Ben Kenward

“First they came for the communists...” This is the incredible story of the German pastor who wrote those famous lines, and his journey from Hitler fanboy to his opponent and victim.🧵

Everything you’ve been told about net zero is a lie.🚨 6 years ago, Cambridge Uni released the Absolute Zero report - a bombshell that shattered the illusions of "net zero." It got no mainstream media coverage. Here’s what it says humanity needs to do to give itself a future.🧵

A cabal of super-rich gangsters including Donald Trump want you to believe that in times of crisis, it’s every country for itself. But history tells a different story: when the world was in ruins, ordinary people came together and rebuilt it. 🌍

A whole new type of democracy is thriving in one of the toughest places in the world - despite a media blackout. Women lead. Taxes have been abolished and private property redefined. Prison is being phased out. Everyone gets a say. But now it's hanging by a thread. 🧵

What do the public think about the record jail sentences for Just Stop Oil activists? Our nationally representative poll found 61% of people in Britain think the sentences were too harsh. Only 12% felt they were too lenient. Read more here: lnkd.in/e_NNztRa

@oxford_brookes Somewhat hypocritical to be sharing this now of all times when the department is about to be decimated by redundancies as a result of bad financial management and lies. @BrookesUCU have you seen this? #saveourlecturers

Kate is an esteemed researcher, respected teacher, valued colleague. Kate has just been selected for redundancy from @uniofbrighton Shame on Debra Humphris (VC) and Stephen Maddison (@citylifestory)! We say...✋Hands off the #Brighton25! #SaveBrightonUni #ucuRISING #MAB @ucu

🌩️⚡Join our Twitterstorm⚡🌩️ We've been striking for 100 days to save jobs @uniofbrighton! Help us #SaveBrightonUni & protect conditions for students & staff! We're in it to win it! Donate here justgiving.com/crowdfunding/b… #BrightonStrike100 #BrightonUniStrike #BoycottBrightonUni

@SteveAkehurst @JamesOzden The work by myself and @CameronBrick that @JamesOzden linked to used experimental methods in a very naturalistic way (real media sources at lunchtime on first day of rebellion when participants still naive) to establish causal effects of the 2019 April Rebellion.

@JamesOzden Yes i think that's right, that would be my take as well. But idk if anyone has ever really managed to quantify it

Just because why not, here’s a history of climate/environment as a top 3 voting issue in the UK. Something weird but important happened in 2018/2019. Still not sure anyone really knows what it was!

@JamesOzden These kinds of complexity issues are constantly doing my head in these days. I think there's a lot to be said for focusing on a particular type of activity not it is estimated to be highly productive but because it is probably at least not counter-productive.

My grassroots activist friends often critique effective altruism or other non-"systems change" approaches to doing good. But what do they actually mean? To help clarify this, I translated these critiques into a dialogue between two versions of myself! jamesozden.substack.com/p/tensions-bet…

@Kastrel I think it's not as indefensible as it looks. The General Secretary has been up to some really questionable stuff which in my view (and evidently the view of HEC) has de-legitimised the votes. Poorly informed democracy is not good democracy.

@SimonClarkeMP @ClemCowton @RenewableUK @Thrive_R @OctopusEnergy @RenewableUKCEO @Renewable_Vicky @ELPinchbeck @GeorgeMonbiot @dpcarrington @CPRE @BBCAmos @James_BG @LeoHickman

"Majority support for local wind turbines in beautiful rural areas in the South of England" - new SOOLE report based on detailed wind turbine proposals and high response rate data. soole.brookes.ac.uk/prelimreport20

@SimonClarkeMP Fresh data from our Oxford Brookes Uni study suggests that even when people are shown concrete ideas for local wind turbines, including pictures of landscape impact, they still show majority support soole.brookes.ac.uk/prelimreport11

@SteveAkehurst Useful work, thanks. Some Con MPs might say answers to a hypothetical general question aren't the same as responses to real potential local project, but our preliminary work suggests voters are very positive to onshore wind even then: soole.brookes.ac.uk/prelimreport10

Where worrying gaps start to open up is on energy sources, especially onshore wind. Offshore, hydro and nuclear enjoy net support among MPs of both main parties and the public. But Con MPs are net negative to onshore wind (-2%), while the public are +61%. Why?

How do views of UK MPs on climate change compare to the public? In short, there's a few alarming gaps. A quick thread on new polling with @ECIU_UK, plus a few thoughts (some hope and some despair!) #ukclimate #cop27egypt 👇🧵

@SvenHillenkamp @CameronBrick We also did experimental work benkenward.com/XRSurvey/how_e…. Proper article manuscript almost done. @JamesOzden did recent natrep longitudinal work on @JustStop_Oil. Not sure if results publicly available but no evidence of public backlash in general env attitudes.

By @BenKenward and @CameronBrick: benkenward.com/XRSurvey/publi…

What evidence do we have right now regarding the effectiveness of radical climate protests? Please forward and complete the list. Thank you!

Social Change Lab is excited to release a summary of our last 6 months of research into the outcomes of protest movements! We reviewed 60+ academic papers, conducted our own public opinion polling, interviewed 15 academics, experts and policymakers, and more. What we found 🧵

New data: 79% of southern English rural people supported large local wind turbines when given specific details of where they would be sited and how they would look. 19% opposed. This might underestimate support. soole.brookes.ac.uk/prelimreport10 #renewableenergy #soole

This is a huge story. A senior safety consultant at @Shell has just quit via a mic drop email to Ben Van Beurden + 1400 employees over the “extreme harms” Shell is doing to the planet. More on LinkedIn here: linkedin.com/posts/caroline…

I keep hearing people associated with the government saying the cost of living crisis is externally generated and no one in the UK could have done anything about it. But what if they'd listened to the countless experts for decades saying we need a pivot to green energy?