iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Cleo Davies

Dr Anna Clark @drannaclark.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

When two artists paint the same view: Rue de la Chausée à Argenteuil, painted on the same day in 1872 by Claude Monet & Alfred Sisley, friends and founding figures of French Impressionism, who set up their easels side by side en plein air. Private Collection | Musée d’Orsay

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

This piece on the "load-bearing internet people" and how AI-code writing is overwhelming the web's unheralded maintainers by @samlearner.bsky.social is absolutely terrific: brilliantly accessible without being patronising:

ft.com

Who cleans up after the vibe-coding party?

Our obsession with AI code-writing tools is overwhelming the web’s unsung human caretakers

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Soooooooooo much has been written about Brexit and the 🇬🇧, far less on the 🇪🇺 and Brexit. So do read the short piece I write for @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social Political Insight. And here is a 🧵 on the main points I make: bsky.app/profile/cleo...

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

It is worth remembering the 🇬🇧 as a land bridge for trucks on their way to Ireland and back via Holyhead. Brexit has a geographical impact too, and for that part of Wales, Brexit has been bad + the expected increase in jobs for customs & veterinary checks may now be redundant with an SPS deal with 🇪🇺

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

For anyone interested in how the 🇪🇺 managed to avert the disaster that Brexit could have turned out to be for the Union, I have covered this in a piece for @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social Political Insight magazine published this month. Some points 🧵 1/5 journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

journals.sagepub.com

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Un article intéressant et détaillé sur les perspectives de rapprochement entre le Royaume-Uni et l'Union européenne par Agnès Rotivel de La Croix et qui est construit autour de l'expertise des chercheuses Marie-Claire Considere-Charon, Laetitia Langlois et moi-même. www.la-croix.com/internationa...

la-croix.com

Brexit : dix ans après, le Royaume-Uni et l’UE sur le chemin d’un timide rapprochement

Le 23 juin 2016, le Royaume-Uni décidait de quitter l’Union européenne. Dix ans plus tard, une majorité de Britanniques regrettent les conséquences du Brexit. À l’initiative du premier ministre démiss...

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

good 🧵 on what is coming out of @ukandeu.bsky.social conference today on what relationship between 🇬🇧 &🇪🇺 might look like and trade-offs

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

As European leaders pay genuine tribute to Starmer, I am reminded of piece I wrote on his👌qualities as a diplomat for 🇬🇧 across Europe: 'Starmer may have proven himself a good diplomat, but so far, this is not a quality that has endeared him to the British public'. Let's hope his successor does both

encompass-europe.com

The good diplomat: Starmer’s bilateralism with EU member states

Barely two weeks go by without a bilateral meeting between Keir Starmer and a leader from a European capital. He hosted his Irish and Spanish counterparts in Downing Street on 12 September…

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

🇬🇧-🇪🇺 summit now postponed, which makes sense. President of the Council @eucopresident.consilium.europa.eu announced the summit will be postponed and also thanked 'his friend Keir'.

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Let's hope he has clear idea of kind of relationship he wants 🇬🇧 to have with 🇪🇺, that he has a close team that understands how Brussels works & a Comms team that knows Europeans read whatever declaration is in press & will puzzle over/pick up on discrepancies, especially because no one knows Burnham

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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

This is an unpopular thing to point out on Europhile Bluesky, but *the UK opt-outs are still there*, in protocols attached to the Treaties which have not been amended or removed. So the obvious argument is that if the UK rejoined, the opt-outs would just be revived as far as the UK is concerned.

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

J'ai fait un entretien sur le 🇬🇧 10 ans après le Brexit dans la Revue politique & parlementaire. Voici un point : même si les brits sont favorables à une relation bcp plus intégrée avec l'🇪🇺 et même une réintégration, elle n'a pas encore saisie les 'trade-offs' entre autonomie et une relation + proche

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Just listened to @franceculture.fr programme on populism 20 years after Brexit in 🇬🇧. Always impressed at depth & professionalism of some french media 🇬🇧, which is vary rarely reciprocated in 🇬🇧 on anything European, including 🇫🇷. That said, no mention whatsoever of the politics in the devolved regions

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

👇👌👌very much yes! In the future, it will also have an influence on how much the 🇬🇧 is able to get 🇪🇺 & 🇪🇺 member states'attention on all kinds of areas. Right now, 🇪🇺 really takes seriously 🇬🇧 requests for deeper cooperation but that should not be taken for granted. The 🇪🇺 has a lot of issues on its plate

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Reposted by Cleo Davies

Simon Usherwood @simonusherwood.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

A summary of CTA provisions on movement of people across the UK-Irish border, to help inform some of the coming debates PDF: bit.ly/UshGraphic146

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UK in a Changing Europe @ukandeu.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

📆 23 June marks a decade since the EU referendum 💥 Join us, @policyatkings.bsky.social & @ipsosintheuk.bsky.social for an evening of drinks & discussion as we reflect on 10 years of Brexit 👀 And for a look at some exclusive new polling 📍In London or online Sign up 👉 ukandeu.ac.uk/events/10-ye...

ukandeu.ac.uk

10 years of Brexit: how the vote to leave changed the UK - UK in a changing Europe

Join UK in a Changing Europe, the Policy Insititute and Ipsos as we mark 10 years since the EU referendum.

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

So much wrong with David Frost's post! Another low for the man who cannot get over having been blindsided by 🇮🇪 in the Brexit negos. He seems to hold so much contempt for 'the Irish' as he refers to them in his post. It's shocking. He knows that the common travel area between 🇮🇪&🇬🇧 pre-dates 🇪🇺 stuff.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 09/06/2026

CNN: President Trump has said the the war will be over within days at least 37 times before

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Martin Wolf @financialtimes.com on whether 🇬🇧 should/will rejoin 🇪🇺: will make unsatisfactory reading both for those who believe Brexit was a great democratic opp & for those who want to reverse Brexit. He suggests: 🇬🇧 to become a rule-taker + to incrementally get closer to 🇪🇺 to achieve🇨🇭like setup. 1/2

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Infamous tennis match between Cameron & Johnson early 2016 is mentioned by Cameron in BBC doc in 2019. When I first watched it, I was astonished at how casually Cameron recounted two old Etonians openly discussing Johnson being PM one day + how flippantly they spoke of relations with 🇪🇺

theguardian.com

David Cameron offered Boris Johnson senior cabinet role if he agreed not to push for Brexit

Johnson tells BBC documentary he played tennis in early 2016 with then prime minister to discuss EU referendum

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UACES (University Association for Contemporary European Studies) @uaces.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

📢 Very last opportunity: Early bird registration closes today for the UACES 56th Annual Conference 👉 Register now: www.conftool.org/uaces2026 This is your final chance to secure the lowest available rates and confirm your place in Prague. #UACES2026 #EuropeanStudies #AcademicConferences

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

OMG! 🇬🇧 has not just sank to the lows of 🇮🇹 with its changing PMs, it is now actually more like France than 🇨🇦 or 🇦🇺!! 😨😨 Re-jointing the 🇪🇺 (an ‘academic question’ for Ganesh) is logical consequence of sinking to the lows of all those continentals, weak gvts, lethargic growth, bloated welfare states

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

👌 @tom-clark.bsky.social. seems conclusion is (economic) policy & being straight with public. But comparison in piece is with 🇫🇷 4th Republic. It did take eco growth of 60s for 🇫🇷 to stabilise but also major change in political system (parliamentary to semi-presidential). Does 🇬🇧 need system change 🤔

theguardian.com

The ungovernable country? Why Britain keeps losing prime ministers

May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak, and now perhaps Starmer: each one was brought low for a reason. But what if the deeper problem is the office itself?

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

👌 tour d'horizon 👇. 3 points importants: 👉En nombre de voix, bipartisme a disparu depuis longtemps au 🇬🇧, mais masqué par mode de scrutin au nvx national &local (scrutin proportionnel en 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿&🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿) 👉La personnalité du PM (=charisme & communication) compte tellement 👉Degagisme envers partis traditionnels

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Nicolai von Ondarza @nvondarza.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

What also struck me about this interview was the framing of re-join as a left-uniting platform, at a time when the EU itself is becoming ever more right wing:

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Just listened to @london.gov.uk on yesterday's @thenewsagents.co.uk saying that re-joining 🇪🇺 should be on next Labour party's election manifesto. Has anyone thought to check what the 🇪🇺 thinks of this and what long political process that could be 🤔... UK politics through the looking glass

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

💡👇Would have liked (not even paragraph!) a bit on 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 in Labour party between Bevan & devolution.. a little caricatural without (👀 Kinnock). Today's labour myths are well recounted in piece (Bevan again), but labour movement in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 was born out of & embedded in social life (ok, so was Chapel... 😬)

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Perfect timing to listen to Prof Michael Kenny at Sorbonne Nouvelle CREW seminar @thibaudharrois.bsky.social, just before elections 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 & 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Parliaments, for councils & some mayors in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Two💡: 👉 British unionism a dwindling feature of British politics, whilst 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 nationalism growing in significance 🧵1/2

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Could the European Political Community (EPC) become a space for making sense of regional security in age of Trump 2.0/disengaging US? The summit, created in wake of Russia's 2022 full scale invasion of Ukraine has so far fulfilled 4 principal functions: 1) signalling regional commitment to 🇺🇦...1/2 🧵

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

👌⭐ on Starmer & failure of #statecraft: '...more than an error of character judgment. It was symptomatic of a foreign policy that conflated sycophancy towards the Trump administration with pursuit of the UK national interest. It flowed from panic that the “special relationship” was in jeopardy'

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Can anyone help me: did Starmer attend‘ a gathering of EU leaders’ this week? @financialtimes.com Janan Ganesh starts his column yesterday with a reference to this meeting 👇 I remember Starmer attended the informal EU council in February 2025, which was the first time a UK PM attended since Brexit…

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Antonio Bruno @antoniobruno.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Amazing moment on French TV. A French judge explains how Trump sent people from the US Embassy basically trying to intimidate her during Le Pen's trial for embezzlement - something they've done to other judges around the world.

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Zahawi has been on a journey: 'There are some extremely unattractive figures campaigning to leave the EU, from George Galloway to Nigel Farage and it pains me to be dragged towards them on any issue' written in his op-ed on why he backed #leave 🇪🇺 in Feb 2016 conservativehome.com/2016/02/22/n...

conservativehome.com

Nadhim Zahawi MP: Why I have decided to vote for Britain to leave the EU | Conservative Home

I believe that a change in our relationship with Europe could provide a fantastic opportunity to achieve this greater Britain we all want to see.

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Our work on 🇫🇷-🇬🇧 bilateral relations reports 🇫🇷 has always taken view that Starmer would have to choose, that the strategy to ‘straddle both relationship with 🇪🇺 and Trump’s 🇺🇸’ would soon become untenable (🇫🇷 waiting to see) @thibaudharrois.bsky.social Read 👉 media.ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/u...

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Nicolai von Ondarza @nvondarza.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

It is very very rare for France to be outvoted - in public Council votes, it has been the least outvoted country every year. This is also because usually France strikes a compromise. Here my reading is that Macron wants to be seen to be outvoted to evade blame for Mercosur in France.

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

This is 👌 overview on 🇪🇸 PM Sanchez stances on US and Trump. ‘Sánchez’s criticism of Trump may be less risky than it first appears – but he is still being bold in articulating what many other European leaders think, but dare not say.’ www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

Why Spain’s prime minister has broken ranks in Europe – and dared to confront Trump

Outrage at the US, close ties with Venezuela and mounting domestic challenges have prompted Pedro Sánchez to take a stand, says the Spanish journalist Maria Ramirez

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

If ‘tariffs’ ended up being one of the key terms for the global political economy in 2025, I admit I did not have ‘imperialism’ being one of them for 2026

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Starmer speaking to Kuenssberg this morning on 🇬🇧 approach to 🇪🇺 = tautological formulation: ‘we made the sovereign decision [sic] as a gvt to align rules’ on food & agriculture ‘so that we can access the single market’. Going forward… 1/2 m.youtube.com/watch?v=qHU7...

m.youtube.com

Keir Starmer tells BBC he'll still be UK prime minister in 2027 | BBC News

YouTube video by BBC News

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Mohamed Harbi: A great historian, whose work on Algerian nationalism I was very privileged to have discovered during my degree in history. An inspirational scholar who has shaped some of the great work on the recent history of Algeria-France relations www.lemonde.fr/disparitions...

lemonde.fr

Mohammed Harbi, historien iconoclaste du nationalisme algérien, est mort à l’âge de 92 ans

L’auteur d’« Aux origines du Front de libération nationale » (1975) et « FLN, mirage et réalité » (1980) est mort, à Paris, à l’âge de 92 ans. Il aura puisé, dans son expérience de cadre du mouvement ...

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Others doing 👌 challenging author’s take on 🇬🇧 domestic politics & policy. But on ‘🇪🇺 “friends” wanting to punish us for leaving’ it’s a serious strategic failure of 🇬🇧 gvts & analysts not to have anticipated 🇪🇺 reaction to what 🇪🇺 perceived as an existential threat. Brexit not only about 🇬🇧 #realpolitik

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

👇 also covers the different types of instruments needed for each area of deeper 🇪🇺🇬🇧 cooperation + procedure for adopting these. Builds on @husseinkassim.bsky.social & my longstanding work on 🇬🇧🇪🇺 relations + regular meetings with parties involved. Disclaimer: published before 🇬🇧 agreement on Erasmus+

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Catio Miles @catiomiles.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

This is fair 👇 Probably the best status report written so far.

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Echoes of past in today’s @financialtimes.com @andybounds.bsky.social on Starmer effort to keep 🇬🇧-🇪🇺 reset on track. 🇪🇺 negotiating stance will harden the more it perceives Starmer as weak domestically because 🇪🇺 will want to ´future proof’ any agreement. In turn, makes it harder for 🇬🇧 to agree

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Cleo Davies @cleodavies.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

Surprising how little analysis there is outside of Spain on explaining the country's performance.

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