Duncan Brack
@duncanbrack.bsky.social
Environmental policy analyst, mainly on forest-related issues, Associate, Green Alliance. Liberal Democrat policy-maker, Editor, Journal of Liberal History. www.dbrack.org.uk.
Reposted by Duncan Brack
New figures by the Bank of England demonstrate how much of a negative impact Brexit has had on the UK economy. Trade weakness combined with uncertainty has decreased our GDP, Investment, Employment, and Productivity, resulting in a negative decline for the UK compared to our European neighbours.
October 23, 2025 at 6:52 PM
New figures by the Bank of England demonstrate how much of a negative impact Brexit has had on the UK economy. Trade weakness combined with uncertainty has decreased our GDP, Investment, Employment, and Productivity, resulting in a negative decline for the UK compared to our European neighbours.
Reposted by Duncan Brack
$5.9bn = the amount spent annually on protecting and restoring forests
$409bn = the amount of subsidies going to agriculture industries destroying forests
Anyone else see the problem here?
$409bn = the amount of subsidies going to agriculture industries destroying forests
Anyone else see the problem here?
October 14, 2025 at 10:31 AM
$5.9bn = the amount spent annually on protecting and restoring forests
$409bn = the amount of subsidies going to agriculture industries destroying forests
Anyone else see the problem here?
$409bn = the amount of subsidies going to agriculture industries destroying forests
Anyone else see the problem here?
Reposted by Duncan Brack
Latest blog is on how the Lib Dems have a point about biased media coverage - and the response to the rival net zero plans from Ed Davey and Nigel Farage proves it. www.businessgreen.com/blog-post/45...
The Lib Dems and Reform UK have plans for net zero - compare and contrast the response
Liberal Democrat complaints over media bias and the failure to take the threat posed by Reform's climate denialism seriously appear more justified than ever
www.businessgreen.com
September 24, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Latest blog is on how the Lib Dems have a point about biased media coverage - and the response to the rival net zero plans from Ed Davey and Nigel Farage proves it. www.businessgreen.com/blog-post/45...
Pleased to have contributed a chapter on the Norwich by-election of 1904 to this book, published today (just as important as Barnard Castle but much less mentioned): www.politicos.co.uk/products/by-...
British By-Elections 1769-2025 - The 88 By-Elections That Shaped our Politics edited by Iain Dale (Signed copy) COMING 18 SEPTEMBER
Biteback
Hardback
18 September 2025
88 essays by 87 different politicians, historians, academics and journalists about 85 of the most important by-elections since thje John Wilkes by-election of 176...
www.politicos.co.uk
September 18, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Pleased to have contributed a chapter on the Norwich by-election of 1904 to this book, published today (just as important as Barnard Castle but much less mentioned): www.politicos.co.uk/products/by-...
Reposted by Duncan Brack
Imagine doing a deal with a bunch of fundamentalist crazies with no interest in the rule of law. Don't know what the Taliban are thinking.
Wednesday's DAILY TELEGRAPH: Taliban to give Farage deal on migrants
#TomorrowsPapersToday
#TomorrowsPapersToday
August 26, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Imagine doing a deal with a bunch of fundamentalist crazies with no interest in the rule of law. Don't know what the Taliban are thinking.
Reposted by Duncan Brack
Two weeks to go! Liberals, Europe and the people - Liberal Democrat History Group discussion meeting, 6.00pm, 30 June, with @robertsaunders.bsky.social, @morganj0nes.bsky.social and @nickalito.bsky.social - mailchi.mp/e87f8af44d0f...
June 16, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Two weeks to go! Liberals, Europe and the people - Liberal Democrat History Group discussion meeting, 6.00pm, 30 June, with @robertsaunders.bsky.social, @morganj0nes.bsky.social and @nickalito.bsky.social - mailchi.mp/e87f8af44d0f...
Reposted by Duncan Brack
It’s time for a bolder approach to the UK’s relationship with the EU. I know many Labour colleagues agree. I hope they will work with the Lib Dems to make it happen. A deeper trade deal would bring growth, help households and improve the public finances.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com
May 17, 2025 at 4:02 PM
It’s time for a bolder approach to the UK’s relationship with the EU. I know many Labour colleagues agree. I hope they will work with the Lib Dems to make it happen. A deeper trade deal would bring growth, help households and improve the public finances.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Duncan Brack
I have been so excited since I found out this would be announced today! RIP any ability for me to concentrate: www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2...
Apple’s new sci-fi series “Murderbot” to make global debut May 16, 2025
Today, Apple TV+ unveiled a first look at “Murderbot,” created by Chris and Paul Weitz and starring Alexander Skarsgård
www.apple.com
February 20, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I have been so excited since I found out this would be announced today! RIP any ability for me to concentrate: www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2...
Reposted by Duncan Brack
attn please, here is some further Murderbot footage to enjoy incl the definitely best little moment in All Systems Red
Murderbot — An Inside Look | Apple TV+
YouTube video by Apple TV
www.youtube.com
April 28, 2025 at 6:59 PM
attn please, here is some further Murderbot footage to enjoy incl the definitely best little moment in All Systems Red
Reposted by Duncan Brack
thinking about the amount of context necessary to explain to someone from 2010 what people are protesting with signs reading "cheap eggs not measles" or "tax the rich, not the penguins"
April 5, 2025 at 9:36 PM
thinking about the amount of context necessary to explain to someone from 2010 what people are protesting with signs reading "cheap eggs not measles" or "tax the rich, not the penguins"
Reposted by Duncan Brack
I stand with the penguins of Heard and McDonald Islands!
April 3, 2025 at 10:26 PM
I stand with the penguins of Heard and McDonald Islands!
Reposted by Duncan Brack
A while ago a lovely German man appeared at our church. He came a few times to look around during our Saturday opening hours, before asking if the piano abandoned in the corner worked.
I told him it was horrendously out of tune, and the cathedral piano tuner had deemed it not worth sorting out.
I told him it was horrendously out of tune, and the cathedral piano tuner had deemed it not worth sorting out.
March 31, 2025 at 10:25 AM
A while ago a lovely German man appeared at our church. He came a few times to look around during our Saturday opening hours, before asking if the piano abandoned in the corner worked.
I told him it was horrendously out of tune, and the cathedral piano tuner had deemed it not worth sorting out.
I told him it was horrendously out of tune, and the cathedral piano tuner had deemed it not worth sorting out.
Reposted by Duncan Brack
The UK would now want to rejoin the EU by 55% to 33%
Removing those that don’t know - that’s a 62.5% to 37.5% breakdown.
Removing those that don’t know - that’s a 62.5% to 37.5% breakdown.
March 20, 2025 at 10:09 AM
The UK would now want to rejoin the EU by 55% to 33%
Removing those that don’t know - that’s a 62.5% to 37.5% breakdown.
Removing those that don’t know - that’s a 62.5% to 37.5% breakdown.
Reposted by Duncan Brack
Fix the two-party system before someone turns it into a one-party system and it's game over.
PR is like a seatbelt. You don't think you need it, until you're heading through the political windscreen at 60mph.
And once that dawns on you, it's the last realisation ever.
PR is like a seatbelt. You don't think you need it, until you're heading through the political windscreen at 60mph.
And once that dawns on you, it's the last realisation ever.
January 25, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Fix the two-party system before someone turns it into a one-party system and it's game over.
PR is like a seatbelt. You don't think you need it, until you're heading through the political windscreen at 60mph.
And once that dawns on you, it's the last realisation ever.
PR is like a seatbelt. You don't think you need it, until you're heading through the political windscreen at 60mph.
And once that dawns on you, it's the last realisation ever.
Reposted by Duncan Brack
GOOD NEWS! 🙌 🎉 🌲
South Korea announced it's cutting subsidies for #BigBadBiomass starting this month, signaling a shift away from burning imported wood pellets for energy, which is linked to deforestation in Southeast Asia.
#GreenSky #ClimateSky
South Korea announced it's cutting subsidies for #BigBadBiomass starting this month, signaling a shift away from burning imported wood pellets for energy, which is linked to deforestation in Southeast Asia.
#GreenSky #ClimateSky
![Background photo of wood pellets burning. Red good news icon on a screenshot of a headline from Solutions for Our Climate reading “[Statement] South Korea to reduce government support for biomass energy, sending ripples across Asia”.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:utycno22cy35gcijlduthke7/bafkreiaml33rnrksx4opdp2w4lo3oxi426ocl43wymgoz6tsnwxe66xgli@jpeg)
January 13, 2025 at 8:02 PM
GOOD NEWS! 🙌 🎉 🌲
South Korea announced it's cutting subsidies for #BigBadBiomass starting this month, signaling a shift away from burning imported wood pellets for energy, which is linked to deforestation in Southeast Asia.
#GreenSky #ClimateSky
South Korea announced it's cutting subsidies for #BigBadBiomass starting this month, signaling a shift away from burning imported wood pellets for energy, which is linked to deforestation in Southeast Asia.
#GreenSky #ClimateSky
Reposted by Duncan Brack
Contrast today - a minister going for the mere possible perception of conflict, despite no finding - with Johnson forcing out two (2) ethics advisors, one for finding Patel breached code and a second for refusing to clear a likely breach, after which none (0) was appointed for two (2) years. ~AA
January 14, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Contrast today - a minister going for the mere possible perception of conflict, despite no finding - with Johnson forcing out two (2) ethics advisors, one for finding Patel breached code and a second for refusing to clear a likely breach, after which none (0) was appointed for two (2) years. ~AA
Reposted by Duncan Brack
This is such a key point. Some senior people within Labour are at risk of making a grievous error in how they perceive climate action. It’s not woke, it’s popular, and it’s key to their economic strategy. www.businessgreen.com/blog-post/43...
January 4, 2025 at 10:00 PM
This is such a key point. Some senior people within Labour are at risk of making a grievous error in how they perceive climate action. It’s not woke, it’s popular, and it’s key to their economic strategy. www.businessgreen.com/blog-post/43...
Reposted by Duncan Brack
Democracy does not matter to Labour www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/01... IPPR is the think-tank most listened to by Labour. In a new report on voting it says it will not consider proportional representation because Labour does not want it. No wonder politics and our democracy are in a mess.
Democracy does not matter to Labour
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is now, as it was in Blair’s days, Labour’s favoured think tank. Half of its leadership from a year ago now seems to be in Downing Street. Those that ar...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
January 2, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Democracy does not matter to Labour www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/01... IPPR is the think-tank most listened to by Labour. In a new report on voting it says it will not consider proportional representation because Labour does not want it. No wonder politics and our democracy are in a mess.
Reposted by Duncan Brack
There’ll be a lot of focus on national insurance, but it was also predicted there would be inflationary pressure on food prices this autumn because we’ve just had a historically bad harvest because of all the wet weather. It’s climate change, innit.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
UK inflation hits eight-month high, adding to pressure to hold interest rates
Annual rate increases to 2.6% in November, driven by rising cost of groceries and hike in tobacco duty in budget
www.theguardian.com
December 18, 2024 at 7:13 AM
There’ll be a lot of focus on national insurance, but it was also predicted there would be inflationary pressure on food prices this autumn because we’ve just had a historically bad harvest because of all the wet weather. It’s climate change, innit.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Duncan Brack
Repurposed Assad tank in Syria.
December 15, 2024 at 8:06 PM
Repurposed Assad tank in Syria.
Reposted by Duncan Brack
This is a lovely read from Roger Harrabin on the time John Prescott almost got in a lot of trouble scuba diving with the BBC to try and highlight the plight of corals impacted by global warming.
www.businessgreen.com/feature/4382...
www.businessgreen.com/feature/4382...
John Prescott was passionate about ocean protection – he nearly risked his life for it
The former Deputy PM cared deeply about the environment and ocean protection, as he demonstrated on trip to the Maldives for a BBC report on coral bleaching in 1999, recalls journalist Roger Harrabin
www.businessgreen.com
November 26, 2024 at 5:43 PM
This is a lovely read from Roger Harrabin on the time John Prescott almost got in a lot of trouble scuba diving with the BBC to try and highlight the plight of corals impacted by global warming.
www.businessgreen.com/feature/4382...
www.businessgreen.com/feature/4382...
Reposted by Duncan Brack
Jeremy Clarkson, James Dyson, the Earl of Derby – they’re up in arms about paying tax on the vast areas of land they own.
Small farmers are worried that changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) will affect them. But who are the big landowners complaining the loudest? Thread: 1/
Small farmers are worried that changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) will affect them. But who are the big landowners complaining the loudest? Thread: 1/
November 25, 2024 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Duncan Brack
This review of Shipman’s latest by @samfr.bsky.social is really astute because it says what so many people miss about Sunak - he was an “ideologue in technocrat clothing”
Out by Tim Shipman review — a tale of Tory arrogance, narcissism and incompetence
www.thetimes.com/article/16a6...
Out by Tim Shipman review — a tale of Tory arrogance, narcissism and incompetence
www.thetimes.com/article/16a6...
Out by Tim Shipman review — a tale of Tory arrogance, narcissism and incompetence
The fourth book in Tim Shipman’s Brexit saga is a detailed chronicle of the Conservatives’ self-destruction — “a bleak cavalcade of some of the worst people to infect Britain’s body politic”
www.thetimes.com
November 23, 2024 at 9:31 AM
This review of Shipman’s latest by @samfr.bsky.social is really astute because it says what so many people miss about Sunak - he was an “ideologue in technocrat clothing”
Out by Tim Shipman review — a tale of Tory arrogance, narcissism and incompetence
www.thetimes.com/article/16a6...
Out by Tim Shipman review — a tale of Tory arrogance, narcissism and incompetence
www.thetimes.com/article/16a6...
Reposted by Duncan Brack
Most people don’t know this:
The most heat pumps per capita were installed in some of the coldest countries in the world.
In the top right corner you find countries with cold winters and lots of heat pumps.
Source is www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The most heat pumps per capita were installed in some of the coldest countries in the world.
In the top right corner you find countries with cold winters and lots of heat pumps.
Source is www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 23, 2024 at 9:42 AM
Most people don’t know this:
The most heat pumps per capita were installed in some of the coldest countries in the world.
In the top right corner you find countries with cold winters and lots of heat pumps.
Source is www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The most heat pumps per capita were installed in some of the coldest countries in the world.
In the top right corner you find countries with cold winters and lots of heat pumps.
Source is www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Duncan Brack
Government is again reiterating “growth is the No.1 priority.” The OBR report its quoting from says Brexit is on course to cut UK trade by a staggering 15% - a huge reduction in the country’s potential economic performance when every penny counts. We have to be able to talk openly about this
In a significant Intervention Bank of England governor said this week that Brexit has undermined the UK economy. @skynews.com.web.brid.gy didn’t think that was important enough to raise with the Government Minister this morning. I disagree. If you do too share this report
youtu.be/jvo1JM6xZqQ?...
youtu.be/jvo1JM6xZqQ?...
The Bank of England governor says Brexit has undermined the UK economy. Hold onto your seats..
YouTube video by Peter Stefanovic
youtu.be
November 23, 2024 at 9:28 AM
Government is again reiterating “growth is the No.1 priority.” The OBR report its quoting from says Brexit is on course to cut UK trade by a staggering 15% - a huge reduction in the country’s potential economic performance when every penny counts. We have to be able to talk openly about this