Jonathan Clarke
@jrlclarke.bsky.social
Associate Professor in Global Sustainable Development. Interested in cities, energy, water and housing. Methods around resilience, representation and co-creation.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
"Migrants who came to the UK on skilled work visas in 2022-23 will make a net contribution of £47bn to the public finances over their lifetime, according to new estimates from the government’s Migration Advisory Committee."
Not surprising, but some observations (1/n)
www.ft.com/content/10da...
Not surprising, but some observations (1/n)
www.ft.com/content/10da...
December 11, 2025 at 6:09 PM
"Migrants who came to the UK on skilled work visas in 2022-23 will make a net contribution of £47bn to the public finances over their lifetime, according to new estimates from the government’s Migration Advisory Committee."
Not surprising, but some observations (1/n)
www.ft.com/content/10da...
Not surprising, but some observations (1/n)
www.ft.com/content/10da...
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
Striking overview of China zooming past the west in energy production that powers computing. “Biggest power grid the world has ever seen… Production increased by more than the rest of world combined… Some Chinese data centers paying less than half what US ones pay for ⚡️”
www.wsj.com/tech/china-a...
www.wsj.com/tech/china-a...
China’s AI Power Play: Cheap Electricity From World’s Biggest Grid
Government push for power supremacy transforms Inner Mongolia. Tech leaders worry about a U.S.-China “electron gap.”
www.wsj.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Striking overview of China zooming past the west in energy production that powers computing. “Biggest power grid the world has ever seen… Production increased by more than the rest of world combined… Some Chinese data centers paying less than half what US ones pay for ⚡️”
www.wsj.com/tech/china-a...
www.wsj.com/tech/china-a...
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
Labour’s shift away from “immigration is good but it needs to be managed” to “it is bad” is a gift to essentially everyone they compete with, because it means that they don’t have the right position to be able to attack *anyone*.
I'm sorry, but these attacks are just not going to convince Green-curious voters, because Labour is so visibly out of step with those voters' core values
This by @umakumaran.bsky.social is good - and a example of exactly how Labour should be taking on the Greens; on values, direct and on Labour territory. Taking them seriously.
December 10, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Labour’s shift away from “immigration is good but it needs to be managed” to “it is bad” is a gift to essentially everyone they compete with, because it means that they don’t have the right position to be able to attack *anyone*.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
One thing social media platforms do is meld the British and US higher ed crises into one. I think there are similarities but, tbh, the UK feels much more like a catalogue of shambles and poor policy decisions than a real ideological attack—even if the consequences remain the same.
December 8, 2025 at 8:44 AM
One thing social media platforms do is meld the British and US higher ed crises into one. I think there are similarities but, tbh, the UK feels much more like a catalogue of shambles and poor policy decisions than a real ideological attack—even if the consequences remain the same.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
Don't look away from this tragedy - this is a sign of things to come as we head to 2ºC
I sound like a broken record - we are *utterly* unprepared.
We need to *urgently* have a clear view of the risks and do something about robust early warning systems that reach people on the ground timeously!
I sound like a broken record - we are *utterly* unprepared.
We need to *urgently* have a clear view of the risks and do something about robust early warning systems that reach people on the ground timeously!
The death toll from climate-fuelled floods in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand is now more than 1,750 with heavy rains continuing
My latest for @aljazeera.com
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...
My latest for @aljazeera.com
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...
Heavy rains hamper recovery as death toll from floods in Asia exceeds 1,750
Hundreds more people are still missing as intensive rains pose new dangers in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
www.aljazeera.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Don't look away from this tragedy - this is a sign of things to come as we head to 2ºC
I sound like a broken record - we are *utterly* unprepared.
We need to *urgently* have a clear view of the risks and do something about robust early warning systems that reach people on the ground timeously!
I sound like a broken record - we are *utterly* unprepared.
We need to *urgently* have a clear view of the risks and do something about robust early warning systems that reach people on the ground timeously!
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
I wonder how much Ofcom’s failure to use even the limited powers it has against Twitter is based on concern that it would be quite revealing when Musk just ignores any ruling.
December 4, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I wonder how much Ofcom’s failure to use even the limited powers it has against Twitter is based on concern that it would be quite revealing when Musk just ignores any ruling.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
there's a certain personality that's very debilitating in modern life. 100 years ago, if you wanted to buy something, you'd go to five local shops and decide. now with the internet, you need to spend 1,000 hours so you can own the best version in the world like you're some venetian patrician
December 5, 2025 at 2:12 AM
there's a certain personality that's very debilitating in modern life. 100 years ago, if you wanted to buy something, you'd go to five local shops and decide. now with the internet, you need to spend 1,000 hours so you can own the best version in the world like you're some venetian patrician
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
Zero tolerance for doomerism. Stop lazily accepting that everything is screwed forever. Stop normalising low expectations. That’s part of the problem & it’s what the bastards want. It’s also a product of privilege. People in more desperate situations don’t have the option to just sit back & shrug.
December 5, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Zero tolerance for doomerism. Stop lazily accepting that everything is screwed forever. Stop normalising low expectations. That’s part of the problem & it’s what the bastards want. It’s also a product of privilege. People in more desperate situations don’t have the option to just sit back & shrug.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
I suspect you have to be quite racist to stand out as "the racist guy" at a boys public school of the 1980s.
December 5, 2025 at 8:25 AM
I suspect you have to be quite racist to stand out as "the racist guy" at a boys public school of the 1980s.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
The BBC listened to complaints about Farage always being on Question Time...
"I should just point out that this will be the 4th appearance since September for unelected gobshite Zia Yusuf"
December 5, 2025 at 7:50 AM
The BBC listened to complaints about Farage always being on Question Time...
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
I don't know how many shopping days there are until Christmas but I'm doing all mine here.
December 5, 2025 at 6:40 AM
I don't know how many shopping days there are until Christmas but I'm doing all mine here.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
Useful reminder:
1) Migrant scientists already contribute to the NHS with their taxes like everyone. Abolish NHS supercharge!
2) why are only rich scientists welcome in the UK? What has wealth to do with science?
Colonial mentality is strong & alive
www.bbc.com/news/article...
1) Migrant scientists already contribute to the NHS with their taxes like everyone. Abolish NHS supercharge!
2) why are only rich scientists welcome in the UK? What has wealth to do with science?
Colonial mentality is strong & alive
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Top UK scientist says research visa restrictions endanger economy
Prof Sir Paul Nurse says the UK is "shooting itself in the foot" with its visa system for researchers.
www.bbc.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Useful reminder:
1) Migrant scientists already contribute to the NHS with their taxes like everyone. Abolish NHS supercharge!
2) why are only rich scientists welcome in the UK? What has wealth to do with science?
Colonial mentality is strong & alive
www.bbc.com/news/article...
1) Migrant scientists already contribute to the NHS with their taxes like everyone. Abolish NHS supercharge!
2) why are only rich scientists welcome in the UK? What has wealth to do with science?
Colonial mentality is strong & alive
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
This is an entirely preventable attack on our democracy.
A £9m donation from a man based on the other side of the world is illegitimate interference that will distort and unbalance our political system.
I'm deeply disturbed by Labour's failure to insulate UK democracy.
www.ft.com/content/db73...
A £9m donation from a man based on the other side of the world is illegitimate interference that will distort and unbalance our political system.
I'm deeply disturbed by Labour's failure to insulate UK democracy.
www.ft.com/content/db73...
Reform UK gets record £9mn donation from Christopher Harborne
Nigel Farage’s party attracts far more funding than both Labour and the Conservatives
www.ft.com
December 4, 2025 at 12:42 PM
This is an entirely preventable attack on our democracy.
A £9m donation from a man based on the other side of the world is illegitimate interference that will distort and unbalance our political system.
I'm deeply disturbed by Labour's failure to insulate UK democracy.
www.ft.com/content/db73...
A £9m donation from a man based on the other side of the world is illegitimate interference that will distort and unbalance our political system.
I'm deeply disturbed by Labour's failure to insulate UK democracy.
www.ft.com/content/db73...
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
This just seems like the wrong end of the telescope to me. Review should be into barriers to employment, not diagnosis.
I really *do* have a fine motor condition, but in the 21st century this poses absolutely no barrier to me working in 90 per cent of jobs in the UK.
I really *do* have a fine motor condition, but in the 21st century this poses absolutely no barrier to me working in 90 per cent of jobs in the UK.
December 4, 2025 at 12:49 AM
This just seems like the wrong end of the telescope to me. Review should be into barriers to employment, not diagnosis.
I really *do* have a fine motor condition, but in the 21st century this poses absolutely no barrier to me working in 90 per cent of jobs in the UK.
I really *do* have a fine motor condition, but in the 21st century this poses absolutely no barrier to me working in 90 per cent of jobs in the UK.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
🇬🇧 🏗️ UK Construction outlook
The S&P Global UK Construction PMI was 39.4 in November 2025, (50=no monthly change in activity), down from 44.1 in October, so an 11th consecutive monthly decline in construction activity & November's decline was its sharpest since May 2020. (1/n)
#ukconstruction #ukhousing
#ukconstruction #ukhousing
December 4, 2025 at 10:09 AM
🇬🇧 🏗️ UK Construction outlook
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
Crypto-investor who lives in Thailand gives record-breaking donation to Reform UK, to help it win power in a country he doesn't live in.
Britain's political funding laws are a charred and smoking ruin. Ducking change was a catastrophic mistake by Labour.
www.ft.com/content/db73...
Britain's political funding laws are a charred and smoking ruin. Ducking change was a catastrophic mistake by Labour.
www.ft.com/content/db73...
Reform UK gets record £9mn donation from Christopher Harborne
Nigel Farage’s party attracts far more funding than both Labour and the Conservatives
www.ft.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Crypto-investor who lives in Thailand gives record-breaking donation to Reform UK, to help it win power in a country he doesn't live in.
Britain's political funding laws are a charred and smoking ruin. Ducking change was a catastrophic mistake by Labour.
www.ft.com/content/db73...
Britain's political funding laws are a charred and smoking ruin. Ducking change was a catastrophic mistake by Labour.
www.ft.com/content/db73...
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
This is really good from @rafaelbehr.bsky.social and as ever there’s a climate angle…
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Fear of facing the future has British politics stuck in the past | Rafael Behr
Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves claim to be dealing with the world as it is, but seem to yearn for a world that has disappeared, says the Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:45 AM
This is really good from @rafaelbehr.bsky.social and as ever there’s a climate angle…
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
I kinda think part of the problem is the BBC News gathering team has been cut so much (bbc budgets have had 40% real term cut since 2010) that increasingly the ‘exclusives’ are weak data stories with a political angle (eg small boats) that then oversized BBC coverage as they’re ‘exclusive’
December 3, 2025 at 8:10 AM
I kinda think part of the problem is the BBC News gathering team has been cut so much (bbc budgets have had 40% real term cut since 2010) that increasingly the ‘exclusives’ are weak data stories with a political angle (eg small boats) that then oversized BBC coverage as they’re ‘exclusive’
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
Dangerous socialist or hitting one of the biggest problems with modern economies, that life is just getting too hard for small businesses and that saps energy from the market? Feels like EU and UK policy makers should be taking notice rather than the same old tired talk.
Soon small businesses won’t have to wait for Small Business Saturday to get attention from their Mayor.
Some changes that they can look forward to:
Some changes that they can look forward to:
November 30, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Dangerous socialist or hitting one of the biggest problems with modern economies, that life is just getting too hard for small businesses and that saps energy from the market? Feels like EU and UK policy makers should be taking notice rather than the same old tired talk.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
And the problem of all senior managers in #UKHE taking the exact same market advice & data from about three consultancies…
A national strategy and stable funding would put an end to these perverse incentives.
A national strategy and stable funding would put an end to these perverse incentives.
April 4, 2025 at 9:23 AM
And the problem of all senior managers in #UKHE taking the exact same market advice & data from about three consultancies…
A national strategy and stable funding would put an end to these perverse incentives.
A national strategy and stable funding would put an end to these perverse incentives.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
So much this. The thing I find fascinating about the Budget is where does it end? It seems increasingly likely Labour goes into the next election having delivered modest growth at absolute best and resolved none of the big economic questions facing the country.
The reason this has been whipped up is the Budget is incredibly boring and tame, with no fundamental reform of anything. It’s a bit of fiscal drag and some tinkering on issues of marginal interest. Really the question is why wasn’t there more serious measures given the economy’s relative stability?
It’s an indictment of our media that more time is being spent on whether Reeves lied about the need to raise taxes than on the actual substance of the policies announced on Wednesday.
November 30, 2025 at 10:18 AM
So much this. The thing I find fascinating about the Budget is where does it end? It seems increasingly likely Labour goes into the next election having delivered modest growth at absolute best and resolved none of the big economic questions facing the country.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
Here's UKIP's former Scottish leader David Coburn, who has denied taking Russian bribes after being named in Whatsapp messages between Nathan Gill and a pawn of the Putin administration, being applauded by Gill for arguing against Ukraine's entry to the EU
November 28, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Here's UKIP's former Scottish leader David Coburn, who has denied taking Russian bribes after being named in Whatsapp messages between Nathan Gill and a pawn of the Putin administration, being applauded by Gill for arguing against Ukraine's entry to the EU
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
"Europe does not want war with a nuclear-armed Russia and so has to figure out how to respond in a way that deters Moscow but does not cross any Kremlin red lines."
Europe needs to change its attitude. We need to be willing to run greater risks. Moscow will only be deterred if it fears escalation.
Europe needs to change its attitude. We need to be willing to run greater risks. Moscow will only be deterred if it fears escalation.
I hate that this is necessary, but it is. So it’s good that things are moving.
www.politico.eu/article/euro...
www.politico.eu/article/euro...
Europe thinks the unthinkable: Retaliating against Russia
Countries are looking at joint offensive cyber operations and surprise military drills as Moscow steps up its campaign to destabilize NATO allies.
www.politico.eu
November 27, 2025 at 10:43 AM
"Europe does not want war with a nuclear-armed Russia and so has to figure out how to respond in a way that deters Moscow but does not cross any Kremlin red lines."
Europe needs to change its attitude. We need to be willing to run greater risks. Moscow will only be deterred if it fears escalation.
Europe needs to change its attitude. We need to be willing to run greater risks. Moscow will only be deterred if it fears escalation.
Reposted by Jonathan Clarke
Not listened yet, but hope you didn’t miss out this part of the story like the rest of the media did 👀 bsky.app/profile/zoej...
Today we’ll get latest net immigration figures - They’ll show immigration for work is plummeting.
Why is this not part of the discussion on Rachel Reeves balancing her books & stalled growth?
For every 100,000 drop in net immigration, the OBR adds £7bn to the deficit. #r4today
Why is this not part of the discussion on Rachel Reeves balancing her books & stalled growth?
For every 100,000 drop in net immigration, the OBR adds £7bn to the deficit. #r4today
November 27, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Not listened yet, but hope you didn’t miss out this part of the story like the rest of the media did 👀 bsky.app/profile/zoej...