Catherine Black
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catherineblack1.bsky.social
Catherine Black
@catherineblack1.bsky.social
380 followers 480 following 140 posts
Cellist Teacher. Runs cellocourses.com and Vaulted Sky Music. Cat lover and chocoholic
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Catherine Black
This article completely misses out that there’s a £1 billion redundancy bill associated with making the changes Wes Streeting wants, and no one wants to pay it, so thousands of staff have been left in limbo. There’s nothing ‘efficient’ about that 🚨

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
If the NHS matters to you, and that privatisation is increasing, listen to this, and do all the things that Julia and Everydoctor need us to do
Reposted by Catherine Black
Thames Water paid £20m to cover the due diligence costs of KKR for abortive attempt to buy TW.

Rich pickings for advisers. Customers pick up the tab for management follies. Details never provided.

TW has £20bn debt, survives by dumping sewage in rivers, fleecing captive customers.
archive.ph/Ovj5V
Thames Water paid £20mn to cover KKR’s due diligence for abortive bid
Cost adds to multimillion pound fees billed by advisers trying to secure utility’s future
www.ft.com
Reposted by Catherine Black
The risible wages are well-known in the wider field of the library, museum, gallery and archive world. I’d like to think public opinion is with the people who make the place click day-in-day-out; they deserve better.
Knowledge may be free but labour isn’t: spread the wealth and pay the workers!
Passionate cellists do join me on November 8th for Your Tool Kit on Zoom from 6-8.15pm GMT.
An Autumn think about how we work well, and whats happening when we lose that mindful approach?
I have a workout to refresh and some specific technical thoughts too.
Detailed notes follow
See cellocourse.com
Make it make sense
I think having it as a museum of American fascism with a recreation of the cell in which ex-Emperor Vance was incarcerated after the 2029-32 Civil War might be a better use of the space.
Whoever is the next Democratic presidential candidate should vow to tear down the hideous ballroom and rebuild the Rose Garden, I bet there are a lot of votes in that
Reposted by Catherine Black
I’m so happy to see this.

@johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social is one of our own. Like @thenerve.news he’s an old Observer hand. Later at BBC he did everything, but in 2018, he found himself blocked from one particular subject…Russia & Brexit.

Please give him a hand…Sweeney’s coming home 👏👏👏
Sorcery in Caerphilly:
@johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social visits the Welsh valleys on the trail of a Russian spy, his wife, a Reform politician taking bribes, party leader Nigel Farage and a vanishing by-election candidate.
Here's a sneak peak of John’s film - coming tomorrow only in the Nerve
Reposted by Catherine Black
Mentioned this before on here but recently read Patrick Hamilton’s classic novel Hangover Square

Was published on eve of World War II. Fascism - British fascism - runs like a stick of rock through the book.

Britain was far more like other European countries then often admits
Reposted by Catherine Black
LBC @lbc.co.uk · 13d
‘The threat couldn’t be more urgent and imminent. Yet here we are, still putting our head in the sand.’

@carolecadwalla.bsky.social says it’s ‘peculiar’ that the case of Farage ally Nathan Gill admitting to making pro-Russia speeches for cash isn’t being followed more closely.
Reposted by Catherine Black
This case stems from the systemic failure & subsequent cover-up revealed by 2020 Russia Report. Boris Johnson refused to investigate but what is UK govt's excuse now??

Read about this 5-year campaign & why it's even more necessary than ever now.

substack.com/home/post/p-...
4/
The Case We Shouldn’t Have Had to Bring
Why three ex-MPs are taking Britain to Europe’s “Supreme Court” to defend our elections
substack.com
Absolutely vital to listen to this if you care about what is happening to our #NHS because we all need to pull together
Absolutely
This doesn't get anything like the attention it deserves. Unpaid carers are the unsung heroes of this country, they deserve more help from the government.
"Stop penalties for unpaid carers"
- Ed Davey MP, Leader Lib Dems 🔶

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Catherine Black
When was the last time you heard a politician in the media asked anything like-

-How will you make sure asylum seekers can reach the UK safely & refugees are protected?

-How will you make sure people coming to this country to work or study are treated equally & with respect?

I cannot remember.
Where else could this very smart & bound to succeed approach to “beating” the far right be happening then?
German far right setting agenda as opponents amplify its ideas, study finds
Reposted by Catherine Black
Why isn't this a bigger story?
The joint intelligence committee prepare a report saying our national security is at risk from environmental collapse. And No. 10 bury because they don't to draw attention to how little they care!
@snellarthur.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
National security threatened by climate crisis, UK intelligence chiefs due to warn
Report by joint intelligence committee delayed, with concerns expressed that it may not be published
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Catherine Black
Cellists of passion All About My Bow immerses in Elgar’s tender & ardent Salut d’amour on Saturday October 4th from 6-8.15pm BST.
Players join from far and wide.
You recieve notes afterwards & we work using the mute button.
You can book now at www.cellocourse.com
The supremely intelligent @zoejardiniere.bsky.social forensically analysing what has happened to the UK and the cowardice of leadership to step away from fascist rhetoric on migration. Facts matter as does current madness. @teamlabouruk.bsky.social maybe listen in?
Was good to have a serious conversation about the rise of fascism & the Brexit dynamics that have twisted our immigration system, as well as cowardice from our media & our leaders on migration.
It’s out! I spoke to @zoejardiniere.bsky.social about migration, the realities, the challenges and how to confront the real threat of far right takeover of our country on a platform of fear and disinformation.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...
Reposted by Catherine Black
They were a child, that's been confirmed for hours and as of 16:52 BBC still hasn't updated.
Nobody, absolutely nobody, risks a child's life crossing one of the world's busiest shipping routes if they see a genuine alternative. Labour needs to provide safety alternatives
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Catherine Black
Huge progress on this petition in just one day.
Cellists of passion All About My Bow immerses in Elgar’s tender & ardent Salut d’amour on Saturday October 4th from 6-8.15pm BST.
Players join from far and wide.
You recieve notes afterwards & we work using the mute button.
You can book now at www.cellocourse.com
This
Quick reminder that we have warned for ages that Starmer+Streeting’s NHS plans didn’t hold water, because they’ve withheld the actual funds to realise them.

Here’s what will happen next- the media will wring hands, then insist that private capital is both necessary and urgent🚨
How I love that Rothko. What a good start to the day!
Its useful to remember history
I’m in Vienna right now. A city which went from being the intellectual and cultural capital of the world to a “provincial backwater” (to quote Brian Barry) in a couple of decades due to nationalism, anti-semitism and fascism which drove away the leading scholars and artists it didn’t murder.