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Apparently the local tourism slogan is “Cologne is a feeling”. But they don’t specify *which* feeling, which seems like they should have thought more about the potential for memes.

View through the window of a brightly lit Cologne gift shop, with colourful bear-shaped displays and souvenirs inside. Large lettering across the glass reads “Köln ist ein Gefühl”, meaning “Cologne is a feeling”.

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Underway again, this time from the colossal and still shiny Berlin Hauptbahnhof.

Interior of Berlin Hauptbahnhof, looking across the station’s vast multi-level atrium beneath a curved glass-and-steel roof. Escalators criss-cross between several floors, with shops, platforms, signs and a few passengers visible throughout.

I feel this sign raises more questions than it answers. (I am also fairly certain the sign – like the pockets of women’s jeans – is a lie.)

Street-level view of a dark shopfront with large outlined lettering prominently reading “NOT A GALLERY” above the windows. Pink curtains cover the wide windows, and a leafy tree stands on the pavement outside.

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One of the reasons I like Berlin so much is that it has produced so much amazing photography (although that’s partly because it’s experienced far too much history).

Black-and-white photograph of a crowded street scene in Berlin. In the foreground, a moustached man holds several East German banknotes aloft in one hand while clutching a wallet or document holder in the other. A group of people gathers closely around him, with city buildings visible in the background.

Black-and-white photograph of a busy fair or market surrounded by large apartment blocks. An enormous inflatable Mickey Mouse balloon dominates the left foreground, while a monumental sculpture of Lenin carrying a huge slab rises above the stalls and crowd on the right.

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This weekend is open house weekend in Berlin (and in London, too!). But unfortunately everyone else knows that, as well, so the queues are pretty long.

A long queue of people waits outside the entrance to Berlin’s Philharmonie beneath an overcast sky. The distinctive golden, tent-like concert hall rises behind them, with its angular peak and patterned façade, while a broad white canopy covers the entrance.

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The Berlin Police are definitely right that you’ll see more aspects of a city policing it than in any other way. But – given the aspects of cities that police see most – I’m not completely sure I would use it as a recruitment slogan. (I do like the play on the 110 police emergency number, though!)

Close-up of the side of a white-and-blue Berlin police van. Large German text on the blue stripe reads “POLIZEI” and “NIEMAND BIETET MEHR BERLIN” (“Nobody offers more Berlin”). A small yellow sticker reads “110 PROZENT BERLIN” (“110 percent Berlin”), and a QR code appears at the rear. Buildings and trees are reflected in the van’s dark windows.

After a night in the shadow of Berlin’s tallest building, I’ve now got a few hours to check out what’s new in the city.

Low-angle view looking straight up at Berlin’s Fernsehturm (TV Tower), showing the underside of its spherical observation deck and red-and-white antenna against an overcast grey sky.

If the Left party doesn’t win the upcoming elections here, they could maybe do well with this slogan in Birmingham?

A large white political campaign placard secured to a lamppost, photographed at an angle. In bold orange and purple lettering it reads in German: “Müll chaos beenden. Die Linke. Berlin bezahlbar machen.” In English: “End the rubbish chaos. The Left. Make Berlin affordable.”

Some might say it sends a message that the flagship train between Germany’s capital and the capital of one of its most important neighbours calls only at a station serving a suburban shopping centre rather than the big shiny main station in the government quarter. 🤨 Anyway, willkommen in Berlin.

Close-up of a blue “Berlin Gesundbrunnen” station sign beneath a large illuminated Deutsche Bahn clock, with “Nordkreuz” shown below. The station’s metal roof and anti-bird spikes are visible in the background.

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A very relaxed atmosphere on the Berlin–Warszawa Express.

A small golden-coloured dog lies stretched out in the aisle of a train carriage, resting its head on the floor between rows of blue seats. Passengers’ legs and bags frame the dog on either side.

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This has been the view for at least the last hour. The North European Plain is well named. On the other hand, if you’ve sent me an email at any point in the past 3 weeks and not yet had a reply, you’ll be getting one shortly.

A blurred view from a moving train across flat green fields beneath a wide blue sky filled with sunlit clouds, with warm late-afternoon light breaking through on the horizon.

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When I was about 14 I went on a school trip to northern France. I commented to a teacher that it was very flat, so she explained that the landscape was pretty similar all the way to Moscow, which was partly why there had been so many east–west invasions throughout history. Anyway:

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Although apparently the protest was only until lunchtime, since we’re now blasting through one crossing after another. Fortunately all the car drivers behind the various crossing barriers have decided to choose life.

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Not a great start: all Poland’s train drivers are slowing to 10kph at every level crossing to protest the high number of car drivers who drive around level-crossing barriers (recently leading to a fatal rail crash). So every train in Poland is delayed. Please don’t drive around crossing barriers. 🤦‍♂️

View across railway tracks to a busy platform at Warsaw Central Station, where groups of passengers with luggage wait beneath bright overhead lights. A silver train stands behind them, framed by large blue-grey concrete columns and the station’s high industrial ceiling.

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Time for a final pastry before departure. Why isn’t Poland famous the world over for its delicious pastries?

Close-up of a bakery display filled with elaborate pastries behind glass. Rows of glossy laminated pastries are topped with raspberries, blueberries, cream and crumb, alongside a long iced cinnamon pastry and round cakes decorated with berries and dried flower petals.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 31/08/2026

Having had a great week at #EuroCrim2026 catching up with colleagues and their research, it’s time to head home. But fortunately not by plane! Should be an easy and simple train journey with only (!) 3 changes: Berlin, Cologne and Brussels. As long as Deutsche Bahn plays ball. 😬 Wish me luck! 🧵

View looking up an escalator inside a tunnel with curved, highly reflective metal walls and ceiling. The escalator is inside a Warsaw metro station. The mirrored surfaces distort and repeat the lights, escalators and passengers, creating a tunnel-like effect. Several people ride upwards towards a bright, glass-roofed opening at the top.

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A lovely week cycling round Lake Constance (🇩🇪🇨🇭🇦🇹) in glorious sunshine. 😊

Sunset over Lake Constance, with calm water reflecting a pink and orange sky. A dark silhouette of trees and a small harbour extends into the lake, with low hills visible on the distant shore.

Moonlight over Lake Constance at dusk. A bright moon hangs above dark mountains on the opposite shore, casting a long silver reflection across the deep-blue water.

Colourful pumpkins and gourds beside Lake Constance. Wooden crates filled with orange, yellow, green and white pumpkins sit in front of a lush green field and hillside under a bright blue sky.

The Rhine Falls in Switzerland, with white water rushing over broad rocky falls and around large rocks in the foreground. A large historic building stands on the wooded hillside above the falls.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 15/08/2026

The reason for the huge difference in fresh water usage is specifically because in the UK cows are almost always eating grass, whereas in the US they’re usually eating feed that’s been irrigated.

This is relatively low, because most beef consumed in the UK is fed on rain-fed grass and crops. Production systems in the US, on the other hand, that rely on irrigated feed may consume almost 2,000 litres per kg. This is blue water that has been diverted from rivers and aquifers.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 12/08/2026

Two absolutely fantastic experiences (illustrated with two bad photos) in one evening. Both completely brilliant.

Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the Royal Albert Hall

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 09/08/2026

Well this never gets old!

View looking upward at the domed ceiling of the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, illuminated in vivid red and purple, with large spherical acoustic diffusers suspended around a central circular lighting rig. Stage lighting and BBC Proms signs are visible at the bottom of the image.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 30/07/2026

… and more research symposia should finish with a hike in the sunshine, too!

A group of eight people walk in single file along a narrow path across open moorland under a clear blue sky. Tall grasses and purple heather line the path, with the walkers photographed from behind as they head towards the distant horizon. The late afternoon sunlight casts warm light across the landscape, highlighting the textures of the grasses and the wide, open expanse of the moor.

View from a hillside overlooking a large historic stone building surrounded by mature trees, with a smaller stone structure in the foreground. Beyond the estate, a patchwork of fields, woodland and scattered villages stretches across a broad valley towards rolling hills on the horizon. The scene is lit by bright sunshine beneath a clear blue sky, creating a layered landscape of green woodland and golden farmland.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 30/07/2026

More research symposia should take place in sunny gardens. Thanks @jpinasanchez.eurosky.social and @ianloader.bsky.social for organising!

A group of people sitting on the grass in front of a screen of bushes. The people are looking at a man who is standing and speaking to them. The people are dressed casually and the scene is bathed in sunlight.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 24/07/2026

If you’ve never walked across a slice of a city to get a real feel for the place, I can’t recommend it highly enough. (Assuming you’re able to walk, of course.) Some sights from various wanders in London:

An urban canal just after sunset, with the orange sky reflected in the still water. There are trees either side of the canal and narrow boats tied up on one bank.

The Centrepoint building in central London bathed in evening sunlight.

A neoclassical building lit up with coloured lights.

The skyscrapers of Canary Wharf behind the neoclassical buildings of the Old Naval College in Greenwich.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 19/07/2026

93% of people living in Greater Manchester say they live in the North. yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

Map of England showing the percentage of adults in each ceremonial county who say they live in “the North of England”, based on a YouGov Profiles survey of 45,856 adults in England conducted in October 2025. Counties are shaded from light grey (0–10%) through progressively darker pinks and reds to dark maroon (81% or more).

The map shows a clear north–south gradient. All counties in the far north of England are dark red or maroon, indicating that more than 70% of residents, and in several counties more than 80%, identify as living in the North. High levels extend across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Cumbria, North and West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and much of Lancashire.

The strongest transition occurs across the Midlands. Northern parts of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire have at least half of residents identifying as living in the North, while neighbouring counties further south have substantially lower proportions. Counties such as Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire form the main boundary zone, with values generally between 41% and 70%.

South of this transition, most counties are pale pink or light grey, indicating that fewer than 30% of residents identify as living in the North, with many southern counties below 10%. An annotation highlights that “At least half of those who live in the northern parts of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire say they live in the North.” The source is YouGov Profiles, October 2025.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 29/06/2026

People in London support police using AI for a wide variety of tasks including translation, identifying high-risk repeat offenders and prioritising deployment. They do feel it’s important to have a human in the loop, though. www.police-foundation.org.uk/news/new-res...

Alt text:

Horizontal stacked bar chart titled “Support and opposition to police uses of AI”. Respondents were asked: “To what extent would you support or oppose the police using AI for each of the following purposes?” Each bar is divided into five categories: strongly oppose (dark burgundy), somewhat oppose (pink), neither (grey), somewhat support (light blue), and strongly support (green). Support is highest for fast translation for non-English speakers (66% support) and safeguarding vulnerable people faster (64% support, 17% neutral, 16% oppose). Around six in ten support using AI for predicting where police resources are needed (63%), linking related crimes (64%), identifying serious or repeat offenders and victims (63%), assisting with cold cases (62%), detecting internal police misconduct (62%), automating record-keeping and administration (61%), and managing deployments during busy periods (57%). Support is weaker for reducing civilian staff to fund frontline policing (45% support, 25% neutral, 26% oppose), predicting which individuals will offend (44% support, 24% neutral, 27% oppose), and assisting judges and jurors (43% support, 23% neutral, 30% oppose), the latter attracting the greatest opposition. Overall, support exceeds opposition for every proposed use.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 26/06/2026

Opinions from towns beginning with other letters are presumably also available! 😁

Part of a presentation slide saying “Focus groups: Leeds, Lancaster, Lichfield, London”

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 20/06/2026

England’s latest sunset of the year (more or less). Although the sun is setting behind hills that are in Scotland! 📍 Allonby, Cumbria

Sunset over a broad tidal shoreline at low tide. In the foreground, wet sand and scattered dark pebbles reflect the warm light of the setting sun. Bands of exposed mudflats and shallow pools stretch across the middle distance, creating horizontal layers between the beach and the sea. The sun sits just above the horizon near the centre of the image, casting a narrow orange reflection across the water and wet sand. Beyond the sea, a range of low, dark hills and mountains forms a silhouette against the sky. The sky transitions from bright orange near the horizon to pale peach higher up, with only a few small clouds visible. The overall scene is calm and expansive, with strong reflections and contrasting dark shoreline textures.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 13/06/2026

Romanian was the third most spoken language in England after English and Polish in 2021, and it wasn’t far behind Polish. I wouldn’t be surprised if Romanian is above Polish in the next census, given how well the Polish economy is doing. www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

Slope chart comparing the ten most commonly spoken main languages other than English in England and Wales in the 2011 and 2021 censuses. Languages are ranked by position in the top ten, with lines showing changes in rank between years. Polish remained the most common language in both years, with 612,000 speakers in 2021. Romanian showed the largest rise, moving from outside the 2011 top ten to second place in 2021 with 472,000 speakers. Panjabi and Urdu ranked third and fourth in 2021, followed by Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati and Italian. Several languages that were in the 2011 top ten fell in rank by 2021, while Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian and Italian moved into the top ten. The chart emphasises changes in ranking rather than changes in the number of speakers, with connecting lines linking each language’s position in 2011 and 2021.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 12/06/2026

I've been seeing this map all week across social media, but quite a few things about it are wrong (no Southwark, two Bexleys) that suggest it's been AI generated without checking the details. So I created a version based on the actual census data:

Map of Greater London showing the most common non-English language spoken in each borough, based on the 2021 Census. English is the most common language everywhere, so the map displays the second most common language. Distinct colours indicate different languages. Romanian dominates much of outer north-east and east London, including Barnet, Harrow, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Bexley. Turkish is most common in Enfield, Haringey and Hackney. Spanish is most common in several central and south-west boroughs, including Islington, Wandsworth, Lambeth, Lewisham, Richmond, Southwark and the City of London. Panjabi is most common in Hillingdon, Ealing and Hounslow. Bengali is most common in Tower Hamlets and Newham. Other boroughs show French (Camden, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea), Gujarati (Brent), Arabic (Westminster), Nepali (Greenwich), Polish (Merton and Croydon), Portuguese (Bromley) and Tamil (Kingston and Sutton).

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 12/06/2026

A lot of the borough boundaries on this are wrong and so are some of the top languages, so I think it's AI generated. Here's a version based on the actual boundaries and census data:

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 12/06/2026

I want to know if anything on this map was accurate, so I made one based on the actual borough boundaries and census data. Most of the top languages were correct, but the most-common non-English language in Westminster is Arabic (7,446 people), not French (4,876) as shown on the AI map.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 09/06/2026

At the point where people are setting fire to vehicles, those people are either rioters or arsonists, not protestors.

Screenshot of a social media post from Sky News. The post headline reads, “Vehicles set alight in Belfast as protesters take to the streets.” Below the headline is a split image showing two scenes of vehicles on fire. On the left, a large vehicle burns intensely on a city street, with bright orange flames and thick black smoke rising high above nearby buildings. On the right, another vehicle burns in a residential area, surrounded by a crowd of people gathered nearby. The linked article preview repeats the headline and mentions a man charged with attempted murder after a knife attack.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 09/06/2026

My UCL Crime Science colleague Jyoti Belur has set herself quite the challenge to answer this question in her professorial inaugural lecture this evening!

A presentation slide with the text “The central question: How can police organisations be ethical, equitable and efficient at the same time?”

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 07/05/2026

A really useful framework for police leaders to think through the issues associated with adopting a new technology, written by my colleagues Shane Johnson and Kate Bowers. More detail in this paper: doi.org/10.1111/1467...

The Elements of CRIMEFACE
Crime reduction/detection outcomes
Reactionary outcomes other than crime
Implementation considerations
Misuses/potential backfire effects
Economics
Future proof-ability
Applicability
Contextual differences
Ethical considerations and sustainability

Public Trust in Digital Technology: 'CRIME’

CRIME
Does or is the technology likely to reduce crime or improve its detection?

MISUSES
What are the likely reactionary outcomes:
1. Perceptions of legitimacy
(will the public accept it)?
2. Public Trust (will the public engage with it?
3. Explainability (can the public easily understand it?

IMPLEMENTATION
How easy is integration with current systems?
What are the knowledge expertise requirements?
Does it need a security protocol change? Cultural or technological?

MISUSE
What is the potential for misuse or backfire effects?

ECONOMICS
What is the likely value for money and cost-effectiveness?
What is the likely return on investment?

Public Trust in Digital Technology: 'FACE'

FUTURE USE
Will it stay current or go obsolete quickly?
Will future use or updates be costly?

APPLICABILITY
Are there clear mechanisms for crime reduction and detection?
Are there clear mechanisms for reactionary outcomes such as public trust?
Is the technology relevant to multiple crime scenarios and crime types? How adaptable is it across problems?

CONTEXT
Is effective operation highly context dependent?
Might contextual differences affect implementation, crime outcome and/or public reactions?

ETHICS
What are the ethical considerations including:
- Transparency
- Proportionality
- Is it non-discriminatory and unbiased?
- Does it comply with DPA?
- Are the ethical
implications evaluated?
- Environmental impact including sustainability and carbon costs.

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 27/04/2026

@scottkeay.bsky.social 1h 41min!? 😳 This had better be good.

A podcast listing showing an episode of the podcast Analyst Talk featuring Scott Keay is 1 hour 41 minutes long

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 26/04/2026

Really nice atmosphere at today’s Champions League semi-final at the Emirates. Going to a women’s top-flight match is just such a nicer experience than going to a men’s game. If you’ve not tried it, it’s a great afternoon out!

A crowd at a football match, with a banner saying UEFA Women’s Champions League

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Matt Ashby @mattashby.com · 23/04/2026

Former chief Dennis O’Connor is now passionately emphasising the importance of signal crimes (crimes that might be quite minor but are highly visible) to public perceptions of safety and confidence in policing.

A conference panel including Professor Emeritus Gloria Laycock, UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, Matt Twist, Metropolitan Police Service Assistant Commissioner, Sir Denis O'Connor, former Chief Inspector of Constabulary, chaired by Dame Sara Thornton, Chair of Trustees, The Police Foundation