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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)

@colintalbot.bsky.social
19K followers 987 following 961 posts

Professor (Emeritus) U of Manchester ▪️PhD LSE public management▪️co-ops and cooperation ▪️progressive pluralism▪️ex Aikidoka ▪️Arsenal ▪️Born Dover (that's my Castle)

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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Anthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · 19h
The big reforms Burnham outlined are interlinked. There will be no viable expansion of the social state without Brexit being resolved. To embed the UK's long-term relationship with the EU electoral reform is necessary to reduce minority disruption. Equally, for enabling devolution to work.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
If only we'd had someone like Chis Philp in government for fourteen years, including being Minister for Immigration...
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Dan Kaszeta FRHistS @dankaszeta.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
That’s pretty awful harassment of a very good person. You should delete that an apologise
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Don’t know whether you’ve seen this? Burnham really isn’t a traditional tax and spend Labour politician with better Tik Toks but someone with a (not entirely developed) alternative theory of politics and power, who has a tendency to say things without always thinking through the consequences.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Laura @justbrowsingthanks.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Independents are fourth in number; Reform with 8 MPs tie with SNP, if info I'm looking at is not updated, then it's potentially Sinn Fein?
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Steve Chambers @planningtransport.co.uk · 25/09/2026
Co-operative Party.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Which political party (registered with the Electoral Commission as such) has the 4th highest representation in the House of Commons?
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Christopher Alderton @alderton.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It’s a tie between the SNP and Reform UK…
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
coenpad.bsky.social @coenpad.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
SNP
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Huw Marshall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @huwmarshall.substack.com · 25/09/2026
SDP?
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Covie @covie93.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fox News hosts spend their day telling their audience that Democrats are communists and communists are evil people, then in the evening they all got dressed up to attend a state dinner honoring a communist.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Antony Carpen @acarpen.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Any answers? (I can guess, but can't say!)
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Which political party (registered with the Electoral Commission as such) has the 4th highest representation in the House of Commons?
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Another small chapter to my life. This should be fun. www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profil...
birmingham.ac.uk
Colin Talbot
Professor Talbot has extensive experience as both a practitioner and academic. He started work in 1969 and formally retired from in 2017. He remains actively engaged with a variety of social issues.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Electronic Immigration Network @ein-website.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Lords committee raises concerns over Home Secretary’s power to change immigration rules with no parliamentary scrutiny www.ein.org.uk/news/lords-c...
ein.org.uk
Lords committee raises concerns over Home Secretary’s power to change immigration rules with no parliamentary scrutiny
Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee draws attention to powers under section 3(1)(b) of the Immigration Act 1971 after error in March's HC 1691
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Geoff @geophreywilliams.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
been there too Colin, frosted windows, inside, no central heating one coal fire. We wore jumpers indoors and ate root vegetable stews.....in the mid 60's my father was paid weekly and most Wednesday's mum cooked bacon bone broth, cheap. indeed i now live in a totally diff. world
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
(Re)reading this. Useful reminder that many organisations can improve productivity through people. As much, if not more, than through capital investment. And I’d add this especially applies to “human services” (people to people). Like education, health and social care. Andy Burnham please note
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Gordon Brown and Francis Fukuyama make fascinating listening. Now I’ve got to read their books! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
Start the Week - Gordon Brown: The Future Starts with Us - BBC Sounds
Gordon Brown, Francis Fukuyama and Bronwen Maddox on democracy's future.
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
As my first house had no toilet or bath in the house, I’d say quite a few things have made life easier. Don’t have to break the ice in the loo anymore.
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Gordon Brown and Francis Fukuyama make fascinating listening. Now I’ve got to read their books! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
Start the Week - Gordon Brown: The Future Starts with Us - BBC Sounds
Gordon Brown, Francis Fukuyama and Bronwen Maddox on democracy's future.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
INLOGOV @inlogov.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
What are the key lessons from this year's local government elections? Starting with a big "whoopee" at the highest turnout for a decade... inlogov.com/2026/09/14/l...
inlogov.com
Learning from the 2026 elections
Photo credit: Jason Lowther The Electoral Commission’s new report on the 2026 English local government and mayoral elections provides largely positive picture of local democracy. Turnout was …
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is rather nice.
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Resurrected my old watch. It’s been in a draw for ages cos, like the young folk, I’d stopped wearing a watch. Realised I wore this when I was doing a lot of international travel. It’s probably done 150k miles, or more. (I used to have 120k air-miles just on BA). Feels ‘right’ to have it back on
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Still missing him
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
usagitomusashi.bsky.social @usagitomusashi.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Canada has been a great friend to the U.S. in our times of need. I am ashamed of the treatment of Canada by this unhinged, criminal administration. My hope is that, one day, we can regain the trust and friendship of Canada.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Julia Laite @julialaite.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
'Suivez moi!' he shouted, as 200 people followed down the stadium hall. People slept in homes, churches, the temple, the mosque. Folks brought clothes, food, sleeping bags, teddy bears. We found translators for every language but one. I saw the best of humanity that day. That's what I'll remember
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Julia Laite @julialaite.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
So I headed down & wound up doing French translation for the volunteer docs, helping folks get the meds they needed. Everywhere I looked people were helping & comforting each other, telling each other what had just happened. One little boy became the leader of his entire flight from West Africa...
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Julia Laite @julialaite.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
25 years ago, almost every plane that was over the North Atlantic when the second tower was hit was forced to land in Newfoundland. A call was on the radio: they needed folks who spoke various languages to come to the stadium to help organize the sea of humanity that just showed up at our door.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
£72m for Reform over the weekend could be just the tip of the iceberg There's nothing to stop Elon Musk giving, via a UK X subsidiary, £300m to Restore Britain today Or a Trump ally giving £500m to Farage via a UK-registered firm There's a v narrow window to tackle big money in the elections bill
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Co-operative Party @coopparty.party.coop · 14/09/2026
Andy Burnham wants to bring fan ownership back to the heart of sport. As reported by Sky News, the Prime Minister is looking to expand support for fan-owned sports clubs. Our latest report set out how fans and communities could have a bigger stake and say.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Gifts from out allotment neighbour. She’s taken some of our surplus strawberry plants.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Geoff @geophreywilliams.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
happy eating Colin, there's absolutely nothing better than home grown food
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Gifts from out allotment neighbour. She’s taken some of our surplus strawberry plants.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Martin McDonald @martymcd.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I remember exactly what he did, he called into a local NYC TV station and said 'it's awful, but on the plus side I now own the tallest building in Lower Manhatten' which was of course a lie!
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Paul M 🇮🇪🇨🇦🇫🇷🚲🍉 @onebiskuit.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
They’re VERY expensive, and the battery life deteriorates much worse than my Samsung phone, but I continue to buy them and upgrade because, as their marketing says, “it just works”. My new iPad seems to have absorbed the contents of the old one by osmosis.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
John Milner @pilotvfr.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I never buy new always refurbished from Music Magpie who are great
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Paul M 🇮🇪🇨🇦🇫🇷🚲🍉 @onebiskuit.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Same happened to me. I said "OK, so send it back to me"- the bastards could bloody well suffer the inconvenience and expense even if I had no use for it. (Ended up donating it to a care home during covid for residents to facetime relatives)
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
APPLE SAUCE? Returned iPad to Apple in part ex for a new one. They'd offered me a reasonable £. Now £0 - cos they saucily say it’s damaged. Was in working order and had no damage when I posted it. They’ve provided no evidence of the damage. All I’ve had is a curt email. Very, very, poor.
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Latest podcast from Cooperative World. (With me co-presenting) podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/c...
podcasts.apple.com
#8 Can Credit Unions Survive the Stablecoin Era?
Podcast Episode · Co-ops Building a Better World · 8 September · 35min
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Just recorded the next podcast for Co-op News with Rebecca Harvey & co. Covering credit unions, regulations, politics and co-ops coping with crisis and disaster. And of course next week is the world cooperative conference in Panama. To which Rebecca is going. Me, jealous? No. Of course not.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
davidvital3.bsky.social @davidvital3.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
@richardcorbett.bskysocial @alexisconran.bsky.social @alexhh.bsky.social @lizziedearden.bsky.social @mrjamesob.bsky.social @paulbrand.bsky.social
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Ryan Bridge - Founder of "Raise the Colours" flag protests - charged with 14 offences including common assault. Danny Thomas - ringleader of Dover/Portsmouth thuggery - an ex-con jailed for attempted kidnap at knifepoint. Almost like they're not "ordinary people with concerns" but criminals.
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Just recorded the next podcast for Co-op News with Rebecca Harvey & co. Covering credit unions, regulations, politics and co-ops coping with crisis and disaster. And of course next week is the world cooperative conference in Panama. To which Rebecca is going. Me, jealous? No. Of course not.
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The allotments looking good today. And we now have some lockable storage.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Make Votes Matter @makevotesmatter.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
📩 Yesterday we went to Number 10 with a special delivery for the Prime Minister. Andy Burnham is our first PM to openly support PR. We know he can talk the talk. Now it's time for him to walk the walk. @compassoffice.bsky.social @unlockdemocracy.bsky.social @jowusunepaul.bsky.social
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Well they did OK, despite the heat and drought. There’s an even bigger one still on the allotment
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Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Well they did OK, despite the heat and drought. There’s an even bigger one still on the allotment
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Polarised views of Reform UK leader - but close to 3:1 negative. 19% see him as a PM in waiting (inc 6/10 Reform voters) but 65% dont. A significant deterioration since Reform topped the polls from Spring 2025: a new Farage paradox is that Refiorm being in contention for power may keep Reform out
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Rob Davies @byrobdavies.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
"I want your children's lungs to be smaller and less functional" is a bold electoral strategy.
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Reposted by Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory)
Prof Colin Talbot (and the late Rory) @colintalbot.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Can Andy Burnham Really Rewire the UK State? Me. For The Constitution Society consoc.org.uk/rewiring-the...
consoc.org.uk
Can Andy Burnham Really Rewire the UK State? - The Constitution Society
Colin Talbot analyses the Government's commitment to "rewire" the UK state and asks what it means for local government.
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