George Monbiot

https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/georgemonbiot.bsky.social

Ungainly on land

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Last Notes

2026-07-30 12:39:09 CEST

I wrote this last year, but as nothing has been done to address the underlying issues, it remains, unfortunately, just as relevant today. [www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/17/water-bills-filthy-rivers-drought-water-crisis )
[High water bills, filthy river...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/17/water-bills-filthy-rivers-drought-water-crisis )

2026-07-30 09:44:27 CEST

I'm not qualified to judge whether such people are psychopaths. All I can say is that they behave as if they are.
From today's Telegraph.
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreie6crjq23oculriibowzdveudyumoxxfwkwex2a2ivhbgm35rkkqq

2026-07-29 19:36:53 CEST

This is surely curtains for Farage's political career. I don't think there's any coming back from it. I hope not, at any rate. Looks like there could be a strong basis for a criminal case as well.
[www.theguardian.com/politics/202...](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/29/george-cottrell-transferred-2m-mother-beforer-reform-uk-donations )
[Revealed: George Cottrell tran...](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/29/george-cottrell-transferred-2m-mother-beforer-reform-uk-donations )

2026-07-29 11:25:26 CEST

When I discuss huge systemic issues, people say "but what I can I do?" When I mention something meaningful you can do immediately, people say (as the replies here show) "but what's the point, in the face of the huge systemic issues?"
There are, it seems, plenty of people who want to be helpless.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb/post/3mrrfgsthjs2z
#note1y2a…20ks

2026-07-29 09:24:45 CEST

It's a point I've been trying to make for a long time: there is no good way to meet even 10% of current demand for animal products. They trash the living world, whichever way you do it. If you want to reduce your impact, switch to a plant-based diet. [www.theguardian.com/environment/...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/29/organic-eggs-climate-caged-chickens-carbon-emissions-environment )
[Organic eggs have worse impact...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/29/organic-eggs-climate-caged-chickens-carbon-emissions-environment )

2026-07-28 09:09:16 CEST

A useful and disturbing article about Elon Musk's fascism, only slightly spoilt by the fact that, when you get to the bottom, you see that the first named author, the excellent [@[email protected]](https://bsky.brid.gy/ap/did:plc:2amnkge5a6hplfwyesmxqkfl ), is still on X. We really need to walk the talk on this issue. [newrepublic.com/article/2135...](https://newrepublic.com/article/213533/elon-musk-economist-interview-doge-cuts-killed-zero-children )
[The Real Reason Elon Musk Keep...](https://newrepublic.com/article/213533/elon-musk-economist-interview-doge-cuts-killed-zero-children )

2026-07-28 08:48:02 CEST

Just loving how John Cleese, now reduced to one of his own caricatures, rages about immigrants coming to the UK and failing to accept "our" culture, from his home in ... (checks notes) ... Nevis in the Caribbean.
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreia27riil7rfp7cyrseydi2ke3dhhad2loyi6ea4jiskyy6fdowo74

2026-07-24 15:59:05 CEST

Always this.
"Protect our women and children from those people" is pure projection. The beast is the man in the mirror.
[www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/24/most-people-arrested-during-henry-nowak-protests-had-been-reported-for-domestic-abuse )
[Most people arrested during He...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/24/most-people-arrested-during-henry-nowak-protests-had-been-reported-for-domestic-abuse?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other )

2026-07-24 08:13:23 CEST

The greatest global threat to both peace and a habitable planet is the government of the USA. It has been so for a long time, but Trump has nixed the deniability. We should stop treating it as an ally that has mysteriously gone astray and start treating it as a hazard to be avoided and contained.

2026-07-23 16:29:17 CEST

A barrister represents his clients in court. Clients who are political dissidents. He now faces criminal prosecution for doing so.
Not Turkey.
Not Egypt.
Not Russia.
England.
Astonishing, deeply disturbing, and part of a long slide towards authoritarianism.
[www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/23/palestine-action-trial-lawyer-prosecution-criticised-rajiv-menon-kc )
[Palestine Action barrister’s p...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/23/palestine-action-trial-lawyer-prosecution-criticised-rajiv-menon-kc )

2026-07-23 07:47:03 CEST

This week's column explains how successive Environment Secretaries in the UK have been actively facilitating ecocide on behalf of industrial lobbyists. Charged with protecting the living world, one after another has been working for the enemy. This has to change.🧵 [www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/23/lobbyists-uk-environment-ministers-ecosystems-chicken-poultry-faming )
[Besieged by lobbyists, will UK...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/23/lobbyists-uk-environment-ministers-ecosystems-chicken-poultry-faming )

2026-07-23 07:43:58 CEST

Major climate impacts on crops in North America and Europe. Major shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and now, potentially, the Red Sea. Transit through the Panama Canal threatened by drought.
It's time we started getting serious about #FoodSecurity.

2026-07-22 18:17:53 CEST

Genuinely terrifying. And remarkably similar to how the Nazis began their criminalisation of dissent and their dehumanisation of any who resisted.
It's happening.
In the US.
Right now.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/22/stephen-miller-marco-rubio-trump-speeches )
[Three speeches on a single day...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/22/stephen-miller-marco-rubio-trump-speeches )

2026-07-21 09:39:14 CEST

I strongly believe in giving the man a chance. But keeping Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary suggests the vicious attacks on immigrants and refugees, and self-defeating attempts to outrun the far right, are likely to continue. Which is pretty damn depressing. [www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/05/shabana-mahmood-immigrants-britain-history )
[Read these words from 100 year...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/05/shabana-mahmood-immigrants-britain-history )

2026-07-19 13:16:41 CEST

One of my earnest hopes is that Emma Reynolds, the former City lobbyist whom Starmer appointed as yet another craven, spineless and utterly useless Environment Secretary, will be out of a job tomorrow.
[www.theguardian.com/environment/...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/18/poultry-sector-growth-plan-uk-national-food-security-supply-chain )
[Poultry sector growth plan ris...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/18/poultry-sector-growth-plan-uk-national-food-security-supply-chain?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other )

2026-07-17 21:22:27 CEST

Excellent and essential letters here, laying to rest some pervasive myths about Carbon Capture and Storage, and raising further concerns about both the astonishing financial outlay and the vast climate damage it will cause.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ptqsmvmjxpzupiuch6sx6xey/post/3mquezsezvk2g

2026-07-16 09:18:01 CEST

There's no avoiding the conclusion, however much dust the UK government throws into the air. By providing weapons, rhetorical and diplomatic support to the Israeli government as it has committed genocide in #Gaza, Keir Starmer and his ministers *are* complicit in this great crime.

2026-07-13 07:38:40 CEST

There's a simple, fair and effective means of funding politics, which ensures that voters count and money doesn't.
MPs: please stop messing about with proposals for donation caps, and press for a proper, democratic funding system.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/30/political-donations-poison-democracy-antidote-reform-uk )
[Political donations are poison...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/30/political-donations-poison-democracy-antidote-reform-uk?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other )

2026-07-09 12:08:57 CEST

This point needs to be made over and again:
The main purpose of wealth taxes should not be to raise revenue. That's a small and secondary benefit. The main purpose should be to *reduce the fortunes of the ultrarich*. Why? Because those fortunes present a massive threat to democracy and public life.

2026-07-09 09:29:39 CEST

The brilliant Michael Walker has interviewed me for [@[email protected]](https://bsky.brid.gy/ap/did:plc:5ebko3maogiqs6tjcab23vq6 ) about Farage, heatwaves, carbon capture and storage, new green tech and a bunch of other stuff. Do give it a watch or a listen: [www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3IF...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3IFlcWI224 )
[George Monbiot | The Most Impo...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3IFlcWI224 )

2026-07-08 14:52:00 CEST

Despite all the noise today I'd really like you to read this, as I think it's crucial. The government's in the process of p*ssing up to £264 billion into the ground, at the behest of the fossil fuel industry. Yes, £264 *billion*. It's utterly mad, and has to stop. [www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/08/carbon-capture-con-andy-burnham-fossil-fuels-renewables )
[The great carbon capture con: ...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/08/carbon-capture-con-andy-burnham-fossil-fuels-renewables )

2026-07-08 07:51:04 CEST

Never underestimate the self-pity of the ruling classes.
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreif7qqx2pjras5iipmtp37g5yvx7m2d5h5ofl575wuphvspwxo3pqu

2026-07-06 08:54:37 CEST

After I wrote last week's column, I learnt that a neighbour with severe disabilities, an extremely tough & resourceful woman who lived to the full, died in the heatwave. Everyone here is devastated. I can scarcely express my anger towards a mindset that treats people like her as collateral damage. 🧵

2026-07-01 12:42:55 CEST

Something deeply troubling & shocking is happening at Exeter University*, where a mass cull of staff is planned, even though it's in surplus. No good justifications given. @npub18me…u8w5 provides the details: [www.technosphere.earth/the-bonfire-...](https://www.technosphere.earth/the-bonfire-of-the-humanities/ )
*Disclosure: I have a Visiting Fellowship here. +🧵
[The bonfire of the humanities](https://www.technosphere.earth/the-bonfire-of-the-humanities/ )

2026-07-01 08:27:16 CEST

Cricket, warm beer and excess mortality are the markers of national character.
This week's column is about the ignorance, snobbery and cruelty in the billionaire press, triggered by last week's heatwave. And about the grim condtions children now face in schools.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/01/right-danger-heatwaves-children-class-politics-extreme-heat-billionaire-press )
[When the right promotes heat-s...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/01/right-danger-heatwaves-children-class-politics-extreme-heat-billionaire-press )

2026-06-30 09:30:29 CEST

The famous "Wedges" paper was used repeatedly to shut us up when we argued against the continued use of fossil fuels, and, esp, against carbon capture and storage and the mass use of bioenergy. "But these eminent scientists say ..." Now we learn BP co-authored it. [www.propublica.org/article/wedg...](https://www.propublica.org/article/wedges-climate-research-bp-fossil-fuel-princeton )
[How BP Execs Influenced a Clim...](https://www.propublica.org/article/wedges-climate-research-bp-fossil-fuel-princeton?utm_campaign=propublica-sprout&utm_content=1782388819&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky )

2026-06-29 07:06:14 CEST

Few people understand the scope of the powers UK governments have granted themselves, to criminalise us as terrorists for expressing an opinion. Fewer still understand how illiberal the Court of Appeal judgement is. But [@[email protected]](https://bsky.brid.gy/ap/did:plc:nx2kxyxako6sobj4g4pdkl6s ) does.🧵 [www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...](https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/the-weekly-constitutional/73890/palestine-action-appeal-home-secretary-terrorism-law )
[What the Palestine Action appe...](https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/the-weekly-constitutional/73890/palestine-action-appeal-home-secretary-terrorism-law )

2026-06-26 08:12:32 CEST

Here's someone who makes a big, bold and very popular promise, then actually delivers it. Why do other supposedly-leftwing administrations find this so hard?
(Actually, that's a rhetorical question: they deliver for their funders and the rest of the oligarch class, ahead of their voters).
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:77lswp42lgjyw36ozuo7kt7e/post/3mp6bqewgtc2i
#note1pqe…hj72

2026-06-22 09:55:57 CEST

I keep hearing "Keir Starmer is a decent man". Never mind the vibes: decent is as decent does. And all this and more is the opposite of decent.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb/post/3moufs2i35c2q
#note1kej…avpp

2026-06-22 09:53:27 CEST

And this is before we get to support for a government committing genocide, ever more deranged attacks on the right to protest, ripping down planning and environmental protections, kowtowing to corporate lobbyists and treating the left of the Labour Party as the real enemy to be crushed.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:er4aokxt4wtdgxrzy3jxk42p/post/3moubyb44yc2q

2026-06-17 09:28:34 CEST

If you say “I support Palestine Action”, they might put you in jail. If you incite a racist riot, they put you on TV.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb/post/3mohm45xmyc2y
#note1ygl…hmpr

2026-06-17 07:41:52 CEST

Both the government and the Court of Appeal now treat protesters as terrorists and terrorists as protesters. It's hard to accept that a "Labour" government is imposing rightwing authoritarianism on the UK, but please read this column to see what's happening.+🧵
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
[The Belfast riots, Palestine A...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/17/belfast-riots-palestine-action-protests-terrorism )

2026-06-16 08:04:35 CEST

The Court of Appeal judgement on Palestine Action is frankly bonkers. It says PA is not "a direct action civil disobedience protest group like the suffragettes operating transparently in the open."
Right: the arson, bombings, slashings etc were all planned in open meetings in Parliament Square 🙄🧵

2026-06-15 12:43:15 CEST

Terrible news: the Court of Appeal has just ruled that the Government’s ban on Palestine Action is lawful. PA is now likely to lodge an appeal before the Supreme Court.
So the mass arrests of peaceful people sitting with cardboard signs will continue. Because that is what terrorism looks like ...

2026-06-14 19:11:22 CEST

A crucial issue: deregulation by stealth, which could expose us to a greater range of hazardous chemicals than the EU permits, contrary to government promises. We at Fighting Dirty are suing. We need your help. Please see crowdfunder in next post. Thank you 🧵
[www.theguardian.com/environment/...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/13/fast-track-regulation-could-expose-britons-to-harmful-chemicals-say-campaigners )
[‘Fast-track’ regulation could ...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/13/fast-track-regulation-could-expose-britons-to-harmful-chemicals-say-campaigners?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other )

2026-06-12 11:20:44 CEST

"Dad, what was a 'slow news day'?"
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreidwuydn2i5t4vailmavk43cdfplyj6rvokdz3pgybflh3ebrn2mhe

2026-06-11 11:21:55 CEST

The government must treat this as the emergency it is. Our sovereignty, democracy, and the lives of some of those who live here are threatened by a deadly combination of US billionaires, Russian interests and homegrown fascists. Step 1: Get the money out of politics.🧵
[bylinetimes.com/2026/06/10/r...](https://bylinetimes.com/2026/06/10/revealed-the-russian-neo-nazi-network-pushing-white-lives-matter-division-in-britain-promoted-by-tommy-robinson/ )
[Revealed: The Russian Neo-Nazi...](https://bylinetimes.com/2026/06/10/revealed-the-russian-neo-nazi-network-pushing-white-lives-matter-division-in-britain-promoted-by-tommy-robinson/ )

2026-06-11 07:51:47 CEST

I hope we're going to see many charges for incitement to racial hatred, incitement to violence and incitement to riot, all of which have been happening blatantly and prolifically on social media. Or will two-tier policing in the UK, favouring the right and the far right, prevail yet again?

2026-06-10 14:56:56 CEST

Immigrants & asylum seekers are not our enemies. They are not responsible for the austerity, privatisation, erosion of civic life, thinning of democracy and concentration of power we suffer. But they're being punished for these things. Punished at the behest of the very people who *are* responsible.

2026-06-10 09:42:24 CEST

Vote Reform for mass unemployment. If Farage and Tice win, they'll destroy a million jobs, while offering nothing in return. Spread the word: for the sake of their billionaire funders, they will throw you out of work.
This week's column.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/10/reform-obsession-british-jobs-net-zero-oil-and-gas-fossil-fuel )
[Nothing says stupidity like Re...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/10/reform-obsession-british-jobs-net-zero-oil-and-gas-fossil-fuel )

2026-06-08 13:17:19 CEST

Not that we need more evidence of genocidal intent to recognise what we are seeing. But deliberately shooting children? That's about as clear as it gets. #Gaza [www.volkskrant.nl/kijkverder/v...](https://www.volkskrant.nl/kijkverder/v/2025/gunshot-palestine-children-israel-war~v1819649/ )
[Gunshot wounds in Palestinian ...](https://www.volkskrant.nl/kijkverder/v/2025/gunshot-palestine-children-israel-war~v1819649/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.bsky.app%2F )

2026-06-08 09:30:38 CEST

The magic money tree gets another shake. Funny how often it fruits when lucrative contracts are at risk. 🧵 [www.theguardian.com/business/202...](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/08/extra-cash-spiralling-lower-thames-crossing )
[Extra £174m earmarked for ‘spi...](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/08/extra-cash-spiralling-lower-thames-crossing )

2026-06-08 08:49:07 CEST

The latest installment of a story that just gets grimmer and grimmer. If you thought such appointments ended with the Tories, you'll be sorely disappointed.
[www.ft.com/content/747e...](https://www.ft.com/content/747ea340-2170-4567-93a0-7fd4b32885c5?syn-25a6b1a6=1 )
[Top health official had close ...](https://www.ft.com/content/747ea340-2170-4567-93a0-7fd4b32885c5?syn-25a6b1a6=1 )

2026-06-07 10:43:03 CEST

Two-tier policing is real and ever-present. Black and Brown people experience it. Women experience it. Pro-Palestine and green protesters experience it. But the last people who would ever experience it are right-wing white men. They are the people with whom the police instinctively align.

2026-06-06 11:02:12 CEST

All the right now has to offer is conflict. Some of its key figures have moved on from culture wars towards what seems to be a deliberate effort to foment civil war. If you're a conflict entrepreneur, the worse it gets, the better it is for you.
Where they break, we must mend, building community.

2026-06-05 09:17:02 CEST

It's hard to convey just how monstrous the privatisation of children's care homes has become. Highly vulnerable children have been turned into cash machines, with devastating impacts on their wellbeing.
Please sit down before reading this week's column.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/05/child-care-councils-private-equity-companies )
[Horrific, unregulated, and ver...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/05/child-care-councils-private-equity-companies?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other )

2026-06-04 16:25:44 CEST

This is exactly what we have been warning about. But oh no, anyone who objects to the changes is a selfish, privileged nimby, a zealot, a blocker, an elitist. Let's trash the lives of England's poorest communities, and smear anyone who complains. Thanks Keir. 🧵 [www.theguardian.com/environment/...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/04/englands-poorest-communities-face-deepest-cuts-green-space-planning-law-changes-report-warns )
[England’s poorest areas face d...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/04/englands-poorest-communities-face-deepest-cuts-green-space-planning-law-changes-report-warns )

2026-06-03 12:34:02 CEST

"Terrorism" on the left. "Protest" on the right.
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreihmdh6o3wd6rjpooyxwgmtmm6vefalyqp5mo5l44s57whrphrr2f4
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreigwcxtk6eo6hthnx25wm7jvcz4v5bnfunlw6bbwn2z6nubyvdhrui

2026-06-03 09:01:38 CEST

If you say "I support Palestine Action", they might put you in jail.
If you incite a racist riot, they put you on the news.

2026-05-29 10:17:19 CEST

Today the Daily Mail opposes Restore Britain, partly it seems because RB could split the far-right vote in Makerfield, helping Andy Burnham to win. But if, as I suspect, RB soon becomes the leading far right party, how long will it be before the Mail supports it?🧵
[www.dailymail.com/news/article...](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15850623/Restore-Britain-faces-anti-Semitism-outrage-rivals-Reform-insist-wont-police-membership.html )
[Reform rivals Restore Britain ...](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15850623/Restore-Britain-faces-anti-Semitism-outrage-rivals-Reform-insist-wont-police-membership.html )

2026-05-27 08:04:02 CEST

How do you turn people off the green transition and deliver them to the far right? Through #ClimateAuthoritarianism. The government seeks to coerce, not to persuade. And it's turning a planning system based on consent into one based on decree. This week's column.🧵
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/27/britain-green-transition-belong-everyone-labour-planning-protest-laws )
[Britain’s green transition sho...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/27/britain-green-transition-belong-everyone-labour-planning-protest-laws )

2026-05-26 19:30:00 CEST

"Save our women and children" from asylum seekers, they said. And yet again, it was projection. They hunt what they see in the mirror.
[www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/26/one-in-five-people-arrested-over-2024-riots-have-since-been-reported-for-domestic-abuse )
[One in five people arrested ov...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/26/one-in-five-people-arrested-over-2024-riots-have-since-been-reported-for-domestic-abuse?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other )

2026-05-26 08:58:06 CEST

There's an exceptionalist belief that the UK's immune to the worst political extremes. In reality, we were lucky not to get a fascist government in the 1930s. Now that the world's richest man supports our most extreme political party, we need more than luck. We need to get the money out of politics.
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreihi5lgsubwr7dlpofz5ju4ow5ikmudv45d2y423is5auhkn544jee

2026-05-25 15:00:09 CEST

As we face an unprecedented May heatwave, please remember that globally we haven't any idea how many are killed by extreme heat. The given estimates may be a small fraction of the real total. A huge and shocking data gap, which illustrates rich world indifference.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/21/black-hole-in-climate-data-climate-sceptics-extreme-heat )
[There’s a catastrophic black h...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/21/black-hole-in-climate-data-climate-sceptics-extreme-heat )

2026-05-21 09:36:40 CEST

The government’s new assault on the right to challenge planning decisions is another example of its authoritarian reflex. We very much need a fast green transition, which means large-scale renewables. But instead of bringing people along, it goes straight for coercion.🧵1/8 [www.gov.uk/government/n...](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/reeves-to-use-parliament-to-drive-through-power-plants-and-infrastructure )
[assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a0d9303...](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a0d93039171ee9f72826e51/JR_Policy_Paper_1505.pdf )

2026-05-20 21:50:47 CEST

Something I learnt today, while reading an article about Egyptian dynasties, is that Philadelphia means incest. Even if I weren't a vegan, it would put me right off.
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreibynsudajcvjrzjesu55kzmeyjgj6crbnpgq4wanns5ik47f2elcq

2026-05-20 12:46:30 CEST

This, by [@[email protected]](https://bsky.brid.gy/ap/did:plc:7z4ol3e6zdvmppyklmdsdfze ), is a brilliant, fascinating and definitional article. If you want to understand what's happening around the world, you should read it. [www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/may/17/america-china-energy-oil-renewables )
[The American epoch of oil is c...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/may/17/america-china-energy-oil-renewables )

2026-05-17 22:16:02 CEST

A deeply concerning analysis by [@[email protected]](https://bsky.brid.gy/ap/did:plc:h3bhnarqamvrotutocymurxs ) I'm not qualified to assess its merits, but it sounds as if we should at least be highly alert to the possibilities he raises. [www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/05...](https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/05/16/this-could-be-as-bad-as-1929-and-maybe-very-much-worse/ )
[This could be as bad as 1929, ...](https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/05/16/this-could-be-as-bad-as-1929-and-maybe-very-much-worse/ )

2026-05-15 17:09:58 CEST

Keir Starmer's political failure comes down to one issue above all others: his unwillingness to put the public interest ahead of the demands of the oligarchs, corporations and foreign governments who lobby him. Whoever replaces him had better be prepared to stand up for us, or Labour's finished.

2026-05-14 11:03:28 CEST

Where’s the fury about rightwing antisemitism? The newspapers that call out leftwing antisemitism publish antisemitic cartoons and champion politicians with a record of antisemitic statements. So who is holding *them* to account? This week’s column.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/14/free-pass-antisemitism-left-right-nigel-farage-zack-polanski-jewish )
[No one should get a free pass ...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/14/free-pass-antisemitism-left-right-nigel-farage-zack-polanski-jewish )

2026-05-14 10:01:28 CEST

While all eyes are on Farage, we're overlooking something even worse: the building of the very tight and truly vile operation that is Restore Britain. This excellent essay/report by Simon Pearson should wake us up to the threat - and to what exactly it is.
[simonpearson1.substack.com/p/tory-30](https://simonpearson1.substack.com/p/tory-30 )
[“Tory 3.0”](https://simonpearson1.substack.com/p/tory-30 )

2026-05-12 17:13:37 CEST

What kind of justice is this?
[www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/12/palestine-action-activists-elbit-protest-terrorist-connection-ruling )
[Palestine Action activists in ...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/12/palestine-action-activists-elbit-protest-terrorist-connection-ruling )

2026-05-08 08:28:07 CEST

No one expected Keir Starmer to solve our pressing problems overnight. But what we did expect – and had every right to expect – was that he would lay out a clear vision and roadmap for doing so. Instead, we’ve had drift, appeasement and a startling absence of ideas, values and ambition. 🧵1/6

2026-05-07 11:30:17 CEST

Make Hate Weird Again.

2026-05-07 10:26:26 CEST

There is a way out of our political spiral, and it is thrilling and inspiring. We could have a very different country.
This week's column.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/07/technique-heal-britain-division-hard-right-radical-listening-constituency-volunteers )
[Imagine a technique that can h...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/07/technique-heal-britain-division-hard-right-radical-listening-constituency-volunteers?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other )

2026-05-06 11:01:01 CEST

How is this cartoon of Zack Polanski, published in the Sun - complete with forked tongue and other Der Stürmer tropes - not blatantly antisemitic?
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreibpqa4i2hxg2otmpjlnf7tl7zeo5v7defig35pvz6gwfu7ye32d7y

2026-05-06 08:51:20 CEST

The media forensically dissects the pasts of people who challenge the status quo, such as Polanski and Corbyn. Fair enough, up to a point: we should know about our representatives. But it's far less inquisitive about those who defend power, however great their misdeeds, such as Nigel Farage.🧵

2026-05-05 17:28:53 CEST

"You can't let a bunch of lunatics have a nuclear weapon." Donald J. Trump, May 5, 2026.
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreigu3asocigq6maxzhfdc77wgucfl6ywrrriokw2ouqxvjswqnjn6q

2026-05-05 09:03:09 CEST

The first question we should ask ourselves in these and all other elections is:
Which candidates oppose the inordinate power of the ultra-rich, and which ones accept or encourage it?

2026-05-04 09:21:11 CEST

Most of the cruel, racist stereotypes now being propagated about Muslims and immigrants were originally crafted as antisemitic attacks on Jews. The language and sources are in some cases exactly the same. Prejudice against any minority endangers all minorities.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/05/shabana-mahmood-immigrants-britain-history )
[Read these words from 100 year...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/05/shabana-mahmood-immigrants-britain-history )

2026-05-03 09:05:47 CEST

We must stand in solidarity with Jews being attacked by antisemitic criminals and terrorists: no ifs or buts. We must stand in solidarity with Palestinians being murdered by the Israeli government: no ifs or buts. These are not contradictory positions. They are consistent ones. 🧵1/5

2026-05-01 08:53:33 CEST

Political donations make a mockery of democracy, and the government's solutions are hopeless. Here's a really simple means of fixing it. This week's column.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/30/political-donations-poison-democracy-antidote-reform-uk )
[Political donations are poison...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/30/political-donations-poison-democracy-antidote-reform-uk?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other )

2026-04-29 15:10:16 CEST

When billionaires and their stooges say that their priorities are "anti-woke", "anti-cancel culture" and "unrestricted free speech", don't take their claims at face value. They're a coded way of saying, “I should be allowed to do whatever I want, regardless of the impacts on other people.”

2026-04-28 08:32:56 CEST

There is no special relationship.
There hasn't been one for a very long time, if ever.
Instead, there's a parasocial relationship, in which the UK government imagines it's involved in ways the other partner doesn't recognise.
States have interests, not preferences.
They don't love. They calculate.

2026-04-27 07:37:31 CEST

Something shocking and out of the ordinary is happening in the UK. While in most comparable countries, healthy life expectancy is rising, here it is plunging steeply.
Q. So what marks us out?
A. 47 years of extreme neoliberalism, culminating in austerity.
[www.health.org.uk/reports-and-...](https://www.health.org.uk/reports-and-analysis/analysis/healthy-life-expectancy-trends-in-the-uk-a-watershed-moment )
[health.org.uk/reports-and-an...](https://www.health.org.uk/reports-and-analysis/analysis/healthy-life-expectancy-trends-in-the-uk-a-watershed-moment )

2026-04-23 08:15:32 CEST

While we are transfixed by the antics of our supposed "leaders", a catastrophe of astonishing proportions has been creeping up on us. Climate scientists now believe it is more likely than not to happen, and soon.
This week's column.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/23/catastrophic-climate-event-scientists-atlantic-system-collapse-billionaire-existential-crisis )
[A catastrophic climate event i...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/23/catastrophic-climate-event-scientists-atlantic-system-collapse-billionaire-existential-crisis )

2026-04-21 08:52:30 CEST

Almost everything we argue about is a substitute for the thing we should be arguing about: the immense wealth & power of an oligarchic class, which captures governments, ruins lives and wrecks the living planet.
This class redirects our rage at scapegoats. To resist its lies is to resist its power.

2026-04-18 10:44:45 CEST

It's the opposite of his intention, but the Idiot Emperor is forcing the world off fossil fuels. This week's column.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/18/fossil-fuel-trump-green-revolution-us-iran-renewable-energy )
[Who’d have thought a fossil-fu...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/18/fossil-fuel-trump-green-revolution-us-iran-renewable-energy?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other )

2026-04-15 08:47:12 CEST

When you aggregate the comments of various Reform UK candidates, you find they:
Hate the NHS
Hate immigrants
Hate Black people
Hate Brown people
Hate Muslims
Hate Jews
Hate women
Hate students
Hate LGTBQ people
Hate the unemployed
Hate disabled people
Hate everyone ...
But claim to love the country.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb/post/3mjjaqbdngc2t
#note1cp0…dvsw

2026-04-15 08:17:43 CEST

Lovely people, these Reform UK candidates for the upcoming election, and great to know they're on our side.
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreibv4szax6zufeatr26lwlljttavnhdlqk3kmn3dpjhmnuvh5alzry

2026-04-14 11:09:32 CEST

In the 1930s, Oswald Mosley claimed to be a patriot, while his British Union of Fascists was secretly funded by the Italian government. We are just beginning to grasp how much of the far right in the UK today has been funded by Viktor Orbán and Russian oil money.
Their "patriotism" is always a con.

2026-04-14 08:57:32 CEST

I don't know why this is so hard for some people to grasp. If we extend our use of fossil gas, rather than going all-out for grid batteries, heat pumps and induction hobs, we extend our dependence on *foreign* sources of gas, regardless of whether we also use the UK's last remaining reserves. 🧵

2026-04-13 14:56:18 CEST

A crucial article, but one quibble. I've been arguing since 1997 that Frank Furedi, Claire Fox and the rest of the gruesome "Revolutionary Communist Party" goons were NEVER on the left: the RCP was a far-right front from the outset. No surprise when they started working for Orbán, Farage & Johnson🧵
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:aeet2renleuqvyopkfbrgext/post/3mjc57r3tls2g

2026-04-13 12:02:04 CEST

Truly astonishing number of screenings already booked for the National Emergency Briefing film. Very likely to be one near you. [www.nebriefing.org/screening-map](https://www.nebriefing.org/screening-map )
[National Emergency Briefing](https://www.nebriefing.org/screening-map )

2026-04-13 09:01:10 CEST

Odd how the minor administrative errors always seem to produce the same results.
[www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8x7yj99jrwo )
[Richard Tice tax row is 'minor...](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8x7yj99jrwo )

2026-04-09 12:54:48 CEST

This is key to political understanding: austerity causes a rise in support for the far right.
BTW, austerity is *not over*, unless you accept the meaningless official definition. A meaningful definition is "a decline in public services caused by a shortfall in funding". [catherinedevries.eu/NHS.pdf](https://catherinedevries.eu/NHS.pdf )
[catherinedevries.eu/NHS.pdf](https://catherinedevries.eu/NHS.pdf )

2026-04-05 10:59:59 CEST

Translation: Net Zero threatens the value of our proprietor's investments. The world must cook for the sake of his portfolio.
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreiduig7babtvuwnxxjmu4iaw5eu5zpqi5ocacq6k2ivosi4a3xt2j4

2026-04-02 15:36:25 CEST

Just what we don't need. Already, our rivers are overloaded with both human and livestock waste, leading in many cases to #rivercide. Now the government, responding as always to lobbyists, wants to make it worse. Then it wonders why it loses public support. [www.theguardian.com/environment/...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/02/uk-looks-to-relax-planning-rules-for-factory-farms-after-industry-lobbying )
[UK looks to relax planning rul...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/02/uk-looks-to-relax-planning-rules-for-factory-farms-after-industry-lobbying )

2026-04-01 08:54:06 CEST

Another triumph for deregulation! By saving a few million in monitoring and enforcement, our governments have landed us with a vast illegal waste dumping problem, new organised crime networks and a clean-up bill that could run to tens of billions.
My column.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/01/organised-waste-crime-dump-uk-environment )
[Say hello to the UK’s most suc...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/01/organised-waste-crime-dump-uk-environment )

2026-03-31 07:53:21 CEST

Regardless of the issue, it's always the same story: commercial interests allowed to ride roughshod over everything and everyone else. Faced with the urgent need for action, successive governments twiddle their thumbs.
[www.theguardian.com/environment/...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/31/a-national-scandal-trawlers-scour-seabeds-of-supposedly-protected-uk-waters )
[‘A national scandal’: trawlers...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/31/a-national-scandal-trawlers-scour-seabeds-of-supposedly-protected-uk-waters )

2026-03-30 14:37:56 CEST

Trump is threatening further and greater war crimes in Iran: "completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants... and possibly all desalinization plants!".
This directly contravenes the laws of war.
One day he and his enablers must face justice.
[ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary...](https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule54 )
[ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-i...](https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule54 )

2026-03-29 12:52:02 CEST

Yet another position that's almost identical to the policy promoted by English fascists in the 1930s. There seems to be a kind of ideological homing instinct at work. Before long, the entire package will be back in place.
[www.theguardian.com/environment/...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/29/nigel-farage-farming-adviser-calls-for-hike-in-wheat-prices-reform-uk )
[Nigel Farage’s farming adviser...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/29/nigel-farage-farming-adviser-calls-for-hike-in-wheat-prices-reform-uk?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other )

2026-03-28 08:59:56 CET

Who needs physical reality anyway?
[www.theguardian.com/business/202...](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/28/north-sea-oil-gas-licences-conservatives )
[Hundreds of North Sea licences...](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/28/north-sea-oil-gas-licences-conservatives?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other )

2026-03-26 17:13:53 CET

A billionaire can get what they want with one donation to a political party. The rest of us must fight for years to get even the most basic rights recognised. Money destroys democracy, more than any other cause. The first step towards a better world is to stop the rich buying political outcomes.

2026-03-26 10:45:11 CET

These people have a funny way of saying "Environmentalists have been proved right yet again."
https://oyster.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb&cid=bafkreifqj24ppuukyuayeagtpap35en3sbdk26vwx6nzf4zf6pe3ux5yty

2026-03-25 08:27:06 CET

The global food system is systemically fragile in the same way that the global financial system was before the 2008 crash. If it goes it down, we’re looking, as complex societies, at a potential termination event.
This week's column. Please read it.
[www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/25/big-corporations-global-food-system-war-iran )
[We’re letting big corporations...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/25/big-corporations-global-food-system-war-iran )

2026-03-23 07:42:46 CET

Governments sit and watch while oligarchs purchase our politics, as if it were just another asset to be monopolised. For the sake of democracy and our own survival, we need to get the money out. Our political systems must belong to us and us alone.
[www.theguardian.com/media/2026/m...](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/23/funding-for-populist-right-media-political-complex-exceeded-170m-in-five-years-research-finds )
[Funding for populist-right ‘me...](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/23/funding-for-populist-right-media-political-complex-exceeded-170m-in-five-years-research-finds )

2026-03-21 14:25:22 CET

Just remember: the hateful claims made against Muslims today were previously made against Jews (and often still are). Sometimes word-for-word. Same hate, different targets. We all stand together against hatred, or we will be picked off one by one.

2026-03-21 10:38:44 CET

Everything we need to do to stop climate breakdown, we also need to do for national security. Energy saving, more renewables, more electricity storage and interconnectors, electrification of transport, heating, cooking and industrial processes, plant-based diets. We win on all fronts.

2026-03-20 09:57:08 CET

1. One of the things I mention as a secondary issue in this week’s column is a lie so deeply embedded in official narratives that we seldom even notice it: capitalism = “free markets”. In reality, capitalism is *the opposite* of the free market.
A short 🧵. 1/8 [www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/19/iran-greed-oil-capitalism-regimes )
[We need to be honest about Ira...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/19/iran-greed-oil-capitalism-regimes )