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Nick Fraser

@nicholasfraser.bsky.social
2.1K followers 13K following 250 posts

Urban Transport, Air Pollution, Cycling, Tropical Birds, Plov

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Reposted by Nick Fraser
Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
A decade on, British politics and society still doesn’t grasp the nature of the threat posed to it by Russia.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
When I say the politics will become increasingly obvious... I mean look at this. If you want to unite the left/centre and split the Tories, without a big spending committment there's no better option.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
“In London cyclists now outnumber cars in the City by 2 to 1. Paris, where they now outnumber motorists across the whole city, is catching up with Europe’s traditional bike capitals, Amsterdam & Copenhagen…In Copenhagen, bikes account for almost half of commuter trips to work/school.” @economist.com
economist.com
Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport
Pedal power is booming, spinning up a new culture war
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Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife.com · 08/10/2026
Therefore, the main takeaway from the Netherlands shouldn’t be to just build more bike lanes. It should be to make the act of getting on a bike easy at first, and let the network grow from there. As Dutch planners learned long ago, the most important part of your bike plan is actually the car plan.🔚
A cycling priority street in the Netherlands where drivers are guests and cyclists are the main users.
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Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife.com · 08/10/2026
One of the key lessons from Dutch cycling history is cities didn't start with protected lanes. They began by making streets safer, calmer and more inviting; with lower speeds, parking restrictions, traffic filters and reduced through-traffic to create an environment in which cycling could flourish.🧵
A cycling priority street in the Netherlands where drivers are guests and cyclists are the main users.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
“Local stores next to the protected bike-lane have seen a 49% increase in sales, compared to an average of 3% for Manhattan as a whole.” (Among MANY other public benefits.) Want To Make More Money? Build A Business On A Bike Lane. #CityMakingMath via @fastcompany.com #BikeLanesMeanBusiness
fastcompany.com
Want To Make Money? Build A Business On A Bike Lane
Research from New York City notes that newly installed protected bike lanes do more than keep bikers safe--they raise the income of the stores they are in front of.
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Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife.com · 07/10/2026
Cyclists in the Netherlands take 300 million day trips and 5.85 million overnight trips per year, generating €3.6 billion for the economy and supporting 39,000 full-time jobs. Across Europe, cycle tourism accounted for 28% of the bike industry’s total economic and employment impact. bit.ly/47Gy7VU
A series of photos of beautifully designed cycling bridges in the Netherlands.A series of photos of beautifully designed cycling bridges in the Netherlands.A series of photos of beautifully designed cycling bridges in the Netherlands.A series of photos of beautifully designed cycling bridges in the Netherlands.
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Useful things are happening recently on the right, with prominent figures drawing a line under the racism: Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nadhim Zahawi, now James Cleverly. Tentative sense of a social and moral norm being re-established.
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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I was in Utrecht for the annual Velo City conference last week and got to cycle slowly around the world's largest bike parking garage beneath the Centraal station. Room for 12,500 bikes and the first 24h of parking is free
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This analysis really makes no sense to me.
theguardian.com
Badenoch returns to Conservative conference much stronger than a year ago
Approval ratings for Tory leader and her party have crept up as she has asserted her style and authority but big challenges lie ahead
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Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife.com · 05/10/2026
Monday morning outside Rotterdam Centraal, thousands of cyclists stream toward the station in a carefully choreographed flow. What you’re seeing is the power of systems thinking—the bicycle and train both succeed because they work together seamlessly, where each mode extends the reach of the other.
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 02/10/2026
How popular is Donald Trump in Western Europe? (10-21 Sep 2026) 🇩🇰 -91 net favourability (-1 from Aug) 🇩🇪 -78 (-2) 🇮🇹 -76 (+3) 🇬🇧 -75 (-5) 🇪🇸 -74 (+1) 🇫🇷 -67 (-2) yougov.com/en-gb/articl...
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
One of two Labour gains from Reform in Northumberland by-elections yesterday. Too early to know for sure we've passed peak Reform, but another encouraging sign.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The ability to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into a loss-making TV channel, bent on wrenching British politics sharply to the right, is yet another of the ways in which extreme wealth is trying to remake UK democracy. It needs to be part of any serious conversation about political funding.
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 01/10/2026
Our latest tracker data shows that 59% of Britons support rejoining the EU, and 73% support a closer relationship Only 30% support the status quo, and just 16% want to loosen ties further yougov.com/en-gb/articl...
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Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife.com · 30/09/2026
Safety alone isn't enough to get more women cycling. Cities must start building cohesive networks connecting the myriad places women need to go. This means looking beyond “Can women cycle safely here?” and asking: “Can women use this network to live their lives?” LISTEN: www.dw.com/en/why-arent...
A collage of women of all ages and abilities cycling in the Netherlands.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Not sure how the triple lock change will ultimately play politically. But trapping the Tories and Reform into defending a policy literally none of them support in private is potentially a neat move.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
“Paris has embarked on a grand transformation, planting 155k trees, adding hundreds of kms of bike lanes, pedestrianising 300 school streets and banning cars from the banks of the Seine. Parking has been turned into green space…Fewer parents fear their child being run over when they walk to school.”
theguardian.com
How Paris swapped cars for bikes – and transformed its streets
Under Anne Hidalgo – mayor for 12 years until last week – the French capital added bike lanes, cut traffic and reclaimed public space, but not without resistance
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
What fantastic news
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The Times has been told that falling immigration reduces the fiscal headroom for the Chancellor. The Times is just completely mistaken (chronologically) to attribute this to "the success of Shabana Mahmood's reforms, since net migration fell to 171k in 2025. She became Home Secretary in Sept 2025.
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Dean Hochlaf @dhochlaf.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Healy on ITV just now saying we have a system which asks "how much are you entitled to" and that's absolutely not true, the welfare system in the UK has loads of conditionality to look for and find work, it's so weird Labour keep pretending otherwise
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Even the GB News presenter is thrown by his guest's suggestion that all asylum seekers be castrated. This is what happens when the narrative marches ever rightwards. It drifts out of everyone's control and requires individuals involved to suddenly realise 'no wait, f***, that's mad'.
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🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 @militarynewsua.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
❗️Radio Liberty staged an unboxing of Russia’s jet-powered Geran-4.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife.com · 26/09/2026
A key theme of Women Changing Cities is the importance of showing up. Not just to challenge the ideas that we disagree with, but to support the leaders who are thanklessly shaping more inclusive, equitable, and caring places. Melissa's interview with Budapest's Feminicity Collective: bit.ly/4xSPvS5
The cover art for a book, “Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation”, which includes pink typeface over a grey stylized photo of a Paris street from above.A woman in casual business attire stands with a red bicycle in Delft, with a cycle path and windmill visible in the background.A man pushes a stroller in a “school street” in Tirana: an area outside of a school protected from car traffic and painted in colourful patterns.People in casual spring attire play volleyball in a pedestrianized street in the Albanian capital of Tirana.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A dramatic spike in small boats daily arrivals on Wednesday: 781 people on 10 boats. This means the year-on-year drop is now 42% rather than 44% The BBC reporting is now putting context *much* higher But shows the challenge that visible optics remain more reportable than invisible trends.
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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
If you feel like donating to the RNLI, here’s a link. I just have. Their minimum donation is £2: I think it might be nice for them to receive a lot of donations this week, even if they’re mostly very modest. Just so they know a lot of people out here appreciate their work. rnli.org/support-us/g...
rnli.org
Donate to the RNLI and help save lives at sea
Your donations really make a difference. We depend on your generosity to educate people to stay safe and prevent tragedies on and offshore. Donate here.
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Nick Fraser @nicholasfraser.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
If you fancy doing something to demonstrate your support for the brave heroes of RNLI and your total disdain for the appalling thuggery they are facing. Easy to make a one-off donation. rnli.org/support-us/g...
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Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 25/09/2026
Quick oceans update: yah, sea surface temperatures remain in new territory this year. See more at zacklabe.com/climate-chan.... This data (extrapolar ocean) is provided by @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social ERA5. 🌊
Graph showing daily global mean sea surface temperatures for 2026. This is also compared to the daily data from the 1981-2010 average and 1991-2020 average. Annotations are also shown to the current year with the other years from 1940 to 2026. There is a seasonal cycle. There is a long-term warming trend. 2023 and 2024 are also indicated, which were the warmest years on record. Data is from ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis and updated through 23 September 2026.
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Approval of Trump has hit yet another all-time low, again less than 24 hours since the last low.
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The resilience of immigration in these figures is really troubling. We need the reporting of the fall in small boat and general immigration to ramp up. Reform can come back as long as that issue reigns.
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Nick Fraser @nicholasfraser.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Try UGREEN Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter [MFi Certified] Grey - on Amazon UK. Bought one 5 years ago and still working.
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This is the lowest that Reform UK have polled with YouGov in well over two years
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Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Staggering levels of repudiation, rejection, and decay.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
That the Dems are odds on to win Alaska and have a 30% chance of winning in Kansas indicates quite how much trouble the GOP are in...
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It does say a lot about the current and previous government that they have been less willing to clearly state this than Sunak. Quite why is a mystery for the ages.
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Time is long overdue that the political mainstream in Britain vigorously re-asserts its longstanding anti-racism norms... these have been allowed to be significantly eroded the last few years.
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 19/09/2026
I think it should be a source of deep embarrassment – and perhaps even shame – that Rishi Sunak has spoken out on this before Andy Burnham has.
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The only thing I would disagree with here is that the UK is not helpless - it is a choice not to fight back against Musk. It is the wrong choice.
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Ben Rosamond @benrosamond1.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The RNLI is popular, cherished even. This feels like a mis-step, the kind that follows from being marinated in the toxic cesspool that is X and assuming that it reflects majority public sentiment.
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Nick Fraser @nicholasfraser.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A whole new genre opens up. Reform should get on with animating real time incidents of the many other issues they are continually seeking to inflame the public with. Something tells me that they won’t.
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Stop calling them 'protests'. Mobs. Riots. Disorder.
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Akshat Rathi @akshatrathi.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"This is the first time in more than 50 years that there has been no growth in India’s coal power over a two-year period, even as electricity demand grew overall." www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-ind...
carbonbrief.org
Analysis: India’s power-sector emissions flat for two years due to clean-energy surge - Carbon Brief
A surge in clean energy has kept carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in check across India’s power sector, with no growth from the first half of 2024 to the same period in 2026.
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Nicolas Hénin @nicolashenin.net · 17/09/2026
Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I would love to ask a prominent BBC journalist to give me an example of an illegitimate concern. Is seems to me that it has become a question not of fact, logic, or ethics but of volume. If a big enough proportion of a village was anxious about Bigfoot or Chemtrails, BBC would cover it in a way...
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
So who is condemning this? Will journalists be pushing politicians to explain how these are 'legitimate concerns'?
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Very nice to hear a sane voice from Piddington. Serious respect to this woman, who is apparently already being othered by more bigoted villagers.
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It was one of the great joys of my recent life to know Bonnie Greer. A truly remarkable person who radiated such wisdom and intellect. And when she spoke the audience was rapt. A kind, generous, passionate and very funny human. Thank you for giving us you Bonnie. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Bonnie Greer, writer and cultural commentator, dies aged 77
The British-American novelist and playwright who regularly appeared on panel shows will be remembered for her ‘warmth, humour and generosity’, says her husband
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Good straightforward reporting from the Wall Street Journal on Musk's promotion of Restore/Rupert Low/civil war in the UK. Lots of detail, no polemics. The BBC could and should do this. Why doesn't it? archive.ph/eTOS5
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Really is amazing how many Reform and UKIP elected officials have been arrested over years. So unlucky.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 15/09/2026
We’re:
— Redesigning our most dangerous streets. 
— Regulating delivery apps. 
— Lowering speed limits where children play.
— Upgrading 1,000 intersections every year. 
— Cracking down on dangerous drivers and super speeders. 
— Improving our street lights.
— Building safe, beautiful public spaces.
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