Forget the hot takes: yesterday we took the wee one to see what's left of British democracy in action. With any luck they'll be voting in the 2100s.
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Gareth Dennis
@GarethDennis
Rail engineer and writer. Hosts . Associate . Lecturer /. Co-founder . Chair . He/him.
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(We've already got one out trans MP, but they're a Tory and in a chamber of 650 members, we need more.)
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This is a brilliantly amusing read on the absurdity of monarchy.
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I wanted to express my excitement about the coronation, so I headed in to Oxford Circus to write this fun little primer on King Charles' big day.
irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-colu
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Really uplifting to see trans representation on councils across the country... I've seen at least two out councillors, one LD, one GPEW. Some slight hope in otherwise pretty bleak times.
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First out trans councillor signs up for the next four years to represent Round Hill #Brighton #Hove #LDreporter #LocalElections2023
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I’m happy to see so many people
I know from twitter who care about walking & cycling provision being elected.
Also happy that so many people I see on twitter who fought to continue car dominance losing their seats.
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If only our politicians could think into the next decade, let alone the next century...
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wore the APT hat, increasingly becoming a beanie guy even though my head is always too warm under these things
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Meanwhile, the LDs are beating Labour's ass on social justice issues across the country. Plus at this point they are to the left of the party economically. Yikes.
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FIRST TRANS CLLR OF MANCHESTER. LIBDEMS ARE HERE BABY.
Step forward CLLR @cnorthwood
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FIRST TRANS CLLR OF MANCHESTER. LIBDEMS ARE HERE BABY.
Step forward CLLR
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(I know so many really great Greens across the country, so I cannot emphasise enough how disappointing the performance of the local GPEW has been given they were awarded millions of pounds in active travel cash, were fully in charge of transport, and delivered nowt.)
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Conservatives hit 1,000 losses
LAB: 2,552 (+505)
CON: 2,172 (-1,005)
LDM: 1,548 (+402)
GRN: 450 (+230)
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Anyway: Labour, don't screw this up. Take the highways officers by the hand/ear/neck and show them what good urban design looks like, delete all the plans currently saved on their computers, then maybe York will stop being utterly useless for transport.
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There are good LD councillors out there - I follow a few of you and you follow me. But I'm not sure there are any in York.
And Greens in York: you were in charge of transport at the best possible time for local government to get and spend money and you did NOTHING.
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National politics to one side, this is a really good local result because the York LDs are vile (literally corrupt) and the York Greens are useless.
Now York Labour need to make some things happen: start by cancelling the ring road dualling project and fast track Haxby station.
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Now do all of Britain.
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For the first time ever, Nottingham has zero Tory councillors.
Congratulations to newly and re-elected councillors here and across the country!
Our communities rejected the Tories’ agenda of real terms pay cuts, austerity and spreading hate.
Bring on the general election 
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For the first time ever, Nottingham has zero Tory councillors.
Congratulations to newly and re-elected councillors here and across the country!
Our communities rejected the Tories’ agenda of real terms pay cuts, austerity and spreading hate.
Bring on the general election 💪🏽
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The Scottish Widows building - dramatically situated beneath Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park - received the Award for Scotland in 1977 and is Category A listed as a ‘major achievement of international status for Spence and his partners’… #C20RiskList
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The fourth case on our #C20RiskList is the Cat A listed Scottish Widows HQ in Edinburgh (1972-76)
Designed by Spence, Glover & Ferguson, it’s interlocking hexagonal blocks reference the basalt geology of Salisbury Crags, and are at risk of demolition: buff.ly/3TpvTm4
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How does the Palestinian economy work?
Well, it doesn’t work because a colonial regime makes the rules.
Listen to Palestinians plz
#Israel
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Tube station lifts closed more than 500 times last year because there were no trained staff available
Accessibility isn't nice-to-have, it's a vital part of public infrastructure & unacceptable in 2023, we have to fight to for our right to get on the Tube
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Stuck on a LNER train thanks to a points failure south of York, and delighted to know that this is our future for decades to come thanks to the government deciding we apparently don’t need the eastern branch of HS2.
Clown country.
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Another great thread on the links between the East India Company and early British railways.
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To supplement your excellent thread @eicathome here are some other connections between the EIC and investment in the British railway boom, inc. GWR. @stahnam @aljhlester @ourindianempire @railstory 1/14
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Want the scary bit? That coastline is still moving now. With the railway on it.
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It was all a bit of a mess. And the pictures are staggering.
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These photographs, uncovered recently by the @NetworkRailSE RAM team, show the aftermath of the colossal landslide that occurred near Folkestone in December 1915.
The scale of the landslide is INSANE.
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About 100 years ago, the railway was moved about one hundred yards towards the sea against its will. In less than one (1) minute.
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More ableism from highway engineers that can only think everything has an engine, these discriminatory barriers don't stop motorbikes and never have, they just go around them.
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The problem with making an election about a single issue is that when you lose, the single issue gains a mandate 👍
Good to see Bath will be embracing low traffic neighborhoods and low car living 🚲
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What’s the risk of voting LibDem? More restrictions on driving, more bollards, road blocks.
Their official policy is to cut driving by 25%. You either cycle or walk or, more likely, don’t make the journey at all.
If you want this, vote LibDem.
If not, vote #LocalConservative
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BREAKING: EXTINCTION REBELLION DISRUPT HSBC'S AGM
"You are happy to profit while the world burns"
XR & have disrupted 's Annual General Meeting to call out the bank's shameful climate policies
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I do hope some of my friends working around SW1 - particularly on Horse Guards Rd and in Great Minster House - who have a keen sense of constancy & long term strategic thinking, do re-read reactions to Serpell’s report. Anything other than maintaining investment is Serpell again.
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#OTD 5 May 1982 the Serpell Committee was appointed by Thatcher’s govt to review Britain’s railway future. It recommended mainly massive & startling cuts: it ignorantly focused on commerce alone. But the shock helped kickstart change & rail innovated: by 2002 passengers doubled.
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🦆 I'm sure you've all heard the tragic and concerning news that Long Boi is missing from !
On behalf of NRM, Mallard has something it would like to say, from one duck to another.
We hope Long Boi is found safe and well, and stands tall for years to come💙
#LongBoi
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ITV reports “polling station tellers in Oxfordshire say "large numbers" of voters were being turned away, reporting that between 10-25% were unable to vote.” There was almost no voter fraud in the UK. There is now, and it is officially sanctioned.
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It’s so horrible how people in the U.K. who can’t afford passports or cars can’t vote now
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