I don't think we should revoke citizenship because of some tweets

Die PDFs von "Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe", Band 1-7: drive.google.com/drive/folder...

Very much enjoyed listening to @colmpm.bsky.social speaking recently about his book on the Labour Party and modernisation on this episode of @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social.

Between the postwar period and the 1970s, sterling went from about 80% to about 10% of globally disclosed foreign exchange reserves. (Daunton, 2023, p.432) The former number is inflated by the Second World War and the unique conditions that generated, but that really is an enormous change.

This is a very interesting piece about a largely forgotten but quite revealing case study of worker cooperatives.

Check out Colm Murphy's @colmpm.bsky.social latest article in Past and Present: academic.oup.com/past/advance...

On advance access "The Political Crisis of British Keynesianism, 1973–1983" by @colmpm.bsky.social (‪@qmpoliticsir.bsky.social‬) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...

Gift link, probably the funniest thing the Wall Street Journal has done this year.

Dog-whistle and factually incorrect. Ladies, raise your hand if you were sexually assaulted by a boy at school? I’d wager this or a family member is most women’s first experience of sexual violence

It also means either rejecting the anti-fascist and anti-appeasement aspects of Labour history - which in the early 2010s seemed counterproductive, and today seems positively sinister...

I remember thinking this was odd at the time: labour-uncut.co.uk/2011/05/08/g....

This is one of the clearest influences of actual Blue Labour (rather than just vibes Blue Labour) on McSweeney that I have seen. I do not agree with the analysis.

The closeness of the vote is slightly surprising to me given the labour market data

Great stuff from our beatnik colleague, @sajuria.com

🧵/ How has political opinion changed over 2025? In voting intention, Labour have made the biggest losses, while the Greens have gained most, and Reform UK have established a clear lead Ref: 28% (+3 from 12-13 Jan) Lab: 18% (-8) Grn: 17% (+9) Con: 17% (-5) LD: 14% (=) yougov.co.uk/politics/art...

Some thoughts about the Chilean election

The @politicalquarterly.bsky.social's special collection on housing, guest edited by Christine Whitehead, is now online. Contributors debate the roots of the housing crisis, dissect the govt's focus on planning, and illuminate the resultant policy dilemmas. politicalquarterly.org.uk/collections/...

For a while, I collected the worst jokes UK political correspondents ascribed to MPs, especially those sent via WhatsApp. Because I despise you, I'm migrating the thread here, starting with this absolute *shiter* from 2022, so we can share in the horror together. Please send me the worst you have.

oh, no

Big deal in Labour land…

Huge new poll puts Plaid ahead of Reform with Labour and the Conservatives on just 10% each. willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/bombshell-...

Not a good set of labour market stats. www.ons.gov.uk/employmentan... Employment down, real wages slowing, unemployment up.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the final @mileendinstitute.bsky.social event of 2025 last week, where we marked the publication of "The British General Election of 2024" with own very own @timbale.bsky.social, @psurridge.bsky.social, @stephenkb.bsky.social and @rmcunliffe.bsky.social!

10 nuggets from the new "British General Election of 2024" book, courtesy of @timbale.bsky.social theconversation.com/the-ten-most...

MINNEAPOLIS: “All I did was step outside as a Somali American citizen, and I got chased by a masked person, assaulted, kidnapped. It was inhumane. If this is what’s happening to a 🇺🇸 citizen on camera, imagine what could happen to your loved ones.”

Sharp piece from @stephenkb.bsky.social building on his remarks last night at the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social launch of the 'British General Election of 2024'. It is striking that the 'hero voter', the No 10 strategists' lodestar, did not really 'come back to Labour'. www.ft.com/content/6912...

Secretary of State stealing my old tweets, I see

Come and work for a PhD with us with our full Hans Rausing scholarships for students from anywhere in the world...

The House magazine: we'd like you to write about recently-published academic work... Me: www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

This is a brilliant article in @mbhjournal.bsky.social by Charles Troup on cost-benefit analysis and social democracy. Cosmopolitan in its reference points, rigorous in its empirical grounding, and corrosive to existing views of governmentality and 'neoliberalism'. academic.oup.com/tcbh/article...

This is from June and so before her resignation, but I’m betting that hasn’t made much of a dent. And look where Streeting is.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD USE HYPHENS

🚨 New MBH article alert! This piece was the wonderfully deserving winner of the Tanner Prize last year. “Roads to Economization: Valuing Life, Limb, and Leisure in the Social Democratic State” by Charles Troup is out now in Modern British History. 👉 doi.org/10.1093/tcbh... #ModernBritishHistory

If you are a historian with policy-facing interests who has recently submitted their PhD (or will do so imminently), this fantastic new London-based postdoc fellowship in Applied History could be for you. www.history.ac.uk/fellowships/...

I realised recently that Google Scholar fails to capture quite a few citations of my work. But today I spotted that it has recently decided that I'm the late imperial historian John Gallagher so at least I'm picking up a solid few of his.

I'm skimming through my own book for something tomorrow (an odd experience). Mordred has decided to start eating it.

Quite breathtaking story - military grade drones at Dublin airport which flew on the path Zelensky's plane took. The drones reached the flight path of his plane exactly the time it should have been there, but just missed it because Zelensky arrived ahead of schedule:

Any takers for the Greens? We're one short of a full set

"the Student Loans Company (the taxman in plastic glasses and fake moustache)"

Stellar headline, and also a sharp insight in this piece on the NUS theory for explaining Zarah Sultana. I wonder if there are other NUS veterans at the highest rungs of government and whether that experience has negatively shaped their political styles subsequently? (He asks rhetorically).

"You can create money out of nothing, but you can’t create doctors, schools, or consumer goods." Nail. Head.

I do sometimes wonder if I'm losing my mind. thecritic.co.uk/full...

GB News are putting more overt racism in an unregulated online space (though the TV Channel itself did broadcast Lucy White saying that anybody who wants to practice Islam in Britain should leave Britain for a Muslim country) bsky.app/profile/jim....

David Miles (of the OBR) at the Treasury Select Committee: Reeves’ speech was not inconsistent with the OBR’s assessment.

This is a useful thread on the controversy today. But away from the detail, when BBC Verify have to effectively fact-check their own Political Editor (who is *not* a columnist but an Editor at a public broadcaster!), you know there is something of a problem.

No that's not *your* on *our behalf*. Your job is to report the story, presenting all sides fairly and then *we* call it. What Mason is saying here is fundamentally not what the bbc is for! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Annual shameless Xmas or other seasonal holiday gift suggestion for those interested in any of material culture, empire or British country houses. Over 500 pages & 100 illustrations. Paperback a mere £30. (Alternatively, free to download from @uclpress.bsky.social or @jstor.bsky.social ).

All this budget news, claims, counter claims is confusing, but two things of consequence. 1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget. 2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.

The OBR says that there is a 41% chance that Reeves will miss the current budget target. Attacking for excess pessimism is ridiculous.