Peter Clinch

The UK governments habit of insisting on science having an economic return provable upfront has, ironically, been dragging back the UK economy for decades. Its why our space industry basically doesn't exist for instance.

What motive could a crypto billionaire possibly have for funding a political party to champion light regulation of corrupt practices? Asking for a nation of cynics.

Not enough space frames in your day so far? Here's a couple of good ones, taken on my ride home from Pedal On Parliament '26 in Embra yesterday...

Thought Tony Blair had drifted into irrelevance some time ago, but turns out he's still there and very determined to head deep into negative figures. FFS... 🤦‍♂️ www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I didn't mean to turn this into a short thread, but once I started ranting ... So here it is, on one page: skywriter.blue/@georgemonbi...

I'll be getting my bus pass this year, so I'm old enough to remember when Labour (Scottish and down in Englandshire where I come from) were actually worth voting for other than tactically to keep the Scum out, if you can imagine such a thing!

The fallacies of breaking traffic law not being a "real crime" part 3285... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

With Wales showing a lead here, hopefully Scotland can follow...

Say no to Palantir in the NHS https://notopalantir.goodlawproject.org/email-to-target/stop-palantir-in-the-nhs/ NHS England is rolling out software to run our health records from Palantir – a US spy-tech firm that has supported mass deportation in the US and enabled genocide in Gaza.

Back in the day I signed Charter 88, looking for a fair voting system (among other things like a written constitution). Decades later we still need one... I've just signed "Back the National Commission Amendment" - Will you support the campaign too? actionstorm.org/petitions/nc... @OpenBritainHQ

I did "the school run" by car for 5 weeks when a move meant it was necessary before a new school was sorted out. And aside from the reasons given here, not doing it by car means... *not doing it by car*! By car is awful. Why would anyone do that to themselves if they had a realistic choice?

“The transformation is astonishing. [Paris] has quietly—& quickly—become one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world. What started as a series of emergency “coronapistes” or pop-up bike lanes, built during the pandemic has evolved into a permanent bike network spanning hundreds of kilometres.”

First bike I bought myself, an Edinburgh Bike Co-op Country tourer; Ultimately replaced by an HP Velotechnik Streetmachine GT recumbent tourer; A Brompton L3 folder; A Burrows 8 Freight cargo bike; A Thorn Me'n'U2 kiddyback triplet. 1st donated to a recycler, 5th sold on, others still used by me.

If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features." There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.

As a member of CUK I agree this is a Must Do Better and I've just sent in a Moan. If the legal technicalities of a campaign name have become problematical then change the name until the law ceases to be an ass, retain the inclusivity and don't further erode the dignity of trans people.

1. This is a thread on freedom, and how easy it is to lose. Over the past 2,000 years in Europe, there have been few periods and places of freedom. For much of the time we lived under highly oppressive tyrannies of various kinds, whether small or grand, local or imperial, secular or religious.🧵

Any time anyone starts talking about taking us out of the ECHR, ask them two questions: 1. Which of these rights don't you believe in? 2. What exactly would you replace it with. And don't take any vague promises like Brexit benefits.

My colleagues & I have taken a huge gamble to set up @thenerve.news We’re trying to build a new independent publication from the ground up. Social media is our only distribution for now. Sharing this article in your networks would make a huge difference. Thank you! 🙏🙏🙏

In which Larry Elliott is absolutely right. theguardian.com/commentisfre... . In addition, IMO it's morally right to charge drivers a lot more because of the adverse effects of current levels of driving - not just potholes and congestion. We have been saying this for some time... 1./

“When people who oppose all forms of violence, who are trying to stop war and terrorism, are arrested on terrorism charges, nothing makes sense any more” - spot on from @georgemonbiot.bsky.social

Generally, the Guardian's been a good resource, but their actions re: the Observer were trash. Reposting this to celebrate independent media and reporting rising from the ashes of those actions.

2000 years ago: the Romans would let an aqueduct destroy the Gardon Valley. We need clean water, but at what cost?

Aside from needing alternatives to driving, induced demand tells us this scheme will actually make life worse for drivers in time, as well as baking in our car dependency and debilitating other options. We've been trying an everyone drives everywhere policy for decades and it carries on not working.

McDonald's says their new restaurant will be accessible to cyclists. What it will actually do is create a dangerous junction crossing Dundee's only serious cyclepath. It should not be given permission. @dundeecitycouncil.bsky.social @dundeecycling.co.uk

Wot Skunk Cabbage Sez... Bikes are a highly efficient way to get about. One can easily go faster than most runners for less effort than walking, while carrying quite a lot of stuff. The modern urban bike is in significant part a *labour saving device* and that's without e-assist.

@peterwalker99.bsky.social typically on-point here, and the comments are, predictably, full of people sweeping anyone on a bike, entirely oblivious to what was actually written, into a generic "cyclist and therefore bampot" category 🙄

Tony Blair is literally being paid by a man with one of the highest carbon footprints on the planet - Larry Ellison. The founder of Oracle is his biggest funder & these techsolutionist remarks have to be seen for what they are: tech lobbying www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

I have written a thing about Jeremy Vine and cycling campaigning. (no paywall) open.substack.com/pub/nedboult...

Once you know it starts "Ah, it's cycle helmet day again" you can probably the guess the rest without a translator... (your regular reminder that the main effect cycle helmets have on cycle safety is taking useful bandwidth away from stuff that would actually make a significant difference to it)

NEW: Last week’s newsletter had ‘IT’S A COUP’ in big red letters on front page of NYT. Well, guess what? It still is. We have to stop framing what’s happening as in any way normal. It’s a coup & a collapse in the international order & none of this is ‘normal’ broligarchy.substack.com/p/us-coup-ga...

“How is the government failing to understand that you can’t implement an ambitious programme of change without robust government bodies? You can’t simultaneously appease corporate lobbyists, the Daily Mail, Times & Telegraph & deliver effective & beneficial policy?” 👏👏 👏@georgemonbiot.bsky.social

My ride is here. All aboard the Bennie Railplane!

Absolutely this! (Reading while watching the cars queuing for the "free" parking at Ninewells... 🤦‍♂️)

By me: Cycle paths are pointless if women don't feel safe using them at night. If you want to give people the choice to cycle, there need to be good options for everyone (note: I had the headline amended as research shows almost a quarter of routes are deemed socially unsafe after dark, not half)

If you see this post, quote with a bridge from your gallery

And we have another "you can't go up a hill without waterproof boots" nonsense review in the @theguardian.com 🙄 I can only assume that the folk they get to write these would have their minds utterly vaporised if they saw what folk get up to in mountain marathons. www.theguardian.com/thefilter/20...

One of these where protestations of the Sky Falling In if we do it not seeming to apply in the numerous places where this is normal practice. Not a "total game changer" in itself, but one of many things that all help towards a better society.

Can't we arrest these people and send them to prison, the way we do with other folk who obstruct roads? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

I think he means "so we can ignore people's human rights"... Nasty Playbook 101, get people to remove their own human rights by encouraging them to remove those of outgroups with a bit of targeted dehumanising. I'll stick with human rights for humans in general: clue in the name!

This is happening in TWO WEEKS! Please come and join me at this south London cycling institution, Herne Hill Velodrome. I'll be chatting with the woman, the legend, Jenni Gwiazdowski about my book, carrying a shrub on a bike across Cornwall and who knows what else @hernehillvelodrome.bsky.social

NEW: I interviewed Chris Boardman about his many careers, including his current role at Active Travel England. He told me that fact-free anti-cycling media stories are harming the UK's health, as they put off politicians from making brave but necessary decisions. www.theguardian.com/news/2024/de...

And this is a lot of why the "Vision" bit of ScotGov transport/health policy recognises more active travel and less private motoring is good. If only the "Actually Doing Stuff" bit of ScotGov got a Round Tuit to actually make solid progress on the ground...