Iain MacGilleBhràith
@aeonmach.bsky.social
I LIKE a *lot* of shit: sci & tech (my day job!), environment & energy (ecomodernism), politics (~moderate, social-liberalism), culture & language(s), outdoors (mountains, cycling/MTB, sailing), travel, nuance & irony.
I HATE black-&-white simplism!
I HATE black-&-white simplism!
I despair:
Exhibit A: a 🧵 recently on Reddit in which some Yank extolled some wax-wrapped Welsh cheese & loads of Brits were raving too…
(wax-wrapped cheeses are mid cheddar novelty items)
Exhibit B: as below, fruit in cheese
(again, novelty bs)
Novelty marketing in British food is a curse 🤷♂️
Exhibit A: a 🧵 recently on Reddit in which some Yank extolled some wax-wrapped Welsh cheese & loads of Brits were raving too…
(wax-wrapped cheeses are mid cheddar novelty items)
Exhibit B: as below, fruit in cheese
(again, novelty bs)
Novelty marketing in British food is a curse 🤷♂️
A Cheese Selection box... where the majority of choices are cheese with fruit in them.
Truly, the nightmare before Christmas
Truly, the nightmare before Christmas
November 29, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I despair:
Exhibit A: a 🧵 recently on Reddit in which some Yank extolled some wax-wrapped Welsh cheese & loads of Brits were raving too…
(wax-wrapped cheeses are mid cheddar novelty items)
Exhibit B: as below, fruit in cheese
(again, novelty bs)
Novelty marketing in British food is a curse 🤷♂️
Exhibit A: a 🧵 recently on Reddit in which some Yank extolled some wax-wrapped Welsh cheese & loads of Brits were raving too…
(wax-wrapped cheeses are mid cheddar novelty items)
Exhibit B: as below, fruit in cheese
(again, novelty bs)
Novelty marketing in British food is a curse 🤷♂️
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
November 29, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
Mapa Gàidhlig na Seachdaine
Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath ~ North Lanarkshire
buff.ly/PWmFhaE
#AinmÀite #Gàidhlig #Cleachdi #Placenames #Gaelic #Maps
Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath ~ North Lanarkshire
buff.ly/PWmFhaE
#AinmÀite #Gàidhlig #Cleachdi #Placenames #Gaelic #Maps
November 28, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Mapa Gàidhlig na Seachdaine
Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath ~ North Lanarkshire
buff.ly/PWmFhaE
#AinmÀite #Gàidhlig #Cleachdi #Placenames #Gaelic #Maps
Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath ~ North Lanarkshire
buff.ly/PWmFhaE
#AinmÀite #Gàidhlig #Cleachdi #Placenames #Gaelic #Maps
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
The government figuring this out slowly over the coming two years is going to be quite something to behold.
I think the government meant to cut net migration but have accidentally overshot the target by a lot. They haven’t realised this yet.
November 27, 2025 at 4:14 PM
The government figuring this out slowly over the coming two years is going to be quite something to behold.
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
I think the government meant to cut net migration but have accidentally overshot the target by a lot. They haven’t realised this yet.
November 27, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I think the government meant to cut net migration but have accidentally overshot the target by a lot. They haven’t realised this yet.
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
I'm not sure how much it is appreciated that there will be significant emigration coming. Those here on graduate visas coming to an end, the toughening up of skilled worker rules re. salaries/sponsorable roles and the 'earned settlement' changes to come. Lots of people are going to leave.
November 27, 2025 at 11:08 AM
I'm not sure how much it is appreciated that there will be significant emigration coming. Those here on graduate visas coming to an end, the toughening up of skilled worker rules re. salaries/sponsorable roles and the 'earned settlement' changes to come. Lots of people are going to leave.
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
It's part of the electionification of everything, which is why we as a country are failing to have a proper conversation about our actual problems. It's bad for the left *and* the right.
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 10:17 PM
It's part of the electionification of everything, which is why we as a country are failing to have a proper conversation about our actual problems. It's bad for the left *and* the right.
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
⬇️ Since Brexit, mussel production has collapsed from about 10,000 tonnes annually to just five tonnes in 2022, just 0.05% of the previous total.
💷 An SPS Agreement will make it easier for British farmers and fishermen to sell their produce to Europe.
https://bit.ly/48geuE4
💷 An SPS Agreement will make it easier for British farmers and fishermen to sell their produce to Europe.
https://bit.ly/48geuE4
‘The customers are still there’: Welsh mussel farmers hope post-Brexit reset can revive business
Shellfish exports to the EU from the Menai Strait have all but collapsed, but fishers are looking to the future
www.theguardian.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:09 AM
⬇️ Since Brexit, mussel production has collapsed from about 10,000 tonnes annually to just five tonnes in 2022, just 0.05% of the previous total.
💷 An SPS Agreement will make it easier for British farmers and fishermen to sell their produce to Europe.
https://bit.ly/48geuE4
💷 An SPS Agreement will make it easier for British farmers and fishermen to sell their produce to Europe.
https://bit.ly/48geuE4
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
There will come a day when I tire of reading about the Your Party uncivil war.
Today is not that day.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Today is not that day.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
November 25, 2025 at 10:40 AM
There will come a day when I tire of reading about the Your Party uncivil war.
Today is not that day.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Today is not that day.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
@jonathanfreedland.bsky.social, citing our paper, says the government should seek a much more comprehensive Brexit deal. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Rachel Reeves is studiously ignoring the cause of Britain’s woes: the Brexit-shaped hole in its roof | Jonathan Freedland
The autumn budget will mop up some damage, but the true source of the economic crisis is clear. The government should now fix it – tragically, it won’t, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:12 AM
@jonathanfreedland.bsky.social, citing our paper, says the government should seek a much more comprehensive Brexit deal. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
I agree with much of what @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social says, but I’m a little befuddled by the persistence in the UK of the perception that a customs union is somehow an easier, smaller step than joining the single market for goods. Quite the opposite I’d say,
November 23, 2025 at 11:39 AM
I agree with much of what @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social says, but I’m a little befuddled by the persistence in the UK of the perception that a customs union is somehow an easier, smaller step than joining the single market for goods. Quite the opposite I’d say,
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
Ukraine banned from Nato, Russia readmitted to the G8 and territory ceded: what’s in Trump’s draft plan www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Ukraine banned from Nato, Russia readmitted to the G8 and territory ceded: what’s in Trump’s draft plan
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he expects to discuss the plan – which was reportedly drafted by Russian and US officials – with Trump
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Ukraine banned from Nato, Russia readmitted to the G8 and territory ceded: what’s in Trump’s draft plan www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
Cryptocurrency backed by Farage donor is used for Russian war effort, investigators say www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Cryptocurrency backed by Farage donor is used for Russian war effort, investigators say
Tether tokens found to facilitate scheme that enables sanctions evasion and launders money for the Kremlin
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Cryptocurrency backed by Farage donor is used for Russian war effort, investigators say www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
This does feel like a major crossing of the Rubicon – the world's best-funded and in many ways most powerful public health agency is now actively pushing disinformation.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
The CDC website now disseminates disinformation about vaccines, claiming erroneously that infant vaccines might cause autism, when we know conclusively that they do not. It is difficult to overstate just how dangerous this is. www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safe...
November 20, 2025 at 2:03 PM
This does feel like a major crossing of the Rubicon – the world's best-funded and in many ways most powerful public health agency is now actively pushing disinformation.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
Eat out to Help Out was killing people, but they “kept it out of the news”.
November 20, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Eat out to Help Out was killing people, but they “kept it out of the news”.
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
Brexity folks supporting human rights litigation
November 20, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Brexity folks supporting human rights litigation
This 👇 is complimenting @sundersays.bsky.social and, having followed him for a long time now, one of his most impressive qualities is indeed that he doesn’t lose his shit… often in the face of the most incredible bigoted shite.
Truly impressive.
Truly impressive.
yeah I'd have lost my shit long ago
November 20, 2025 at 1:02 AM
This 👇 is complimenting @sundersays.bsky.social and, having followed him for a long time now, one of his most impressive qualities is indeed that he doesn’t lose his shit… often in the face of the most incredible bigoted shite.
Truly impressive.
Truly impressive.
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
“In my work with cities, one of my messages that resonates most is that the truth about the cities aspirations isn’t found in its plans and visions. It’s found in its budget.
A budget may be the most powerful public policy lever a Council has, and the most authentic one because It reveals so much.”
A budget may be the most powerful public policy lever a Council has, and the most authentic one because It reveals so much.”
November 20, 2025 at 12:26 AM
“In my work with cities, one of my messages that resonates most is that the truth about the cities aspirations isn’t found in its plans and visions. It’s found in its budget.
A budget may be the most powerful public policy lever a Council has, and the most authentic one because It reveals so much.”
A budget may be the most powerful public policy lever a Council has, and the most authentic one because It reveals so much.”
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
The actual secret to why I know stuff is that I ask a question any time I don’t understand literally anything. I don’t care how simple it is. Anybody who makes fun of you for asking a simple question likely doesn’t know the answer either
November 20, 2025 at 12:32 AM
The actual secret to why I know stuff is that I ask a question any time I don’t understand literally anything. I don’t care how simple it is. Anybody who makes fun of you for asking a simple question likely doesn’t know the answer either
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
This is a very good documentary on Simple Minds and gives an interesting insight both into the state of British cities in the 1960s and the sense of despair felt by many young people in the 1970s. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Simple Minds: Everything Is Possible
The inspirational story of how a group of working-class kids growing up in post-industrial Glasgow dared to dream and became one of Scotland's biggest bands.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 10:01 PM
This is a very good documentary on Simple Minds and gives an interesting insight both into the state of British cities in the 1960s and the sense of despair felt by many young people in the 1970s. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Reposted by Iain MacGilleBhràith
If you need me, tap me on the shoulder. I’ll be happily working all day listening to this on a loop.
November 13, 2025 at 1:49 PM
If you need me, tap me on the shoulder. I’ll be happily working all day listening to this on a loop.
Today is brought to us by fabulous German compound words!
First we have the schadenfreude of Corbyn being accused of Zionism (see earlier post) - my sides, stop…
…and then we have the zugzwang that is the state of the Houses of Parliament.
First we have the schadenfreude of Corbyn being accused of Zionism (see earlier post) - my sides, stop…
…and then we have the zugzwang that is the state of the Houses of Parliament.
A final decision on how to repair Britain’s crumbling parliament is likely to be postponed beyond the next general election, according to four people familiar with the matter.
Final decision on fate of crumbling UK parliament delayed to 2030s
It’s a fire-hazard that’s prone to tumbling masonry — but fear of a public backlash is again delaying repairs to the world famous building.
www.politico.eu
November 15, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Today is brought to us by fabulous German compound words!
First we have the schadenfreude of Corbyn being accused of Zionism (see earlier post) - my sides, stop…
…and then we have the zugzwang that is the state of the Houses of Parliament.
First we have the schadenfreude of Corbyn being accused of Zionism (see earlier post) - my sides, stop…
…and then we have the zugzwang that is the state of the Houses of Parliament.
My schadenfreude scale needs to be extended…
The revolution eats its grandad. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
November 15, 2025 at 1:14 PM
My schadenfreude scale needs to be extended…