More than half of Britons support rejoining EU 10 years on from Brexit vote Experts say Labour’s ‘halfway house’ approach risks losing support from progressives and ‘red wall’ voters

It’s too late now guys. I won’t see the UK back in the EU in my lifetime. Why would the EU take us seriously? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Thanks guys - I enjoyed that. The only thing missing was a soundtrack by @johnnycampbell.bsky.social

Danebury Iron Age Hillfort in Hampshire. Fabulous first time visit. Monumentality writ large. #HillfortsWednesday

📸 Mine

Call for ministers to curb ‘excessive risk-taking’ at universities - Research Professional News Former government adviser says Office for Students should be given “significant new powers”

Broken record here, but we cannot fix, save, improve, renew or whatever English universities if we only attend to taught students, DfE and OfS. Universities are major engines of research, innovation and civic good. Minimally DSIT must also be centrally in the frame.

They're not big schools.

UK government caps student loan interest rates at 6% Minister says change for plan 2 and 3 loans in England and Wales will ‘protect borrowers’ from impact of global conflict

I guess we can welcome this, but it makes no practical difference for those who will never pay off their loans www.theguardian.com/money/2026/a...

Roman fort at Ambleside in the Lake District. Stunning location at the head of Lake Windermere. #RomanfortThursday Photo by me.

Australia and EU strike free trade deal The European Union and Australia have agreed on a sweeping new trade deal, compromising to boost exports in the face of global uncertainty over trade.

Strangely I haven’t seen this headlined in the Daily Mail…
flip.it/9sptNc

London skyscrapers under pressure as construction costs mount The cost of building London skyscrapers has soared by 40 per cent in five years as pressure on the capital’s high-rise market mounts.

Skyscraper boom in London grinds to a standstill flip.it/bKqbo9

I’m not normally one to boast about my educational achievements on social media, but in 1965 I received 1st prize for good attendance at Manchester Road Methodist Sunday School in Burnley.

Row over tuition fees cut for European students threatens Starmer’s EU reset British negotiators ‘blindsided’ by Brussels’ demand for a reduction that could cost universities £140m a year

This would be a much easier deal to do if the domestic fee charged to UK students actually covered the universities’ costs. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Nearly three-quarters of England’s woods inaccessible to public, study finds Exclusive: Campaigners call for government to introduce right-to-roam bill that allows people to walk around their local woodlands

“If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise – most of them are closed to the public”.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Temperate rainforest alive and well in Langdale.

Here lies the remains of Britain’s only truly europhile prime minister. Salisbury Cathedral.

I’m really enjoying reading this. It’s a real page-turner. The adopted long-term perspective on the relationship between UK and EU brings fresh insights @tommctague.bsky.social

Swarkestone Bridge near Derby. Most southerly point reached by the Jacobites in 1745.

: Half of UK universities face a deficit next year. Up to 50 could close.

That is a sector in crisis. Simply blaming a tuition fee freeze and nudging fees up with inflation is not a plan. Where is the long-term strategy for higher education?

#Universities #HigherEducation

Students begin Covid compensation claim against 36 more universities It comes after University College London settled a claim from students there over lost learning in the pandemic.

Difficult times for UK Universities. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘We are hopeful’: small signs of recovery for Scotland’s rare capercaillie bird Number of males at RSPB Abernethy rises to 30, after ‘huge amount of work’ by conservationists in Highlands forests

I remember seeing a Capercaille in the Cairngorms back in the 1980s. It’s sad to think I might never see one again. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

£99,987 and counting: graduates trapped by ballooning student loans As their debts rise, graduates reveal how loans are reshaping careers, finances and faith in the system

“I believe funding study from general taxes is a good thing for the UK and despise the older generations who went to university for not paying their share and lumping it onto my generation.” www.theguardian.com/money/2026/f...

The Universities’ Doom Spiral – Can Britain avert disaster? Podcast Episode · Oh God, What Now? · 03/02/2026 · 1h

This is excellent -highly recommended. I say this as someone who has worked in the university sector for 40 years. Cap doff to @gsoh31.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...

Winter Sun. On campus @uniofreading.bsky.social

It all started with the Trent Outrage..

It all started with the Trent Outrage…

UK construction hit by worst run since global financial crisis Output shrank for 12th month in a row in December, while housebuilding in deepest slump since 2020

Build, baby, build? www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Cold snap grips UK and Europe – in pictures UK weather warnings for frost and ice have been extended into next week and temperatures are forecast to plunge across central, western and south-west Europe

Note the increasing tendancy of specifying the UK and Europe as if they are separate places. Geographically (and meteorologically) the UK remains part of Europe. “Cold snap grips Europe’ would have been fine. www.theguardian.com/world/galler...

Spycops sent thousands of surveillance reports to MI5, inquiry documents reveal Security Service was able to compile detailed files on members of legitimate protest groups infiltrated by undercover police officers

This does not even remotely compare with the operation previously run by the Stasi, but nevertheless… www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Surely it’s some sort of spoof?

Hairy Turkey Tail?

There are those who still maintain it’s in Berkshire

Grenfell firms still receiving multimillion-pound public contracts, analysis finds Survivors urge government to stop using suppliers cited in public inquiry into fire in which 72 people died

A tragedy that seemingly has little prospect of closure www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...