Paul Quigley

Birmingham man takes down flags because he says 'people feel unwelcome' Salman Mirza says he wants to

As someone who has grown up in England, the union Jack is not part of any history I want to celebrate. It's the flag of Empire, of the subjugation and exploitation of half the world.

@sutrbirmingham.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Many of us in England only see the raising of these flags as a way to intimate and exclude. And he's right, there is a link between the flags and the racist attacks in the UK ... they're part of a deliberately created hostile environment. The flags aren't welcome
#notinmyname
#standuptoracism

This might be a first for me. The alarm call of a mistle thrush.

I'm told that some have said that it sounds like a machine gun or a football rattle (if anyone knows that that is anymore).

Do Birds Have Language? It Depends on How You Define It. In the cheeps, trills and tweets of birdsong, scientists find some parallels with human speech.

Do #Birds Have Language? It Depends on How You Define It.

In the cheeps, trills and tweets of birdsong, scientists find some parallels with human speech. 🐦 🐤

bit.ly/4meCpso

‘Climateflation’ could push up UK food prices by more than a third by 2050, report says Exclusive: Increasingly extreme weather a threat to production and supply chains in Britain and elsewhere

An extraordinary underestimate of the catastrophic impact of #climate breakdown by 2050

Forget food being a bit more expensive, increasing analysis suggests we will be very lucky to still have a functioning global society and economy

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

UK ban on Palestine Action at odds with international law, says UN rights chief Volker Türk says the Home Office proscription restricts right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly The UK government’s ban on Palestine Action limits the rights and freedoms of people in the UK and is at odds with international law, the UN human rights chief has said. Volker Türk, the UN human rights commissioner, said ministers’ decision to designate the group a terrorist organisation was “disproportionate and unnecessary” and called on them to rescind it. Continue reading...

UK ban on Palestine Action at odds with international law, says UN rights chief

View from the River Severn at #Worcester.

#urbansketching #graphite #pencildrawing #art #drawing #illustration #urbansketch #urbansketchers

Not even 24 hours and 180,000 of you have now signed up.

Billionaires already have three parties fighting for them. It’s time the rest of us had one.

Join us: yourparty.uk

It's time for a new kind of political party - one that belongs to you.

Sign up at yourparty.uk.

The police (wrongly) inform a peaceful protestor that holding a Palestinian flag and signs deploring genocide is an offence under the Terrorism Act. This is the deranged policing environment the government has created.

Thanks. None of what she has written justifies her vote to proscribe Palastine Action

The cover of the book 'Fathoms - the World in the Whale'

I've just read that "humpback whales participate in the largest communication network on earth - outside of what we have created"

among other facinating stuff in this book by @rebeccagiggs.bsky.social
#nature #bioacoustics #whalesong

I support Palastine Action. Any democratic rights we have today in the UK were built on direct action. Protest is not the crime, genocide is

Palestine Action is part of Britain's proud history of protest. Proscribing it is an assault on democracy | Suresh Grover Through decades of anti-racist campaigning, I have seen that peaceful, direct action can be the only way to get results, says campaigner Suresh Grover

Palestine Action is part of Britain’s proud history of protest. Proscribing it is an assault on democracy

| Suresh Grover | The Guardian share.google/VPdqU7NMXj6W...

Drawing of a narrow street, a brewery and church

Drawing of canalside cottages, swing bridge, and dog litter bin

A couple of sketches of #Droitwich #Worcestershire at the end of last week

#drawing #art #illustration #urbansketching #urban_sketchers #urbansketch #urbansketchers

Very sorry to hear of Nick's passing. A great photographer and a generous man

In 2003, anti-war activists broke into RAF Fairford to stop US bombers heading to Iraq.

Keir Starmer defended their actions and said it was justified to prevent war crimes.

Now his government is banning Palestine Action for doing the same.

The Prime Minister is a hypocrite.

Feedback to our local museum:
"What has been most surprising for us tourists has been that British #museums collect other countries' artefacts. What gives you the right to keep them? ... Give the artefacts back"

www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/birmingham-m...

Quick sketch yesterday of the canal running through Tardebigge Locks in #Worcestershire.

#pencildrawing #art #illustration #urbansketching #urban_sketchers #urbansketch

Diolch yn fawr (GRMA) to the over 100 Welsh artists who released this statement today. 🙏🏻 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

"Kneecap’s activism is not the story we should focus on, the real story is the slaughter in Gaza and the West Bank."

nation.cymru/culture/over...

The creeping commercialisation of almost every part of our lives is behind the widespread growth of inequality. But It's great to know people who are willing to be part of the fightback

Most people expect to hear a knocking sound, but the Great Spotted Woodpecker also has a short 'chip' call. I recorded this one today near my house in the urban West Mids
#birds #birdsong #bioacoustics
www.british-birdsongs.uk/great-spotte...
@ecorecord.bsky.social @bbcwildlifetrust.bsky.social

Chuffed to get to 500 followers! Here's Bristol Street and Holloway Circus, #Birmingham UK.

#art #drawing #illustration #urbansketching #urbansketch ##urbansketchers

The Iron Room Archives and Collections @ the Library of Birmingham

I'm finding this link works better theironroom.wordpress.com

A room from an exhibition with white walls and a wooden floor. Black and white photographic portraits and an enlarged contact sheet can be seen as well as the corner of a text panel.

This week on our blog we are celebrating the archive of Nick Hedges and his pioneering social documentary photography which is currently being displayed at the National Trust Birmingham Back to Backs.

Read more here www.theironroom.wordpress.com

Really interesting. Seems like a real step change

I tend to agree. It would make most sense if it was a was of forcing the church to contribute to a scheme that compensated all survivors

Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes are a stain on the Catholic church - but this latest refusal to atone is a new low | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett The reluctance of religious organisations to offer recompense for the lives ruined fits a pattern of denial and evasion, says Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

"Some campaigners have called for church assets to be seized unless the institution contributes to a state-run redress scheme"

#motherandbabyhomes
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A drawing of construction of an office building

I drew what's now called 1 Centenary Square when it was being built as offices for the multinational HSBC. This site has a chequered history, being once home to an iron foundry, a masonic hall, and TV studios.

#drawing #illustration #urbansketch #urbansketchers #urbansketching #art