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Bernie Hughes @agentmancuso.bsky.social · 2m

Things newly read:

'Burnt Island' by Alice Thompson.

#Books
#BookSky
💙📚
@saltpublishing.com

Book cover of 'Burnt Island' by Alice Thompson.

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Paintings of London @paintingsoflondon.bsky.social · 4h

'Limehouse' (1913) by Christopher RW Nevinson

(Atkinson Art Gallery Collection)

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Ballot Box Scotland @ballotbox.scot · 5d

Another wee push for yesterday's analysis piece; if for some reason the inadvertently candy floss coloured map doesn't draw you in, there is a TL;DR version here, but if you do just read this screengrab you won't see my bit about Anas Sarwar's nightmares or a mildly spiced take on radicalisation.

1. Reform have absolutely devoured the Conservative’s 2021 support. This makes up by far the biggest portion of their voter base with reference to 2021, and combined with specific local reasons leads to especially strong backing in Banffshire, Buchan and Galloway.
2. Having effectively lost their entire gain in support compared to 2019 (and 2021), Labour’s voters are narrowly the biggest portion of Reform’s voter base with reference to 2024. This will reflect some 2021 Conservative to 2024 Labour to 2026 Reform movement. This is being seen most strongly in the mid-Central Belt, where Labour were historically highly successful.
3. Compared to the rest of the UK, where Labour’s losses are seemingly going 2-to-1 to broadly left wing parties versus right wing parties, in Scotland the two destinations are statistically tied. This is likely to reflect ongoing constitutional polarisation with a side helping of radicalisation, which isn’t unique to Scotland but has unique Scottish dimensions.
4. The SNP have lost relatively few of their 2021 voters base to Reform, but given how many voters they had at that election, they make up a sizeable chunk of Reform’s support. However, the past tense there is crucial. They are losing almost none of their 2024 support in that direction. That is made up for by 2024 Labour voters turning (or returning) to the SNP.
5. In general, the Lib Dems are not contributing much of the Reform vote regardless of what election you compare with. However, as a proportion of their own voter base, past Lib Dem voters are more likely than past SNP voters to vote for Reform. Overall, Reform support can therefore be said to be drawn overwhelmingly from the Pro-Union camp.

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Bernie Hughes @agentmancuso.bsky.social · 4h

Another reminder that the Labour Party are rancid class traitors, and that this has nothing to do with Starmer, or Blair or even Kinnock.

Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 1d

#OtD 9 Oct 1945 the UK Labour govt defended its jailing of 226 Spanish Civil War and anti-Nazi resistance fighters, describing them as "members of an enemy paramilitary organisation". Some killed themselves, others were deported to Spain for execution stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1094...

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Mivart @bobjim.bsky.social · 5h

"It was the fault of the government"

#FallFriday

youtu.be/QkZhh_7Px00?...

The Fall - Jerusalem (1988)

YouTube video by Juan

youtu.be

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Football Heritage @footballheritage.bsky.social · 5h

Cliftonhill, home of Albion Rovers, 1934.

One of our favourite stadium facades.

Really shows how central football clubs are to the community and the collective.

Photo Credit: The Robin Marwick Collection

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Eddie Clarke @hedgiecc.bsky.social · 7h

Rundell’s idea for writing ‘Impossible Creatures’ came from studying the poetry of Donne. The creative industries are hugely important for the British economy - don’t allow Kemi Badenoch to demonise English.

Greg Jenner @gregjenner.bsky.social · 2d

This is exciting — Katherine Rundell is the closest thing we have to a modern Tolkien or Lewis. Her writing is sublime and her passion for children’s literature is unrivalled, so it’s brilliant to see she will get to produce and write the screenplays too deadline.com/2025/10/disn...

Disney Bets Big On ‘Impossible Creatures’ & Its Oxford Prof Author Katherine Rundell

Disney Bets Big On 'Impossible Creatures' & Its Oxford Prof Author Katherine Rundell, with movies planned.

deadline.com

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Gregory Norminton @gregorynorminton.bsky.social · 8h

If only the natural world and the electorate had as much influence over politicians as landowners.

RSPB Scotland @rspbscotland.bsky.social · 1d

Our reaction to a further delay by the Scottish Government on the implementation of muirburn licencing.

Text that reads:

RSPB Scotland is deeply disappointed that yet another delay to the implementation of the muirburn provisions of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act 2024 has been announced by the Scottish Government.

Muirburn as a practice has been very weakly regulated since the Second World War and there were many examples of poor practice leading to negative impacts, including starting wildfires. The new framework is meant to allow muirburn to continue, but with more oversight so that the negative impacts are avoided.

We hope this further delay will provide ample opportunity for the Scottish Government to put in place the proper training for practitioners on the ground, as well as better communicate to land managers how the licencing system will operate in advance of its full implementation ahead of the Autumn 2026 season.

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Bernie Hughes @agentmancuso.bsky.social · 18h

👏

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The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 19h

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Bernie Hughes @agentmancuso.bsky.social · 1d

En regardant la télé:

"It is NOT heresy and I do NOT recant"

To The Devil a Daughter, Hammer, 1976.

Mr Lee in clerical garb, staring defiantly at a statue of a carpenter nailed to a tree, various men in dresses in the background.

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Melanie Andrej @midnightbluenotes.bsky.social · 3d

We've got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen. DH Lawrence

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Bat Krown 🦇 @katbrownwrites.com · 2d

Badenoch's loathing of English degrees makes sense. She shows all the empathy of someone who hasn't read a novel since school.

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David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst.bsky.social · 2d

David Graeber on the police.

From an interview he gave a few years ago with the Scottish publication called Bella Caledonia. davidgraeber.org/interviews/t...

"The police don’t actually end up spending their time
fighting violent criminals. Instead, they enforce
administrative regulations and endless rules. So
rather than protecting us against violence, police
actually bring the threat of violence into situations
where it would have never occurred otherwise.
Most incidents of violence —domestic violence,
a drunken brawl, or gang fights— the police don’t
get involved. On the other hand, try driving down
the street with no license plates: how long will it
be before you are surrounded by people with weapons."

- David Graeber

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poemakontsa @poemakontsa.bsky.social · 2d

Swedish poet Lars Gustafsson, from his the Stillness of the World Before Bach, tr. by Harriett Watts.

The Living and the Dead

All the things imitating life will fail
and do not fool us.