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Kevin Carmody

@skinofstars.bsky.social
179 followers 140 following 95 posts

Green councillor for Harborne, Birmingham, UK Work in technology and political ad transparency. Interested in climate justice and urbanism. Former host of Better Streets for Birmingham podcast - betterstreetsforbirmingham.org/podc…

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Reposted by Kevin Carmody
John Munro @johnmunro.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Imagine being an MP presiding over a place where this was happening, and choosing to never say anything about it ever while instead going on about small boats and people protesting against genocide.
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I find it maddening the idea that you need a history of incidents on a street before an intervention. Always in the guise of being data led. Why do people demand blood?
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I'm delighted to welcome Councillor Bushra Bi to the Green Party, who has defected from Labour to our growing Green team in Birmingham. birmingham.greenparty.org.uk/2026/09/11/l...
Councillor bushra bi defecting from Labour to the greens.
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Rine Vieth @rinewithoutacat.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Reminded of this ad @zackpolanski.bsky.social put out a little over a year and a month ago, for no reason at all, while another Labour PM fails to meet the right-wing surge in the current political moment. bsky.app/profile/zack...
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Jeff Baker @jwbee.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
People who "almost got hit by a bicycle" are extremely numerous while people who actually got hit by cars remain unavailable for comment.
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Really? Is that it? If this is all that’s come from COBR, it’s pitifully inadequate. As crisis deepens, it beggars belief that there aren’t eg plans to increase resources for the fire service, support for farmers, max workplace temperature, funded community cool spaces & obvs ban on new fossil fuels
independent.co.uk
Andy Burnham warns of summer ban on disposable barbecues
Andy Burnham said he would consider if a restriction on purchasing the products during the summer months could be justified
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Yet another young life lost on Birmingham's roads. A driver charged with driving while disqualified... that's right, they already had already been caught and punished before. The idea that we can police our way to safe streets is naive.
bbc.co.uk
Nine-yaear-old boy dies two weeks after Kings Norton crash
The crash happened by Masshouse Lane at the junction of Shannon Road in Kings Norton on 28 July.
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
National Highways report show they're failing on road safety and reducing carbon emissions. Their best claimed achievement in the past year is the "low value for money" Lower Thames Crossing. transportactionnetwork.org.uk/road-safety-...
transportactionnetwork.org.uk
Road safety still not a priority for National Highways
With the latest National Highways Report and Accounts and their regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), Annual Report and Accounts now out, we’re sharing our key headlines from the reports, and ...
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GMB Union @gmb.org.uk · 07/08/2026
Just 14% of England's waterways are in good health. 14%. It's a badge of national shame - and privatised water companies must take a massive chunk of the blame. They’ve been allowed to pump sewage into our rivers, as massive dividends take priority over infrastructure.
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Nate O @nateo.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Ex-PM Starmer said, in response to Raise the Colours terrorising people, ‘I am supporter of flags’, ‘I’m very encouraging of flags. I think they’re patriotic and I think they’re a great symbol of our nation’ and his family had ‘got St George’s flag in our flat’ www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Raise the Colours Oxfordshire organiser Ben Cullen head-butted a highways worker after police were called to McDonalds in Benson where highways staff were attempting to remove flags from lamp posts;
Highways staff now wear unbranded PPE, work in unbranded vehicles, wear face coverings to hide their identity, and do not travel alone for fear of attacks;
Highways staff working on streetlight maintenance, not flag removal, have been spat on and abused by RTC supporters;
Cullen and his partner Trudy Wells posted the office addresses and phone numbers of highways depots online, leading to comments suggesting “hanging council workers from those same lamp posts”;
RTC Oxfordshire fixed trackers to the vehicles used by highways staff, then used this to find out their home addresses – which have been published online, and repeated to staff with threatening messages;
Highways depots now have to remain locked at all times;
A highways contractor’s sponsorship of a children’s football club is being rethought after concerns that children could be targeted.
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Joe Peacock @brumgreenjoe.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Yesterday, my wife and I went to the opening of a new exhibition at Seventh Circle on medical misogyny reflected through art. Thanks to the curator, Sophie Mason, for putting together an excellent and thought-provoking exhibition. "Bleeding Out" until 9th August: www.svnthcrcl.com/exhibitionse...
My wife and I standing by the metallic 7th circle sign
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
It's not just advocates who say this. Researchers, studies, and data say it. That's why advocates say it. Reporters can just say it, too!
theguardian.com
US push to defund ‘DEI bike lanes’ will make roads less safe, advocates say
Trump administration boasts of cutting $1.73bn already allocated for cycling improvements to city streets
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Interesting marketing choice 🤔
Bike locks called Grinder
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Sam Jeffers @worklesshard.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Because paid "Blue Tick" programmes get you more reach for your posts, they're more like a form of advertising. You can use this fact to regulate participants for transparency, and add more obligations for larger accounts. fulldisclosure.whotargets.me/p/the-other-...
fulldisclosure.whotargets.me
The other political advertising problem
... and how to deal with it
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Dr. Susan G (she/her) @madtownmama.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
For four years I worked in advocacy for safe, just, sustainable transportation systems (I still do related work, just less advocacy-focused) and I was ALWAYS saying we don’t pay enough attention to the impact of traffic noise. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
Risk of Parkinson’s disease may increase with prolonged exposure to road traffic noise
Pioneering study linking noise pollution to Parkinson’s finds 3% increase in risk for every 11.5dB rise in noise levels
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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
New: A road-legal, council-funded @ternbicycles.com HSD e-bike allegedly crushed, wrongly identified as a motorcycle by police. Calls for education on the issue are growing www.cyclingelectric.com/news/police-...
cyclingelectric.com
Call for education as police crush road-legal, council-funded Tern HSD e-bike
A legal e-bike, mistakenly seized and destroyed by West Midlands Police as part of a crackdown on illegal electric motorcycles
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
I appreciate the decorations in the Green Group offices at the council 🌈🦄
Happy councillor standing in front of the Progress Pride flag
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Caroline Russell @carolinerussell.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
At the Delivering Vision Zero conference in Birmingham. Aria Rattan, active travel ambassador: “Somewhere along the way, we’ve decided that the safest place for a child is inside the back of car.” “How can we have a childhood if we can’t walk through it” #PitchPerfect 🌱
Aria, speaking on panel.
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Caroline Russell @carolinerussell.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
100% this take. Closing schools ignores housing inequalities and parents’ employment inequalities and puts the worst impact onto the children growing up in poverty.
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Today I wrote to Birmingham's Cabinet Member for Transport as well as the WMCA urging them to use their new powers to take action on pavement parking. Groups like @livingstreets.bsky.social and @betterstreetsforbirmingham.org have been campaigning for this for years. The time to act is now.
Official letter to the Birmingham Council Cabinet Member for Transport, urging for action on tackling pavement parking
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
For Fathers' Day, Keir Starmer posts a photo of his own father, who died in 2018, and a non-political message. The replies are a torrent of vitriol & cruelty, all with hundreds of Likes. We complain a lot about the quality of leadership, but there's a huge problem with the way we treat politicians
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Who's feeling fired up for the Greens to win the Mayor of Manchester? This is it. It's on! 💚🚀 Join.greenparty.org.uk
join.greenparty.org.uk
Join the Green Party
Join the Green Party from just £6 a year. Become a member today - join the only party standing up for people and planet.
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Dan @dasy2k1.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Kids are hanging around in the youth clubs.... Close them all Kids are hanging around in the library... Withdraw the funding Kids are hanging around in the park... Issue them with ASBOs Kids are hanging around online.... Ban them..... After all we can't let kids socialise can we?
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Prof. Ian Walker @ianwalker.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I shall watch this with interest. There's no way to get 60% of kids actively travelling to school without disrupting current patterns of car-based mobility. This includes making all urban streets safer, not just those right outside schools www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Ministers want 60% of pupils in England ‘actively’ travelling to school by 2035
Exclusive: Transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, says cycling and walking plan focuses on ‘everyday travel needs’
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Cool Bike Art @coolbikeart1.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Some heroes don't wear capes
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Why are we hearing about the sob story of a drink driver and not about the lives ruined from these selfish actions? www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midland...
birminghammail.co.uk
Single mum 'mortified' after drink-drive 'foolish decision' ends in crash
Helen Dickens, 43, from Droitwich Spa was over the legal alcohol limit when she collided with a HGV lorry on Alcester Road last November, and now faces a 12-month driving ban
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Joe Peacock @brumgreenjoe.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Here we are. A coalition of 40 councillors determined to do our best for the city of Birmingham. I am taking on the role of deputy cabinet member for city operations and digital. I want to help take us from the bottom of the league for recycling to the top half over the next four years.
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Roger Harmer (LD) has been elected leader of Birmingham City Council for a Green/LD/Indie coalition. Shock in the room as a Reform councillor voted for the coalition leader 😱
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Sounds like more of the same. Join.greenparty.org.uk
Burnham claims he's "open minded" on north sea drilling.
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Sam Jeffers @worklesshard.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Rupert Lowe is, quite simply, mad on his own notoriety, and through Facebook has a dial he can turn further and further to the right without consequences.
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The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 01/06/2026
Happy Pride Month from the Green Party! 🏳️‍🌈
A graphic with a rainbow coloured background that reads: Say it with us. Happy Pride Month!
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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Thinking about why women might not want to use a product that has forced itself into every software interface to confidently shout things that are wrong
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Better Streets for Birmingham @betterstreetsforbirmingham.org · 31/05/2026
🚲 Come join our monthly cycle around Birmingham City Centre. Open to all ages and abilities. Every first Friday of the month, 6pm start from (currently) Hippodrome Square on Hurst Street. We look forward to welcoming you! 🙂
Flyer with text:

Birmingham
CIRCLE THE CITY
Group Ride First Friday of every month.
6pm Start.
Meet at Hippodrome Square, Hurst Street
All ages and all abilities are welcome. The more the merrier!
Meet people, learn new cycle routes and enjoy the fun and freedom of cycling safely in the city.
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Just saw a pedestrian nearly get hit on a crossing at the junction of Small Heath Highway and Coventry Road. They look really shook up, I felt it just watching. That anyone thinks we should be increasing the speed limit on these roads has a clear disregard for anyone outside a car.
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
VLR would be terrible for that corridor. I know Coventry is nearby and we love them, but it's woefully underspeced for a major route. If you've dismissed heavy rail then it has to be the next best with tram, but £1.2bn?! How much would this cost in Europe?
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Martin Price-Phillips @mpricephillips.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
I've just read the strategic outline case for mass rapid transit between Birmingham City Centre and Longbridge. 📑 £1.2bn for trams 🚊, £551m for very light rail 🚈 or £113m for bus rapid transit 🚏. The route would be via Smithfield, Pershore Rd to Edgbaston, then across to A38 through to Longbridge.
A map showing the South and South West of Bimringham, indicating where a mass rapid transit route would go. The route starts in Digbeth, goes through Smithfield, down Pershore Road to past Edgbaston Stadium, before moving to the A38 to go via Selly Oak High Street, Northfield High Street and down to Longbridge Rail Station. There are indications of where nine tram or very light rail stops would be (Smithfield, Calthorpe Park, Pebble Mill Road, two on Selly Oak High Street, Bournville Lane, Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Northfield High Street and Longbridge Rail Station. Bus rapid transit would have an additional stop near The Roundabout in south Northfield and on Selly Oak High Street.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
On hottest May day recorded, reanimated corpse funded by fossil fuel interests recommends abandoning efforts to tackle climate crisis www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Tony Blair tells Starmer and rivals: abandon net zero and move closer to Trump
In highly unusual intervention, ex-PM says his party’s ‘almost infinite capacity for self-delusion’ makes it likely to lose next election
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
“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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Sam Jeffers @worklesshard.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
It's 35 degrees in May and you're posting this?
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Birmingham Pride on wheels!
A cyclists rides in Birmingham Pride
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Better Streets for Birmingham @betterstreetsforbirmingham.org · 22/05/2026
Roads like the A45 and A47 go through areas at the greatest risk of road harm. Over the past six months, this policy might well have already saved lives. Given that the average speed of A-roads in the city is 16.1mph, reverting speed limits only dials up the severity of crashes and fatalities.
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Better Streets for Birmingham @betterstreetsforbirmingham.org · 22/05/2026
Any Councillor seeking to reverse this policy should consider how they would intend to explain their decision to the first bereaved family of a fatal crash following a reimplementation of 40mph.
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John Munro @johnmunro.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
If @bhamcitycouncil.bsky.social can tow cars for a parade, they can tow them when they are left in places that endanger wheelchair users, people pushing prams, children walking to school, cyclists, etc. It's a choice. And a statement about official priorities.
bbc.co.uk
Birmingham residents angered by lack of warning over Villa parade parking restrictions
More than a dozen residents in one area woke up to receive penalty charge notices or find their cars towed.
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Jacob Öberg @profjacob.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
🚨🚨This is a MAJOR political and strategic mistake by the UK and a policy which I think has very limited popular support. Loosening sanctions on #Russia is very much playing directly in the hands of #Putin. 🧵 www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
UK loosens Russian oil sanctions as fuel prices rise
The waiver reflects increasing supply concerns over certain fuels due to the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Got to be honest, loosening sanctions on Russia before we’ve even tried any basic demand-side measures is not filling me with pride or joy
bbc.co.uk
UK loosens Russian oil sanctions as fuel prices rise
The waiver reflects increasing supply concerns over certain fuels due to the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Who thinks a fun night out is ruining the public realm by cutting down trees?! www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midland...
birminghammail.co.uk
Vandals saw down new trees in Digbeth amid 'Sycamore Gap' outcry
Police urged to investigate vandalism as trees lopped in Digbeth high street
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Prof. Ian Walker @ianwalker.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
So much about this has me screaming into my motonormativity cushion. Why further subsidise all the wealthy people who drive? Why NOT subsidise the poorer people who don't drive?
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Kevin Carmody @skinofstars.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
This is quite appalling. The reduction was in direct response to lives lost. We need strong leadership in transport if we are to tackle the mounting toll of deaths and serious injuries on our roads.
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Sam Jeffers @worklesshard.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
If the Green Party can successfully channel "fuck AI", they're going to do pretty well.
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