Moira Macdonald

Reform likely to raise Kent council tax after cost-cutting drive falters Nigel Farage’s party promised to revive local authority finances by slashing wasteful spending

Reform likely to raise Kent council tax after cost-cutting drive falters on.ft.com/4pTvJ62

The mother of Colombian corals Known as the mother of Colombian corals, at 70, marine biologist Elvira Alvarado is still diving — and pioneering "coral IVF" to help save endangered reefs.

"We can't stop what is happening," she says, referring to climate change and highly lethal threats like Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, which was first reported in 2014 and has spread throughout the Caribbean. "But we can try to replace coral that's dying."
www.npr.org/2025/10/05/n...

YouTube video by Elle Cordova For our scientists

Elle Cordova offers her paean to scientists.

www.youtube.com/shorts/AYm9w...

She is, but not very often.

YouTube video by Toni Lindgren How Deep Is Your Love - Bee Gees cover feat. Josh Turner, Reina del Cid, Carson McKee

Good night #BSky here is Toni Lindgren with @ellecordova.bsky.social, Josh Turner and Carson McKee performing How Deep is Your Love by BeeGees... youtu.be/6IZphtFaPCE?...

This year's Labour Conference was fantastic! The choice has never been clearer: Labour are the only party fighting to renew Britain.🌹

Wow, this sounds like a very interesting and important conference. I'd love to see more events like this, because the roles and responsibilities of scientists in the current social and geopolitical context is something the research community needs to discuss much more.

Right-wing media fluffs Farage for years, to the point where he now leads the polls, and then start whining about Starmer being 'obsessed' when he starts telling some long overdue home truths. It's actually hilarious.

Rachel wearing very flimsy looking apron, mask and visor in NHS setting

Here I am in 2020 in the flimsiest, most pitful PPE - like so many other NHS staff, some of whom died from the Covid they caught in their hospitals.

Tory peer Michelle Mone - who today lost her legal case & must repay the govt £122m - dares to claim she’s been ‘scapegoated’.

What, Michelle? 🧵

Why is Starmer becoming more confident criticising Brexit? Because quietly, without any great drama, a consensus has been reached. It's a disaster inews.co.uk/opinion/brex...

Is reading always better for your brain than listening to audiobooks? Reading books and listening to audiobooks tap into different elements of cognition, each with their own benefits. So which one should you choose, and when?

Reading books and listening to audiobooks tap into different elements of cognition, each with their own benefits. So which one should you choose, and when?

Khan hails Ulez success as London under limit for toxic pollutant for first time Sir Sadiq Khan said he is ‘thrilled’ that London has met legal limits for the toxic pollutant nitrogen dioxide for the first time.

The ULEZ expansion has been vital for cleaner air, especially for our children. Protecting the most vulnerable from toxic pollution is not a political choice, it's a moral imperative. Thanks to @sadiqkhanlondon.bsky.social's bold action, our air is now safer.

www.standard.co.uk/news/politic...

I am filled with so much love and gratitude that I cannot grieve. Dr. Goodall worked tirelessly in her gentle, hopeful way for a better world for all life on Earth. She has laid down her field notebook for the last time; now it is for us to fill with wonder, joy, and connection, into infinity.

Dr. Jane made an indelible mark on our understanding of chimpanzees and other species, and also of humankind and the environments we all share.

She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people, and paved the way for many others.

#ThankYouJane #RememberingJane

Photo: Marko Zlousic

Firm linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone breached £122m PPE contract, judge rules While Baroness Mone's husband Doug Barrowman said the ruling was "a travesty of justice", it was welcomed by a COVID-19 victims group and the chancellor.

I remember the scramble for PPE during Covid - NHS staff risked their lives, some died. All while Tories gave their mates VIP access to profiteer from the pandemic.

This Labour Government is serious about going after misspent COVID cash.

news.sky.com/story/firm-l...

Standing firm in power and pride!

With the rise of the far right this is more important than ever!

Celebrating Black excellence, telling untold stories and building a society rooted in fairness, justice and equality. 💜✊🏾

Jane Goodall, dogged advocate for the natural world, has died aged 91

Acclaimed conservationist and chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall has died, leaving behind a legacy of empathy for primates and the natural world

Easily, his most elaborate and destructive distraction from #TheEPSEIN_Files... yet.

We're proud to work with @UKLabour to deliver C8 of the Jo Cox Women in Leadership scheme. Announced by Gen Sec Holly Ridley at LWN's #Persisterhood rally at #Lab25, JCWIL trains political changemakers. A fitting legacy for our Chair, friend and sister Jo Cox 🌹

Planet Patriarchy: Global Feminism with Rahila Gupta & Beatrix Campbell A UWE Bristol Public Sociology event — Dr Finn Mackay This in-conversation event will cover how patriarchy fluxes and changes around the world, and how feminism resists and triumphs. Covering case studies from the women's revolution in Rojava, in North E...

Only a few tickets left for this Bristol event on new book "Planet Patriarchy", book signing & discussion with Rahila Gupta, specialist on Rojava, which is close to the hearts of many in Bristol. Come along,Watershed later this month www.drfinnmackay.co.uk/new-events/p...

UK government wins £122m pandemic case against Michelle Mone-linked firm over faulty PPE Trial heard 25m surgical gowns supplied by PPE Medpro to protect NHS staff were unusable and could ‘seriously harm or kill patients’

High Court orders firm linked to Baroness Michelle Mone to pay £122m to UK public purse.

It provided 25m unusable surgical gowns to NHS which could ‘seriously harm or kill patients’. Tories created VIP lanes.

When will the money be paid?

Court judgement: www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...

I can’t believe I’m watching interviews of city mayors talking about how they are coordinating with other mayors to discuss how to protect their residents FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

I know we are “used to it” but it is absolutely insane

Older persons have the right to social protection. European Social Charter of the Council of Europe

Older persons have the right to live in dignity. European Social Charter of the Council of Europe

Older persons have the right to remain full members of the society. European Social Charter of the Council of Europe.

Older persons have the right to autonomy. European Social Charter of the Council of Europe.

Article 23 of the European Social Charter of the @coe.int guarantees the right of elderly persons to social protection.

Older persons have the right to live in dignity and independence as full members of society, protected from abuse, discrimination, and neglect.

Age should never limit autonomy.

One of my favorite UNH colleagues ftw

The paperback version is out in 2026🍎

Record-breaking glacier melt on Svalbard Svalbard ice loss in 2024 accounted for 10% of the sea-level rise contribution from all glaciers in the world, a new study highlights.

Record-breaking glacier melt on Svalbard
www.thebarentsobserver.com/news/recordb...

detentionpregnancytracker.com

Thank you to everyone who attended our packed #PERSISTERHOOD rally at #Lab25
Hosted by our Chair, Baroness Thangam Debbonaire, we heard from phenomenal women leaders across our movement and started Conference with energy and sisterly solidarity🌹

Eric Pickles (remember him?) ended the Local Government Pension Scheme for new Councillors in 2014.

Now, 11 years later, at the Labour Party conference, Steve Reed MP has just announced that he is reversing this decision in recognition of the huge contribution of local councillors! 🎉

Its wrong & un-British to strip from people the promise that this was their permanent home

Is it racist too? Farage is now exempting 4m European nationals with settled status, 9/10 white, but threatening half a million non-Europeans, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Africa in a similar ethical position