Notices by Emeritus Prof. Christopher May (chrismayla6@mastodon.me.uk), page 3

Hannah Spencer (Green Party of England & Wales) has chosen as her first bill to sponsor, a move towards the regulation of maximum temperatures in the workplace.... a deft combination of responses to environmental change & workers' rights - reflecting the new left-green position the GPEW has adopted under Zack Polanski.

If, as expected this gains cross-party support we can see how the GPEW's gameplan of mainstreaming its role in UK politics may play out.

#politics
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/12/green-mp-hannah-spencer-aims-to-pass-law-on-maximum-workplace-temperatures

Meanwhile in Clacton.....

#politics

The Low Pay Commission thinks that despite economists' previous warnings that a minimum wage would lead to rises in unemployment coming to little, further moves towards the median wage level may compound factors that have led to higher youth unemployment in recent years.

In this the LPC have now converged with mainstream economists who have accepted a low(ish) minimum wage can be beneficial while there is a ceiling above which disadvantages become more pronounced.

#economics #workers
h/t FT

How imminent is eco-system collapse & what would be the impact on the UK?

Well, the Secret Services have concluded its a lot nearer that we might think (could be only five years away) & the impact on national security (and crucially, food security) will be much worse that (again) you might think.

Critics have been warning of a potential crisis in the food system compounded by a collapse of local eco-systems - it seems now the spooks agree!

#environment #politics

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jul/08/uk-report-ecosystem-collapse-national-threat-food-security

Hmmm... in a bid to keep his fate in his own hands the Fascist Frog is resigning as the MP for Clacton to fight on the basis he is being victimised on donations.

He may think its a shoo-in in Clacton, but I'm not quite so sure. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, not least of all as i half expect, at some point the Frog will claim its impossible to have a fair election under such scrutiny & will abscond to his next paying gig in the USA.

#Farage #politics
h/t FT

If prisons are to have any useful function, including rehabilitation, incarceration must include the necessary education programmes to help prisoners re-shape their lives & opportunities on release (as well as during their prison sentences);

but, as with so much else in the prison system, this is just not working well (not least due to the recent cuts in funding for prison education).

James Timpson may see improvements, but so much more is needed.

#prisons #politics

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jul/07/prison-education-cuts-driving-drug-use-self-harm-and-violence-says-watchdog

For years conspiracy theorists have wanted people to pay more attention to the annual Bilderberg Conference... and in this case I think they are right: this annual meeting of the powerful does look as if its malign influence is very real.

But now Carole Cadwalladr has joined the dots to link Bilderberg with Peter Thiel (and also Epstein) suggesting that we really *should* be examining Bilderberg's shadowy role in the global political economy.

#politics #Bilderberg

https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/youre-obsessing-over-the-wrong-peter

Why is the world's richest man, Elon Musk, who you might think would be focussed on how SpaceX can live up to its astronomical (pun intended) valuation, actually more focussed (at least on social media) on British politics & his growing support for the far right?

Apart from taking joy in his 'interference' its difficult (for me at least) to understand why he's so interested..... unless its just an environment where he (seemingly) can act with impunity?

#politics

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/04/elon-musk-uk-race-immigration-spacex-ipo

So, its now pretty clear that the heatwaves in the first hall of 2026 were exceptional & have been outside the averages for the last 35 years;

iven the time it takes the environment to respond to human activity (and changes in that activity), I think we can say this is the likely story for years (or decades) to come.

Clearly, we need to develop a built environment better able to deal with temperature spikes & personal habits that keep us safe(r)... but will we?

#heatwave #ClimateChange

Unsurprisingly the Labour Party's own polling seems to indicate that adopting key element of the 'cost-of-living populism' being championed by the Green Party of England & Wales' leader Zack Polanski, would help Labour avoid an electoral disaster in the next election.

This might split the progressive vote *unless* Labour (uncharacteristically) agrees to form something like a popular front; Burnham has hinted he might co-ordinate with the GPEW; he'll need to!

#politics
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/02/andy-burnham-radical-economy-help-labour-win-next-election