"Sinking in Polls, Farage Plans Week of Attacks on Immigration" Reform plan to make next week Immigration Week It could finally be the moment for broadcast media to notice the > 75% drop in net migration since 2024. There is also a 42% drop in boat crossings

This is a genuinely exciting announcement about Burnham's intention for public service reform There are some potentially massive changes to the way that services are funded and operate A few things that jumped out at me 👇 www.gov.uk/government/p...

Rewiring the State – Cabinet Statement (HTML)

gov.uk

Ok, so here's how I understand what happened. The SG proposed creating the NCS by creating regional Social Care Boards which would parallel the NHS Boards. They would commission all social care services in their areas. And EVERYONE hated this. Councils hated it because they would just become the...

Professor Peter Matthews@urbaneprofessor.bsky.social · last wk.

Burnham should try and learn from the SG's abortive attempts at creating a National Care Service, but I doubt he will, and it could end-up collapsing in a similar way...

Sensible policy klaxon 🚨 Currently, if a 16 year old chooses to stay in school/college, their family can keep claiming benefits as before (notably child benefit). If they opt for an apprenticeship, the benefits stop. The system discourages apprenticeships. The DWP just announced a fix 🧵

tfw you say you're willing to work cross-party on a total reform of social care but then rule out any of the revenue-raising steps needed to pay for it. #Cakeism is clearly alive and well.

Kemi Badenoch tells PM not to raise taxes to fund social care

In a letter to the PM, the Conservative leader offers to work with him on adult social care reform.

bbc.com

It’s a rip-off price, the vendor is toxic, and it seems the software doesnt deliver: www.ft.com/content/cbd1... Palantir tool has not cut hospital discharge delays, study says

Palantir tool has not cut hospital discharge delays, study says

Think-tank’s findings likely to add to calls for audit of NHS England claims around Federated Data Platform

ft.com

Another of my interview affirmation strategies: mention co-authors while nodding @sekip.bsky.social

Excellent Free Lunch by @joelsuss.ft.com this:

Andy Burnham should pursue a devolution ‘big bang’

If done right, radical decentralisation could boost UK productivity growth and living standards

ft.com

Hard to think of a more deeply damaging start to Burnham’s premiership than giving green light to new oil & gas in N. Sea, if true. It won’t lower bills or lead to greater energy security but will drive an even hotter planet. What a terrible signal to give to rest of the world #ClimateVandalism

BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) on X

Andy Burnham will announce plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea when he becomes prime minister on Monday, the BBC has been told. The announcement will form part of a flurry of policy m...

x.com

This is big. The first vaccine tested to PREVENT pancreatic cancer in high-risk individuals aacrjournals.org/cancerdiscov...

I think often about the Twitter account supposedly of a guy studying at Goldsmiths that spent a couple of years mildly prominent and very active in late 2010s student Corbynite Twitter circles (including DM groups) before being revealed as a teenage girl in Ireland who ran it as a strange hobby

The UK squandered £10bn on personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic, a public inquiry has said, as it hit out at the contentious “VIP lane” for procuring masks and gowns as “unfair” and “inherently biased” www.ft.com/content/2a56...

Under a Binface government, anyone who doesn’t accept human-made climate change as fact will be sent back to school, from Year 1 right the way to A Levels, to see if anything goes in the second time round. #VoteBinface

This is why it’s impossible to make a living as a musician and we all advise our kids not to get their hopes up. THE STATE OF THIS WORLD’S ATTITUDE TO THE FUCKING ARTS IS INSANE. FIND THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE AND HOOF THEM IN THE PLUMS, ASAP.

Prof Katherine Schofield 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇪🇺@katherineschof8.bsky.social · 4w ago

Music contributes 8 BILLION per year to the UK economy, and has been critically damaged by UK governmental neglect across the music ecosystem since 2010. Apparently that neglect will continue. Receipts via @ukmusic.bsky.social www.ukmusic.org/news/new-rep...

Obviously this is excellent, detailed, and in many ways pretty terrifying - essential reading for anyone with even a passing concern for literature, thought, learning etc. I would only add that there is an even broader crisis here around attention. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

The End of Reading Is Here

Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history.

theatlantic.com

It has been criminally underreported but Kelsey Pfendler has just rowed solo across the Pacific Ocean from the US coast to Hawaii in record time. A 2,400-mile unsupported journey in 43 days, 17 hours, and 55 minutes. Notably beating the Men’s record by 9 whole days.

"If he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I wont stop him." <stop stop he's dead gif>

On my way, Clacton.

Your regular reminder that cryptocurrency does in fact have a use case and that use case is crime

Until now, if a woman was killed in her home by a partner or ex, her killer faced a max sentence of 15 years – 10 fewer than if she’d been murdered in the street or by a weapon brought to the scene. Labour has equalised it - thanks to huge strength from families. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

‘Imagine this was your daughter’: how grieving mothers campaigned to close sentencing gap

David Lammy’s decision to increase minimum sentence for domestic murder victims follows years of tireless lobbying

theguardian.com

Thought this was fascinating (and depressing). As a London flat dweller I am also conscious that it will be difficult to add air conditioning units to outside walls right near others' open windows.

Ed Conway@edconway.bsky.social · last mo.

🥵Why are so many Europeans/Britons unnecessarily sweating through a heatwave without cooling? Why are portable AC units so crap? The answers are both interesting and maddening. My latest on air conditioning👇 edconway.substack.com/p/the-missin...

This is remarkable.

With another step-backwards for LGBTQ+ rights in the UK this #PrideMonth you might want to read this blog post about our research on LGBTQ+ people claiming the new devolved social security benefits in Scotland. It's sort of good news? www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2026/06/23/s...

Scotland’s welfare system and LGBTQ+ rights: Is social security really progressive for all? - Transforming Society

Lee Gregory, Eleanor Formby and Peter Matthews discuss how Scotland's rights-based social security system has improved the experiences of many LGBTQ+ claimants, while persistent discrimination and wea...

transformingsociety.co.uk

Rare red warning. Risk to life. Stay out of the sun. Avoid unnecessary exposure. Picture editor: "Counterpoint: Run the fun-on-the-beach shots?" We won't improve heat coverage until we stop illustrating public health emergencies with beach photos. www.independent.co.uk/weather/heat...

UK heatwave live: Rare red weather warning issued as Britain braces for 40C heat

Britons have been warned to stay out of the sun and to avoid exercising between 11am and 3pm

independent.co.uk

It is extremely important that Labour understands that the movement of voters between Lab and Ref was not the crucial factor, it was consolidation of the anti-Ref vote and Lab voters turning out in droves. Otherwise Burnham will make the same mistakes as Starmer in targeting only one set of voters.

Nathan@nwylabour.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Concerned about this 'swathes of ex-Reform voters returning to Labour' narrative taking hold. On the numbers it does not seem likely to be true - Reform got more votes at this by-election than they did across the constituency's wards at the locals.

Actually really honoured to be kicking this series off- have a read and let me know what you think!

LSE British Politics and Policy@lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We kick off our Brexit vote anniversary series with a piece by Maria Sobolewska @profsob.bsky.social on Brexit and the Paradox of Race in British Politics. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

As govt is going to ban social media for kids, then they should also: - invest in youth clubs and social spaces where young people are welcome - put some actual money into libraries - mandate that secondary schools supply offline learning resources - implement effective regulation

Yes, but let me just clear this up: the scientific world is not divided on whether Musk is an engineering genius. There is near-unanimous agreement that he is not. We have been saying this repeatedly, and would love the non-scientific media to listen.

Giles Wilkes@gilesyb.bsky.social · 2mo ago

My goodness, Ed Luce is furious giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Interesting account of the creation of the new open access Journal of Research on Research (which has links with RoRI’s MetaRoR publish-review-curate platform). Good to have more outlets for RoR! blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

61% of all political donations in the last quarter came from just 14 people Reform took in £9.3m from a handful of super rich donors British democracy is being bought. We urgently need action to take the money out of our politics

Steve Goodrich@stevejgoodrich.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Some quick thoughts on Q1 2026 donations data from @electoralcommission.org.uk 🧵 HEADLINE STATS Total: £20.7m (excl. public funds) Biggest recipient: Reform £9.3m Biggest donor: Ben Delo £4m to Reform Donors giving £1m+: £9.2m (44%) from 3 donors Donors giving £250k+: £12.7m (61%) from 14 donors