Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Scribbler Pen @scribblerpen.bsky.social · 4h

#Flu v #Covid #vaccine eligibility.
1. Which is hospitalising more people now?
2. Which is leaving more people long-term sick & disabled (2m+ #LongCovid, UK)?
3. Just as the government is punishing people for being sick and disabled?
Private vaccine: £100
Logic?

Thanks to @catinthehat.bsky.social

Comparison of UK 2025 eligibility for flu vaccine (all types of clinically vulnerable people) vs Covid-19 vaccine (only over 75s, living in an old people's care home or immunocompromised due to specific illness e.g. HIV, AIDS or treatment, e.g. cancer. Most people with organ diseases, blood diseases, e.g. sickle cell anaemia, illnesses such as COPD, diabetes, or learning disabilities are not eligible for Covid-19 booster vaccination.

2 4 7

Poppy Leeder @poppyleeder.bsky.social · 6h

I cannot understand why this is not being offered as a subsidised vaccine, through the NHS, to those who don't qualify for the free vaccine.
The savings in not having people out of work ill must surely make it a sensible investment?
I've seen it's possible to get the novavax vax for £95; v tempted

Poppy Leeder @poppyleeder.bsky.social · 8h

I'm so lucky to be able to wander into the greenhouse and pick 4 types of tomatoes and be eating them minutes later for lunch

(Mind you, getting there was challenging as I had to duck under ridiculous numbers of the most beautiful spiderwebs - lot of the stripey legged spiders this year!)🌱

4 varieties of tomatoes halved and in a bowl; some long finger shaped red and orange striped, tiny orange cherry, and two varieties of red cherry tomatoes

The halved tomatoes mixed with an avocado and dressing on slices of toast

1 37

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 1d

🧵🚨

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news.

Today our report is published!
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

1/11

UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.

www.ucl.ac.uk

20 380 570

Poppy Leeder @poppyleeder.bsky.social · 1d

Autumn getting underway
🍄📷 #FungiFriends

Teeny tiny fawn brown coloured mushrooms surrounded by grass

Probably a shaggy ink cap mushroom emerging from the soil surrounded by grass a crisp brown leaves

2

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Graham Simpson @grahambs.bsky.social · 1d

“The principle is that Europe has the right to govern its own digital space according to its own laws. If the EU cannot enforce its own laws then it is a vassal to Washington and to Silicon Valley, with Trump as its overlord” 👍 Well said Johnny Ryan.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The EU has a secret weapon to counter Trump’s economic bullying. It’s time to use it | Johnny Ryan

The anti-coercion instrument, or ‘trade bazooka’, is designed to shield against foreign pressure, says civil liberties campaigner Johnny Ryan

www.theguardian.com

1 15 41

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Lee Thumwood @lt14gjc.bsky.social · 2d

Green Party > No links to Putin. "Reform" > Their Welsh Leader literally caught taking bribes from Russia. Yet, the Telegraph promotes "reform" & accuses the Greens of what "reform" have been caught doing! "When the British working class stop reading right wing news we will see progressive change"

2 1 9

Poppy Leeder @poppyleeder.bsky.social · 2d

He's a year older than me, but it sounds almost like he's harking back to a Middle Ages feudal system with servitude?

Where do some people get these utterly bizarre ideas about what our values are and were? They seem so out of touch with reality

1 7

Poppy Leeder @poppyleeder.bsky.social · 2d

I visited in 2004 for a few days and bought a cheesecake in Zabar's, then went to sit and eat it in Riverside Park - a magical memory for this Brit trying to get a little bit of that NYC magic

2

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Omar Khan @omaromalleykhan.bsky.social · 3d

I know statistics are poorly understood and are misused. But facts matter

Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them

37 640 1.9K

Poppy Leeder @poppyleeder.bsky.social · 3d

Needs must when you discover the chocolate cupboard is empty

A jar of Sweet Freedom chocolate spread with a teaspoon handle sticking out.
Yes, I am on my 2nd teaspoon!
The jar is resting on a blank sheet in a notebook; work would have ground to a halt without the 2nd teaspoon

1 3

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Richard Sedgley @richardsedgley.bsky.social · 4d

Let's Make Hope Normal Again - Green Party Political Broadcast

youtu.be/qxt4HCjd7VA?...

Let's Make Hope Normal Again - Green Party Political Broadcast

YouTube video by Green Party of England & Wales

youtu.be

10 17

Poppy Leeder @poppyleeder.bsky.social · 4d

I'm not sure they've missed it, so much as waiting to see what happens with baited breath.

The media, that should be speaking truth to power and holding power to account, has absolutely lost its way

2 12

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 5d

Left: Kemi Badenoch says the attack on the Synagogue "was not just an attack on British Jews, it was an attack on all of us"

Right: Kemi Badenoch did not mention the mosque set alight

Isn't an attack on a mosque "not just an attack on British Muslims, it was an attack on all of us" - as well?

13 100 410

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news · 5d

Defend Our Juries: The Met Police have announced they arrested a total of 488 Palestine Action sign-holders who took part in the action in Trafalgar Square on Saturday.

"The arrests took six and a half hours, with the final arrests at 7:30pm, after the silent vigil began at 1pm."

9 41 84

Poppy Leeder @poppyleeder.bsky.social · 5d

That headline has a very different meaning to me than I think the Torygraph intended.

I don't want what they seem to regard as 'good' politicians.

I want decent, hard-working people, rooted in their local communities as elected councillors/MPs. People seeking to unite and build - just like you

2 15

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Gregory Norminton @gregorynorminton.bsky.social · 6d

Blustery day, isn't it? Here's the National Grid: Live generation data. Wind and solar are generating 74.2% of our electricity. Gas is generating 13.1%. And yet our household electricity prices are pegged to... the volatile price of gas. Which is the basis on which the right attacks... renewables.

19 270 590

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Alison Stenning @alisonstenning.bsky.social · 6d

“Austerity – which leaves our potholes, alongside many other gaps in public provision, unfilled – does not save money. On the contrary, it costs us a fortune. What the rich might save in taxes, the rest must pay over and over again.”

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 6d

It hurt when I crashed my bike into a pothole – and it taught me the true price of austerity | George Monbiot

Fixing that hole could have cost under £100; the cost of not doing so is limitless. My prang highlights the neoliberal folly of false economies, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

11 42

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Andrew Cooper @cllrandrewcooper.bsky.social · 6d

Nice piece in the Asian Standard about the new poll predicting a @greenparty.org.uk win in the Huddersfield Constituency at the next General Election. www.asianstandard.co.uk/new-poll-sho...

New poll shows Green win for Huddersfield at next General Election - Asian Standard Newspaper

Kirklees’ political make-up would look very different if a General Election took place right now, a YouGov poll has shown. By YouGov’s projections, which are based on a sample of 13,000 voters, the na...

www.asianstandard.co.uk

1 4 11

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Holger Hestermeyer @hhesterm.bsky.social · 6d

Both the Conservatives and Reform are now set to leave the ECHR and are committing the UK to breaking human rights (if you say they contain significant constraints and you want to get rid of these constrains - yes, that's what you plan to do). /1 www.bbc.com/news/article...

UK will leave ECHR if Tories win election, Badenoch says

The European Convention on Human Rights has become a focal point in debates around changing immigration policy.

www.bbc.com

9 30 70

Poppy Leeder @poppyleeder.bsky.social · 7d

Strange and somewhat challenging conversation with a friend who told me he's going to a Hogwarts party tomorrow (What!? Really!?)

Turns out I misheard; it is, in fact, a hogroast party.

I'm just swapping one conflict for another

3

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 8d

PM of Albania having a good laugh with President of Azerbaijan and Macron about Trump repeatedly claiming that he ended the war between their two countries which were not at war with each other.

500 4.7K 14K

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 7d

Re-upped for the @greenparty.org.uk's Conference.

Our survey of Green party members suggests Zack Polanski has the mandate to take his party in a more radical direction

The new leader wants to be radical and a profile of his members suggests they will follow him.

theconversation.com

2 9 23

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 7d

"I'm here to talk about what others won’t. To tell the truth about what makes our country great and what makes it not so great. While others thrive on creating scapegoats, I am here to tell you a different story."

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Migration is Britain’s superpower. Our future depends on embracing that truth, not denying it | Zack Polanski

Labour has lost its nerve. At our party conference this weekend, we’re gathering to set things right, says Green party leader Zack Polanski

www.theguardian.com

75 650 1.9K

Reposted by Poppy Leeder

Steve Hyndside @stevehyndside.bsky.social · 7d

@zackpolanski.bsky.social in today's @theguardian.com "The truth is simple: Britain is not broken because of migration. Britain is broken because of inequality. Because of an economy that allows billionaires to hoard wealth while millions struggle to get by" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Migration is Britain’s superpower. Our future depends on embracing that truth, not denying it | Zack Polanski

Labour has lost its nerve. At our party conference this weekend, we’re gathering to set things right, says Green party leader Zack Polanski

www.theguardian.com

1 19 51