@sophievanicat.bsky.social
Mum, tennis player, occasionally runner/cyclist/French. Learning about modelling/mapping/rivers. For an economy where people and the environment matter.
Pinned
Bradford City of Climate Culture - Calm in the Wild
YouTube video by Bradford 2025 City of Climate Culture
m.youtube.com
Check out the latest video from Bradford City of Climate Culture bd25climatefacts.net/events-calen... with the lovely Candice from Calm in the Wild. m.youtube.com/watch?v=cP4j...
Reposted
The UK Parliament will be debating the English Devolution Bill again today. Together with @uk100.org we coordinated a cross-party open letter calling for a climate and nature statutory duty to be included in the Billl.
Read our full press release: climateemergency.uk/release-open...
Read our full press release: climateemergency.uk/release-open...
November 24, 2025 at 10:02 AM
The UK Parliament will be debating the English Devolution Bill again today. Together with @uk100.org we coordinated a cross-party open letter calling for a climate and nature statutory duty to be included in the Billl.
Read our full press release: climateemergency.uk/release-open...
Read our full press release: climateemergency.uk/release-open...
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This is £600m from the same university sector that is pretty close to collapse in a growing number of major institutions?
Many of them universities that are among the biggest employers in the very ‘left behind’ towns and cities that Labour talks so much about…
Many of them universities that are among the biggest employers in the very ‘left behind’ towns and cities that Labour talks so much about…
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 24, 2025 at 7:45 PM
This is £600m from the same university sector that is pretty close to collapse in a growing number of major institutions?
Many of them universities that are among the biggest employers in the very ‘left behind’ towns and cities that Labour talks so much about…
Many of them universities that are among the biggest employers in the very ‘left behind’ towns and cities that Labour talks so much about…
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Labour's anti-asylum policies are already fundamentally inhumane and discriminatory. Applying them retrospectively is pure cruelty though. It serves absolutely no purpose. Meanwhile it will increase the costs and bureaucracy of an already dysfunctional Home Office.
www.thetimes.com/article/6f83...
www.thetimes.com/article/6f83...
November 24, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Labour's anti-asylum policies are already fundamentally inhumane and discriminatory. Applying them retrospectively is pure cruelty though. It serves absolutely no purpose. Meanwhile it will increase the costs and bureaucracy of an already dysfunctional Home Office.
www.thetimes.com/article/6f83...
www.thetimes.com/article/6f83...
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This, by @giacgrassi.bsky.social, remains one of the simplest and best climate visuals
November 23, 2025 at 9:30 PM
This, by @giacgrassi.bsky.social, remains one of the simplest and best climate visuals
Reposted
Antiquities wing of the Brussels art and history museum, designed 1956, opened 1966. Architects Robert Puttemans & Charles Malcause. A fantastic MCM space.
November 23, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Antiquities wing of the Brussels art and history museum, designed 1956, opened 1966. Architects Robert Puttemans & Charles Malcause. A fantastic MCM space.
Reposted
Basic principles for the future of the car in cities:
✅ Fewer
✅ Smaller
✅ Slower
✅ Cleaner
This can be achieved with:
✅ Parking controls
✅ LTNs
✅ Road User Pricing
✅ Pedestrianisation
✅ Default 20mph roads
✅ Improved public transport
✅ Segregated cycling
✅ Fewer
✅ Smaller
✅ Slower
✅ Cleaner
This can be achieved with:
✅ Parking controls
✅ LTNs
✅ Road User Pricing
✅ Pedestrianisation
✅ Default 20mph roads
✅ Improved public transport
✅ Segregated cycling
November 17, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Basic principles for the future of the car in cities:
✅ Fewer
✅ Smaller
✅ Slower
✅ Cleaner
This can be achieved with:
✅ Parking controls
✅ LTNs
✅ Road User Pricing
✅ Pedestrianisation
✅ Default 20mph roads
✅ Improved public transport
✅ Segregated cycling
✅ Fewer
✅ Smaller
✅ Slower
✅ Cleaner
This can be achieved with:
✅ Parking controls
✅ LTNs
✅ Road User Pricing
✅ Pedestrianisation
✅ Default 20mph roads
✅ Improved public transport
✅ Segregated cycling
Reposted
“Our job is to stand in solidarity with Ukrainians and support a negotiated settlement — not let Donald Trump bulldoze the whole process.”
Zack Polanski on #BBCLauraK discussing the need for real diplomacy in securing peace in Ukraine.
Zack Polanski on #BBCLauraK discussing the need for real diplomacy in securing peace in Ukraine.
November 23, 2025 at 1:01 PM
“Our job is to stand in solidarity with Ukrainians and support a negotiated settlement — not let Donald Trump bulldoze the whole process.”
Zack Polanski on #BBCLauraK discussing the need for real diplomacy in securing peace in Ukraine.
Zack Polanski on #BBCLauraK discussing the need for real diplomacy in securing peace in Ukraine.
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It will need a big culture shift within the farming community, who have tended to take IHT exemption as a birth right (it's not). By making IHT exemptions on farmland conditional on providing the kinds of public benefits described above, it would also have more support from the public. 13/13 ENDS
November 23, 2025 at 11:18 AM
It will need a big culture shift within the farming community, who have tended to take IHT exemption as a birth right (it's not). By making IHT exemptions on farmland conditional on providing the kinds of public benefits described above, it would also have more support from the public. 13/13 ENDS
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As the clock runs down until Wednesday's budget, the farming and landowning sectors are once again working themselves up into a lather over the already announced changes to Inheritance Tax exemptions for agricultural property and businesses; claims of a collapse in food production at the fore 🧵1/x
November 23, 2025 at 11:18 AM
As the clock runs down until Wednesday's budget, the farming and landowning sectors are once again working themselves up into a lather over the already announced changes to Inheritance Tax exemptions for agricultural property and businesses; claims of a collapse in food production at the fore 🧵1/x
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We need to ensure our elected officials are acting on the best intelligence when it comes to tackling the climate crisis . It's why I'm opening the National Emergency Briefing on 27 November , ensure your MP is attending at nebriefing.org
November 18, 2025 at 6:53 PM
We need to ensure our elected officials are acting on the best intelligence when it comes to tackling the climate crisis . It's why I'm opening the National Emergency Briefing on 27 November , ensure your MP is attending at nebriefing.org
Reposted
Recommended read: Columnist @georgemonbiot.bsky.social wrote in the Guardian about the “vast black hole” of climate data in some parts of the world – which he says is a “gift” to climate deniers.
There’s a catastrophic black hole in our climate data – and it’s a gift to deniers | George Monbiot
Climate sceptics tell us that more people die of extreme cold than extreme heat. What’s the truth? asks Guardian columnist George Monbiot
buff.ly
November 23, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Recommended read: Columnist @georgemonbiot.bsky.social wrote in the Guardian about the “vast black hole” of climate data in some parts of the world – which he says is a “gift” to climate deniers.
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"We grant people different rights based on their genetic heritage and on which scrap of land they happened to be born on. That’s mad, isn’t it?"
I just think, when debating immigration and so on, that we should try not to lose sight of the fact that "nationality" is a made up thing.
I just think, when debating immigration and so on, that we should try not to lose sight of the fact that "nationality" is a made up thing.
Why does nationality matter, anyway?
Deciding someone's legal rights based on a nebulous combination of birthplace and parentage is a bit weird
www.newstatesman.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:33 AM
"We grant people different rights based on their genetic heritage and on which scrap of land they happened to be born on. That’s mad, isn’t it?"
I just think, when debating immigration and so on, that we should try not to lose sight of the fact that "nationality" is a made up thing.
I just think, when debating immigration and so on, that we should try not to lose sight of the fact that "nationality" is a made up thing.
Could be interesting indeed if definitely done for community benefits not corporations. bsky.app/profile/prof...
Would be marvellous if it worked out as expected
But such schemes never seem to end up doing what they are supposed to do, and the reality is almost inevitably a dim reflection of the glossy artists impressions
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
But such schemes never seem to end up doing what they are supposed to do, and the reality is almost inevitably a dim reflection of the glossy artists impressions
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
How ambitious ‘forest city’ plan for England could become a reality
Cross-party coalition behind proposals hope eco-friendly scheme for million people could begin before end of decade
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Could be interesting indeed if definitely done for community benefits not corporations. bsky.app/profile/prof...
Reposted
Would be marvellous if it worked out as expected
But such schemes never seem to end up doing what they are supposed to do, and the reality is almost inevitably a dim reflection of the glossy artists impressions
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
But such schemes never seem to end up doing what they are supposed to do, and the reality is almost inevitably a dim reflection of the glossy artists impressions
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
How ambitious ‘forest city’ plan for England could become a reality
Cross-party coalition behind proposals hope eco-friendly scheme for million people could begin before end of decade
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Would be marvellous if it worked out as expected
But such schemes never seem to end up doing what they are supposed to do, and the reality is almost inevitably a dim reflection of the glossy artists impressions
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
But such schemes never seem to end up doing what they are supposed to do, and the reality is almost inevitably a dim reflection of the glossy artists impressions
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
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Laura Kuenssberg showed a chart tracking a small increase in the share of income tax paid by high earners.
She did not, of course, show a chart tracking the vastly increased wealth of the ultra-rich.
This is about *wealth* tax, not *income* tax. Crucial difference.
#bbclaurak
She did not, of course, show a chart tracking the vastly increased wealth of the ultra-rich.
This is about *wealth* tax, not *income* tax. Crucial difference.
#bbclaurak
@zackpolanski.bsky.social : "When are we going to see tough choices for multimillionaires and billionaires? It's time to tax the rich" #bbclaurak
November 23, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Laura Kuenssberg showed a chart tracking a small increase in the share of income tax paid by high earners.
She did not, of course, show a chart tracking the vastly increased wealth of the ultra-rich.
This is about *wealth* tax, not *income* tax. Crucial difference.
#bbclaurak
She did not, of course, show a chart tracking the vastly increased wealth of the ultra-rich.
This is about *wealth* tax, not *income* tax. Crucial difference.
#bbclaurak
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This is an important and heartfelt letter. Unfortunately there has been a real blindspot among some people on the British and European left. We should oppose imperialism and fascism, wherever they occur.
heckle.scot/2025/11/an-o...
heckle.scot/2025/11/an-o...
An Open Letter to Zarah Sultana
Galina Rymbu, an activist living in Ukraine, responds to Zarah Sultana's recent remarks on support for Ukraine.
heckle.scot
November 23, 2025 at 9:24 AM
This is an important and heartfelt letter. Unfortunately there has been a real blindspot among some people on the British and European left. We should oppose imperialism and fascism, wherever they occur.
heckle.scot/2025/11/an-o...
heckle.scot/2025/11/an-o...
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@zackpolanski.bsky.social on the importance of spending multipliers & borrowing to invest
Zack is, without doubt, a great communicator. And on him talking about democracy & the bond markets I'm reminded of Eddie Dempsey at the Durham Miners Gala when he asked "who elected the bond market?"
Zack is, without doubt, a great communicator. And on him talking about democracy & the bond markets I'm reminded of Eddie Dempsey at the Durham Miners Gala when he asked "who elected the bond market?"
November 23, 2025 at 9:49 AM
@zackpolanski.bsky.social on the importance of spending multipliers & borrowing to invest
Zack is, without doubt, a great communicator. And on him talking about democracy & the bond markets I'm reminded of Eddie Dempsey at the Durham Miners Gala when he asked "who elected the bond market?"
Zack is, without doubt, a great communicator. And on him talking about democracy & the bond markets I'm reminded of Eddie Dempsey at the Durham Miners Gala when he asked "who elected the bond market?"
Reposted
Small win at Cop on finance for poor countries overshadowed by failure on fossil fuels
Small win at Cop on finance for poor countries overshadowed by failure on fossil fuels
Delegates made minimal headway on timetable for replacing oil and gas or on firm commitments to reducing carbon emissions
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Small win at Cop on finance for poor countries overshadowed by failure on fossil fuels
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Landscape scale ecological restoration. Reduce grazing and nature flourishes.
Images with permission from National Trust Scotland
Images with permission from National Trust Scotland
November 22, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Landscape scale ecological restoration. Reduce grazing and nature flourishes.
Images with permission from National Trust Scotland
Images with permission from National Trust Scotland
Reposted
⬇️ Brexit has cost the country between 6% and 8% of GDP per person over the last decade, a hit of £180 billion ($235 billion) to £240 billion.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-21/brexit-hit-to-uk-economy-double-official-estimate-study-finds
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-21/brexit-hit-to-uk-economy-double-official-estimate-study-finds
Brexit Hit to UK Economy Double Official Estimate, Study Finds
Brexit has caused almost twice as much damage to the UK economy than estimated by official forecasts, according to new paper from a group of experts including a senior Bank of England economist.
www.bloomberg.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:50 AM
⬇️ Brexit has cost the country between 6% and 8% of GDP per person over the last decade, a hit of £180 billion ($235 billion) to £240 billion.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-21/brexit-hit-to-uk-economy-double-official-estimate-study-finds
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-21/brexit-hit-to-uk-economy-double-official-estimate-study-finds
Reposted
On BBC Radio 4's Rare Earth next week we'll be covering urban wildlife, and we'd love to hear about the fun/creative/unusual things happening near you to make space for wildlife in towns/cities. Do reply to this and let us know!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
November 22, 2025 at 10:22 AM
On BBC Radio 4's Rare Earth next week we'll be covering urban wildlife, and we'd love to hear about the fun/creative/unusual things happening near you to make space for wildlife in towns/cities. Do reply to this and let us know!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
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A shout out...The next Rare Earth on @bbcsounds.bsky.social is all about nature in our cities. Please reply with any surprising examples of creating living space for nature amongst living space for us - roundabout rainforest, skip salad plot, alley arboretum?
November 22, 2025 at 9:37 AM
A shout out...The next Rare Earth on @bbcsounds.bsky.social is all about nature in our cities. Please reply with any surprising examples of creating living space for nature amongst living space for us - roundabout rainforest, skip salad plot, alley arboretum?
Reposted
Untapped potential for investment in nature.
A new report found that governments are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to global nature finance, as funding from the private sector falls short.
A new report found that governments are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to global nature finance, as funding from the private sector falls short.
Invest in Nature, Invest in People
To unlock their full potential, natural climate solutions must be funded at scale—because they’re not just climate solutions, they’re economic and community solutions too.
www.nature.org
November 21, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Untapped potential for investment in nature.
A new report found that governments are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to global nature finance, as funding from the private sector falls short.
A new report found that governments are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to global nature finance, as funding from the private sector falls short.