Paddy Hillyard

Is the Empire coming home? This 2014 paper examines the relationship between neoliberalism and the increased use of incarceration in the British state, incorporating colonial experiences into the discourse. It contends that current punitive measures are not a new phenomenon but rather a continuation of historical strategies rooted in colonial practices, impacting marginalized populations today.

Is the Empire coming home?

This 2014 paper examines the relationship between neoliberalism and the increased use of incarceration in the British state, incorporating colonial experiences into the discourse. It contends that current punitive measures are not a new phenomenon but rather a…

Why are four million children still going hungry in the UK in 2026? Hunger in the UK is the scourge that ceases to abate. It's time to build a road map to meaningful and lasting change.

UK child poverty up 34% in a decade.

Families can't afford the cost of food, rent, childcare, heating, essentials.

72% of poor children live in working families.

Secure jobs, universal basic income/services, curbs on profiteering, free school meals would help.

Must eradicate parental poverty.

LNG ‘can’t happen fast enough’, says Taoiseach as Cop30 grapples with ending fossil fuels Martin indicates that liquefied natural gas a security imperative for Ireland

So much talk about Ireland (and EU) dependency on the US but so little examination of what that means in material terms.

Investing in LNG does not just hasten climate disaster but deepens Ireland's (and the EU's) dependence on the US.

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Grok is so much worse than you think.

Outrage as Trump withdraws from key UN climate treaty along with dozens of international organisations Experts decry move to leave UNFCCC as ‘embarrassing’ as president orders withdrawal from 66 international groups

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

#ClimateCriminals
#ClimateNuremberg
#FollowTheMoney
#CrimesAgainstHumanity
#Ecocide
#Genocide
#Omnicide
#MediaAsGenocidalCorporateFascism
#AusPol
#Auspol2026
#TheyKnew
#FossilFuelPollution
#AnthropogenicGlobalWarming

This, I believe, sums up exactly what we, & the Americans we know & love, are thinking.
Why isn't Congress supporting their own people?

ICE faced ‘an act of domestic terrorism’ in Minneapolis’ and in UK over 1000 peaceful protestors arrested under terrorism law. Humpty Dumpty Madness! “When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean.” See my arguments against the use of the word: What Is Terrorism? | Cato Unbound

🚨🧵on Venezuela

While the final US military operation last weekend might have been under cover of darkness, the build-up to it was out in the open for all to see.

I've constructed some timelines of the immediate build-up covering both the strikes and the supporting actions...

1/11

Interior pauses construction of all offshore wind projects, citing national security concerns The halts of five projects is a major ramp up of the administration's hostility toward the industry in the United States.

This is madness. Freezing offshore wind projects in progress will waste money, cost jobs, make electricity less reliable and more expensive, and will cause health harms given that fossil fuels will be used instead.

www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

Iceland has hottest Christmas Eve ever with temperature of 19.8C recorded Meteorological office reports high temperatures across country and record measured at Seyðisfjörður in east

THIS is climate breakdown

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Georgetown’s removal of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese comes after relentless pressure aimed at silencing voices consistently standing with Palestinians under occupation. This is a dangerous precedent for academic freedom and human rights advocacy.

UK Supreme Court Thompson decision will lead to further cover-up of killings by state agents in the conflict in N. Ireland. Shockingly, just 4 are now known to have been involved in over 160 murders in MI5’s secret policy of running agents without a legal framework. See my book: Decades of Deceit.

New data centres may need additional electricity supply close to Ireland’s peak demand Expected new demand for data centres of 5.8GW would exceed Ireland’s 2030 offshore wind target of 5GW

I had to re-read this a few times because it is hard to believe.

Demand from proposed new data centres might be as high as 5.8GW, equivalent to *peak electricity demand for the entire country*.

www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Fiduciary Duty out the window then.

On BBC Radio Wales after 6pm talking about the Kenova report

Kenova Report notes that MI5 tried to cover up truth over 'Stakeknife' spy in IRA. For background detail see my Decades of Deceit: The Stalker Affair and its Legacy.

Reeves’ cut in energy bills will be nuked by Sizewell costs, ex-Labour donor claims Dale Vince’s claims over the impact of paying for Sizewell C on energy bills is one of a number of hidden costs which could see consumers pay higher bills - instead of £150 less

Reeves’ £150 cut in energy bills will be nuked by Sizewell costs.

Levies on bills to fund gas pipelines, electricity grid to rise.

Customers to pay years before construction even begins. Companies raise capital from customers, shareholders keep profits.

Privatisation facilitates rip off practices

The first terrorism act was introduced by the Labour government in 1974 with Temporary Provisions in the title. It was described by Roy Jenkins, SoS Home Dept, as ‘draconian’ and ‘unprecedented in peacetime’. How are we to describe Order 803 under the latest iteration?

Philippe Sands on the chilling effect of order 803:
"Readers, poets and writers who wish to protest, take note! Peaceful protest and expression should not ever be an act of terror or a crime."

Modern houses in Hobart Hall, near Comber, but no heat pumps unlike in the Republic where they are standard in all new build. When will Northern Ireland get serious about climate change?

A line graph shows the time series of Arctic mean surface temperature anomalies for each October from 1850 through 2025. There is a long-term increasing trend and large year-to-year variability. The mean surface temperature anomaly in October 2025 was 3.78°C for this region. Anomalies are computed relative to a 1910-2000 climate baseline. All data is from NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0 on this graphic.

A line graph shows the time series of Antarctic mean surface temperature anomalies for each October from 1850 through 2025. There is a long-term increasing trend and large year-to-year variability. The mean surface temperature anomaly in October 2025 was 1.43°C for this region. Anomalies are computed relative to a 1910-2000 climate baseline. All data is from NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0 on this graphic.

Was there any coverage of the recent record warmth in both the Arctic and Antarctic? Multiple global datasets now confirm these records, and I think it's really quite striking.

Here's some very quick plots showing NOAAGlobalTempv6 data from October too. And see my earlier posts.

What a farce of a rugby match! As an ex Bath player, sad to see the game being ruined by weight power and constant rucking on the try line. Small nations will never be able to complete with those that have enough heavies to bring on at 60 mins. Reduce sides to 13 and introduce weight limits!

The Telegraph churns out these stories almost daily, but this one about the reduced range of tumble dryers is v funny. Reduced range simply means that people in NI can't buy inefficient models which can't be sold in EU. And no, Robin Swann, by definition that means folk can't buy them from Ireland:

"Ireland's weather service said its scientists briefed the country’s prime minister last year and a parliamentary committee last month."

Last year, but not a peep out of Leo or Simon (pre & post Apr 2024 Taoisigh) about the #climate risks of early AMOC collapse.

#Speirgorm #IrishPol

Up to €2.7m worth of energy ‘wasted’ every day by State, committee told Wind farms wound down or shut down at night while households are in fuel poverty, says energy charity chief

The Irish State is dumping €450 million of wind energy a year, despite 29% of households suffering fuel poverty, because 'there's no market'.

If you're struggling to get your head around that, it's called capitalism.
share.google/k9gHug8xaazA...

Interesting to see so many great British patriots right now begging an American president to bankrupt one of Britain’s last remaining truly national institutions.

YouTube video by Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK Raising the Voice of Science: COP30’s New Planetary Science Pavilion in Belém

"As a scientist, I've never had reason to be so concerned as I am today for the future we are facing," states PIK Director Johan Rockström as #COP30 kicks off in Belém, Brazil. The first ever Planetary Science Pavilion, under the mandate from COP30 Brazil, and together with Carlos A. Nobre,... 1/2

Two-thirds of California's power comes from clean energy.

For 9 in 10 days so far this year, we were 100% powered for some part of the day by clean energy.

The Golden State has become the world's fourth-largest economy because of our climate leadership, not in spite of it.

Wood Mackenzie confirms new natural gas generation is expensive!

$126/MWh in 2030!

New solar plus batteries are less than half the cost of new gas!

New nuclear ($139/MWh) also is getting close to being cheaper than new gas!

Gas too is dirty, biggest CO2 electricity polluter. #energysky