If you are in the UK Civil Service- a DD or aspiring DD - this is an opportunity to work with me, England’s Upland Communities and @DefraGovUK on system transformation - please share widely a fantastic opportunity for a brilliant candidate civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi?j…

We have taken Travelodge off our list of accommodation providers for all staff and volunteers. I wasn’t impressed with their response. As a woman who travels a lot on my own & has experienced a man trying to get into my hotel room - I need to see some urgency and clear action!

Culture forms spontaneously whenever you put a group in a room and give them a problem to solve. But culture also endures; even when all the original people have left, the new ones will continue with the patterns they’ve inherited @martyndrake.bsky.social

Potentially underplayed: Positive politics Everyone I spoke to who was voting Reform gave reasons as concerns and fears of various kinds, mainly over immigration and general state of the country The Green voters generally said they were inspired by what the party was standing for and its vision

Tomorrow the ONS will publish new data on the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). This is important – and not just because the number is very close to one million…

A study on how class identity interacts with immigration views in UK - results are more interesting than you might expect. "I don't like immigrants so therefore I can justifiably claim to be working class" is an actual, measurable thing. Similar effect in Italy with identifying as Christian.

Masterful Troll, TCM.

London’s “worst mass eviction in recent history” is underway; hundreds of households across London told to get out of their homes this week by the same landlord, ahead of the renters rights act. The landlord? Billionaire Asif Aziz’s Criterion Capital. www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-...

When "the system" disproportionately rewards disinformation and divisive content, fact-checking and removing individual posts and accounts is futile. It's the system that requires attention. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The analogy between "AI denial" and climate denial is spot on. In both cases you can show someone a graph of an astonishing trend, and people will not just doubt that the trend will continue, they doubt the current verifiable state of the world. www.transformernews.ai/p/the-left-i...

"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits." www.computerworld.com/article/4059...

Good article on the rise and rise of Manchester I spoke with @hayleylever.bsky.social and @warrenheppolette.bsky.social who've been heavily involved in the system work @joesarling.bsky.social describes in his thread You can hear their view on how replicable it is here: youtu.be/hbptJgpJA0o

“We know people don’t 'present' with a single issue – their challenges are often complex and intersectional, which is why agencies need to work together if they want to make a real difference” @martyndrake.bsky.social

This is brilliant. Their album had been no. 1 in the charts for over a month, having knocked "With the Beatles" off top spot. And they're playing 5th on the bill at a Uni gig where the champagne and buffet are the main attractions. Such innocent times.

Good leaders make good appointments. It's what makes then good.

Interesting early research on AI in the workplace and how it can reduce our ability to learn new skills

It's like watching a doctor remove all the infected organs and wondering if they'll be enough left to allow the uninfected patient to live.

A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.

Another good piece of analysis from @samfr.bsky.social This line: "no government has bothered coming up with a coherent theory of regulation" - it sounds academic but it's absolutely central. You can't coordinate any improvement without describing at least what you *think* good looks like.

When one person starts with coercion and another responds with compliance, the pattern is set. Sure, pick your battles, but remember Angelou: "when they show you who they are, believe them the first time" works both ways.

“No one man can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices.” -Edward R. Murrow

If you're interested in civil society and/or national renewal, this is an excellent read. It's about the lessons learned and the movement that's growing around community-led development. Well done @jamestplunkett.bsky.social for bringing it so eloquently together and @samfr.bsky.social for sharing.

I try to avoid party politics on here, but forgive me one post: If you have no agenda you end up being driven by everyone else's. That every email I get from my local Labour Party is that "we need to mobilise to keep out Reform" or to "end the Tory shambles" is as depressing as it is telling.

Reminder that in the UK an incoming radical, populist government would have immediate access to immense, unchecked executive power. And the current government is doing nothing to protect us from that.

Keep watching - Trump and his circle almost have their precious goal: invoking the Insurrection Act. As per said before: a great deal of what is being done is simply Trump and his circle working backwards from this objective.

Manchester is the fastest growing local economy in the UK and also has the most holistic and integrated approach to community, health, and voluntary sector development. That's no coincidence. Join me to find out how it works: binleydrake.com/event/in-goo... @hayleylever.bsky.social @gmmoving.co.uk

For years now, the charity sector has faced a lot of headwinds that only seem to be strengthening. The question is, can we use them to move us forwards instead of blowing us backwards? @martyndrake.bsky.social

Do these people just watch Black Mirror and think "hell yeah, there's the business opportunity we've missed"?

The right to life comprises a right not to be unlawfully killed and a right to have any killing properly investigated.

“This is how radicalised American media and politics is becoming on the right” “It’s really, really disturbing” Lewis and Jon discuss the “grotesque” reporting by MAGA media after a women was shot dead by ICE.

The prize goal for Stephen Miller and others who surround Trump is to trigger both the Alien Enemies Act and the Insurrection Act - formal bases for unlimited executive power. A great deal of what is being done is simply them working backwards from that objective.

Trump says he’s “designating people” to run Venezuela Says “the people behind me” will be running Venezuela Ie Rubio, Hegseth and the US military It could hardly be more imperial…

Rubio says Cuba is run "by incompetent senile men" in a moment of spectacular projection. (Yes they're threatening Cuba now).

Just gonna leave this here

For five bonus points, Europe, who sang, "If you tolerate this, your country will be next?"

This is such a good article on organisations and delivery. Some points might seem obvious to people who've had roles in large corporates, but others are more subtly profound. And it's equally instructive for those in mid-scale non-profits as for those in the civil service. Highly recommended read.

This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.

Extraordinary poll. Basically says "I'm fine but I'm told everything is terrible." Kinda reminds me of something,... "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." And you can see which "Party" in the breakdown later in the thread.

What a day: been to the dentist, completed my VAT return, and got Sky to cancel the temporary TNT subscription I got to watch the Ashes. The first two were a breeze compared to the last. The amount of sludge you have to trawl through to cancel a subscription is mind blowing. Anyway, Merry Xmas.

Love this short opinion piece on “mechanical bypass” in analogy to “spiritual bypass”.

Had to go to A&E last night, the last Saturday night before Christmas… Took a book, water, phone charger etc etc. I’d had a twelve hour wait back in 2022 so I was prepared this time. I was in, assessed, treated & patched up, & home again in LESS THAN THREE HOURS??? And that is why I voted Labour.

Wonder if he will rename DC next...

Absolutely nobody asked for this BUT English Anglican cathedrals that have burned down, fallen over, and sank into the swamp: a thread.

One Laptop Per Child, 10 years later: "we find no significant effects on academic performance but some evidence of negative effects on grade progression... computer access significantly improved students’ computer skills but not their cognitive skills" www.nber.org/papers/w34495

This will always and forever be the most on point and prescient thing that Fukuyama ever wrote.

I still find it a little bizarre that, for a lot of people, including plenty who work in the voluntary sector, the idea of charities “becoming more commercial” is somehow seen as distasteful or immoral - @martyndrake.bsky.social

Brilliant piece on what our children will and won't thank us for in the era of AI. Naomi is SO GOOD on all of this: naomialderman.substack.com/p/preparing-...

A quote for the ages, and not just in relation to the BBC.