Colm Murphy
@colmpm.bsky.social
Historian of UK and ROI politics and political economy. Senior Lecturer at QMUL and Deputy Director of Mile End Institute (https://www.qmul.ac.uk/politics/staff/profiles/murphycolm.html). Book on Labour and 'modernisation' (https://tinyurl.com/37tzatvk).
Reposted by Colm Murphy
This is from June and so before her resignation, but I’m betting that hasn’t made much of a dent. And look where Streeting is.
December 6, 2025 at 9:30 AM
This is from June and so before her resignation, but I’m betting that hasn’t made much of a dent. And look where Streeting is.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD USE HYPHENS
December 5, 2025 at 3:40 PM
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD USE HYPHENS
Reposted by Colm Murphy
🚨 New MBH article alert! This piece was the wonderfully deserving winner of the Tanner Prize last year.
“Roads to Economization: Valuing Life, Limb, and Leisure in the Social Democratic State” by Charles Troup is out now in Modern British History.
👉 doi.org/10.1093/tcbh...
#ModernBritishHistory
“Roads to Economization: Valuing Life, Limb, and Leisure in the Social Democratic State” by Charles Troup is out now in Modern British History.
👉 doi.org/10.1093/tcbh...
#ModernBritishHistory
Roads to Economization: Valuing Life, Limb, and Leisure in the Social Democratic State
Abstract. This article reinterprets contemporary forms of economization in UK government by recovering their emergence in the early nationalized transport
doi.org
October 28, 2025 at 10:28 AM
🚨 New MBH article alert! This piece was the wonderfully deserving winner of the Tanner Prize last year.
“Roads to Economization: Valuing Life, Limb, and Leisure in the Social Democratic State” by Charles Troup is out now in Modern British History.
👉 doi.org/10.1093/tcbh...
#ModernBritishHistory
“Roads to Economization: Valuing Life, Limb, and Leisure in the Social Democratic State” by Charles Troup is out now in Modern British History.
👉 doi.org/10.1093/tcbh...
#ModernBritishHistory
Reposted by Colm Murphy
If you are a historian with policy-facing interests who has recently submitted their PhD (or will do so imminently), this fantastic new London-based postdoc fellowship in Applied History could be for you. www.history.ac.uk/fellowships/...
Robert Mcintosh Applied History & Policy Fellowship
Robert Mcintosh Applied History & Policy Fellowship
www.history.ac.uk
December 4, 2025 at 7:44 AM
If you are a historian with policy-facing interests who has recently submitted their PhD (or will do so imminently), this fantastic new London-based postdoc fellowship in Applied History could be for you. www.history.ac.uk/fellowships/...
Reposted by Colm Murphy
I realised recently that Google Scholar fails to capture quite a few citations of my work. But today I spotted that it has recently decided that I'm the late imperial historian John Gallagher so at least I'm picking up a solid few of his.
Historians on hiring, tenure, and promotion committees should be cautious about relying on Google Scholar, and we need to fight against others using it to assess us. I just noticed three citations to my articles in an American Historical Review article by Jo Guldi, and none show up in my profile.
December 4, 2025 at 5:20 PM
I realised recently that Google Scholar fails to capture quite a few citations of my work. But today I spotted that it has recently decided that I'm the late imperial historian John Gallagher so at least I'm picking up a solid few of his.
I'm skimming through my own book for something tomorrow (an odd experience).
Mordred has decided to start eating it.
Mordred has decided to start eating it.
December 4, 2025 at 5:08 PM
I'm skimming through my own book for something tomorrow (an odd experience).
Mordred has decided to start eating it.
Mordred has decided to start eating it.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
Quite breathtaking story - military grade drones at Dublin airport which flew on the path Zelensky's plane took. The drones reached the flight path of his plane exactly the time it should have been there, but just missed it because Zelensky arrived ahead of schedule:
Four unidentified military-style drones breached no-fly zone to target Zelenskyy's arrival in Dublin
Gardaí are investigating whether the drones took off from land in Dublin or from an undetected ship.
www.thejournal.ie
December 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Quite breathtaking story - military grade drones at Dublin airport which flew on the path Zelensky's plane took. The drones reached the flight path of his plane exactly the time it should have been there, but just missed it because Zelensky arrived ahead of schedule:
Reposted by Colm Murphy
Any takers for the Greens? We're one short of a full set
November 29, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Any takers for the Greens? We're one short of a full set
"the Student Loans Company (the taxman in plastic glasses and fake moustache)"
www.economist.com/britain/2025... new guy just dropped
December 4, 2025 at 12:48 PM
"the Student Loans Company (the taxman in plastic glasses and fake moustache)"
Stellar headline, and also a sharp insight in this piece on the NUS theory for explaining Zarah Sultana.
I wonder if there are other NUS veterans at the highest rungs of government and whether that experience has negatively shaped their political styles subsequently? (He asks rhetorically).
I wonder if there are other NUS veterans at the highest rungs of government and whether that experience has negatively shaped their political styles subsequently? (He asks rhetorically).
Your Party’s woes are largely down to its two leading figures having very similar views - but very different theories about how to do politics. Me for SEC Newgate News on Corbyn v Sultana, and the rally vs the NUS ⬇️
It’s Your Party and I’ll cry if I want to
The inaugural conference of You
www.secnewgate.co.uk
December 4, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Stellar headline, and also a sharp insight in this piece on the NUS theory for explaining Zarah Sultana.
I wonder if there are other NUS veterans at the highest rungs of government and whether that experience has negatively shaped their political styles subsequently? (He asks rhetorically).
I wonder if there are other NUS veterans at the highest rungs of government and whether that experience has negatively shaped their political styles subsequently? (He asks rhetorically).
Reposted by Colm Murphy
"You can create money out of nothing, but you can’t create doctors, schools, or consumer goods." Nail. Head.
Agree with @jomichell.bsky.social here.
My earlier piece: "The claim that that MMT means that a future government can dodge hard choices about how to pay for decent public services is just plain nonsense."
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...
My earlier piece: "The claim that that MMT means that a future government can dodge hard choices about how to pay for decent public services is just plain nonsense."
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...
December 4, 2025 at 8:59 AM
"You can create money out of nothing, but you can’t create doctors, schools, or consumer goods." Nail. Head.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
I do sometimes wonder if I'm losing my mind. thecritic.co.uk/full...
December 3, 2025 at 6:15 PM
I do sometimes wonder if I'm losing my mind. thecritic.co.uk/full...
Reposted by Colm Murphy
GB News are putting more overt racism in an unregulated online space (though the TV Channel itself did broadcast Lucy White saying that anybody who wants to practice Islam in Britain should leave Britain for a Muslim country)
bsky.app/profile/jim....
bsky.app/profile/jim....
1) What the actual fuck how did this just get normalised in the space of three years…. Oh yeah everyone just hanging out on Twitter like boiling frogs
2) not broadcast, as they aren’t quite ready to push Ofcom on this. This is the “good stuff” for unregulated YouTube.
2) not broadcast, as they aren’t quite ready to push Ofcom on this. This is the “good stuff” for unregulated YouTube.
December 3, 2025 at 7:15 PM
GB News are putting more overt racism in an unregulated online space (though the TV Channel itself did broadcast Lucy White saying that anybody who wants to practice Islam in Britain should leave Britain for a Muslim country)
bsky.app/profile/jim....
bsky.app/profile/jim....
Reposted by Colm Murphy
David Miles (of the OBR) at the Treasury Select Committee: Reeves’ speech was not inconsistent with the OBR’s assessment.
December 2, 2025 at 10:20 AM
David Miles (of the OBR) at the Treasury Select Committee: Reeves’ speech was not inconsistent with the OBR’s assessment.
This is a useful thread on the controversy today. But away from the detail, when BBC Verify have to effectively fact-check their own Political Editor (who is *not* a columnist but an Editor at a public broadcaster!), you know there is something of a problem.
Did Rachel Reeves and the Government “mislead” people about the state of the public finances and the need for tax rises before the Budget?
I think this is a rather complex question & the answer is not black and white.
A thread…🧵1/12
I think this is a rather complex question & the answer is not black and white.
A thread…🧵1/12
December 1, 2025 at 1:53 PM
This is a useful thread on the controversy today. But away from the detail, when BBC Verify have to effectively fact-check their own Political Editor (who is *not* a columnist but an Editor at a public broadcaster!), you know there is something of a problem.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
No that's not *your* on *our behalf*. Your job is to report the story, presenting all sides fairly and then *we* call it. What Mason is saying here is fundamentally not what the bbc is for!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
December 1, 2025 at 11:29 AM
No that's not *your* on *our behalf*. Your job is to report the story, presenting all sides fairly and then *we* call it. What Mason is saying here is fundamentally not what the bbc is for!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Colm Murphy
Annual shameless Xmas or other seasonal holiday gift suggestion for those interested in any of material culture, empire or British country houses. Over 500 pages & 100 illustrations. Paperback a mere £30. (Alternatively, free to download from @uclpress.bsky.social or @jstor.bsky.social ).
The East India Company at Home, 1757-1857
The East India Company at Home, 1757-1857 explores how empire in Asia shaped British country houses, their interiors and the lives of their residents. It includes chapters from researchers based in a ...
uclpress.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Annual shameless Xmas or other seasonal holiday gift suggestion for those interested in any of material culture, empire or British country houses. Over 500 pages & 100 illustrations. Paperback a mere £30. (Alternatively, free to download from @uclpress.bsky.social or @jstor.bsky.social ).
Reposted by Colm Murphy
All this budget news, claims, counter claims is confusing, but two things of consequence.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
December 1, 2025 at 1:09 PM
All this budget news, claims, counter claims is confusing, but two things of consequence.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
The OBR says that there is a 41% chance that Reeves will miss the current budget target. Attacking for excess pessimism is ridiculous.
December 1, 2025 at 11:10 AM
The OBR says that there is a 41% chance that Reeves will miss the current budget target. Attacking for excess pessimism is ridiculous.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
It was the most botched budget briefing since Truss… but this is increasingly wild. It is not an unsubstantiated “claim” that the OBR priced the productivity downgrade at £16bn in foregone revenue!
December 1, 2025 at 8:46 AM
It was the most botched budget briefing since Truss… but this is increasingly wild. It is not an unsubstantiated “claim” that the OBR priced the productivity downgrade at £16bn in foregone revenue!
This long read suggests it was No 10 that panicked over income tax.
Best thing I’ve read so far on the choices behind the Budget from @rachelsylvester.bsky.social
Economic with the truth: the mis-selling of the budget | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 11:20 AM
This long read suggests it was No 10 that panicked over income tax.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
A short piece for Renewal on how the government's failure to present a consistent political argument is, despite its "long-termist" rhetoric, about not being orientated towards a political vision for the future.
"If the government is to have any hope of getting itself back into the driver’s seat of our political moment, of getting its future back, it must start arguing in terms of a bold and coherent vision for the future."
@mbarnfield.bsky.social on the budget and the government's empty long-termism
@mbarnfield.bsky.social on the budget and the government's empty long-termism
This Labour government lacks a future
You might be forgiven for thinking that the Labour government is focused on the future. Since before his government’s first Budget, the Prime Minister has repeatedly asked the British public to stomac...
renewal.org.uk
November 28, 2025 at 3:48 PM
A short piece for Renewal on how the government's failure to present a consistent political argument is, despite its "long-termist" rhetoric, about not being orientated towards a political vision for the future.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
The @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social via @tobysjames.bsky.social kindly recorded this event. I gave Kemi Badenoch a grade D. But then I hadn't heard her supposedly brilliant Budget response. So should that have been a D+ or a C-?
The State of Political Leadership in Britain
YouTube video by UEA Public Events and Engagement
www.youtube.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:58 PM
The @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social via @tobysjames.bsky.social kindly recorded this event. I gave Kemi Badenoch a grade D. But then I hadn't heard her supposedly brilliant Budget response. So should that have been a D+ or a C-?
"This was a survival budget, not a salvation budget."
My reaction to the Budget is now up on @uk.theconversation.com, along with Thomas Caygill, Despina Alexiadou, Alex Prior, and Paula Keaveney.
theconversation.com/will-the-bud...
My reaction to the Budget is now up on @uk.theconversation.com, along with Thomas Caygill, Despina Alexiadou, Alex Prior, and Paula Keaveney.
theconversation.com/will-the-bud...
Will the budget save Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer? Experts give their views
Experts react to the political effects of Rachel Reeves’s budget.
theconversation.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:03 PM
"This was a survival budget, not a salvation budget."
My reaction to the Budget is now up on @uk.theconversation.com, along with Thomas Caygill, Despina Alexiadou, Alex Prior, and Paula Keaveney.
theconversation.com/will-the-bud...
My reaction to the Budget is now up on @uk.theconversation.com, along with Thomas Caygill, Despina Alexiadou, Alex Prior, and Paula Keaveney.
theconversation.com/will-the-bud...
Excellent piece as usual.
This observation about constraining domestic consumption to increase investment - and the vicious politics of that - is particularly important. It is manifestly not grasped by many - including, concerningly, government ministers.
This observation about constraining domestic consumption to increase investment - and the vicious politics of that - is particularly important. It is manifestly not grasped by many - including, concerningly, government ministers.
November 27, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Excellent piece as usual.
This observation about constraining domestic consumption to increase investment - and the vicious politics of that - is particularly important. It is manifestly not grasped by many - including, concerningly, government ministers.
This observation about constraining domestic consumption to increase investment - and the vicious politics of that - is particularly important. It is manifestly not grasped by many - including, concerningly, government ministers.