Ken Newton

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD…

Can we STOP with this ‘special relationship’ BS

And also…can we wake up to the treachery of our right wing press?!

Less than 1 in 10 pounds of bank lending going to productive investment New research from Positive Money finds that less than 1 in 10 pounds of bank lending is going to productive investment

Less than £1 in £10 of bank lending last year went to the real economy.

More than 85% went to speculative activities, leaving consumers and productive sectors with just 15%.

Banks aren't supporting the things we need. Looser regulations and lower taxes won't change that.

The U.S is the largest oil and gas producer in the world.

They overthrew the Venezuelan gov’t to exploit the world’s largest oil reserves.

Then they started a war, constraining Middle Eastern oil and gas supply.

Oil hits $100+ a barrel.

Who gains? America.

Follow the money.

Badger culling ‘has to be a step’ in controlling serious bovine TB problem Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Councillor Tim McClelland has called on DAERA Minister Andrew Muir to introduce badger culling without delay, as he feels strongly…

No it doesn't!!

armaghi.com/news/craigav...

Israel and the US appear to want to do to Tehran what they have done to Gaza: reduce a busy and complex society to a toxic wasteland.

Keir Starmer and David Lammy are taking an extraordinarily dangerous gamble with our individual liberty This week, MPs will vote on the second reading of the Courts and Tribunals Bill. Don’t let the anodyne name fool you – this is one of the most revolutionary pieces of legislation in our…

Labour's core voters, on which its re-election entirely depends, are crystal clear about this: they absolutely hate its illiberal, intolerant, draconian, rightwards turn. Hence the total collapse in support. So how does the government respond? #SuicideMission🤦‍♂️
thesecretbarrister.com/2026/03/07/k...

As a man of the people, I naturally used a private jet provided by a crypto billionaire based in Thailand for my latest publicity stunt.

The Venn of those cheering on the USA in their illegal war against Iran causing a big spike in fuel prices, and those who condemn any suggestions to increase fuel duty by a penny or two is a circle.

"Defensive operations". They're B-1 Lancer bombers and Globemasters transporting their bombs.

There's no such thing as a defensive bomb.

Event / Conflict Year Volume Lost (MBP Hormuz Blockade (Current) 2026 ~20.0 Iranian Revolution 1978 5.6 Yom Kippur War (Embargo) 1973 4.4 Iraq-Kuwait War 1990 4.3 Iran-Iraq War 1980 4.0 Russia-Ukraine Invasion 2022 1.0 - 3.0

The largest oil supply shock in history in million barrels per day terms. Well done, Trump.

'Anti-trans protesters' harrass Green MP Hannah Spencer

Thugs is what they are, thugs who beat women, pretending to protect them.

Every spring during marsh tit surveys I check on the Monks Wood bottle, now lain here undisturbed for at least 72 years, but prob since WW2 when a pigpen was here. Huntingdonshire Brewery closed in 1954. Still a few smashed snail shells: Song Thrushes have used it an anvil for generations.

How democratic is the UK? The UK has a crisis of democracy

Who voted for this?

Water companies dump sewage in rivers. Execs get bonuses for destructive practices. Shareholders got £85.2bn in dividends.

6.17m people in England await 7.29m hospital appointments. 300,000 a year die prematurely.

Policies made to appease corporations and super rich.

All 1817 London council seats are being elected in May.

Starting point is approx
Labour 1150
Cons 400
LibDems 180
Greens 18
Reform 0

One Bombe projection has this London earthquake scenario, with Lab 3rd

Green 548,
Cons 481
Labour 415
LD 252
Reform 132
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

EU agrees to chop meaty names from vegetarian and vegan food products Lawmakers will ban use of 31 meat-related names as part of efforts to help livestock farmers in food supply markets

So "lawmakers will outlaw use of 31 meat-related names as part of efforts to help livestock farmers in food supply markets"... just when health, climate & environment scientists are stressing the urgency of helping more livestock farmers OUT of food supply markets?
And what a silly, pointless move!

So let's hurry up and rename hotdogs, kidney beans, peanut butter, shepherd's pie, fish fingers, chocolate eggs, lady fingers, oyster mushrooms, cream crackers, etc etc!
bsky.app/profile/geor...

Exact same spot.
Exact same time of year.
Four years apart.
Not a thing planted.

The power of rewilding.

UK recruiter emerges from insolvency for third time, avoiding millions owed in tax Hampshire business seems to have benefited from ‘phoenixism’, which costs the taxpayer about £800m a year

UK recruiter emerges from insolvency for third time, avoiding millions owed in tax.

Companies run up debts, declare bankruptcy, debts shed, new company formed with same management/owners ... rinsed and repeated.

HMRC loses £836m a year. Creditors, including SMEs, lose millions.

Meaghan Wilson Anastasios (@meaghanwilsonanastasios) Oh, this. A thousand times, this. Norway 🇳🇴 wins the internet today.

Just found this post on Substack. This is a work of genius and well worth a watch (need sound, subtitles not accurate).

substack.com/@meaghanwils...

Breaking free from smartphone addiction: Defensive tactics against those tricky algorithms The invasive and extractive behavior of tech companies has led us to a breaking point. More and more people are looking to reduce their screen time. Laws and proposals are emerging to help us escape t...

"The invasive and extractive behavior of tech companies has led us to a breaking point. More and more people are looking to reduce their screen time. Laws and proposals are emerging to help us escape the sad digital labyrinth"

english.elpais.com/technology/2...

I predict a Green wave in the local elections. Anyone who thinks our byelection win was an outlier is mistaken | Zack Polanski Since the Gorton and Denton victory, I have travelled the UK and seen the energy that result unleashed. More will follow, says Zack Polanski, leader of the Green party

@zackpolanski.bsky.social said it would be a battle between Reform’s big money & our people power. We showed that not only can people power win, it can win big. #HannahSpencer took on the #billionaire donors and won – message now is that we can do that everywhere

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Ecosia Blog News from Ecosia, the alternative search engine that plants trees. Discover where Ecosia plants trees, and how they tackle climate change and deforestation.

I spent some time this morning watching videos about the great work Ecosiais is doing planting trees and rebuilding ecosystems. If you don’t already use Ecosia please, please give it a try for the sake of the living world and future generations.

blog.ecosia.org?_sp=8DD0AFDB...

Trump is dragging our country into collapse At approximately 9:30 this morning from inside the White House, the President of the United States took a phone call from CNN’s Dana Bash and confirmed something many of us have feared for months: whi...

The people whose business model depends on permanent conflict. The people who profit every time he pushes another country into crisis. That is who is winning in Trump’s economy.
open.substack.com/pub/heatherd...

Skylarks are likely to be around now, especially as far south as the Lizard. Also meadow pipits, which take off from grassy meadows like skylarks, but have a weaker song and give up after rising thirty or forty feet and drop to earth again.

Labour urged to listen to progressive voters or face ‘political earthquake’ in London Exclusive: Senior party figures share data suggesting Green surge could put Labour in fourth place in capital in May

Our journey to replace Labour continues.

For too long they've told progressive voters that they had no choice but to vote for them.
The Manchester by-election showed that for the lie it is.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Chough guide: call, what they eat and where to see them | Countryfile.com What are choughs, what is their call and where can you see these red-billed members of the crow family in the UK?

Different from a skylark. Loud, a bit harsh and kind of reverberating. Here is a good example online:

www.countryfile.com/wildlife/bir...

At the place where Choughs returned to Cornwall in 2001 after dying out there in 1976. They should be starting nesting around now, so it’s worth listening for the unmistakable Cheeeeoow call. Wish I were there too - great place to walk and birdwatch followed by a pasty from Anne’s for lunch.

The Celegraph 66 Starmer's Britain suddenly feels very small, very weak and very alone The heroism of Churchill has degenerated into Starmer's pusillanimity Our Prime Minister embodies British decline | Credit: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

You know what would have helped with this sudden isolation we now find ourselves in?

Not leaving the damned EU.

For fuck’s sake.

I think the Greens could work with Sadiq Khan. There is a lot of overlap in their ideas.

First signs of spring down at Athelney as the flood waters slowly recede. Help us secure all this land for nature by donating or becoming a member. www.somersetwildlands.org/support