SimonI

Drilling the North Sea dry will not bring down energy bills. It just leaves us exposed to volatile fossil fuel prices. We must invest in home-grown renewables to deliver cheaper bills, greater energy security & a cleaner future. 🌱 Oil and gas are a thing of the past. Renewables are the future.

The #Steelers hit the ground running... (literally)

Two excellent national anthem renditions in #Paris for the #NFL game.

⚠️6 DAYS to get Andy Burnham to block the Thames Water bailout. Sign the petition now: weownit.org.uk/stopthebailout

Had to say goodbye to this fella this afternoon. I'd like to say he was a good cat, but the truth is he was actually a bit of a shit and I loved him for it. Seen you again someday Milo x

Burnham urges officials to come up with more radical options for Thames Water. Here are some suggestions. Enforce laws. Prosecute execs for harming health, environment. Cancel licence to operate. Put TW into special administration. Nationalise at knockdown price. Apply to all water companies.

Allowing this dead-company-walking to be bailed out again, instead of taking it into Special Administration and then permanent public ownership, would be a disgrace and a betrayal by the Andy Burnham government Enough is enough.

Ukraine's drones made inoperable by restrictions on the speed permitted by SpaceX's Starlink network. Musk blames Trump. Any country relying the US or foreign tech companies will be held to ransom, can't defend itself. Need own satellites and systems to fight new imperialism.

14 October 1943 | Prisoners of the German Nazi extermination center at Sobibor began a revolt. The prisoners killed 9 SS men and severely wounded another one. Later, mass, chaotic escape began. Around 300 prisoners managed to escape, some 50 survived the war. More: https://bit.ly/4z73zJj

Zelenskyy: "When our strikes reached Yandex data centers, it suddenly became little easier to breathe on many social media platforms. Many people noticed it. There was less hate, less division, fewer provocations because there were fewer bots. It's pretty clear where those bots were coming from.

UK drivers forced to use parking apps can pay up to 40% more. Hidden charges, full price not shown until the payment page. Neoliberals complain about regulation but silent on daily fleecing of people by predatory capitalism. All done to boost profits, exec pay.

FUCK IT. Let's give away 3 more signed paperbacks of my latest novel, each with fab linoprint bookmarks, made by my mum Jo. Repost & reply to enter! You might like it if you like: Folkloric creatures Old records Intricate psychedelic stories The idea of circular time All shares much-appreciated!

If only #England could have played this fearlessly against Argentina in the world cup semi-final...

Game day! #gopackgo

Why is Maya wearing a Yeti? #traitors

Interest on Reserves: The £100bn UK Bank Subsidy You Fund. Banks making £50bn profits a year receive subsidies, long ended by the EU. UK Treasury will payout over £150bn over a five-year period from 2023 to 2028. No justification for handling billions to banks. End bank subsidies, help people.

1/x Captain Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama is taken hostage in a lifeboat, and US Navy SEALs end it after five days. The snipers dealt with the guys in the lifeboat. The Belgians dealt with the guy at the top of the whole trade. A thread.

Energy portfolios of 20 private equity firms produce 1.5bn tons of greenhouse gases a year, more than the annual emissions of any country except China, the US, India and Russia. Companies don't bear the social cost of profits. It is dumped on the people. Killing us and the planet.

While many are very concerned with energy costs, the media do thier bit to convince people that a new iPhone is an 'essential'.

Govt set to nationalise Speciality Steel UK, the third-largest steelworks. SSUK has been in administration. Govt paying £3.5m a month to keep it going. Public purse cleaning up the mess left by private enterprise. Story of capitalism: Profits privatised, cost socialised.

Holy moley, is it finally game day? #gopackgo

London's homicide rate hit its lowest level since records began. Yet 40% of the public thought that murders had risen since 2019. That’s the danger of disinformation. We cannot accept it, and to defeat it, we’ve got to put pressure on the social media companies who profit from it.

Surprising this story isn't getting more coverage...

This is also worth a read from Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, another great rabbi Glad to see so many Masorti rabbi’s countering the unrepresentative narrative we’ve seen from seen quarters - the community is not a monolith jonathanwittenberg.substack.com/p/be-on-the-...

The rain is upon us, so it’s curling up with a book time! - Michael

6 September 1933 | A Czech Jewish girl, Marie Borská, was born in Litomyšl. She was deported to #Auschwitz from #Theresienstadt ghetto on 19 October 1944 and murdered in a gas chamber.

Officials also say Russia is already exploiting Europe through cyberattacks, disinformation and political interference. 2/2

According to official statistics, If you include the emissions associated with everything consumed in the UK, no matter where it is made, the total in 2023 (most recent year for which figures are available) is 699 Mt CO2e. That is a 24% reduction since 1990. www.ons.gov.uk/economy/envi...

3 September 1935 | A Jewish boy, Lorand David, was born in Târgu Mureș in Romania. In June 1944 he was deported to #Auschwitz and murdered in a gas chamber. --- ▶ Gas chambers and crematoria of the Auschwitz camp: https://youtu.be/-A05i25j9Ck

1 trillion litres of water a year, 20% of all water pumped, lost in England through leaky pipes. 41.4trn litres lost since privatisation. Money siphoned off to investors. At the current rate of investment it will take 700 years to replace water network. Grim future without public ownership.

Supermarket giant promises Boxing Day holiday for staff swindonlink.com/business-bri...

2014: Harmful air pollution above legal limits. 2024: Harmful air pollution driven down to legal limits. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

They take the dividends; we deal with the sewage. That is water privatisation in a nutshell Thank you @mayorofwy.bsky.social for being so vocal about the disaster of water privatisation Take action now to help pressure Andy Burnham to end water privatisation: vist.ly/5gpdv

We desperately need our MPs to understand this, and push back against the clamour.

Good news! 🌿 A Norfolk heath has made a remarkable recovery after a decade of rewilding – with rare plants returning, wildlife flourishing and nature showing what can happen when it’s given the chance. A genuinely hopeful environmental story ⤵️

8 in 10 of the public want our water in public ownership. Not public control. @labourlewis.bsky.social.bsky.social is absolutely spot on. Andy Burnham should start with Thames Water. Send our briefing on how he can do that to your MP now: vist.ly/5fgwv

Ireland is the EU centre for regulating Microsoft’s use of personal data, and the DPC is the body required under statute to enforce it. The Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke, was asked about relying on US tech companies for sensitive state info in Feb 26. He said it wasn’t on his radar.

Stop everything you're doing and look at this. 100% would smooch, and damn the consequences.

Work on new Hungerford nature reserve set to start next month www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Given the number of people who have been treated and are cancer free as a result with zero prosecutions for the medical staff involved, even for Facebook this claim seems totally bizarre.

This stopped me in my tracks. An independent study by @qmul.bsky.social has found that after ULEZ was introduced, children’s lungs grew faster in Central London and have now caught up with children outside of the capital. Incredible.

We do not build the reservoirs needed to store the rain that falls here. We do not build strategic food reserves needed to maintain provision in hard times. We failed to build effective stores of PPE, to protect us in pandemics. This country has long been governed by people who do not prepare.

Just seen a 'Save Water' ad on TV....meanwhile a few houses down from me Thames Water strikes again.

Public anger at the failing water companies is at boiling point. "Tougher" regulation, as @labourlewis.bsky.social.bsky.social says, isn't going to sort out the mess they've left us in. We need water in public hands, starting with Thames Water. Take action today: vist.ly/5f4eb