William Shakespeare wrote this speech 400 years ago about people in London wishing that immigrants go back to where they came from, performed by Sir Ian McKellen on the Stephen Colbert show:
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks#ProudBlue
England's water companies have paid £85bn in dividends.
Borrowed £82.7bn. 35% of customer covers interest payments and shareholder payouts.
Sewage in rivers, insecure water supplies. Customer complaints up 50% last year. No exec prosecuted
Govt response - abolished fines on water companies.
Private equity owns lion’s share of children’s foster services in England, ‘bleeding the sector of money’.
Profits margins of 19%. Money extracted in interest payments, intragroup charges. Children suffer.
Ban profit-taking entities from foster services.
You can absolutely build more homes where the existing services are, whilst shrinking traffic in those areas by improving public transport further. Build the homes on the roads. www.theguardian.com/cities/2023/...
“Without significant increases in the UK food system and supply chain resilience, it is unlikely the UK would be able to maintain food security if ecosystem collapse drives geopolitical competition for food.” open.substack.com/pub/climatem...
‘But we must tear ourselves away from the [Trump] spectacle, for there are other threats just as critical.’ Got up the courage to read this @georgemonbiot.bsky.social. If we’re aware, most aren’t. 30yrs since the Newbury Bypass protests, for example. If nothing else, join @greenparty.org.uk
Dans la toute nouvelle bande annonce de la comédie policière "Le Crime du 3ème étage" qui se déroule à Paris, le héros et l'héroïne sont montrés se déplaçant à vélo (et seulement à vélo !). Bon ce ne sont que trois plans mais quand même ça montre que l'image de "Paris, ville à vélo" se diffuse !
We are delighted to announce the publication of our first quarterly newsletter LifeLines: News from the Dictionary of Irish Biography.
You can read it here: mailchi.mp/ria.ie/grang...
And sign up here: mailchi.mp/d44f57115e53...
Hey, #WiltshireCountyCouncil me again. When are you going to start implementing 20mph limits across the county. Not just in random places, but all residential areas and all roads with schools and community spaces. No more consultations, just get it done.
#Wiltshire#20splenty
NEW: "Every one of us has a right to know the full, unexpurgated version of what is in this security assessment..."
I co-wrote this with @carolinelucas.bsky.social to help you understand the implications for you of the Government’s suppressed security report 👇
www.resilience.org/stories/2026...
Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Transport shapes how we live and connect, but the UK’s current system is harming public health.
FPH, RSPH and partners are backing the Bristol Declaration - calling for action to shift the UK towards healthier, more sustainable transport.
View more www.fph.org.uk/news/bristol...
We're pleased to have signed this about the many benefits (health, social and economic) from more investment in safer streets and walking, cycling and public transport.
Transport shapes how we live and connect, but the UK’s current system is harming public health.
FPH, RSPH and partners are backing the Bristol Declaration - calling for action to shift the UK towards healthier, more sustainable transport.
View more www.fph.org.uk/news/bristol...
The genius of low tech kit. Nothing compares to hot tea half way through walk on South Downs especially when it's cold and windy. Thermos in bottom of picture
This is not a new thought, obviously, but, by the time PB set off from Livorno, Mary Shelley had lost three children and suffered a near-fatal miscarriage and all the sensitive poetry lads were still like “Cheer up luv”. Worse still, some of the biographies perpetuate that tone…
I curated this exhibition and it is on at Charleston in Lewes until April. You absolutely don’t need to have read my novel to appreciate the works on show. AND It has pictures that have never been seen in public before!
Btw .. apart from indirect effects of global warming, did you know that #CarEmissions have inhibiting effects on photosynthesis of #trees through:
A) Toxicity of NOx, SO2 & ozone damaging chlorophyll.
B) Particles from exhaust settling on leaf surfaces
C) Soil acidification
#TaketheBus#Bike#Walk
The US granted visas to Jews but only allowed 30,000 in from Germany a year. You had to wait for your number to come up.
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
Another element is that even Jews who scraped together the cash and documents to flee were often refused entry by ‘safe’ nations, including the USA and U.K.
A lot of Americans are not eligible for foreign long term visas.
persephonebooks.co.uk/blogs/the-pe... The Persephone newsletter dropped by and the first story is delightful - a shared jug, swapped between friends for many years with a picture by artist Jane de Glehn in the background. Worth visiting the wonderful Persephone catalogue
*Sighs once again*.
Consultations are not referendums. We have a system of representative democracy. Those elected enact policy and consult on *how* it is enacted, not if. There are many, many good reasons why this is the case.
The Road Safety Strategy is an opportunity to address the dangers pedestrians face every day, but the vision should be for zero people to lose their lives. We should not accept that a certain number of people will die on our roads.
livingstreets.org.uk/RSScomment
“These new powers do not go far enough to protect pedestrians. It’s disappointing not to see a nationwide prohibition.”
Our @charitycat.bsky.social responds to the news that local authorities will receive legal powers to restrict pavement parking. livingstreets.org.uk/pavement-parking
Commenting as Govt launch a road safety strategy.
Every death on our roads is unacceptable. We need a Vision Zero ethos: no deaths or serious injury. Change driving culture, reject speeding, use speed-limiting tech, strengthen sentences, end ‘accident’ language. Driving is a privilege, not a right.
What about the safety of cyclists and pedestrians on rural roads? @bettertransport.bsky.social cars come charging round bends very fast and make walking on rural lanes a no-no
The new road safety strategy press release flags 2 particularly vulnerable groups - motorcyclists and pedestrian-children from deprived neighbourhoods.
The countermeasures listed only seem to deal with one, motorcyclists.
I’ll wait to see what is said about children.
www.gov.uk/government/n...
Catkins just near start of walk. My favourite name for a bus stop Hope in the Valley numbers 28 or 29 to Lewes. South Down National Park @southdownsnp.bsky.social
Also & far more urgent, reduce vehicular traffic & its lethal #emissions instead of tinkering with traffic flow!
"When you breathe them in, particles can travel deep into your bloodstream through your lungs, & to your heart which increases your risk of developing heart & circulatory diseases." BHF
I'm sharing this here, as I have on Facebook and Instagram, but there's no account on here to share from, and I just think this is wonderful.
A really good balance of design and implementation, and appears to achieve everything it set out to do, and it *SO* appeals to my inner 'work nerd'.
I can't lie: @zackpolanski.bsky.social is talking to me like no one else at the moment. Not because I'm young, naive, woke, or liberal, but because I see hope in him and a desire to at least try to create a world where love, empathy and understanding is more important than wealth, power and hate.
The Christmas gift you'll remember for life.
Put the bee in Dad's bonnet.
Once upon a time, a bicycle was considered the ultimate Christmas gift.
This is a 1948 advert - from the days when Schwinn had "Long as you own it" guarantees.
The company still has a Limited Lifetime Warranty.
Happy Holidays
You are also the traffic you loathe. You’re the bad driver you curse. You’re part of the reason roads aren’t safe for pedestrians and thus are not safe for people who *cannot* drive, either because they are too young, too old, too poor, or otherwise car-free. You’re a car addict!
Before / After Rue du Docteur Lecène, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Comparison done in February 2025 vs comparison done in October 2025, What a difference a few months make ;)
4/ I wanted to uncover if this was true
Happily, many of the Landscape Recovery projects have begun to have web presences of their own. So I pieced together this map of their rough locations, together with 37 static maps of the projects + URLs, embedded in each pin:
www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/e...
Not enough info on public transport especially buses! 77 and 79 have limited service most months of the year. However other buses run. helpful to have detailed information. E.g. 22 bus you can walk to Lewes from Brighton. Post links to bus walks. @transportaction.bsky.social
This way or that way?🤔
Looking for walk ideas? You’ll find plenty of inspiration in our Walking Hub.
Take a look: southdowns.gov.uk/walking🌲
📸: Colin Mitchell
In the 1st year of implementing a national 20mph urban/village default limit in Wales there were 630 fewer casualties. None may have been your son or daughter, but they all belonged to someone whose life has not now been devastated. #20splenty where people are. www.20splenty.org/wales_casual...
#RealTime information displays just showing a company logo are completely useless for passengers. This sign in #Kemptown#Brighton hasn't worked for months, along with *many* others in the city. Wonder how long it'll be before @brighton-hove.gov.uk manages to fix them?
🤔 Oh, this has me thinking.
2023 book, 'Traffication' covered theories of links between declines and car nos up 'til then in detail, noting often overshadowed by other causes (eg. farming practices) and how more studies needed..
1/3
The best part is seeing what happens when you give children a joyful way to start their day. They show up energized, confident, and connected. This is what happens when streets feel welcoming and movement is part of the morning routine. #BikeBus
Also cycling and biking could be massively improved, at virtually no cost, by turning many rural lanes into green routes with a maximum speed of 15 mph. Lots of lanes duplicate other routes. @transportaction.bsky.social
That's a bit of a black and white opinion. Where I live public transport is almost non-existent, and an increased duty on fuel would be a huge burden in what is already a poor community. Do you have a solution to that?
Yes but sometimes this: two of us walked into a hotel in Alfriston, deep in rural Sussex. 'Terrible, no public transport here!' Said receptionist. We'd literally just alighted from the bus.
Car-normativity ensures total ignorance of buses and bus routes @transportaction.bsky.social
That's a bit of a black and white opinion. Where I live public transport is almost non-existent, and an increased duty on fuel would be a huge burden in what is already a poor community. Do you have a solution to that?
Well done Iowa City .. this is what the world needs!
Not as in Brighton & Hove where its council @brighton-hove.gov.uk hiked the bus fares to double of last year in a city saturated with cars & where lung cancer is now one the main causes of death!
We could change the design of our roads to address this crisis, like other cities are doing, but that might inconvenience car owners, so planners and politicians are choosing this option instead.
So much of our infrastructure, planning, environmental, and road safety measures seem to be based around politicians' fear of slightly inconveniencing easily-angered motorists. Pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport users are barely considered in their calculations.
The answer, in any case, is obviously 14
1x master
1x spouse
1x mistress
1x cicisbeo
1x for each child (2)
1x dressing room for each adult (4)
1x butler
1x housekeeper
1 for maids to share
1 for footmen
If, of course, the butler and the housekeeper are married to EACH OTHER, it's a great saving
For anyone cycling in London today: it's colder than you think. I'm normally an advocate for not overdoing the layers or coats. Ignore that - go nuclear.
Thank you Zack Polanski for saying what needs to be said
‘This is extreme. This is inhumane. This is government of cowards.
‘I am furious - so many people are furious’ 👏
I like school streets that serve some educational purpose and this one in Bordeaux is a great example. Nouvelle-Aquitaine is an important agricultural region and this street creates space for gardens where kids can learn about horticulture.
I’ll wait to see if this is actually announced. But if so… please can the PLP rise up. You owe it to your consciences, your voters, and the institution that is the Labour Party.
The Sun has been told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Monday propose confiscating jewellery, watches, necklaces from asylum seekers to meet asylum costs
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
Look away now 🫣
Next week marks 5 years since the Government closed their consultation on pavement parking and we're still waiting for a decision.
We've received photos from across the UK highlighting pavement parking hotspots. Add your photos here👇 t.co/rO3Lat5JTB
It sounds lovely but totally unsuitable for car free walkers! I lead a monthly walking group that only uses public transport. Luckily in Brighton there is a good bus and train service. Better for the environment @transportaction.bsky.social
Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine all those parking spaces planted with trees, enforced 20 mph in all streets, children playing out @transportaction.bsky.social
There is a Baltic series on C4 Walter Presents called The Nordic Murders. It is set on the island of Usedom with Polish German border running through it. Fabulous settings of the island you mention in your book. Probably nearest I'll get to a visit.
Just bought Borderlands at British Library after visiting exhibition on Secret Maps. Really gripping. Already half way through @lewisbaston.bsky.social
The wealthiest, won't mind a frequent flyer tax, they'll just pay it, so it may not reduce emissions. We need an air mile allocation per person, per year. Non-transferable, so it doesn't become a tradable commodity and price the less well off out of being able to fly.
That, and ban private jets.
The task of building 1.5m new homes in a parliament is immense.
We need to 'build baby build' social and council housing to meet it.
Read my latest column for @labourlist.bsky.sociallabourlist.org/2025/10/buil...
You can absolutely build more homes where the existing services are, whilst shrinking traffic in those areas by improving public transport further. Build the homes on the roads. www.theguardian.com/cities/2023/...
