Lewis Miller
@lewgmiller.bsky.social
Politics lecturer in Dundee. Public Policy oriented - Teaching Scottish, British and EU Politics.
Iceland is not in the EU, but it is a member of the Schengen area. It’s also a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and is part of the Single Market, meaning it enjoys freedom of movement with the EU. Good to know that doesn’t impact their independence. Maybe we should try it, Nige.
He who pays the piper evidently still calls the tune. 🙄
Burnham drops support for political funding cap aimed at curbing mega-donors
PM said he would set bar at £500k, but trade unions say funding reforms could undermine their ability to donate to Labour
theguardian.com
Interesting letter on the history of AI research. In 1972 a group met in Italy & discussed issues like the erosion of human autonomy. But then research narrowed its focus to industrial applications & did not include humanities, so we lost a more integrated view www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Dundee University still plans to cut 154 jobs. UCU remains unconvinced that the university’s recovery strategy will work and we oppose compulsory redundancies. Our Dundee members have 25 days of strike action planned from 21 September. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Dundee University confirms reduction in proposed job losses
The university said 154 roles were now at risk following a 10-week consultation process
bbc.co.uk
Periodic reminder that academia was one of the top things that most other nations tried to imitate from UK & largest reason many visas are taken for Uk.
Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · last wk.The axe falls at Dundee. They'll be back for more cuts soon, I would imagine within 18 months. Permanent risk of redundancy is a given for all outside maybe seven or eight unis. www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/5565...
If only we had a Government, a Dept for Education and an Office for Studemts, they'd probably do something.
Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · last wk.British universities are now gripped by the ultimate madness. Some unis are bankrupting everyone else accepting students they can't even take and have to leave in limbo... While putting everyone on redundancy notice! It's crazed. Still no-one will intervene. thetab.com/2026/08/24/u...
There are just 21 working days until Dundee UCU members begin 25 days of strike action. We are striking because after 820 job losses, the UEG has proposed making 200 people redundant. We are asking the University to rule our redundancies and return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.
I trained for a marathon by driving my car for 26 miles everyday, but somehow I ended up being terrible at actually running.
Henry Mance@henrymance.ft.com · 2w agoWoah.
"His story was never discussed without a miasma of race. His shortcomings were depicted.... as exceptional proof that ethnic diversity at Cambridge — where 0.4 per cent of academic staff are Black — has gone too far" - excellent column by @stephenkb.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/5f92...
The difficult truth about Jason Arday
From the beginning, investigations were accompanied by a cloud of excessive references to his race
ft.com
Oxford and Yale academics are backing the fight to save philosophy at Dundee University. The course is under threat as management seeks another £20m in cuts, with 190 jobs at risk. Then join the fight to on 8 September.
Under-threat Dundee University degree gets Yale and Oxford backing
Esteemed academics have written to Principal Nigel Seaton in support of the philosophy course.
thecourier.co.uk
Exclusive | The British government is set to pay the consultancies KPMG and EY almost half a billion pounds to train civil servants despite a pledge to halve spending on contractors. Read the story on #FTEdit 👉 ft.trib.al/skiDMwB
A direct result of government policy: 1) a disastrous funding system, 2) removal of student recruitment quotas, 3) restricting overseas recruitment. Now, the richest universities are over-recruiting, to the detriment of students & every other university. A problem that’s been known about for years.
Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · 3w agoOh what a surprise! Who could have predicted this except ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY 😡 Thick as mince country. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08...
Think this turned out to be on the money. Farage, just after polls closed last night: "I've managed to beat the establishment candidate."
James Ball@jamesrball.com · 2mo agoFarage will win the vote, but there's really no way to 'win' a contest against a comedy candidate. The best way would probably be to act as if you're in on the joke and pretend to find it funny. The worst way is indignantly explaining the bin actually represents the establishment.
Mark Zuckerberg—who single-handedly commands a $1.5 trillion tech giant—is now writing a manifesto criticizing corporate power, @willoremus.com reports.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Convenient Truth
The Meta CEO has a new message now that his company is losing the AI race.
bit.ly
£2.9million on staff costs and £8.9million on 'office costs'? 👀
Josiah Mortimer@josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 3w agoReform spent £4,376,601 on campaigning last year, essentially flat on the general election year - but £8,944,096 on unexplained "office costs". No breakdown anywhere. Much smaller parties than Reform give detailed breakdowns of what went into those figures.
It’s just depressing. Further education has been cut to ribbons. Higher education is in crisis. Labour turns its eyes to the bit of the education system which is turning out the highest literacy rates in the western world and goes “that’s the bit that needs to change”
Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 4w agoA must-read by @daisychristo.bsky.social:
Exceptionally low water levels on the Danube have exposed parts of the foundations of the ancient Constantine Bridge, giving archaeologists a rare opportunity to document what they describe as one of the Roman Empire's most impressive engineering achievements. www.reuters.com/business/env...
"The most durable way for governments to ensure that both university students and their less academic counterparts can move through the education system confident of good financial outcomes for themselves is to have a dynamic economy and robust productivity growth." @jburnmurdoch.ft.com on top form.
To fix education, fix the economy first
Weak educational outcomes often owe more to economic performance than education policy
ft.com
Behind the bewildering transformation of British universities, are management consultants being paid millions Really proud to have this vital piece on our unis are being gutted from the inside by @jheathershaw.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale. Do read democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-bri...
Inside Britain's university crisis
As teaching staff face job loss, their bosses have netted pay rises and bought advice from a “vampiric” management consultancy, writes Prof. John Heathershaw of the University of Exeter
democracyforsale.substack.com
@jburnmurdoch.ft.com is spot on here. Britain needs to take economic policy more seriously (and not just how much government taxes and spends) www.ft.com/content/1c4a...
To fix education, fix the economy first
Weak educational outcomes often owe more to economic performance than education policy
ft.com
Finally seen the film of the summer, the one everyone has been talking about: The Chiikawa Movie.
Just got two responses to my reporting of racist comments on Instagram. Both were clearly racist but neither were considered hate speech. Meta’s platforms’ comment sections are pure poison atm.
It's nice to see P&P promoting my article as we approach the anniversary of the 1976 IMF Crisis, when unilateral protectionism was furiously debated within the bowels of the British state. It's open access and free to read via the link below.
Past and Present@pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 4w agoOn advance access "The Political Crisis of British Keynesianism, 1973–1983" by @colmpm.bsky.social (@qmpoliticsir.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
Fact for those arguing with grandad/ma. "Our research illustrates this vividly. When we recreated the atmospheric conditions of the 1976 UK heatwave under today’s climate, peak temperatures were around 3-4°C higher. The weather pattern was the same; the climate in which it occurred had changed."
‘Was this heatwave caused by climate change?’ – we’re asking the wrong question
Instead of asking whether climate change caused a heatwave, we should ask how much hotter it became because of fossil fuel emissions.
theconversation.com
So a whole lot of my talented Humanities colleagues are now unemployed as of today. A lot of understandable concern over Exeter. But for over two decades my Hums colleagues were in the top quartile for their research contribution to society. History top 10. Now gone with only a national whisper.
We’ve moved from income world to wealth world ft.trib.al/yPmZXQv | opinion
We’ve moved from income world to wealth world
Passive wealth gains increasingly matter more than earnings for one’s standing in society
ft.trib.al
