I should post more on here, beyond politics. Something to enjoy or celebrate...

The improved UK-France relationship must deliver tangible gains Change Minds → Change Politics

🇫🇷🇬🇧 @pimlicat.bsky.social: "Despite the new barriers thrown up by Brexit, France remains our fifth-largest trading partner. Our relationship is worth £100bn and Macron cited the 3,500 French companies working in the UK, the second leading foreign employer in Britain."

Viktor Orban’s economic luck runs out Apart from Poland, central Europe’s Visegrad Four face a slowdown

Turns out cosying up to Putin and Trump doesn't make for a vibrant economy... who knew?

Trump's NOAA Budget Cuts Could Gut Critical Climate Modeling Potential funding cuts for NOAA and its research partners threaten irreparable harm not only to climate research but to American safety, competitiveness, and national security.

“If we don’t understand what’s happening and why it’s happening, you can’t be adapting. … You’re just going to suffer,” said a member of NOAA’s scientific advisory board. “We’re going to see huge impacts on infrastructure and lives lost in the U.S.”

(Published April)

I'm slowly rebuilding some of what I used to have on Twitter, but if you want more #FBPE people to follow, take a look at some of the people I'm following!

EU calls for US trade deal based on 'respect' after Trump's tariff threats Trade chief Maros Sefcovic said the EU is "ready to defend" its interests after Trump threatened 50% tariffs on the bloc.

Bravo to EU Trade Chief Maros Sefcovic👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👇🏼

EU calls for 'respect' after Trump threatens 50% tariffs

The only way to deal with a bully like Trump is to diplomatically stand up to him like Carney did for Canada and China did

As international diplomacy giving a smack in the mouth is frowned on 🤷🏼‍♂️

Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch · 1h 🧵 THREAD: My message to the EU ahead of next week’s UK–EU summit: we will tear up any backroom deal that doesn’t work in our national interest or betrays Brexit. Here’s where the Conservative Party stands—and what we won’t accept from Labour’s dealings with Brussels👇 Show more Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch Brexit wasn’t just a vote—it was a mandate. We left the EU. Labour wants a “reset” with the EU. Fine. But if they trade away our sovereignty behind closed doors, we’ll call it out and reverse it. We will never go back into the Single Market, Customs Union or accept free movement of people. That’s settled. (2/7)

Here's an opportunity for Labour to put clear water between themselves, the Tories and Reform: erase their red lines on Brexit.

When your opponents are saying "no" to everything, and the majority of the population want it to be "yes", you gain nothing by saying "no" too.

Europe’s choice is clear.

To put science at the heart of its economy.

To become the home of scientific freedom and collaboration.

And to welcome talent from all over the world.

I’m glad to present the first elements of our Choose Europe Initiative.

→ europa.eu/!TTbWbJ

David Cameron's "chaos with ed Miliband" tweet

*uses time machine to burst into a room ten years ago*

"I don't have much time, but for the love of god choose Chaos with Ed Miliband™ "

Hey British media,
It’s no surprise that if you give Farage the run of the place, he’ll start winning.
Time to do your actual jobs and start interrogating him on his Brexit shitshow, his funding, his Trumpiness, his idiotic manifesto, his real plans for the NHS… instead of drumrolling him into No.10

Early days at Midsomer Norton South, no 10 at the end of the line. 6.3.2006

#HeritageDiesel #HeritageRailway #MidsomerNorton
#MidsomerNortonSouth
#SomersetAndDorsetRailway
#2006Images

Who might succeed Pope Francis? Some possible candidates Here are some cardinals - listed in alphabetical order - who are being talked about as "papabili" to succeed Pope Francis.

Papal election runners and riders
www.rte.ie/news/world/2...

Trump’s second state visit to UK to be disrupted by ‘even bigger’ protests Stop Trump coalition to dust off blimp, hoping demonstrations will surpass those during US president’s 2019 visit

I'll be there! ✊️Trump’s second state visit to the UK to be disrupted by ‘even bigger’ protests www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

I in no way support J. K. Rowling or her actions.

Voters want Keir Starmer to focus on rebuilding trade ties with EU, poll reveals Open trade with Europe is more important to the UK than a deal with Donald Trump, most Britons believe A clear majority of UK voters want the government to concentrate on rebuilding trade ties with the EU over forging a new economic deal with the US, according to research published this weekend. The study, based on analy­sis of polling that used new methods of questioning participants, suggests people of voting age now see their economic interests, and the UK’s, as far more closely linked to open trade relations with our EU neighbours than any deals that Keir Starmer might or might not strike with the US. Continue reading...

Voters want Keir Starmer to focus on rebuilding trade ties with EU, poll reveals

Not convinced the way that Labour tackled steel is right. Would have been better to just nationalise British Steel.

Instead, there's now precedent for the government having the power to compel companies to behave in a certain way, taking normal management acts away from them.

And that gets messy.

Then start the process of UK to join the European Union

Trump exempts smartphones and computers from new tariffs The move comes after concerns that tech prices could skyrocket, as many gadgets are made in China.

It's like the details are just being made up as they go along... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Don’t call them tariffs. Call them import taxes.

The people of Greenland have said loud and clear they don’t want Donald Trump.

Somehow I doubt sending JD Vance is going to have changed their minds…

Parliament debates rejoining the EU: a surprisingly positive response Westminster MPs debated a petition to rejoin the EU, with many backing closer ties. Labour’s red lines remain, but momentum for change is growing

🇪🇺🇬🇧 Westminster MPs debated a petition to rejoin the EU, with many backing closer ties.

Labour’s red lines remain, but momentum for change is growing. 🙌

➡️ ❤️‍🔥 #TimWalz👍👏👏

Anyone who acts as brash and shameless as #ElonMusk must sooner or later expect to be held up to the mirror in the right place by the right person !

Musk is the jerk,the creep he talked about and I think he know it.

The basic risk is this: Iran has sophisticated SIGINT capabilities. If any single member of the 20-person group chat had allowed their handset to be compromised by spyware then it’s a direct line from Iran->Houthis. This isn’t some kind of remote possibility. It’s a real, live risk that was ignored.

New figures reveal Brexit costing UK business £37bn a year Exclusive: Billions of pounds worth of lost business with other European Union countries prompts calls to re-enter customs union and single market

I’m listening for the sound of Labour tearing down all those barriers but all I hear is silence.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Civil Service told by government to slash running costs by 15% The target is said to be administrative costs - but unions have challenged ministers to be upfront about what areas of work they are prepared to sacrifice as a result.

This could be interesting how it's managed: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #civilservice

The new norm

Free speech, not so free any more in the US

‘As real as it can get’: EU to loan €150bn for European defence from invasion EU launches scheme to buy more weapons in Europe as Russia remains ‘a threat for the foreseeable future’

EU launched a push to buy more weapons in the bloc and from allied countries, rather than from the US

The UK, US and Turkey will be excluded from the €150 billion defence contracts, unless they sign a security and defence partnership agreement with the EU
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Cuts to welfare. Cuts to international aid. Has Labour lurched too far to the right? People on benefits are worried and some MPs are talking of ‘cruelty’. Is Keir Starmer’s plan to cut public spending a betrayal of his party’s values?

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

“Over recent weeks, I have begun to wonder: what is left? What is left of what we campaigned on less than nine months ago?”

#Labour has ditched so much, why not ditch those stupid ‘Red Lines’ on Europe and seek some prosperity?

#RejoinTheSingleMarket

We have each other. We are the Resistance now. All of us.

Earnest post, but: a thing I like here is it’s okay to have moments of happiness in public without being broadly scolded, and I believe that sustaining this kind of humanity will be very important as we resist fascism.

We have to sustain each other. Making joy isn’t denial, it’s how we will survive