Wood burners may treble children’s exposure to pollution in homes, study finds Research in Wales found that home, not outdoor travel, was largest contributor to children’s daily exposure

See also by me:

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Motor traffic on all bridges in area far lower than before Hammersmith closed. Cost of reintroducing motor traffic insane - 100s of mills minimum. Traffic has 'evaporated'. And loads of London's infrastructure is failing from too much driving. There has to be better answers than just more cars.

Raise the Colours (organisation) - Wikipedia

"This is a political movement, led by people who hate migrants. What [they] refuse to accept is that many people do not hold with their political views and not everyone wants their neighbourhoods covered in flags"

Imagine if Republicans had this kind of courage.

‘Pulling up the drawbridge’: Alf Dubs criticises Shabana Mahmood’s plans for child refugees Exclusive: Labour peer, who came to UK as a refugee, says some ministers try to show they won’t ‘just do things because of their background’

Children need their families. Refugee children are no different.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The Super Bowl outrage on Twitter reminds me of one of the earliest supposed “legitimate concerns” touted about London - that if you travelled on the Tube you would hear people speaking languages other than English /1

Illustration for an ABC book showing a yellow traditional umbrella against a pale teal background. The hand-cut, sans serif typeface is evocative of early school days

Today is National Umbrella day
‘The Ladybird ABC, 1959’
Artist: G Robinson

Chart showing proportion of non pensioner low to middle income families in different tenure types

In 1994-95, three-in-ten families in Unsung Britain had a mortgage. But by 2023-24, renting privately was the most common tenure (29 per cent), with the proportion living with parents (15 per cent) almost as high as the share of mortgaged families (17 per cent).

An 11 ppt swing from mortgagers to renters over the 3 decades since 1995 means that 8.6 million people in lower-income families rent from a private landlord.

These people spend on average 43 per cent of their total household budget on rent.

Read Unsung Britain now ⤵️ buff.ly/7WcqrbQ

Spirit of Rufus Harley.

No contest that much has gone badly wrong since July 2024, but on specific issues, government is moving things forward. Whether one agrees with it or not, it is serious, though-out policy. See also housing.

The party that just want to love and protect women and girls strikes again

How Pedal-Assist Mini-Trucks Are Transforming Cities Part e-bike and part van, this new class of vehicles could be the next big thing in last-mile delivery.

Part e-bike and part van, this new class of pedal-powered vehicles is overhauling last-mile delivery—and the fabric of car-centric urban life.

“I do think we're asking a fundamental question of who is entitled to space in the city?"

insideevs.com/features/786...

Grim morning for the Labour Party but it is healthier to live in a country where decisions have consequences than one where an administration steeped in contact with Epstein sails happily on, even as the resignations pile up across Europe

This is the key point that is lost in so much Westminster bubble talk on net zero. It is popular. It’s hugely popular with Labour’s base and with the progressive voters it needs to vote tactically to defeat Reform. And it’s even popular with Tories who Labour needs not to switch to Reform.

An oil painting showing four figures wearing American football costumes in different poses

It's of utmost importance that you focus on the American football match, and not the shootings, or the list, or the demolition of any east wings, or the felon president, ok? 👍🏛️🍑 #MuseumBums

"Four football players", c1930, Carl Sprinchorn, from the Whitney Museum of American Art 😁

XhatGPT idiotic layout of 13amp plug wiring. Just random wires really.

CoPilot AI diagram of plug wiring. Two live wires, one forked off the earthm and a screw head is also labelled Live.

And finally, Gemini AI diagram of 13 amp plug wiring. Hard to know where to even begin with this. Just a mess really.

One of the easiest ways to shoot down the idea that "AI" is an expert is to show how it deals with something people know about.

Younger readers may not get this as most appliances come pre-wired, but anyone 35+ can see these are chaotic fire hazards.

From Mastodon, AI asked how to wire a plug:

Great! What’s your plan? What are y’all gonna do about it? Isn’t that your job?

Good morning. The President of the United States was in the middle of the most serious child sex trafficking ring of the last quarter century.

He is referenced not a dozen times in the case files. Not 100 times. Not 1,000 times. He’s referenced 38,000 times.

Reform UK are seeking to fob off blame for their illegal leaflet on a printer error. That won’t stand up with the police - responsibility for making sure the law is followed lies with the party commissioning and distributing the leaflets.

Assorted yellow and green lichen on a tree trunk.

Moss on a wooden post.

Lichen on a twig.

A lichen ring on a cherry tree trunk.

Happy Sunday. It’s good weather for moss and lichen!

Closing Central Madrid To Cars Resulted In 9.5% Boost To Retail Spending, Finds Bank Analysis City of Madrid significantly boosted the takings of its shops and restaurants last Christmas by banning cars from the CBD, finds an analysis by Spain's second largest bank.

Keep this in mind when people claim cars mean business — closing Central #Madrid to cars over holidays resulted in a 9.5% boost in retail spending on its main shopping street: STUDY.

There was also a 71% drop in air pollution.

Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople

Shit like this is a several times a day occurrence but legislators are attacking micro mobility.

Talk about fucked up priorities.

Absolutely

Also “Somehow the grooming gangs of Rotherham cause more visceral disgust and outcry than exploitation of these equally vulnerable victims procured for the wealthy” Well said @pollytoynbee.bsky.social

Statement from Moseley is for Everyone - design has an image of a lamppost along one side with the logo at the top and "Our Statement" at the bottom

Moseley residents are encouraging all local people to come together in a show of solidarity and community- building, to collectively reject the idea that putting national flags on lampposts represents who we are as a community and the culture we choose to hold in our city.

We are in some of the most troubling times of our recent history with narratives of division being sown village to village, town to town, city to city by those that don't even live as our neighbours. The time to be connected and stand side by side for what we believe in is here and a community that stands together can change the world.

REFUSE THE BAIT AND EAT SOME CAKE Flag groups often seek to get a 'rise' out of counter communities to use as propaganda. Avoid arguing or engaging in verbal altercations as it rarely change minds and instead join your community for a show of solidarity and cake-eating.

This is such a Moseley response to the outbreak of flag measles spread by "Raise the Colours" on Wednesday night 😃

Cake not hate ✌️
#BrumTogether

Opinion | I’m the Prime Minister of Spain. This Is Why the West Needs Migrants.

Why Spain is breaking the mold in Europe -
choosing regularisation instead of MAGA mass deportations!!

Two reasons: morality & pragmatism.

🙏Spain showing us another, better way is possible www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...

An image of Moseley residents gathering on Moseley Village Green

Moseley reclaimed. And (mostly) de-flagged.

Thanks to everyone who showed up.

Thanks to the hard-working de-flagging team.

And thanks to Stirchley friends for your support today. 🫶

A stark, bare landscape of flat ground, ploughed field and stream under a grey sky is enlivened by detailed studies in the foreground of the plants and flowers of February

“February. Another cold, dead month, or so it seems. The elms are bare against the sky, the plough-ground is naked and wet, and still as brown as the sodden leaves.
Yet the world is waking up”.

Artists: Edith Hilder, Rowland Hilder (ShellGuide, 1955)

Is Matthew Goodwin too rabid even for Reform? Having once suggested that people born in the UK are 'not always' British, Reform's by-election candidate now thinks people who don't have children should pay more tax. Sean O'Grady hopes the people of Gorton and Denton will send him packing

This is why there is good reason to fear Reform's eagerness to scrap laws protecting human rights, and the decent treatment of every citizen and resident of this country equally under the law. Reform could deprive you of your citizenship, or right to remain in the UK, on the flimsiest and most racist of grounds - and you couldn't go to court to stop it. This is what is in the ballot paper in Gorton and Denton, where there is a parliamentary candidate advocating ideas the effect of which would be to turn many of his own constituents into second-class citizens. The implications of that are too appalling to contemplate. That's why Reform would destroy Britain - and why he must lose his campaign for the seat.

Goodwin offers Gorton and Denton only failure, hatred, racism and division.

Prejudice as policy does not work. Even if, fleetingly, it makes you feel an ugly kind of special.
It’s a loser’s charter and Goodwin is such a loser.

app.independent.co.uk/2026/02/06/2...

Sex and snacks, but no seat at the table: the role of women in Epstein’s sordid men’s club Files reveal a world of flattery and fratboy tones, where rich men are cultivated and women provide services

The files reveal the deep-rooted ambivalence, disdain and hatred for women that sits at the root of masculinity. It’s something good men have to fight against every day, but power corrodes that will and leaves you totally unaccountable

www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...