Jan O’Brien

YouTube video by Graham Nash - Topic Immigration Man (Remastered Version)

Our idealism in the ’60s and ’70s was real but fleeting, replaced by cynicism. We didn’t try very hard to stop law-enforcement violence and the persecution of immigrants. These issues drove our songs, but not often our actions. It’s not too late, but almost. Fight MAGA fascism while you can. 🧵 2/2

YouTube video by journal245 graham nash- Chicago

Here in Chicago, where government thugs are terrorizing my neighbors, I’ve been listening to old Graham Nash songs. They serve as sad reminders that the oppression he wrote about in the early ’70s is still here – maybe even worse. My boomer generation really fucked things up. 🧵 1/2

Reform UK, the Russian spy and rolls of Kremlin cash: the inside story of Nathan Gill How did a former Mormon bishop end up pleading guilty to taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia in the European parliament?

Thorough piece on Farage’s close colleague and friend Nathan Gill and the Kremlin cash he took

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

Reform UK, the Russian spy and rolls of Kremlin cash: the inside story of Nathan Gill How did a former Mormon bishop end up pleading guilty to taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia in the European parliament?

Reform UK, the Russian spy and rolls of Kremlin cash: the inside story of Nathan Gill www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

Please consider signing to help all who don’t qualify for free Covid vaccinations, including carers, frontline workers, and many elderly and disabled people excluded from the current, very narrow list. If prevention is the goal, this policy doesn’t make sense. Please listen Wes Streeting.

Incredibly important read in the build up to the budget!

Farage is flagging.

He’s losing councillors and by-elections, and his polling’s plateaued.

But we all need to fight him harder. A month ago I wrote this blog about 10 things you can do to help defeat Farage - keep doing them, it’s working! -

bsky.app/profile/guys...

‘The money machine is misfiring’: City blames Brexit for UK’s £20bn productivity headache Poor output since the leave vote has landed Rachel Reeves with a bigger-than-forecast budget spending gap

City blames Brexit for UK’s £20bn productivity headache

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Black and white disposable coffee cup on the ground in the countryside

Around 7 million disposable coffee cups are used in the UK every day - and it’s estimated that less than 1% of these are recycled. Many, like this one, are discarded - creating litter in towns & the countryside. To reduce waste, use a reusable cup. More:
littlegreenspace.org.uk/reviews/ocean-…

Great read from @iandunt.bsky.social on whether Starmer should stay or go, including the mystery of how, if you’re launching a popular climate, energy, and growth strategy, why wouldn’t you stage a press conference on it?
iandunt.substack.com/p/a-world-wi...

'Blatant bias': BBC under fire over double standards for Question Time panel BBC Question Time has come under fire after describing a Reform UK campaigner on its panel as an “academic” – while labelling a left-wing…

"Blatant bias": BBC under fire over double standards for Question Time panel #bbcqt

www.thenational.scot/news/2558375...

Reform UK Treasurer Profited From Financial Ties to Elon Musk and Trump's Silicon Valley Billionaires Reform's biggest donor and Treasurer Nick Candy held investments in a US venture fund tied to Trump-supporting tech billionaires, including Elon Musk

"Candy’s use of a Guernsey entity...highlights how the property billionaire – now Reform UK treasurer – benefits from the offshore financial system."

"Guernsey’s offshore status allows [him] to route funds through so-called tax-neutral jurisdictions offering corporate secrecy & limited disclosure."

Michael Gove Lobbied Government Officials to Hand Conservative Donor Multimillion Pound Covid Contract Private correspondence seen by Byline Times reveals that Ciga Healthcare's Brexit-supporting owner had pushed Gove to "take control" of the process

Michael Gove personally intervened to ensure that a Conservative donor's firm was awarded a multimillion pound covid contract.

Private correspondence reveals that Ciga Healthcare’s Brexit-supporting owner had pushed Gove to “take control” of the process.

The contract was awarded just days later

Dominic Cummings Lobbied Officials to Hand 'Test and Trace' Contracts to Palantir After Secret Meeting With Peter Thiel Exclusive: Boris Johnson's senior advisor pushed for Covid contracts to be handed to companies run by Trump-supporting tech billionaires Peter Thiel and Larry Ellison

Cummings Lobbied Officials to Hand 'Test and Trace' Contracts to Palantir After Secret Meeting With Peter Thiel

Johnson’s senior advisor pushed for Covid contracts to be handed to companies run by Trump-supporting tech billionaires Thiel and Ellison

bylinetimes.com/2025/10/31/d...

Log In Welcome to the National Trust 2025 voting website, hosted by independent voting service provider Civica Election Services.

If you're a member of the National Trust remember to vote for council members by midnight tonight.

Use the Quick Vote option.

Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them

Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand

secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...

Head of UK government’s anti-Islamophobia partner ‘refused service in shop for being Muslim’ Akeela Ahmed, of British Muslim Trust, says experience is part of a wider rise in anti-Muslim hatred

Akeela Ahmed of the British Muslim Trust talks about the new reporting service for anti-Muslim hatred & the challenge of tackling the prejudices that legitimise it
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Please take action against catapults and sign the new Govt petition: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

The value of public R&D

Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...

Revealed: Israel demanded Google and Amazon use secret ‘wink’ to sidestep legal orders The tech giants agreed to extraordinary terms to clinch a lucrative contract with the Israeli government, documents show

“officials created a secret warning system: the companies must send signals hidden in payments to the Israeli government, tipping it off when it has disclosed Israeli data to foreign courts or investigators” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Yes, because Badenoch’s was a criminal offence carrying a custodial sentence, whereas Reeves’ was not.

I came to post precisely the comment made here. Excellent, sparkling analysis - I can find no superlatives to merit the quality of this piece.

📈154 COVID-19 deaths in England week to 17 Oct 2025. Highest weekly deaths since 15 Nov 2024 Latest cases / positivity tomorrow. 🧪Testing scarce 🛑Ventilation poor 📉Immunity waning 😷Face coverings rare 💉Vaccine access restricted 💯Need more data, better protection, and clearer public health messaging.

📈154 COVID-19 deaths in England week to 17 Oct 2025.
Highest weekly deaths since 15 Nov 2024
Latest cases / positivity tomorrow.
🧪Testing scarce
🛑Ventilation poor
📉Immunity waning
😷Face coverings rare
💉Vaccine access restricted
💯Need more data, better protection, and clearer public health messaging.

Domestic wood burners kill thousands and cost NHS millions a year, report suggests Burning of wood and coal in homes contributes to almost 2500 deaths a year, and stopping unnecessary burning would save the NHS millions of pounds, a report suggests. An analysis by the charity Globa...

🤦Airborne threats, ignored.
@bmj.com rightly calls air pollution a public health issue.
But what about COVID?
🤷Its spread has been normalized - despite the toll on lungs, lives, the NHS, and the economy. www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Inside the Trump family’s global crypto cash machine The U.S. president’s family raked in more than $800 million from sales of crypto assets in the first half of 2025 alone, a Reuters examination found, on top of potentially billions more in unrealized “on paper” gains. Much of that cash came from foreign sources as Donald Trump's sons touted their business on an international investor roadshow.

Trump Org’s income in the first half of 2024 was $51 million.

In the first half of 2025 it rose to $864 million.

A massive percentage came from foreigners.

It should be the biggest scandal in the history of American politics.

But few even care. www.reuters.com/investigatio...

Note that it's the Conservative Mismanagement of the asylum system that has been revealed in the report. BBC news don't seem to have mentioned this...

1. London-Style Buses The boringly-named Bus Services (No. 2) Bill became law on Monday night (27th October), enabling local transport authorities to implement franchising schemes for bus services in England – potentially reversing the decades-old deregulation of buses which opponents say has contributed to spiralling prices and worsening, reduced services while transport firms pay millions to shareholders. But it will also end the (surprisingly recent) Conservative ban on councils setting up their own bus companies to directly compete with private firms. Buses are the most frequently used form of public transport and are relied on by millions of people – disproportionately lower-income workers, young people, retirees and more. Greater Manchester took up the opportunity of regulating buses by setting up the ‘Bee Network’, but the legal framework mayor Andy Burnham had to use to do it took years to utilise, and faced relentless challenge from transport firms. The new process is set to massively streamline it. This bill won’t make the front pages, but if councils take up the opportunity, it could revolutionise this vital form of transport in England. Cat Hobbs, director of pro-public ownership campaign We Own It, told Byline Times: “After 40 years of bus deregulation and privatisation, it’s fantastic that this government is making it easier to take back control of our buses,” though she also called for the ambition to be matched with extra funding to help make this a success. Hobbs added: “It’s excellent news that the absurd ideological ban on new publicly owned bus companies, introduced under the last government, has now been reversed. Publicly owned bus companies like Lothian Buses and Reading Buses consistently win awards for their brilliant services.” Transport for London-style transport in Cornwall, Leeds, and Newcastle, here we come?

This one is a big deal, in my view. Potentially marks an end to Thatcher-era deregulation of the buses across England. And it's the law as of last night: bylinetimes.com/2025/10/28/a...

Save Arena Essex- Tell Google to search elsewhere!   Wedged between the Mar Dyke Valley and Lakeside Retail Park, the former Arena Essex Raceway is not your usual wildlife haven. Where once stock cars and speedway bikes lined up to cross the fini...

Google plans to bulldoze a wildlife haven in Essex – home to rare species – for a data centre. Sign the petition now to help save it before it’s gone forever 🐝🦋 you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

In the last few days, the Times has had to delete two stories. One because someone pretended to be former Mayor Bill de Blasio to a reporter and one because they wrote up nonsense about Torsten Bell's expenses.

Needs a new editor badly.