Nick Norton
nicknor.bsky.social
Nick Norton
@nicknor.bsky.social
Climate change, environment, planning
Still around as @GreenBeltNagger elsewhere
Reposted by Nick Norton
The next few days are crucial - please contact your MP and ask them to keep vital nature protections.

It takes two minutes via our platform. More info and links:

sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/an-urge...

📷 Hazel Dormouse © Derek Middleton
November 5, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
There were 115 prisoners mistakenly released in the final year of the last Conservative Government alone.

Interesting that it only becomes a major national scandal the second these releases can be blamed on a Labour government
November 5, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
In Finland they’ve been taught how to spot fake news as part of a critical thinking curriculum since 2014 including how to spot a doctored photo, check for inconsistencies as well as countering misinformation that sows division. We are more than 10 years behind on this.
School pupils are to be taught how to tackle conspiracy theories, spot 'fake news' & root out misinformation. The Daily Mail, ajudged by Wikipedia to be an unreliable new source, is furious. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out why.
November 5, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
"The crisis is political by design. It persists because the people who feel it most acutely have the least say in how power is distributed. Under FPTP, millions of voters are functionally silenced - and governments know it."
westcountryvoices.co.uk/the-price-of...
The price of powerlessness: how first past the post fuels Britain's cost-of-living crisis
Rachel Reeves gave a speech yesterday that once again brought the cost of living to the fore in the national debate. Virtually all of the media commentary on the speech focused on the economic factors...
westcountryvoices.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
The private sector has let our public services down again and again. So why do we assume the private sector is always the best person for the job? Because we don't value the expertise and competency of communities, says @francesnorthrop.bsky.social on the latest New Economics Podcast 🎙️
November 5, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
Reality: Brexit's a disaster.
Labour Apologist: The EU don't want us back.
Reality: Here's the EU saying they want us back.
Labour Apologist: Brits don't want to rejoin.
Reality: Here are polls showing people want to rejoin.
Labour Apologist: We must be patient.
Reality: We've been waiting 9 years!
a man is laying his head on a desk with his hands on the desk .
ALT: a man is laying his head on a desk with his hands on the desk .
media.tenor.com
October 15, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
Brexit has cost UK business £37bn a year, and the Government are finally speaking out on what we’ve known all along; Brexit was a mistake.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
October 14, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
The numbers are clear. Most Britons now believe leaving Europe was a mistake. The next generation knows our future lies in cooperation, not isolation.
October 8, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
This makes me very happy
September 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Reposted by Nick Norton
Exactly this.

Refusing to question the catastrophe of Brexit is the main reason for the inexorable rise of far right.

Brexit is directly responsible and was from the very first day.

Brexit was the imprimatur they had been seeking for generations.
Just a reminder that Labour told us we couldn't revisit the Brexit question because it would "strengthen and embolden" the far-right. Well, I don't know about you, but they look pretty strengthened and emboldened to me right now anyway, so what do we have to lose?
#RejoinEU 🇬🇧🇪🇺
September 14, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Reposted by Nick Norton
“Scientists have warned previously that Amoc collapse must be avoided “at all costs”. It would shift the tropical rainfall belt on which many millions of people rely to grow their food, plunge western Europe into extreme cold winters and summer droughts, and add 50cm to already rising sea levels”
Collapse of critical Atlantic current is no longer low likelihood, study finds

- Scientists say ‘shocking’ discovery shows rapid cuts in carbon emissions are needed to avoid catastrophic impacts

#climatecrisis #AMOC
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Collapse of critical Atlantic current is no longer low likelihood, study finds
Scientists say ‘shocking’ discovery shows rapid cuts in carbon emissions are needed to avoid catastrophic fallout
www.theguardian.com
August 28, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
Himalayan balsam, with its tall stems and pink flowers, has become one of the UK’s most problematic invasive plants...

For years, control has relied on painstaking manual removal, but now a new solution is showing promise: a rust fungus, imported from the plant’s native range. 🙌
Rust fungus targets invasive Himalayan balsam in Yorkshire
Rust fungus offers hope in Yorkshire’s battle against invasive Himalayan balsam, showing signs of self-sustaining, long-term control
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
August 27, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
1. This is something I've been saying for 25 years, but it's hard to get many people to listen. What counts is not the new energy sources you add, but the old ones you retire. Unfortunately it's politically easier to build renewables than to shutter fossil fuels.🧵
www.forbes.com/sites/rrapie...
The Renewable Illusion: Why Fossil Fuels Keep Winning
Global renewables hit records in 2024, but fossil fuel use still rises. Here’s why solar’s surge isn’t enough—and what the latest energy data really shows.
www.forbes.com
August 4, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Reposted by Nick Norton
I find the environmental objections compelling. We are losing some wildlife species because there isn't enough undisturbed wild habitat for them to live and breed successfully. Gulls can no longer nest on beaches because of humans and their pets, but people don't want gulls nesting in towns.
August 3, 2025 at 5:06 PM
A deeper questions lie over Freeport East (freeporteast.com) with its governance stretching over 1,000 sq km from Felixstowe and Harwich down through Clacton, Jaywick, out around Colchester, Sudbury, Stowmarket and Woodbridge, taking corporate control of local services where you have no say?
August 3, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
The Broads Authority is calling for awareness around the significant negative impacts that dog & cat flea treatments have on our waterways & wildlife.

Research shows spot-on flea treatments containing insecticides such as fipronil and imidacloprid pose significant risks to aquatic wildlife.
Broads Authority shares concerns around impact of flea treatments on waterways
www.broads-authority.gov.uk
August 2, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
High above city streets in East Anglia, the peregrine falcon population is making a dramatic recovery, and winning the love and devotion of those who watch them and record them.

Kate Moore & Sarah Patey tell the story
Love and loss – the saga of our peregrine falcons
From spires to rooftops, East Anglia’s peregrine falcons soar – lives unfolding in flight, loss, love and remarkable resilience
eastangliabylines.co.uk
August 3, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Reposted by Nick Norton
Lots of Commas in my garden at the moment, hungry for nectar. Most are the pale Hutchinsonii form, which go on to produce a second brood rather than hibernate. Keep a look out in September @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
August 2, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Don't tell us, with @ukhomeoffice.bsky.social administering and data possibly controlled by Palantir? And we're supposed to be relaxed about potential proposals? Seriously?https://observer.co.uk/news/politics/article/this-is-serious-starmer-orders-move-towards-digital-id-system
‘This is serious’: Starmer orders move towards digital ID...
Scheme aims to tackle illegal immigration and crime despite past concern over civil liberties
observer.co.uk
August 3, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Nick Norton
"those with the broadest shoulders should bear the heavier burden" - Keir Starmer, 24 August 2024

Time for a wealth tax. Let's see how patriotic the millionaires and billionaires living in the UK are when it comes to paying for the defence of the country they call home.
bsky.app/profile/minn...
It is absolutely indefensible during a time of fascism, that the UK govt. should cut international aid for a paltry increase in defence spending. We should increase defence spending through borrowing or wealth taxes. Making the world more unstable for basically no benefit to the UK.
February 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
Ffs 🤦‍♂️

1. This is a virtually non existent increase in defence spending. A pathetic response in context.

2. But for the aid budget this is a painful, significant cut, coming on top of the closure of USAID, that that will cause real damage and make the U.K. less safe.

Bad politics, bad policy 👎
Keir Starmer announces Nato-qualifying UK defence spending will rise to 2.5% of GDP/year by 2027 (from around 2.3% today) - to be funded by cutting overseas aid budget from 0.5% of GDP to 0.3%
February 25, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
How can we reduce our demand for gas and stabilise prices?

🎯 Shifting to home-grown energy through investing in British renewables

🎯 Replacing gas boilers with heat pumps

🎯 Insulating homes to stop wasting expensive gas

Energy security 🟰 national security 🇬🇧💪
February 25, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
Tesla's advertising in the UK is now brutally honest.
February 25, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Reposted by Nick Norton
BREAKING: Starmer has finally decided to increase defence spending to 3% after realising he could accomplish this by starving the disabled instead of taxing the rich x
February 25, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Nick Norton
A ‘free energy’ housing scheme in Essex features 113 homes equipped with solar panels, heat pumps, and a centralised battery storage system. This setup allows residents to enjoy zero energy bills for at least five years.

@jennyrhodes42.bsky.social
reports
New housing in Essex: free energy for five years
Residents who move into a new 113-home site in Epping will have zero energy bills for at least five years
eastangliabylines.co.uk
February 25, 2025 at 1:27 PM