In which I discover that politicians really love using Alice in Wonderland as an example. Also top marks to Ed Miliband for getting the Moomins into Hansard.
In which I discover that politicians really love using Alice in Wonderland as an example. Also top marks to Ed Miliband for getting the Moomins into Hansard.
Speaking to the Unsung Britain conference yesterday, @claremoriarty.bsky.social from @citizensadvice.bsky.social emphasised the importance of joined up policy making ‡οΈ
Fascinating rural/urban contrast in Parkrun demographics. Iβm VW60-64, my son is SM25-29. Today at Hogmoor in Hampshire there were 11 in my age category and 12 in his, of a total 200 runners. Last week at Clapham Common there were 8 in my category and 99 in his, of 785 total.
We welcome the Governmentβs new funding to tackle homelessness, especially the support for households in temporary accommodation - an issue we highlighted last month.
We look forward to further action through the Homelessness and Child Poverty strategies.
Read our report here: bit.ly/4ohqiwo
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Reasons to come to our @elysiansingers.bsky.social concert this evening:
- cracking tunes from Mr Handel
- fab performances from choir & orchestra
- it's in a cool church π
Do come along!
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If the UCPIP Bill becomes lawΒ it will cut PIP for over 400k disabled people & UC for over 700k people who are disabled or have a long-term health condition by 2030.Β Governmentβs own impact assessment says the cuts will plunge 150k people into poverty by the end of this Parliament
If Parliament votes in favour of the UCPIP Bill it will enshrine an arbitrary cut in law. We welcome the Timms Review but once again the government is doing things in the wrong order. @CitizensAdvice is asking MPs to vote against these proposals and calling on government to step back and think again
Speaking at our event @claremoriarty.bsky.social says we need to have a more coherent set of social tariffs across a range of areas (energy, other utilities, transport etc), and a range of localities. They are need to be automatic so they don't get in the way of everyday life.
Graphic for event 'The price is tight' How are the cots of essentials affecting low to middle income families? The event is on Monday 30th June at 10am
How are the cost of essentials affecting low-to-middle-income families across Britain?
On Monday, join our discussion with @claremoriarty.bsky.social @peterlevell.bsky.social and @lalithatry.bsky.social chaired by @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social
Sign up here β‘οΈ buff.ly/3NYLh0r
These benefits are a vital support for millions of disabled people - major change should not be rushed through. MPs have a choice: be on the side of disabled people or vote for cuts that will cause real suffering in the future 2/2
Proposed changes to disability benefits will create a two-tier system. If this goes ahead, from Nov 2026, new claimants who need help to cut up food, dress, wash, or use the toilet will be denied the lifeline that PIP provides 1/2
We started this glorious #SummerSolstice day with a sunrise swim at the ever-lovely Petersfield Open Air Pool and ended it watching the sunset from Butser Hill, the highest point of the South Downs
Completely endorse your view @joeoharadcu.bsky.social but I should point out that the author is not me but my brilliant namesake @quiteclare.bsky.social. Honoured as ever to be mistaken for her!
Oh, I so agree. If thereβs a way of getting definitive answers I havenβt found it yet. I donβt want to know whether something could happen, I want to know whether it has happened!
Carnivorous plants were much in evidence in Connemara last week. So for this weekβs #WildflowerHour, here is round-leaved and oblong-leaved sundew, and delicate flowers of butterwort
The Committee on Standards in Public Life has published a fascinating report on early warning signs of major failures. It got me thinking about times in my career when things went wrong, and what I learned. Mostly a lot about risk.
cspl.blog.gov.uk/2025/05/02/r...
Late entry for last Sundayβs #WildflowerHour #HighUpPlants challenge. St Patrickβs Cabbage just coming into flower close to the summit of Binn Idir an DΓ‘ Log, at 702m the highest of Connemaraβs Maum Turk mountains
Absolutely!
I love sanicle! We saw some in Clonbur Woods on Saturday but it was in the middle of a parkrun and I was phone-less so couldnβt even try to take a photo β¦
Beautiful! I donβt know if itβs a particularly good year for sea pinks but they are certainly very striking round here
Closest I can offer to a #HighUpPlant foot #WildflowerHour are these from a Connemara hillside: milkwort & tormentil
Plus some other beauties in shades of white, pink & purple: lousewort, sea campion, marsh orchid, green-veined orchid #WildflowerHour #Connemara
Itβs all about the sea pinks on the Connemara shoreline this week - masses of clumps in varying colours #WildflowerHour
Missed #WildflowerHour but these beauties were crying out to be shared. Green-winged orchids locally abundant on an outcrop at TrΓ‘ An DΓ³ilΓn (Coral Beach) in Connemara
π Child poverty is rising.
Ahead of the govtβs Child Poverty Strategy, join us to explore the root causes and the policy shifts needed to reverse the trend.
Speakers incl. Baroness Ruth Lister @claremoriarty.bsky.social & @tommacinnes.bsky.social
π #CADataInsights
Registerβ€΅οΈ tinyurl.com/yrvh5d3n
Useful intervention from @claremoriarty.bsky.social CEO @citizensadvice.bsky.social:
βif youβre cutting benefits without a clear path to how people can receive income through other means, thatβs not going to be raising their living standards or tackling poverty.β
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Meanwhile in the Dublin mountains, which got more of the weekβs sunshine, gorgeous gorse & coltsfoot brightening forest tracks verges #YellowFlowers #WildflowerHour
Spring is still barely arriving in Connemara, and flowers few and far between. But the rare ones I found last week did have the good grace to be #YellowFlowers - almost-out celandine, catkins & some slightly bedraggled primroses #WildflowerHour
At first glance, this is a pile of shells in a rockpool. Keep watching and youβll see itβs a hermit crab colony. Look out for the one that falls on its shell and flips back over, and the one that triumphantly pulls out a shell from underneath it.
#Connemara #AnDΓ³ilΓn
π€£π€£ Iβd love to claim such expertise but sadly it would be fraudulent!