Laurie Dunkin Wedd

RFK Jr cancels $500m in mRNA vaccine development in the US Since taking office, the vaccine sceptic has made a number of changes to how vaccines are regulated.

Nobel Prize winning science being cancelled by a vaccine denier.

There are many things which are rightly banned. Many prohibitions are in the public interest

But the notion that a ban, in and of itself, means the banned thing no longer exists or can happen again is false.

Sometimes there is a deterrent effect, otherwise you are just creating new consequences.

To all political parties: Commit to no GP appointment fees EVER I just signed 38 Degrees’ open letter asking ALL political parties to commit to NEVER charging GP fees - will you join me?

I just signed 38 Degrees’ open letter asking ALL political parties to commit to NEVER charging GP fees - will you join me? 38d.gs/dhu1

Writing to magazine editors about Christmas editions — Mums for Lungs Help us raise awareness with magazine editors that using images of stoves and fires in their magazines inadvertently promotes wood burning.

We know it’s the height of Summer, but interior magazine editors are currently planning their #Christmas editions. Can you write to them, asking them to consider not using images of blazing fires on their front covers or within features this year? #AirPollution #WoodBurning

Elon Musk's X 'played central role' in stoking racist riots, damning study finds Amnesty International analysis found X's algorithm prioritises posts that are most likely to contain lies and hatred - and say nothing has changed amid heightened tensions

Elon Musk's X 'played central role' in stoking racist riots, damning report finds

Amnesty International analysis found X's algorithm prioritises posts that are most likely to contain lies and hatred - and say nothing has changed amid heightened tensions

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Record number of solar panels, batteries and heat pumps have been installed in UK homes and buildings in the first six months of 2025, figures show:

www.itv.com/news/2025-08...

Yes. If only every government spox on the subject replied by reciting the numbers on this chart instead of channelling Farage, we might make some progress against ignorance and hate.

Six of the best eco-friendly bath products | Little Green Space There are lots of eco-friendly bath products available, and we've put together some our favourites here.

That’s littlegreenspace.org.uk/reviews/mobi...

Three bottles of Miniml body wash next to a lavender plant

We've put together a list of our favourite eco-friendly bath and shower products. These are plastic free or refillable, and use natural ingredients – and some support environmental or community projects:
littlegreenspace.org.uk/reviews/eco-fr…
#cleanbeauty

New drop from the always-excellent @scottsantens.com , making the case for how #BasicIncome is the answer to Poverty, Insecurity, and Inequality - well worth a read
zurl.co/8Bfd1

Southern Water applies for permission to draw water from rare chalk stream Environment secretary urged to stop drought order that could damage the ecology of River Test in Hampshire

Southern Water applies for permission to draw water from rare chalk stream.

Macquarie controlled company loses 91m litres of water per day to leaks.

No new reservoirs built since 1989.

Dumped sewage for 300,000 hours into rivers.

Customer bills up 47% this year.

End fleecing. Nationalise water.

The Guardian view on asylum myths: when truth loses, scapegoating takes over Britain’s migrant debate | Editorial Editorial: Labour’s cautious fixes for immigration and asylum policy face a toxic public mood shaped by fear, falsehoods and far-right provocation

I've just spent a year in Italy, which gets a fair number of small boats from a much larger stretch of sea than the Channel on a daily basis and NO WAY there is such hysterical, daily political coverage of this worldwide phenomenon like here in the UK.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

As the Palestinian academic Edward Said said in his 1993 Reith Lectures, the intellectual has "a special duty to address the constituted and authorized powers of one’s own society…, particularly when those powers are exercised in a manifestly disproportionate and immoral war".

Headline and first 2 paragraphs Migrants can use rights laws to evade deportation Loopholes could undermine treaty with France Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor Small boat migrants will be able to frustrate attempts to deport them to France under Sir Keir Starmer's returns deal by exploiting human rights laws, according to the treaty's terms. Under the terms of the agreement with France, migrants will be ineligible for deportation if they have outstanding human rights claims or other legal challenges or claim they are under 18. These are among potential loopholes that threaten to undermine Labour's attempt to end Channel crossings. The treaty also gives France and other European Union member states an effective veto over which individuals are returned.

Just the supposed ‘paper of record’ bemoaning the fact that asylum seekers have *human* rights and may be able to enforce them. Accompanied - ultra cynically - by a photo of Human Rights lawyer, Amal Clooney, at a glamorous fundraiser. What a sly and deeply unpleasant rag The Times now is.

Berman: Was the President right about the polling?

Enten: No. If we are comparing him to other presidents at this point in their presidencies, he is the second lowest on record compared only to himself.

bsky.app/profile/ldw1...

Southern Water applies for permission to draw water from rare chalk stream Environment secretary urged to stop drought order that could damage the ecology of River Test in Hampshire

#SouthernWater continuing its destructive practices.

Southern Water has applied for a drought order that would allow it to draw larger quantities of water than usual from an internationally prized chalk stream and rare salmon habitat.
#cleanupyouract

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

Abu Dhabi-owned SEND school firm profits soar to £45m Rise in private special school pupils helped deliver 30 per cent profit boost, company says

Abu Dhabi owned provider of special schools and children's homes sees profits rise by 28% to £44 million due to strong demand.

That's all taxpayer money that could be spent on improving state provision.

schoolsweek.co.uk/abu-dhabi-ow...

Ugh. We hate to see it. Financial exploitation of the gaps in our state service. Great reporting by @schoolsweek.bsky.social

And not just immigration and not just here.

I remember this from 10 years ago in the Guardian and little has changed either in terms of the figures or general understanding of the facts.

People are appallingly ignorant about immigration.

They don't understand basic things about "net immigration statistics" and have a completely warped sense of what is going on.

It is up to the government and the media to educate, but both are too busy batting their eyes at Nigel Farage's voters.

Tories say disabled people on benefits “earn” more than minimum wage workers. PIP isn’t income as it helps cover the cost of being disabled.
The real issue? Wages are too low. Greens would raise the minimum wage to £15 & fix our broken welfare system. 💚🌍 #TakingThePip #RaiseTheMinumumWage #VoteGreen

RFK Jr cancels $500m in mRNA vaccine development in the US Since taking office, the vaccine sceptic has made a number of changes to how vaccines are regulated.

Idiot.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There are already so many reasons not to visit Trump's America, and here he is giving us another one.

‘Maddening’ Proof Plastics Industry Knew Recycling Was False Solution in 1974, New Document Shows Exclusive finding by DeSmog shows high-level industry awareness that recycling plastic ‘not feasible’ as companies face lawsuits over alleged public deception campaign.

www.desmog.com/2025/08/05/m...

As I explore at length in the article below, "immigration" is not a "legitimate concern" that rises from the bottom to force the elite to crack down but a top-down construction to divert attention away from the many other real crisis people care about

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

‘Maddening’ Proof Plastics Industry Knew Recycling Was False Solution in 1974, New Document Shows Exclusive finding by DeSmog shows high-level industry awareness that recycling plastic ‘not feasible’ as companies face lawsuits over alleged public deception campaign.

A 'maddening' new bombshell report revealing the fraud of plastics recycling.

@rebeccajohn.bsky.social reports for @desmog.com on an exclusive document showing the petrochemical industry knew as early as 1974 that recycling was a false solution.

www.desmog.com/2025/08/05/m...

Three things which can be abbreviated to: “It’s in The Economist”.

And because kindness is never out of place.

Because we profit by selling fighter parts to the Country which has bombed their homes, families and hospitals...