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Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: We need to talk about Russia.

So, yes, that's why we need to talk about Nigel Farage.

My personal newsletter on the story behind the story. Brexit, Trump, Russia & now...Nathan Gill.

open.substack.com/pub/broligar...

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Brian Bilston @brianbilston.bsky.social · 3d

It’s Bookshop Day so here’s a poem in celebration of all those amazing bookshops out there.

Never Judge a Bookshop by its Cover

It may call itself a bookshop, but don’t be fooled by that.
There may be books in the window, on the tables and shelves,
but really, it’s a travel agent selling all-immersive holidays,
weekend breaks, first-class tickets to other worlds,

with a low carbon footprint. It’s a pharmacy as well,
dispensing medicines, pick-me-ups, balms: if symptoms persist,
please consult your local bookseller; it’s a tailor’s, offering
a made-to-measure service to achieve the perfect fit;

and a hardware store, with a range of empowering tools
to fix you up, recharge your batteries, switch on lightbulbs.
Its walls are lined with treasure as precious as any jeweller’s,
and twice as bright. Spines shine gold, silver, sapphire, emerald;

there are diamonds amongst them. It’s a garden centre,
a place where ideas get planted and a thousand stories bloom,
and a greengrocer, selling fresh, locally-sourced produce,
as vital as your five-a-day and more readily consumed.

It’s a multiscreen cinema. Peek behind the curtain
of each jacket and you’ll find a movie waiting silently to begin.
A stationer’s supplying notepads, reams of paper,
with the words conveniently filled in

to save you both the time and bother. A wholefood store
and a fast-food joint. A cosy haven from the cold.
A friendly, family restaurant: Today’s special will revive
a flagging spirit and restore a lagging soul.

It’s a tourist information centre equipped with maps
and helpful guides to steer us on our way.
A busy square in which a whole town gathers
or just a place to hold the world at bay

for a few untroubled stolen minutes. It’s itself,
and yet it’s something larger, a universe so vast
you could spend ten thousand lifetimes there –
it may call itself a bookshop, but don’t be fooled by that.

Brian Bilston

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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 3d

Good to blame Farage for the dull-arsed, ruinous, tedious failure of Brexit.
Not that good to keep punishing us for that failure, rather than looking to swiftly boost our prosperity by asking to rejoin the Single Market and Customs Union.
But yes. It’s a start.

www.thetimes.com/article/8875...

Starmer and Reeves are expected to argue that if it hadn't been for Brexit this type of downgrade would not have been needed - and cite official figures suggesting that if Britain had not left the European Union the economy would be about £120 billion greater by 2035 than current forecasts suggest.
The message is simple: Farage is ultimately to blame, as the man who delivered Brexit with "easy sloganeering" then walked away from the aftermath rather than putting in the hard yards.
Or to put it another way: Farage, not us, is responsible for putting up your taxes.
The theme will tie to the main thrust of Starmer's argument at conference, that the Reform leader is selling easy solutions that are just a fantasy.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 4d

They're going to put an enormous lawsuit magnet in the sky.
mastodon.social/@sundogplane...

Prof. Sam Lawler (@[email protected])

It's becoming increasingly clear to me that Reflect Orbital's fucking stupid giant mirror satellite, with absolutely NOTHING useful to offer, which will cause countless safety issues, ecological disas...

mastodon.social

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NevereverDave.bsky.social @nevereverdave.bsky.social · 4d

The British by Poet Mr #BenjaminZephaniah

Home

English Poets

The British by Benjamin Zephaniah

"Take some Picts, Celts and Silures And let them settle, Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.

Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years Add lots of Norman French to some Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.

Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans, Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese, Vietnamese and Sudanese.

Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians And Pakistanis, Combine with some Guyanese And turn up the heat.

Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians, Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese And Palestinians Then add to the melting pot.

Leave the ingredients to simmer.

As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish Binding them together with English.

Allow time to be cool.

Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future, Serve with justice And enjoy.

Note: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.

Warning: An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and equality to all."

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Banx @banxtoons.bsky.social · 4d

From today's @financialtimes.com #chicago #nationalguard #trump

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Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 6d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Ronnie Barbour @ronniebarbour.bsky.social · 6d

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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 6d

I love how Russell T Davies always uses his platform to fight for progress - I hate how it is always so necessary

nicola @gleanniucha.bsky.social · 6d

Please, if good television matters to you, repost or repackage this video until everyone you follow has seen it

#televisionmatters

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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 7d

The Sun corrects Katie Lam's numerous errors and lies about foreign nationals claiming benefits.

archive.ph/vQ7Tn

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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 9d

Do read all of this.

Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 9d

🔴NEW🔴

Thread 🧵

@bylinetimes.bsky.social can now reveal that, during the crucial period when convicted Reform leader Nathan Gill was most active, working directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most senior ally in Ukraine, he was also one of Nigel Farage’s closest confidantes 1/12

‘Thick as Thieves’: Nathan Gill and Nigel Farage’s Putin Problem

Far from being distant from the Reform UK Leader, insiders told Byline Times that the former MEP convicted of bribery was one of Farage’s closest aides, while we reveal how Gill worked on the Kremlin’...

bylinetimes.com

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Carol Carman @carolcarman.bsky.social · 11d

For Christmas we were once given a two-foot high concrete traffic warden to put in the garden. When we moved house, it didn't.

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Banx @banxtoons.bsky.social · 11d

From today's @financialtimes.com #hegseth

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Carol Carman @carolcarman.bsky.social · 11d

What's that? You'd like a combination of #NationalPoetryDay and the month of #Halloween? But make it funny?
Happy to oblige... a collection of comedy poems about the work of the Grim Reaper, written by me and illustrated by the marvellous @banxtoons.bsky.social mccawmedia.co.uk amzn.to/405MTlE

A poem from the collection Sticky Ends by Carol Carman. The poem is called The Biter Bit and is illustrated by a waterfall of fingernails which lead down to the words 'The End' made from fingernails.
Illustration is by Jeremy Banx.

The poem reads:

Foolish Fred would bite his nails when he was alone;
Then he bit his fingers, right down to the bone…

…then he swallowed thumbs and palms
Followed by his wrists and arms,
Both feet’s toes, soles, insteps, heels
(Munching drowning anguished squeals),
Calves and shins and knees and thighs,
All consumed in front of eyes
Which had to watch the ghastly view
Of family jewels eaten too.
Still he chewed without a rest:
Bum, back, insides, belly, chest,
Shoulders, neck and lastly head;
Fred was – barring gnashers – dead.

When his wife walked through the door,
Just his teeth lay on the floor.
Snapping like the jaws of hell,
Fred’s teeth wolfed down her as well.

Bear in mind these dreadful tales:
Never, ever, bite your nails.

Cover of comedy poetry book Sticky Ends by Carol Carman. A catalogue of misfortunes,mishaps and meeting the maker. Unlucky - and unlikely - demises from the fevered imagination of Carol Carman, illustrated by Jeremy Banx. Front Cover shows a graveyard. Foremost grave is large, has a bony hand sticking out from the ground clutching a bunch of flowers, and on the gravestone is written Sticky Ends. In the background is the rest of the graveyard, with a church at the back and trees to the left hand side. Also in the graveyard are a bride with a black armband holding a bouquet, and a Grim Reaper clutching a bottle. Across the top is the strapline '65% Victoria Wood, 25% John Cooper Clarke, 10% Joyce Grenfell'.

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dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 13d

This is the judgment on the PPE/Medpro claim.

A cracking £122m win for the Government Legal Service

And is wonderful to see the government bringing a claim in contract against a shoddy supplier.

This does not happen often, and it should happen far more.

www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...

www.judiciary.uk

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Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news · 13d

Some good news.

London is meeting legal limits for toxic NO2 pollution for the first time – almost 200 years earlier than predicted – following the Mayor’s "world leading air pollution policies," City Hall announces.

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone - and similar policies - really do work.

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Dr Rachel Clarke @drrachelclarke.com · 12d

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? 🧵

Rachel wearing very flimsy looking apron, mask and visor in NHS setting

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Neil Brand @neilkbrand.bsky.social · 18d

I'm busking film music on Edinburgh Waverley station tomorrow morning for the BBC!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 3 - Train Tracks, Live from Edinburgh Waverley

A railway extravaganza celebrating 200 years of the birth of the modern railway

www.bbc.co.uk

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Banx @banxtoons.bsky.social · 18d

From today’s @financialtimes.com #rapture

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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 19d

Reform’s plan, which it claims would net huge savings over the coming decades, would actually cost the UK about £70-90bn over the next ten years alone, new analysis of official statistics and forecasts suggests

bylinetimes.com/2025/09/24/f...

Farage’s Trillion Pound Black Hole: The Real Cost of Reform UK’s Mass Deportation Plan

Exclusive: Reform's plan, which it claims would net huge savings over the coming decades, would actually cost the UK about £70-90bn over the next ten years alone, new analysis of official statistics a...

bylinetimes.com

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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 21d

The even more unbelievable crime fact (which I learned relatively recently) is that burglary has fallen by more than 90% since the 1990s.

Did anyone notice? Nope. Does anyone believe it? Nope. But is is true? It is!

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 21d

Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds

open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

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J.S. Watts @j-s-watts.bsky.social · 22d

#RoystonBookFair is this Saturday and on Sunday, as another part of Royston Arts Festival, Jude Simpson will be preforming her critically acclaimed show, "A Noise Annoys". www.hsrsc.org.uk/event/roysto... #Royston #Hertfordshire

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Neil Brand @neilkbrand.bsky.social · 23d

This Wednesday Sept 24th - I'm playing Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera at the Playhouse Cheltenham.
cheltplayhouse.org.uk/CheltPlayhou...

The Phantom of the Opera with Special Guest Neil Brand - Cheltenham Playhouse

Wed 24 Sep

cheltplayhouse.org.uk

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J.S. Watts @j-s-watts.bsky.social · 28d

Not only can you buy books at #RoystonBookFair on Saturday 27th September, but you can also hear writers read and perform. #Royston #BookSky #Hertfordshire #writerscommunity

White writing on a black background like a chalkboard. A list of Children & YA, Poetry and Non-Fiction readings at Royston Book Fair on 27 September 2025

White writing on a black background like a chalkboard. A list of Historical Fiction and Contemporary, Speculative Fiction & Thriller readings at Royston Book Fair on 27 September 2025. Part of Royston Arts Festival 2025

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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 28d

Hallelujah!

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 29d

Channel 4 to mark Trump’s UK visit with ‘longest uninterrupted reel of untruths’

Broadcaster to dedicate Wednesday night schedule to unpicking US president’s false or misleading statements More than 100 of Donald Trump’s inaccurate statements are to be dissected by Channel 4 to coincide with his state visit, in what it described as “the longest uninterrupted reel of untruths, falsehoods and distortions ever broadcast on television”. The US president is expected to arrive in the UK on Tuesday night. He will enjoy a huge amount of special treatment as ministers attempt to preserve the special relationship, including a ceremonial welcome at Windsor Castle for Trump and his wife, Melania. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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