Brexit isn't just about trade deals or treaties. It's about thousands of small opportunities that quietly disappeared. Most people only notice when one of those opportunities was theirs.
Rick
@flipchartrick.bsky.social
Nottingham-born West Londoner. Author of Flip Chart Fairy Tales blog. Patient #NFFC supporter. https://flipchartfairytales.wordpress.com/
Clovis was a cat-and-a-half. I’ve never known a cat fill a room in quite the same way. One minute, loud and bombastic, the next, flopping around and purring. @quaestorix.bsky.social called him a ‘loveable thug’. We were lucky to have him and unlucky to lose him so soon.
Flip Chart Cats@flipchartkitz.bsky.social · 2d agoOur brother Clovis ‘renowned fighter’ has lost his last fight. A very aggressive brain tumour got the better of him last week. Fortunately it was fairly quick. He was taken way too soon and we will all miss him terribly. The house is very quiet now. Clovis: 23.02.2016 - 27.07.2026.
I can’t imagine what is must be like to be at the receiving end of Russia’ human safari war crimes. Chasing down a market stall seller. Amazingly, despite the explosion, he survived www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Video shows Russian drone chasing Ukrainian street vendor in 'human safari' attack
Ukraine said the video - showing a terrified civilian being hounded by a remotely-controlled drone - amounted to a war crime.
bbc.co.uk
Interesting take on the Ceuta farce. Morocco is aligned with Trump and Israel, who both hate Spain for not allowing its bases to be used to bomb Iran. So stage a migrant invasion to make Spain look bad and divide Europe. And most of the EU fell for it. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The right’s exploitation of the Ceuta migrant ‘crisis’ almost guarantees that it will happen again | Ruben Andersson
The EU’s panic and the lack of solidarity emboldens smugglers and the far right – and makes Spain even more vulnerable, says Ruben Andersson, professor of social anthropology
theguardian.com
This is the Nuffield research that the incredibly productive Diane Coyle refers to in this article. www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/publications...
The myth of Treasury control: Understanding the UK's Public Spending System (and How to Fix it) - Bennett School of Public Policy
New research shows that the Treasury's tight control of public spending has come at the cost of a fragmented, short-term system that undermines long-term investment, cross-government collaboration and...
bennettschool.cam.ac.uk
Giles Wilkes@gilesyb.bsky.social · 2d agoHow to end the cycle of mistrust between the Treasury and everybody else - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Must read from @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social The need to micromanage is really hard to uproot. Something for Healey's advisers to think about too
cepr.org/voxeu/column... Tighter policy encourages some households to try to work more in order to handle income effects
Uncovering the labour supply channel of monetary transmission
Economists have long viewed monetary policy as influencing labour demand, with little effect on labour supply. This column discusses four studies that use different methods and data from the US, the U...
cepr.org
"If Canada increasingly sees Europe as its key security and military procurement partner, Donald Trump has only himself to blame" www.economist.com/the-americas... From The Economist
Canada turns to Europe for its security
Donald Trump’s capriciousness has pushed Canada’s military spending towards Europe
economist.com
More analysis on what happened in Ceuta and how many leaders in EU are caught by blowing up migration No good comes from it [not solution orientated] Something that can not be won against farright as for them facts matter little thriving on emotions and racism they have fed for years
The right’s exploitation of the Ceuta migrant ‘crisis’ almost guarantees that it will happen again | Ruben Andersson
The EU’s panic and the lack of solidarity emboldens smugglers and the far right – and makes Spain even more vulnerable, says Ruben Andersson, professor of social anthropology
theguardian.com
Anthony Zacharzewski@anthonyzach.be · 2d agoMany EU leaders are collapsing under a moment’s pressure on Ceuta but the hypocrisy of Meloni is particularly sickening. All those demands that Europe help Italy out on Lampedusa, and no-one asked for Italy to be excluded from Schengen. But as soon as a Social Democrat faces problems….
How to end the cycle of mistrust between the Treasury and everybody else ft.trib.al/KvmNepY | opinion
How to end the cycle of mistrust between the Treasury and everybody else
The lesson from Manchester is that it takes time for public investment policies to show up in GDP
ft.trib.al
Evidence of the great benefits of AI: it used to take a huge amount of time and effort to make yourself look this stupid; now AI allows you to humiliate yourself almost instantly.
PBS News@pbsnews.org · 6d agoThe State Department said it takes "full responsibility" for "hastily" altering and then presenting a map of Africa at a global AIDS conference that mislabeled every single country it highlighted. An analysis by Reuters found a watermark in the map image that suggests it was made with OpenAI.
Significant new report from @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social & colleagues makes the case that the UK has a mismatch between highly centralised institutions of spending control and increasingly fragmented systems of public service delivery (more so if devolution) www.nuffieldfoundation.org/news/opinion...
The myth of Treasury control: What’s wrong with the UK’s public spending system and how to fix it - Nuffield Foundation
The long-standing model of centralised Treasury control over public spending has inadequately adapted to the realities of public service delivery.
nuffieldfoundation.org
Brilliant letter from Stuart Thompson to Jeremy Clarkson about his comments that benefit claimants should write weekly thank you letters to tax payers detailing how they spend their benefits each week.
CARTOON OF THE DAY (if you know who made this let us know)
Reform UK deputy leader Tice investigated by parliamentary watchdog reut.rs/4xlRgYg
Reform UK deputy leader Tice investigated by parliamentary watchdog
The deputy leader of Britain's right-wing Reform UK party, Richard Tice, is under investigation over a possible failure to declare an interest, a parliamentary watchdog said on Monday, three months after it opened an inquiry into the party's leader.
reut.rs
I see Richard “if Rayner had any integrity she would offer her resignation” Tice is being investigated. Again
Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe seem to be having a very public row about potential Reform-Restore cooperation
Rupert Lowe and Nigel Farage at war over Reform-Restore collaboration
This cooperation is off to a good start...
leftfootforward.org
Fascinating change in BBC news bulletins about Reform. Farage announcement on small boats only gets the third spot and is balanced by critics saying he's trying to distract from allegations over his finances. Quite the change from the uncritical coverage earlier this year.
“The first calendar month on record where no rainfall was measured at Kew.” www.londoncentric.media/p/londons-fi...
London's first month without rain
Plus: There's nowhere to bury the dead • London wants to keep its money • When will it stop being so damn hot • Who is to blame for turning off the air conditioning in the tower block?
londoncentric.media
To be fair, they've probably not updated their computer systems since the '80's anyway...let alone put them on a network.
I’m sure we can rely on the UK’s water companies to be well prepared for something like this.
Gunner Regretit@gunnerregretit.bsky.social · 3d agoTrump’s response to cyber attacks on water infrastructure is to blame Minnesota. He hates Minnesota more than he hates Iran. www.nbcnews.com/tech/securit...
One of the most brilliant aspects of The Boys is the depiction of Homelander as a soulless narcissist surrounded by A) sycophantic worshippers who believed his self-serving lies and B) cynical flatterers who pretended to believe his lies because they feared what he'd do to them.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3d agoTrump: “The Winning Shot in the Bedminster Club Championship! Thank you very much to all of those who participated. I won with a 70, & am so honored in that, unlike the rest of the field, I’m given very little time to practice, bc I’m focused on many other things. It’s called TALENT, and I have it”
How we can (actually) stop the boats : the @britishfuture.bsky.social case for expanded routes for returns deals that can deliver control + compassion via cooperation www.britishfuture.org/publication/...
How we can actually stop the boats - British Future
The ‘How we can actually stop the boats’ report draws on international evidence to argue that a scaled-up ‘routes and […]
britishfuture.org
My advice on how Burnham could pursue a substantive balancer agenda on immigration control + contribution + compassion - against remigration & racism bsky.app/profile/then...
The New World@thenewworldmag.bsky.social · last wk.The Labour party has been politically stuck on immigration. That has to change – here’s how the new PM can break out of the trap ✏️ @sundersays.bsky.social
Spain clearly controls entry into the Schengen area from Africa. Almost everyone who entered Ceuta has returned. They would not have been eligible for regularisation anyway. Take your profound ignorance elsewhere.
Piñín♾️ ... que de Piñón "ye" sobrín@the-real-nacho.bsky.social · 4d agoSpain could control entry to the Schengen area from Africa but it doesn't. The ailing government in Madrid has just granted EU residency to 600,000+ undocumented migrants. This pull factor together with Spain's incompetent border control strategies have led to a very dangerous situation in #Ceuta.