Philip Brown
@brownphilip.bsky.social
Senior Associate at automaticknowledge.co.uk; Curator of the JR James Town Planning Archive and watcher of sport!
Reposted by Philip Brown
Knockouts took centre stage this week, Newcastle claimed their spot and Sheffield looked set for the final four, but it's London and Bristol who complete the quartet. Whilst Surrey had a massive victory in the Cup. @shieldsbrief.bsky.social and I look back over it all
linktr.ee/sundaynightb...
linktr.ee/sundaynightb...
Sunday Night Breakdown - Listen on YouTube, Spotify - Linktree
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linktr.ee
December 14, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Knockouts took centre stage this week, Newcastle claimed their spot and Sheffield looked set for the final four, but it's London and Bristol who complete the quartet. Whilst Surrey had a massive victory in the Cup. @shieldsbrief.bsky.social and I look back over it all
linktr.ee/sundaynightb...
linktr.ee/sundaynightb...
Reposted by Philip Brown
Hardly the main point here, but apparently I am now so old and out of touch that I am learning slang (‘serving lewks’) from MPs’ BlueSky accounts.
I know who Nus Ghani MP is - not because we always agree - but because she’s been serving her constituency (as well as lewks) since 2015.
Who the hell is Lucy White?!
Ah, a quick google search reveals her as a rentagob for GB ‘news.’
I know which one is qualified to chair the budget debate.
Who the hell is Lucy White?!
Ah, a quick google search reveals her as a rentagob for GB ‘news.’
I know which one is qualified to chair the budget debate.
November 26, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Hardly the main point here, but apparently I am now so old and out of touch that I am learning slang (‘serving lewks’) from MPs’ BlueSky accounts.
Reposted by Philip Brown
Quite the correction by the Telegraph. The publication in question is @freemovement.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Quite the correction by the Telegraph. The publication in question is @freemovement.bsky.social
Reposted by Philip Brown
Reposted by Philip Brown
The new Pope has made an edict that time spent on the platform at Limerick Junction can be deducted from time in purgatory.
This was sent to me and captures Limerick Junction perfectly - bucketing down and the rain to Cork is late. #Speirgorm
November 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
The new Pope has made an edict that time spent on the platform at Limerick Junction can be deducted from time in purgatory.
Reposted by Philip Brown
Fawlty Towers still the go-to reference. And to think people ask whether Britain has soft power.
He mentions Epstein twice in this post. Lmao. It's like that scene from Fawlty Towers when he keeps saying DON'T MENTION THE WAR and ends up goose stepping around the lobby
Did not take Trump long to try to rectify that briefing via Truth Social
November 12, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Fawlty Towers still the go-to reference. And to think people ask whether Britain has soft power.
Reposted by Philip Brown
Even Maj-Gen Robert Ross and his troops of blessed memory didn't manage this.
New satellite images show the scale of demolition that has occurred on the East Wing of the White House in less than a month.
October 23, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Even Maj-Gen Robert Ross and his troops of blessed memory didn't manage this.
Geoff interviewing senior management at Transport for London and the Docklands Light Railway may sound pretty dry; but it was actually really nice to see the various execs each having some childlike enthusiasm for their new trains. A fun (and informative!) watch!
VIDEO ... Oh look! The new Docklands Light Railway trains are here, and now in service! Let's go for a ride ...
youtu.be/WjcCgSMLi7g
youtu.be/WjcCgSMLi7g
New DLR Trains are now In Service!
YouTube video by Geoff Marshall
youtu.be
October 6, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Geoff interviewing senior management at Transport for London and the Docklands Light Railway may sound pretty dry; but it was actually really nice to see the various execs each having some childlike enthusiasm for their new trains. A fun (and informative!) watch!
Reposted by Philip Brown
This isn’t a picture of Mel Stride and the shadow chancellor being misidentified on ConHome feels quite indicative of where the Tories are at.
Not sure I would have gone with headline - unless I actually wanted people to laugh out loud....
Mel Stride: Conservatives are the only people who tell the truth, and have a plan for growth that means something | Conservative Home
It falls to us, the Conservatives, to win back the country’s trust and reverse the economic vandalism of this Labour government. We can and we will.
conservativehome.com
October 6, 2025 at 5:55 PM
This isn’t a picture of Mel Stride and the shadow chancellor being misidentified on ConHome feels quite indicative of where the Tories are at.
Reposted by Philip Brown
Every so often the song "Fat Bottomed Girls" comes on and I'm reminded that the first verse is a casual jokey story of (very young) child abuse, and I realise all over again that the 70s were a more fucked up time than I thought possible
October 6, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Every so often the song "Fat Bottomed Girls" comes on and I'm reminded that the first verse is a casual jokey story of (very young) child abuse, and I realise all over again that the 70s were a more fucked up time than I thought possible
Reposted by Philip Brown
This is largely because of Reform voters completely switching. They really are very responsive to their leaders/media.
October 1, 2025 at 6:49 PM
This is largely because of Reform voters completely switching. They really are very responsive to their leaders/media.
After Ming Campbell's passing today, it's time for one last airing of "Ming's Bling" - one of Jeremy Vine's unusual segments from the BBC's coverage of the 2007 UK Local Elections...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E9c...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E9c...
BBC News Election Night 2007 - Ming's Bling - Part 1
YouTube video by Never Delossantos
m.youtube.com
September 26, 2025 at 12:10 PM
After Ming Campbell's passing today, it's time for one last airing of "Ming's Bling" - one of Jeremy Vine's unusual segments from the BBC's coverage of the 2007 UK Local Elections...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E9c...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E9c...
Reposted by Philip Brown
Hussein is consistently one of the smartest people on what the internet has done to us and this thread is worth reading. (Aside from the final point, no idea what he’s on about with that reference, probably something the younger millennials did.)
Look, I know it means well but I really don’t think it’s a good idea to mock the appearance of some of the fash out today, nor their incoherence - not least because their process of online radicalisation is driven by both a sense of material helplessness and information overload
September 13, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Hussein is consistently one of the smartest people on what the internet has done to us and this thread is worth reading. (Aside from the final point, no idea what he’s on about with that reference, probably something the younger millennials did.)
Reposted by Philip Brown
Interesting to discover that the Commons Library note on "influencing the planning process" has a section on what makes a good objection, but nothing at all about supporting an application.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/influencing-...
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/influencing-...
Influencing the planning process (England)
This article gives information on how constituents can get involved in the planning process at various stages, including how to object to planning applications.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
August 28, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Interesting to discover that the Commons Library note on "influencing the planning process" has a section on what makes a good objection, but nothing at all about supporting an application.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/influencing-...
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/influencing-...
Reposted by Philip Brown
"I rise to speak" is to MPs' speeches what "delve" is to students' essays...
'PoliticsHome analysis of Hansard shows that the phrase “I rise to speak…” has been used 601 times across the Commons and the Lords so far this year – compared to only 131 in the first eight months of 2024...' www.politicshome.com/news/article...
From “ChatGPT Bingo” To AI MPs: Parliament’s Split Over Artificial Intelligence
MPs are divided over whether artificial intelligence (AI) can help ease the pressures of parliamentary workloads, with some hailing it as an effici...
www.politicshome.com
August 27, 2025 at 5:31 PM
"I rise to speak" is to MPs' speeches what "delve" is to students' essays...
Reposted by Philip Brown
What a planning application.
August 25, 2025 at 11:57 AM
What a planning application.
2 years and 2½ weeks since first joining Bluesky, I am giving this app another go now:
a) this website finally has what should have been the prerequisite, mandatory feature from the beginning (push notifications for accounts where you don't want to miss any posts)
b) British Summer Time has (1/2)
a) this website finally has what should have been the prerequisite, mandatory feature from the beginning (push notifications for accounts where you don't want to miss any posts)
b) British Summer Time has (1/2)
August 19, 2025 at 11:46 AM
2 years and 2½ weeks since first joining Bluesky, I am giving this app another go now:
a) this website finally has what should have been the prerequisite, mandatory feature from the beginning (push notifications for accounts where you don't want to miss any posts)
b) British Summer Time has (1/2)
a) this website finally has what should have been the prerequisite, mandatory feature from the beginning (push notifications for accounts where you don't want to miss any posts)
b) British Summer Time has (1/2)
Reposted by Philip Brown
I see what they did there… (from thejournal.ie).
November 20, 2024 at 5:30 PM
I see what they did there… (from thejournal.ie).
Reposted by Philip Brown
Got to keep up with the Joneses over here on Bluesky
November 13, 2024 at 6:47 PM
Got to keep up with the Joneses over here on Bluesky
Same as it ever was.
(And also true in wider life; not just social media).
(And also true in wider life; not just social media).
Incidentally this got (predictably) a bunch of mad replies and reminds me one of the important things in staying sane on social media is just not caring what other people are saying.
November 15, 2024 at 11:45 AM
Same as it ever was.
(And also true in wider life; not just social media).
(And also true in wider life; not just social media).
I've been on this platform for nearly 16 months and there's still quite a few vexing things about this nascent site.
• Inability to remove oneself from 'starter packs'.
• No quality filter on notifications.
• (Uniquely?) I rarely had problems with X's "For You" tab; "Discover" here is much inferior.
• Inability to remove oneself from 'starter packs'.
• No quality filter on notifications.
• (Uniquely?) I rarely had problems with X's "For You" tab; "Discover" here is much inferior.
November 15, 2024 at 1:32 AM
I've been on this platform for nearly 16 months and there's still quite a few vexing things about this nascent site.
• Inability to remove oneself from 'starter packs'.
• No quality filter on notifications.
• (Uniquely?) I rarely had problems with X's "For You" tab; "Discover" here is much inferior.
• Inability to remove oneself from 'starter packs'.
• No quality filter on notifications.
• (Uniquely?) I rarely had problems with X's "For You" tab; "Discover" here is much inferior.
It's not too often that something occurs for the first time in 334 years.
As far as I can tell, the last time an Archbishop of Canterbury was forced to resign/sacked was 1690 when William Sancroft was removed after refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to William and Mary after Parliament deposed King James II.
November 12, 2024 at 2:16 PM
It's not too often that something occurs for the first time in 334 years.
Reposted by Philip Brown
A hypothesis that perhaps somebody in academia might one day test. I wonder if some people object to planning applications because of a sense of purpose and a sense of belonging that they might not find elsewhere.
samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/10/lone...
samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/10/lone...
Lone Your Loneliness
samuelstafford.blogspot.com
October 28, 2024 at 11:34 AM
A hypothesis that perhaps somebody in academia might one day test. I wonder if some people object to planning applications because of a sense of purpose and a sense of belonging that they might not find elsewhere.
samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/10/lone...
samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/10/lone...
Reposted by Philip Brown
It's IMO an underrated argument for PR that it makes significantly easier for legislators to actually just be legislators.
October 28, 2024 at 12:34 PM
It's IMO an underrated argument for PR that it makes significantly easier for legislators to actually just be legislators.