Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Oh, Customs Union again? Based on recent conversations I am pretty sure that any form of greater UK market access to the single market including this will require substantial financial contribution, alignment, and close to freedom of movement. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Lib Dems to force vote on creating new customs union with EU
Ed Davey’s party believes the move is the best way to ‘turbocharge’ economy, rather than tax rises
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Oh, Customs Union again? Based on recent conversations I am pretty sure that any form of greater UK market access to the single market including this will require substantial financial contribution, alignment, and close to freedom of movement. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Part of the problem here is they keep hiring comms people from newspapers who know how to pitch stuff to their former colleagues - but these tricks don't work anymore.
This does seem to be a relevant question. Reading the Sun and Guardina pieces side by side it is hard to believe they are describing the same policy. That kind of spin might have worked in 1990s but in a social media ecosystem where anger goes viral is is likely to generate own goals
And once again, I ask whether Ministers and No10 realise that the readership of one paper can in fact read the contents of another.
November 17, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Part of the problem here is they keep hiring comms people from newspapers who know how to pitch stuff to their former colleagues - but these tricks don't work anymore.
Very astute.
Intrigued that the Labour Party has a Denmark policy - seize jewellery and assets from asylum seekers - and also an anti-Denmark policy - don’t tax middle earners enough to support welfare state.
November 17, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Very astute.
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Glasman represents a long standing Labour tradition of North London intellectuals who think they understand the working classes which in his case is to think they are racists who must be pandered to (the Tony Benn version was more romantic if just as wrong)
November 16, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Glasman represents a long standing Labour tradition of North London intellectuals who think they understand the working classes which in his case is to think they are racists who must be pandered to (the Tony Benn version was more romantic if just as wrong)
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Thinking about my own father, who arrived in 1946 with the Free Polish Army - when would Labour have sent him back to communist Poland? How could he have done anything to build a life and have children in the UK if he had had to beg to stay every two years? Disgusting. www.bbc.com/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Thinking about my own father, who arrived in 1946 with the Free Polish Army - when would Labour have sent him back to communist Poland? How could he have done anything to build a life and have children in the UK if he had had to beg to stay every two years? Disgusting. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
You've always been the caretaker. Bar at the Maison du Peuple, Brussels.
November 12, 2025 at 8:44 PM
You've always been the caretaker. Bar at the Maison du Peuple, Brussels.
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Very interesting and informative
NEW
A close look at Trump's $1 billion claim against the BBC
The litigation letter is weak, but his underlying practical position is not weak
By me:
emptycity.substack.com/p/a-close-lo... (Substack)
(Non-Substack link to follow.)
A close look at Trump's $1 billion claim against the BBC
The litigation letter is weak, but his underlying practical position is not weak
By me:
emptycity.substack.com/p/a-close-lo... (Substack)
(Non-Substack link to follow.)
A close look at Trump's $1 billion claim against the BBC
The litigation letter is weak, but his underlying practical position is not weak
emptycity.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Very interesting and informative
Danish immigration policy may become the latest in Westminster’s box of fads and fancies.
There are good reasons why it may not work in UK and already has ominous perverse FX in Denmark.
There are good reasons why it may not work in UK and already has ominous perverse FX in Denmark.
Reports suggest that the UK plans to emulate Denmark's migration system
@kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social argues that "research from the country suggests that drawing lessons from the Danish migration policy should be done with caution and involves pitfalls for British politicians."
🔗 bit.ly/3LA1UI4
@kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social argues that "research from the country suggests that drawing lessons from the Danish migration policy should be done with caution and involves pitfalls for British politicians."
🔗 bit.ly/3LA1UI4
Denmark’s migration policy – an example to follow? - UK in a changing Europe
Kristina Bakkær Simonsen explains why countries feel they have something to learn from Denmark's strict migration policy, but argues that there are many key pitfalls.
bit.ly
November 10, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Danish immigration policy may become the latest in Westminster’s box of fads and fancies.
There are good reasons why it may not work in UK and already has ominous perverse FX in Denmark.
There are good reasons why it may not work in UK and already has ominous perverse FX in Denmark.
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
I had this by @chrisdillow.bsky.social open in a tab, after @pauliewaulie.bsky.social had mentioned it, and now I finally read it. It's from 2018, but as true now as when it was written:
chrisdillow.substack.com/p/against-de...
chrisdillow.substack.com/p/against-de...
Against debate
Debating our opponents is pointless, and often dangerous.
chrisdillow.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:36 AM
I had this by @chrisdillow.bsky.social open in a tab, after @pauliewaulie.bsky.social had mentioned it, and now I finally read it. It's from 2018, but as true now as when it was written:
chrisdillow.substack.com/p/against-de...
chrisdillow.substack.com/p/against-de...
To any GB citizens, this is a good petition. Just a few more signatures are needed to get it over the line for a govt response.
Nearly there!
We need around 50 signatures to push my petition calling for transparency and a review of deregulated free zones to 10,000.
Please sign and share across your social media platforms.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/72...
We need around 50 signatures to push my petition calling for transparency and a review of deregulated free zones to 10,000.
Please sign and share across your social media platforms.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/72...
November 7, 2025 at 10:37 AM
To any GB citizens, this is a good petition. Just a few more signatures are needed to get it over the line for a govt response.
A sad but engaging story of the French resistance.
November 7, 2025 at 10:20 AM
A sad but engaging story of the French resistance.
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
🚨🚨This is stellar investigative journalism by @kaitlintosh.bsky.social and @michelleinezsimon.bsky.social on how #elonmusk is boosting the #british right. 🧵 news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:51 AM
🚨🚨This is stellar investigative journalism by @kaitlintosh.bsky.social and @michelleinezsimon.bsky.social on how #elonmusk is boosting the #british right. 🧵 news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Having a stressful Monday? Need to get that off your chest? Behold! The miraculous Lea Desandre….! 🙌🌻💐
youtu.be/U5yaQlkYw7M?...
youtu.be/U5yaQlkYw7M?...
Lea Desandre sings Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act 3: "No, No, I’ll Take No Less"
YouTube video by Warner Classics
youtu.be
November 3, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Having a stressful Monday? Need to get that off your chest? Behold! The miraculous Lea Desandre….! 🙌🌻💐
youtu.be/U5yaQlkYw7M?...
youtu.be/U5yaQlkYw7M?...
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
The problem with diagnosing "the electorate have unreasonable expectations around tax and spend" is that those expectations did not develop in a vacuum. They are the product of decades of politicians and the media telling them they can have x services with y tax levels, or not contradicting it.
November 1, 2025 at 8:06 PM
The problem with diagnosing "the electorate have unreasonable expectations around tax and spend" is that those expectations did not develop in a vacuum. They are the product of decades of politicians and the media telling them they can have x services with y tax levels, or not contradicting it.
Some brainstorming around use cases would have avoided this, but I guess HMRC and Home Office don’t do exercises like that.
Ministers may have breached privacy laws when they suspended the child benefit of thousands of families on the basis of flawed Home Office information www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
The Information Commissioner’s Office has contacted HMRC over the issues raised
The Information Commissioner’s Office has contacted HMRC over the issues raised
HMRC likely to have breached privacy laws in stopping child benefit – experts
Watchdog contacts tax authority after families’ payments stopped based on flawed travel data
www.theguardian.com
November 1, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Some brainstorming around use cases would have avoided this, but I guess HMRC and Home Office don’t do exercises like that.
Slow progress but bubbling up! @danneidle.bsky.social
Britain has become a country of high taxes for the few and low taxes for the many and that settlement is now breaking down. www.newstatesman.com/politics/mor...
Is Britain a high-tax country?
Even as overall taxes have risen, most have been paying less
www.newstatesman.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Slow progress but bubbling up! @danneidle.bsky.social
Needed: ‘Process into code’ transition in the most countries’ public sectors.
October 28, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Needed: ‘Process into code’ transition in the most countries’ public sectors.
Résidence Sablon blocks of flats: very little progress over the past couple of years from building yard stage
October 26, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Résidence Sablon blocks of flats: very little progress over the past couple of years from building yard stage
@loreandordure.com The Punch jokes are slightly funnier than I remember from reading my school’s bound Punch volumes from that era.
Nearly 60 years on.
Nearly 60 years on.
October 25, 2025 at 8:50 AM
@loreandordure.com The Punch jokes are slightly funnier than I remember from reading my school’s bound Punch volumes from that era.
Nearly 60 years on.
Nearly 60 years on.
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Too much snap by-election analysis "Labour needs to start delivering"... no.
Governments are always "delivering". The problem is how they choose what to deliver, and what stories they tell around those priorities. And that's simply a mess right now.
Governments are always "delivering". The problem is how they choose what to deliver, and what stories they tell around those priorities. And that's simply a mess right now.
October 24, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Too much snap by-election analysis "Labour needs to start delivering"... no.
Governments are always "delivering". The problem is how they choose what to deliver, and what stories they tell around those priorities. And that's simply a mess right now.
Governments are always "delivering". The problem is how they choose what to deliver, and what stories they tell around those priorities. And that's simply a mess right now.
An advert on X, propaganda against DSA. Good reach but no engagement.
October 23, 2025 at 4:47 PM
An advert on X, propaganda against DSA. Good reach but no engagement.
Love this!
Via Press Gazette: "The Daily Star’s livestream of the Liz Truss lettuce has been acquired by the British Film Institute’s National Archive for a collection of significant pieces of online video. The BFI’s curator said it was “a seminal moment in British political history”"
October 21, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Love this!
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
The bit about the rules based international order is the most wrong-headed.
We tried nationalism and it almost destroyed European civilisation - twice in 30 years.
A system where a government gets to do anything a majority of its citizens vote for doesn’t work.
We tried nationalism and it almost destroyed European civilisation - twice in 30 years.
A system where a government gets to do anything a majority of its citizens vote for doesn’t work.
Katie Lam tries to explain to the Sunday Times how her grandparents experience under Nazism informs her view that the postwar institutions forged after the horrors of war, dictatorship & the holicaust won't now work in our times - because "they assume everyone would want to be nice to each other"
October 19, 2025 at 9:46 AM
The bit about the rules based international order is the most wrong-headed.
We tried nationalism and it almost destroyed European civilisation - twice in 30 years.
A system where a government gets to do anything a majority of its citizens vote for doesn’t work.
We tried nationalism and it almost destroyed European civilisation - twice in 30 years.
A system where a government gets to do anything a majority of its citizens vote for doesn’t work.
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Congratulations to Philippe Aghion on receiving the Nobel Prize in economics.
A proud moment for Europe and a strong reminder that innovation and openness are the foundations of our shared prosperity.
Philippe’s contributions helped shape Mario Draghi’s vision for European competitiveness.
A proud moment for Europe and a strong reminder that innovation and openness are the foundations of our shared prosperity.
Philippe’s contributions helped shape Mario Draghi’s vision for European competitiveness.
October 13, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Congratulations to Philippe Aghion on receiving the Nobel Prize in economics.
A proud moment for Europe and a strong reminder that innovation and openness are the foundations of our shared prosperity.
Philippe’s contributions helped shape Mario Draghi’s vision for European competitiveness.
A proud moment for Europe and a strong reminder that innovation and openness are the foundations of our shared prosperity.
Philippe’s contributions helped shape Mario Draghi’s vision for European competitiveness.