Dave Baxter

Just some guy. Likes dragons, planes, trains, cars, music. London is my second home.

[Britain Unbound @BritainUnbound]

🚨VOTERS WANT TO STAY OUT OF EU🚨

In the latest polling for @ObserverUK published only a few hours ago, conducted by @OpiniumResearch, the British public have switched back and now show a resounding majority for staying out of the EU.

[No to Digital ID @NoToDigitalID]

Producers of software, operating systems and devices are capitulating to digital ID.

In many instances, they are the ones driving the push for it internationally.

Say NO to digital ID.

[Howard Cox @HowardCCox]

I’m quoted in the Daily Mail on 20mph limits being extended.

Yes, hitting a pedestrian at 20 mph is far less lethal than at 30 mph, but if the limit doesn't meaningfully lower average speeds, and DfT data shows it mostly doesn't, there is no safety cost-saving dividend. There has been no statistically significant drop in costly collisions or casualties in residential areas, as shown in the government’s own figures. Compliance is patchy, and enforcement is expensive and selective. 20 mph zones are costly, leading to stop-start driving as drivers' eyes are off the road and on the speedometer. Emissions increase when driving in high gear, and that isn't what most "20's Plenty" campaigns deliver. Safety only improves through better road design, enforcement of real offences, and targeting actual risk factors. Lower speed can help, but only when it actually happens. 20 mph limits are simply a dishonest and easy way to grab cash from one of the world’s already highest-taxed drivers.

https://t.co/8G9eVkxEQg

[David Shaw @David90shaw]

🚨 Britain is one of the oldest democracies in the world. We gave the planet the Magna Carta, the rule of law, the right to free speech and the right to hold your government to account. Generations of British people fought and died to protect every single one of those principles! And in 2026 you can be arrested for a tweet, a terrorist who plotted to blow up a British army base walks free against expert advice, and a Prime Minister with 18% approval clings to power while telling you that removing him would cause chaos.
Ask yourself honestly, what exactly are we protecting anymore and who is actually protecting it? 🇬🇧

[Cllr Stuart Davies Reform UK @studaviesreform]

Starmer: “there is no such thing as two-tier policing”.

Police chiefs today: “we will review controversial guidance advising officers to treat ethnic minorities differently”.

The ABSURDITY of modern Britain!

[The Fourth Musketeer @IV_Musketeer]

Smells a dead mouse from a mile away. Eats anthrax for breakfast. Prevents epidemics just by existing.

The turkey vulture — the most important bird nobody respects.

THE NOSE:

→ Best sense of smell of any bird on Earth
→ Can detect ethyl mercaptan (decomposition gas) from 1+ mile
→ Gas companies add the same chemical to natural gas lines
→ Turkey vultures have circled gas leaks — engineers follow them

THE STOMACH:

→ Stomach acid: pH ~1 (nearly pure hydrochloric acid)
→ Destroys anthrax, botulism, cholera, hog cholera
→ Eats diseased carcasses that would otherwise spread epidemics
→ Essentially a flying biohazard disposal unit

THE BALD HEAD:

→ No feathers = bacteria can't get trapped when eating carrion
→ UV sunlight sterilizes the bare skin
→ Same reason vultures sunbathe with wings spread (UV sterilization)

THE FLIGHT:

→ Soars for hours without flapping (uses thermals)
→ Distinctive "wobbly" flight with wings in shallow V
→ Can cover 200 miles per day searching for carrion

WITHOUT VULTURES:

→ In India, vulture populations crashed 99% due to a cattle drug
→ Result: rotting carcasses, feral dog explosion, rabies epidemic
→ Tens of thousands of human deaths attributed to vulture decline

Respect the cleanup crew.

You need them more than they need you.

[Gully Foyle #UKTrade @TerraOrBust]

Excellent article from the Indian newspaper, the Sunday Guardian, on Sunday 31st May.

Well worth a read.

[Rachel @RachelD1892]

Starmer: I have the best interests of Britain at heart.
Britain: I don't think you have, mate.

[🌻 Go Wild With Annette @writethewrongs2]

Wtf! This is heartbreaking and pure eco vandalism. We need to name and shame @Hill_Group_UK @MoleValleyDC and @SurreyPolice for this. 👇

A building that was a noted nesting site for swifts, among the UK’s most at-risk birds, has been demolished during the nesting season, highlighting significant weaknesses in the protection of wildlife from development, campaigners say.

Contractors for the housebuilder Hill Group carried out the demolition of Regent House near Dorking station in Surrey over the last few weeks, during the nesting season which runs from 1 March to 31 August.

Footage captured last week shows swifts attempting to return to nests in the building, which was known to be home to one of the largest populations of the birds in the Mole Valley area in Surrey. They approach and then repeatedly turn away because their nests are no longer there.

The building was a known habitat for nesting swifts. Volunteers for Swift Protection Association Reigate have recorded very intense low-level flying involving as many as 40 birds using about 20 sites in the eaves of the building in early spring and summer for several years.

Demolition and construction work are heavily restricted during the nesting season under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built, or to disturb dependent young.

Annie Griffin of Banstead Swifts, a volunteer group that monitors and tries to stabilise swift populations, said residents raised the alarm with Surrey police wildlife officers in early May, shortly after the swifts returned from migration and were observed nesting in the building. Mole Valley district council (MVDC) was also told about the birds’ presence.

Despite this, demolition proceeded during peak nesting season,” said Griffin. “Conservationists are now describing the incident as a significant wildlife crime, raising broader concerns about the enforcement of environmental protections during development across England.”

Regent House was demolished as part of a development of 126 flats by Clarion housing association. An impact assessment carried out for the developers by the Arbtech environmental consultancy said demolition and construction should take place outside the nesting season.

If a different timeframe could not be avoided, it said, an ecological expert would have to undertake a thorough inspection before the start of any work and all active nests would have to be retained until the young had fledged.

The Guardian asked Hill Group and Clarion if such an ecological inspection had taken place in the last few weeks, but they declined to answer. They also refused to say the timeframe for the demolition could not be avoided.

https://t.co/OcZuZguX6r

[Dave Baxter @darkblackghost]

Fantastic thread, well worth reading.

[Liam Halligan @LiamHalligan]

Conventional wisdom says that leaving the European Union has harmed the British economy.

Listen to almost any Brexit debate – over the airwaves or on the professional conference circuit – and it’s invariably taken for granted being outside the EU has done serious economic damage.

Now we're in June, and as the 23rd approaches – the ten-year anniversary of that hotly-contested, era-defining referendum – this message will be rammed home again and again.

But it simply isn’t true.

My latest "Economic Agenda" column in @Telegraph

🧵1/7

https://t.co/3x1C903R8n

[Adam Lowisz X Meetup 🇺🇸🇵🇱🇪🇺🇬🇧🇺🇦 @AdamLowisz]

After watching the body cam footage from the horrific murder of Henry Nowak my blood is boiling. The poor boy was a victim of a violent racist attack. He is literally bleeding to death begging for help saying he has been stabbed. The officers mock and ignore him rather than giving him aid and arrest what is essentially now a corpse. These officers are just as responsible for Henry Nowak's murder as Vickrum Digwa and must face severe consequences. The entire system is corrupt in the UK. This did not happen in a vacuum. All the institutions responsible for creating a culture where this was allowed to happen must be dismantled.

[Mor Edge Insight @MorEdge_Insight]

Remember the European Hospital in Khan Younis last May?

Israel struck a targeted site there, and the world lost its mind.

Palestinians denied any tunnel existed underneath. The UN and European governments rushed to condemn Israel for attacking a “hospital.” Outrage, headlines, accusations of war crimes… the usual script.

Then June came.

The IDF took international media into the very same location and showed them the tunnel… a full Hamas command center, right under the emergency room.

Weapons, rooms, infrastructure. And yes, that’s where they found and confirmed the body of Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas’s top military commander and brother of Yahya Sinwar.

The strike that killed one of the architects of October 7 was surgically precise, and entirely justified.

Under the Geneva Conventions of 1949, hospitals and other medical facilities lose their protected status when they are used for military purposes, such as command centers, weapon storage, or troop movements. By deliberately turning the European Hospital into a Hamas base, the terrorists themselves stripped it of any legal protection.

Not a single apology from the UN or the European governments that rushed to condemn Israel. Not one admission they were wrong. They simply moved on to the next round of accusations.

This is the pattern. Hamas hides its terror infrastructure under civilian sites, uses hospitals as shields, and the international community reliably attacks the defender for responding, only to be proven wrong again and again and again when the evidence emerges.

How many times does this have to happen before the world stops falling for it?

[British Dragonfly Society @BDSdragonflies]

Glyphosate has no place in our gardens and growing spaces 🛑- so sign and share Garden Organic’s petition today to ban this dangerous herbicide for amateur and urban use 👉 https://t.co/mHwbHgXOVT.
#GrowersAgainstGlyphosate #GardenOrganic

[Matt Casey 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧 @MattCas04807118]

I can’t believe what I’ve seen tonight.😢😢

I knew that watching Henry’s final moments was going to be tough but I don’t think anything could have prepared us for that!

I’ve been stabbed.
I don’t think you have mate.
I can’t breathe.

He was dying and needed help, compassion and decency and all he got was laughed at, mistreated and made to be so uncomfortable in his last moments of life.

RIP Young Man.

I hope this brings about huge change within this currently disgusting country and its fear of being seen as being racist as Henry suffered for those fears.

[Pink Floyd @pinkfloyd]

Please join us in wishing Gerald Scarfe a wonderful 90th birthday! Gerald has enjoyed a long and successful career, and part of that saw him responsible for a number of Pink Floyd related artworks, most notably, The Wall project. Hope you have a great birthday, Gerald!

[Alex Armstrong @Alexarmstrong]

Unbelievable.

@SkyNews dedicated an entire TV channel to livestream the ENTIRETY of George Floyd’s murder trial. The feed ran live from 3pm to 11pm BST, Monday to Friday.

They DIDN’T live broadcast Henry Nowak’s case statement today… let that sink in.

Neither did BBC News. Only @GBNEWS covered it live.

Do you see the issue with these establishment news channels and their unabashed bias? Shame on them.

[Liam Halligan @LiamHalligan]

Yes, we need to use our Brexit freedoms to a much greater extent, allowing Britain to excel in sectors including biotech, artificial intelligence, satellites, agricultural genomics and financial services among others.

And of course the UK needs to recalibrate once again as a low-tax, low-regulation, high-productivity economy – and, again, Brexit provides the perfect opportunity, if only we could summon the courage.

But the "clearly Brexit has been an economic disaster" horror stories aren’t true – and, if we so chose, and pursue the right policies, Britain could soar economically outside the EU.

Conventional wisdom, as is so often the case, is no wisdom at all ....

If you find this writing valuable, please like and share.

And for more sharp, independent analysis, follow and subscribe to "When The Facts Change: Economics and Politics in a fast-moving world", with Liam Halligan

🧵7/7

https://t.co/3x1C903R8n

[Robbie @Robbie_Reasons]

Tower Hamlets councillors have voted themselves pay rises of up to 130% just 3 weeks after being elected.

The East London authority with Britain’s highest child poverty rate approves increases.

Britain's highest level of child poverty but a councillor gotta eat right?

[Mike Parry @mikeparry8]

Labour set to introduce their nastiest policy yet. It's the "Nice Pub Tax" Any lovely country pub like the Kingswood Arms near me pays higher taxes simply for being a wonderful place to eat and drink in middle England. Economic moron @RachelReeves has hit a new low in class envy