Richard Smith

Richard Smith. Makes words, soup, marmalade. porridge, and trouble. Was once editor of the BMJ.

[David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells]

Fifteen weeks into 2026, and wildfires have burned more than twice as much land (4.71 million acres) than the second-worst season at this point in the year (2.31 million acres in 2016).

[Arthur Smith @ArfurSmith]

81 years ago today my dad (with pipe) got home after 2 and a half years as a POW

[Elisa Mosini 🇪🇺🇮🇹 @MosiniElisa]

Today is a beautiful day!

The UK has officially signed its return to Erasmus+.
British students will once again study across Europe, feeling closer to our shared continent

A wonderful victory for all who believe in the bond between the UK and EU

Erasmus+ welcomes the UK home

[Alex Taylor @AlexTaylorNews]

Australians can now live & work freely in the EU for 4 years and vice versa

That means they now have 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 EU rights than British people. Free movement offered millions of us fantastic opportunities but Brexiteers slammed that door shut, most shamefully on their own children

[Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP @BellRibeiroAddy]

UN Delegates just voted to recognise the Transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity. Britain abstained.

This refusal to support this motion only places our government more at odds with the global majority.

The call for reparatory justice is only getting louder.

[Richard Smith @Richard56]

Doctors in fascist regimes https://t.co/hZTMvYcQTw

[Richard Smith @Richard56]

A tale of two (make that three) bitches https://t.co/4VnN5kIoUV

[Richard Smith @Richard56]

The joy (even ecstasy) of my morning’s reading https://t.co/nRqBHTPV1t

[Simon Schama @simon_schama]

Time for Tolstoy I think. Prince Andrei to Pierre who's doing a spot of war tourism on the eve of Borodino.."war is the..vilest thing in the world and we must understand that and not play at war. We must take this terrible necessity sternly and seriously. That's the whole point, to cast off the lie and if it's war it's war and not a game. As it is war is the favourite pastime of idle and light-minded people.." Not wholly confident Trump is about to read War and Peace, though.

[Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK @PIK_Climate]

Significant acceleration of global warming since 2015, finds news PIK study with @rahmstorf
Recent warming: around ~0.35°C per decade.
1970–2015 average: just under 0.2°C per decade.
➡️Current rate is higher than in any decade since records began in 1880.
https://t.co/rmpIWmg4K6

[John Simpson @JohnSimpsonNews]

Regime change involves two elements: 1, you decapitate the old regime; 2, you create a new one that suits you better. Air power can achieve the first, but it can’t achieve the second. How do the US and Israel get a better regime in Iran — better for them, better for Iranians?

[Zero Hour @zero-hour.bsky.social @zerohour_uk]

👏 Great to see Climate and Nature Crisis Caucus Vice-Chair @pippaheylings' introduce a Bill to protect chalk streams today in Parliament. We urge the Government to support her plan before we irreversibly harm these globally rare habitats.

👇 Hear more about Pippa's Bill below.

[Dr. Catharine Young @DrCatharineY]

The cover of the Lancet. It says it all.

[Anthony Costello @globalhlthtwit]

Doctors cleared in the courts of breaking a window at JP Morgan, which is a massive funder of fossil fuel companies, https://t.co/BHcyU6D9PJ

[Copernicus ECMWF @CopernicusECMWF]

🌡️ For the third year in a row, every day in 2025 was more than 1°C warmer than the 1850–1900 pre-industrial level. Over a third of days were above 1.5°C.

⬇️

[Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK @PIK_Climate]

🆕Several Earth system components may be closer to destabilisation than previously thought. Crossing key temperature thresholds could trigger feedback loops, pushing the planet toward a “Hothouse Earth” trajectory. Study by @OregonState, @IIASAVienna, PIK. https://t.co/oAxgJrk5kp

[Protect Kamala Harris ✊ @DisavowTrump20]

RETWEET if you stand with the Obamas against Trump’s racist attacks!

[Lee Brown @leebrown2]

Goosebumps! People often ask, is Shakespeare still relevant? Here is a great example, from the Steven Colbert Show, in which Sir Ian McKellen delivers an extraordinary speech. Shakespeare’s words are timeless, urgent and important.

#Shakespeare #ianmckellen #stevencolbert

[Richard Smith @Richard56]

“To a man to whom power is all- important, other men matter only as long as they possess power.” Robert Caro, biographer of power

[Caroline Lucas @CarolineLucas]

Sadly suppressing such a devastating report doesn’t make the risks go away - it just makes them even harder to deal with. Facing up to the truth is the first step to addressing it - it’s beyond scandalous that ministers tried to prevent this. They need to act - and fast