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Ed Pybus

@epybus.bsky.social

1.5K followers 4.1K following 170 posts

social policy - social justice, social security, land reform, poverty, climate change, global justice, housing...and more...mostly here to listen...plus chess ♟, house plants 🪴, woodland crofts 🌲, music 🎶, and occasional macrame 🧶.

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Apr 23

My report Cultivating Change - Crofting on Eigg is published today. Available from crow.scot/eigg/ and isleofeigg.org/news/

A series of images highlights aspects of the report 'Cultivating Change - crofting on Eigg'., The first is a view over the crofting township of Cleadale with the text 'cultivating change in white', the second is teh bay at Laig, golden sands and a deep blue sea with the text "An in-depth analysis of the opportunities for the growth and development of crofting on the Isle of Eigg. This report explores how crofting has evolved in recent years, highlights the challenges the island's crofting community faces, and explores the ways in which community ownership can strengthen and grow crofting.", the third is a photo from the early 19th century shows a woman leading a horse that is ploughing a field with the heading "A vision for crofting" and the text "Crofting should not be viewed as a fringe activity but as a central part of Scotland’s strategies.local food production
working in community
sustainable land management
crofter led", the forth image is a photo of cows on the beach, with the isle of Muck in the distance and the text "The challenges faced by crofters are numerous, interconnected, and pose risks to the full realisation of the benefits of crofting for communities.Without the right policy changes and investment, we could be sleepwalking into the economic clearance of the crofting areas." The finasl image is a photo of sheep grazing below a cliff in Eigg. The heading is 'next steps' and the test is a quote from Ailsa Raeburn, chair of the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, saying "“Rather than being a final word, this report marks a step on the way to growing and strengthening crofting on Eigg”
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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 12d

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Why I gave the world wide web away for free | Tim Berners-Lee

My vision was based on sharing, not exploitation – and here’s why it’s still worth fighting for

www.theguardian.com

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 15d

On the back of the @resfoundation.bsky.social work on wealth in the welfare systems., the question was - what does that mean for Scotland? Answers below:
www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/how-...

How does the Scottish social security system deal with wealth? • Resolution Foundation

One of the least talked-about elements of the UK’s means-tested benefits system is that claimants are expected to reduce their savings to below a certain level before they are entitled to any means-te...

www.resolutionfoundation.org

Reposted by Ed Pybus

Dr Hayley Bennett @haylesben.bsky.social · 21d

Our first @uoe-sps.bsky.social social policy seminar of the semester is on Friday 3rd October. We welcome Gerry McCartney from UoGlasgow. All welcome: www.sps.ed.ac.uk/news-events/...

Social Murder? Life expectancy and austerity in the UK | School of Social and Political Science

www.sps.ed.ac.uk

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 23d

This should be the norm everywhere.

Edinburgh Planning @planningedin.bsky.social · 24d

This week’s lists of planning applications received and decided are now available to view on the interactive map or download as PDFs

www.edinburgh.gov.uk/planningweeklylists

Map of Edinburgh showing planning applications received and determined as pinpoints. The same data is available in text (PDF) format at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/planningweeklylists

Reposted by Ed Pybus

Vicki Hird MSc FRES @vickihird.bsky.social · 28d

Urgent declaration issued to halt UK insect declines
Well timed call to arms to reverse major ongoing insect declines😔🐛🦋🐜🐝🪲🕷️
From @Buglife
@savebutterflies.bsky.social
@bumblebeetrust.bsky.social
And supported by @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social
And many others
geographical.co.uk/wildlife/urg...

Urgent declaration issued to halt UK insect declines

The UK's future depends on its tiniest creatures: insects. Yet many species are in decline. Here's how we can save them

geographical.co.uk

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Reposted by Ed Pybus

Vicki Hird MSc FRES @vickihird.bsky.social · Sep 3

Agroforestry: an excellent, wildlife boosting, multifunctional farm choice -with the #Agroforestryshow & #wildsummituk next week I penned a tribute- its a great option in the right farm & needs support
@thesoilassociation.bsky.social @agricology.bsky.social
www.wildlifetrusts.org/blog/vicki-h...

Agroforestry: an excellent, wildlife boosting, multifunctional farm choice | The Wildlife Trusts

More trees on farms. What’s not to like? The right trees or shrubs in the right place on a farm has numerous benefits for nature and ecosystems. In advance of the upcoming Agroforestry Show and Wild S...

www.wildlifetrusts.org

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Aug 31

Sadly no more, but the song remains.
woundedknee.bandcamp.com/album/splash...

Splashback Blues, by Wounded Knee

3 track album

woundedknee.bandcamp.com

Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Aug 24

Morning, I'm after another suggestion - a UK football podcast for a 12 year old? Any suggestions - I'm totally out of my zone here! #football #soccernotfootball

Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Aug 23

Looks interesting, totally missed this first time round.

Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Aug 23

Hey #filmsky any suggestions for for films to watch with 12 to 19 year olds this afternoon? We've done enough superhero films recently so something else...

Reposted by Ed Pybus

OldRailwayAccidents @rwldproject.bsky.social · Mar 11

200 for #Railway200 - a new thread!

We're 200 days out from the 200th anniversary of the 1st passenger journey on the Stockton & Darlington Railway, on 27 September 1825.

To mark it, we'll post a person a day from the Railway Work, Life & Death project's research.

1920s photograph, showing an old track worker, holding a shovel, stood between two railway lines, with hut and signals in the background. Caption reads ‘A veteran permanent-way man’.

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Reposted by Ed Pybus

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · Aug 13

The evidence for more 20mph zones ⤵️

✔️ Cut deaths and serious injuries by 1/3
✔️ Protect children
✔️ Reduce crashes
✔️ Lower noise
✔️ Boost walking & cycling

Dear Britain, it’s now clear: 20mph zones save lives and don’t slow traffic. Implement them | Sadiq Khan

There is too much bluff and bluster on this subject. Ordinary people just want safe streets for themselves and those they love, and we can achieve that, says London mayor Sadiq Khan

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Ed Pybus

Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · Aug 9

How BBC presents the anti-migrant hotel protests vs how we do at @bylinesnetwork.co.uk

BBC lead with a Reform UK voter saying "We are not happy with these men in this hotel because we fear for our children”

We tell of the refugee children inside the hotel terrified by chants of “send them out!”

Article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gerg74y71o

Article: https://eastangliabylines.co.uk/immigration/exclusive-inside-the-diss-hotel-a-refugees-view-of-the-anti-refugee-crowd-outside/

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Jul 26

Thanks all. THHGTTG is great, by the M6 is long and the risk of Vogon poetry is too high...just finished reading the Tiffany Aching series so gone with Septimus Heap, with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase in reserve!

Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Jul 26

#booksky Anyone recommend a good audio book for two 12 year olds, that adults will also enjoy? we've got 20 hours of car travel over the next week or so and need entertainment. Already done Hunger Game, Percy Jackson, and Diane Wynn Jones....

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Jul 24

Wealth is less covered than poverty - and the gendered nature of wealth even less, so this piece of work is really useful :

www.wbg.org.uk/publication/...

The Gender Wealth Gap in Great Britain

A gendered analysis of wealth, assets and the role of wealth taxation in tackling inequality

www.wbg.org.uk

Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Jul 23

Very excited by this new podcast link.podtrac.com/pe4r83js

And if you haven't already read Sarah Kerr's excellent book 'Wealth, Poverty and Enduring Inequality: Let’s Talk Wealtherty' you should!

Antisocial Economics

What is wealth? How come so many of us haven’t got any? How does wealth inequality make poverty worse? In the UK and other rich economies, wealth inequality and poverty are at incredibly high levels. ...

link.podtrac.com

Reposted by Ed Pybus

David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · Jul 23

Seems bad:

"We identified more than 30,000 tire wear particles in 24 liters of stormwater runoff from roads and parking lots after two rainstorms. In heavy traffic areas, we believe the concentrations could be much higher."

One of the biggest microplastic pollution sources isn’t straws or grocery bags – it’s your tires

Rain storms wash those tire shards into streams and ultimately into lakes and oceans. That’s bad news for fish and other aquatic life.

theconversation.com

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Jul 22

music.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa_a...

Ankara Misket Dance (Chiptune Electro Swing Version)

YouTube video by Analog Sheep - Topic

music.youtube.com

Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Jul 21

@isleofeigg.bsky.social

Fiona Campbell-Howes @fortrenn.bsky.social · Jul 21

I added simple cross-incised stones to my public distribution map of early medieval sculpture in Scotland. I just love this curved distribution on Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna (the Small Isles).

Detail of a distribution map showing the locations of five cross-incised stones on Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna (aka the Small Isles), just south of Skye in the Hebrides. The locations describe a graceful curve around the edges of the islands.

Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Jul 18

Thanks to @annadent.bsky.social for the link - sign up to her newsletter here: www.abdconsultancy.co.uk/blog/digital...

Digital Welfare State edition 002 — ABD Consultancy

Second edition of the Digital Welfare State newsletter by Anna Dent

www.abdconsultancy.co.uk

Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Jul 18

Very interesting article on the use of AI in social security fraud investigations in Holland. #welfarerights

www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/11/1...

Inside Amsterdam’s high-stakes experiment to create fair welfare AI

The Dutch city thought it could break a decade-long trend of implementing discriminatory algorithms. Its failure raises the question: can these programs ever be fair?

www.technologyreview.com

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Reposted by Ed Pybus

Martin O'Neill @martinoneill.bsky.social · Jun 25

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

Starmer’s policy: a transfer of resources from the poorest, straight to the arms industry.

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Reposted by Ed Pybus

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · Jun 24

As it's in the news again - this is the post I wrote a few months ago on why the disability benefits bill has been going up.

Essentially, you can't remove need by removing support - it just pops up as a cost somewhere else.

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

The definition of madness

Governments need to stop making the same incredibly expensive mistake over and over again

open.substack.com

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · Jun 24

Interesting piece. Hard to make the causal connection, beyond anecdote, between the rising costs of disability/ill health benefits and the low level of general social security. IFS paper makes a good case - a soln they don't propose, which is the only real answer, a better benefits systems for all.