Russia and the rise of the radical right Marine Le Pen meets with Putin before the 2017 French Presidential election (Photo credit Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP via Getty Images)

New post just out:

The relationship between Russia and the European radical right goes well beyond Reform's Nathan Gill being bribed.

In this post I trace the history back to the 1990s and look at the threat it poses now.

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/r...

Clean, affordable water belongs to all of us. I’ve told the new Environment Secretary to act on real evidence for public ownership and put people first. Join me:https://actionnetwork.org/letters/ask-emma-reynolds-to-base-water-policy-on-facts-not-water-industry-fake-maths?source=bluesky&

@mrjamesob.bsky.social @chadbourn.bsky.social @ottoenglish.bsky.social @iandunt.bsky.social
@sturdyalex.bsky.social

The Return of Con Law Podcast Episode · 99% Invisible · 06/10/2025 · 58m

I’m a big fan of @99pi.org and @romanmars.bsky.social. I’m delighted to see the return of @elizabethjoh.bsky.social and the always fascinating “Con Law,” along with the start of “The 99% Invisible Breakdown: The Constitution.” My nerd heart skips!

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/9...

Sir Jon Cunliffe: put public ownership back on the table! From day one, the government’s “largest review of the water sector since privatisation” - a.k.a the Cunliffe Review - has ruled out the solution that 82% of the British public want: public ownership. ...

The Govt’s “largest review of the water sector since privatisation” ruled out public ownership - a solution 82% of us support - before even starting.
This review is a sham - but we still have a chance to be heard. Sign @labourlewis.bsky.social’s open letter: actionnetwork.org/petitions/si...

SEND is not overdiagnosed: My take as a SEND student and tutor Getting my dyspraxia diagnosis at the age of ten saved me: SEND is not overdiagnosed

Getting my dyspraxia diagnosis at the age of ten saved me: SEND is not overdiagnosed | Lydia Pearson

@northwestbylines.co.uk

I’m so proud of the hard work being done by the tiny team at @protect.earth on High Wood and all our other sites. This movie is just a snippet of what we’ve been doing but its great to have the validation, especially with Woodland Trust singing the same tune on our approach. bsky.app/profile/phil...

.@steveakehurst.bsky.social does some of the most interesting psephological research around, and this is an absolutely fascinating read. For instance, "if Labour lost every Reform curious Labour vote, it would lose 123 seats; if it lost every Green curious Labour voter it would lose 250 seats."

I would love you to have a listen and contact me on the email given at the end with your comments and suggestions on the things I need some feedback. Thanks!

Hey MP! 🙋 from Best for Britain Reach out to your MP quickly and easily.

🚨 Our research shows deep alignment with the EU on goods and services could deliver up to 1.5% economic growth - even with Trump’s tariffs.

Now's a crucial time to deliver this message to politicians. Tell your MP to attend next week's debate. 👇

This episode is so beautiful. It has all the best words. People say it has words so beautiful that they've never known an episode like this. I'm not saying it. Everyone is saying it. They say I am Making Podcasts Great Again.

(Seriously though, it's a relief. It was SO complicated to put together.)

🚨 This is why we need you to email your MP and ask them to attend the debate on our trading relationship with the EU, secured by Andrew Lewin MP.

Only constituents acting in numbers can make their MP attend and only MPs acting in numbers can make the government listen. ~AA 👇

hey-mp.uk?c=debate

Last chance to catch up with the myth of King Midas, before we dive into Persephone tomorrow.

And there could be no better time for it, considering the asinine current occupant of the White House and how we are all forced to suffer his twin fatal sins of poor judgement and bad taste.

A bar chart showing the data from our latest poll. The question asked was 'If you had to choose only one, which of the following approaches do you think the UK Government ought to take in response?' The bar chart shows 14% of Brits chose improving our relationship with Trump, 43% chose improving our relationship with other trading partners, like the EU, 20% chose developing new trading relationships with countries like Japan and Brazil, 10% chose retaliatory tariffs, 2% said none of these options and 11% said they didn't know.

❗ 43% of Brits think the government should respond to Trump’s trade war by strengthening our ties with other like-minded partners, like the EU.

Do you agree? Email your MP and tell them to attend the debate on the UK’s trading relationship with Europe 👉 buff.ly/8SDDegC

Hey MP! 🙋 from Best for Britain Reach out to your MP quickly and easily.

💥 There will be a debate in parliament on 24th April, on the trading relationship with EU, exquisitely timed to be a month before the big summit between VdL and Starmer. Please share if you feel you can (or simply write to your own MP!). hey-mp.uk?c=debate 🇪🇺🇬🇧

My illustration of a coal tit

Small collection of blue & purple summer flowers on a sketch book - cornflowers, Nigella & sweet peas laid out with my illustrations of them on the opposite page & a small pale blue fountain pen I used to make the drawings nearby

A collection of spring nature finds such as forget me nots, wood avens, borage etc. with my illustrations of some of them nearby, along with a watercolour palette, paintbrush

Five of my pen and ink illustrations of British birds: blackcap, redwing, coal tit, long tailed tit & wren, some with scientific names & the dates I made the drawings

I'm recovering from a breakdown atm-finances bit worrying atm.
I teach illustration & how creative activity improves mental health-I've taught on BBC Countryfile & the V & A.
I've 3 w'shops atm-learn sth new & support me at same time-enter THANKYOU15 for 15%off. Pls RT,ty:
workshops.emmamitchell.uk

< Jaime Montana Cook is at Sackets Harbor Central School. 5h • Message from the Sackets Harbor Principal As the principal of these students, I need to speak plainly. Our three students who were taken by ICE were doing everything right. They had declared themselves to immigration judges, attended court on their assigned dates, and were following the legal process. They are not criminals. They have no ties to any criminal activity. They are loved in their classrooms. Their family has worked at the nearby "Old McDonald's" petting zoo and dairy farm for 15 years. They lived in a house on the same road as a home ICE had a warrant for. The fact that ICE went door to door is unfathomable. The fact that our students were handcuffed and put into the same van as the alleged criminal from down the street is unconscionable. When I think of my third grader's experience, my stomach twists and it is hard to breathe. We are in shock-and it is that shared shock that has unified our community in the call for our students' release. We are in direct communication with our students. Let me be clear: they are not "being medically evaluated." They are not being "questioned as potential victims." Calling a detention center by another name does not change what it is. We deserve better than spin and misinformation. My teachers and my students are already hurting. Please, think about how long every hour feels for a third grader in a detention center. The wait had already been too long a week ago. I have no other agenda. Please release my students and their mother back to our community. Jaime Cook Prek-12 Principal Sackets Harbor, NY

Sackets Harbor, NY is so small that there’s one pre k-12 school with 475 students. Three of those students were disappeared by ICE.

Here is a statement published today by school principal Jaime Cook:

YouTube video by Peter Stefanovic I’m joining Trussell in calling on the Gov’t to rethink its cruel & shameful plan to cut benefits

I’m joining @trusselluk.bsky.social in calling on the government to rethink its cruel, shameful & completely irresponsible plan to cut benefits which will plunge 250,000 people, including 50,000 children into poverty - on its own impact analysis

This is how you can help

youtu.be/XrX4dF3wqt0?...

King Midas - All that glitters Podcast Episode · Alex Andreou's Podyssey · 31/03/2025 · 1h 30m

🫏 REJOICE! 'Tis here! S1E3 KING MIDAS - All That Glitters

When did this cautionary tale turn aspirational? When did we decide to elevate this lowly figure of fun, with the ears of an ass, to a gold penthouse? And why?

🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...

🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/345Z...

NEW: Friends of Neri Alvarado, rotting in a Salvadoran prison on Trump's orders, made a video highlighting his volunteer work helping neurodiverse children learn to swim. Neri was sent there after someone at ICE thought his autism awareness tattoo was a gang tattoo.

Vid posted by Noah Lanard on X.

🚨 Today, Reform UK announced 29 NEW defectors.

But let’s take a look at what’s really happening 🎬

Photographic portrait of Alison Neilans, in Edwardian blouse and neck bow, wearing pince nez, under the text "votes for women".

For #IWD and #WomensHistoryMonth - the incredible Alison Neilans, who prevented sex between women being criminalised in England and Wales.
It was proposed in 1921, for cynical reasons, but would probably have become law without her prompt and effective response. (1/6)

Ask your MP to attend my drop-in for Clean Water Thousands of letters have already been sent to MPs asking them to attend Clive Lewis' Water Bill’s debate on 28th March. We’ve successfully put it on their radar, but too few so far are willing to ...

Public ownership of water is popular and common sense.

MPs must take bold action on the sewage crisis. I’ve written to @annagelderdmp.bsky.social Ask yours to attend @labourlewis.bsky.social’s Clean Water drop-in on 18th March.

Take action now: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell... #ourwaterourway

Greek myths through a modern lens Podcast Episode · Alex Andreou's Podyssey · S1, E1 Trailer · 1m

*taps mic*

THE FIRST EPISODE OF ALEX ANDREOU'S PODYSSEY @alexpodyssey.bsky.social IS OUT 15 MARCH!

Subscribe now! Trailer here:

🍏 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...

🎧 open.spotify.com/show/2x7cD3H...

RSS feeds.megaphone.fm/podyssey

*cries quietly, from exhaustion, for the next half hour*

Steve Reed: include public ownership as an option in your independent commission on the water sector. | We Own It Steve Reed must put public ownership back on the table.

Privatised water has failed. Just look at your water bills or the sewage pouring into our rivers. Steve Reed - include public ownership as an option in your independent commission on the water sector. Sign the petition

weownit.org.uk/act-now/stev...

BREAKING: Critic magazine proprietor Lord Kronsteen announces an important change of direction for the SKETCH.

Two thirds want EU-UK Youth Mobility Scheme A major new survey shows two thirds of people are in favour of the UK arranging a new Youth Mobility Scheme with the EU.

Why are Labour dithering; It’s a no brainier

Megapoll of almost 15,000 people & MRP analysis undertaken by YouGov on behalf of @bestforbritain.bsky.social shows an overwhelming majority (66%) across Britain want the UK Gov to work with EU to increase the ability of young people to travel and work

I seem to have started a Starter Pack to my surprise - please join if you wish - let me know:

Report: Quantifying the opportunities for economic growth Best for Britain asked Frontier Economics to independently model the economic effects of alignment rules and standards for goods and services between the UK and the EU within the UK Government’s negot...

If you're wondering what the government - restricted by its own red lines - can do about the handbrake Brexit has put on our economy, our latest research suggests one answer.

Deep alignment with the EU could give UK GDP a boost of up to 2.2%. Full report 👇 12/12
www.bestforbritain.org/growth_report