Hi, I'm being made redundant by the University of Southampton at the end of this month. I'm desperately looking for work. I'll consider all offers but have particular skills in policy, strategy and research. I also have a consultancy service I offer. Please let me know if you hear of anything

(2/2) German technical school students learn foreign languages (I've family who are retired language teachers). Technical schools (Fachoberschule/Berufsschule) get better resources (newer equipment & technology) than grammar schools (Gymnasium) where academic kids go. UK is SO FAR from this!!!

There is a real prospect these reforms mean working-class kids struggling with English, maths and science are just told "you'll be good with your hands instead, then" - rather than being given more support for those subjects. And therefore risks *reducing* social mobility, rather than boosting it.

"The electrical installation course requires knowledge of algebra and trigonometry, plus mastery of a wiring regs handbook that is twice as long as Pride and Prejudice" Important read on vocational ed from 14. You need a really solid foundation in English, maths & science for many jobs in trades.

The problem with "parity of esteem"

Vocational education at age 14 is not the answer

substack.nomoremarking.com

"The water crisis in Gaza is engineered. The goal is to creat extreme suffering from deprivation of basic essentials needed for survival.The occupation is manufacturing scarcity, they want to crush the soul, the Palestinian spirit" #TheSameerProject #Gaza

It started off with the cat bringing in birds but now it’s got completely out of hand…

August looks like Autumn when drought-stressed trees shed their leaves... 🍃 *West India Avenue, Canary Wharf

From East End to Offshore: Who is behind the Truman Brewery development? From 2023, this is who has pushed for the data centre in Brick Lane towerhamletsslice.co.uk/borough/offs...

Who is behind the Truman Brewery development? | Tower Hamlets Slice

The rise of the Zeloofs, the family who built a Brick Lane property empire, and the complex, offshore ownership of the Truman Brewery.

towerhamletsslice.co.uk

This is an Emergency. - 8 UK reservoirs drying up - UK cereal yields down by 50% - Food prices set to rise - Multiple cascade event: heat, fire, drought, reduced nutrient soil - over 3000 excess deaths The Green Party of England and Wales has a solution. www.youtube.com/live/bsTXZ2V...

Zack Polanski delivers an urgent message to the Prime Minister

YouTube video by Bold Politics with Zack Polanski

youtube.com

It's holidays. Here there are 10 videos each one labelled 'Rhyme Time' which are sequences of little poems that I recite twice to encourage under-fives to join in and learn. I indicate which books they come from. This is a great 'bridge' into literacy. www.youtube.com/c/MichaelRos...

Kids’ Poems and Stories With Michael Rosen

Official Michael Rosen Channel Every video and playlist here is approved by Michael himself. If it’s on this channel, it’s the real deal and safe for children. You may see “YTP” or “poop” remixes on...

youtube.com

Abdul El-Sayed was outspent 9-to-1 by AIPAC and corporate Super PACs in the most expensive Senate Democratic primary of all time. Last night, he proved that organized people can beat organized money.

Italy to place all 27 of its major cities on highest heat alert

Italy to place all 27 of its major cities on highest heat alert

Move comes as fourth heatwave of summer intensifies, edging temperatures in some areas close to 40C Italy is to place all of its 27 major cities, from Trieste in the north to Palermo in the south, under the highest heat alert as the fourth heatwave to hit the country this summer intensifies. A red alert means there is a higher chance of an emergency owing to the health risk posed by prolonged extreme temperatures to the entire population. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Looks super normal given the Mandelson connection

Bela Lugosi's Dad 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇵🇸@belalugosisdad.bsky.social · 16h ago

Nonce

This morning I was joined by a firefighter, a medic, a former soldier and Chris Packham to call on the government to act now. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Zack Polanski demands fossil fuel giants pay for firefighting helicopters

The Green Party leader says the companies are ‘profiting from fuelling these infernos’

independent.co.uk

It’s time to act. And when we do we won’t just avoid the worst effects of climate breakdown - but we will lower bills permanently, help our communities thrive - and give a grounded sense of hope for generations to come.

Victoria Derbyshire@vicderbyshire.bsky.social · 13h ago

Zack Polanski has called for fossil fuel producers to be made to finance firefighting helicopters, following a series of recent fires across the country He also called on PM Burnham to stop new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, including the Jackdaw & Rosebank fields off the Scottish coast

Maybe Badenoch will extend similar charity and a belief in rehabilitation to Shamima Begum then ?

St. Babeoc's heath, seen in Co Mayo & Co Galway,a member of the Lusitanian flora. #wildflowerhour nice to see white form too.

The “Be Kind” mob was Jess Phillips et al, who would not say boo to these vicious wankers. She may mean the “kinder, gentler politics” people and that was about less screaming hate for benefit claimants and less racist fearmongering, it wasn’t free rein for fash columnists to fill their boots.

Mic Wright@brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 19h ago

I was wondering why I’d got 19 clickthroughs from The Daily Telegraph…

It’s insane. It’s the perfect distillation of how Brexit has epically fucked the Tory party. 10 years on and they’ve binned off every sane and thoughtful member and replaced them with simpletons, liars and lunatics. All to keep the Brexit/far right myths alive.

Outrage as approx 3 million chicken mega farm planned for quiet North Yorkshire village @chrisgpackham.bsky.social climatewithbrian.com/2026/06/23/o...

Outrage as 2.7 million chicken mega-farm proposed for quiet North Yorkshire village

Plans to build a large chicken factory farm, capable of producing 2.7 million birds each year in the village of Melmerby, near Ripon, are coming under renewed scrutiny from campaigners. Forest Poul…

climatewithbrian.com

Palantir is shifting profits from its European operations to the U.S., allowing the Florida-based data analytics giant to pay minimal taxes in Europe, a new report finds.

Palantir funnels earnings to US to avoid European taxes, report finds

A new study finds that Palantir, which boasts of high profit margins in the U.S., barely scrapes a margin in Europe, which helps slash its tax bill.

politico.eu

I think we may’ve spoilt his promo video, they were filming on my drive so I said oi you can't film there unless you pay me £5 million

In 2024 Palantir paid just £2.1m in UK corporation tax, despite declaring profits of over £25m. The UK corporation tax rate was 25% that year and remains at that level. But Palantir's effective tax rate was just over 8%. That's not right. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Palantir paid just £2m corporation tax in UK in 2024 despite lucrative public sector contracts

Software group benefits from global systems and accounting practices ‘that enable tax to be shirked’, says union boss

theguardian.com

A new report illustrates a conservative estimate of a €12m ‘tax gap’ between what Palantir pays in Europe and what they should have paid in 2024 if it hadn’t been shifting its profits abroad. euobserver.com/231360/palan...

Palantir’s EU tax tricks exposed as unions demand tougher rules on public contracts

Throught data, defence and AI, Palantir is worth €278bn. They owe the EU €12m in taxes, but member states keep indulge the multi-national's monopoly of public procurement contracts. That seems to be c...

euobserver.com

People being kept in prison for holding up signs saying they don't support genocide still in prison.

Lee Hurley@hleehurley.com · 19h ago

The figures are from the Tories, tbf. But I'm sure it's not great. But hey, ho, 'just protecting women and girls' eh...

18+ Eight people were killed at Kvitneva station in the Brovary district of Kyiv region. The train was delayed, and at the same time, Russian forces began shelling the area. The status of three other people is still unclear, and 12 are currently in hospital.

Alina Pereverzieva 🇺🇦@perevaa.bsky.social · 22h ago

1 killed, 15 injured in Kyiv. 14 killed, 27 injured in Kyiv oblast. Hell.

Reform UKs plan to use the Royal Navy to intercept migrant boats in the Channel brilliantly taken apart by ... er ... Nigel Farage

-Punched his pregnant girlfriend. -Said he would rape the kids if he was a schoolteacher. -Said chiild sex abuse porn should be legal. Allison Pearson in the Telegraph...

A data center was just shut down in Wisconsin after the town council refused to have private talks with the developer and told them everything would include public approval That’s how it’s done, folks