Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith

@samsterby.com

Green Party councillor for Old Moat, Manchester. Active travel troublemaker. Wizened software engineer. Own views. He/Him Promoted by Sean Duggan on behalf of Sam Easterby-Smith (Green Party), at 36 Manchester Road, Manchester. M21 9PH

936 followers666 following942 posts

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith reposted

So little is being done about 38,000 hectares of woodland being destroyed by invasive Rhododendron Ponticum and Cherry Laurel (that for some reason are both still legal to sell in the U.K.?!) that the BBC noticed our event and came along to shine a light on the process. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.ukVolunteers clear invasive plants from woodland in GreenhamThe BBC speaks to volunteers who banded together to help remove invasive rhododendrons from woodland.

🎶 And when it breaks down, Or starts to annoy, Or grinds when it moves, And gives you no joy, Cause it's eaten your hat, Or had sex with your cat, Bled oil on your floor, Or ripped off your door, And it gets to the point You can't stand anymore…

Jonn Elledge@jonnelledge.bsky.social

"a distinctively British approach to artificial intelligence"

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith reposted

Replying to @samsterby.com

It’s worse than this. He’s asking you to collect the rotting food waste from the big bins behind a Michelin starred restaurant and plate it up as though it’s a fresh dish ready for consumption.

One of my big bosses was asking me why I don’t use AI (cough LLMs) to write code. He started an analogy that he’s a restaurant owner and has hired me as the head chef…

At which point I stopped him and said it’s like he’s saying we must produce world-class food but he’s telling us we must microwave everything, because it makes stuff hot quicker. Welcome to Wetherspoons. May have even sunk in. I hereby coin the term “Wetherspoonification”

For any non-uk people reading this, Wetherpoons is a chain of pubs, serving cheap drinks and bad food, run by awful people who pay their staff peanuts. There is *always* broken glass and vomit outside the one near us.

Before the usual person says anything, I can claim very little responsibility for this other than: lobbying for it and coming up with a rough design before I got elected, and keeping an eye on the contractors while it was being built. 👍

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith reposted

The magic money tree that no one wants to feed and water 👇

Mark Sutton@marksuttonbike.bsky.social

£5.62 returned for each £1 spent on cycling investments, finds @cyclinguk.bsky.social study www.cyclingelectric.com/news/5-62-re...

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith reposted

The question asked here is what we gain from passing this motion. It was a difficult motion It is first worth making clear what we lose.

Jordan@jordanpfot.bsky.social

This is extremely reasonable and well-put. It clearly comes from a place of principle but is also strategic. The kind of argument that could have, had Polanski made it, meaningfully shifted the vote on the Zionism is Racism motion. But Zack doesn’t have the range.

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith reposted

This video is excellent and sums it up for me. I still have hope that @zackpolanski.bsky.social *can* clearly make this argument to members. But it needs to be made clearly and unapologetically.

Jordan@jordanpfot.bsky.social

This is extremely reasonable and well-put. It clearly comes from a place of principle but is also strategic. The kind of argument that could have, had Polanski made it, meaningfully shifted the vote on the Zionism is Racism motion. But Zack doesn’t have the range.

Yes yes yes. So much yes.

Gareth Dennis@garethdennis.uk

I talk a lot about major transport investment, but one of the biggest bangs for the buck policy-wise would be a full pavement parking ban and more rigid enforcement of traffic rules. Enforcement is so lax that this stuff is just completely normalised now, and it's unacceptable.

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith reposted

Software engineering could and should be done with the same care as any other type of engineering. This is a post in honor of Margaret Hamilton (and also a subtweet of all vibe-coders everywhere).

I very much endorse and align with this statement. 💚

Trafford Green Party@traffordgreenparty.bsky.social

Trafford Green Party’s councillors are deeply saddened by the passing of the Zionism is Racism motion 💚 Read our full statement and find out more about the motion here 👉 greenparty.org.uk/2026/10/04/g...

I absolutely take the same line as Caroline on this amendment.

Caroline Russell@carolinerussell.bsky.social

I wanted to speak on an amendment to motion EO2 Zionism is racism at Green Party conference today, but was not called on. I’ve copied over what I would have said in the next posts. I was heartbroken this amendment fell and that the vote went against providing this protection for Jewish members.

Back home from Brighton. I am not happy about the Zionism is Racism motion. I voted for the amendments that would have made it a little more palatable, and voted against the overall motion.

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People in Israel and Palestine are suffering. It’s a war. It’s a genocide. It’s apartheid. It’s a state of permanent terror pitting neighbours against each other. It has to end. Is this motion helping with that? Nope. It’s pissing people off and making us look like we don’t understand the nuance.

I will now return to normal service, trying to save the planet and end inequality. Oh and I spoke against an amendment to the transport policy which would have had us supporting minimum speed limits. Which fell. Pleased with that. 🙌💚

Back home from Brighton. I am not happy about the Zionism is Racism motion. I voted for the amendments that would have made it a little more palatable, and voted against the overall motion.

I think it’s divisive, a distraction, and goes down like a bag of sick with our Jewish members and communities. I’m a believer in self determination. I’ve said publicly in the past that imposing a one-state or two-state plan is none of our business.

It’s very much down to us Greens on the council in Manchester for pushing this up the agenda and highlighting the alternative that Manchester trusts have developed. Also, British tech workers stand to hugely benefit from a drive toward digital sovereignty. And I’m so here for it. Sunlit uplands!

Anthony Painter@anthonypainter.bsky.social

Now this is what take back control looks like. And Manchester has created a data and logistics health stack that doesn't rely on Palantir and superior to it. No reason why this can't happen across all UK public services. For security. And frankly decency. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Trying to work out how I seem to know every note of Vaughan Williams’ “The Wasps” (orchestral suite) - like perhaps I had it on a cassette? Or did I see it performed? It clearly went in deep at some point… Movement iv is a bit blah, but the rest is cracking.

I spotted a young person who was riding home with a flat tyre… I offered them some air (or directions to a nearby bike shop), and mercifully the air held and they got home. Little things.

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith reposted

I'm all in favour of cars in principle but idiot drivers who park like this give the rest a bad reputation. It only needs a molecule of common sense* *pavement parking is normalised & socially acceptable, despite the fact that it's virtually impossible to get past. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.ukDriver wedges Kia SUV on Wales Coast Path at MumblesIt was jammed between a concrete fence post and a bench, and had been abandoned by the driver.
Diane Coyle@dianecoyle1859.bsky.social

I’m all in favour of hire bikes in principle but idiot cyclists who park like this give the rest a bad reputation. It only needs a molecule of common sense …

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith reposted

If you don't know about the Battle of Cable Street, and other times we stood up to British fascists, you can learn about that now, before it's too fucking late. History is not boring and it's definitely not irrelevant.