"Populists are careless of the strife they cause. They trade on grievance in our society and where ills exist they exaggerate them" 💬 Sir John Major delivering the 2026 Attlee Foundation Lecture yesterday, hosted by @strandgroup.bsky.social & The Attlee Foundation 📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1NL...

🎟️ And join us, @schoolforgovt.bsky.social, @homelessnessimpact.bsky.social, @ligia-teixeira.bsky.social, @michael-sanders.bsky.social & @bobbyduffy.bsky.social today at 1pm, online, to explore these findings further ➡️ www.kcl.ac.uk/events/the-c...

The new V-Dem report was released today. There are dramatic declines in democracy in the US. Much worse than during Trump I.

“Every generation faces its challenges.” ICYMI: in the latest ep. of the We Society podcast, @bobbyduffy.bsky.social & @careyoppenheim.bsky.social join host Will Hutton to discuss the challenges facing young people today & how we can bridge the generational divide. 👂➡️ podfollow.com/the-we-socie...

What does it mean to be ‘grown up’ in late 2020s Britain? Really thoughtful conversation on generational change & challenges with @careyoppenheim.bsky.social @bobbyduffy.bsky.social & host Will Hutton. open.spotify.com/episode/5lEZ...

"We had sense that each generation is going to do better than the previous one... But actually it was quite unusual" @bobbyduffy.bsky.social spoke to Will Hutton & @careyoppenheim.bsky.social on what it means to be grown up today & how we bridge generational divides ➡️ podfollow.com/the-we-socie...

What does it mean to be grown up today? In the latest episode of the We Society podcast, Will Hutton is joined by @bobbyduffy.bsky.social & @careyoppenheim.bsky.social to discuss the challenges facing young people today and what can be done to help. Listen now: acss.org.uk/we-society-p...

EVENT: The case for cash: do cash transfers work in practice? Join us, @policyatkings.bsky.social, @homelessnessimpact.bsky.social, @ligia-teixeira.bsky.social, @michael-sanders.bsky.social & @bobbyduffy.bsky.social to explore the impact of cash transfers on poverty ➡️ www.kcl.ac.uk/events/the-c...

🔊 “I do think symbols matter…that question...about government being on platforms like X is one that is very much up for debate, and it’s a debate that we’re having" 🤳 Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy on the role of social media in culture war debates at our event last night 🧵⬇️ Full video below

⬇️ Watch the full event, with @ipsosintheuk.bsky.social, @ukandeu.bsky.social, @jburnmurdoch.ft.com, Dr Kate Ferguson, Gideon Skinner & @bobbyduffy.bsky.social

A full house tonight, exploring the shifting perceptions & realities of the UK's culture wars w/ @ipsosintheuk.bsky.social , @ukandeu.bsky.social, The Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, @jburnmurdoch.ft.com, Dr Kate Ferguson, Gideon Skinner & @bobbyduffy.bsky.social 📺 Watch live: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIZM...

NEW: The share of the UK public who say the country needs to reduce carbon emissions to net zero sooner than 2050 has nearly halved since 2021. Our study with @ipsosintheuk.bsky.social and @cast-centre.bsky.social reveals a sharp fall in urgency on net zero and support for climate policies 🧵 ⬇️

Along with @demos-uk.bsky.social and the Centre for British Democracy, we're partnering with the Home Affairs Committee to deliver a series of "citizen-assembly style" events where the public can come together and debate the trade-offs between legal migration and economic growth 📈 🛂

🙏 Is there a religious revival underway among young people – or is it just a statistical mirage? @bobbyduffy.bsky.social writes about this growing debate ahead of an event we're hosting next week with experts from Pew Research Center and UCL

172,000 children in UK are homeless - Dan Hewitt from ITV outlining this is a systemic, political choice and @kwajo.bsky.social that the narrative shift to see housing as an asset not an essential at heart of crisis @kbrickell.bsky.social @policyatkings.bsky.social @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social

NEW: One in five people say they feel suddenly and deeply thankful to be alive on at least a weekly basis, while another one in seven say they never experience such feelings. Our final study of 2025 explores some of the UK public's deepest and most philosophical emotions 🧵⬇️

This shocked me. I have so many photos of sunsets, clouds, insects, shadows, strangely shaped trees, etc., etc. that I’ve taken to send to others to share the joy I feel. Countryside or city. Whether I start out happy or sad. Never thought others might not feel the same.

Out today - 16% of public feel a profound sense of awe or wonder at the universe or nature DAILY, 12% say they NEVER feel that, with an even spread across range between. One of my favourite qs of year - don't often get sense of how different our mental models are www.kcl.ac.uk/news/one-in-...

"The perception that this divisiveness works has taken hold" – @bobbyduffy.bsky.social spoke to the Associated Press about the "frightening increase in the sense of national division and decline" and the need for political leaders to be responsible with their rhetoric ➡️ apnews.com/article/euro...

ICYMI The public think people arriving by small boats make up not only the largest share of asylum seekers, but the largest share of *all* immigrants. In fact, it's just 4% of the total number, write @bobbyduffy.bsky.social & @elielcohen.bsky.social ➡️ blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

🔊 "a real problem between the generations is not conflict, it's separation. We are living much more separately by generations than we have at any time in human history" @bobbyduffy.bsky.social on the latest episode of @peteryork.bsky.social's Culture Wars House Party podcast

🔊 "there's very little overlap now in the attitudes between Republicans and Democrats... you can predict more and more of social attitudes in the US just by knowing your party identity" @bobbyduffy.bsky.social on the latest episode of @peteryork.bsky.social's Culture Wars House Party podcast

"that [financial inequality] is a fracturing in society more generally but particularly among young people... because wealth is more important to our economic success than income these days" @bobbyduffy.bsky.social on The Briefing Room on BBC Radio 4 to discuss intergenerational tensions

🔉 "not every Baby Boomer made it big, far from it... the top third have the vast majority of that wealth... that wealth is flowing down very unevenly" @bobbyduffy.bsky.social on The Briefing Room on BBC Radio 4 to discuss intergenerational tensions, following another increase in the state pension

Interested in intergenerational economic injustice? This episode of The Briefing Room features two of our Fellows @janefalkingham.bsky.social FAcSS and @bobbyduffy.bsky.social FAcSS discussing just that. Find out more and catch up ⬇️

📻 Coming up at 4pm today on BBC Radio 4 CPC-CG Director @janefalkingham.bsky.social @uosmedia.bsky.social will discuss #intergenerational #economic justice, with CPC-CG's @sophiehale.bsky.social @resolutionfoundation.org, + @bobbyduffy.bsky.social & @xiaoweixu.bsky.social @theifs.bsky.social ⬇️⬇️

Incredible examples of huge programmes Tamara Finkelstein has driven - eg so many claim a key role in Sure Start but Tamara has one of best claims to making it happen - great conversation with @michael-sanders.bsky.social at relaunch of King’s School for Government in @policyatkings.bsky.social

“If we want to build a fairer, more inclusive society, we need to understand it first. That’s the power of social science.” Watch Julia Gillard discuss the vital role of social science in a divided world in our 2025 Campaign for Social Science Annual Sage Lecture. 📽️➡️ acss.org.uk/news/watch-t...

"Social science is not just a discipline. It's a way of seeing the world, of asking the questions that matter...Without it, science risks becoming detached from society." 💬 Julia Gillard delivers the Campaign for Social Science Annual Sage Lecture

“Inequality is poisoning our economy and undermining growth - and yet politicians see tackling it as low priority or too risky” Julian Richer

The public think people arriving by small boats make up not only the largest share of asylum seekers, but the largest share of *all* immigrants. In fact, it's just 4% of the total number, write @bobbyduffy.bsky.social & @elielcohen.bsky.social ➡️ blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsand...

NEXT WEEK: Truth and Trust: The Vital Role of Social Science in a Divided World Join us and an expert panel, including Julia Gillard, to discuss how social science can still have global impact in an era of political polarisation 🎟️ Register for the livestream ➡️ acss.civiplus.net/civicrm/even...

"The key point is that no-one actually wins a culture war in the end, because they never fully end." @bobbyduffy.bsky.social on the options available to counter growing cultural tensions and divisions in the UK ➡️ bylinetimes.com/2025/11/11/u...

NEW: People with severe mental illness face a significant life expectancy gap, amounting to a hidden health crisis, with the public vastly underestimating the scale of the impact on mortality New research with @kingshealth.bsky.social & @maudsleycharity.bsky.social 🧵 ⬇️

🔴US-Style Culture Wars Have Come to Britain but Who Is Starting Them? A new study raises stark questions about links between extreme rhetoric in the media and the surge in voters saying the country is being torn apart by culture wars, argues @bobbyduffy.bsky.social bylinetimes.com/2025/11/11/u...

Is imagined immigration is shaping UK politics? @bobbyduffy.bsky.social & @elielcohen.bsky.social @policyatkings.bsky.social for @lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social

📺 "We've amplified and given more space to more extreme views than we would even a couple of years ago" 💬 @bobbyduffy.bsky.social speaks to BBC News about the drivers behind some of the growing culture war divisions identified in our new study with @ipsosintheuk.bsky.social

🔊 "What we've seen is an increase in more extreme rhetoric in social media, media and politics over the last few years...and that more extreme rhetoric does shift views. It gives you a changing view of the norm" @bobbyduffy.bsky.social on the Today programme discussing our new culture wars study

Economists Assemble

NEW: Perceptions of division in the UK have reached their highest point since trends began in 2020, while the share who believe the nation is divided by "culture wars" specifically has risen from 46% to 67% today Our study with @ipsosintheuk.bsky.social reveals growing culture war tensions 🧵 ⬇️

Having studied immigration attitudes + misperceptions for decades, 3 things stand out: - they change, but it's so tribal that each side thinks it's settled when it moves in "their" direction - our misperceptions are a signal of worry as much as a cause - BUT that doesn't mean facts don't matter...

"So a major driver of immigration becoming such a central societal and political issue is a growing concern about asylum seekers perceived as coming illegally – but this is built on an extraordinarily wrong view of their scale" @bobbyduffy.bsky.social & @elielcohen.bsky.social write for the LSE

💬 The public are "putting an awful lot of hope on the idea of apprenticeships...It’s partly because we’ve been so bad at doing them that people can put all of that hope on to them because they’ve got so little experience of them." @bobbyduffy.bsky.social quoted in @timeshighered.bsky.social

Real mix of university and FE leaders in packed room for panel with Skills Minister on how we need to work together to deliver the skills strategy, great to do this jointly with @et-foundation.bsky.social @hepi-news.bsky.social @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social @policyatkings.bsky.social

Starting in 20 mins in Leonardo hotel, with Minister for Skills Baroness Jacqui Smith, lots to discuss on HE given the week's announcements... @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social @hepi-news.bsky.social

🚨Starting soon! 🚨 Join us at 12pm in the Leonardo Hotel, Liverpool, for our discussion on the future of HE and skills, hosted with the Education Training Foundation ⬇️

'No such thing as society'? Just 11% support Thatcher's view

Margaret Thatcher's interview with Woman's Own was this day in 1987 - the furore over the quote annoyed her, as she thought she was getting across subtle Hayekian ideas. These cut-through quotes are rare but interesting - we tested Starmer, Gove and Mandelson versions...

“Countless experiments show that around 10 per cent of the public don’t understand simple percentages” — Prof @bobbyduffy.bsky.social, quoted on Peter Kellner’s blog. kellnerp.substack.com/p/ignorance-... He could have said one in ten , but I guess Bobby is a take-no-prisoners kind of a guy.

🤞 We're delighted to be part of a team that's been nominated for Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community in the @timeshighered.bsky.social awards, for our work documenting the impact of the London Living Wage ⬇️