All you need to know.

Sonia Sodha, Emily Maitlis, Helen Joyce and Hannah Barnes have all had their say in the media in the last 24 hours.

Stromness harbour from the sea on a cold sunny morning

Looking at Stromness when swimming is just so much nicer than having to listen to Labour agreeing with Trump - it was bad enough when they were just agreeing with everything Farage said

#Stromness #offforasnorkel #itwasniceunderwatertoo #stuffLabour

Today's a good day to remember Rosalind Franklin, British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose untimely death meant three men shared a Nobel prize for discovering the structure of DNA for which she'd done most of the work.

Screen shot from the Guardian, they mix up Starmer and Farage

Credit to the Guardian for making it clear that Starmer and Farage are completely interchangeable

www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

#Labour #Reform #Indynowplease

Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching

If you want to understand the emotional end intellectual malaise of British politics, this piece by @mjrobbins.com is a pretty good place to start. It effectively describes a country that has gone mad. open.substack.com/pub/martinro...

excellent summary of the sheer idiocy of the current UK imposed approach to domestic energy pricing and access

Stronsay’s Kelp Riots By Bill Miller and first published in The Stronsay Limpet. Republished here with kind permission. Stronsay has been associated with kelp making for centuries, and in fact James Fea of Whitehall , S…

Stronsay's Kelp Riots theorkneynews.scot/2025/11/01/s...

View to the Point of Ness, sun, sea, swimming

Sea floor, merl, sand, sea shells

Refreshing swim in Stromness harbour

#wildswimming #snorkelling #backtomakesomesourdough

A strategy based on 'well, what if everything political science tells us, everything economics tells us and everything history tells us is wrong?' is ending in a predictable fashion.

UK Politics Teetering on the Brink as Scottish and Welsh Elections Beckon Labour is struggling to create any positive, energised political narrative across Britain. But is Scottish politics ready for the rapidity with which political dynamics may change and fracture in the ...

After Plaid's stunning result, re-posting my blog from Tuesday on UK/Scottish politics & how unprepared we are for the likely speed/ instability of change: "A fracturing, destabilised UK will not, in this environment, become a polite, cooperative confederation."
open.substack.com/pub/kirstyhu...

ALL: please spread far and wide. The Trans Exile Network was aware of preparations for this and supports it. We will release a PR of our own shortly also. Note that Amnesty are supporting.

There will also be more from TEN shortly on another initiative.

Stay safe

transactual.org.uk/blog/2025/10...

A fascinating, absorbing & terrific listen… uncovering hidden stories, important representation, queer rural constellations & Broken Futures, not to mention the persistence of work & inquiry that goes into museum work. Bravo @timjerrome.bsky.social @olliedouglas.bsky.social @themerl.bsky.social

Labour deepen their vote for us and get Reform strategy. We need independence before 2029

The otters are at it again! A surfer at Steamer Lane was bitten on the foot by a sea otter (definitely not Steve) who then stole her board for 20 minutes. Officials aren’t sure if it’s the infamous Otter 841 or a bold copycat — either way, the legend continues 🦦🏄‍♀️

Agents snatching up a young protester off the floe today. Resist! Flippers up!

👇👇 with nobs on.

Chancellor says she ‘can’t leave welfare untouched’ this parliament as budget looms Rachel Reeves understood to be eyeing cuts to Motability scheme as she tries to plug hole in country’s finances

“Rather than giving people “free cars”, the Motability scheme allows disabled people to use their PIP to lease new cars for 3 years.”

My colleagues Rowena Mason and @guardianheather.bsky.social report with a disclaimer every media outlet should be using tonight. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

This poll in The Times is still open.

Go to —> compass.pressekompass.net/compasses/ti...

write right, but then I went to school when writing left handed meant being hit with a ruler, everything else is circumstantial

Facebook notification, give them £14 for zero extra views

Facebook make me an offer its so hard to resist

A Snail of Two Cities
For Whom the Shell Tolls
The Adventures of Shell-lock Holmes
The Scarlet Pimpershell
Frankenslime
The Slime of the Ancient Mariner

You can fill in the rest...

Northern Lights By Bernie Bell. Tuesday night…..about 9.30…..across the hill at the back of our house….Northern Lights….. Please insert pics The last pic. isn’t The Mother Ship come to collect us – it’s our neighb…

Northern Lights theorkneynews.scot/2025/10/03/n...

The message I took from Starmer's speech was, 'We're the nice, immigration and flag obsessed party. (English and British only.)Don't vote for the nasty one. We're the respectable racists you can invite to dinner without frightening the kids.' We'll still get on well with your bigotted grannie.

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? 🧵

Keep signing, keep sharing.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

Salmon farmer accused of blocking UK investigations into alleged animal rights breaches Faroese firm Bakkafrost wants to ban campaigner Don Staniford from going within 15 metres of its fish farms

This really matters: using slapp to silence one of our most knowledgeable and dogged salmon farm campaigners

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