The AfD qualified for three mayoral run-offs in cities in North Rhine-Westphalia today, and lost all by big margins. The lesson is not that we have overdone the AfD's rise, but that we do perhaps sometimes underestimate the counter-mobilisation effects - including in east Germany, incidentally.

Free book download of collected papers on Knowledge Commons ‘No Horns on their Helmets? essays on the Insular Viking Age’ #medievalsky #history #vikingsky #archaeology works.hcommons.org/records/xc6k...

works.hcommons.org/records/reh1... Today's Knowledge Commons share explores the cult of Bega of St Bees #cumbria & her encounters with vikings. #Irish & Scandinavian analogues of her Life are explored & the popularity of 'Celtic' saints #churches #history #medievalsky #scandinavia

Poster advertising the Yorkshire coast for LNER, 1929, by Derbyshire-born Laura Knight (1877-1970), her generation's most popular painter. #WomensArt

How is this not front page news? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This is an important thread by @colinyeo.bsky.social that both explains how the current system works and why he supports ID cards as an anti-discrimination, pro-migrant measure.

For this and for all those poems that spoke to the grammar school child from working class Leeds - and the gap education and its language made, thanks to Tony Harrison and his pride in his heritage. A great voice.

Been teaching seminars this week on whether polling should be banned during campaigns and after this I think maybe it should be banned except for during campaigns. Utterly mad way to frame a poll 4 years out from a general election.

Perhaps Sky should ask who is on course to be Chancellor, Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary etc. Lee Anderson, Tice, Jenkyns, that deranged conspiracy Runcorn woman?

'The majority of constituencies likely to take the biggest economic hit from the UK’s proposed levy on international student fees are held by Labour, a new analysis has found.' A policy proposal that is an own goal at every level. 1/2

This is a problem.

This Pride in Place story is much more important for any Labour recovery imo than ID and ought to form a central part of its focus: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

After years of making the running on immigration, Farage may this week have handed the initiative back to his opponents'. @robfordmancs.bsky.social for @ukandeu.bsky.social on the unpopularity of Reform's proposals on ILR ukandeu.ac.uk/reforms-radi...

And now one of the editors, @christoph-haack.bsky.social, is on BlueSky!

Fantastic!

A feast for the eyes! 😍 One of the finest Carolingian coins ever seen, à gold solidus of Louis the Pious, minted in the 810s, in an auction with Jean Elsen. 💯% genuine as die-linked with previously known coins. elsen.bidinside.com/en/cat/156/2...

The vacuum at highest levels in talking about this dark turn in British life over the last few months HAS to end.

This graph from @ryanburge.bsky.social might be of interest to those who now fear the potential influence of the American Christian Right in U.K. politics. The context in the U.K. is very different

Kind of amazing how UK news media still remains obsessed with the structurally limited impact in economic terms of small boats even as this potentially terminal havoc works its way through key UK industrial supply chains on.ft.com/3Ihb8YF

A police officer was killed in the attack on the CDC by an antivaxxer. Trump did not mention it. Use this as a benchmark to compare how the Trump administration responds to an attack on an ICE facility to judge which federal employees are deemed worth protecting. abcnews.go.com/US/1-week-af...

What do trade tolls have to do with the "Feudal Transformation"? My take, just published:

Quite apart from the question of turkeys and Christmas where BBC and Reform are concerned, just what is the BBC playing at here?

And thousands of others all over the U.K. Thank you Sadiq Khan. As usual standing up and ready to be counted.

History curious? You don't need to be in London (or the UK) to attend many Institute of Historical Research seminars, although if you're in Bloomsbury you'll enjoy doing so. Most are hybrid (online/in person). They're free, usually fortnightly and open to the public. Starting this week:

Putting all this together, @lgilbert.co find the following. It's not that Farage is (just) exaggerating/overstating - he is simply lying about migrants, jobs, wages and benefits. Media should be very clear about this. www.laurenpolicy.com/p/are-recent...

This should be an opportunity for the other parties - Reform's proposal is extreme, violates basic fairness norms, and would threaten millions of people who have made their lives here and played by the rules. This approach should be condemned as nasty, unworkable and contrary to British fair play.

Yes, you can and should argue that Reform’s new policy would lead to an economic crash that could resemble a full-on depression, not just recession. But you should also be able to straightforwardly say it’s *wrong*. Not that it should matter but: It’s not even bad politics to say that!

I have long supported the recognition of #Palestine as part of the process to create 2 States. Its a small but significant step forward and the International community needs to do much more. These 10 nations bring the total to 157 recognising Palestine.

If you want to understand the failure of our media, since Kirk’s murder Republicans have fanned out across the media for interviews, all claiming Dems calling Trump ‘fascist’ causes violence. And not a single interviewer has pushed back with: ‘But Trump called Harris a fascist!’

We need more in-depth reporting on UK university finances like this. Research , research funding and their relation to teaching and teaching funding could do with a similar level of detail. Here's a sharing link for 3 non-subscribers: on.ft.com/3ImSMWa

Small boats: TV coverage - day after day after day after day.... PPE scandal: TV coverage - let's stick this powerful, enraging documentary on at quarter past ten on a Sunday night.

€50 billion revenue lost to the state ANNUALLY.

A *really* big early medieval #archaeology story from Govan Old!

Even Maggie Thatcher wasn't averse to imposing windfall taxes on banks. The IPPR believes Starmer/Reeves should emulate this, with a windfall tax to recoup public money lost on the BofE's quantitive-easing programme. Banks like Barclays, with annual profits of well over £10bn, can readily afford it.

Oh no not research and knowledge.

Higher Education is increasingly a two tier system - based on income.

Israel has officially begun annexing the West Bank by forcing residents of several Area C towns to obtain special Israeli permits to pass through the checkpoints at their entrances. It starts in villages northwest of Jerusalem: Beit Iksa, Nabi Samu’il, and Khallayleh. www.wafa.ps/Pages/Detail...

You can scroll down, down, down the New York Times website, past Bondi and Homan, Kimmel and Kirk, H-1B visas, Tiktok, and Meta smart glasses, op eds and on and on... But Gaza and the Ukraine are just gone. Mission accomplished for Mr Trump.

As I have said repeatedly: Donald Trump is dead set on turning the United States into a Russia style mafia state. Surrounding himself with deeply corrupt officials furthers that goal.

Next week, students in my medieval survey course @viuniversity.bsky.social will be discussing Katherine Allen Smith’s fantastic article “Why did medieval monks sew?” If you haven’t read it yet, you should. It’s superb.

"Taking away a broadcast license has so many legal obstacles and takes so long that the FCC doesn't even try." This is important to understand. The real action is in self-censorship and merger approvals. view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/175...

Grist to the mill of those who want to expand HE and those who want to restrict it. Education is the great social divider and a challenge to social cohesion.

It will presumably also reinforce these biases.

The last political column I was allowed to write in the @washingtonpost.com was a criticism of Obama. His people took issue with my piece, but we were respectful. Now he is tweeting in support of me. This is how free political speech and respect for debate *actually works*. Or used to work.

Boydell & Brewer have a 40% sae on paperbacks with code PB40! You could, for example, get Heirs of the Vikings for £16.19 boydellandbrewer.com/book/heirs-o...

Something really big happened #OnThisDay 1,100 years ago! 🏰 @davidwoodman45.bsky.social from @robinsoncollege.bsky.social ‬and @camhistory.bsky.social thinks someone in English history deserves far greater fame. Find out why in our full film 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDhj...

This is, of course, one of the reasons Local Education Authorities are a thing…

"You may not see them that way, because you have the right look and accent, but you are not the intended audience of most of the people putting them up. I am. And they intend to send precisely the message that I receive." @sturdyalex.bsky.social speaking for many who don't look or sound 'English'.

Short-term post-doc for arts/humanities researchers! Do you love rare books, manuscripts, archives, art and/or objects? Would you like to explore one of our amazing Cultural Collections @universityofleeds.bsky.social for c. 6 weeks (longer part-time)? Find out more lahri.leeds.ac.uk/brotherton-f...