David Walsh
@davidwalsh16.bsky.social
Head of Public Affairs, WWF UK
185 Munros to go⛰️
Sharing my own opinions.
185 Munros to go⛰️
Sharing my own opinions.
You're the government. Change the broken law. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Trans women will not be allowed to attend main Labour Women's Conference events
The conference will take place in 2026 after being cancelled for a year in light of the Supreme Court's gender ruling.
www.bbc.com
December 6, 2025 at 11:30 AM
You're the government. Change the broken law. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by David Walsh
When JK Rowling says jump, every court and craven politician in the UK says "how high?"
We're now at a point where JK Rowling gets to decide which children get to live their childhoods. Not the kids or their parents, just this monstrous, billionaire bigot, a bloated tick on our body politic.
We're now at a point where JK Rowling gets to decide which children get to live their childhoods. Not the kids or their parents, just this monstrous, billionaire bigot, a bloated tick on our body politic.
i hope every single person who still buys harry potter merch or engages with that franchise is happy that they're literally making girl guides cry
girl guides uk have been forced very much against their will to exclude trans girls. full statement is here: www.girlguiding.org.uk/information-...
girl guides uk have been forced very much against their will to exclude trans girls. full statement is here: www.girlguiding.org.uk/information-...
December 2, 2025 at 5:53 PM
When JK Rowling says jump, every court and craven politician in the UK says "how high?"
We're now at a point where JK Rowling gets to decide which children get to live their childhoods. Not the kids or their parents, just this monstrous, billionaire bigot, a bloated tick on our body politic.
We're now at a point where JK Rowling gets to decide which children get to live their childhoods. Not the kids or their parents, just this monstrous, billionaire bigot, a bloated tick on our body politic.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... performative cruelty.
Government to ban asylum seekers from using taxis
The ban is set to come in February and any exemptions will have to be signed off by the Home Office.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 9:09 AM
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... performative cruelty.
Wait. Has Mamdani hired people with actual expertise in the subject rather than just someone who happened to work for an aligned think tank? Labour could learn a thing or two.
The climate crisis won’t wait and neither will we. With this team, we’ll meet it head-on.
November 28, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Wait. Has Mamdani hired people with actual expertise in the subject rather than just someone who happened to work for an aligned think tank? Labour could learn a thing or two.
"We got everything we wanted and it's terrible"
Daily Mail: THE BRAIN DRAIN FROM STARMER’S SOCIALIST CHAOS #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 27, 2025 at 10:32 PM
"We got everything we wanted and it's terrible"
Reposted by David Walsh
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.
The food system doesn't need reform, it needs revolution.
If inflation comes up at the dinner table, don’t forget to draw attention to a deeper structural driver of high prices: corporate power.
Much of the food industry is dominated by a few corporate giants with the power to keep prices high because they face little competition.
Much of the food industry is dominated by a few corporate giants with the power to keep prices high because they face little competition.
November 27, 2025 at 7:10 PM
The food system doesn't need reform, it needs revolution.
Forgetting the very recent lessons of Rishi Sunak proposing a more daft version of this, I can totally imagine No 10 copying it within the next 12 months on the basis of focus group support for reintroducing national service. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
France brings back limited military service with 3,000 volunteers next year
www.bbc.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Forgetting the very recent lessons of Rishi Sunak proposing a more daft version of this, I can totally imagine No 10 copying it within the next 12 months on the basis of focus group support for reintroducing national service. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
HMT are so committed to the future of ODA they both got the name wrong *and* couldn't even be bothered to spellcheck that bit of the budget document.
November 27, 2025 at 4:06 PM
HMT are so committed to the future of ODA they both got the name wrong *and* couldn't even be bothered to spellcheck that bit of the budget document.
Reposted by David Walsh
Since 2011 fuel duty freeze has cost the Treasury a whopping £133bn and added to yet more climate emissions. Freezing it yet again is reckless & irresponsible #budget2025
November 26, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Since 2011 fuel duty freeze has cost the Treasury a whopping £133bn and added to yet more climate emissions. Freezing it yet again is reckless & irresponsible #budget2025
Reposted by David Walsh
Also looks like ECO is to be axed from April. Big question as to what fills the gap. Some analysts said cutting it would take energy efficiency funding back to levels seen under Tory government.
November 26, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Also looks like ECO is to be axed from April. Big question as to what fills the gap. Some analysts said cutting it would take energy efficiency funding back to levels seen under Tory government.
Reposted by David Walsh
Shabana Mahmood's proposal to stop being told to "go back home" is to send people "home". Her proposal to stop black and brown people from feeling like they don't belong, is to bake in to the immigration system that they will never belong.
November 20, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Shabana Mahmood's proposal to stop being told to "go back home" is to send people "home". Her proposal to stop black and brown people from feeling like they don't belong, is to bake in to the immigration system that they will never belong.
There isn't a speaking element of the English A-Level, so literally what does it mean to "speak English to A-level standard"?
Not to mention the millions of British citizens who would fail all four of these criteria. It's nonsense.
Not to mention the millions of British citizens who would fail all four of these criteria. It's nonsense.
Migrants must have no debt??? The whole country is based on debt. That’s what Britain sells to the world. It makes our elite wealthy. But of course, their victims just deserve ever more punishment.
November 20, 2025 at 2:48 PM
There isn't a speaking element of the English A-Level, so literally what does it mean to "speak English to A-level standard"?
Not to mention the millions of British citizens who would fail all four of these criteria. It's nonsense.
Not to mention the millions of British citizens who would fail all four of these criteria. It's nonsense.
Reposted by David Walsh
From @philipjcowley.bsky.social - thanks to a happy coincidence we have a much more rigorous than usual understanding of the impact of Keir Starmer's "Island of Strangers" speech. As Cowley puts it "It is not obvious this was the intended outcome"
November 20, 2025 at 1:27 PM
From @philipjcowley.bsky.social - thanks to a happy coincidence we have a much more rigorous than usual understanding of the impact of Keir Starmer's "Island of Strangers" speech. As Cowley puts it "It is not obvious this was the intended outcome"
Reposted by David Walsh
Nature isn’t a “blocker” – it makes our lives better.
Our coast, countryside, heritage and wildlife underpin our food, water and health and put millions of pounds into the economy. The Government must not weaken the laws that protect them.
Our coast, countryside, heritage and wildlife underpin our food, water and health and put millions of pounds into the economy. The Government must not weaken the laws that protect them.
November 20, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Nature isn’t a “blocker” – it makes our lives better.
Our coast, countryside, heritage and wildlife underpin our food, water and health and put millions of pounds into the economy. The Government must not weaken the laws that protect them.
Our coast, countryside, heritage and wildlife underpin our food, water and health and put millions of pounds into the economy. The Government must not weaken the laws that protect them.
Strange interaction this. Seemingly the Tory position is that #COP30 exists for Ed Miliband's self-promotion but multilateral initiatives like TFFF are good.
November 18, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Strange interaction this. Seemingly the Tory position is that #COP30 exists for Ed Miliband's self-promotion but multilateral initiatives like TFFF are good.
Should have done it ages ago, partly stayed to save money on a conference pass. But I've left the Labour Party. They had the chance to change a broken economic model for good for climate, nature, and the most vulnerable people in society. They have failed too often in too short a time.
November 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Should have done it ages ago, partly stayed to save money on a conference pass. But I've left the Labour Party. They had the chance to change a broken economic model for good for climate, nature, and the most vulnerable people in society. They have failed too often in too short a time.
Only middle class professionals think about how to use tax incentives to minimise their tax bill!
One thing I've greatly enjoyed over the past few days is hearing government advisors diss every salary sacrifice tax break as a middle class thing. Only shiraz sipping bastards cycle to work! Yacht-dwelling latte sippers don't need pensions! Ed Miliband drives an EV!
November 14, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Only middle class professionals think about how to use tax incentives to minimise their tax bill!
Reposted by David Walsh
Q: Why can’t the UK do more rail electrification?
A: because it is too expensive
Q: why is rail electrification so expensive in the UK?
A: because we do so little of it
🤪
Welcome to the treasury logic that prevents sensible rail electrification investment, with your guide @noeldolphin.bsky.social
A: because it is too expensive
Q: why is rail electrification so expensive in the UK?
A: because we do so little of it
🤪
Welcome to the treasury logic that prevents sensible rail electrification investment, with your guide @noeldolphin.bsky.social
Huge thanks to @freewheeling.info who allowed me, this week, to go through the "Sparks Effect", HM Treasury and how we run the railway, on the Freewheeling Podcast. www.freewheeling.info/the-freewhee...
Feast-Famine Electrification with Noel Dolphin — Freewheeling
Why does electrification in the UK cost so much more than in the rest of Europe? And why does it always seem to go wrong? In today’s episode I talk to Managing Director (UK) of Furrer+Frey, the lead...
www.freewheeling.info
November 6, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Q: Why can’t the UK do more rail electrification?
A: because it is too expensive
Q: why is rail electrification so expensive in the UK?
A: because we do so little of it
🤪
Welcome to the treasury logic that prevents sensible rail electrification investment, with your guide @noeldolphin.bsky.social
A: because it is too expensive
Q: why is rail electrification so expensive in the UK?
A: because we do so little of it
🤪
Welcome to the treasury logic that prevents sensible rail electrification investment, with your guide @noeldolphin.bsky.social
Starmer said: “The greater our collective ambition, the more progress we make in tackling the climate crisis, and the greater the opportunities we create.” Then he did nothing to raise collective ambition.
How could No 10 let something like this happen? They will have had sign off on William's speech. They could have found the money to invest in the fund.
November 6, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Starmer said: “The greater our collective ambition, the more progress we make in tackling the climate crisis, and the greater the opportunities we create.” Then he did nothing to raise collective ambition.
How could No 10 let something like this happen? They will have had sign off on William's speech. They could have found the money to invest in the fund.
November 6, 2025 at 4:18 PM
How could No 10 let something like this happen? They will have had sign off on William's speech. They could have found the money to invest in the fund.
PM at COP truly giving one of his worst performances.
November 6, 2025 at 3:55 PM
PM at COP truly giving one of his worst performances.
Reposted by David Walsh
Important thread here on the possibility of scrapping ECO. I would add that when ECO was cut in 2013, 10,000 people lost their jobs. That's more than 3 times as many than Scunthorpe steel works and a whopping 20 times more than Grangemouth oil refinery
I’m afraid I’ve heard enough to take this seriously - No.10 is thinking of abolishing ECO, the main source of funding for upgrading fuel poor homes.
There’s no way to sugar coat this: it would be a disaster.
And it would mean this government spending less on upgrading homes than the last one
There’s no way to sugar coat this: it would be a disaster.
And it would mean this government spending less on upgrading homes than the last one
To be clear, what is being proposed here is to axe the main mechanism for getting Britain’s homes insulated - which is by FAR the best way to reduce household energy bills in the long term 🤦♂️
…and also, just incidentally, an absolute non-negotiable requirement for meeting UK climate targets 😬🥵☠️
…and also, just incidentally, an absolute non-negotiable requirement for meeting UK climate targets 😬🥵☠️
November 6, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Important thread here on the possibility of scrapping ECO. I would add that when ECO was cut in 2013, 10,000 people lost their jobs. That's more than 3 times as many than Scunthorpe steel works and a whopping 20 times more than Grangemouth oil refinery
If I was advising Reeves I'd say have a whole transport section to the budget where you also reintroduce the fuel duty escalator, tax short haul and frequent fliers, and set out how all this extra revenue will support cheaper bus and train fares, active travel and new/bigger EV grants for businesses
The Government is reportedly drawing up plans to overhaul car taxation in the upcoming Budget. This is welcome and long overdue – transport taxes have failed to keep up with the switch from Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) to Electric Vehicles (EVs). 🧵
buff.ly/nGl374z
buff.ly/nGl374z
November 6, 2025 at 1:13 PM
If I was advising Reeves I'd say have a whole transport section to the budget where you also reintroduce the fuel duty escalator, tax short haul and frequent fliers, and set out how all this extra revenue will support cheaper bus and train fares, active travel and new/bigger EV grants for businesses
"We want to save you £170 a year off your bills by cutting the thing that could save you £300 a year off your bills".
Same as every government policy decision of the last 15 years, cutting the investment today that would provide a long-term fix your problems.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Same as every government policy decision of the last 15 years, cutting the investment today that would provide a long-term fix your problems.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reeves considers cut to green levies in effort to reduce cost of energy bills
Exclusive: Chancellor hopes to save up to £170 from average bill but industry insiders say move would be ‘disastrous’
www.theguardian.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:18 PM
"We want to save you £170 a year off your bills by cutting the thing that could save you £300 a year off your bills".
Same as every government policy decision of the last 15 years, cutting the investment today that would provide a long-term fix your problems.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Same as every government policy decision of the last 15 years, cutting the investment today that would provide a long-term fix your problems.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...