Julian Vaughan

One of the aphorisms that's been going around resonates with me:
“The underlying purpose of #AI is to allow wealth to access skill while removing from the skilled the ability to access wealth.” ~ need to remember the author. 😖

They don’t to pay or work for expertise anymore!

A pilot friend always says to me: "Yes, we are very well paid. And, if everything goes as it should, we do hardly any work. But then there there is that once-a-decade trip, when we earn a whole career's worth of salaries in ten minutes."

From the details we have so far, it sounds like an exemplary response from both railway staff and the emergency services dealing with an incredibly difficult situation.

Wishing those physically injured a speedy recovery and hope all impacted by this incident are provided with appropriate support.

While 'The Hack' hasn't had the same impact as 'Mr Bates vs the PO’ the sheer scale and breadth of the corruption and the sickening fact that most involved have smugly got away scot free is yet another stain on our political and legal system - and why we need a Leveson 2.

Hadrian’s Wall Walk This blog describes my planning before the walk and the walk itself, which took place over 5 days in late September 2025 and will hopefully provide some useful hints for future walkers. The blogs I…

Finally got round to finishing my blog about our Hadrian’s Wall walk.

It won’t quite convey the tiredness in the legs, but hopefully it shows the beauty of the area and will be of some help to future hikers. #HadriansWall #Northumberland
julianvaughan.blog/2025/10/29/h...

Starmer’s upcoming climate plan must prove that green policies deliver for people Time is short. The climate crisis is rapidly accelerating, and those least responsible, here in the UK and overseas, are on the front lines and increasingly threatened.

"This plan must be ambitious, practical, and transformative. It must make people’s lives better – especially those struggling most. If the government is to take the public with them in rebuilding a society fit for the future, this is absolutely vital.”

https://bit.ly/42Uza2C

Fatality on the railway – a driver’s perspective I have been a train driver for 21 years. Last year I was involved in an incident at work where someone jumped in front of my train, and very sadly this incident resulted in a fatality. I am deliber…

My blog on a train driver’s experience following a fatality is still my most regularly read.

I hope it is a help to people both inside and outside the rail industry.

If you need to talk to someone you can call the Samaritans at any time on 116 123.
julianvaughan.blog/2024/06/17/f...

How has the government got itself into the position of standing up for Israeli football hooligans, while criminalising peaceful supporters of Palestine Action?

Love’s Labour’s Lost It is with great sadness that I have made the decision to leave the Labour Party. As a General Election candidate in both 2017 and 2019, the Labour Party has been a significant part of my life over…

Too many straws. Too many backs. It is with sadness not bitterness that I have today resigned from the Labour Party. I've set out why below. However, my passion for social justice and trade unionism remains undimmed.
julianvaughan.blog/2025/10/15/l...

“I’ll declare war on you if you don’t give me the peace prize” is an incredible bit

How to Clean Up Our Water: Why Public Ownership in Law Costs Zero The Government has said it would cost £99 billion to nationalise Thames Water. The true cost in law is closer to zero.

“It is too expensive to bring water companies back into public ownership”.

Really? ⬇️

www.common-wealth.org/publications...

Julian with his hand on a trig point in the late afternoon sun and the Northumberland landscape in the background.

Hadrian’s Wall running along the top of rocky outcrops in the Northumbrian countryside.

Hadrian’s Wall Walk in memory of my sister and in aid of two amazing charities completed 👊

Over £3,000 raised so far ❤️

Details here: www.givewheel.com/fundraising/...

Early on Day 2 of the Hadrian’s Wall Walk for Sky. I wasn’t this chipper 5 hours later 😁

£2,400 raised so far ❤️ Details here: www.givewheel.com/fundraising/...
@poetsin.bsky.social

'There has been a monumental cover up'

On #BBCBreakfast Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester urged Keir Starmer to meet the British nuclear test veterans campaigning for justice after suffering lifelong health problems

The Political Scene | The New Yorker The Washington Roundtable is joined by the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Keren Yarhi-Milo, the dean of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, to discuss...

Jimmy Kimmel and other late-night comedians have certainly said things about me that I found offensive, even outrageous.

It never crossed my mind to call up the networks and say, "Hey, get rid of this guy."

Because that's not how America works.
play.prx.org/listen?ge=pr...

Earlier this year my sister her own life.

I’m determined something positive comes from this dreadful situation.

Starting Monday, I’m walking Hadrian’s Wall in her memory and in aid of 2 charities I know would be close to her ❤️

Details about the walk here ⬇️

gvwhl.com/JEZLQ

Sanders calls war in Gaza a ‘genocide’ for the first time “The truth is, whether you call it genocide or ethnic cleansing or mass atrocities or war crimes, the path forward is clear. We, as Americans, must end our complicity in the slaughter of the Palestini...

Sanders is calling the war in Gaza a "genocide" for the first time.

Peter Mandelson can sit as a Labour Lord while my colleagues have lost the whip for opposing disability benefits cuts and the two-child benefit cap.

Such draconian, politically-motivated suspensions undermine democracy and make a mockery of our party. They should have the whip restored immediately.

Fixing the system A common theme running through tragedies such as Horizon, Grenfell and Hillsborough is the nauseating confidence and casual indifference shown by those responsible. So from where does this confiden…

The #HillsboroughLaw is a fitting tribute to the remarkable determination of the families.

However, any future use of the law will by definition mean the state has failed yet again.

Fundamental changes are needed to our political & regulatory system.

julianvaughan.blog/2024/04/01/f...

Fascism thrives on apathy. Whether you’re ‘political’ or not, we all have a duty to speak up for a more tolerant society that values everyone within our communities. That’s real patriotism 🇬🇧

Accountability and CBC In April this year, I wrote the following about the ‘Independent Alliance’ led Central Bedfordshire Council… “…It is also particularly disappointing that the current l…

"...Apart from the lack of accountability, I sense a profound lack of empathy and compassion from the current leadership...."

My latest blog covering the goings on at Central Beds Council.
julianvaughan.blog/2025/09/13/a...

If Labour put in as much effort into effectively countering Reform as it did fighting factional battles within the Party, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are now.

Starmer is either being badly advised, or is ignoring the advice given. Something has to change.

If Starmer doesn’t deal with the colossal misjudgement of Mandelson re Epstein, it will the PM’s judgement in the spotlight.

Expressing “deep regret” doesn’t fly for us plebs - why should Mandelson be an exception?

He’s surely got to go, again.

If Starmer doesn’t deal with the colossal misjudgement of Mandelson re Epstein, it will the PM’s judgement in the spotlight.

Expressing “deep regret” doesn’t fly for us plebs - why should Mandelson be an exception?

He’s surely got to go, again.

Get involved | Mainstream Labour Mainstream is the home for Labour’s radical realists - united by values, driven by change

To transform the country and take on the populist right, Labour must heed the voices of its radical realists - and build a principled, practical, popular left alternative.

Join @mainstreamlabour.bsky.social and together we can bring that alternative to life.

www.mainstreamlabour.org/get-involved

When Labour tacks to the right it doesn’t weaken Reform, it empowers it.

We need courage not appeasement, or a disastrous election defeat awaits.

Signposts, not Weathercocks.

Keir Starmer’s legacy could be electoral reform – or Farage as prime minister | Polly Toynbee MPs are voting to get rid of first past the post in mayoral elections. Doing the same at a national level would be an antidote to Reform UK, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

We need a fairer voting system - one where every voice is heard. 📣

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/01/keir-starmer-legacy-electoral-reform-farage

The Labour response to Farage policy of leaving the Refugee & Humam Rights Convention should not be “he won’t deliver”.

It should be “this is not morally right” (not “British values” even).

Voters want to see authentic consistent leadership. Not debate the workability of cruelty.

I’ve spent many hours on Slapton Sands, Hallsands and Lannacombe beaches. A very special part of the world.

If the asylum seekers issue disappeared tomorrow, who would Reform scapegoat next? With them it’s never about solving the real issues we face, it’s about stoking up fear and hate to put us in a permanent state of crisis. It’s always scapegoats, never solutions they look for.