Some tips on getting solar panels installed Get the funding in place. If upfront cash is an issue, check out the alternatives I’ve covered previously. Do some research. The SolarUK subreddit is excellent, as well as people like Gary Does Solar on YouTube. Search local solar installers near you. Make sure they are MCS registered (they will say so if they are and will be on the MCS database) Make a note of your energy usage over the year (in kwh). This will help with getting the right battery size. The advice is often to ‘max out’ the number of panels you can fit. Since labour and scaffolding is a big part of the cost, additional panels often add little to the overall cost. Get an in-person quote from a well-reviewed firm. They will tell you how many panels you can fit on your roof (there are also tools online where to help you approximate this) Go to 2-3 other well-reviewed firms to get more quotes Haggle, if you are so inclined Pick one. Book it in. Get on the right tariff in advance – one which offers cheap overnight rates. This will let you charge your battery cheaply for the next day’s usage, whether it’s sunny or not. Several offer nighttime rates of around 7p per kwh. Pick somewhere for the battery and inverter to go, either in a large cupboard or outside (keeping them in lofts is strongly discouraged now) Sort out energy exporting – as soon as you have a G99 export certificate your installer has (hopefully) got hold of, plus the MCS certificate, you can sign up for an export tariff, e.g. EDF, Octopus, Good Energy, Eon. For renters: start exploring plug-in solar. It’s coming soon (and is already possible with sign off from an electrician). Failing that, pester your landlord. It will boost their EPC and make your home a far nicer place to live.

I've written up some tips on installing solar panels in the UK if you're lucky enough to own your own home (and roof).

These are just tips that worked for me - I'm sure others will have more.

If it helps anyone at all I'll be delighted.

This is so well done. 👌

What happens to Britain's radical right if Orbán loses? Inside the money, power and patronage connecting Hungary and the British right

"Matthew Goodwin has been paid a salary of up to €10,000 a month [from Hungary's state-funded MCC], according to leaked documents obtained by Hungarian investigative journalists Direkt36 and reported by the Good Law Project"

That could all end if Orbán loses...
open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

I’m always amazed by the fact that they drink shitloads and then drive. No one ever seems to think that anything but normal

ArsenalVision Podcast and Arseblog Fundraiser for The Arsenal Foundation Help ArsenalVision Podcast raise money to support The Arsenal Foundation

🎉 April is here, which means one thing - Fundraising Time! 🎉

Help @arsenalvpodcast.bsky.social raise money to support the children of Za'atari Refugee Camp (and the Arsenal Foundation). Any and all donations are welcome for an outstanding cause.

www.justgiving.com/page/avp2026

Ministers explore triggering break clause in Palantir’s NHS contract Government is under pressure to eject the controversial American company from NHS England data systems

That UK government ever considers asserting its contractual rights against a major supplier is rare and welcome.

And here, this is especially welcome.

This will not be easy but it can be done, but it is good it is being seriously considered at all.

www.ft.com/content/2d2b...

Oh and also Project Gutenberg - 75,000 free audio and e-books.

www.gutenberg.org

Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez:

"Trump is someone who will set the world on fire and then blame smoke caused by that. He has been wrong for 18 days of war. I urge everyone to call him out"

Q: You don’t regret that people might’ve lost important income to support their lives?

A: No, I think it was more important to reduce the federal deficit.

Q: Ok. Did you reduce the federal deficit?

A: No, we didn’t.

In term one DHS gave Miller a report showing that the taxes paid by refugees exceed the costs of resettling them by $63 billion. He suppressed it and ordered another one: “The President believes refugees cost more, and the results of this study shouldn’t embarrass the President."

‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ Director: “This is about how you lose your country — through small acts of complicity: when a government murders people on the streets, when oligarchs take over the media… we all face a moral choice. But even a nobody is more powerful than you think."

ICE agents stopping people for speaking Spanish.
Families told to carry papers.
Judges begging ICE to follow basic law.

That’s not “border security.”
That’s authoritarian creep.

If the system runs on racial profiling, the system has to go.

Abolish ICE.

Government to go “further and faster” in becoming energy secure The Energy Secretary outlines measures to protect consumers and make Britain energy secure.

This is cool. The Government is set to allow plug-in solar, low cost solar panels that families can buy at supermarkets and put on their balconies or outdoor space.

"In Germany over a million have been sold, helping households with energy costs and reducing dependence on fossil fuels."

The is the federal government telling news stations to provide favorable coverage of the war or their licenses will be pulled.

A truly extraordinary moment.

We aren't on the verge of a totalitarian takeover. WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT.

Act like it.

If you want to see what a society that really does ban its residents from exercising the most basic freedom of speech, as online racist liars like to describe the UK, have a look at what various British ‘economic migrants’ are posting about the attacks on Dubai.

Love this movie!

Every senator who voted to confirm RFK Jr owns this tragedy. Every single one.

The current argument of the British right is that Muslims turned out in "blocs" with "family voting" to cast their ballots for a party led by a gay Jewish man, and this shows that multiculturalism has failed, voting is "sectarian" and we are in a crisis.

Hmmmmmm.

Hillary Clinton’s fire and fury opening statement to the House Oversight Committee.

Trump administration meets with UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson Agitator whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon was hosted by senior adviser at US state department

Tommy Robinson, who has convictions for assault, using a fake passport, mortgage fraud and contempt of court for repeating false allegations against refugee in breach of an injunction... meets Trump administration and gets a tour of the State Department
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

How big is the prize of reopening Russia? The Kremlin is promising $12trn-worth of deals to Donald Trump’s administration

"Since last April Kirill Dmitriev, who runs a Russian state fund, has met Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s special envoy, at least nine times. Individuals close to the Trump family have been in talks to acquire stakes in Russian energy assets."
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
From The Economist

The Mbappé Project - book launch with Philippe Auclair Marking the release of an incisive new book that gets under the skin of Kylian Mbappé to show why he's more than just a generational talent

You're very welcome to join me at The Volley, Old Street, on the evening of Monday 23 March, with MC @migueldelaney.bsky.social, for the launch of my new book, "The Mbappé Project". And admission to the event is *free*! All details in link.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mbappe...

A Venetian sunset photo always works - and it's suited to the real purpose of this post, to draw attention to my recording of a passage from Shelley's poem 'Julian and Maddalo', which contains one of the most brilliant descriptions of Venice at dusk.
Link for the recording in the 1st comment below.

While I’m all for Mandy and Andy getting their comeuppance, how come the likes of Johnson, Gove, Hancock and Mone haven’t faced any consequences for their misconduct?

How far back in time can you understand English? An experiment in language change

If you liked this experiment, I published a full piece today in the same vein: a text that gets 100 years older with every section, from a modern blog post to a medieval chronicle.

It's a single story spanning 1000 years of English. See how far you get.

www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-far-ba...

Why fake AI videos of UK urban decline are taking over social media Deepfakes showing grim taxpayer-funded waterparks have gone viral and drawn some racist responses.

This is one of the stories from the new BBC podcast Top Comment about internet algorithm trends www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Vincent Kompany’s statement against racism YouTube video by Bundesliga

@arseblog.com pointed to this Vincent Kompany video on Youtube. If you haven't already seen it I URGE you to do so.
youtu.be/fuVMzJBzLhI?...

Reform UK suspends by-election campaign activist over ‘antisemitic and misogynistic’ posts EXCLUSIVE: Adam Mitula, Reform UK’s interim campaign manager in Tameside, has been assisting Matt Goodwin's Gorton and Denton by-election campaign

So it turns out Matt Goodwin's Reform campaign manager was a holocaust-denying Nazi who said he would "never touch a Jewish woman.”

When do we start seeing all the coverage of the antisemitism crisis in Reform UK?

www.jewishnews.co.uk/reform-uk-su...

Why isn't a SWORN STATEMENT good enough???? Donald is a Pedophile and should be removed from the White House. This man shouldn't be allowed near any children!

Buckingham Palace has a long and ruthless tradition of distancing itself from scandal. Nothing matters to the Firm more than the perpetuation of the Firm itself.

Be wary of stories that seek to put Charles and Co in a good light because a lot of it is nothing more than crisis and PR management.