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Paul Cotterill

@bickerrecord.bsky.social
982 followers 1.4K following 4.7K posts

Nurse by training. Vagabond by nature. Imposter by syndrome. A Habermas-influenced English pluralist, if that's a thing. An organiser of things, which are definitely things. He/him/ally

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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 4h
I see the BBC has now dropped the quote marks for 'grooming gangs' in deference to the far right The correct term, as per Louise Casey's 2025 report, is 'Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse' www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Grooming gangs inquiry expanded to Birmingham and Wales
Targeted investigations will be carried out as part of a national inquiry into child sexual abuse.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 5h
I work from home a lot more now, and radio 3 is my staple. There is a 3pm Evensong every day, and I wonder how many people apparently concerned about the loss of their beloved Christian Britain listen and treasure this of state support.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 11h
I see the AI slop is having trouble keeping up with who the party leaders are. Doesn't stop loads of comments just accepting it (though many of course will be bots themselves, I suppose). Anyway, I look forward to the important party TUV being part of the coalition.
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Reposted by Paul Cotterill
Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The link between electricity and gas prices has already begun to break - and the government can take some credit for that... www.nesta.org.uk/blog/the-ene...
Chart showing gas bills rising by 88% and electricity bills by 68% between April and October 2022. And then gas rising by 33% and electricity by 9% between April and October 2026
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is v good from @liverpoolpost.bsky.social www.livpost.co.uk/postcode-lot... Might not be anyone under 25 on Bluesky of course (I miss out by a few months) but it's still good.
livpost.co.uk
Claim your free membership
Postcode Lottery is funding a free one-year membership of The Post for readers aged 16 to 25, as part of their commitment to strengthening communities and supporting local journalism. Verify your age ...
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Hare coursing is horrible, but I would still be amused if it turned out that this is what the five Londoners at the US airbase were up to,
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Well, that's a horrible cricket season over. Lancashire finish second bottom of division 2 after a bright start, and I just can't feel it getting better next season.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I wonder what the assessment process will be like for seeing if you have had help from the "bank of mum and dad" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Andy Burnham announces scheme to help first-time buyers
The prime minister says he wants people without support from the "bank of mum and dad" to receive help.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Just coming to terms with idea that if Manchester City hadn't cheated bigly, Blackpool would have beaten them in October 2010, we'd have then gone on to win the Premier League, and history would be different.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The window 2 Sustainable Farming Incentive 'first come first serve' approach, weighted to big farms with full time office staff, is a total cock up by the govt. They've had 2 years to make it more equitable. Nobody on Bluesky seems to have noticed, oddly.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
After a decadeish lay off caused by injury, work, Covid, work & laziness, I'm starting the running thing again. Tried the Couch to 5k thing but it's not for me given it involves both discipline and a mobile phone. I'm going back to the simpler method of just running till I have to stop or be sick.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The opening then 'full up' closing of the Sustainable Farming Incentive funding application 'window' within 6 hours of each other, when most small farmers were out, erm, farming, does seem bizarrely Whitehallish. Presumably this loaded the dice in favour of large farms with full-time admin staff.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Quick update: the first council motion on seeking devolved council powers to interpret the Supreme Court FWS vs Scottish ministers differently from the way the EHRC has done will go forward in early November. Bit longer than hoped because reasons, but getting there/
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The first tranche of the Great British Energy funding has an interesting split between funds aimed community org (£20m) vs councils (£5m) www.gbe.gov.uk/funding-oppo..., given the No. 10 narrative about trusting local government to deliver.
gbe.gov.uk
Funding Opportunities | Great British Energy
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The £20m community org vs £5m council split here is interesting as a bit of the ex-Miliband project maybe not really trusting councils to deliver, though this is only 3% of full £1bn offer as currently budgeted. communityenergyengland.org/news/great-b...
communityenergyengland.org
Great British Energy announce Community Fund and the new Partnerships Grant
Great British Energy is launching £30 million in funding to kick start a community power revolution, designed to support the growth of community energy and strengthen collaboration between community…
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The anti-trans extremists managed to gather 46 people signed up to their 'Reality Based Runners' parkrun-hassling club today, out of 1,501 Bushy participants, presumably because one of the chief agitants was there. Elsewhere in SW London, they had 1 (Kingston), 0 (Wimbledon), 0 (Richmond Park).
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Key thing is I'm now beyond the clutches of a) small orgs who need funding bids doing for nothing; b) the "can you just do one last shift for us?" care home appeals, for which I've been a real sucker. Now to focus on the policy/strategy stuff, but underpinned by years of just getting stuff done.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
And at a stroke, I no longer live in Lancashire. That escalated quickly. New start. More time for writing. But not today.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
What a mess www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Plans for major overhaul of councils halted
Proposals to merge smaller councils to form larger authorities have been paused or withdrawn in a number of areas.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The red bit's the good bit for left political coordination.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
My pet theory remains that some of this comparative improvement in PISA scores stems from immigration in 2000s and the cognitive advantages of bilingualism acquired in childhood pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual
Today, more of the world’s population is bilingual or multilingual than monolingual. In addition to facilitating cross-cultural communication, this trend also positively affects cognitive abilities. R...
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"...do you think that the way the masked men in Dover & Portsmouth were causing trouble was or was not an acceptable way of showing strength as a paramilitary force?" would have created different results. The terms 'protesting' and 'legitimate' in the question reinforce each other to skew answers
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Part of the issue here is that @yougov.co.uk's question is skewed. They weren't "protesting". They were acting as paramilitaries.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Hadn't realised this was the very first Reform to Labour local govt defection. Be interesting to hear what drove it, not least since Nigel overland trips to Ukraine with supplies suggest his views on that war may be our of kilter with the other Nigel's.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Once the website has caught up, Nigel willshow as a Labour councillor. Not a bad bloke, actually. Just made a mistake. Cue the #nigeltolabour headlines. #defection
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
After a 4-3 win Skem Town are top of the league, and an extaordinary journey is emerging, but no sports journos seem to understand/give a shit. Maybe one for @liverpoolpost.bsky.social Happy to have initial chat.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I've not got the text of this as it's subscribe thingummy but as a careworker who's written and read I'd be interested to see it if anyone can send it to me. From memory James thinks I'm an arsehole, but I don't think that's cos I'm a careworker to be fair, more to me with being an arsehole.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Two losses on the bounce for the beloved Blackpool, but we've not failed to score in any game this season, so I remain hopeful of being free from relegation fear by early April. #leagueone
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
After 750 odd parkrun volunteerages, I hung up my parkrun hi viz today, at least for now. The old pic from 2015/6ish they chose for my very nice card has me wearing the same bike top I wore today, and which I've had since around 1997.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Looks like a clear enough offence under section 1 of the Public Order Act 1936, given the instruction to wear black and mask up to look like paramilitaries. This is exactly what parliament had in mind back in 1936. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
bbc.co.uk
Port of Dover delays: Disruption as masked 'stop the boats' protesters block roads
Hundreds of demonstrators, wearing black with their faces covered, caused delays to traffic reaching the port.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Looks like the sting made him grimace enough. Can't wait to see the pics when he gets the university probe launched up him.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
"Namaste", a bloke stuck under ground for 10 days does not omit to say www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Handy to note that JL Partners appear to have been doing for Reform what find Out Now did for Restore a few months ago via skewed prompting, thoug in fact FoN didn't actively concealed who commissioned those early Restore 7%ers when few people outside Gt Yarmouth was really aware of them.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Anyone thinking suggesting I am moved by this bravery and bravery acknowledgment should be warned that they face a high court injunction if they do so.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This idea presupposes a continued need for public consent. The techbros at the top of the data centre pyramid are increasingly convinced both ideologically and experientally that the need for it is being done away with, and in the USA - esp if the mid terms are fraudulent - they will be correct.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Key thing for me, someone who's done four of these over the years, one in wild and three in clinical settings, is that this in the wild guidance now dispenses with mouth-to-mouth in favour of good quality, good pace compressions and quick start/no pause, which makes a good deal of sense.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
This is a good use of 15 mins www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-...
bhf.org.uk
Learn CPR in 15 minutes for free with RevivR
Learn CPR free in 15 minutes from home with RevivR. All you need is a cushion and a digital device.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The point here, which I really should work up in detail, is that if DfE & HMT are out of kilter with ONS on how much student debt should be classified as debt in the national accounts rather than credt (as per the 2019 revision) then perversely it could open the way for a form of fiscal boost.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The para that stands out in this article is the one saying "officials" have been working out for the first time how much student debt will actually be repaid. It's eight years since ONS adopted a "new approach recognis[ing] that a significant proportion of student loan debt will never be repaid".
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
"Publishers chasing digital audiences is a tale perhaps as old as time" does seem an imaginative stretch.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
1/ Just thought I'd check in on how the anti-parkrun campaign is going after the Daily Mail blitz, followed up by online extremists. The main measure of success is how many people sign up as members of the 'reality runners' club, so that this shows in the results.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Breaking: For the 4th year in a row, Classic FM's no.1 film score is Howard Shore's theme tune to Lord of the Rings. This is still predictive both of a) 55-70 yr old votes in a general election b) my desire to exterminate the Classic FM-adjacent bourgeoisie, and their wallpaper.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The AI bot slop incitement to racial hatred now also normalizes pavement parking, I see.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Actually this might be one for @liamthorp.bsky.social's gang.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
And after all today's games, Blackpool remain at the head of the table. It's been a while.......
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Stop League One now!
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
A story about football for your weekend of football and maybe no cricket
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
1/ If I was a good Bluesky-using, sociologically aware sports journo like @jonathanliew.bsky.social or one of those people, I'd be picking up on this strange story of non-league football in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. Here's how it sort of goes.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
My Facebook feed reminds me that ten years ago today I became a published poet. Or maybe that was when I got a copy of the book.
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Paul Cotterill @bickerrecord.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I see Reform are proposing to remove the vote from up to a quarter of a million blind/partially sighted people in its drive to pretend that 'family voting' is a problem (a Presiding Officer can currently allow another person to assist a blind/ disabled person to vote under sch 1 rule 39 of RPA 1983)
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