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Ali Riley

@aliriley.bsky.social
154 followers 197 following 105 posts

Sheffield-based HE Education Developer and Adviser. Interests #ESD and #EntEd. Ex-archaeologist. Bit deaf. Living with Endometriosis. Chapter maggot.

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Reposted by Ali Riley
Ryan Packer @typewriteralley.bsky.social · 17h
George Saunders on using AI: "Writing is the most precious way one person can communicate their essence to another person. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to get better at making myself present in my writing. Why would I want to sacrifice even one iota of that?"
Have you spent time trying to write or revise with AI? Is there an experiment that would be interesting enough to try?

I have not. Not for a second. To me, this whole idea of using AI to write is . . . anathema. A thing to be most radically avoided.

Writing is the most precious way one person can communicate their essence to another person. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to get better at making myself present in my writing. Why would I want to sacrifice even one iota of that? Not even in an email and certainly not in a short story or novel.Who are we ceding our authority to, exactly, when we let AI write for us? And why? Why surrender our agency (that amazing ability we have to reach across time and space, with our strange, idiosyncratic phenomenon, and land within the sensibility of another human being) to something that, by its very design, pushes the individual sensibility aside? And in the name of . . . what, exactly? Ease, I guess? Efficiency? The person who chooses to write with AI has also sacrificed, from the start, the opportunity of experiencing difficulty, of struggling to say what he wants to say, of making himself evident in his prose, of trying to find out what he believes. By this, he sacrifices a chance to know himself and his mind better. To me, that’s a shame. And it’s dangerous, because, as we are now finding out, it affects the brain and lessens our capabilities. Thanks, but no thanks, get thee behind me, etc.
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 27/09/2026
Google finally updated some of its satellite images of Gaza and my god, it's horrific. The entirety of Rafah has been demolished. The majority of Khan Younis is in ruins. Entire towns completely leveled and erased of the map.
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Emily✨ @emilyoram.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Always a treat to be reminded of an old friend
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Nicola Kelly @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I have spent weeks shadowing the RNLI and I can tell you, they do it out of nothing more than compassion. Wrote about the heroes I've met over the years in this free-to-read post. nicolakelly.substack.com/p/the-rnli-a...
nicolakelly.substack.com
The RNLI aren't traitors; they're heroes
I have spent weeks shadowing lifeboat crews. Here's what they do and what it's like.
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Sinan Kose @thesinankose.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Genuinely: where is the Prime Minister? Critical infrastructure has been occupied by a fascist paramilitary, volunteers who save people's lives have been threatened and it seems to have gone unremarked upon.
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Kai Bosworth @kaibosworth.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
🚨New article 🚨 Jesse Goldstein, Ben Haskett, Caroline May, and I mobilize "critical university studies" to investigate how "sustainability" is used as a pseudo-activity. we argue higher ed depoliticizes and partitions environmental and climate action. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Critical University Sustainability Studies: Evaluating <fc>STARS</fc> Reporting as Depoliticized Environmental Pseudo‐Activity
This article places university sustainability within broader literatures of critical and abolitionist university studies to understand how it depoliticizes environmental action and dispels more radic...
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Caroleeena @caroleeena.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The order to stop teaching about human-caused climate change came at a Sept 2025 meeting of the geography program. Faculty were told to “remove all mention of human causes of climate change from their courses.” & warned if they went to press or politicians, the entire dept would likely be dissolved.
joemygod.com
Lawsuit: West Point Professor Was Forced Out For Objecting To Order To Stop Teaching Climate Change - Joe.My.God.
Gothamist reports: A former tenured professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point says the school ordered faculty to stop teaching about anthropogenic, or human-caused, climate change, then pus...
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Stars and Stripes @starsandstripes.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A civilian geography professor was fired from West Point for pushing back after department officials barred faculty from teaching that humans contribute to climate change.
stripes.com
West Point professor fired after pushing back on limitations to teaching climate change, lawsuit says
Adam Kalkstein pushed back after department officials barred faculty from teaching that humans contribute to climate change, the lawsuit says.
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Franglaise @franglaise.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Richard Tice is going to pop up any minute to tell the people of Nepal they should just enjoy the swim
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Daniel Radosh @radosh.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Republicans have spent the last year trying to defund Dolly Parton
article about proposed GOP cuts to Imagination Library in Indianaarticle about proposed GOP cuts to Imagination Library in Kentuckyarticle about proposed GOP cuts to Imagination Library in Missouriiarticle about proposed GOP cuts to Imagination Library in Washington
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Ross Johnson @rosserford.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
We’re going to hear about how everyone loved Dolly, and that feels true. But it’s good to remember, and to her credit, that she was attacked for her AIDS activism, her vaccine advocacy, her LGBTQ+ support and even, more recently, for her reading initiatives. She ALWAYS stood firm when it mattered.
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Garry @thegmcconnachie.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
This is why Dolly Parton will be remembered and loved ❤️📚
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Eddie Burfi @eddieburfi.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Harrison Ford and Cookie Monster nom nomming their way through the Indiana Jones theme fills me with an unreasonable level of joy.
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Ali Riley @aliriley.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Excellent!
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~daniel_barker~ @daniel-barker.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The Great Impotence Myth? Scientists seek to determine whether erectile dysfunction is real or a social construct, and speculate that the older generation may be turning to pills simply because they're too lazy to google big jiggly butts any more. Channel 4 asks: how hard can it be?
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Rachel Pope @prehistorian.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
We need two Arday inquiries: 1) Into racist (and misogynistic) bullying by UK press and social media accounts (see also Diane Abbott); and 2) into the duty of care that HE has for its minority staff - a duty of care that in my repeated experience is reserved primarily for white male sex offenders.
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Ali Riley @aliriley.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
This is well worth the read - brilliant!
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Ali Riley @aliriley.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
We need to show rightwing newspapers that actions have consequences. Add your name: goodlawproject.org/s/abb8a1
goodlawproject.org
Jason Arday: Demand a public inquiry now | Good Law Project
Commission an immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press given its contribution to Dr Arday’s tragic death.
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Reposted by Ali Riley
Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The first new tuberculosis vaccine in a century is heading for mass production. TB still kills 1.23 million people a year. WHO estimates a vaccine with this efficacy profile could prevent 76 million cases and save 8.5 million lives over 25 years. Reuters buff.ly/fI5mDxR #ShareGoodNewsToo
reuters.com
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/indias-serum-institute-partners-with-gates-mri-make-expiremental-tb-vaccine-2026-07-16/
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 14/08/2026
This is the coverage of Arday **just in the Telegraph** in the UK. This is only the first four pages of results, just in one outlet.
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Jason Arday found dead
2 hours ago — Mr Arday was found •unresponsive• at an address in Battersea. south London. on Froy
afternoon. He was uter pronounced dead at the scene. A Read rnore
Jason Arday says he was an illiterate, mute child. His .
6 hours ago — Jason Arday says he was an i&erate. mute child. Cambridge's youngest-ever black
professor in 2023. Arday attended from the age of four to 11
r— mm-WI 3
A PhD is no longer a sign of brilliance — take it from Dr Arday
1 day aeo — Juon Arday resigns from the Unwersity of Cambrdge after The Telegraph reports he had
falseb• claimed to have pubåshed a book
We are all Jason Arday now
S days ago — Jason Arday resons from the University of Cambridge after The Telegraph reports he had
falsew cGimed to have published a book Aug 7.2028. Read more
Cambridge professor claimed he was on Seven Up..
2 Aug 2026 — He was not bom until 1985. Prof Arday is at the centre of a row about academk
plagiarism after The Tekgragh that he had been accused
The Jason Arday 'memoir' that now appears to be more .
7 days ago — Instead of tales of triumph over adversity. the now-fomer Cambridge professors
autob"qraphy is a case study in self-rnythobgising,
Arday failed to mention 'months-long coma' in autobiography
8 days ago — Jason Arday toz publishers he was k•ft a three-month coma fohwhg a car gash. but
never wrote about the ordeal his memoirs_
Jason Arday is living proof that you reap what you sow
6 Aug 2028 — The Cambridge professor feed plagiarism alegations and made fantastical clä'ns about
his life. so what did he expect woUz happen? Read rmre
ÄIO
Arday 'accused student of Miite privilege' after she
4 days ago — Forrner Cambrdge professor alleged* htplied that Roehamptm student was racist after
cornplaint about essay SOOre.
Jason Arday is rnerely a symptom of the Leffs corruption
Aug 2026 — Lab-curs on school standards is on the same toxic assumptions that created his
academic career.
Cambridge hired Arday after 'listening to black stu…
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Ali Riley @aliriley.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Heard the awful news and immediately thought back to this post I saw today. Our media and ourselves need to think long and hard about this.
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Reposted by Ali Riley
The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 14/08/2026
Yesterday, on the hottest day of the year so far, we saw homes set ablaze and people hospitalised. Wildfires are raging across the UK, almost 3/4's of England is now in drought, and nurses are collapsing on duty as a result the extreme heat. Burnham must start tackling the climate crisis now.
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Ali Riley @aliriley.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Might be too early to call but Colwill Brown's 'We Pretty Pieces of Flesh' will be a strong contender for my book of the year I reckon. Hugely nostalgic for me, growing up in the era, the area (Fri nights at Donny Dome) with almost the same accent.
Book cover of Colwill Brown's 'We Pretty Pieces of Flesh' - cover shows a photograph of two teenage girls screaming with laughter
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Why is Burnham so reluctant to talk about the climate crisis? Good piece by Sandra Laville I hope the PM breaks his climate silence soon and levels with the country about how bad things are, & what his plan is to tackle climate impacts and fossil fuels www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Hot topic: why is Burnham so reluctant to talk about the climate crisis?
Extreme heat is harming wellbeing of ordinary people the PM champions, yet little has been said on the topic
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Dr Eleanor Janega @goingmedieval.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Sorry but the OP is so funny. "Oh you hate AI? Well what if all these things that suck and burn natural resources, and that also stole from you, which you have never used even once went away?" What point is this meant to prove?
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Josephine beckbook.com Riesman @josie.zone · 02/08/2026
Median UK voter in 2026, as predicted by Hugh Laurie some decades ago:
R

My father was a Conservative...

...my mother voted Labour...

...so suppose, by rights, ought
to be a Liberal Democrat...

...but in actual fact, I'm a Nazi!
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Shooting interests & the rightwing press want to exploit the wildfires to reinstate moorland burning. But you don't fight fire with fire. You fight it with water. This wildfire in Wales' Elan Valley in May stopped abruptly when it reached re-wetted peat bogs: www.walesfarmer.co.uk/news/2614875...
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 03/08/2026
🧵Right-leaning newspapers are trying to blame Europe's raging wildfires on everything EXCEPT fossil fuels 1. The Wall Street Journal Frontpage story: "Greece fights wildfires as Europe crisis spreads" WSJ editorial: "How green policies fuel fires in Europe"
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 30/07/2026
It is putting it mildly to describe these people as a death cult.
ALLISTER HEATH
Britain can't stop
climate change. Scrap
net zero and embrace
Mediterranean
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Ali Riley @aliriley.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The Odyssey - well it was fun! Agree with all comments about clunky dialogue and exposition (the early bits with Telemachus and Eumaeus were cringe) but some really fun scenes. Wasn't expecting depth, didn't get it. I put it in the same category as Troy really. I'll look for depth elsewhere
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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Mohamed Adow, Director of Power Shift Africa: "The UK helped cause the climate crisis by getting rich off fossil fuel-powered development. Climate finance is a debt owed by rich countries - not a debt to be collected from poor countries."
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All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Environment @environmentappg.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Climate resilience must be at the heart of the new government. Deadly heatwaves have followed record rain and flooding this year. Our inquiry found that the NHS, food system and homes are unprepared.🔥🌩️ Our report sets out priorities for Burnham to make the UK more secure:
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The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 22/07/2026
A few weeks ago, Wes Streeting said there were "serious and substantial allegations of war crimes" in Gaza. Now he is Defence Secretary. He must impose a full arms embargo on Israel and end Britain's complicity in the genocide.
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John Munro @johnmunro.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Politicians in the Labour Party - including many now in prominent posts under Andy Burnham - could have said something like this all along. But they didn't. They supported the terrible crimes of Netanyahu's government instead. And this is the biggest reason they don't deserve our support.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 22/07/2026
Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal.
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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 26/06/2026
This is remarkable.
Bar chart which shows y-axis running 0-8000, and x-axis showing years 2019 and 2024. For 2019, a light orange bar runs up to just over 6000, with a darker orange running up to 8000. For 2024, a green bar runs up to 4000, with a dark green running to about 5000. The text "40% lower" is on the lighter green bar. Text at the top of the graphic reads "Estimated air pollution deaths are down by around 40%. New analysis estimates deaths associated with air pollution in London reduced substantially between 2019 and 2024." Text at the bottom of the graphic reads "Note: darker shading shows estimated ranges. Data based on a comparison of estimated mortality burden using updated methods and a scenario-based analysis where only air pollution changes. Source: london.gov.uk/aqmortality". The Mayor of London logo sits in the bottom right-hand corner.
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Britain is more than halfway towards reaching Net Zero. Most people don't realise this, not least as the fossil-fuel fanatics want us to think achieving it is impossible. Via YouGov


**UK public support net zero, but underestimate UK achievement to date**

"Thinking about the government's target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, how much progress, if any, do you think the UK has made towards achieving this target?"

**Long way / less than halfway** — 50%

**Don't know** — 28%

**Most of the way / More than halfway** — 8%

---

*All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,040 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 17th - 18th June 2026. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+)*
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Emma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
35°C is normal, we used to just call that summer! Here's how many summers topped 32°C 70s 4 80s 2 90s 8 2000s 6 2010s all of them 2020s all of them And here's how many summers topped 35°C 70s 1 80s 0 90s 2 2000s 2 2010s 3 2020s 4 (out of 6 so far)
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Lucy Burke @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
It’s wild that politicians don’t seem to grasp the degree to which universities contribute to the economy- local, regional, national. The failure to intervene is a stain on this govt - a shocking dereliction of duty to every worker, every local business, every student, every area that is suffering
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
It tells you everything you need to know about Kemi Badneoch and Nigel Farage that as London schools, hospitals and transport networks all buckle under extreme record-breaking temperatures, they gather with fossil fuel lobbyists, climate deniers and the far-right to demand an end to Net Zero
bylinetimes.com
As Extreme Heat Hits London, Fossil Fuel Interests and Global Far-Right Politicians Gather for a 'Glastonbury of Climate Science Deniers'
Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch are both scheduled to address the event, reports Max Colbert
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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 24/06/2026
Letter in today's Times by climate scientist Sir Brian Hoskins: "The discourse around net-zero is increasingly decoupled from…science and our changing weather. "Net-zero is not an arbitrary slogan, rather it is dictated by the laws of physics."
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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 24/06/2026
++BREAKING++ Leading climate scientists in the UK have written to senior editors in broadcast media - and OFCOM and IPSO: "To express our concern about recent media coverage of extreme weather, climate change and net-zero and to urge you…to inform public audiences of the scientific links"
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Bianca Nogrady @biancanogrady.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
FFS I thought we'd moved past the ignorance of illustrating stories about deadly heatwaves with photos of people frolicking at the beach/in lakes/in fountains. Heatwaves are the deadliest agents of climate change. They kill nearly half a million people each year, and that's only going to increase.
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Charlotte Garden @charlottegarden.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Irony is dead.
Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world - cancelled
Date: 24 June 2026, 9:30 am - 12:00 pm Venue: LSE Shaw Library, Houghton St, Old Building, London, WC2A 2AE
We regret that this event has been cancelled due to the red extreme heat warning issued by the UK Met Office.
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Gregory Norminton @gregorynorminton.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
On Wednesday, Parliament will vote on the UK's 7th Carbon Budget, aligned with the scientific advice from the Climate Change Committee. Kemi Badenoch will lead her party in voting against it. The temperature in London on Wednesday:
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Emily✨ @emilyoram.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
“Whey” www.instagram.com/louiscollene...
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David Blanchflower BSc @davidbflower.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Cervical cancer deaths fall to zero in young women given vaccine. 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Cervical cancer deaths fall to zero in young women given vaccine
A new study finds that hundreds of lives have been saved since school-age girls were offered the HPV jab in 2008.
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
There is now clear evidence that the Great Israeli Real Estate event had unlawful activity at it. I've written to the Mayor of London to ask what he intends to do about it. This needs to be escalated immediately.
During Mayor's Question Time last week I asked you to put pressure on the government to ban the “unlawful” ‘Great Israeli Real Estate.’

You clarified that you had discussed the event with the Metropolitan Police Service and stated that any allegations of criminality relating to the potentially unlawful sale of property at the event would be assessed by the Met as part of an investigation.


It has since come to light that materials handed out at the ‘Great Israeli Real Estate’ event included properties in Ma'Ale Adumin and Givat Zeev in the West Bank and
Ramat Eshkol and Givat HaMatos in East Jerusalem. 

These settlements are illegal under international law. This event should never have been allowed to happen in our city.  There was substantial evidence ahead of the event that organisers were advertising properties in illegal settlements. More than 100 organisations, including human rights groups, as well as over 100 MPs called for the ‘Great Israeli Real Estate’ event to be cancelled.

The UK Government has repeatedly affirmed that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. 

With horrific settler violence against Palestinians on the rise, it’s more important than ever that those involved in hosting this deplorable event in our city are not allowed to act with impunity.

The Proceeds of Crime Act makes it illegal for promoters and estate agents operating in the UK to facilitate the sale of land acquired through illegal conduct. 

Yvette Cooper has confirmed that the Advertising Standards Authority will investigate Sunday's event but that response is completely inadequate. This needs to be escalated to the Metropolitan Police Service immediately, anything less fails to reflect the
seriousness of the situation.

Following your discussion with the Met, why was a decision not made to ban the event given the clear and mounting evidence that justified its cancellation and how was it assessed that the event should go ahead? Could you also confirm whether t…
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Tanja Bueltmann @tanjabueltmann.net · 10/06/2026
There are, in my view, 25 things everyone needs to understand in light of recent events: 1) Those out in our communities last night were not protestors, but organised far right extremists. 2) Their actions align with fascist ideologies. 3) So yes: these are fascist practices on our streets. 🧵
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Steven Sheil @scsheil.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
It's now been a year since I started @adrianchills.bsky.social. Thanks to everyone who has read, reposted and liked the stories. And if you haven't already followed and you like the idea of flash fiction horror stories based on the headlines to Guardian columns by Adrian Chiles, feel free to dive in
The header and bio for the Adrian Chills Bluesky account.
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