First-hand from Gaza: medic Dr James Smith (UCL) via @bylinetimes.bsky.social @goldbergradio.bsky.social. “Constant fear..65%Gaza occupied by Israeli troops..200+weekly ‘security incidents’-mostly airstrikes..abject living cons..peace plan means nothing” Podcast 👉 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

Between the 1970s and 1990s the UK state made a strategic bet to expand Higher Ed. They poured in untold billions of your money. Now it's been handed over to private creditors to burn in a furnace. Then they just laugh at you: at all the taxes you've ever paid or will ever pay. True story. (2/2)

Few people understand that the UK university system is in crisis, but even fewer realise that many of the people losing their jobs are amongst the best in their fields

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · 3d ago

So it's farewell to the History subject area at the University of Hertfordshire, not the first nor the last to go. One of the best departments in the country, just extinguished like a snap of the fingers. Think of the waste. (1/2)

92% of terror arrests in Britain are now for alleged Palestine Action supporters The cohort has an average age of 59 and an even gender split between men and women, but outside of Palestine Action-related arrests, the vast majority of terror suspects are male with an average age of 31

A Home Office report said Palestine Action-related arrests had caused a demographic shift in terror suspects, making them more likely to be white, British and female, and with a “considerably altered age profile” The average terror suspect is now a white Brit in late 50s, with an even gender split

The number of terror-related arrests in Britain has risen 1,200% a year following the ban of Palestine Action The number of people arrested for holding signs - under a law originally designed for IRA uniforms - is higher than total terror arrests over the previous decade inews.co.uk/news/retired...

How retired teachers, nurses and vicars became Britain's newest terror suspects

Majority of suspects arrested for holding signs reading 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action' at protests against the ban

inews.co.uk

It’s awful, & frightening. Herts, Exeter, Sheffield, Lampeter, Cardiff… Curtailing critical thinking is a critical error! I’m working so hard on my PhD, whilst having to deal with the very real possibility that I won’t be able to get a UK job in A&H academic research afterwards, it sucks😞

If you're arriving at uni this autumn, or maybe dropping your kids, remember that there could be a ghostly phalanx of absent redundant staff, lost modules and degraded degrees making it a very unhappy place. It may *look* the same, but it won't *be* the same. www.ft.com/content/e5b0...

Several UK universities nearly ran out of cash last year, says report

Almost a quarter of higher education institutions were left with less than 70 days of cash to cover costs

ft.com

We are shocked that Palestine Action barrister faces contempt proceedings | Letters

*When* you got onto the housing ladder is absolutely critical for this.

John Burn-Murdoch@jburnmurdoch.ft.com · 5d ago

New from me: Until recently, the gap between comfortably-off and just-getting-started could plausibly be crossed in a decade or two of hard work. Growth in asset prices means that’s no longer true: even a lifetime of striving doesn’t offer a realistic prospect of feeling you’ve “made it”.

The statement on Devolution is quite something. This is very important.

@andyburnham.bsky.social could stop this nonsense and free up police, cell space and court time. Almost 3000 people have been processed by a creaking system and cost authorities £millions no doubt. Because of Starmer. Burnham should do better

Saul Staniforth@saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 6d ago

Just sitting on the pavement and clapping is now terrorism. Not saying anything, not holding or displaying any signs, just sitting on the pavement & clapping. Andy Burnham can stop this. But he isn't. Reporting by Steven Methven for @novaramedia.com

This Cabinet statement on Rewiring the State is fascinating, has clarity about what it is trying to (and the challenges therein) and is full of goodies for place-based advocates like me...

Rewiring the State – Cabinet Statement (HTML)

gov.uk

Think our basic rights are safe? In the age of oligarchs and corporate lobbying, think again | George Monbiot

I can’t believe these arrests are still happening - the new PM could end this utterly absurd proscription if he chose. As Jonathon Porritt says - trying to save lives is not terrorism. Exposing this government’s complicity in genocide is not terrorism

Defend Our Juries@defendourjuries.bsky.social · 6d ago

NEW: Sir Jonathon Porritt, arrested under Terrorism law outside Westminster Magistrates Court. As police escorted him away he said "I am a supporter of Palestine Action, trying to save lives is not terrorism, exposing this Governments complicity in genocide is not terrorism." www.wedonotcomply.org

HISTORIC DAY EUROPEAN CLIMATIC HISTORY REWRITTEN Hundreds and Hundreds of records pulverized allover Europe in Spain,France,Switzerland,Austria,Liechtenstein,Germany,Denmark,Poland,Czechia,etc... 30 July 2026 marks the history of European climatic history. Wait for MANY UPDATES

NEW: Sir Jonathon Porritt, arrested under Terrorism law outside Westminster Magistrates Court. As police escorted him away he said "I am a supporter of Palestine Action, trying to save lives is not terrorism, exposing this Governments complicity in genocide is not terrorism." www.wedonotcomply.org

Are British graduates being conned? | Opinion

Israel is a pariah state #FreePalestine

Paul Eric@pauleric70.bsky.social · last wk.

The possible next Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett, says that under his leadership, Palestinians will not be recognized as a state and will not be allowed to establish their own country. He says all of the land belongs to Israel alone.

My lawyer faces jail over a speech to jurors – a first in English history – as the state seeks to silence Palestine solidarity www.opendemocracy.net/palestine-ac...

I was sentenced as a terrorist. Now my barrister is on trial for defending me

My lawyer faces jail over a speech to jurors – a first in English history – as state seeks to silence Palestine solidarity

opendemocracy.net

UN report: hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza lack access to a functioning school - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/un-report-hundreds-thousands-children-gaza-lack-access-functioning

UN report: hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza lack access to a functioning school

<article data-history-node-id="445103" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/un-report-hundreds-thousands-children-gaza-lack-access-functioning" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/un-report-hundreds-thousands-children-gaza-lack-access-functioning" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">UN report: hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza lack access to a functioning school</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p style="line-height:1.38">A new mapping by the United Nations Satellite Centre (Unosat) has found that Gaza’s temporary schools are failing to keep pace with needs, leaving hundreds of thousands of children without access to a functioning school.</p> <p>The analysis found that, as of 30 June, only 613 temporary learning spaces have been built to serve roughly 770,422 children across Gaza, with just 432,701 currently enrolled.</p> <p>North Gaza, Gaza City and parts of Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah showed the most strain due to dense populations of displaced Palestinians far outstripping available classroom space.</p> <figure role="group" class="media-block"> <div class="group-inner"> <div alt="Children stand at the site of a reported Israeli strike on a displacement camp in Al-Mawasi, south of Khan Yunis, on June 27, 2026 Bashar Taleb / AFP" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="5ced4a0d-395d-424d-a603-fab7d3f666e5" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"> <img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/000_B8HY9EP.jpg" width="1920" height="1080" alt="Children stand at the site of a reported Israeli strike on a displacement camp in Al-Mawasi, south of Khan Yunis, on June 27, 2026 Bashar Taleb / AFP" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"> </div> <figcaption>Children stand at the site of a reported Israeli strike on a displacement camp in Al-Mawasi, south of Khan Yunis, on 27 June 2026 (Bashar Taleb/AFP)</figcaption> </div> </figure> <p><span style="background: url(&quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"><img height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p> </div> </div> </article>

middleeasteye.net

Well done to the anonymous billionaire family on‑shoring their wealth! 👏 But banking in Guernsey instead of Gateshead shouldn’t save you £0.8bn a year in tax. Paying for the investment the UK needs starts with closing tax havens. spearswms.com/wealth/briti...

Investors in UK companies reap record dividends. Dividends to UK shareholders taxed at lower rates than wages. No national insurance paid. Unlike the USA, UK doesn't have withholding tax on dividends to foreign investors. Those holed-up in offshore tax havens escape tax altogether.

Record dividend payouts as banking and mining flourish

Total payouts, which include special dividends, climbed 2.5 per cent in the year to the three months analysed, but regular dividends soared 7.4 per cent.

thisismoney.co.uk

Dictatorship Britain. This should be of concern to all.

Declassified UK@declassifieduk.org · last wk.

👉NEW -- Five more Palestine activists could be sentenced as terrorists by John McEvoy Defendants were not told criminal damage case could carry a terrorism connection until after they were found guilty www.declassifieduk.org/five-more-pa...

Israel planning ‘extensive’ military operation in West Bank after settler attack

Here's a graphic that shows the number of days per year that the planet reached a global surface temperature at or above 17.0°C from January 1, 1940 to July 22, 2026. For context, before 2023, it is likely that the last time the planet was above 17.0°C was more than 120,000 years ago.

Holding Govts to Ransom JP Morgan boss warns of ‘consequences’ if Burnham taxes banks. Warns of capital flight, lower investment. Can't recall bankers objecting to bailouts, quantitative easing, subsidies. They want obedient govts. Who governs? People v Corporations.

JP Morgan boss warns of ‘consequences’ if Burnham taxes banks

Higher taxes on sector could threaten plan for £3bn headquarters in London, says Jamie Dimon

theguardian.com

The Government knows climate change will affect schools. Its own research says so. So why have ministers left it out of the new statutory safeguarding guidance? Kit Marie Rackley reports #EduSky

New school safeguarding guidance has a climate blind spot

The latest safeguarding guidance has some strengths, but its silence on climate risk leaves schools to join the dots themselves

eastangliabylines.co.uk

We’ve lost the capacity to care, private equity (PE) cashing in. 81,770 looked-after children in England, up 18% since 2015 Foster carers down 10.4% since 2021. People not fostering - low incomes, poor housing, low govt help. Fostering financialised. PE profiteering. What future for children?

'We've lost the capacity to care and private equity is cashing in' - LabourList

We are already paying for the crisis in children's care; we are just paying the wrong people. It's time to properly fund care.

labourlist.org

When people voted for those who sought extremely punishing sentences for drug use, did that make the problem better or worse? Were there fewer drug users or more? Did the gangs become less powerful or more? Stop doing the same thing and expecting a different result! Vote for real change!!!

Farrukh@implausibleblog.bsky.social · 3w ago

Ranvir Singh, "Are you still as a party in favour of legalising drugs, and how would that benefit society?" Zack Polanski, "Yes we are. The war on drugs is failing. It's pushing people with addiction to drugs into back alleys, that's fuelling gangs able to sell these drugs"