Ed Pybus
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epybus.bsky.social
Ed Pybus
@epybus.bsky.social
1.5K followers 4.1K following 180 posts
social policy - social justice, social security, land reform, poverty, climate change, global justice, housing...and more...mostly here to listen...plus chess ♟, house plants 🪴, woodland crofts 🌲, music 🎶, and occasional macrame 🧶.
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epybus.bsky.social
Well that's the end of summer....nice whilst it lasted....

music.youtube.com/watch?v=o4PH...
A screen shot of a weather website showing rain today and for the next 6 days.
May 23, 2025 at 3:35 PM
epybus.bsky.social
Very pleased to find this in the random 'old books' section... #Victorian #welfarerights #History
The front peice of an old book, the text reads: SECOND EDITION. DIGEST OF DECISIONS RELATING TO THE POOR LAW OF SCOTLAND; Containing the Decisions given in all branches of Parochial Law by THE SUPREME COURT, WITH DECISIONS UNDER THE LANDS VALUATION, PUBLIC HEALTH, AND EDUCATION ACTS; WITH RELATIVE STATUTES. BY JOHN ALEXANDER REID, M.A., ADVOCATE ALSO, INDEX TO THE ACTS OF PARLIAMENT Contained in the Appendix, PREPARED BY ANDREW MACRORIE, INSPECTOR OF POOR, KILWINNING Edinburgh: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JAMES TURNER & CO., 9 LOTHIAN ROAD. MDCCCLXXXV.
May 9, 2025 at 4:07 PM
epybus.bsky.social
My report Cultivating Change - Crofting on Eigg is published today. Available from crow.scot/eigg/ and isleofeigg.org/news/
A series of images highlights aspects of the report 'Cultivating Change - crofting on Eigg'., The first is a view over the crofting township of Cleadale with the text 'cultivating change in white', the second is teh bay at Laig, golden sands and a deep blue sea with the text "An in-depth analysis of the opportunities for the growth and development of crofting on the Isle of Eigg. This report explores how crofting has evolved in recent years, highlights the challenges the island's crofting community faces, and explores the ways in which community ownership can strengthen and grow crofting.", the third is a photo from the early 19th century shows a woman leading a horse that is ploughing a field with the heading "A vision for crofting" and the text "Crofting should not be viewed as a fringe activity but as a central part of Scotland’s strategies.local food production working in community sustainable land management crofter led", the forth image is a photo of cows on the beach, with the isle of Muck in the distance and the text "The challenges faced by crofters are numerous, interconnected, and pose risks to the full realisation of the benefits of crofting for communities.Without the right policy changes and investment, we could be sleepwalking into the economic clearance of the crofting areas." The finasl image is a photo of sheep grazing below a cliff in Eigg. The heading is 'next steps' and the test is a quote from Ailsa Raeburn, chair of the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, saying "“Rather than being a final word, this report marks a step on the way to growing and strengthening crofting on Eigg” "
April 23, 2025 at 8:23 AM
epybus.bsky.social
Good to start the day with a bit of @davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
A photo of a corner of a piece from the Big Issue magazine, the main quote is from David Graeber and says "what if,in stead of telling a story about how our species fell from some idyllic state of equality, we ask how we came to be so trapped in such tight conceptual shackles that we can no longer even imagine the possibility of reinventing ourselves?"
March 20, 2025 at 9:46 AM
epybus.bsky.social
Of course we already have a wealth tax in the UK - but it's only paid the the poorest. Capital limits in universal credit and pension credit mean that those with modest savings pay high 'tax rates' on their capital - millionaires pay nothing.
Headline that reads "Starmer urged to introduce wealth tax instead of cutting disability benefits" taken from the Guardian online news paper 'Politics live' blog with Andrew Sparrow. Sub heading reads "Diane Abbott says a wealth tax of 2% on people with assets over 10 million pounds would raise 24 billion pounds"
March 17, 2025 at 11:15 AM
epybus.bsky.social
Fencing the croft....this'll hopefully keep to deer oot! #croftingwithoutatractor
A photo of a roll of 1.9m stock fencing on the roof of an old, gray Skoda Octavia. Next to the car is a pile of fencing materials. In the background, on the left is a stand of trees, mostly Sitka Spruce. Behind the car the land rises slightly, covered in rough moorland, in the distance is the sea, beyond that the coastline of the Isle of bute. Its a beautifully sunny day, blue sky with a few clouds on the horizon. A roll of 1.9m stock fencing. It is rolled on a scaffolding pole, held up by wooden braces. Two young people, both with long hair, are unrolling the stock fencing down a rough track leading onto croft land. A static caravan is at the end of the track. In the distance is the sea, beyond that the coastline of the Isle of Bute, the sky is overcast.
February 22, 2025 at 8:45 PM
epybus.bsky.social
Just pressed send on the final version of a report I’ve been working for the last 6 months! (Phew!)
With the @isleofeigg.bsky.social and the crofters of Eigg, I have been working on a plan for the growth and strengthening of crofting on the community owned island. #scothinews
The cover of a report entitled "Cultivating Change - Crofting on Eigg, January 2025".The cover shows a photo of the crofting township of Cleadale from above, with the isle of Much in the distance, on a clear and sunny day. The title is written in black in the top left hand corner.
February 13, 2025 at 4:16 PM
epybus.bsky.social
Two quotes from two book I'm currently reading...are we really progressing...? 💙 📚
A photo of a page of a book. The title reads "English Social History" page number 474. The text says... The lady of the manor, then the farmer's wife and lastly the cottager learnt to buy in the town many articles that used to be made in the village or on the estate. And a 'village shop' was now often set up, stocked with goods from the cities or from oversea. The self-sufficing, self-clothing village became more and more a thing of the past. One by one the craftsmen disappeared the harness maker, the maker of agricultural implements, the tailor, the miller, the furniture maker, the weaver, sometimes even the carpenter and builder-till, at the end of Victoria's reign, the village blacksmith was in some places the only crafts-man left, eking out a declining business in horseshoes by mending the punctured bicycle tyres of tourists! The reduction in the number of small industries and handi-crafts made rural life duller and less self-sufficient in its mentality and native interests, a backwater of the national life instead of its main stream. The vitality of the village slowly declined, as the city in a hundred ways sucked away its blood and brains. This century-long process had already begun between Waterloo and the Reform Bill. 11 T A photo of a page of a book. The heading says 1, The movement towards equality, the first milestone. The text says.... Let's start at the heart of the matter. Human progress exists: the movement toward equality is a battle that can be won, but it is a battle whose outcome is uncertain, a fragile social and political process that is always ongoing and in question. I shall begin by recalling the historical progress that has been achieved in terms of education and health care before examining the highly political questions raised by the choice of socioeconomic indicators. Then, in the following chapter, we will examine a few basic elements and orders of magnitude con-cerning the slow deconcentration of power, property, and income.
February 7, 2025 at 8:11 PM
epybus.bsky.social
www.thepebbletrust.org/internships/
Advert for The Pebble Trust scheme to offer £10 000 for organisations to host interns.
January 17, 2025 at 9:38 PM
epybus.bsky.social
Last night I finally finished the excellent 'Sleepwalkers' by Christopher Clark - highly recommended, it's great writing. Today I see this headline - have we learnt nothing?
The cover of the book 'sleepwalkers' by Christopher Clark. The black and white cover is a photo of men in Edwardian dress walking away from the camera, and a woman in a white hat looking at the camera. A copy of a newspaper headline saying "Europe must adopt wartime mindset to stop Putin, says Nato chief". The sub-heading says "Russion president wants to wipe Ukraine off the map and coild target other European countries next, says Mark Rutte. There is a picture of Mark Rutte, wearing a suit and tie in front of a light blue background.
December 13, 2024 at 2:58 PM
epybus.bsky.social
Great news about the scrapping on the two child limit, but the media are at it again - the "benefit cap" and the "two child limit" are two different policies!

Excellent explainer here :
largerfamilies.study/publications...

@dailyrecord.co.uk
@ruthpatrick0.bsky.social
Screen shot of teh BBC new website Scottish New feed witha headline saying "Two-child benefit cap will be scrapped"
December 4, 2024 at 3:57 PM
epybus.bsky.social
Really enjoying Sarah Kerr's excellent book 📚 part #history part #socialpolicy. I'll return to the main themes at some point but currently fascinated by the fact that instead of the 19th C New Poor Laws we could have had minimum wage laws, is Thomas Malthus to blame?, and what are the implications.
Picture of the cover of Sarah Kerr's book, 'Wealth, Poverty and Enduring Inequality : Let's Talk Wealthery'. The cover has white and yellow writing on an abstract background showing cogs and machinery. The book is photographed on a wooden table.
November 22, 2024 at 5:59 PM
epybus.bsky.social
First in an occasional series of photos of unusual (to me) plants I've grown..today : yacon.
November 17, 2024 at 4:45 PM