John Erskine
@johnerskine.bsky.social
Semi-retired, with some occasional research interviewing to keep the wolves from doors. Interested in travel, reading, rugby, campervans, motorhomes, regional policy and politics. Cyclist. Morris Dancer. Confirmed non-influencer.
Reposted by John Erskine
BOOM! Now over 90,000 signatures. Let’s get it to 100,000 and get this done!
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
November 28, 2025 at 11:04 PM
BOOM! Now over 90,000 signatures. Let’s get it to 100,000 and get this done!
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
An absolute gem. I blame French academic publishers unprepared to recognise that the prose of Althusser, Foucauld and Bourdieu would have been immeasurably improved by well-aimed flying staplers during editorial discussions... And, of course, translators who weren't as good as Quentin Hoare.
Seriously I nearly dropped out of my social sciences degree because the writing - that students are meant to emulate instead of laugh at - looks like this:
November 29, 2025 at 11:30 AM
An absolute gem. I blame French academic publishers unprepared to recognise that the prose of Althusser, Foucauld and Bourdieu would have been immeasurably improved by well-aimed flying staplers during editorial discussions... And, of course, translators who weren't as good as Quentin Hoare.
So @barneyronay.bsky.social tries his hardest to explain this hypocrisy without using the word 'antisemitism'. Really? No Jews, no news. www.theguardian.com/football/202...
Silence over Sudan: why do Manchester City’s owners get away with so much?
Two midweek matches in England had a backdrop of war and geopolitics, but only one drew large protests
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:05 AM
So @barneyronay.bsky.social tries his hardest to explain this hypocrisy without using the word 'antisemitism'. Really? No Jews, no news. www.theguardian.com/football/202...
Why don't we have decent public transport in this country? Well-heeled Telegraph-reading geriatric dog-walkers, that's why. Having somewhere to take Fido for a dump trumps the health and wellbeing of inner-city children every time. H/T @iandunt.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/martinro...
open.substack.com/pub/martinro...
How HS2 built a bridge to nowhere
A state-of-the-art road bridge has been built deep in the heart of rural Buckinghamshire. Designed to carry traffic over the HS2 railway, there's just one tiny problem - there's no actual road.
open.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Why don't we have decent public transport in this country? Well-heeled Telegraph-reading geriatric dog-walkers, that's why. Having somewhere to take Fido for a dump trumps the health and wellbeing of inner-city children every time. H/T @iandunt.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/martinro...
open.substack.com/pub/martinro...
Holiday reading, Part 2. I've been promising this one to myself for a while. A joy, and the picture of the most beautiful car ever made on the cover is only one of thousands of reasons why. Hugely insightful on events and personalities of which I was only vaguely aware growing up in the 1960's.
October 31, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Holiday reading, Part 2. I've been promising this one to myself for a while. A joy, and the picture of the most beautiful car ever made on the cover is only one of thousands of reasons why. Hugely insightful on events and personalities of which I was only vaguely aware growing up in the 1960's.
Holiday reading, Part 1. David Mattingly's father taught me in my first year at Leeds University. I wasn't a great scholar then, but his son is. This is a cracking book. A rigorous and incisive examination of what Roman imperialism meant for Britain. History is never simple.
October 31, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Holiday reading, Part 1. David Mattingly's father taught me in my first year at Leeds University. I wasn't a great scholar then, but his son is. This is a cracking book. A rigorous and incisive examination of what Roman imperialism meant for Britain. History is never simple.
What a wonderful photograph. Social media could do with more of them...
EPIC MALIN HEAD
What a view at sunset from Malin Head in Donegal, Ireland. Epic, although over-used in Landscape Photography is very apt here.
#malinhead #donegal #landscapephotography #fsprintmonday #sharemondays2025 @fotospeed.bsky.social @sonyalpha.bsky.social
What a view at sunset from Malin Head in Donegal, Ireland. Epic, although over-used in Landscape Photography is very apt here.
#malinhead #donegal #landscapephotography #fsprintmonday #sharemondays2025 @fotospeed.bsky.social @sonyalpha.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 5:20 AM
What a wonderful photograph. Social media could do with more of them...
Reposted by John Erskine
If I were running Labour comms I would commission an app called 'Will the Tories/Reform deport you?' then let the reactions on TikTok and Instagram do their work.
October 22, 2025 at 10:29 AM
If I were running Labour comms I would commission an app called 'Will the Tories/Reform deport you?' then let the reactions on TikTok and Instagram do their work.
Absolutely. On Mint for almost two decades, with no problems.
September 6, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Absolutely. On Mint for almost two decades, with no problems.
I'm a member of LGPS, and this worth a read for those of us who are, @paulhayes01.bsky.social
Reform UK has a simple plan to fix local pension performance. But are things really that bad? on.ft.com/4p4rzrF
Reform UK has a simple plan to fix local pension performance. But are things really that bad?
Choosing your benchmark
on.ft.com
September 3, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I'm a member of LGPS, and this worth a read for those of us who are, @paulhayes01.bsky.social
The only hallucinogen that's ever really interested me...
September 3, 2025 at 1:00 PM
The only hallucinogen that's ever really interested me...
As a Morris Dancer, I endorse this article. Well worth a read @rdrberry.bsky.social. thequietus.com/opinion-and-...
In Defence of the Progressive Power of Morris Dancing
Cecil Sharp spent the Christmas of 1899 unwell. Recuperating in a cottage on the outskirts of Oxford, the mental fug of the lingering illness must have intensified the strangeness of what he saw throu...
thequietus.com
August 24, 2025 at 5:27 PM
As a Morris Dancer, I endorse this article. Well worth a read @rdrberry.bsky.social. thequietus.com/opinion-and-...
Absolutely.
63% of people think net migration rose in the last 12 months
8% of people think it fell
Yet it fell by 400,000 in 2024 vs 2023
[It is falling further in 2025]
Public service broadcasters are doing a core part of their job on this topic badly if that 8% is not closer to 30% at least
8% of people think it fell
Yet it fell by 400,000 in 2024 vs 2023
[It is falling further in 2025]
Public service broadcasters are doing a core part of their job on this topic badly if that 8% is not closer to 30% at least
August 23, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Absolutely.
Reposted by John Erskine
Sometimes when dealing with the comms around a bad story you put down the blunt reasoning for a decision to help begin the process of turning it into something palatable. Here they just… used that as the statement?
I kinda love that Alex Beard's argument is explicitly 'but look, you have to understand. When we said that, it was really easy'.
August 14, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Sometimes when dealing with the comms around a bad story you put down the blunt reasoning for a decision to help begin the process of turning it into something palatable. Here they just… used that as the statement?
Absolutely this... Ditto, the Carling-fuelled patriots protesting outside hotels across England.
Every part of this.
Some thoughts on the news that 48% of those arrested over Belfast race riots had been reported to police for domestic violence. With McGr*g*r losing his appeal & definitively found to be a rapist in a court of law it is important we call out the hypocrisy at the heart of the far right movement.
August 9, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Absolutely this... Ditto, the Carling-fuelled patriots protesting outside hotels across England.
Like many, I've watched the descent of the English ultra-left into yet more infantile campist nonsense, and its enthusiastic embrace of homophobes, misogynists, racists and antisemites. Dr McMenamin's assessment is spot-on.
If you need to know one thing about Jeremy Corbyn's party it is this: the people who will end up *really* running it think the hero in this picture is the guy driving the tank.
August 1, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Like many, I've watched the descent of the English ultra-left into yet more infantile campist nonsense, and its enthusiastic embrace of homophobes, misogynists, racists and antisemites. Dr McMenamin's assessment is spot-on.
What a match! A Comber man, proud to be Irish, and disappointed in some from my hometown. Tipp topple Cork in All-Ireland hurling final - www.bbc.com/sport/articl...
All-Ireland hurling final: Tipperary defeat Cork to claim the Liam MacCarthy Cup
Tipperary produce a 21-point turnaround in the second half of Sunday's All-Ireland hurling final to beat Cork 3-27 to 1-18.
www.bbc.com
July 21, 2025 at 9:44 AM
What a match! A Comber man, proud to be Irish, and disappointed in some from my hometown. Tipp topple Cork in All-Ireland hurling final - www.bbc.com/sport/articl...
Priceless, with some wonderful moments of utterly preposterous levity. H/T @chrisgpackham.bsky.social. Is that Robbie Moore, @rdrberry.bsky.social?
Anyone remember where I parked my locally sourced organic Land Rover ?
The Tragic Comedy of Grouse Shooting Lies: presented to you by your elected representatives , at the
@wildjustice.bsky.social driven grouse shooting debate earlier this week – enjoy .
The Tragic Comedy of Grouse Shooting Lies: presented to you by your elected representatives , at the
@wildjustice.bsky.social driven grouse shooting debate earlier this week – enjoy .
July 4, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Priceless, with some wonderful moments of utterly preposterous levity. H/T @chrisgpackham.bsky.social. Is that Robbie Moore, @rdrberry.bsky.social?
Can a 'culture' that consists of burning pallets be described as a culture? Or is it just naked sectarianism and a fairly significant environmental crime? 45 years after I left the Six Counties, something I don't miss...
The UDA boss behind the ‘world’s biggest bonfire’ has claimed a bounty of up to £10,000 was on offer to burn it before the Eleventh Night.
Bounty of £10k offered to burn down ‘world’s biggest bonfire’ before the Eleventh Night
The UDA boss behind the ‘world’s biggest bonfire’ has claimed a bounty of up to £10,000 was on offer to burn it before the Eleventh Night.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
June 22, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Can a 'culture' that consists of burning pallets be described as a culture? Or is it just naked sectarianism and a fairly significant environmental crime? 45 years after I left the Six Counties, something I don't miss...
Reposted by John Erskine
Is a tram really just a bus that can't turn left?
In Defence of Trams
More than buses that can't turn left.
jonn.substack.com
June 21, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Is a tram really just a bus that can't turn left?
I keep reposting @davehillonlondon.bsky.social on this topic because he's right. The first question any serious politician in the North or the Midlands needs to answer is 'How can we be more like London?'.
Yesteryear's inconvenient truth is also today's: www.standard.co.uk/news/politic.... Members of the Northern Grievance Chorus are welcome to give me my money back. Being in favour of progressive tax policies I don't especially want it, but given some of the attitudes encountered round here lately...
Londoners net Treasury £5,000 per head, new report shows ahead of Spending Review
Analysis by the House of Commons Library lays bare how dependent the UK is on the capital as its economic engine
www.standard.co.uk
June 10, 2025 at 7:39 AM
I keep reposting @davehillonlondon.bsky.social on this topic because he's right. The first question any serious politician in the North or the Midlands needs to answer is 'How can we be more like London?'.
Fascinating. I wasn't aware of this @robertbohan.bsky.social.
Your reminder that Humboldt Fog cheese, Humboldt County, CA, the Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti),and the Humboldt Current that allows wine grapes to grow in Chile are all named for an 18th C gay scientist whose love letters were all burned and who left his entire estate to his “valet.” 🏳️🌈
June 6, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Fascinating. I wasn't aware of this @robertbohan.bsky.social.
An absolutely cracking piece from Dave Hill. As a Northerner, I endorse this message.
New comment piece. The politics of The North versus London help no one: www.onlondon.co.uk/dave-hill-po... #london
Dave Hill: Politics of The North versus London help no one
Governments must make choices between competing interests, but appeasing regional grievances at the expense of the greater good is unwise
www.onlondon.co.uk
June 2, 2025 at 7:38 AM
An absolutely cracking piece from Dave Hill. As a Northerner, I endorse this message.
Reposted by John Erskine
There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
May 31, 2025 at 4:43 AM
There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
A truth which should be universally acknowledged, not just in Dublin.
Well put, @olaln.bsky.social @irishdocsenv.bsky.social 😍
May 30, 2025 at 11:16 AM
A truth which should be universally acknowledged, not just in Dublin.