Richard Close

I studied early British / Scottish / Irish history during my degree. We know frustratingly little about this time period (4th-10th century) and even less when it comes to the Picts, which is one of the reasons I’m obsessed with them.

An amazing haul of CDs for £1 each from an antiques warehouse near Auchtermuchty. Quite esoteric stuff, none of your Classics for Pleasure or Andre Rieu. All ripped and tagged, in your face Spotify.

Nature will find a way

This is an unforgivably stupid situation. It is an astonishing own goal to try and drive student numbers down to move an immigration number that in turn is totally ignored by the anti-immigrant head bangers.

Morally indefensible Politically insane Economically harmful The government's immigration policy is a catastrophe for the Labour party, a gift to its opponents on left and right, and really bad for the country. Starmer owns it entirely.

Here’s a poem called ‘Life of a Naturalist’.

In the 1930s, Oswald Mosley claimed to be a patriot, while his British Union of Fascists was secretly funded by the Italian government. We are just beginning to grasp how much of the far right in the UK today has been funded by Viktor Orbán and Russian oil money. Their "patriotism" is always a con.

We visited Perth today. The heather blooming in the Bellwood Riverside Park was quite breathtaking. We've driven past this park so often, and had no idea of the beauty on the other side of the wall.

"There is an alternative way forward: being True – not Blue – Labour. True Labour doesn’t fear those who are different. Instead, it demands everyone contribute their abilities to society – and works to unlock such skills." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Not sure which is worse: 1) Labour being hostile to migrants because they're trying to get Reform voters,or 2) Labour being sincerely hostile to migrants because they think it's the right thing to do. Maybe 2) is worse, because 1) might be fixable.

If Mandelson does have to do some time, I hope he makes the best of it like Hugh Grant's character in that Paddington movie.

Kuenssberg interviewing Johnson on the BBC! I feel like I'm going mad.

Happy #WorldHippoDay! Here’s “The Scots Hippo”, written & illustrated by Alasdair Gray … Images: The Scots Hippo (1–7), one of a series of prints by Alasdair Gray – available from @glasgowprintstudio.bsky.social #poem #poetry shop.glasgowprintstudio.co.uk/artists/38-a...

You know what would be a better way of achieving Reform's aim here? Scrapping the two-child benefit cap. And, indeed, more generous child support across the board. Also, a big expansion of housing supply to make it more affordable. What were their policies on these issues again?

Newport-on-Tay is looking very festive this evening. Here is a little collection of pretty bay trees. #fife

Barbican revamp to give ‘bewildering’ arts centre a new lease of life

If Russia and the US were genuinely willing for NATO states, including the US, to provide an "Art. 5-style" security guarantee they could just suggest that Ukraine joins NATO. They are doing the opposite, which tells us all we need to know.

Robbie Gibb was appointed to the BBC Board by Boris Johnson, was an editorial advisor for GB News, and worked as Theresa May's Director of Comms. He is not impartial or neutral. The government should remove him from the Board immediately to protect the BBC's independence.

If they're smart, Labour and Lib Dem politicians should now go big on every inaccuracy broadcast by GB News, demand big on air apologies, and ask why there's one rule for the BBC and not one for a rival channel.

Farewell Valaris Gorilla 6, we hardly knew ye. (Seen from Tayport sailing away from Dundee Harbour).

dear US friends, when a sitting president (re)builds the seat of government, it almost always means the president has no intention of leaving at the end of term. your African friends with decades of experience

According to this, they haven’t. No licences for asbestos removal applied for. Quelle surprise. The report also notes that the West Wing was laced with asbestos, until a 2019 removal programme - but that no such work has been undertaken in the East Wing. www.rawstory.com/amp/white-ho...

Asbestos. I’m sure that in the Trump administration’s carefully-considered demolition of the East Wing of the White House (a structure largely built in 1942), they’ve remembered to safely remove any asbestos.

Not the best picture, but apparently it's an oil rig coming in for decommissioning. Not your average view from the office

The Unipiper showed up. 💙

Oh, hello again, tech companies pretending to make huge deals with each other to boost the stock price.

it's so funny to see America's health insurance companies be like "look. If there's one thing we love it's denying you care. but we ran the numbers - and we cannot BELIEVE we're saying this - and it's cheaper for us to just pay for the vaccines than deal with you going to the ER."

This is pretty spot on. Politics should be the antidote to violence and the fertiliser of democratic not violent ends. But in modern America too many espouse it and defend it, thus ensuring it “does” have a place in their political life even when it should not. bsky.app/profile/fred...

The Barbican is a relatively recent building complex but it just feels totally beyond the capacity of our society to make anything this cool now, like the remnant of some fallen civilisation whose ruins we live amidst.

Listiening to the Mystery of Time (Kabeláč) again. Such a compelling piece of music. Feels vast and inexorable and alien. #ClassicalMusic #NowPlaying

I'm not eligible but it might be worth reminding people it can be done privately, at a pharmacy. £80-90 last year, but well worth it IMHO.

Tutsis were describes as "cockroaches" in the run-up to the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

There's a fantastic new bike dual carriageway in Broughty Ferry near Dundee. Miles of stunning off road cycling along the river #Tay