James Connelly
jamescon.bsky.social
James Connelly
@jamescon.bsky.social
Emeritus Prof, Hull. Writing Collingwood bio / Philosophical Idealism, Environmental politics & ethics, Elections/electoral systems / Minsters Rail Campaign /J.Connelly@hull.ac.uk / https://hull.academia.edu/JamesConnelly
Rees Mogg on Newsnight. He takes repellant oleaginousness to new depths of revoltingness.
November 10, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Reposted by James Connelly
Exclusive by me: How thousands fossil fuel lobbyists got access to UN climate talks – and then oil and gas companies kept drilling
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
How thousands of fossil fuel lobbyists got access to UN climate talks – and then kept drilling
Exclusive: Research shows oil, gas and coal firms’ unprecedented access to Cop26-29, blocking urgent climate action
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Reposted by James Connelly
Got to love Starmer‘s ministry implementing popular reform … only to completely cock it up by failing to follow through.

Utterly pathetic and and completely predictable from that man.
When we looked at attitudes to rail nationalisation, ticket prices and infrastructure investment were the two things the public most expected to improve.

Given that fare reform would also be costly (so won't happen), increasingly looking like nationalisation will be a failure in eyes of the public.
November 9, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
“The debate about crime… has become a lightning rod that, like the immigration debate, captures a wider set of anxieties about a wider set of failures of policymaking and statecraft.” My ‪@theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Violent crime is at a low, yet people’s experiences tell a different story | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
Very poor from the government: it won't review suitability of X for its communications, and insists on keeping secret its previous review.
November 9, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
Time to reshare this piece on the pitfalls of following the road Denmark has taken on immigration: ukandeu.ac.uk/denmarks-mig...
November 8, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Reposted by James Connelly
We can’t afford to do what every other country did years ago for our railways, but people need to drive their kids to school in a tank
Govt scraps all electrification investment. Midland Main Line to stay forever diesel Leicester Nottingham Derby Sheffield. Hugely embarrassing and inexplicable
www.ft.com/content/5ecd...
UK transport secretary says full electrification of railways ‘not affordable right now’
Heidi Alexander says focus will be on other projects such as HS2
www.ft.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
Burning trees is not a climate solution
Drax still burning 250-year-old trees sourced from forests in Canada, experts say
Exclusive: report by Stand.earth says subsidiary of power plant received truckloads of whole logs at biomass pellet sites
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
Agree

“Nothing I have seen or heard gives me comfort that Rachel Reeves understands the importance of nature to economic and social wellbeing, nothing,”

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Developers met ministers dozens of times over planning bill while ecologists were shut out
Exclusive: Leading ecologists say warnings over threat to wildlife have been ignored in drive to build 1.5m new homes
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
Nigel Farage used to believe in reforming the voting system, now he's rowed back because it no longer benefits him.

We will keep fighting for a fair votes, not because it benefits us but because it's right for the country.
November 7, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by James Connelly
I'm in the Falmouth Packet responding (for Cornwall Greens) to the grimly racist remarks of Tory councillor Pauline Giles & her subsequent "sorry, not sorry" & resignation from the Tory Party.

She needs to resign from #Cornwall Council altogether.
www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/2560354...
Councillor apologises for ‘racist’ post and resigns from the Tory party
The former chair of Cornwall Council has resigned from the Conservative party after she was condemned by two of the Duchy’s MPs over a Facebook…
www.falmouthpacket.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
We all know the difficulty the HE sector is in. But let’s work together to come up with solutions. The nuclear option damages our students & the reputation of our institutions. @ucflangs.bsky.social & @artsandhums.bsky.social
are supporting colleagues www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
University of Nottingham students fight 'insane' cull of courses
Traitors composer Sam Watts is among those against plans to cut University of Nottingham courses.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
A few years ago "transport poverty" was just a niche academic concept.

Now the EU has published its recommendations on how to tackle it & a helpful data dashboard transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/...

I have made a thread with my first impressions here: threadreaderapp.com/thread/19270...
May 26, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by James Connelly
Pathetic short-termism from HMT and incompetence from the DfT.
November 8, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
Science teachers! I hope most of you will be familiar with this already, but if not, this is absolutely worth a few minutes of your time, especially if you teach Biology:
Look out for this later #histSTM
(And on Franklin, about whom lots of myths are circulating today, read this: www.nature.com/articles/d41...)
November 8, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
Jailed UK climate protesters facing conditions reserved for extremists on release #Climate
Jailed UK climate protesters facing conditions reserved for extremists on release
Exclusive: Just Stop Oil activist was banned from attending gatherings, including meeting a friend in a cafe, without permission
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
Wonderfully wet and wild.

Make up all the bug hotels and bird boxes you want, but without way more healthy wild natural habitats like this, nature will continue to crash.

Rewilding is how we make that happen.
November 8, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
@jonilo.bsky.social @politicalquarterly.bsky.social what would it take for a women to become President of the United States? A series of unlikely events. doi.org/10.1111/1467...
What Will it Take for a Woman to Become President of the United States?
In this article we consider what it will take for a woman to be elected President of the United States. We examine the available data from the 2024 election, in comparison to previous elections; we i....
doi.org
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
This week's column is on Billionaire Brain: the condition which seems to prevent extremely rich people from perceiving the utterly bleeding obvious.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I wish we could ignore Bill Gates on the climate crisis. But he’s a billionaire, so we can’t | George Monbiot
Money talks – and his essay denouncing ‘near-term emissions goals’ at Cop30 mostly argues the case for letting the ultra-rich off the hook
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Reposted by James Connelly
Mayors often have the direct connections within their cities to actually get people working together to achieve meaningful change.

Maybe that effectiveness is one reason they're sometimes subject to vicious online campaigns?
‘Politicians actually taking action’: six world mayors defying climate-sceptic populist leaders

- From Sierra Leone to Milan, cities are introducing their own rules and innovations in the face of rising temperatures

#C40 #COP30 #climatecrisis
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
‘Politicians actually taking action’: six world mayors defying climate-sceptic populist leaders
From Sierra Leone to Milan, cities are crafting their own rules and innovations in the face of rising temperatures
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by James Connelly
Oh, Trump was on the ballot alright.
November 5, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by James Connelly
Shock as Orbán allies take ownership of Hungary’s most-read newspaper
Blikk, a tabloid with about 3 million online monthly readers, bought by pro-Orbán media group Indamedia

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Shock as Orbán allies take ownership of Hungary’s most-read newspaper
Blikk, a tabloid with about 3 million online monthly readers, bought by pro-Orbán media group Indamedia
www.theguardian.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:55 AM