Neil Schofield-Hughes
@neilschofield.bsky.social
Retired Civil Servant, choral singer, opera lover. Left, green, liberal. The moment this choir practice ends the revolution begins. European, Cymro o ddewis, annibyniaeth 🏴🇪🇺
I think it’s becoming increasingly obvious that Burnham and those around him are just not intellectually across any of this. It’s just so much ill-informed word salad.
The SNP@snp.org · 4h agoAndy Burnham called for “practical measures, not constitutional changes” when faced with an indyref request. Yet now he says he'll change the constitution...
So far. Today. It’s like listening to a stroppy child inventing ever more outlandish excuses for doing or saying something they know deep down is foolish or wrong, but they won’t give in.
Ian Dunt@iandunt.bsky.social · 4h agoHere are the stupidest things Kemi Badenoch has said so far today inews.co.uk/opinion/kemi...
And yet we’re told that people peacefully holding placards opposing genocide are terrorists…
Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · yesterdayLeaders 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.
The answer lines in reactions to the death of Rod Liddle - a man who used his privileged position to insult, stigmatise, bully, belittle. In other words, an obnoxious oaf. But to his MSM journalist chums, he was funny and clever. And these are the same people who give Farage a free pass.
Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · yesterdayHow the hell have journalists allowed Farage and Yusuf to pretend that their Royal Navy idea is a ‘humanitarian’ mission if ‘innocent’ immigrants are taken back to France, but a full-scale war-like ‘invasion’ of ‘illegals’ if coming our way? I mean, seriously. Please don’t be this hopeless…
Yes, the climate science denial is obvious. But every time I see one of these quasi-militaristic monsters on a city street, I ask myself - what does it say about the psychological motivations of the owner? Or of the society and economy that fetishises them? And my answer deeply chilling.
George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 2d agoClimate science denial in physical form. The Land Rover Defender X (yup - they've gone full Musk). Price: £103,460, plus a few kids' lives. 🧵
The same people who have been telling us "we can't stop climate change, instead we must adapt" have been hammering our capacity to adapt, through their promotion of austerity. What they're really saying is "keep burning fossil fuels for the sake of our donors". www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Exactly this. And we in Cymru and Scotland know that even if Westminster managed to negotiate the legal minefield of a written constitution, it would not respect our aspirations. It would be used to confine and constrain us. We want to build our own states and write our own constitutions.
Chasbell 🏴🇮🇪🇮🇹🇨🇦@chasbell.bsky.social · yesterday
I wonder whether our new @plaidcymru.bsky.social Welsh Government has considered establishing a Welsh state-owned electricity producer using this technology, generating revenue for a sovereign wealth fund (to be fair, I don’t know whether it has the powers, but it certainly should).
Bylines Network@bylinesnetwork.co.uk · last mo.As Britain swelters through another heatwave, few people will have heard that ministers have quietly dropped plans for solar carports. Cars cooler in summer. Shelter from the rain in winter. Clean electricity all year round. A missed opportunity? @eastangliabylines.co.uk
Exactly this. Data centres do not create long term jobs, once construction is over. But they do provide long term profits that are essentially extracted from the communities where they are sited. The only growth they bring is in corporate profit.
AgentJoeMcJoe 🇺🇸@joemcjoe11.bsky.social · 5d agoFYI. I've been in data centers. The ONLY people that work those buildings are the security people. 1st class!! The techs come in, replaces servers that fail and leave. They work for the companies. They drive in, find the broken server pull it out of the rack, put a new one in. And drive away.
The trouble with this - as we in Cymru know - is that not-for-profit water still means the inefficiencies and poor environmental performance of commercial provision. A run-down water industry needs the kind of investment that only public ownership can bring. Profits are only part of the problem.
Chris@oakymoron.bsky.social · 4d agoToo right The only people who have not had enough of corporate greed are Reform and the Tories Water privatisation has failed in protecting the consumer and the environment Moreover the Environment Agency is not fit for purpose www.theguardian.com/business/202...
There was a brilliant report published by @neweconomics.bsky.social in 2009 called “A Bit Rich” pointing out that if you took a holistic view of the economic contributions of different occupations you would reach the same conclusion.
George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 6d agoOur criteria for success are disastrously skewed. In my view, a successful person is one who does more good than harm, on any scale. On this measure, most billionaires are massive failures, while humble folk in my neighbourhood who look after other people are highly successful.
Your reminder that the Westminster government’s growth strategy involves building data centres in Gogledd Cymru. We’re being governed by dangerous fantasists www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Drought declared for whole of Wales amid sustained high temperatures
Wales is on course for its driest July on record in almost 190 years.
bbc.co.uk
Is psychopath the right word for people who are systematically destroying our world and our future for greed? I don’t know but we need to find a word, one that we can use for centrist politicians enabling North Sea drilling as much as shill journalists, because that is exactly what is happening.
George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 6d agoI'm not qualified to judge whether such people are psychopaths. All I can say is that they behave as if they are. From today's Telegraph.
One shouldn’t be shocked or surprised any more at Labour politicians getting off on this kind of dishonest performative cruelty, or continue to nurture any belief that they ought to be better than this. They’ve been telling us who they are loud and clear for quite a while now.
Prem Sikka@premnsikka.bsky.social · last wk.Andy Burnham to make it harder for people to claim benefits, vows to ‘get serious’ about cutting welfare bill. Silence on corporate welfare. 37.8% of Universal Credit claimants are in work. Due to hikes in retirement age, many seniors can't work, claim benefits. Women will be hardest hit.
Not forgetting Farage’s political allies who waved nooses in the faces of anti-Brexit MPs outside Parliament, while the Metropolitan Police looked on.
Raibeart #YES 🏴 🇪🇺@raibeart.bsky.social · last wk.Outrage at Zack Polanski by the scumbags in the MSM & BBC who thought joking about the execution of the FMs of Scotland was just having a larff..but that’s different eh?
Absolutely. It’s basically language to convince a Labour membership that witters on about “Labour values” and “the Labour Family” that they’re responsible for hurting the vulnerable; that they’re not really the baddies.
Zack Polanski@zackpolanski.bsky.social · last wk.One thing you can absolutely guarantee in life. When Labour ministers talk about difficult choices, it's never the rich and powerful that will be taking a hit.
The Scales ⚖️@shakethescales.bsky.social · last wk.Burnham said we have to “get really serious as a country” about reducing the amount spent on social security, before adding that he didn't want to demonise people who claimed social security, which is exactly what his carefully chosen words do... www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
I agree. I think we all saw this coming. And I suspect Burnham will be Labour’s Liz Truss. Telling the Labour faithful what they want to hear, but unable to tell the difference between performance and politics. He’ll last longer than a lettuce, but will crash and burn.
Natacha@natacha.bsky.social · last wk.Burnham announces that he is going to make life harder for people already struggling. But it’s OK because he is announcing it in “Number 10 North”. I stand by my view that he is going to be worse than Starmer.
This is horrifying. I am beginning to wonder if our political leaders will only wake up to the realities of climate collapse if there is a catastrophe on the scale of the Lisbon earthquake, with mass destruction and loss of life. When it is too late for the victims, but we all knew what was coming.
Andy Scollick@andyscollick.bsky.social · last wk.Firefighters 'overwhelmed' and 'concerned about the city of Bordeaux' (Sky News)
And of course warmer seas mean more intense winter storms. And yet Westminster is taking about more North Sea drilling. What is it going to take for our political class to wake up?
Peter du Toit@peterdutoit.com · last wk.You see everything is connected. The marine heatwaves off the coasts of Europe make heatwaves on land more intense, which in turn dries out vegetation, which then creates perfect fire weather conditions. Brought to you by the world's refusal to drastically reduce the burning of fossil fuels.
You see this frontpage and do genuinely wonder what on earth the conversation must have been between the senior editors when they were laying it out...
I do worry a lot about the future for kids, but increasingly I also worry how this is going to affect my own generation growing older. Selfishly as well as selflessly, we must act.
Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf@rahmstorf.bsky.social · 2w agoHoliday in the climate emergency. No that’s not AI or edited, just a snapshot I just took with my phone on Lacanau beach in France. What future will this boy grow up in? It is in our hands, but time is running out.
It’s worth remembering that in Cymru we had our own Constitutional Commission, set up by a Welsh Labour government, which reached a cross-party consensus that independence was viable and should be on the table. In office in Westminster Labour have dismissed it. They’ve gone backwards, rapidly.
Neil Mackay@neilmackay.bsky.social · 2w agoBurnham just made a huge mistake over Scottish independence. He stuck to the old ‘just say no’ position of his unionist predecessors. Instead he could have launched a constitutional convention and robbed the SNP of its ability to weaponise Westminster high-handedness In @heraldscotland.bsky.social
I grew up in a comfortable semi in North London, bought with the decent wage of skilled craftsman in a unionised trade (not a toolmaker, I hasten to add). I was the first in my family to go to university, for free, with a grant. That was just normal then. It’s inconceivable today.
Chasbell 🏴🇮🇪🇮🇹🇨🇦@chasbell.bsky.social · 2w agoWith their trickle down economics.
Always worth remembering that when Labour politicians talk about “building for growth” they’re really talking about building for rentier profit. No wonder they’re so hostile to @zackpolanski.bsky.social’s plans for rent controls.
Nelly Probin@lillmagill.bsky.social · 2w agoLloyd's bank are buying up thousands of new builds. Global investment giants, including Blackrock are invested in UK housing. Here's a lovely picture of Angela Rayner with CEO of the global investment giant Blackrock. 🫤
How, even in the bizarre logic and murky intellectual processes of the Unionist mind, can equalising the devolved powers of Cymru and Scotland lead to “instability”?
NationCymru@nation.cymru · 2w agoWelsh Secretary Stephen Kinnock has been criticised for saying he is not yet "entirely convinced" of the case for giving more powers to the Welsh Government
Imagine having to go to your line manager to discuss which toilet you can use. I am so sick of so-called progressive politicians who seem to think that performative humiliation of trans people - or disabled people, or those on benefits, or anyone else for that matter - is somehow acceptable.
Lisa Severn@lisasevern.uk · 2w agoWhat a stupid, pointless mess we're in Government departments must compulsorily humiliate their trans employees, and only their trans employees, whilst not outing them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ metro.co.uk/2026/07/21/t...
