Mel Mortimer

Love the pets, love reading, tolerate my husband, detest my children.

[Give A Shit About Nature @giveashitnature]

Spraying roundup on weeds in the cracks of your driveway is kind of silly. Boiling water will do the same job better.

Pour it straight onto the weed and down into the crack. The heat ruptures the plant on contact and it wilts within the day. A stubborn deep-rooted one might need a second pour, but that's the whole method.

Roundup's own label tells you to keep it out of storm drains. And a driveway is basically a funnel straight into one. Every rain carries whatever you sprayed down the gutter and, in most towns, straight into the nearest creek with nothing in between.

Boiling water kills the weed and stops at the weed.

[Joanna Hardy-Susskind @Joanna__Hardy]

David Lammy’s proposals to restrict the right to jury trial have been examined by the Justice Committee of the House of Commons.

And. Well. Um.

It’s *quite* the report.

I think it’s actually worse than politely scathing.

It’s embarrassing 👇🏼🪡🧵

[Emma 💛💙🇩🇰🇬🇧🇪🇺 @MonkEmma]

OK, so Helen Whately and the Express are doubling down and going all out hysterical at this point...🙄

They've actually "calculated" the state benefits a man with ELEVEN WIVES could claim!!

And this time, they've done it behind a paywalled article🤷‍♀️

But don't worry, I got behind it!🤓

🧵1/20

[Dr Chris Day @drcmday]

Let’s face it: there are a few things they don’t teach you at medical school.

One of them is what to do when the NHS decides you are the problem in a whistleblowing case.

I have spent the last twelve years learning this lesson and have had some interesting tutors.

I was a resident doctor in a South London Intensive Care Unit when I raised concerns about night-time staffing levels. The sort of concerns that make NHS executives stop smiling mid-sentence. The sort of concerns that later get described as “serious” once enough time has passed and enough lawyers have been paid.

Eventually, after six years, several courts, and a small forest’s worth of paper, those concerns were accepted as protected disclosures. They were linked to two avoidable deaths which, at the time, were quietly removed from formal investigations. That part is now officially undisputed.

What is disputed is what happened next.

1/6

[Mr P MBE @ICT_MrP]

what is the actual point of KS2 SATs? Do you think they’re a true and accurate reflection of a child’s learning? Or an expensive test designed to catch kids out, a stick to beat schools with and discriminate against children with particular send needs?

[🥤 @PaulSenior1]

Kinell. Hire him @UKLabour

[Ben🕊️ @2BJDJ]

Very Important Message!!

Do NOT, and I repeat do not buy plants treated with Neonicotinoids. Bees take the pollen back to the hive and feed it to the brood.

This is a number one cause of the colony collapse. It's important to NOT buy these plants!

Make sure to share this post!

[Get Wild 🐦 🦋 🐝 🍃 @mitchellsnik]

It’s officially #NoMowMay. Ready to spend less time mowing and more time enjoying your garden? 🌿 Converting your lawn into a mini wildflower meadow is the ultimate low-maintenance hack for a beautiful outdoor space. 🌸

#WildflowerMeadow #newhousegetswild #bostonseeds

[Give A Shit About Nature @giveashitnature]

Spraying just one dandelion with roundup will kill 100+ pollinators.

The flower will take days to die, and in that time will be visited by dozens of bees and butterflies, poisoning them as well.

The exposed pollinators don't die quickly, as they would with insecticide exposure. The death is slower and more brutal.

In the case of bumblebees, they lose their ability to see colors, can't find flowers, and starve to death.

If the dandelions truly are a hell no for your yard, pull them. Don't spray them.

[Hugh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @HughEdw31897368]

I don’t remember seeing this reported by our MSM. They were too busy with their attempted coup. I’ve never seen anything like it, deliberately suppressing or ignoring important news.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"Sewage pollutes beach for more than two weeks."

South West Water up to their usual tricks again and the EA's response? Blah, blah, blah. Nothing changes.

https://t.co/5hh0GCvUUq

[Bryan Smith #RejoinEU same handle on BlueSky @BpsmithUk]

The Labour Government gave every Council this funding *last year*.
This Reform Council decided not to spend it.
The Government has now put in place a legal requirement for them to spend it & report progress.

Don't give Reform any credit for this.
Its all due to Labour.

[Little Green Space 🦋 @LGSpace]

How many people out there are giving wildflowers a chance by leaving areas of their gardens uncut this year? Please RT if you are offering a lifeline to pollinators like bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies and bats by mowing less!

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

Nail on head time. Today govt announced that 6 water companies are getting to walk away from 20 separate criminal prosecutions, that's up to 5 years in jail, unlimited fines and the proceeds of crime legislation applies, you can start seizing houses, cars etc.

Take Severn Trent, annual revenues £2.4 billion. Today for a payment of £4.6 million they get to walk away from 6 separate prosecutions. Bargain as they say.

[MattStaniek @MattStaniek]

This is absolutely outrageous.

Every organisation that has accepted this funding has played a role in preventing water companies from being prosecuted and fully held to account.

They should be ashamed.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

I see govt are out there this morning trumpeting their £8.7 million bribe to river charities.

That's £8.7 million which allowed water companies to walk away from 20 separate criminal prosecutions and by criminal I mean up to 5 years in jail, unlimited fines and the proceeds of crime legislation applies, you can start seizing houses, cars and thing else you think is a proceed of crime.

Take Severn Trent, they've agreed to pay £4.6 million and they get to walk away from 6 separate prosecutions, that's the same Severn Trent that already paid £2 million in 2024, £1.5 million in 2021, and on, and on, and on and they get to walk away.

The Rivers Trust as always only too happy to take the money. Well they do have a £4.4 million payroll bill to look after.

[Hedgehog Cabin @HedgehogCabin]

Ah, dandelions. 🌼
If only they were rare, fragile, and hard to cultivate.
Then we'd treasure them.
But because they are hardy and successful and forgiving and adaptable, we disparage them.
Consider them unworthy of our respect.
Even though they are the perfect plant - providing green all year round and cheerful flowers in the spring, are edible and highly nutritious, containing vitamins A, C, and K, along with minerals like calcium and iron, and are our precious pollinator's lifeline.
Please find a little love for these hard working flowers and leave them undisturbed, this month at least.

[Susan @sueblueocean.bsky.social 💙🇺🇦💚🇵🇸🕊️ @Sueblueocean]

Please log with @BTP https://t.co/vtosPpw3vB Easy online process. @networkrail @CSwinsco13471 @cns46z @ProtectTheWild_

[Susan @sueblueocean.bsky.social 💙🇺🇦💚🇵🇸🕊️ @Sueblueocean]

Despite alerting @networkrail to this situation yesterday no assurances have been given to unblock the swift nests. Swift arrival to the UK is imminent. Red listed birds @ChrisGPackham @WriterHannahBT @MeganMcCubbin @ProtectTheWild_ @Protect_Wldlife

[Carl Bovis @CarlBovisNature]

Where is the influential voice of @ChrisGPackham on this?
Or the voice of @MeganMcCubbin ?
Time is running out to unblock these Swift nest sites cemented by @networkrail before the birds return... a simple retweet of the quoted tweet would help massively! ⬇️🙏
#UnblockTheNests