Ben Long
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benwhlong.bsky.social
Ben Long
@benwhlong.bsky.social
Co-founder of southdevonprimary.org and the politicalprimary.org network. Father wanting a future for our kids. Born at 340ppm CO2.
Even the existence (let alone use) of nuclear weapons harms us, since it forces us to live with the possibility of experiencing that brief moment between the flash and the unimaginable blast.
October 30, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by Ben Long
This open invitation to the @nebriefing.bsky.social was published in the @financialtimes.com today. Please check whether your MP can make it here: www.nebriefing.org and if not ask them to!

We will be briefing on national security, tipping points, food security, nature and more.
October 16, 2025 at 10:28 AM
The most important story in the world.

As we heat the planet, we reduce the planet’s ability to stop us heating it.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Record leap in CO2 fuels fears of accelerating global heating
CO2 in air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakening
www.theguardian.com
October 15, 2025 at 12:57 PM
“This Labour government would have banned the labour movement.”

The always-excellent @georgemonbiot.bsky.social on blistering, exceptional form.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Here’s what you need to know about Starmer’s illiberal protest curbs: they would have killed the Labour party at birth | George Monbiot
The rights we enjoy in the UK, and the movement the PM purports to lead, were built on protest. Those rights are in dire peril, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
October 13, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Is this moment the closest we’re going to get to the psychological cause of Netanyahu’s genocide?
October 6, 2025 at 7:44 PM
This Labour govt has seized on one brutal anti-Semitic attack to further clamp down on legitimate protest against their own increasing authoritarianism.

Are they worse than the Tories?

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Police to get new powers to crack down on repeated protests, says Home Office
Move follows arrest of almost 500 people at latest pro-Palestinian demonstration in London on Saturday
www.theguardian.com
October 5, 2025 at 8:01 AM
The Israeli state is psychopathic.

Attacks on Jews are intolerable.

Two things can be true at once.
October 4, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Exactly.
September 25, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Progressives urgently need to clarify: progress towards what?
September 18, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Wow. Journalist searches in Tel Aviv for three days for evidence of Israeli compassion for Palestinian civilians in Gaza — finds almost none.

I’ve never been to Israel, but the
impression given here is of collective psychopathy.

www.theguardian.com/world/video/...
www.theguardian.com
September 16, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Is Charlie Kirk America’s Reichstag Fire?
September 16, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Yes you can fret about @zackpolanski.bsky.social talking only to his base and not reaching more conservative voters, as perhaps others would have. But he seems to be on the airwaves everywhere, & he’s articulating a necessary & genuinely-progressive agenda better than any other leader 👏👏👏
September 11, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Reposted by Ben Long
This is amongst the most impactful two minutes of broadcasting I’ve ever seen.

By Emma Murphy, International Editor, ITV News. #Gaza
August 4, 2025 at 9:52 PM
If you want to know how dangerous the Israeli regime is, you only need to listen to their spokesperson David Mencer on BBC R4 Today programme at 8.10am. Spends the whole interview shouting over Nick Robinson, claiming the UN is in cahoots with Hamas to starve Gazans. Absolutely unhinged.
July 25, 2025 at 7:52 AM
“…unless the judicial review is successful, membership of, or inviting support for, the group [#PalestineAction] will carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.”

Palestine Action are a non-violent, direct action protest group. This is wild government overreach.
July 5, 2025 at 6:20 AM
When protest is conflated with terrorism, the complete erosion of all civil liberties is well underway. This presided over by a government that has co-opted the Labour brand but has none of its humanity. It’s time for a complete change in how we do politics.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Ban on Palestine Action to take effect after legal challenge fails
Group will become first direct action protest group to be banned under Terrorism Act after unsuccessful action
www.theguardian.com
July 4, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I support #PalestineAction and all non-violent direct action groups seeking to protect life.
If thousands of us stand up and say "I support #PalestineAction", what is the government going to do? Lock us all up for "terrorism" offences?
This is where we show them how solidarity works.
My latest with the great @doubledown.news
Sharing This Video Could Get You 14 Years in Prison @georgemonbiot.bsky.social
June 29, 2025 at 9:47 PM
“Unless we are able to democratise our society, political and economic decision-making processes will continue to be dominated by those who have helped to cause climate breakdown up to now.” @graceblakeley.substack.com
#VultureCapitalism
June 23, 2025 at 4:35 PM
But Iran isn’t even trying to build a nuke. Even Tulsi Gabbard knows this. So WTAF, Kier Starmer? Even Blair’s government had the shame to dress up illegal wars in the Middle East with dodgy dossiers. Here, nothing but unprovoked aggression.
June 22, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Ben Long
US climate scientists need all the help they can get. Including from foul-mouthed comedians! 🤡😱😱

Watch Emmy Award-Winning David Cross team up with Prof Michael Oppenheimer in the US launch of the hit series "Climate Science Translated".

#climate #arresteddevelopment #climatescience
June 2, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Pure posturing by Reform UK. Drilling in the North Sea will do nothing to prevent ongoing production decline, nor secure U.K. energy independence, as the oil and gas is sold on the international market.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reform UK promises to reverse ban on new North Sea oil drilling if elected
Party spokesperson says policy has ‘clear benefits for securing jobs and energy independence’
www.theguardian.com
May 23, 2025 at 3:28 PM
It’s far more expensive to retrofit quality insulation, PV and heat pumps. House building companies have made profits by building substandard houses and shifting necessary work onto homeowners’ shoulders.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Poor building standards add £1,000 to energy bills of new homes, analysis finds
About £5bn more spent than if rules for low-carbon new-builds had not been scrapped in 2016, ECIU thinktank finds
www.theguardian.com
May 16, 2025 at 5:08 AM
The idea that bosses of a failing company might take huge bonuses out of the emergency funding that’s propping the company up is so mind-blowing that there’s only one possible conclusion:

We need to renationalise water.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Ministers to block Thames Water paying bosses bonuses out of emergency loan
Exclusive: Firm close to insolvency says using £3bn loan to pay ‘substantial’ bonuses is vital to retain senior managers
www.theguardian.com
May 16, 2025 at 4:56 AM
Reposted by Ben Long
Climeworks’ Iceland capture plant fails to cover its own emissions

“Direct capture is a scam, carbon capture is a scam, blue hydrogen is a scam, and electrofuel is a scam. These are all scam technologies that do nothing for the climate or air pollution”

heimildin.is/grein/24581/...
Climeworks’ capture fails to cover its own emissions
The carbon capture company Climeworks only captures a fraction of the CO2 it promises its machines can capture. The company is failing to carbon offset the emissions resulting from its operations – wh...
heimildin.is
May 15, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Ben Long
Tony Blair is literally being paid by a man with one of the highest carbon footprints on the planet - Larry Ellison. The founder of Oracle is his biggest funder & these techsolutionist remarks have to be seen for what they are: tech lobbying

www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
Phasing out fossil fuels ‘doomed to fail’, says Tony Blair as he calls for rethink of net zero policy – UK politics live
‘Any strategy based on either phasing out fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail,’ says former PM
www.theguardian.com
April 29, 2025 at 2:19 PM