Sylvia Davidson

Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead The children’s names below appear on a list of victims of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, maintained by health authorities in the territory. As of the end of July it ran to 60,199 names, of whom 18,457 were under 18s. Far from comprehensive, the list does not include the thousands still buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings, as well as the war’s many indirect victims As of the end of July there were 18,457 children named on the long official list of Palestinian victims of Israel’s war in Gaza. Over almost two years, that is equivalent to bombs, bullets and shells killing a boy or girl every hour of every day. In reality the deaths are not spaced out so evenly. Siblings, cousins and playmates are often killed together, by an airstrike or artillery shell. Even children shot by snipers or quadcopters are sometimes brought into hospitals in groups, doctors say. Continue reading...

Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead

This is a lie.

There are many criticisms you might sensibly and truthfully make of the Sentencing Council and the Sentencing Guidelines. I’ve been making them for years.

But this is an outright lie. Pure fabrication. A fraud on the public.

As for this - in other words the government would rather we offshore our operations instead of generating jobs and exports in a high productivity sector in the UK. I despair...

"In the five years since leaving the EU, rather than protecting British fish, politicians have set catch limits too high, allowing international trawlers to plunder stocks..."
😠

Javier Milei had to beg a bail-out and already needs another. Argentina's economy is in a tailspin. Gov't bonds and peso in freefall. People starving, throwing rocks at him.

Farage last year: "He's amazing. It's Thatcherism on steroids. Cutting and slashing expenditure. That's leadership."

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Craig Bennett, CEO of the Wildlife Trusts: “It is... shocking to hear the chancellor boast allowing people with privileged access to try & circumvent some of the processes that have been put in place by parliament, & to hear how she just dismisses ecological science as if it somehow doesn’t matter.”

UK plastic waste exports to developing countries rose 84% in a year, data shows Campaigners say increase in exports mostly to Malaysia and Indonesia is ‘unethical and irresponsible waste imperialism’

Another benefit of Brexit ... the UK has returned to its traditional role as the dirty man of Europe.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Greta Thunberg has more courage & moral clarity than any world leader I have ever seen.

Bar none.

Period.

That tiny 22 year old is often accused of being annoying, but what she is, is unyielding to moral ambiguity. If it’s wrong, she says so until someone listens.

She deserves the Nobel Prize

Rachel Reeves clears planning blockage amid ‘good relationship’ with developer Exclusive: Chancellor says 20,000 homes were being held up due to ‘some snails that are a protected species or something’

We always knew that Labour cares about little else other than keeping private developers happy.

But here's proof showing off to JP Morgan despite destruction of some of the "rarest creatures in our country."

Let's make that description Labour votes.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Tales of a city: How a fight for a nursery sparked the UK’s longest-running community press A 50-year old enterprise dedicated to local history, memory and community voice

A riveting tale, full of eccentric characters and in which - for once - the community wins out over the establishment. Thank you to writer @alighanimi.bsky.social for a fascinating article. You can support QueenSparkBooks to help keep their unique archive free and online here queensparkbooks.org.uk

She was arrested for holding a sign reading:

“I do not support the proscription of Palestine Action”

How that would warrant arrest is very unclear. I wonder if the police here even understand the boundaries of the bizarre law they’ve been forced to enforce.

Naturalists for Palestine Naturalists for Palestine is a call from individuals and organisations in the UK nature sector to stand for an end to the genocide in Gaza, and to the suffering and oppression of the people of Palesti...

We are all implicated in this UK-backed genocide & ecocide, against our wishes.

We must all stand up for the better world we wish to enjoy and share.

#N4P #Naturalists4Palestine

🧵

Reform poised to raise Kent council tax as Musk-inspired attack on costs falters ANNA GROSS - KENT Kent's local authority will probably raise council tax rates next year as Reform UK struggles to find big savings under an Elon Musk-inspired cost-cutting drive. Kent was one of 10 councils that Nigel Farage's rightwing populist party seized in a swath of local election victories in May. He vowed to save "a lot of money" by abolishing "wasteful" spending. But Diane Morton, Reform's cabinet member for adult social care on Kent county council, told the Financial Times that services were already "down to the bare bones". an "We've got more demand than ever before and it's growing," she said, stress-ing she did not believe access to those services should be limited. "We just want more money." As with many local authorities in England, the bulk of Kent's budget went on adult and chil-dren's social care, as well as on children with special educational needs, which together accounted for about 50 per cent of its £2.5bn annual expenditure. All councils have a legal duty to bal-ance their books and will set next year's budgets in February or March. Ahead of that, most councils in England are expected to increase council tax by 5 per cent, the maximum allowed. "I think it's going to be 5 per cent," Morton said of where Kent would land on tax rises, adding that every 1 per cent increase equated to an extra £10mn. Council leader Linden Kemkaran, a former BBC journalist, said Kent was a test bed for the party's national policies and the "shop window through which everybody is going to see what a Reform government might look like". She declined to say whether council tax would be raised but other Reform coun-cillors said they wanted to avoid hitting the full 5 per cent. Reform's experience highlights some of the obstacles it may face in national government if it won the next general election and pursued its pledge to slash taxes and spending. "Everyone thought we'd come …

Meanwhile, in 'ya don't f*king say' land, Reform discover that governing ain't quite so easy...

' "Everyone thought we'd come in and there were going to be these huge costs we could cut away but there just aren't," said a third senior Reform cabinet member in Kent. '

British politics is basically a doom spiral of increasingly unhinged hostile policies.

Reform says something unhinged
⬇️
Labour counters with their own unhinged policy
⬇️
Tories shout from back they'll be even more unhinged
⬇️
Reform announces different unhinged proposal in response
⬇️
And repeat...🔁

This is spot on. The only I would add is that this spiral of madness is being turbocharged by a national media that is also increasingly unhinged and vastly exaggerates the public demand for these policies. Westminster is trapped in its own reactionary bubble.

This is grim & dangerous over reach.

This is a government that have lost the moral argument & are still selling arms to Israel. Now further cracking down on dissent.

Absolutely the opposite of what they should be doing - so of course this is what the Labour Government choose.

Petition: Ban cheap renewable energy from being charged at the price of expensive gas Mandate energy providers to stop charging the same price as expensive gas for much cheaper renewable energy. We think they should pass any savings on to consumers, rather than keeping them as profit.

Please sign my petition to detach the price of renewable electricity from the wholesale cost of gas - pass the savings back to the people, not shareholder pockets as profit petition.parliament.uk/petitions/72...

Blustery day, isn't it? Here's the National Grid: Live generation data. Wind and solar are generating 74.2% of our electricity. Gas is generating 13.1%. And yet our household electricity prices are pegged to... the volatile price of gas. Which is the basis on which the right attacks... renewables.

Thrilled to receive my copy of THE BOOK OF BOGS from @littletollerbooks.bsky.social. A celebration and (in places) a threnody for this very British and very endangered habitat and landscape.

As you'd expect from the publisher, it's a beautiful book. www.littletoller.co.uk/shop/books/l...

Further reminder - some of those currently trying to weaponise yesterday’s tragedy to fuel Islamophobia have a documented history of antisemitism. As @zackpolanski.bsky.social says ‘Islamophobia and antisemitism are two sides of the same coin’.

Candelabra Coral, Artomyces pyxidatus Photo: Melinda Bell

Candelabra Coral, Artomyces pyxidatus
Learn more: www.naturespot.org/node/261509
Photo: Melinda Bell
#VC55 #Leicester #Leicestershire #fungi #mycology #fungifriends #fungifriday

Article reads: Woman named as Archbishop of Canterbury in historic first The 63-year-old archbishop-designate is married to Eamonn Mullally, with whom she has two children. Originally from Woking in Surrey, she was the UK's chief nursing officer from 1999 to 2004.

This article manages to name her husband before it names… her.

After clashing with Maurice Glasman recently, I've come to realise just how pernicious he and his Blue Labour movement are. We could discuss his chumminess with Steve Bannon and JD Vance, endless pandering to the far right and evident hatred of the Labour left. But there's something even worse. 🧵

Please join me in congratulating Woman on her appointment

a dirt road going through a desert landscape with mountains in the background ALT: a dirt road going through a desert landscape with mountains in the background

Climate and food scientists: Hey everyone, here's a massive report showing how we need to make radical changes to our diet to avoid environmental catastrophe, but if we did it we could have amazing health benefits!

UK media:

Zack Polanski shames Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood

"Shabana Mahmood is being deeply irresponsible"

"Conflating protests against a genocide in Gaza and weaponising that against an antisemitic attack on our streets, a terrorist attack, is deeply irresponsible"

A wide meadow filled with bright yellow wildflowers under a blue sky with scattered white clouds, bordered by green trees in the distance. Photo credit: Chris Harris.

A Eurasian curlew standing in a grassy field, showing its long, downward-curved bill and mottled brown plumage. Photo credit: Bahadir Yeniceri

Close-up of a cluster of small white flowers from a narrow-leaved water-dropwort plant, with green blurred foliage in the background. Photo credit: Nahhan.

Close-up of bright yellow buttercup flowers in a meadow, with a soft-focus background of more yellow blooms. Photo credit: Chris Harris.

📢 Lugg Meadow, the UK’s largest remaining Lammas meadow, is under threat from housing plans. A rare habitat, rich in wildlife and tradition, could be irreversibly damaged.

🚫 We’ve objected to the proposal. Now it’s your turn.
👉 Have your say: https://loom.ly/-yNvG6g

NEW | Surging wind and solar power helped make electricity in Spain CHEAPER than in most European countries.

📈 As wind and solar grows…
📉 …The influence of costly fossil fuels on the electricity price shrinks

https://loom.ly/8DEmqVc

"If you're watching this video, I've been kidnapped by the Israeli Offence Force."

At 1am last night, the Hio was boarded by the Israeli military. Just Stop Oil supporter Hannah is one of the hundreds of people from the #GlobalSumudFlotilla now detained for attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.