“What are some environmental energy things we can do?” Scotty asks an AI in the latest Beano. I was not expecting the response!

Yes and no. A Traveller in Time was one of my absolute favourites when I was about 10 and I continue to love historical fiction and time travel. I also read every book we had in the house which meant a lot of Tom Clancy and Wilbur Smith, and I haven’t continued to like doorstopper action thrillers

Tristan da Cunha: The busiest place you’ve never seen Photographer Julia Gunther and writer-filmmaker Nick Schönfeld chronicle the rhythms of daily life on Tristan da Cunha, the world’s most remote inhabited island.

Life on Tristan da Cunha looks hardscrabble and very different to those of us on the British mainland. Loved these pics (HT Helen Lewis's Substack)
apps.npr.org/life-on-tris...

This is my ward and I'm quite disappointed not to have had this leaflet yet!

No one tells you that this stage of parenting involves your children trying to show you just how far their teeth can wobble and how absolutely disgusting that is

I spent 10 yrs v closely involved in Hackney politics and still can't quite believe the Greens will go from 4/57 cllrs to a majority. NOC perhaps. A lot of expectation management going on by Labour.
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

My piece in today's @scotsman.com on why we should remember the Red Duchess (with thanks to my in laws, who bought me the print paper this morning!)

Endnotes I think are best for references and footnotes for those juicy assists

Why Scotland’s first female MP, the ‘Red Duchess’, must never be forgotten Conservative politician Kitty Atholl initially opposed women’s suffrage, but changed her mind based on her experiences of the First World War; supported the Spanish Republican government against the f...

Me in @scotsman.com today on what the Duchess of Atholl can teach us today (and some depressing constants for women in public life)

www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

From Peepo! to Middlemarch: 25 books to read before you turn 25 An unmissable book for every year of your early life – with recommendations from Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen, Katherine Rundell and more

19/25. We weren't much of a Dr Seuss family so I haven't read Fox in Socks. Never read the Moomins. And Beloved has been sitting in my TBR pile forever so perhaps this will nudge it up to the top.
www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...

Really enjoyed reading (and contributing to review of) @amygraywrites.bsky.social Red Duchess - a biography of Katherine Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl, - Scotland's 1st female MP. So why haven't you heard her?

📚 🗣 Protests & Suffragettes Book Review: Red Duchess: Kitty Atholl, A Rebel in Westminster. — Amy Gray, History Press.

We enjoyed learning more about this fascinating and complex trailblazer who deserves to be better known, read our full review of Amy Gray's new book @bellacaledonia.bsky.social

Read our full Book Review here: bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/08/s...

@amygraywrites.bsky.social

So kind of you to say - I think her story is one more people should know. Looking forward to talking about her at a couple of book festivals this summer. I have to plan events quite far ahead around my kids, but always keen to do more if poss.

Thank you to the team from @scotsuffragette.bsky.social for their Red Duchess review on Bella Caledonia:
"Amy Gray does a fine job of bringing Kitty to life... Red Duchess is historical storytelling at its best with relevance for the political times we live in"
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/08/s...

Some relaxing reading just arrived on Libby.

Buy Tickets – Rebels in Westminster: Kitty Atholl & Margaret Bondfield – Cartmel Racecourse - The Humphrey Head Tent Rebels in Westminster: Kitty Atholl & Margaret Bondfield – Cartmel Racecourse - The Humphrey Head Tent, Sat 13 Jun 2026 - Red Duchess: Kitty Atholl, a Rebel in Westminster & Margaret Bondfield: Th...

Super excited to be appearing alongside Nan Sloane to talk about Kitty Atholl and Margaret Bondfield at the Lake District Book Festival in June. Book here:
events.lakedistrictbookfestival.co.uk/events/thela...

Only one of them is a king. And the other one isn’t.

Hugo Rifkind on great form today.

New series of For All Mankind reminds me of the big lesson I took away from the earlier series, which is that space travel is not something I ever want to experience. Earth is really really nice.

What to do when the ‘public good’ of information goes bad The creation and dissemination of reliable news is at an economic disadvantage

“we should be delighted that a jury in California found Meta and Google guilty of “negligence” and damaging users. Such businesses are negligent and have been shielded against the consequences of the damage their indifference inflicts, not least on children.”
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

I promised myself that next time I’ll definitely do them along the way so I don’t have to spend quite so long doing it at the end, having learned the hard way!

Red Duchess: Kitty Atholl, A Rebel in Westminster Buy Red Duchess: Kitty Atholl, A Rebel in Westminster by Amy Gray (ISBN: 9781803996455) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

For a limited time you can buy Red Duchess for £13.69 (instead of the usual £22). Do buy it, read it, like it and review it.
www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Duchess-...

"BlueSky is limited to Labour (28%) & Lib Dem MPs (54%), with zero Conservative usage... BlueSky use has however collapsed dramatically (–23.5%) in the last 12mo." Interesting from 5654 and MessageSpace report this week.

I can see my very welcome payment in my bank account so not so anxious about logging in now! Thank you for all you do

Me too! Friends who’ve done it before say it’s a really lovely festival to do

Great! I’m arriving on Saturday afternoon and leaving before lunch on Sunday I think (easyJet changed my flight in an unhelpful direction)

My event is on Saturday night - I will look out for you!

I thought that might be the case - thank you for replying. I will check again later.

One of the maddest things is that write-rounds happen so late in the day, in the weeks before something is due to be launched, rather than proper conversations happening between departments throughout policy development and design.
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

I'm having trouble logging in to the site - is this my problem?