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Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 13h

The Labour Force Survey is subject to ongoing criticism. Explainer of the issues and potential remedies here

www.ons.gov.uk/employmentan...

Labour Force Survey quality update - Office for National Statistics

Assessment of Labour Force Survey data quality, including the impact of recent changes on the statistics, response levels and rates, and respondent characteristics.

www.ons.gov.uk

Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 13h

Youth (16-24) unemployment increased 10k in yr to June. Youth inactivity (which may reflect young people moving into FTE) increased by 9k

Gender breakdown must be treated with caution due to low sample size but women account for all the increase in youth inactivity; men for majority of u/e increase

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Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 13h

younger and older workers seem to be bearing the brunt of this deterioration.

Change in employment levels/rates over year to June 2025:

16-24yrs -16k/-3.2%
25-34 yrs +9k/+0.9%
35-49 +42k/+1%
50-66 -34k/-1.2%

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Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 13h

Today's stats (Jun-Aug) point to a deteriorating Scottish labour market:
16-64yrs employment down 20k on quarter (-16k women, -4k men)
Unemployment up 5k (women +5k)
Inactivity up 15k (men +5k, women +11k)

16-64 rates: Employment 74.3% (74.5% May-Jun)
Unemployment 4% (3.6)
Inactivity 22.7% (22.8)

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Reposted by Stephen Boyd

undercoverhist.bsky.social @undercoverhist.bsky.social · 22h

What does a Nobel Prize on ‘innovation-driven economic growth’ actually reward?

A historian’s perspective on how to deal with the Nobel frenzy

beatricecherrier.wordpress.com/2025/10/13/w...

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Reposted by Stephen Boyd

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 2d

It's hard to help Americans left behind because so much of US identity is rooted in individualism. The average American conservative holds all three positions at once:

— Virtue signals about supporting US manufacturing
— Against raising the minimum wage
— Buys foreign imports because they're cheap

HardPass4 on Twitter tweets: "I'm willing to pay more for quality products if they are made in America, by Americans, who are paid a decent income." The tweet shows Norman Rockwell's "Freedom of Speech" painting, which is often used to show the tweeter is expressing a brave opinion.

HardPass4 on Twitter tweets: "MINIMUM WAGE JOBS WERE NOT MEANT TO BE A CAREER. Why does no one understand this? Entry level jobs are STEPPING STONES to better jobs. No one wants to work towards that though."

HardPass4 on Twitter tweets: "Buy $5 gloves instead of $50 ones. Trust me." The tweet shows a box of "Gorilla Grip" gloves.

The label on Gorilla Grip gloves show they're made in China.

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Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 2d

Standing room only for @ipprscotland.bsky.social SNP conference fringe on 'GB Energy and the acceleration of renewables in Scotland' with Stephen Flynn MP, Damien Zachlod, ENBW and Zoe Holiday, Community Energy Scotland and @davehawkey.bsky.social

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Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 3d

“Edinburgh’s a fairly conservative, insurancy-type town and it doesn’t exactly rave all that much except during the Festival, so we went to Glasgow...Britain’s Chicago!"

V good piece on the ISB's Hangman's Beautiful Daughter in @heraldscotland.bsky.social

www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/2...

'The Incredible String Band's third album was a gamechanger'

The Incredible String Band's third album saw them searching 'for something that doesn't just sound modern, but timeless and nationless'.

www.heraldscotland.com

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Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 5d

This is outrageous. There will soon be no serious broadcast media left in Scotland.

Would be nice to see some cross party pressure on BBC Scotland to stop this nonsense

share.google/yBZPKbXufZeJ...

GMS on hit list as BBC Scotland plans restructure – Daily Business

share.google

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Reposted by Stephen Boyd

IPPR Scotland @ipprscotland.bsky.social · 5d

📢 We are in Aberdeen this weekend at the SNP conference, hosting three fringe events. A conference pass is required to attend the events. Hope to see you there. Details below ⤵️

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Reposted by Stephen Boyd

IPPR Scotland @ipprscotland.bsky.social · 6d

"The forthcoming climate plan must be built on sound financial and democratic pillars. That means a clear role for taxes, so we share transition costs fairly rather than leaving individuals to do it alone." - @davehawkey.bsky.social responds to today's climate targets www.ippr.org/media-office...

IPPR Scotland responds to the Scottish government’s new climate targets | IPPR

IPPR Scotland welcomes the new climate targets agreed by the Scottish government today. Dave Hawkey, Senior Research Fellow, IPPR Scotland said: “In the w

www.ippr.org

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Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 8d

"Now Scotland can claim to some of the great thinkers of yester-year. The country of Adam Smith, the father of conservatism"

ok, who's gonna break the news about Edmund Burke to Russell Findlay?

www.conservatives.com/news/scotlan...

Scotland’s future in the UK

Leader of the Conservative Party in Scotland Russell Findlay MSP outlines Scotland's Future in the UK

www.conservatives.com

Reposted by Stephen Boyd

Alan Beattie @alanbeattie.bsky.social · 9d

OK, let's take this seriously. I had an odd half an hour and via Apple Books had a quick look at the three claims I knew most about - two re the post-Brexit bilateral preferential trade agreements replicated from the EU versions and one about cheaper bananas. All are wrong or wildly implausible. 1/n

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Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 8d

“Everyone thought we’d come in and there were going to be these huge costs we could cut away but there just aren’t"

Tempting to laugh but, frustratingly, such delusions about public sector spending/reform are very widely shared across political parties.

on.ft.com/4mNVKkw via @FT

Reform likely to raise Kent council tax after cost-cutting drive falters

Nigel Farage’s party promised to revive local authority finances by slashing wasteful spending

on.ft.com

Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 9d

Essential @abenewman.bsky.social thread on an important - and hopefully catalytic - speech

bsky.app/profile/aben...

Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 9d

1/Striking speech by Macron: The future of European democracy depends on taking back its digital information space. A remarkable turn from Silicon Valley as source of enlightenment to being a purveyor of slop. And the stakes aren't just ad revenue but the nation.
defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...

"Europeans, let's wake up!" — Defend Democracy

“We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.” President Macron on the occasion of German Unity Day, 3 October 2025.

defenddemocracy.eu

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Reposted by Stephen Boyd

Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 9d

1/Striking speech by Macron: The future of European democracy depends on taking back its digital information space. A remarkable turn from Silicon Valley as source of enlightenment to being a purveyor of slop. And the stakes aren't just ad revenue but the nation.
defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...

"Europeans, let's wake up!" — Defend Democracy

“We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.” President Macron on the occasion of German Unity Day, 3 October 2025.

defenddemocracy.eu

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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 9d

This is great. Cory D nails the business model in all its dismal detail. He had consistently been excellent doing a job, that let's be honest, professors in business schools should have done.

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 9d

This is so good from Cory Doctorow on all the tricks Amazon uses to get both consumers to pay more, and how businesses on the platform end up paying it 45-51 cents on every dollar.

Plus he rightly calls for regulatory change, not just individual consumer action
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and ...

www.theguardian.com

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Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 11d

"It'd be a hugely welcome developmnt to discover that we have not merely reached social media saturation point but that the experience has been degraded to such an extent that it's shocked people out of their stupor...causing them to pivot to healthier uses of their time"

www.ft.com/content/a072...

Have we passed peak social media?

As platforms degrade into outrage and slop, users are turning away

www.ft.com

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John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 12d

It's just not true that "the active interventionist and redistributive state policies that would be needed to tackle regional and household inequalities, insecure labour markets, and hard-pressed public services appear unavailable to governments aiming to remain globally competitive."

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Reposted by Stephen Boyd

Dave Haslam @davehaslam.bsky.social · 18d

New article - Guy Steven’s, taste-maker extraordinaire (just ask Pete Townshend, The Clash, the Stones, Steve Marriott).

Here - davehaslam.substack.com/p/a-half-for...

A half-forgotten hero of British music

DJ Guy Stevens - let me tell you his story...

davehaslam.substack.com

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Reposted by Stephen Boyd

Jimmy Reid Foundation @reidfoundation.bsky.social · 19d

One week to go before the Jimmy Reid Memorial Lecture with Professor Ghassan Abu-Sittah talking about the Gaza crisis. For further details and ticket information: reidfoundation.scot.

The Jimmy Reid Foundation – The website of the Jimmy Reid Foundation.

reidfoundation.scot

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Reposted by Stephen Boyd

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 19d

1. This piece by Roge Karma is absolutely worth reading - www.theatlantic.com/economy/arch... . If the Supreme Court allows Trump to fire Lisa Cook, the consequences are likely to be disastrous. key points:

Trump Is Getting Closer to Having an ‘Infinite Money Pit’

If the president takes over the Federal Reserve, he will have extraordinary power to reward his friends and destroy his enemies.

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by Stephen Boyd

Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 23d

Fucksake, this #discourse AGAIN?
Yes this platform is smaller, very observant. But I don't spend all day being force fed Nazi slop or getting harassed by Nazis on a Nazi platform specifically engineered to amplify Nazis. It's not a hard decision, let's all just move on.

Shadi Hamid @shadihamid.bsky.social · 26d

One of the biggest mistakes left-of-center pundits and influencers made was decamping to Bluesky. They made themselves irrelevant, shrunk their audiences, and dramatically lessened the positive impact they could have on our public debate at the precise time we needed it most.

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Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 23d

this important, highly topical @benbgeiger.bsky.social blog deserves to be very widely read

bsky.app/profile/benb...

Ben Baumberg Geiger @benbgeiger.bsky.social · 27d

Are out-of-work benefit claims at a record high? My new post open.substack.com/pub/inequali... , and also my take on More or Less this morning at www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Are out-of-work benefit claims at a record high?

The official statistics are wildly misleading - I've now made some new estimates that show just how wrong they are

open.substack.com

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Stephen Boyd @stephenboydippr.bsky.social · 24d

"Britain’s attitude to paedophilia—obsessive, yet careless—is dragging Westminster to a dark place"

www.economist.com/britain/2025...

How Westminster became obsessed with paedophiles

Nonce politics is not confined to the fringes

www.economist.com

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