drives me somewhat insane to be visibly seeing the way in which climate change is already pushing up inflation and the cost of living and causing economic as well as ecological harm while our politicians have the complete opposite conversation and act like climate *action* is the problem
The Grocer@thegrocer.bsky.social · 7d agoDrought and heatwaves continue to plague the UK Now food manufacturing bosses warn of “inevitable” price rises and the threat of #shortages across a raft of products
don’t think I can convey quite how bonkers it is that Northern Ireland’s quarterly opinion poll has found the *UUP* as the most popular Unionist party in the year 2026, what the actual fuck
Election Maps UK@electionmaps.uk · 3w agoNorthern Ireland Assembly Voting Intention: SF: 22% (-2) UUP: 16% (+3) DUP: 15% (-3) SDLP: 13% (+2) TUV: 12% (+1) ALL: 10% (-1) GRN: 5% (=) AON: 3% (=) PBP: 2% (=) Via @lucidtalk.bsky.social, July 2026. Changes w/ 9-12 Apr.
it's a great bit how Northern Ireland has loads of stuff progressive voters in the rest of the UK want - EU market access, integration of health and social care, STV at local and devolved elections, publicly-owned bus, rail, water and energy infrastructure - and has no good outcomes to show for it
Prime Minister Burnham, your Labour government is a disgrace and it’s time to resign
men’s international trophies won since the moon landing by England: zero men’s international trophies won since the moon landing by reigning British champions Northern Ireland: also zero
quite something how global forces of authoritarian nationalism are trying to destroy both the ICC and the ICC simultaneously, and will only get more extreme in pursuing both outcomes
appropriate archive newspaper clip for the week: on the day before the Hand of God game, right after the Falklands War, the Belfast Telegraph couldn't find a single person on the streets of NI who wanted England to beat Argentina
@acscricket.bsky.social What are the highest List A team totals not to contain an individual century? England's 400 against WI is the ODI record, but curious about all List A cricket, since the Northern Knights are in contention to get up there today...
negotiated my future brother-in-law’s stag do to avoid a clash with the World Cup Final which means I will be watching an English quarter-final in a World Cup, in England, surrounded by English people please send thoughts and prayers
really curious why the modern SNP are so poor at parliamentary by-elections - since 2007 they've fought 13, won only four, and lost four seats they were defending failure of the party machinery? or is it something about their modern coalition?
@finalwordcricket.bsky.social @geofflemon.bsky.social just because this was pod areas and got mentioned before - today Australia played their 24th bilateral ODI of the World Cup cycle, the same number as under the ODI Super League - only scheduled for 34, fewer than India (38), SA (38) and NZ (40)
HOLLY CAIRNS FOR TAOISEACH, MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING IT
Gavan Reilly@gavreilly.com · 2mo agoPOLL: Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks (June 5, MoE 2.5%) Sinn Féin 20 (-2 in five weeks) Fine Gael 19 (+2) Fianna Fáil 17 (-1) Social Democrats 12 (+3) Ind Ireland 9 Aontú 6 (-1) Labour 3 (-1) Greens 3 PBP-Solidarity 2 Inds/others 10
Labour defending Twitter is a good example of why they are so ineffective in government: utterly unwilling to take decisions which have any controversy attached.
Roland Smith@rolandmcs.bsky.social · 2mo agoLammy says he doesn't think the Govt should come off X because that's where a lot of people get their information. FFS.
this is good, particularly because it is rooted in real experiences, but also because it points towards support for the way out of this mess, which is through new legislation
Liberal Democrats@libdems.org.uk · 3mo agoThe new EHRC Code of Practice is not fit for purpose. It does not provide clear guidance or do enough to protect everyone from discrimination, and it is not compatible with longstanding British values. @EdDavey.LibDems.org.uk and @MarieCGoldman.bsky.social have written to Bridget Phillipson. ⬇️
the developing centrist consensus in British politics and political journalism is that attempting to do anything about this visible climate breakdown is stupid, and caring about it a lot is a fringe, unserious perspective
MetJam@metjam.co.uk · 3mo agoOxford, the longest running continuous weather station in UK history, with temperature observations stretching back to 1815, has preliminarily broken its maximum temperature record for May yesterday by OVER 3ºC with a temperature of 33.7ºC. Unprecedented in its 211-year history.
the real-world impact of awful policies matters far more than the short-term politics but it is important to note that Labour have now explicitly broken pledges in their 2024 manifesto to "remove indignities for trans people" they were either lying making this pledge or are lying now
LATEST BY-ELECTION POLLING
Gavan Reilly@gavreilly.com · 3mo agoPOLL: Irish Times/TG4/Ipsos B&A Galway West by-election (May 8-12, MoE 4%) J Boylan (SF) 21 D Ennis (SD) 18 G Hutch 14 R McAdam (FG) 13 J Horner (GP) 8 M Steenson 7 R O'Dea (Lab) 6 J Stephens (FF) 4 E Ó Ceannabháin (PBPS) 3 others 1 or less www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
at least this week we can all take our minds off the global rise of fascism, the unpicking of social progress, the moral cowardice of European leaders, and the fragility of democratic systems to hostile bad actors with *checks notes* the Eurovision Song Contest ah, shite
idle post-election thought: Holyrood 2026 might be the last-ever Scottish election where the Scottish Greens do not field a full slate of candidates in Scotland's major cities
hitting 10 MSPs is great psychologically, but this result is also good for avoiding the gender balance of the LD Holyrood group being extremely bad - before this election, there had only been four female Lib Dem MSPs in the devolution era
Scottish Liberal Democrats@scotlibdems.org.uk · 3mo ago🚨 LIB DEM GAIN - Highlands and Islands Congratulations to Morven-May MacCallum on being elected as the Liberal Democrat MSP for the Highlands and Islands! Our 10th MSP elected!
Paul O’Kane, Scottish Labour’s Equalities spokesperson, went out of his way to pander to a journalistic class opposed to LGBT rights as a whole, and lost anyway
Michael@michaeljsc.bsky.social · 4mo agowhen you’re in an equivocating contest and your opponent is in Scottish Labour
Edinburgh and Lothians East has an MSP using they/them pronouns and an MSP who is a prison abolitionist, looking forward to the total meltdown from 90% of Scotland's political journalists at the idea that social liberalism might be popular
Ballot Box Scotland@ballotbox.scot · 3mo agoEdinburgh and Lothians East Region: List MSP Allocation #1: Kate Nevens (Green) #2: Angela Ross (Reform UK) #3: Irshad Ahmad (Labour) #4: Miles Briggs (Conservative) #5: Q Manivannan (Green) #6: Katherine Sangster (Labour) #7: Kayleigh Kinross-O'Neill (Green)
hey @angusrobertson.bsky.social, since you're fond of them, I made you an Edinburgh Central bar chart, I think this one is a bit more accurate that the ones your campaign was putting out?
Holyrood elections are simple, everyone casts their votes, we find out the national result, and then Jackie Baillie wins Dumbarton anyway
Ballot Box Scotland@ballotbox.scot · 3mo agoDumbarton (West Scotland) Constituency Vote (vs 2021): LAB: 12747 (39.8%, -6.5) SNP: 10961 (34.2%, -8.3) RUK: 5040 (15.7%, New) CON: 1368 (4.3%, -4) LD: 1196 (3.7%, +1.9) OTHx2: 711 (2.2%) Valid Turnout: 56.8% Labour HOLD- RD
don't see a route to an SNP majority now, they simply aren't going to win in enough constituencies
Ballot Box Scotland@ballotbox.scot · 3mo agoDumfriesshire (South Scotland) Constituency Vote (vs 2021): CON: 11370 (34.8%, -12.9) SNP: 10262 (31.4%, -6.3) RUK: 5783 (17.7%, New) LAB: 3364 (10.3%, -1.1) LD: 1660 (5.1%, +1.9) SCP: 200 (0.6%) Valid Turnout: 51.6% Conservative HOLD - TG
it's a great bit how on the island of Ireland there is the Labour Party, the Social Democrats, and also the Social Democratic and Labour Party, but they won't all merge because the leaderships/members, in general, don't like one another
Gavan Reilly@gavreilly.com · 3mo agoIncidentally, while they now have a real reason to rally around the Connollyite vote-left-transfer-left idea, do *NOT* underestimate the rivalry between Labour and the SocDems to win this seat, especially with SD in contention in Dublin Central. Both would dearly love to surpass the other’s 11 TDs
this poll could be an outlier, but I think this gives a solid theory for potential SNP (and Reform) underperformance compared to some polls: undecided voters breaking late to mainstream Unionist parties, particularly in marginal seats, and the Green list vote holding up
Ballot Box Scotland@ballotbox.scot · 4mo agoNew Scottish Parliament poll, Norstat 27-28 Apr (vs 30 Mar - 1 Apr): List: SNP ~ 28% (-2) Lab ~ 17% (nc) RUK ~ 17% (+2) Con ~ 14% (+4) Grn ~ 12% (nc) LD ~ 10% (nc) Constituency: SNP ~ 36% (+2) Lab ~ 20% (+1) RUK ~ 16% (+1) Con ~ 14% (+3) LD ~ 11% (+1) Grn ~ 1% (-7)
