Simon Jay

Making every pound count: Why new roads are not the route to prosperity | IPPR From renewable energy to active travel infrastructure, from nature restoration to home heating, there are key areas where investment can return economic, s

⛔️ | NEW BLOG: Investing in new roads won't help the government meet their missions. In this new blog, Dr Maya Singer Hobbs makes the case to instead focus on renewing existing roads, boosting public transport and supporting active travel for a greener future.

www.ippr.org/articles/mak...

Hello to all interested in active travel, safe streets, sociable streets and decarbonisation! You can find us at activetravelcafe.org.uk and on Zoom at 5pm on Tuesdays when we share news, talks and more. New sign ups via the website.

Tomorrow will be #ActiveTravel Cafe - goto weekly zoom for UK Active Travel. 5-615pm

activetravelcafe.org.uk/index.php/

Just Stop Oil protesters jailed for throwing soup on Sunflowers Just Stop Oil activists Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland threw tomato soup over Van's Gogh's piece.

No jail terms for those running companies that knowingly damage the environment and with repercussions which will cost vastly more than repairing a frame

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

BREAKING: another FOUR Just Stop Oil supporters JAILED - cementing the UK's authoritarian state In a sign that the law is an ass and the state an authoritarian monster, a judge has jailed another four Just Stop Oil supporters

BREAKING: another FOUR Just Stop Oil supporters JAILED – cementing the UK’s authoritarian state

www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...

Greens to push Labour for wealth tax to fund public services Co-leader kicks off party conference by saying chancellor is ‘not looking in the right place’ for money

Labour is failing to impress on all fronts, from ignoring an obvious source of funds to a profligate waste of public funds on a failed Conservative wet dream of stopping the boats when what we need is a proper, legal channel to deal with asylum seekers that will short circuit the people smugglers.

Drug shortages, now normal in UK, made worse by Brexit, report warns Some shortages are so serious they are imperilling the health and even lives of patients with serious illnesses, pharmacy bosses say

Yes global factors are at play here. But govt has made it even harder for us to secure medicines by grenading our supply chains.
And if that bothers you, they’ll unleash their vicious Brexit monkeys to shout that sovereignty is more important than health.

www.theguardian.com/science/2024...

Kidical Mass Family bike ride Sunday April 28th. Meet 2pm The Level, Black Rock, Wish Park or Hove Park or Peace Statue at 2.45 for a big group ride around the city centre and a call out to the council to make our city #SafeToCycle

#Brighton #Hove ppl on bikes? Here’s a thing - Sunday 28th ,
‘Kidical Mass’ (Terrible name but great concept) 🚲🚲🚲🚲

On the So-Called Cass Review Stick around to the very very end for the best trans newsletter you're not (yet) reading.

(17) On the So-Called Cass Review - by Parker Molloy www.readtpa.com/p/on-the-so-...

UK: Cass review on gender identity is being 'weaponised' by anti-trans groups This review is being weaponised by people who revel in spreading disinformation and myths about healthcare for trans young people.

it's disgusting to see what the media is doing with the Cass report. Not just rwnj media.
ALL media. Cowards.

www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releas...

I have a LOT of feelings, most of them exhausted anger, about the Cass report, but there's a reason this was the top point in my piece for @scarleteen.bsky.social about spotting anti-trans rhetoric (you can read the whole piece here: www.scarleteen.com/read/culture...)

Proposed bike lane layout showing a too narrow bidirectional lane alongside a traffic lane. One lane is in the door zone and has a tree planted in the middle of it. Two cyclists are shown going head to head because the lane is blocked by the tree.

proposed pedestrian and cycle shared space shows a cyclist joining the pavement via the lane and heading straight toward a pedestrian with their back to the cyclist. Further in is a bus stop set at the back of the shared pavement, meaning cyclists will conflict with people trying to board or exit from the bus.

First thought looking at these pics of bike lanes in #Worthing was that they were for a ‘spot the mistakes’ training session.

But no. They are actually proposing this stuff

yourvoice.westsussex.gov.uk/durrington-g...

Wind Energy Surpasses Gas In Electricity Generation In The European Union In 2023 - The Good News Hub In a first for the European Union (EU), wind energy has surpassed gas, with more of it being used to generate energy in 2023.

Wind energy surpasses gas in electricity generation in the European Union in 2023.

#GoodNews

thegoodnewshub.com/environment/...

1. The Conservative and Unionist Party.

There, I've started the list for him

So the meeting happened. Right at the start the council person said that as we were all so up for not being pesticided our area won’t be included in the #glyphosate zone.

This goes against current council policy & what about the other areas? But a positive(ish) outcome.

#PesticideFree #Brighton

Health gains of low-traffic schemes up to 100 times greater than costs, study finds Research looked at three London boroughs to value overall health benefits of active travel over 20 years at up to £4,800 per head

Policies to help people walk and cycle such as low-traffic neighbourhoods can create public health benefits as much as 100 times greater than the cost of the schemes, a long-term study of active travel measures has concluded.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...

Here's the truth about Jeremy Hunt's Budget and Brexit.
1. If Brexit was a success, we'd have more money.
2. The UK has less money because of Brexit.
3. Our EU fee was never a cost, it was an investment.
4. Because we no longer pay that investment, we've lost the GDP it created.

How the Tories drove Britain’s local services into bankruptcy.
Councils provide social care, schools and housing. And half of them are about to run out of money
Read the full piece here:
www.opendemocracy.net/en/council-c...

Bloody Dutch coming here and giving us glasses 👇

#Green party predicted to hold sole UK parliamentary seat.

Caroline Lucas has been an outstanding MP & hoping Sian Berry will continue this for #Brighton (Maybe joined by a few more Green MP's from elsewhere)

www.theargus.co.uk/news/2415653...

UK 1980's as a teen - state benefit scrutiny was v low + almost no sanctions - cld get rent payed and £20ish p/w & so many ppl used this as a creative platform to make and innovate. It was below the radar UBI in action.
The roots of "Cool Britannia" & BritPop in the '90's were grown here.

Imagine for a second the outcry if the government gave £1.8m to each asylum seeker. And then compare that to the deafening silence when the government spends £1.8m on performative cruelty to each asylum seeker.

Braverman’s consultation on anti-protest laws was ‘only open to police’ High Court told government only sought feedback from people it knew would agree with its controversial changes

Braverman’s consultation on anti-protest laws was ‘only open to police’

Found out there's a protest against Ghana's anti lgbt bills that is happening outside the Ghana High commission in London.

Please go and check it out.

www.instagram.com/p/C38OAx5oE-...

The bottomless financial insanity of the Rwanda scheme We've finally seen the accounts. And they are atrocious.

The NAO report on the finances of the Rwanda scheme is simply insane iandunt.substack.com/p/the-bottom...

Any #Brighton #Hove ppl out there? The latest news from our cycle campaign group is here! 🚲🚲🚲

bricycles.org.uk/membership/v...

OTOH as an e-bakfiets rider + mindfull of access for all, there is a case for better use of tech in some instances...

A bit concerned the consultation may be used to try to lever in more regs and restrictions for accoustic or existing e-bike users though. Not trusting our govt on this (or anything)

idk - at what point do they become electric motorbikes? It is a battle to get safe and separate cycle infra, and introducing this power and speed in the mix I think may undermine both safety and attractiveness of bike lanes etc...

What’s going on in Wales? Real farmers duped by ‘outrage’ farmers, and a clueless Sunak along for the ride | George Monbiot Farmers in Britain have real reasons to be angry, but this protest against reasonable green policy has become a culture war, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

It's hard to appreciate just how crazy all this is. Farmers being mobilised by a notorious conspiracy theorist, Rishi Sunak joining a protest against his own government's policies. This is a country in social and moral meltdown.
This week's column.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...