Chris Talbot

View of Earth from space with bright network lines symbolising secure satellite links, with the text ‘Europe, connected. At all times.’ promoting the EU GOVSATCOM initiative.

🛰️ EU GOVSATCOM provides resilient satellite communications for public authorities across Europe, even in unpredictable situations.

All EU countries can access sovereign, secure communications for government and military use, built, operated, and controlled in Europe.

The great Ministry of Defence-to-Palantir pipeline Senior defence officials are moving into Palantir roles as the company secures ever-deeper footholds across government

A senior MoD official helps shape defence strategy, then joins Palantir.

Months later, Palantir lands a £240m MoD contract without tender.

No laws broken – just the revolving door doing what it does best.

Our southern woodland border ditch

If I step over this 1,500 year old ditch, the historic border between the Kingdom’s of Kent & the South Saxons, I will be in danger from hordes of wild rabbits from Sussex (as they like to call themselves now 🙄)

They seem to sense the Men of Kent, & their eyes follow us 👀

Five new bluebell shoots

Five English Bluebells disturbed by one of our resident badgers

From the left: 2 years old, three 1 year olds, & one that is weeks old & still a shiny black seed that only dropped to the woodland floor late last year

Yes, all are now safely tucked in 🤗

The economic cost of Brexit has just been laid bare – and it’s devastating A decade on, the economic cost of Brexit has just been laid bare – and it’s devastating. Here's what the figures say.

"The economic cost of Brexit is no longer theoretical. It’s measurable, compounding – and devastating. Britain’s fastest-growing, most productive businesses before Brexit became the most damaged afterwards. Brexit punished the very companies that powered growth."
#RejoinEU 🇬🇧🇪🇺

‘Stark warning’: pesticide harm to wildlife rising globally, study finds Toxicity from farm chemicals increased for most species groups between 2013 and 2019, with insects worst affected

Stark warning’: #pesticide harm to wildlife rising globally, study finds

- Toxicity from farm chemicals increased for most species groups between 2013 and 2019, with #insects worst affected

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Another record-breaking year for UK battery storage as 4GWh comes online Operational UK grid-scale battery storage capacity grew 45% in 2025, with 4GWh coming online to reach 12.9GWh cumulative capacity.

The GB grid saw 4 GWh of battery storage added in 2025, 30% more than in 2024.

(For context an average of about 80 GWh is drawn from the grid every day)

The average capacity was 95 MWh (about 10,000 times bigger than a domestic battery), and 75% had a max power output of over 50 MW

Share far & wide.
👇🤬👇

A small group of snowdrops

Snowdrops are not indigenous to Britain, & likely introduced around the 1500s, but now fully naturalised

They likely began their life here in monastery herb gardens, perhaps used medicinally

They have long been linked to celebrating light's victory over darkness

Male Blackbirds everywhere, but not in our garden

They know each other’s territory, & get aggressive in the breeding season. In Winter there’s less, but a mutual respect for boundaries

So they don’t enter Bert’s garden, thus leaving a physical & metaphorical hole in our lives

Evening on Millstone Edge #landscape #photography #shotoniphone 📷

A photo taken yesterday sitting in my car at lunchtime.

Lunchtime in the countryside. #NaturePhotography #nature #photography #outdoors #photo #naturescenery #NatureBeauty #naturephoto #ThePhotoHour #road

Massive oak tree in winter

The Dambji oak - Burtnieki, Latvia

One of the largest oaks in Europe

Photo: Zeltins

😸😸😸😸😸😸😸
Morning Blueskiers!
Me and the cat are laffing our heads off!
Reform’s Gorton getcha Matt ‘muslimophobe’ Goodwin has blocked Larry the cat!

Paws up felines!

A Victorian illustration of a spring flower post, tulip, lily of the valley snowdrops, crocus, narcissi.

Day 29 of my ‘getting through January, vintage floral plates from books. Last three ! A spring posy from Floriculture 1880
#botanicalillustration #books

No. No. No. Stop outsourcing education to planet destroying, plagiarising mistake/slop machines. Stop outsourcing education to private corps whose only interest is to make the largest profit on the smallest costs.

If you truly want to help kids learn, especially disadvantaged kids, then start 1/

That’s Lennie’s younger brother, Billy. Lennie’s arms were at least a yard longer.

We have been using a platform that is banned in Russia to say that free speech is banned in the EU on the platform we banned.

𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿...

https://burningshed.com/newsletters/newsletter_21_01_2026.html

#musicfeed #musicsky

Bob Vylan: No charges over IDF chants during Glastonbury set Avon and Somerset Police says the incident

Blindingly obvious and exactly what I said to the New York Times at the time. So the question is, why did the useless British media carry, hysterically, coverage of a UK (Not Very Good) Lawyers for Israel press release? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Hatfield and the North - Hatfield and the North

(Black) (Signed) Vinyl pre-orders shipped, now in stock

https://burningshed.com/artists/HatfieldandtheNorth

#HatfieldAndTheNorth #ProgRock #ClassicRock #Music #MusicSky #VinylSky

𝗻⃥𝗲⃥𝘄⃥𝘀⃥𝗹⃥𝗲⃥𝘁⃥𝘁⃥𝗲⃥𝗿⃥ 🎄 𝗻⃥𝗲⃥𝘄⃥𝘀⃥𝗹⃥𝗲⃥𝘁⃥𝘁⃥𝗲⃥𝗿⃥ 🎄
𝗻⃥𝗲⃥𝘄⃥𝘀⃥𝗹⃥𝗲⃥𝘁⃥𝘁⃥𝗲⃥𝗿⃥ 🎄 𝗻⃥𝗲⃥𝘄⃥𝘀⃥𝗹⃥𝗲⃥𝘁⃥𝘁⃥𝗲⃥𝗿⃥ 🎄
𝗻⃥𝗲⃥𝘄⃥𝘀⃥𝗹⃥𝗲⃥𝘁⃥𝘁⃥𝗲⃥𝗿⃥ 🎄 𝗻⃥𝗲⃥𝘄⃥𝘀⃥𝗹⃥𝗲⃥𝘁⃥𝘁⃥𝗲⃥𝗿⃥ 🎄

https://burningshed.com/newsletters/newsletter_18_12_2025.html

Finally watched the excellent film about the history of King Crimson by Toby Amies, available from @burningshed.com

Sometimes brutally honest about Fripp's perfectionism, Bill Rieflin facing the last months of his life, and what it takes to accomplish what they did

A view through trees to the city of Durham in the distance under light snow. The trees frame the distant centre point, which is the cathedral

Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, window 22
Durham Cathedral
Artist: SRBadmin

In case you missed it ...
When we were in the EU, there were signs all over the place showing how the EU was investing in our towns and regions. And best of all, EU funding was shared out EQUALLY and FAIRLY across all parts of the UK, regardless of which party was in power.
#RejoinEU 🇬🇧🇪🇺

🤑Thames Water creditors are haggling with Ofwat.

💩They want permission to pollute our waters until 2040.

😡But we've had a year of reasons why Ofwat should just say NO.

Take 2 minutes to email Ofwat and tell them to reject the outrageous deal. #OFWATsayNO

vist.ly/4jdfb

A sea of oak leaves

The Kingdom of Kent is sacred ground, because wherever you go, you walk on Gold

Sparse, very painterly watercolour showing a wide flat landscape dotted with winter elms and ploughed fields dusted with snow

Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, window 16
‘First Snow’
Artist: Rowland Hilder

US puts £31bn tech ‘prosperity deal’ with Britain on ice Pledge to invest billions in UK paused, with Washington citing lack of progress on trade barriers across pond

US puts £31bn tech ‘prosperity deal’ with Britain on ice.

Trump doesn't honour agreements. It's about dominance.

Demands that UK ends digital services tax on US tech companies and it's food safety rules which bar certain US agricultural products.

Say NO to Trump slavery. Better off joining the EU

If you earned £40 per second, 24/7, every minute of every day of the year, it would take you approximately ...

7 hours to earn a million.
9.5 months to earn a billion.
792 years to earn a trillion.

That's how rich oligarchs are compared to the rest of us. Yet they tell us they can't pay more tax.