Ian Boothroyd

UK energy prices are soaring – and propagandists want to sell you a false reason why | George Monbiot The war on Iran has put fossil-fuel prices centre stage, but don’t believe those who tout ‘maximising the North Sea’ as our salvation, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

Gas is not the answer, it's the problem. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

He’s got this about right so far.

US troops were told war on Iran was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’, watchdog alleges Religious freedom group says 200 troops sent complaints of superiors using extremist Christian rhetoric to justify war

Worryingly misguided. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

For the 165 grieving mothers and families after a stray missile hit Shajareh Tayyebeh girls school last Saturday morning; one the first day of Trump’s war on Iran. (The Iran school week runs from Saturday-Thursday). Trump is no Noble Peace Prize candidate.

Minab school bombing: how the worst mass casualty event of the Iran war unfolded – a visual guide A strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh school during the US-Israeli bombing campaign killed up to 168 people. The Guardian has pieced together the incident and its aftermath using verified footage and images from the site

Minab school bombing: how the worst mass casualty event of the Iran war unfolded – a visual guide

Archbishop in Jerusalem calls on US, Israel, and Iran to ‘turn back from the precipice of a global catastrophe’ AS CONFLICT spread across the Middle East after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the weekend, the Archbishop in Jerusalem, Dr Hosam Naoum, condemned the “cycle of violence” that was expanding “with terrifying speed”...

As conflict spread across the #MiddleEast after the killing of #Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the weekend, the Archbishop in #Jerusalem, Dr Hosam Naoum, condemned the “cycle of violence” that was expanding “with terrifying speed”

Very disappointing further cuts to the overseas aid budget. Should be increased as a matter of justice and in our national interest, to maintain stability in the world.

More evidence on the water pollution scandal.

@churchtimes.bsky.social checking out the notes on tomorrow’s readings in this week’s issue, in the Bibles on my shelf it’s Nathaniel who encounters Jesus in John chapter 1, not Nicodemus. Ooops?

Missing, in-action: What happened to the bill to remove the Hereditary Peers? It is not often we get to indulge in the mystery genre here at the ERS; however, this blog will delve into the curious incident of the missing Hereditary Peers bill. The bill, a straight

As we can’t agree on how to reform the House of Lords, just abolish it. A huge unelected body with a chequered modern history, interfering in legislation. Sorry Bishops, but you’d still have a public voice on your own merits. electoral-reform.org.uk/missing-in-a...

Dirty water, death and decline: the inside story of a privatisation scandal There is no end in sight to the pollution caused by a ‘broken’ system. Experts say it could even be getting worse

Congratulations to Channel 4 on the drama which reminded us of the scandal of the privatised water industry, and to the Guardian for its reporting. The answer should be renationalisation of these failing companies at minimal cost.
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

Four years into the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine is nowhere close to defeat. ISW estimates Russia now occupies 20 percent of Ukraine and only seized 0.8 percent in 2025.

Read more of our assessments and special reports about the war in Ukraine: https://isw.pub/4thAnniversaryBSK

Sewage sleuths: the men who revealed the slow, dirty death of Welsh and English rivers The long read: A tide of effluent, broken laws and ruthless cuts is devastating the nations’ waterways. An academic and a detective have dredged up the truth of how it was allowed to happen – but will...

Well done Channel 4 broadcasting the 'Dirty Business' drama. Here's a background article from the Guardian. Over 3 years on and the scandal's still with us. Pollution decriminalised by under-investment and 'deregulation'. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

BBC news headline: ‘GB team face uphill battle for 4-man bobsleigh medal.’ Hmm. I thought it was downhill all the way.

Ukraine war live: Kyiv’s forces make huge gains on battlefield ahead of peace talks Ukrainian forces take back over 200 sq km in just five days, wiping out weeks of Russian gains

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv’s forces make huge gains on battlefield ahead of Geneva peace talks

Church friends may find this article about #LLF this week at #Synod helpful

viamedia.news/2026/02/13/l...

Synod approves motion confirming LLF programme to conclude and new working group to be established | The Church of England General Synod has given its backing to establishing working and consultative groups to continue work on same-sex relationships and marriage as the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith (LLF) pr...

Just in case you wanted to know waht #GeneralSynod decided about same-sex marriage (instead of what #DailyTelegraph and others think) read here
🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Love💝Wins🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈
www.churchofengland.org/media/news-a...

Why most democracies won’t touch Trump’s Board of Peace Whether it’s the $1bn price tag or the US president’s outsized power, key allies are steering clear of the board

Why most democracies won’t touch Trump’s Board of Peace

Marwan Barghouti’s son calls on UK to put father’s release at heart of Palestinian renewal Cross-party UK MPs campaigning for senior Fatah leader’s release from Israeli jail, saying he is unifying figure The son of Marwan Barghouti, the Palestinian prisoner often described as the Nelson Mandela of the Palestinian movement, has called on the British government to put his father’s release at the heart of Palestinian democratic renewal. Arab Barghouti warned the UK government that its recent recognition of a Palestinian state risks providing nothing but false hope unless it follows through by using diplomatic channels to secure his father’s freedom. Continue reading...

Marwan Barghouti’s son calls on UK to put father’s release at heart of Palestinian renewal

Point of no return: a hellish ‘hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists say Continued global heating could set irreversible course by triggering climate tipping points, but most people unaware

It’s already almost too late. Perhaps after the benign climate has been destroyed, and our civilisation has long ended, another species may emerge, after a few aeons, which is more worthy of inheriting the earth. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Really it’s our heritage, not theirs. Sewn in England, about England. Records our last home defeat.

Doesn’t know who Europe’s real friends are.

No more majorities for them, then.

The exercise at least four times more efficient than walking Cycling represents one of the most energy-efficient forms of transport ever invented

The bicycle - what a marvellous invention, suiting the human body so well. Unfortunately our roads and traffic are less suitable. www.independent.co.uk/life-style/h...

Alex Pretti did not brandish gun, witnesses say in sworn testimony Pair testify that Pretti did not hold weapon and was trying to help woman federal agents had shoved to the ground Two witnesses to the killing of Alex Pretti have said in sworn testimony that the 37-year-old intensive care nurse was not brandishing a weapon when he approached federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday, contradicting a claim made by Trump administration officials as they sought to cast the shooting of a prone man as an act of self-defense. Their accounts came in sworn affidavits that were filed in federal court in Minnesota late Saturday, just hours after Pretti’s killing, as part of a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf of Minneapolis protesters against Kristi Noem and other homeland security officials directing the immigration crackdown in the city. Continue reading...

Alex Pretti did not brandish gun, witnesses say in sworn testimony

Donald Trump doesn’t want us to believe our own eyes | Steven Greenhouse Renee Nicole Good’s killing is the latest example of the president’s outrageous – and blatant – assaults on the truth

Donald Trump doesn’t want us to believe our own eyes | Steven Greenhouse

British crown was world’s largest buyer of enslaved people by 1807, book reveals Exclusive: Author of The Crown’s Silence tells how navy and monarchy protected slave trade for hundreds of years

Another reason why, as the C of E, the “established church”, benefitted from what slavery brought to the wealth of the nation & the church, the Church Commissioners should pursue Project Spire, & create a modest investment fund for communities still disadvantaged. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Time for the adults in the USA to speak up.

BREAKING: Giving Americans his tiny middle finger, Trump just announced 10% tax on US consumers, because Danes are not giving him Greenland. The US consumer tax rises to 25% if Trump still doesn't have Greenland by June. US consumers will pay the tax on every single EU good & service they consume.

A really bad idea to give the Home Secretary power to dismiss Chief Constables. It would mount to political control of the police.