Edmund Lee

A year ago, the Labour government instructed Louise Casey to carry out an Independent Commission on Adult Social Care.

This is a major piece of work to fundamentally transform the care sector and will take a long time.

But Baroness Casey said she would feedback with any immediate actions...

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The home heating oil situation is terrible for many unlucky enough to be about to refill. The outrage is this is an unregulated, unprotected, market (we've long called for that to change). We are subserving many, especially those who live in rural communities.

Lawlor demands crackdown on home heating oil price gouging - The Labour Party Lawlor demands crackdown on home heating oil price gouging - The Labour Party Government must act on heating oil hikes Hard pressed households cannot pay more Labour’s enterprise spokesperson George L...

It looks like potential profiteering on heating oil has been picked up as by politicians in Ireland, but I've not heard anything from UK as yet ... labour.ie/news/2026/03...

Graph of domestic heating oil price for the last four years from UK supplier Boilerjuice. Shows spike in March 2022 to 150p.

Same graph for last four years, so including the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Not far off returning to those prices now for the 3%of households on oil fired heating...

Graph of heating oil price from UK supplier Boilerjuice. Price is level around 60p for most of last year, then doubles to above 120p in the last week.

'Risen sharply' doesn't quite convey the rise in heating oil costs. This is the graph for the last year from Boilerjuice.com website. I was lucky to be able to order at around 88p per litre this week.

New Electric Boat To Banish Emissions From Offshore Wind Farms The centuries-old maritime firm Bibby Marine steps into the 21st century with a new electric offshore wind service vessel.

New Electric Boat To Banish Emissions From Offshore Wind Sites

cleantechnica.com/2026/03/04/n...

But a great result though? ⚽. Hope it feels better soon.

I don't know (or care) if it will be the clear evidence of need, political self-interest, or shame at running a government with the largest majority but least popular support ever, but one way or another Labour must include #ProportionalRepresentation in the Electoral Reform Bill.

Chart from Boilerjuice.com of heating oil price for last three months, showing price stable around 60 pence per litre till last week, now spiking up to 99.75 pence.

It's more than that Kenny ... Chart from www.boilerjuice.com/heating-oil-... This is the pence per litre for 1000 litres orders : VAT is 5% on top. So a 1000 litre order now around £360 more than last week.

I don't see the need or value of a Commission on introducing #ProportionalRepresentation for Westminster elections. It just needs legislation which can be debated and refined through Parliament.

Menace of the Machine: The Rise of AI in Classic Science Fiction edited by Mike Ashley Reviewed by Graham Andrews. This review first appeared in The BSFA Review. Q: Spot the year of first publication (+ or – 20 years): “Day by day, however, the machines are gaining ground upon us; da…

Maybe one of the stories in this anthology 'Menace of the Machine'? Review here lists most of the stories... vector-bsfa.com/2021/04/10/r...

🚨 "Large groups of permanently unrepresented voters create fertile ground for anger and extremism."

🗯️ Powerful speech by @rozsavage.bsky.social about the dangers of sticking with FPTP in our current, fragmented and polarised reality.

👉 The Representation of the People Bill needs to address this.

This is good, but is there time or need for a Commission? Labour have introduced PR in devolved administrations. Could you not instead press for legislation in the next Kings Speech to introduce this at Westminster?

Universities use QR funding for a wide array of costs to support their research. The idea that it all goes to “curiosity driven research” is totally wrong.

Either UKRI knows this and is deliberately misleading Parliament, or, perhaps worse, it doesn’t.

🧪

committees.parliament.uk/publications...

I've often wondered if EV battery swapping might be a part of the transition to EVs generally. Swap batteries rather than spending time recharging while travelling. Similar business model to buying gas in a bottle.

Today is the Second Reading of the Representation of the People Bill.

It's an important bill - it's just a shame it does nothing to change the voting system that leaves millions of people without representation 👀

We went to Westminster to speak to MPs about this. Our CEO Emma Harrison explains 👇

Labour must include PR in its new Bill, otherwise it's only representation for SOME of the people - West Country Voices The government’s Representation of the People Bill, introduced on 12 February, has been hailed as the biggest expansion of democratic participation in a generation. Cleaner political finance rules and...

"While votes at 16 is a genuinely historic step, how motivated will young voters feel when, for so many, their vote will almost certainly change nothing?

The most powerful thing we could do to engage all voters is to give them a system in which their votes actually matter."

Well said 👇

The Representation of the People Bill MUST scrap First Past the Post First Past the Post can no longer deliver real mandates - only chaos. 60% of Brits want it scrapped. Yet the new Representation of the People Bill won’t even touch our rotten voting system, which lea...

If you haven't already, please consider adding your name to ... actionnetwork.org/petitions/th...

I agree Andy. A #ProportionalRepresentation system using those poll results would roughly be...

-- Seats / MPs --
➡️ Ref: 143
🔵 Con: 130
🟢 Grn: 123
🟠 Lib: 71
🔴 Lab: 110

So not great for progressives, but Farage would need to do actual politics to get anything through.

Or they could create a Bluesky account ... 😉

Screen clip of text from a Google AI result. Reads "S. J. and P. Melot likely refers to researchers or botanists in taxonomic or scientific literature, particularly related to the study of fungi"

Hey Phil 👋. My extensive research on Google AI into the manufacturing mark suggests the following about S. J. And P. Melot. Not sure I believe it, but then again as you are close to the Linnaean Society... 🍄

The Representation of the People Bill will have its Second Reading today.

While it includes some necessary measures, our position is clear:

It won't fix our broken democracy without reforming the very voting system that leaves millions of people unrepresented.

Scrap FPTP now.

Labour must not bind Britain's fate to the failing electoral system - Politics.co.uk It’s fair to say that British democracy is in ill health. Labour has inherited rock bottom public trust in politics and a state wracked by austerity. We are working to show that government can deliver...

"The Westminster system is crumbling. Labour must rebuild it – or we will find ourselves under the rubble."

✍️ Beccy Cooper MP & Tim Roca MP

🌹 #Labour4PR #ElectoralReform #Democracy
@drbeccycoopermp.bsky.social @timrocamp.bsky.social @politics.co.uk
www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

Professional archaeologist (retired) and life-long SFF reader. I feel seen!

P.S. strong #solarpunk vibe in your essay Ada.

I am now looking at my garden furniture veeery differently 😆

What do we know about voter turnout in parliamentary elections? - Economics Observatory Voter turnout has declined in recent decades, reaching a 20-year low in the UK’s 2024 general election. While overall turnout has fallen, some groups – including young people and ethnic minorities – a...

You mentioned the risk of falling turnout, Hannah, which I believe is also a warning sign from this by-election. There's a good summary of the issue here ... www.economicsobservatory.com/what-do-we-k...

Proportional Representation is the only way forward. I don't believe there is time for another Commission on this - legislation should be in the next King's Speech.

The UK can't be dragged into another protracted Middle Eastern war by a US President.

Historic England | Hiring fairly through Applied <p>We are the public body that helps people care for, enjoy and celebrate England's spectacular historic environment.</p><p>We protect, champion and save the places that define who we are and where we...

Hmm - my snarky comment got in the way: here's the link:
app.beapplied.com/org/1703/his...

A number of interesting roles currently advertised by Historic England...

But when-oh-when will HE get themselves a Bluesky account? 😉https://app.beapplied.com/org/1703/historic-england#jobList