John Paddington
@padders123.bsky.social
Transport technology, Birmingham and some other stuff.
Occasional photos of Travel Basil to promote St Basils homeless charity that works with young people in Birmingham.
Occasional photos of Travel Basil to promote St Basils homeless charity that works with young people in Birmingham.
Pinned
John Paddington
@padders123.bsky.social
· Nov 16
Also: if you're wondering about my banner photo, it was taken in Kharkiv, Ukraine about ten years ago. It's a reminder of happier times and also the sadness that there is war there.
Getting people cycling is one of the best ways to improve health and reduce spend on the NHS, yet...
(And expensive eCargoBikes both allow them to be widely used and wider access for those who wouldn't use a pedal bike)
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
(And expensive eCargoBikes both allow them to be widely used and wider access for those who wouldn't use a pedal bike)
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Rachel Reeves to cut tax benefits for workers using salary sacrifice schemes to buy bikes
Chancellor expected to introduce new limit on how much can be spent on a bicycle through cycle to work scheme
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Getting people cycling is one of the best ways to improve health and reduce spend on the NHS, yet...
(And expensive eCargoBikes both allow them to be widely used and wider access for those who wouldn't use a pedal bike)
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
(And expensive eCargoBikes both allow them to be widely used and wider access for those who wouldn't use a pedal bike)
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Interesting, the one thing I would quite like to see is the UK rejoin the TEN-T network for transport, it's a bit silly that the network map excludes us and has ferry routes going from France to Ireland.
I did not have insider knowledge. I have just been around Brussels negotiations for a long time...
EU agrees a mandate for UK negotiations as I predicted. With the bonus that the future path becomes clearer - if you pay you can have more. www.politico.eu/article/uk-s...
EU agrees a mandate for UK negotiations as I predicted. With the bonus that the future path becomes clearer - if you pay you can have more. www.politico.eu/article/uk-s...
November 12, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Interesting, the one thing I would quite like to see is the UK rejoin the TEN-T network for transport, it's a bit silly that the network map excludes us and has ferry routes going from France to Ireland.
If you get rid of stamp duty without changing other taxes then all it will do is push up prices as people will put the saving onto house prices.
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
Property experts urge Rachel Reeves to abolish ‘sin tax’ of stamp duty in budget
Chancellor advised to replace levy with an annual property tax as Treasury considers overhaul of system
www.theguardian.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:02 PM
If you get rid of stamp duty without changing other taxes then all it will do is push up prices as people will put the saving onto house prices.
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
Reposted by John Paddington
Interested in how to make cities more equitable and inclusive for women, girls, and gender-diverse people? ✨🌆
Here is a thread of some of my favourite and/or most viewed blogs that I've published via @womenurbanismca.bsky.social! 🧵
#FeministCities
Here is a thread of some of my favourite and/or most viewed blogs that I've published via @womenurbanismca.bsky.social! 🧵
#FeministCities
January 24, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Interested in how to make cities more equitable and inclusive for women, girls, and gender-diverse people? ✨🌆
Here is a thread of some of my favourite and/or most viewed blogs that I've published via @womenurbanismca.bsky.social! 🧵
#FeministCities
Here is a thread of some of my favourite and/or most viewed blogs that I've published via @womenurbanismca.bsky.social! 🧵
#FeministCities
Someone give Jon some money so he can get a fleet of carriages...
I'm so tired of these arguments about small pots of money (or not) for night train operations
YOU CANNOT FIX THIS UNTIL SOMEONE BUILDS MORE NIGHT TRAIN CARRIAGES
Because then we can start to run night trains that aren't with knackered carriages saved from the scrap heap, and have solid operations!
YOU CANNOT FIX THIS UNTIL SOMEONE BUILDS MORE NIGHT TRAIN CARRIAGES
Because then we can start to run night trains that aren't with knackered carriages saved from the scrap heap, and have solid operations!
November 12, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Someone give Jon some money so he can get a fleet of carriages...
Good quality Birmingham content here about why Kent County Council thinks it is bigger than our Council (which as always is true and not true)
This week: one weird trick to combat bias at the BBC! (Clue: it's can Robbie Gibb.)
Inform, Educate, Implode
This week: one weird trick to combat bias at the BBC! Also: what’s the largest local authority in England; and the ballad of Nim Chimpsky.
jonn.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Good quality Birmingham content here about why Kent County Council thinks it is bigger than our Council (which as always is true and not true)
Reposted by John Paddington
The employment tribunal case of Patrick Lee vs the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries is here (stored in Google Drive by some kind soul):
drive.google.com/file/d/1H-jF...
Key extract is below.
In other words, this one is definitely not over yet.
drive.google.com/file/d/1H-jF...
Key extract is below.
In other words, this one is definitely not over yet.
November 11, 2025 at 5:42 PM
The employment tribunal case of Patrick Lee vs the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries is here (stored in Google Drive by some kind soul):
drive.google.com/file/d/1H-jF...
Key extract is below.
In other words, this one is definitely not over yet.
drive.google.com/file/d/1H-jF...
Key extract is below.
In other words, this one is definitely not over yet.
No other sane company would promote rivals, especially those hostile to them in this way...
If we're talking about bias, why do BBC politics programmes, from Politics Live to the Laura Kuennsberg Show, still always begin with a look at the newspaper front pages, which are overwhelmingly biased in one direction. Helps frame the entire news agenda and debate in their favour
November 11, 2025 at 1:56 PM
No other sane company would promote rivals, especially those hostile to them in this way...
BBC series shouldn't include product placement and they shouldn't be using the same vehicles all the time....
www.bbc.co.uk/editorialgui...
www.bbc.co.uk/editorialgui...
November 11, 2025 at 10:09 AM
BBC series shouldn't include product placement and they shouldn't be using the same vehicles all the time....
www.bbc.co.uk/editorialgui...
www.bbc.co.uk/editorialgui...
Reposted by John Paddington
For about a decade now I have refused to appear on all male panels and it has forced several events to have to reorganise themselves. I wish one of the five on this panel had thought to mention it as an issue. Might have saved everyone some embarrasment.
November 11, 2025 at 8:15 AM
For about a decade now I have refused to appear on all male panels and it has forced several events to have to reorganise themselves. I wish one of the five on this panel had thought to mention it as an issue. Might have saved everyone some embarrasment.
Reposted by John Paddington
I’m old enough to remember when the Director General of the BBC categorically didn’t resign after one of its flagship politics shows literally photoshopped Jeremy Corbyn with a Soviet hat and painted red with the Kremlin in the background like some kind of Cold War-era communist mural.
November 10, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I’m old enough to remember when the Director General of the BBC categorically didn’t resign after one of its flagship politics shows literally photoshopped Jeremy Corbyn with a Soviet hat and painted red with the Kremlin in the background like some kind of Cold War-era communist mural.
Reposted by John Paddington
All I can really add to this is that I wasn't really thinking of media when I wrote "incompetence is a form of bias" but if the BBC wasn't in the training set, it has worked very well in the validation set.
open.substack.com/pub/backofmi...
open.substack.com/pub/backofmi...
November 10, 2025 at 11:37 AM
All I can really add to this is that I wasn't really thinking of media when I wrote "incompetence is a form of bias" but if the BBC wasn't in the training set, it has worked very well in the validation set.
open.substack.com/pub/backofmi...
open.substack.com/pub/backofmi...
Reposted by John Paddington
www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commo...
@roads.org.uk finally another photo example of one of the Boston signs complete with British "No Entry" roundel to 1964 TSRGD specification.
@roads.org.uk finally another photo example of one of the Boston signs complete with British "No Entry" roundel to 1964 TSRGD specification.
Area sign
An online library of photographs, manuscripts, audio recordings, and other materials of historical interest from libraries, museums, archives, and historical societies across Massachusetts.
www.digitalcommonwealth.org
November 9, 2025 at 10:05 PM
www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commo...
@roads.org.uk finally another photo example of one of the Boston signs complete with British "No Entry" roundel to 1964 TSRGD specification.
@roads.org.uk finally another photo example of one of the Boston signs complete with British "No Entry" roundel to 1964 TSRGD specification.
First thing the new DG of the BBC needs to sort out is the BBC being addicted to it's own drama - I can't imagine any other organisation running articles like this.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Katie Razzall: A seismic moment that shows rift at top of BBC
There may be more to this than meets the eye, says the BBC's culture and media editor.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:47 AM
First thing the new DG of the BBC needs to sort out is the BBC being addicted to it's own drama - I can't imagine any other organisation running articles like this.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by John Paddington
🚨 The BBC’s Road to Appeasement
As the BBC comes under growing criticism for its coverage of Reform, we republish @adambienkov.bsky.social and @baghdaddi.bsky.social’s 2024 investigation into how the corporation's leadership became cowed by the right
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/the-bbcs-r...
As the BBC comes under growing criticism for its coverage of Reform, we republish @adambienkov.bsky.social and @baghdaddi.bsky.social’s 2024 investigation into how the corporation's leadership became cowed by the right
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/the-bbcs-r...
The BBC’s Road to Appeasement
As the BBC comes under growing criticism for its coverage of Reform, we republish Adam Bienkov and Patrick Howse's 2024 investigation into how the corporation's leadership became cowed by the right
www.bylinesupplement.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:28 PM
🚨 The BBC’s Road to Appeasement
As the BBC comes under growing criticism for its coverage of Reform, we republish @adambienkov.bsky.social and @baghdaddi.bsky.social’s 2024 investigation into how the corporation's leadership became cowed by the right
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/the-bbcs-r...
As the BBC comes under growing criticism for its coverage of Reform, we republish @adambienkov.bsky.social and @baghdaddi.bsky.social’s 2024 investigation into how the corporation's leadership became cowed by the right
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/the-bbcs-r...
Reposted by John Paddington
Squint just a little bit, and you can see the outlines of an amazing, clean, electrified world on the horizon. The trick is to get there from here without frying the planet, or descending into illiberal, autocratic hell, or both, first.
Wild. They are figuring out how to store electricity in ... concrete.
Concrete “battery” developed at MIT now packs 10 times the power
New concrete and carbon black supercapacitors with optimized electrolytes have 10 times the energy storage of previous designs and can be incorporated into a wide range of architectural forms.
news.mit.edu
November 9, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Squint just a little bit, and you can see the outlines of an amazing, clean, electrified world on the horizon. The trick is to get there from here without frying the planet, or descending into illiberal, autocratic hell, or both, first.
Reposted by John Paddington
The resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness must be an opportunity for the BBC to turn a new leaf, rebuild trust and resist those like Nigel Farage who want to destroy it
We must stand up for a strong, independent BBC, to stop Trump’s America becoming Farage's Britain.
We must stand up for a strong, independent BBC, to stop Trump’s America becoming Farage's Britain.
November 9, 2025 at 6:45 PM
The resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness must be an opportunity for the BBC to turn a new leaf, rebuild trust and resist those like Nigel Farage who want to destroy it
We must stand up for a strong, independent BBC, to stop Trump’s America becoming Farage's Britain.
We must stand up for a strong, independent BBC, to stop Trump’s America becoming Farage's Britain.
Reposted by John Paddington
A leaked copy of planned changes to the GDPR, with critical comments from Max Schrems
www.linkedin.com/posts/max-sc...
www.linkedin.com/posts/max-sc...
Draft Changes to GDPR and ePrivacy (Comparison & Comments) | Max Schrems | 71 comments
𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆: 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 2.0 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒘.
🚨 Given that our "friends" from the industry side have already "leaked" the European Commission's DG CONNECT (so Henna...
www.linkedin.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:21 AM
A leaked copy of planned changes to the GDPR, with critical comments from Max Schrems
www.linkedin.com/posts/max-sc...
www.linkedin.com/posts/max-sc...
Reposted by John Paddington
Lower the maximum wage.
November 8, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Lower the maximum wage.
Reposted by John Paddington
If you’re reading about James Watson, and trying to find out if it’s true that he and Francis Crick stole Rosalind Franklin’s work, denying her a Nobel Prize, I can help. It’s... complicated
28 February - anniversary of the day Francis Crick walked into the Eagle pub in Bene’t St, Cambridge, and announced “We have found the secret of life!” Well, except they made that bit of the story up. And Rosalind Franklin? Well…
Odd this day
If it’s 28 February, it must be the 70th anniversary of the day Francis Crick (allegedly) walked into the Eagle pub in Bene’t St…
mulberryhall.medium.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:54 AM
If you’re reading about James Watson, and trying to find out if it’s true that he and Francis Crick stole Rosalind Franklin’s work, denying her a Nobel Prize, I can help. It’s... complicated
This is a long article which never answers the key question: how many gen z were actually watching? It says 81% of gen z who watch TV but I'm guessing that isn't huge nowadays?
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
How The Celebrity Traitors reversed TV’s most troubling trend
Fandom memes, influencers and TikTok deal helped secure industry’s holy grail: gen Z loyalty
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:07 AM
This is a long article which never answers the key question: how many gen z were actually watching? It says 81% of gen z who watch TV but I'm guessing that isn't huge nowadays?
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
Reposted by John Paddington
This is fascinating.
Rightmove said it will have lower profits because it’s going to invest heavily in AI. Investors said no thank you, sending shares down by 25% at one point
Rightmove said it will have lower profits because it’s going to invest heavily in AI. Investors said no thank you, sending shares down by 25% at one point
Rightmove shares plummet over AI investment plans
Shares in the property website sink after it cuts profit forecasts to step up investment in AI.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 7:51 PM
This is fascinating.
Rightmove said it will have lower profits because it’s going to invest heavily in AI. Investors said no thank you, sending shares down by 25% at one point
Rightmove said it will have lower profits because it’s going to invest heavily in AI. Investors said no thank you, sending shares down by 25% at one point
Reposted by John Paddington
Until I die, I will never understand why so many motorists think that “having a car” should give you special protections from doing crimes.
Year one: "We can work it out as an estimate"
Year two: "Oh, look, lots of people are dodging the system!"
Year three: "We need to fit mandatory trackers to every car in the country."
Year four plus: "Why shouldn't tracker data be used in evidence? What have people got to hide?"
Year two: "Oh, look, lots of people are dodging the system!"
Year three: "We need to fit mandatory trackers to every car in the country."
Year four plus: "Why shouldn't tracker data be used in evidence? What have people got to hide?"
I don’t think think “estimated road use” is right approach - at the least drivers should have the *option* of getting a black box fitted that just tracks their EVs usage, but come on, Mel, impersonate a serious politician!
November 6, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Until I die, I will never understand why so many motorists think that “having a car” should give you special protections from doing crimes.
Part of me wants to apply for this just so I can keep saying "Public Sector Equality Duty" to everyone working in local and national government (including politicians) that keeps forgetting about it...
The job adverts for EHRC Commissioners (4 posts) are finally out.
Deadline: 1st December.
If you, or anyone you know, feels brave enough to apply, please do consider putting in an application!
apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/9026?b...
Deadline: 1st December.
If you, or anyone you know, feels brave enough to apply, please do consider putting in an application!
apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/9026?b...
November 6, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Part of me wants to apply for this just so I can keep saying "Public Sector Equality Duty" to everyone working in local and national government (including politicians) that keeps forgetting about it...