No, it never existed, and then the imaginary target was scrapped by the Conservatives years ago anyway. The rise in numbers going to uni was entirely down to higher demand from students.

"Politics has not become more statist. You're just in denial about being older!" - is I think just a pretty accurate read on where the UK political class is, whether the 'you' is closer to home or the country as a whole.

Whoever is on The Times picture + social media account is reinforcing public misunderstanding of immigration, by using pictures of asylum seekers in boats to discuss the big rise in visa immigration of 2021-24

Sunak government cleared the backlog it inherited (green) but replaced it with new backlog by ceasing to process claims from July 2023 The delay from not processing any asylum claims becomes a big cause of Jenrick expanding asylum hotels so much. It also suspends the returns deals we have, eg India

I wonder if this guy is related to "Boris Johnson" who introduced "voter id" as Prime Minister in 2023 ... off the back of some crazy US conspiracy theories ... and in the process, made digital ID pretty much inevitable.

This is such an under explored argument. A contributing factor to the Windrush scandal was a lack of free way to establish a persons identity and legal status. Voter ID was so bad because of a lack of a universal free way to establish ID. Universal ID can be a protection.

Aside from anything else, I do not understand why Labour feel the need to issue mea culpas on their immigration stance when they weren’t in power from 2010-2024.

Brits don't hate them! They have always had substantial majority support in polls. (Most recent YG showed 57% support vs 25% oppose). What's odd is that bits of the right-wing press oppose them (e.g. today's Mail front page).

My latest piece for @theleaduk.bsky.social on why the government has got a massive John Lewis sized hole in its growth strategy

A lot of the suggestions in replies and QTs to this are actually Lib Dem coded, which is why the Tories are in trouble.

Surprisingly good from Streeting.

This is another way in which the online, commenty right is getting totally divorced from the sorts of people who *should* be voting for them. And having had a foot in both on camps, politics and journalism is a good two or three decades behind even average practice in the corporate world.

I'll have more to say on Reform's proposals to scrap ILR at some point but for now I'll just note this - anyone telling you this is a popular idea doesn't know the polling. Overwhelming majority of public back giving people who work and pay taxes most or all rights after 5 years or less

The Kimmel thing is pretty funny but not as amusing as when every Conservative MP pretended to watch Match of the Day on the week that Gary Lineker was temporarily removed (lest anyone think we are not prone to the same nonsense in the UK).

If you haven’t read this article please do so www.politico.com/magazine/sto...

why is this news how is this news why is he being interviewed I'm losing my MIND

Do you remember all those articles about the far-right being marginal in the UK because of our voting system, our broad church political parties and all round general decency? The exceptionalism, ignorance and complacency were off the charts, weren't they?

This is the interesting split.

This letter to The Economist makes a decent point. The case for robo taxis probably feels overwhelming in a country where the urban design means you're utterly screwed without a car. It's like how higher crime rates presumably boost the car for security solutions. Not entirely enviable

Claire Holland, chair of London Councils, argues that backing London is backing the country and calls for an end to false division.

Lol. How well did the last govt insulting load-bearing parts of their electoral coalition work out for them? Like they watched what the Lib Dems did to the home counties and wondered what it'd be like if the Greens did that to the two dozen largest university towns.

We used to be a real country

This front cover is basically this

"Fred West and his wife Rose seem to have a knack for getting into trouble!"

Productivity downgrades are not everything, but they are almost everything: today's newsletter: www.ft.com/content/6567...

France has had an elected far-right presence since the 1980s, and there's no way of understanding it without first understanding just how many white French people had been born and brought up in Algeria, and that they brought their racist attitudes back to France with them post-Algerian independence

Doubt we're going to sort this out on here, but the claim that fascism is rooted in particular economic conditions was never that *poverty* drives people to the Far Right. On the contrary, it was that elements of the propertied bourgeoisie feel squeezed from above and below.

In 2015 wages were rising, inflation was non-existent, the NHS was still doing well, pensions were triple locked. If you were in the Tory base (i.e. not a public sector working or on benefits) things were going well enough. 2017 and 2019 were sui generis elections because of Brexit/Corbyn.

I am generally a big fan of the BBC - but this is a truly terrible 'both sides' *push notification* to send out to people in this country about this news event

"Fewer immigrant workers means a smaller economy" This was the point I was making in the Observer yesterday and on Today this morning.

Should Britain remain a member of the ECHR? Yes 58% No 29% Much party/media pressure on the leader of the Opposition to shift to the side with half of the support! Often predicated on the mistaken media/political assumption that is the popular side of the argument (Sunday Times)

The replies to this post, even on here, even moreso on X, are so depressing to me. We live in a world where cities have never been safer and a minority of people are denying themselves a lot of delightful experiences because they’ve gone mad online.

Except that those 33% of men would already have been eaten alive by the grizzly bear they reckoned they could defeat in unarmed combat.

I do quite like that this indicates that it's only 7% misogyny, and probably about 25.99% general arrogance, collectively. Feels like progress.

These people truly are the most gullible morons.

Suella Braverman is publishing on how to leave ECHR She will suggest role ECHR in UK-EU Treaty should be "renegotiated" What is the current position? Article 524: ECHR is a foundation of Treaty Article 692: either party can immediately suspend justice & home affairs cooperation if that changes

EVs/HEVs/PHEVs reduce brake dust by quite some amount: electrek.co/2025/05/27/a... (From May this year.)

Please say their lawyer is like a little hedgehog in a suit with a briefcase

Eighty years ago, Oppenheimer and his crew changed warfare — and the world — with the first atomic bomb. The people behind the Manhattan Project tell the tale in their own words, assembled by journalist and historian @vermontgmg.bsky.social. Read an excerpt 👇

In 1976 after an exceptionally hot summer UK temperatures peaked at 35.9 centigrade. In 2022 they peaked at 40.3 degrees. That's a 4 degree increase. Useful to know next time you hear Reform claim there is nothing to worry about because we have always had hot summers. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Born February 2006, Arsenal released this 2013 picture of her when she made her WSL debut aged sixteen in 2022 x.com/ArsenalWFC/s...

Risk of undersea cable attacks backed by Russia and China likely to rise, report warns

I don’t want to pile on, but at some point people really do need to engage with a) how high the minimum wage now is and b) that labour costs are, you know, a big part of how much an organisation costs. Minimum wage is now just c£1900 shy of what an early career teacher earns!

The thing with being loudly anti-net zero is it’s a niche even amongst Reform voters. Again, one of Reform’s biggest weaknesses is how its cohort of voters are little united on much else other than immigration. More so when those leading the charge, like Tice, tout bonkers conspiracy.

New for patrons! History pod focusing on Arsenal during the Second World War 🔴The suspension of the Football League in September 1939 ⚪️Player contracts cancelled 🔴42 Arsenal staff served. Nine died ⚪️Highbury requisitioned for the war effort 🔴Wartime games at WHL 👇🏻 www.patreon.com/posts/134118...

Sunday: The Guardian report how the right are stiring up a culture war over wind farms. Monday: The Guardian stir up a culture war over wind farms. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

the novel I’m writing in my head in the shower will be great if I ever remember it well enough to type any

30 years ago, newly arrived at Newsbeat on a 6 month reporting attachment I wandered into the forward planning office and asked who was covering Glastonbury. On being told they didn’t usually bother, I insisted on a press pass and ended up as the only BBC editorial person there other than John Peel!