Peter Sketch

UKIP developed quite a reputation for being good at winning council seats but absolutely terrible at retaining them next time they were up. Perhaps Reform are similar?

not since Henry VIII’s wives has a Tudor had such an untimely end at a Palace

I'd like to suggest another way in which Shabana Mahmood could take inspiration from Kristi Noem. It involves exiting through a door and closing it behind her.

I always wondered if Spurs winning the Premier League was slated to be one of the signs of the end of the world. Turns out perhaps it's a relegation we should have been watching for. Can anyone else hear the sound of horses? About four of them...

Zelenskyy is very, very good at politics.

NEW ANALYSIS: UK emissions fell 2.4% in 2025 as coal fell to a 400-year low. Incredibly, we used less coal last year than than in 1600, when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne and Shakespeare was writing Hamlet.

All the details in our article: www.carbonbrief.org/...

Please reassure me you've done your pre power cut cooking.

Mate. You're threatening to fight a country that's held off Russia for 4 years. Go home, you're drunk.

Before the Blue sky crowd left, those on the right were often very happy to roll out 'Twitter is not Britain' but now it mostly agrees with them they seem to have forgotten this completely

They don't have lanes in F1 Simon, basic error which shouldn't have made it into the Telegraph

A photograph of one of Lyme Regis' finest gulls, just after I had asked it "What you looking at?" and it had answered "Don't know. It hasn't got a label."

Quick little poem I wrote about seagulls. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a photo of a seagull to accompany it so I’ve decided to use this one I took of a furious horse instead.

working on something which I honestly assumed would take me like 20 minutes and it's been nearly two hours and I'm not even done yet and

A fair point, but I think we were entitled to assume that they wouldn't choose to obliterate themselves.

Ook op deze dag in het zonnetje de Tengere Grasjuffer

#libellente #tengeregrasjuffer #natuurfotografie
@libellenjan.bsky.social

Taking another look at this, a sense I've had for a while is that there is an odd disconnect between how impact of airpower is discussed by American scholars as an abstract policy process and European scholars whose parents and grandparents experienced the impact of airpower as social catastrophe

This lifeboat is a bit uncomfortable…

Bigger. Problem. Than. Anticipated.

The first verified Shahed Drone attack on Ukraine was 1,270 days ago.

Ukrainian numbers put the number of Shahed strike UAVs launched at them last year alone at over 32,000.

Your brain, is it... not good? Do you have the bad brain? Sir? Sir?

Aargh! Forgot the alt text. The photo is a small needle-shaped insect, mostly black with some patches of bright blue, sitting on a leaf in the sunshine.

The second of today's two #libellente species, Scarce Blue-tailed #Damselfly. It's hard to find in the UK with a very scattered distribution due to exacting habitat requirements. This one was on a @britishdragonflies.bsky.social guided walk in 2022. #UKWildlife #invertebrates

An illustration from The House At Pooh Corner of a moment when Pooh decides to sit in the sun on a stone in the river. Although not mentioned in the text of the book, in the picture he is clearly watching a dragonfly which appears to be making a display flight. This is very likely to be a Banded Demoiselle although Beautiful Demoiselle is also found in that part of Sussex.

Not specifically a nature book, but The House At Pooh Corner does include an illustration of a dragonfly survey being carried out by a world-famous expert. It's very inspiring. #WorldBookDay

Wealthy Dubai residents race back to UAE to avoid tax bills Some risk spending too few days in the emirate and too many in the UK

Tax exiles stuck in London desperately trying to get *back* to Dubai to avoid becoming tax resident in the UK? Just great stuff. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Being criticised by the world's least popular politician? Oh no! How terrible!

You'd need a heart of stone not to laugh.

Ealing Council backs funding for new orbital rail line - EALING.NEWS - The Voice of Ealing's 7 towns - Acton, Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell, Northolt, Perivale, Southall. Ealing Council has joined partners across west London in backing a £6.65m funding package to progress plans for a new London Overground route that could transform transport links across the borough an...

West London Orbital is go

Almost as if it's not a good idea to put a raging incompetent in charge of trade.

Bebok comes up in Borderlines, he was the sort of mascot of the book. It’s a mythology that has survived all the massive population shifts of the region, which I think is interesting.

Next up Spain is reportedly sending a frigate to Cyprus in support of defence there.

This seems a smart move to me, signalling European solidarity and participating in defence, while still keeping distance to US/Israel offence against Iran.

There are reports of Large Tortoiseshell in Kent and the Isle of Wight.
This is about the time they will be coming out of hibernation.
So if you see a Tortoiseshell or Comma that looks a little different, take a second look.

Thanks. I could do with some reassuring news among all the global chaos.

Two images of reserves. On top in the CS Lewis Nature Reserve pond surrounded by woodland. On the bottom is the misty river Pang in morning light running through Moor Copse.

📖 Did you know that two of our nature reserves are linked to legends of literature?

The tranquil woodland and large pond of CS Lewis Nature Reserve used to belong to the celebrated Oxford author whose name it bears. (1/3)