks from 75,000 artists and 3,500 places for free. Art UK is the leading digital space to discover the UK’s public art collections.

artuk.org

Ange looking awesome. Give her Defence! #UkCabinet #AngelaRayner #AndyBurnham #UKGovernment #Labour

Politics UK@politicsuk.com · 2w ago

🚨 BREAKING: Angela Rayner has arrived at Downing Street

Flattered my piece on the past & future of the River Clyde is in this round-up! For info: Glasgow City Region #Clyde consultation is open until 21 July glasgowcityregion.co.uk/public-consu... My pitch is for #Glasgow to revive its #OutdoorSwimming history and become a Swimmable City once more.

Public consultation on the Clyde Mission Strategic Masterplan is now live - Glasgow City Region

The online survey will be open for three weeks, closing on 21st July 2026. With…

glasgowcityregion.co.uk

Jonathan Calder@lordbonkers.bsky.social · 2w ago

Burnham: a good communicator with bad instincts; Farage's free ride form the media and why it's ending; cars are getting bigger and bigger; internet access reduces skills children need - but it's not why you think; the undying appeal of the Titanic; Glasgow and the River Clyde

My proposed minister for AI

WillieMillersMoustache@williemillersm1.bsky.social · 2w ago

My proposed Minister for AI:

Thought for the day: It never ceases to amaze me how today's techbros' vision of the future they want defaults to fully automated leopard-face-chomping neo-feudalism rather than fully automated luxury gay space communism.