Leaders of flag-raising group Raise the Colours Oxfordshire placed trackers on highway workers’ cars to find out their home addresses, the High Court has heard. RTC then attempted to intimidate the highway staff into no longer removing flags by repeating their addresses to them.

Still a few Friday-only tickets left for this year's SDinGov conference in Edinburgh next month. sdingov.net/programme-20... 15% off for people employed by, or contracted as a freelancer to, a public organisation...

Programme 2026

SDinGov is the premier international community event dedicated to anyone involved in designing and commissioning public services.

sdingov.net

Have just filled in the form. Interesting 2027 will be Wednesday 19 May.

They can say summers have always been hot and we’ve always had wildfires and they can tell themselves all day that everything is the same as it always was but you know better They can gaslight themselves but not you. #ExtremeHeat #Wildfires #Smoke #ClimateChange #abpoli #cdnpoli

🧵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

New: A business that made a six-figure donation to Reform UK received interest-free loans of £67m from unnamed “related companies” in the months before, raising questions about the possible origin of the funds. observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Reform given six-figure donation by firm that received £6...

Nigel Farage’s party is facing questions about the lack of transparency over £100,000 in funds donated by a management consultancy

observer.co.uk

Due to demand, I've scheduled a second Code Craft & AI workshop on Tues Oct 6th at 18:45 BST. Join me and learn how classic software engineering principles and practices are not just compatible with AI, but *essential* It's funny how that turned out 🙂 www.tickettailor.com/events/codem...

Register – Code Craft & AI – Zoom

Code Craft & AI – Zoom, Multiple dates and times - September 1st 18:45 BST SOLD OUT October 6th 18:45 BST £99 + UK VAT Large-scale studies by the DevOps Research & Assessm...

tickettailor.com

On waiting, digital and where the state chooses to operate - an extended version of the preface to Platformland: https://richardpope.org/2026/07/20/on-waiting-digital-and-where/

‘Anthropic described the project as “our effort to disruptively scan all the world’s books” in an internal memo, which noted “we do not want it to be known that we are pursuing this project”.’

Eli Valley@elivalley.bsky.social · last wk.

Dystopia www.news.com.au/technology/o...

Football should be for everyone - and that means clubs taking a stand, authorities prosecuting hate crimes, and allies continuing to make their voices heard. Let's kick it out.

Big news in the Washington Post. Scotland's top rate of tax lost £30bn in revenue. An impressive feat when all of Scottish tax comes to about £20bn.

New story on Reform's finances from @annaisaac.bsky.social 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

We really do have to stop burning ALL forms of fossil fuels as soon as possible. “2026 is just the beginning,” Professor Rockström added. “It will inevitably get worse. It will get worse and worse and worse to the point where, I’m afraid, we’ll be passing the limits of adaptation.”

Summer of Heat, Fires and Storms Is a Reckoning for Europe on Climate (Gift Article)

The continent is experiencing some of its biggest fires and highest temperatures ever. Residents are fleeing, leaders are struggling to respond and “it will get worse,” one climate expert said.

nytimes.com

It was already unpleasantly warm when I put the bins out at 05:30. Look after yourselves today Factor 30, hat, carry water with you and do not over exert yourself

Early #TypoOfTheDay Shitdown

“carefree” 😒 I like @doctorow.pluralistic.net ‘s take

Suspended Reform UK MP James McMurdock had two of his companies blocked from winding up because they had failed to pay back taxpayer-backed Covid loans, The Times can reveal after a 20-month FOI battle. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Suspended Reform MP’s company closures halted over Covid loans

Disclosure over the businesses of James McMurdock raises further questions about candidate vetting and financial conduct

thetimes.com

Just over 2 months to go until the 15th edition of Agile Cambridge (UK). Event programme: agilecambridge.net/programme-2026 Keynotes: Geoff Watts, Jenny Martin and Alicia Juarrero: agilecambridge.net/keynotes 1&2 day tickets, including freelancer tickets: agilecambridge.net/tickets

Agile Cambridge

Agile Cambridge 2026 - the UK's longest-running practitioner-led agile and lean conference. 15th edition, Wednesday 30 September and Thursday 1 October 2026, Churchill College, Cambridge University.

agilecambridge.net

I’d like to thank the London Fire Brigade, who responded to more than 1,300 incidents over the weekend. Every preventable fire puts lives, homes and wildlife at risk. Please help keep London safe.

London Fire Brigade called to 1300 emergencies over hot weekend

LFB said firefighters attended 1,345 incidents across London, including a grass fire in Rainham.

bbc.co.uk

Shaping how AI changes work in London: The report of the London AI and Jobs Taskforce www.london.gov.uk/programmes-s...

Classic #TypoOfTheDay brian dump

It’s been 10 years since I published Building Successful Communities of practice…. To celebrate I’ve published a second edition. Currently at a special price to pre-order (UK only) hellotacit.com/building-suc...

Building Successful Communities of Practice Second Edition (pre-order)

Pre-order the second edition of Building Successful Communities of Practice.

hellotacit.com

Manchester Local Team: Based in or near Manchester to lead on-site planning, including venue hunting, site visits, and local logistics like catering. If you are interested, please reply below and let us know which team you are interested in joining. Please share! Thanks! 🙏

The next UK Gov Camp is heading to Manchester, our most voted location from last year. We are looking for people to join the organising team in two key areas: General Admin Team: Helping with overall admin remotely , such as ticketing, volunteer management, comms and engagement.

Crikey. 50% of tickets sold in 4 days. This might be the only evidence-based training workshop on AI-assisted software development, and I'd figured very few folks want to hear it. Perhaps I've been spending too much time on LinkedIn. www.tickettailor.com/events/codem...

Register – Code Craft & AI – Zoom

Code Craft & AI – Zoom, Tue 1 Sep 2026 - Tuesday Sept 1st 18:45 BST £99 + UK VAT Large-scale studies by the DevOps Research & Assessment group, CircleCI, Faros and others show an undeniable pictu...

tickettailor.com

🇪🇸 The fires across Spain this week are an important warning to the rest of the world. Act now on climate change or face a devastating and destructive future.

Mapped: Spain braces for 47C as tourist hotspots warned over record-breaking heat

Authorities have issued warnings for extreme weather as the country faces the third heatwave of the summer thanks to a ‘

independent.co.uk

#TypoOfTheDay Likelihoof

⚠️ There is a worrying trend of people who have been convicted of previous violence against women and girls using far-right gatherings as a way of acting violently within a group. ❌ These people do not represent Britain. Rallies such as Tommy Robinson's only bring division and hatred.

Most people arrested during Henry Nowak protests had been reported for domestic abuse

Exclusive: Hampshire police data reveals 22 of 37 detained had been accused or convicted of intimate partner violence

theguardian.com

It is genuinely bizarre that we’ve become acclimatized to right wingers throwing a tantrum every time a black person (particularly a black woman) is cast in something, but are also supposed to pretend that this is not racism but related to some other substantive concern.

When the story of why humanity didn't stop climate change is written, it will feature front pages like this. Even as the skies blacken with climate change-induced wildfires, right wing media continue their relentless crusade against measures to tackle it.