Sam Wakeling
@samwake.bsky.social
Loves streets. Make them safe. Set them free. Sheffield. Abolition. Works at Living Streets. Free free 🍉 🔗 sam.wakeling.me
Whether or not Burnham approves more North Sea oil and gas, he’s already shown who he works for. The idea that selling fossil fuels is to offer a “resource” to anyone who is “struggling” is a core argument of the fossil industry. Getting a PM to echo this is a win. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Burnham says he told Trump UK will be pragmatic about North Sea oil
Andy Burnham says he told the US president he couldn't ignore North Sea resources when people are struggling.
bbc.co.uk
Here it is. My manifesto for the 2026 Clacton By-Election. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Join me, clean up Clacton and let's make 13th August Bin Day! #VoteBinface #VoteyMcVoteface #YesWeTinCan
In the first 99 years of temperature records Bordeaux had one day over 40C (in 2003). In the 6 years from 2019, it had 5 days over 40C. This year it has had 6 days so far.
Nahel Belgherze@wxnb.bsky.social · 5d agoBordeaux, France, has now recorded more days above 40°C in 2026 alone than during the entire 105-year period from 1920 (when observations began) to 2025. This is deeply shocking.
“I want to make this the best place in the country for kids when it comes to walking, wheeling and cycling” 🤩 Mayor of South Yorkshire lining up with West Mids Kids’ Streets. Great to hear. We need to get involved to make it happen… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Mayor Oliver Coppard hopes to make South Yorkshire 'safest place for kids'
The mayor of South Yorkshire has been answering questions on BBC Radio Sheffield's Call Coppard phone-in.
bbc.co.uk
As the Road Safety Investigation Branch sets up, what if it aimed to replace the police as documenters of crashes on our roads? Rather than bake in the biases of police officers to our basic data, why not have specialists do it?
What counts as unnecessary pavement obstruction? As I walked down here, someone else was walking up. We would have passed beside the van, but they stepped aside to wait to avoid squeezing past. Obstruction doesn’t just mean whether one person can get through.
“I will put the care of people at the heart of everything I do.” Huge if true. And not easy with the pressure of govt to prioritise money over life. For me, care means choosing not to sacrifice people to spare the pockets of the wealthy.
Friends of the Earth@friends-earth.bsky.social · 2w agoAndy Burnham reinstating the £2 bus cap is commendable and will help ease the cost of living. But funding it by reducing financial support for countries least responsible for the climate crisis - replacing climate grants with debt-creating loans – is a travesty. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
In case you didn’t have enough reasons to love Spanish football, here’s some more wholesome content of the male players paying their respects to the women’s team, which also won the world cup www.instagram.com/reel/DbEsgxe...
Has he been given enough of a chance yet? If this is how he wants to show his intentions then this doesn’t look good.
Friends of the Earth@friends-earth.bsky.social · 2w agoAndy Burnham reinstating the £2 bus cap is commendable and will help ease the cost of living. But funding it by reducing financial support for countries least responsible for the climate crisis - replacing climate grants with debt-creating loans – is a travesty. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
I’ve talked to a lot of people living near motorways for work and there are sometimes a few who are accepting of it like this. But more often it’s kids describing the traumatising effect of sleep deprivation and being unable to think or be outside.
The Ranty Highwayman@rantyhighwayman.bsky.social · 2w agoI think this has got to be peak #motonormitivity www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Why pick up on this and not just stay “positive” about genuine improvements? Because it seems to me one of the big reasons we aren’t addressing the harms of motoring is thinking it can be outcompeted - just more and better public transport, cycling and walking. (While adding traffic capacity…)
Sam Wakeling@samwake.bsky.social · 2w agoGood to have bus fares capped again - they should be cheap. Transport sec on media saying Bee Network buses have had 11% more passengers in a year. Great! Does that mean less car driving? No. That’s also gone up. Better, cheaper buses are essential. And they don’t mean less driving. Both true.
Good to have bus fares capped again - they should be cheap. Transport sec on media saying Bee Network buses have had 11% more passengers in a year. Great! Does that mean less car driving? No. That’s also gone up. Better, cheaper buses are essential. And they don’t mean less driving. Both true.
Minesh highlights that clean air is a class issue and is about fighting for lives. Change isn’t handed down from those with power. Indeed, SCC has had clean air “action plans” since 2003, but only did the 2023 CAZ after campaigners legally forced govt to require cities use powers they already had.
Cllr Minesh Parekh 🌹@mineshparekh.bsky.social · 2mo agoToday is #CleanAirDay. I’ve written for @thestar.co.uk about how those looking to scrap clean air measures are viewing working class lives as expendable. www.thestar.co.uk/your-world/h...
What is needed for highway redesign to be more responsive and experimental? To hear “this doesn’t work and is dangerous” and say: “Ok, let’s try this for starters” Rather than reaching for: “We agree but here’s a long list of reasons we can’t, or won’t, try any changes in your lifetime.”
That feeling when you glance out of your office window and see a bird of prey circling up and up and up on thermals in the sky above Sheffield.
The state of Argentina matches with obvious, persistent on-camera violence and next to no accountability makes the support from Israel for the Argentine team make plenty of sense.
Jason Hickel@jasonhickel.bsky.social · 2w ago
The Drawing Shop in Hillsborough’s old Wilko is such a joyful and wonderful place. Anyone can wander in and make art for free. While I quite liked Wilko, I can safely say I never wept with joy there while it was a shop. Go along if you can www.thedrawingshop.co.uk
Ambulance getting delayed for at least a minute because Hillsborough Corner prioritises traffic capacity over safety. Hope they’re okay.
“Vengeance does not make us safer, punishment does not heal.” This is not a new letter, but powerfully written and ever more relevant.
Rajan Naidu 📎 Ⓥ@rajannaidu.bsky.social · 2y agoI just sent the following letter to Shabana Mahmood, Secretary of State for Justice: Dear Shabana Mahmood I have just read the amazingly lucid and well articulated open letter from 5 women imprisoned, in my view pointlessly and maliciously, in HMP Send. theecologist.org/2025/jan/15/...
Good test for the civil society covenant, which aims to “protect the independence of civil society to hold government to account” www.gov.uk/government/p...
Civil Society Covenant
gov.uk
Nina Lakhani@ninalakhani.bsky.social · 3w ago'History will not forget complicity. Keir Starmer witnessed 73,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, including 21,000 children, and kept supplying arms to Israel.' Save the Children statement is if anything, kind to Starmer, who voiced support for war crimes www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Getting level footway at driveway crossovers could make a huge difference to many people. And given how many thousands (millions?) of them are out there already, what would a plan to retrofit better ones look like?
The Ranty Highwayman@rantyhighwayman.bsky.social · 3w agoIn the summer edition of Highways Magazine, I get back to basics and look at getting vehicle crossings right. Too many highway authorities are not doing their job right here. Digital issue available online (signup needed). www.highwaysmagazine.co.uk
Did you know a barrister is facing prison just for reminding a jury they have the right to vote with their conscience? This historic right has existed since 1670. We can't let it be silenced in court now. Add your name to help protect Britain's juries: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...
Save Britain's Juries
Juries have had the right to acquit based on their conscience for centuries. Now, a barrister is facing jail just for mentioning it in court. Add your name to help save Britain's juries.
you.38degrees.org.uk
Which is a better indicator of a safe street: - children staying on the pavement? Or - children running, scooting, skipping in the carriageway?
It’s quite striking how misinformed many of the public are. Even among Green voters only 75% understand what scientists are observing. Perhaps we should expect the media to serve their owners rather than truth. So the role of telling the truth falls to others - govt, society, church… us?
Dr. Aaron Thierry@thierryaaron.bsky.social · 3w agoOnly 40% of Brits think the recent heatwave was 'very likely' down to climate change. Yet #climate scientists say it was "virtually impossible" without human-caused warming. The link went unmentioned in nearly 3/4 of news stories, so the media is letting us down. #EndClimateSilence
I wish we replaced our posters with a "thank you for buying your ticket - it helps fund x y z. Not got one? Please speak to a member of Train Crew to get one" Then the smaller terms of penalties etc. Be welcoming, not punitive. Change rules so people approaching staff arent penalised too.
Jon Worth@jon.gruene.social.ap.brid.gy · 3w agoAnother world Vy - Norwegian operator of the Göteborg - Oslo trains - will help you get a ticket if you don’t have one Imagine if SNCF did that!
I guess people not paying the licence fee will “not materially influence” the BBC either…
Dr. Aaron Thierry@thierryaaron.bsky.social · 3w agoZeno ain't got nothing on this. How do you solve the climate crisis? Slice emissions into parts small enough that each one "won't materially influence" anything. Jackdaw is 0.02%, so it doesn't count. Run that logic on every source and the whole crisis politely disappears.
Beep boop bip beep, chhkgkgkg duuuh crchhh du duuuuu. Whuuuuuuuchk Peww.
Cllr Ed Lamb@edwardlamb.bsky.social · 3w ago"Verify your age" I had to wait till 6pm to access the internet
Great piece here, inc Snake Pass example: “the road was said to be “closed” during a period when it was in fact opened to everyone, and proclaimed “reopened” when no person or animal could safely use it…” We can all be more free when we see how much the car industry has closed down public space.
John Munro@johnmunro.bsky.social · 4w agoWhy are car-centric transport systems so difficult to undo? Because automobiles represent the dominance of private property over public space. In this @urbancyclinginstitute.org essay, I look to history to uncover how we got here. #StealingCars
