Seb Schmoller
@schmoller.net
Wrote/ran TUC courses for union reps. Led Sheffield College's ed tech. Led ALT. Did techish consulting. Chaired Sheffield College's Board. Now finishing a maths degree, walking a Border Collie, and facing up to heart surgery. Politics, outdoors, Sheffield.
aren't you supposed to send some patsy out in the morning to ineptly defend him then the leader steps in and boots him out before the Six?
Alex Partridge@alexpartridge87.bsky.social · 43m agoJoshua Bonehill-Paine steps back from being a Conservative council candidate following backlash
A few months ago I took art students from Croydon College on an architecture tour to help inspire forms for this beautiful floor painting outside the college. Thanks to Art Streets UK, Iona Hodgson, Atma Studios, Culture Croydon and Cat Loriggio for involving me into your lovely project
Well worth reading, by @drodrik.bsky.social: "Whether we like it or not, the future of jobs lies in largely non-traded, labour absorbing activities such as retail, food services, hospitality, care and other personal services. The Left cannot evade this reality." open.substack.com/pub/futureof...
The Left must focus on where the jobs will be, not where it wishes they would be
A series on the politics of production.
open.substack.com
That Joshua Bonehill-Paine is a suitable Tory candidate but Grant Shapps and Gavin Barwell have been excluded is quite a good indicator of how many seats the Tories will realistically regain at the next election.
The sentencing remarks for someone Kemi Badenoch is allowing to stand as a Conservative candidate.
Samantha Asumadu@samanthaasumadu.substack.com · 20h agoThe sentencing remarks are quite something
This is *such* a revealing line about Kemi's world view and contempt for those who do the day to day work of keeping our society functioning
Quite impressive to completely undermine your own defence and insult most of your party's elected officials in the same sentence.
Chris Terry-Enescu@cjterry.bsky.social · 8h agoIt's OK for criminal ex-neo Nazis to run your bins is a hell of a line.
No party should select as a candidate for any office someone with the past extremist convictions (in both senses) of the man Kemi Badenoch is backing. It makes no difference whether it's for a council, any devolved assembly, or Parliament. It's all public power of some kind.
This would be rare here - a sign of the depth of the drought. Rabbits normally have no need to drink water - they are surrounded by pastures & hedgerows filled with green grass & juicy vegetation. Now the fields are scorched brown and dry - birds & animals & insects face dehydration. #Droughts
Almost *everything* you see in this format, whether infinite power cubes or solar powered houses for the homeless that fold out of suitcases or French "bread libraries" for the poor is liberal catnip bullshit by content farms. Stop being idiots. Thank you.
❗️Zelensky: Today, many were shocked by another video of the Russian drone safari against people in Kherson. The man was injured by the explosion. The world must see this. It must see every fact that Russia has gone mad, and every fact that the Russian military enjoys killing and mocking people.
Shooting interests & the rightwing press want to exploit the wildfires to reinstate moorland burning. But you don't fight fire with fire. You fight it with water. This wildfire in Wales' Elan Valley in May stopped abruptly when it reached re-wetted peat bogs: www.walesfarmer.co.uk/news/2614875...
A long-memoried piece by Peter Hyman. Well worth reading: substack.com/@peterhyman2... [The introduction's description of how Tomlinson's recommendations were dropped is eye-opening as well as depressing.]
Burnham Should Finish What Blair Abandoned
A modern version of Sir Mike Tomlinson’s blueprint for 14–19 education offers a route out of today’s NEET and technical-skills crisis.
substack.com
My only argument with this excellent thread is its use of the Spanish right's 60,000 number rather than the Spanish government's 50,000. But that is obviously inadvertent rather than deliberate.
John Springford@johnspringford.bsky.social · 2d agoGood piece. A thread on some comments I made yesterday on Times Radio. Two things can be true at the same time: 1. It’s very bad to have 60,000 people storm a border, and 70+ deaths. 2. European leaders' responses were opportunistic and disproportionate, and made incidents like this more likely.
It is worth noting that Suella Braverman was the Attorney General, the government’s most senior legal advisor. One might have thought that, given her status, and regardless of politics, she should be competent at the law. But:
It was always unlawful, under the Highways Act 1980. But I don't suppose Suella would know that, being a lawyer, MP and former Attorney General.
Zia Yusuf is coming ever so close to noticing that the ECHR does not prohibit or prevent state action - armed forces, police, prisons, border controls - when it is for a proper + legitimate purpose, conducted in accordance with fundamental rights to fair process, to not be tortured, and so on.
"The task before us is to connect technical and academic education more effectively.......The education systems that will best serve individuals, employers and the UK will be those that make lifelong learning the default." This piece by Anthony Finkelstein is really well worth reading:
profserious@profserious.bsky.social · 3d agoOn Technical Education ... hard hat and graduation cap. Technical education merits greater recognition. But it is not the opposite of academic education. @profserious.bsky.social considers profserious.substack.com/p/on-technic...
Topical and particularly interesting post (Curlews, the changing nature of moorland wildfire control, creature-counting around Shire Brook) by David @bbobillsmothers.bsky.social Bocking: open.substack.com/pub/abitblac...
Sunday at Bill's Mother's: 2nd August 2026
Damping down the fires. Call out for Curlew wall. Creature counts.
open.substack.com
A well-argued and evidence-based critique of the Government's "technical education at 14" plans, by @samfr.bsky.social: substack.com/@samf/note/p...:
Burnham's first mistake
The problem with his education plan
substack.com
Here is my assessment of the Greater Manchester mayoral election kellnerp.substack.com/p/relief-for...
Relief for Labour: trouble for Reform
Lessons from Britain’s biggest ever by-election
kellnerp.substack.com
Just thinking back to this Green leaflet.
Election Maps UK@electionmaps.uk · 5d agoGreater Manchester Mayoral By-Election Result: 🌹 Craig | LAB: 47.2% ➡️ Astley | RFM: 21.0% 🌍 Coggins | GRN: 12.2% ◼️ West | RES: 8.7% 🌳 Eckersley | CON: 7.7% 🔶 Kilpatrick | LDM: 2.2% 🙋 Farmer | Ind: 0.6% 2nd Round: 🌹 Craig | LAB: 66.3% ➡️ Astley | RFM: 33.7% Labour HOLD.
I wish the Conservatives were as alarmed as I am about them finishing *behind Restore* in the Greater Manchester byelection.
A well-argued and evidence-based critique of the Government's "technical education at 14" plans, by @samfr.bsky.social: substack.com/@samf/note/p...:
Burnham's first mistake
The problem with his education plan
substack.com
What A Circle With 5,000km Radius Centred On Paris Looks Like On A Mercator Map brilliantmaps.com/5000km-ra...
57 people have died in the chaotic scenes on the Spanish border with Morocco. After 50,000 people entered Spain from Morocco, over 9/10 (approx 96%) have returned to Morocco
Jorge Liboreiro@jorgeliboreiro.bsky.social · 5d agoUpdate: over 48,300 people have returned from Ceuta to Morocco. About 1,700 people are still in Ceuta.
