Sewage spills near bathing sites England
Ahead of tomorrow's report on sewage releases, we've loaded data on discharges near bathing sites onto our Watershed Pollution Map for you to investigate & make your own assessment of how water companies are doing.
Come on in, the water's lovely...
share.google/fJcxMofi3Hi7...
In all my years at WaPo, this happened to me twice, and it was a huge Marty-Baron-is-calling-your-boss-level deal.
Now that I’m indy, it’s three times in a month, that I know of! It’s fucking disgusting. I made $220 from paid subscriptions last month and a salaried journalist is stealing from me.
I emailed the reporter privately an hour and a half ago and have not received a response, hence my publicly blasting them here.
3/
A screenshot of the landing page for a story from the Independent reading: Delta flew 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his father to ICE detention in Texas, new video shows A photo of federal agents detaining Liam Conejo Ramos in Minnesota outraged people across the nation last year Ariana Baio Tuesday 17 March 2026 16:15 EDT
A screenshot of the landing page for my story reading: Video proves Delta flew Liam Ramos and his dad to ICE detention center Three plainclothes federal agents can be seen boarding a Delta flight while guarding the 5-year-old boy and his father, right under unsuspecting passengers' noses. Gillian Brockell 16 Mar 2026 - 8 min read
A line from the Independent story reading: “The airport footage was obtained through an information disclosure request to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by activist Nick Benson with MN50501 - a Minnesota-based organization that advocates against Trump's policies.” I’ve highlighted the part where it links to MN50501.
A screenshot of a browser window showing that the MN50501 link includes “?ref=gillianbrockell.com”
This @the-independent.com story is such an obvious lift of mine that they didn’t even bother deleting my site’s referral URL.
And no, they do not credit me for reporting it first or (intentionally) link to my story.
In j-school, rewording someone else’s reporting was called plagiarism. 1/
More than 100 physics teachers across the UK have now signed our open letter opposing budget cuts to particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics outlined by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Want to join them? ✍️ 👉️ ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...
For an hour, Jon, Simon and I explained how devastating the proposed cuts will be, not just to the science that we can do, but also the scientists who are the lifeline of the UK economy. Simon made the excellent analogy that cutting funding for ECRs is like chopping the roots off your tree.
Rows of people wearing orange lanyards in a House of Commons committee hearing. At the front is Catherine sporting her "I'm about to perform an appendectomy" mask and looking particularly snazzy.
Here is my run-down of today's Science, Information & Technology Committee hearing (House of Commons) where @jonbutterworth.bsky.social @si-wills.bsky.social & I argued for no funding cuts, & Prof. Michele Doughtery explained why they were needed. The public gallery again packed with physicists 🔭👩🔬⚛️
The Science, Innovation & Tech committee have written the most amazing letter to DSIT/UKRI/STFC:
"What is clear is that, despite your assertions to the contrary... widespread cuts have been proposed before adequate consultation with those affected was undertaken. This is wholly unacceptable" 💪🔭⚛️🧪
The RAS will be sending these to astro groups across the UK... They look great on every laptop, particularly in meetings with UKRI and DSIT staff...
Nobody can ever accuse Richard Tice of not loving his money!!... I mean his country... sorry... his country
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
"Bylines Network doesn’t have billionaire backers, corporate owners or political paymasters. Our strength comes from people – readers, writers, editors, volunteers and supporters who believe in truth and democracy."
Citizen journalism is on the rise. Please chip in!
Curse of Private Equity
US evidence shows:
When private equity incentives collide with clinical care, patients—especially those who are sicker, poorer, or harder to treat—are more likely to be killed or harmed.
Yet UK handing more of the NHS to PE, enabling it to make profits.
A social media graphic from EveryDoctor on a bright blue background titled "How PFI Extracts Money." It features two buckets representing financial outflow. The smaller bucket on the left is labeled "£196m Profit" under an NHS logo. The larger bucket on the right is labeled "£326m Interest" with an arrow pointing toward the word "Investors." Text at the bottom right explains: "£326m flowed out as interest, more than recorded profit."
Is interest the "hidden" drain on the NHS?
Our research into 36 trusts found that while £196m was recorded as profit, a massive £326m flowed out as interest. 📉
Interest payments to investors are now outstripping profit. Read the full investigation:
🔗 bit.ly/PFIProfits
Changes with last week:
Reform: 24 (-2)
Greens: 20 (+2)
Tories: 17 (-1)
Labour: 16 (+1)
LDs: 10 (-2)
Did you see this today?
Anti #ICE protesters carried a MASSIVE U.S.
Constitution through the streets of Minneapolis.
Not a flag.
Not a slogan.
The Constitution.
Thousands marched, demanding accountability and asking whether federal enforcement is aligning with the rights written on those pages.
Dear Shabana, I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank. You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to make a perilous crossing on small boats.” I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division. When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney. As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I filled water tanks and picked up litter. What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country. Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it. It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and croissants to refugees and food parcels. When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She said “we have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers whilst risking death on the seas.” She said “maybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …
Dear Shabana,
Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.
Literally leaped out of my office chair to perform a one-woman standing ovation to my laptop screen after reading this
💚👏👏👏👏💚
In fact I suspect that a number of them will have seen fit to suddenly increase their round rent with extortionate amounts. I know that in my area they have suddenly doubled. Initially I didn't know why, but this really makes it obvious. They are squeezing every last penny from leaseholders.
#UK #Politics #Leaseholdership Anyone who was hopeful at finally seeing an end to the extortionate ground rent that freeholders can charge: The draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill does not put an end to it In fact, it has a sunset clause of 42 years in it. And freeholders are aware of that.
JESUS WAS NOT ABOUT WAGING WAR! HE WAS ALL ABOUT GIVING PEOPLE FREE BREAD AND FREE UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE!!
The blatant Islamophobia that Keir Starmer is demonstrating through smearing Mothin Ali would be shocking - but it's becoming a pattern.
Smearing a caring man of principle for standing up for peace.
This is terrible from Starmer. Just absolute trash. And any normal voter looking at the new MP and then reading this description will think him mad.
Screenshot of an X post by journalist Sam Stein stating that DHS claimed it left a man at a coffee shop described as a “warm, safe location,” but video later showed it was the middle of the night, cold, and the coffee shop was closed.
Screenshot of an X post from the official Homeland Security account titled “Here are the FACTS.” The statement says Buffalo Police alerted Border Patrol about a non-citizen, that Mr. Shah Alam entered the U.S. as a refugee in December 2024, was not amenable to removal, and accepted a courtesy ride to a coffee shop described as a warm, safe location. It adds that he showed no signs of distress or disability requiring assistance.
This is negligent homicide. We demand justice for Shah Alam and his family. He was nearly blind, and they left him five miles from his home, forced to try to walk home alone in the dark and the freezing cold.
It’s happening 👇
“How much did you borrow?”
“£84,000...”
“…how much do you owe now?”
“£110,000”
Max Linford discusses how much his student loan has risen despite paying off £8000 since graduating in 2023.
#Newsnight
Anyway he's the worst post war PM for that alone and I hope it haunts that shallow little man forever
Political people love to debate who the worst modern PM in modern times was but it's unquestionably Cameron.
10 years ago this week he gambled the prosperity and fragile unity of the UK on a referendum on an issue that most people didn't even understand to placate back benchers and fucked us all.
The detailed and informative replies to the quoted post show how this site can be very good for discussing news events.
No site is perfect, but Bluesky has many merits.
And this sort of engagement is better than I had with 1/4 million followers on Twitter.
NEW
How Palantir captured the Ministry of Defence
How a close read of public domain documents show how MoD was commercially colonised by Palantir
By me, at FT
www.ft.com/content/5207...
Trump loves suing people.... so the PM should take a leaf out of his book. Starmer should sue the President for illegal damage to the British economy.
Don’t worry Donald - we will settle for £100bn, that’s how it works right?
