Dear GOD if you want to save money in the asylum system 1. LET ASYLUM SEEKERS WORK 2. FAST TRACK STATUS FOR EVERYONE FROM CLEARLY UNDAFE COUNTRIES like Sudan, Syria, etc 3. Run an asylum accommodation system that is NOT FOR PROFIT #r4today

One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc

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I'd love to read an Iraqi writer's perspective on Dick Cheney's legacy today

Will journalists doorstepping politicians, or indeed members of the public, remain legal? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

A golden opportunity that Britain has decided to spurn so that we can instead set fire to our own higher ed sector in order to please a few intellectually insecure newspaper columnists.

You simply do not have to give article space to Tony Blair every time he wants to sell something.

Scratch even a millimetre below the surface of 'the minimum wage is too high' arguments and you see the ugliest crab in a bucket, 'if-i'm-miserable-you-should-be-too" mentality imaginable.

Perhaps spending decades terrifying the public with relentless tall tales about the pampered, idle poor has been deleterious to creating a decent, pleasant society

Thought the Times had been hoaxed. Turns out to be so much better than that

Proposing things that are completely democratically undeliverable reveals either A) a lack of contact with reality or, more worryingly, B) a disturbing view about what might have to be done to democracy.

Worth noting that in Nov 24 the govt wrote to South Cambridgeshire to say that voters were best placed to decide on council effectiveness and that Labour would bring an “end to micromanaging” I’d like to see the full text of this latest letter to see what has changed

Sorry, but there's something so ineffably depressing about ministers spending their time on this kind of stuff. Not as if there aren't real problems that central government should be getting on with while letting local government make its own choices (and even its own mistakes). #GetAGrip

New @lrb.co.uk ON POLITICS: I speak with @danielagabor.bsky.social & Andy Haldane on bond markets, gilt vigilantes, and the role of Britain's central bank. Instructive and hugely illuminating conversation on finance, democracy, & how we get out of the doom loop. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

The great thing about local government is that if local people don't like this, they can vote out their councillors. There is no need for this kind of central government over reach.

Enjoyed this review of Zadie Smith’s new essay collection by @houmanbarekat.bsky.social

A few thoughts about this deeply-flawed Jeremy W. Peters article.(Gift link.) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...

The Sun hasn’t turned a profit for years, which raises questions about what its purpose is and always was, if it isn’t “making money”.

A small group of analysts - doing their best but not hugely well resourced - change their view of what might happen in 5 years. Their track record on this is spotty. Nonetheless we now *have* to make huge cuts to public services. Is this a good way to run a country? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It won't shock you that the answer is "yes, clearly". www.spectator.co.uk/article/shou...

Always fascinating watching people underestimate the size of London vs other UK ciries. On an average weekday, more journeys are made on JUST the Elizabeth line than the ENTIRE population of Liverpool. If the Tube was a city, its average daily passengers would make it the 2nd largest in the UK.

We should design our cities so that public transit, walking, and cycling are the easiest and most logical ways to get around. This is the litmus test: if cars (regardless of their technology) are the easiest choice for most trips, your city needs a redesign.

YIMBYs need to police their membership

I’m sorry, why are we using “critics accuse” language here? These are factually, unambiguously, extrajudicial killings. It’s not an opinion. It’s not a disputed or disputable claim.

All voting is tactical voting. Votes are a means to an end, voting is the act of choosing your means to achieve your ends. It‘s 100% tactical 100% of the time

I love living in a country where the law about what bathroom I can use is genuinely UNKNOWABLE, it’s like something from a Joseph Heller novel

It's genuinely crackers that in the UK, a social media company can *take advertising money from a fraudster*, the bank has to repay the victim out of its pocket, and the social media company doesn't even have to give the advertising cash to the bank! They make money on the transaction!

The Conservatives would not deport as many people as Idi Amin. They would deport *more*. www.ft.com/content/9a1d...

BREAKING: Resident - junior - doctors in England will go on strike for five days in November 14th to 19th over jobs and pay the The BMA has just announced.

This month I announced that London has met legal limits for nitrogen dioxide for the first time ever. When I became Mayor, we were told it would take 193 years. We did it 184 years earlier than predicted.

Can the Manhattan Project avoid building the nuclear bomb?

The entire "free speech on campus" moral panic was manufactured to blackmail us into making space in intellectual life for bigots and charlatans who couldn't get there on their own merits. Its a DEI scheme for fascism. Congratulations to everyone who took it at face value.

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It is almost as if UK politicians and journalists are completely disconnected from the real life of the country

Apropos of nothing, I really do think UK journalists and politicians need some reminding that mass deportation of LEGAL immigrants, particularly those with permanent status, is far more extreme than even Trump's America and would basically place Britain completely on its own among democracies.

We hear a lot about the gender pay gap, but what about the gender wealth gap? UK wealth analysis by @womensbudgetgrp.bsky.social shows that, on average, men hold around £78k more wealth than women - that's a gap of 21%! Here @ignaciapinto.bsky.social explains more👇 neweconomics.org/2025/09/taxi...

It's apparently perfectly fine for senior political journalists to call for the deportation of British Muslim politicians now, with zero consequences

A mainstream “journalist” calling for a British MP to be deported. Is it because I’m Muslim? Next time, just say it with your chest.

We're delighted to welcome Sir James Mackey, Chief Executive of NHS England to our Annual conference in November. He's joining us on day 2 of the event which focuses on what the future might mean for the health and care system. Book your place today: buff.ly/yo1wQcK

Palestine’s most popular leader, Marwan Barghouti, was beaten unconscious and has his ribs broken by Israeli prison guards and his family fears for his life, his son has said, citing evidence given by former Palestinian detainees released this week as part of the ceasefire deal.

NEW: @instituteforgovernment.org.uk have published pt1 of Public Services Performance Tracker 2025 covering local government finances and overall performance, adult social care, children's social care and homelessness Incredible work by @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social & @amberdellar.bsky.social

The absolute bloody vandalism of austerity in one chart. Good analysis of the overall picture here.

"The EHRC’s exclusionary interim guidance has had a devastating impact on trans people’s lives" “Now the guidance has been withdrawn, so should the exclusionary policies that organisations rashly implemented in its aftermath. If not, they could find themselves in hot water.”

Perhaps a niche issue on public policy bluesky, but British basketball is an absolute disgrace. This is the second most popular team sport by participation in the country. More than rugby or cricket! And we produce next to no pros because the game's so mismanaged www.bbc.co.uk/sport/basket...

There is no need for a moral panic about the UK's welfare system. Far from perfect but recent discourse is nuts Spending is controlled, not spiralling Worklessness is near record lows My column www.ft.com/content/ee67...

Sure but isn't global heating a fair price to pay for us to have ChatGPT erotica and other kinds of AI slop to fry our brains while the world burn? Just asking questions... www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Is "we're going to start making erotica" what you'd announce if, in your heart of hearts, you believed you were running a company that was just about to invent super intelligence capable of solving any problem?