Rise in Speeding Fines Linked to More Drivers Breaking the Limit Speeding fines and convictions have risen sharply across the UK in recent years, with new figures indicating that more motorists are exceeding limits and more of them are being caught. Consumer expert...

Outstanding journalism from the BBC here. www.bbc.co.uk/articles/cm2...

Britain’s Solar Revolution Is Here and We Should Be Shouting It From the Rooftops Ed Miliband is helping to turn the country into a nation of 'solar zealots' and Josiah Mortimer is enthusiastically along for the ride

🔴 Britain’s Solar Revolution Is Here and We Should Be Shouting It From the Rooftops

Ed Miliband is helping to turn the country into a nation of ‘solar zealots’ and I'm enthusiastically along for the ride. Thankfully I'm not alone.
bylinetimes.com/2026/04/22/b...

I’m Chris Mason BBC Politics Editor, paid £270,000 a year to completely impartially report UK politics

I report my opinions as the news, because what I think is what really matters

I ignore LibDems as irrelevant, Greens as weird, Tories as spent force and push Reform as the answer

I am impartial❗️

A color, macrophoto of a Robin perched on a branch in Virginia, during late April, 2026. The capture was taken during rain and the photographer snapped the photo at the split second a raindrop fell on the top of the bird's head, making it appear like a "natural" crown. 📸 Dawn Denise Boyer of Gloucester, Virginia

#WonderfulBirdWednesday

Right in the middle of rain, the photo was captured the split second a droplet of water landed on the #Robins head like a crown! 👑
04/2026

#Birds #Nature
#FlawlessTiming 🌟
#FMSPAD
#SomethingThatFlies
#Birdsky #Wildlife
#Photography
#BirdPhotography
#Macrophotography

England wildlife watchdog ‘has stopped designating special sites for protection’ Exclusive: Report finds Natural England has created no new SSSIs, which protect areas from development, since 2023

England’s wildlife watchdog ‘has stopped designating special sites for protection’

Excellent report by @wildjustice.bsky.social on how Natural England has frozen its SSSI designation programme - covered by @patrickbarkham.bsky.social:

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

My brother-in-law used to be a probation officer, and I once got him to countersign my passport application. It was rejected as he apparently wasn’t qualified to do so. It later occurred to me that they probably thought he was _my_ probation officer.

Welshpool man slapped traffic warden and threatened to 'lump' her Stephen Doughty became abusive after struggling to use a pay-and-display machine.

He seems nice.
What is it about cars and parking that turns people into psychos?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A couple of incorrect capitalisations thrown in for authenticity.

‘We were terrified they were going to kill us’: fishers who survived US boat strike speak out An Ecuadorian fishing crew describe their ordeal as victims of Trump’s purported war on ‘narcoterrorists’

Das sind die Menschen, die das US Militär täglich unter der Beschuldigung, es seien Drogendealer, in internationalen Gewässern ermordet - unschuldige Fischer!

Und was sagt unser Bundeskanzler dazu?

Der sagt gar nichts - für den ist das Thema wahrscheinlich zu komplex!

FBI
Rob Rogers cartoon.
April 21, 2026

Two photos of me. The one on the left is in 2022. I’ve very overweight and looking quite grumpy after a run. The photo on the right is in 2026 and is me smiling while posing with my Manchester Marathon medal.

I often think people get sick of me posting about running. The truth is…..running saved me.

The picture on the left was taken in 2022 on my very first run. I was overweight, pre-diabetic and my mental health was in bits. I remember thinking that I’m not going to be able to do it.

I persisted.

It predated Rome but the culture did not disappear overnight. The practice of mummification persisted into the 4th Century AD.

"Whaaaaaa whaaaaaa whaaaaa! They did what *we* did. Only better. NOT FAIR!!!"

UK to appeal against tax ruling cutting VAT on public electric car chargers to 5% HMRC confirms it will fight London tax tribunal’s finding that it has been overcharging for years under the law

“UK to appeal against tax ruling cutting VAT on public electric car chargers to 5%…“The gov talks about accelerating EV adoption, yet choosing to maintain a tax structure that makes public charging more expensive than it needs to be & undermines the transition.”” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

That is not a picture of a "protected bike lane".

He forgot to thank us for our attention to this matter.

After France, Denmark is moving too: its Digitalisation Ministry plans to phase out Microsoft, switching to Linux and LibreOffice in the coming months. The goal is clear—reduce dependence on a handful of global tech giants and strengthen digital sovereignty.

In February 1777, General George Washington ordered the first mass immunization campaign in American history by mandating that his troops be inoculated against smallpox. He protected the Continental Army from an epidemic that was deadlier than British forces.

249 years later, we have this idiot.

Almost everything we argue about is a substitute for the thing we should be arguing about: the immense wealth & power of an oligarchic class, which captures governments, ruins lives and wrecks the living planet.
This class redirects our rage at scapegoats. To resist its lies is to resist its power.

Screenshot of a tweet: God Save Great Britain & @GSGB01 WOW: The NHS has ordered staff not to use the phrase 'It's raining cats & dogs' in fear of upsetting people from other cultures and religion. Britain has gone absolutely

Screenshot of a tweet: @Jenny_1884 The NHS has ordered staff not to use the term "It's raining cats & dogs" as it may offend foreigners. Tough If you don't like it jog on is what I think The NHS needs to get back to concentrating on making people better & not being more concerned about offending

For the love of God, could the "common sense" brigade PLEASE develop some actual COMMON SENSE?!

No, the NHS has not ordered staff not to use the term "it's raining cats and dogs" for fear of either upsetting or offending anyone...

Please engage your brains for a minute🙏
🧵1/15

NHS claims 'it's raining cats and dogs'is culturally insensitive Doctors and nurses in Lancashire told some idioms risk offending 'international colleagues or patients' Doctors and nurses have been ordered not to say "it's raining cats and dogs" and "the early bird catches the worm" to avoid offending foreign patients. Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust instructed staff against using the phrases in its diversity and inclusion training, claiming that the terms were not culturally sensitive. It warned that the terms "may not translate well across other cultures" and may need to be explained to international colleagues or patients.

No, the NHS didn’t do anything of the sort.

The evidence the NHS didn’t do that is the third paragraph in the hit piece.

Any decent paper would have trashed the piece during the pitch phase, but the Telegraph runs dozens of these articles every single day. The Telegraph must be destroyed

It would be useful if Nick would actually let Ed answer his questions rather than talking over what are reasoned, sensible answers.

#r4today

#r4today horrendous hectoring interview from Nick Robinson this morning.
No-one is surprised.

Nick Robinson pushing an extract every drop agenda rather than letting Ed Miliband speak is very tedious #r4today

Christ alive. Nick Robinson, shut the f&@k up and let the man speak! #r4today

Let him finish the point!! #r4today

Nick Robinson really is a terrible interviewer, far keener to get his views across & get a gotcha moment than in listening to what his interviewees have to say. #r4today

Nigel Farage Has Personally Accepted £675,000 from Foreign Sources Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has accepted more than half a million pounds from foreign companies, governments, and donors while serving as an MP, DeSmog can reveal. Since July 2024, when he was elect...

“Farage rarely turns up to do his actual job. Yet he finds time to jet off around the world on his donor’s private plane and trouser half a million quid while families struggle. Reform are not on your side. They’re just in it for themselves”

It’s so obvious, it hurts.
www.desmog.com/2026/04/18/n...

I'm always skeptical of BBC-bashing, but BBC News website hasn't reported on the Tice tax scandal since 12 April, when the headline was "Tice £91,000 tax row is 'minor administrative error', party claims".