Recent posts by UK Parliamentary Journalism Community (UKPJC) on Bluesky

trying to travel from one bit of south London to another bit of south London by bus

I wish America was in less of a crisis, so that the liberal "from Discover" posts I keep seeing were less earnest and terrible.

Nice tribute to Brian Wilson from Beth Mead here

this will probably sound spikier than intended but I find it interesting that the right is now (cynically !) doing this, when the Labour left spent so long talking about extra-parliamentary organising, activating communities etc, then did.... nothing of the sort

The main entrance road to Cork Airport has been named in honour of legendary Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher

He typed this out in the country where Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kirsti Noem and a whole lot of other awful women politicians are eagerly ushering in violent fascism alongside the awful men

At a local council by-election hustings where the chair has just had to ask the Reform candidate to calm down after he started shouting at everyone for suggestions that his party wants to privatise the NHS

More infuriatingly uncritical writing about an opposition party. It happens to be Reform (undeniably in ascendance) - but the result of failing to be critical of these populist narratives (from left & right) is to destroy the ability of (any) government to govern well. 😡

Also descended from Patrick Lynch, Galway, was the Argentine novelist and short story writer, Benito Eduardo Lynch Beaulieu (25 July 1885 – 23 December 1951).

Che Guevara born on this day 1928 (with Irish roots, of course, in County Galway).

Ukraine also said it had received another 1,200 unidentified bodies from Russia.

And who are radicalising each other on X with ever more explicit racism.

Thunderstorm warning added now Saturday 2pm

My musical tribute to a musical genius: Brian Wilson, the creative force behind The Beach Boys, who died this week at the age of 82.

One year to go until the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup comes to England—and London is proud to be one of the host cities. This will be a landmark moment for women’s sport in our city. Let the countdown begin. r1.marketing-pages.com/p/7W1H-A02/w...

I’m staying in the sort of place where if you want a taxi, you have to have booked it nine weeks ago, before you knew you were making the trip.

#NoKings indeed. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Would a nuclear deal be enough to satisfy Bibi now?

🎶 three lions on a shirt 🎶 jules rimet still gleaming 🎶 thirty years of hurt 🎶 never stopped me noticing that this song came out twenty nine years ago so next year we will be as far from three lions as three lions was from the 1966 world cup

anyway, all this talk of south africa has reminded me of one of the greatest quotes in showbiz history

She’s had to stop skipping on her drive because someone’s left a big bin there. www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-o...

Great we're on to the "sack judges" phase of the right's descent into destructive lunacy.

Leinster have been dealt a significant late blow on the morning of their BKT URC final against the Bulls at Croke Park after Lion Jamison Gibson-Park was withdrawn this morning

I’ve been experimenting with injecting piranha DNA into my homing pigeons – I’ve got a feeling it could come back to bite me.

There's lots of talk about how to deliver growth at the moment. So it's worth remembering that Best for Britain/Frontier Economics research shows that a 'Commin Sense' Deal with the EU would deliver up to 1.5% GDP growth, even with Trump imposing tariffs. commonsensedeal.com

Temba Bavuma is one of my favourite players. Admittedly in part because he's a short king. But also generally a very impressive person and a great batsman.

An unnamed minister quoted in today's Times... thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

“A holiday wouldn’t do any good, or make any difference. I should have to take myself with me.” Not quite sure how this book is so much better the second time around. Sadder, funnier, more layered. Books, eh.

went to an exercise class I don't usually go to this morning and realised about 20 minutes in that I actually hated it so ended up having a friendly chat with the instructor and insisting on bailing with ten minutes to go, exhilarating

just so happy for all those south african greats watching this - people like robin smith, kevin pietersen, allan lamb, andrew strauss, tony grieg, nick compton, keaton jennings, jason roy, jade dernbach, matt prior, jonathan trott, brydon carse and basil d’oliviera #thecricket

Ahmed is 22, he's trying to help his family of 10 survive in North Gaza, please help them if you can? gofund.me/b6085537

I understand the lure of ‘police had nothing to go on’. I understand why I keep seeing it. But in this case the culprits HAVE been caught. The context just doesn’t carry the gag. Wait for another high profile toilet theft.

Handsome beast.

All I want is a stone cottage on the shores of a wide lake, mist coming off it, huge woodburner put-putting, casserole in the oven, a desk at the window and tea in a mug. A slice of cake bought to me on the hour by, say, Sam Shepherd who is otherwise silent and absent. Just one single month.

My favourite compilation and the CD won't upload.

a cool thing about #thecricket is that even when victory is as statistically probable as rsa’s is now, they still have to knock off the last 6 runs. they can’t just run down the clock the way a football team can.

“Ever since Caesar’s pivotal decision, mankind has understood that the deployment of a nation’s armies against its own people marks the end of that nation.”

Sorry to be Khamas but I don't want a nuclear war.

you know, you can debate politics with your friends, in real life, without putting it online, if you like. no-one is stopping you

Netanyahu is trying to replace social media images of suffering Palestinians and the destruction of their homes… with those of suffering Israelis and their destroyed homes. So he needs to: 1) bait Iran to attack and 2) cut all comms out of Gaza. Our mainstream media will swallow it whole.

This is a pretty good description of Curtis, I think. I would say he's a hypnotist of bad vibes, you come out of his films feeling bad but without any information as to how things could ever become less bad.

Thanks to the brilliant folks in Sheffield last night! Hull - see you tonight. I adore my band! 🎶🙌 Jak Housden - Guitars, BVs Evan Mannell - Drums, BVs Emily Moore - Guitars, Piano, Keys, BVs Jeni Magaña - Bass, Clarinet, BVs Nick Etwell - Trumpet, Keys, Percussion, BVs Tour info in bio 📷 Jimi Love

might be worth avoiding clapham tonight lads, the saffers are going to be out in force #thecricket

Don’t want to go to work *kicks imaginary stone*

Hammam is a nurse, since being displaced by the Israeli hospital bombings he's been trying to use his training to help people, now he's starving and desperate, please help him if you can? gofund.me/3cb8c285

The sound of Jim Maxwell commentating. One of the Earth’s great natural occurrences. Joy. #WorldTestFinal

Watching all the Adam Curtis coverage for his new thing and every time he does a thing I look at it and think, is this guy just an old-fashioned patrician social conservative, of the 'people don't know what's good for them, people just mess everything up' type, once you look past the nice editing?

If history teaches us one thing Never trust a man who would be king Who seeks all power for himself To burnish his prestige and wealth A nation born in revolution Should know this offers no solution For there can be no liberty Where one man rules with impunity www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfeY...

In the song ‘It’s Raining Men’ by The Weather Girls/Geri Halliwell, the lyrics state that Mother Nature went into heaven, chatted with the angels and made it so it would Rain Men so women could find their perfect guy. Does this imply that the men it is raining are dead?

Israeli fire and airstrikes killed at least 23 people across Gaza, most of them near an aid distribution site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, local health authorities said.

Traji is trying to survive the genocide while pregnant and already a mother. If you can help, please do. gofund.me/8bc2934b

Nourlost her career in advertising and Mohammed lost his optometry business - they're people like us, trying to get their children to safety out of Gaza, please help if you can: chuffed.org/project/emer...

Please don't forget people like Tariq - Gaza is blacked out but the people there are still trying to survive: gofund.me/e9b8d4f1

You’ll never guess which country wouldn’t sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has not accepted IAEA safeguards on some of its principle nuclear activities. Go on, guess No, not Iran Guess again Yep, Israel

i guarantee there's nowhere else you can hear me doing all the parts in fawlty towers www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Have had to have my monthly "mum dad stop clicking on shit" conversation.

Please enjoy this profoundly moving poem by Neyzen Tevfik (translated from Turkish)... I won't call you a shit The shit would feel bad If a piece of you fell in shit It would spoil the shit The god kneaded your dough With (literal) shit Your mother gave birth to you accidentally While shitting

Remember: this week is the last week you can panic-buy ex Army boots for Glastonbury, not break them in before you go, then destroy every inch of the skin on your feet and incur life-long Achilles tendon damage! Hurry!

Irish citizens being detained in Egypt, including People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, have been released. However, even though all Irish citizens have been released, some of them have still not had their phones returned

This is just ridiculous from @Ofcom - read James Bloodworth’s ‘Lost Boys’ for a deeper dive into the extremism of the Manosphere. Then get the July edition of Byline Times out in a couple of weeks that looks at the networked violence

A number of Irish people who were detained by Egyptian authorities, including People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, have all been released.

The neoliberal austerity guy who fucked us an economic force by impoverishing a generation and further enriching transnational corporate elites, precipitating a neo-fascist backlash led by techno-feudal oligarchs is the good guy. Right. Got you.

Well, there can be no doubt now that Putin is completely aware of his crimes in Ukraine

After five years of Times Radio, here's me writing about talking instead of writing. www.thetimes.com/article/a11f...

@jacksaidwhat.bsky.social gang off to Beyond the Pale festival in the beautiful Wicklow Hills overlooking the great city of Dublin. A great event and a must attend for myself, @mrstevemac.bsky.social and @carlloben3000.bsky.social We’ll be talking about and dancing to #MenInLove

Thanks everyone for your help - I’m now back on a train which is supposedly going to Berwick but no clue yet as to when it will leave Newcastle

The dropdown menu for Stripe to tell it what your line of business is has TWO categories for Fortune Telling, and nothing for writing or art. So that’s why the tech dudes don’t think creative work is a job. They simply can’t imagine getting paid for it. But guessing? That’s business!

Three shows today, one at a farm in Rotherham this afternoon that feels like a trap, and then two in Manchester at the Frog and Bucket. Then tonight I have to do some baking for tomorrow’s family Father’s Day meet up

Memo from Private Eye to our broadcasters

A lot more uncertainty on the weather models for next weekend and beyond now with high pressure possibly possibly not staying around as long. Rainfall amounts for next week still look very low though for Ireland.

Okay this is getting ridiculous. In addition to the ongoing problems with the UK’s Labour Force Survey, the Wealth and Assets Survey (key source for measuring wealth inequality) has now also had its accreditation revoked due to falling response rates. osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/news/osr-sus...

I would like to apologise for all these out of London reviews. Back in the poor neglected capital next week.

'Netanyahu is acting as a self-appointed global policeman.' @matthew-wright.bsky.social reflects on the 'concerning scale' of the attacks between Israel and Iran.

The NHS was one of the winners at the Spending Review. But unless it becomes more efficient, it'll do nothing more than stand still Voters will expect much more than that @tompope.bsky.social, Deputy Chief Economist at @instituteforgovernment.org.uk, breaks down what Reeves announced on Wednesday

I rant about this a lot but I can’t for the life of me understand why BBC 6 Music News gives a daily update of how many people crossed the channel in small boats yesterday From a news values perspective alone, it makes no sense

Chucked off the train at Newcastle because a tree blocks the line North to Berwick where I was supposed to be picked up. Don’t suppose anyone happens to be driving from Newcastle to Melrose and can give me a lift?

A century after the disappearance of explorer George Mallory, his photos and diary offer a valuable baseline for investigating impacts of tourism and climate change on the Tibet side of Everest.

This is useful and accurate.

Really Big Shark 2028

Lured by the promise of a catering course, Anne Marie Allen was recruited into the secretive Catholic organisation Opus Dei at 15. She spent the next seven years as a domestic slave, living a life of self-mortification and servitude

Do you think owning ancient woodland has changed me?

A Status Yellow rainfall warning has been issued for Dublin, Louth, Meath and Wicklow.

Updated post on Israel's attack on Iran by @ldfreedman.bsky.social With more on what happened overnight. And further thoughts on possible ways things could play out. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/i...

China's National Nuclear Corporation, France's EDF and South Korea's Hydro and Nuclear Power had all bid to build the plant.

The people have spoken

Beautiful piece. It's an amazing thing to be so completely seen and remembered by someone.

PIP olive branch an ‘insult’ that won’t stop revolt, rebel MPs warn Starmer trib.al/EglDzXa

The world’s cartoonists on this week’s events 🎨

Yellow rainfall warning in East now.

At Grenfell I laid a wreath in memory of the 72 people who tragically lost their lives—and all those whose lives were changed forever by the horrific Grenfell Tower fire. Eight years on and the road to justice and change has been far too long.

Hundreds of thousands of people living in disabled households will be at risk of needing to use a food bank if the government goes ahead with its plans for benefit cuts, new research has found www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said Saturday she “cannot abandon” her responsibilities in Brussels to lead Malta’s Nationalist Party and vie for the prime ministership in her home country.

Great to see Democracy for Sale cited in Private Eye - again! Do sign up to support our independent investigator journalism 😊 democracyforsale.substack.com/subscribe?ut...

Trump’s Putinesque vanity parade today is going to cost US taxpayers upwards of $45 million (£33m). This from a government that has already spent ca $170 billion more than the Biden administration in the same period last year. So much for DOGE huh

Ireland's first national Down syndrome futsal team heads to the SUDS European Championships in Italy tomorrow with high expectations.

Three cats in a long coat.

In 2027 there’s going to be a slimmed-down version of the Olympics called the Ozempics.