Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 2hI feel like the undertaker In the Godfather. You understand everything Don Boff! Agreed. We do need a system that defends key locations from limited strikes. At the moment it wouldn’t take a lot to cause us real difficulties. 110
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 5hThe point is to integrate it with air defence and, yes, ensure you have real offensive capabilities. 010
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 5hMissile defence is not impossible. It’s happening right now in Ukraine and in the Gulf states. It feels a bit like arguing ‘the bomber will always get through’ so no point in investing in air defence in the 1930s. No system stops everything (iron dome only shoots down stuff likely to hit). 210
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 6hThis isn’t a bad idea, but as ever the costs are completely wrong and the comms all over the place. Would be a shame if it kills the concept. UK does need an integrated air and missile defence system. 250
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 7hLast time I checked I’ll get 10k a year from my pension..static.klipy.comAnchorman Cast Jumps with JoyALT: Anchorman Cast Jumps with Joy 100
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 17hTrue but I suspect that won’t be on the cards when I retire. Definitely not for the next generation. 100
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 23hMid ranking is 80-100k. But that’s the UK. Almost no Profs in UK are on 120k, unless they’re management. 100
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Another year, another below inflation pay rise for the university sector (2%). To put in perspective, using an inflation calculator, I’m now on the same salary as I was 11 years, 2 moves and 2 promotions ago. A Professor in the middle of the salary scale is paid what a Senior Lecturer used to be. 1101
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 01/10/2026One oddity of the Rejoin debate in UK is EU people I speak to don’t think UK would need to join Eurozone or Schengen. That seems to be something only UK people view as a requirement, (Leave and Remain). There’s a difference between promising to do something eventually and doing it on day 1. 000
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 01/10/2026When a bus driver would say ‘single?’ And I’d say ‘none of your business.’ 020
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 30/09/2026There’s also the long running ‘pep up the classics genre’, Hooked on Classics, Andre Rieu etc 110
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthChatham House @chathamhouse.org · 30/09/2026China represents the United Kingdom’s most significant and systemic security challenge to science and technology research. While collaboration with China generates benefits for the UK economy, the scale and sophistication of Beijing’s attempts to gain technological advantages pose a security risk.chathamhouse.orgHow the UK should protect its science and tech research from foreign state threatsA case for a more systemic approach to research security 181
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026England team is now largely made up of Conveyancing solicitors…Gibbs White, Alexander Arnold, Calvert Lewin… 131
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 29/09/20262030 is gonna be some year. Defence spending at 3% AND a National Care Service. Wondrous. 020
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Theresa May ran a natural experiment in 2017 being honest about social care reform. Why would Labour think that could be the basis of their next election campaign? 020
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthSimon Usherwood @simonusherwood.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Three years of production with a great team of colleagues and very excited to be at the start of our new IR module for @openuniversity.bsky.social @oupolitics.bsky.social And an extra shout-out to @preciouschatd.bsky.social for being the best co-chair! 1102
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 26/09/2026What about the storyline where someone deliberately caused the lady of the house to have a miscarriage by putting a bar of soap on the floor? Now that’s writing…. 110
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026PSA: if someone argues you can’t be English if you’re black, saying ‘Well, the English don’t exist akshually’ is not a clever or accurate response. 020
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 23/09/2026This is great news and something @rorycormac.bsky.social and I have been arguing for privately and publicly. We’ve authored a whole report on how to make it work available via KCL… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukUK to fight Russian disinformation and push new global AI standards, Burnham saysThe UK could act as "an honest broker" on AI and other global challenges, the prime minister tells world leaders at the UN. 121
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthChatham House @chathamhouse.org · 19/09/2026Xi Jinping wants to win over the Global South and take over Taiwan. If the West is to counter this, it must better understand China's grand strategy — and Xi Jinping's worldview. Read Steve Tsang's latest analysis for the autumn issue of @theworldtoday.org.bit.lyWhat the West fails to grasp about China’s strategy to lead the worldXi Jinping wants to forge ‘a common destiny for humankind’ by winning over the Global South and taking Taiwan. But if America and Europe are to counter this ‘double pivot’, they must better understand... 085
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 18/09/2026At an event at Swansea University and really impressed with how beautiful the bay campus is. Right on the beach! 000
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 16/09/2026A puzzler: which Man Utd player would you prefer against their counterpart in any top 6 team? The mystery of why they’re so bad is solved. 000
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 13/09/2026I’m not moaning. I think IHT is one of the fairest taxes and am all for it, but the headline figure of 95% of estates not paying it is misleading because that doesn’t mean 95% of people won’t pay it in some way or another, whether it’s a childless uncle’s estate or other scenarios. 110
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Also doesn’t factor in gifts to wider relatives/friends 000
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 13/09/2026That’s a best case scenario, depending on dates, reporting within specific time periods and marital status. 200
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Plus, if you’re in London living in an average house c560k, you’ll know eventually your estate is going to be subject to IHT. Once the boomers die out, surely the figure is going to rocket? (I’m in favour of IHT but don’t think people are as dumb as portrayed on this issue). 100
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Lots of people end up paying it even if it’s a small % of probates, no? Estates passed to spouses don’t pay at first but one day go to children and they might pay. So % of probates is lower than % of estates ultimately paying IHT. Plus, if they had 2+ kids, that’s 2+ families paying IHT in the end. 200
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 11/09/2026In all the reporting on the Yemen situation today, I haven’t seen one person mention the fact the UK is the UN Security Council penholder. 020
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 11/09/2026This guy.. He consistently argues the UK shouldn't spend more on defence, then asks us to wake up and secure our own place in the world. With what Simon?! With what? (Cue goose meme....) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comWake up, Britain: Donald Trump’s US is no friend of ours. We must secure our own place in the world | Simon JenkinsThe US president is ever more wayward – and has little interest in defending Europe. The constitution may hold him to account, but we can’t wait, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins 021
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 11/09/2026As a Viking, I’m staying out of this one. Still bitter about Stamford Bridge… 000
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthRobert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I'm probably a dinosaur, but I wish students were allowed more time just to be students: to study, to read, to think, to talk to each other, to have big ideas - maybe even to have fun now & then. I'm not convinced turning unis into training centres is going to fix bigger problems in the jobs market 1534558
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Would any of those legs make the sidebar of shame? 130
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthRobert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 07/09/2026A suggested statement for Andy Burnham. 271051351
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthChatham House @chathamhouse.org · 07/09/2026When the next international financial crisis hits, the world may lack the dominant superpower it needs to stabilise the global economic order.chathamhouse.orgThe ‘reverse Kindleberger Trap’: reasons to worry about the next financial crisisA US crisis is very likely to be associated with a capital outflow, rather than a capital inflow, with the result that the dollar could weaken substantially against other currencies. 5123
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthJonathan Boff @jfb1066.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Re-upping for my American friends 1114
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthKate Allen @kateallen.ft.com · 06/09/2026Tonight: defence and intelligence officials warn that Europe is failing to stop Russia from waging hybrid war. Russian proxies and intelligence agencies have for the past two years been prosecuting a covert war of aggression on European soil. (Gift link, 300 free clicks) as.ft.com/r/077657b5-6...as.ft.comEurope failing to deter Russia’s ‘hybrid’ war, warn defence officialsFoiled drone attack at German airport seen as sign of Nato’s weak response and Moscow’s impunity 27037
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthBritish Foreign Policy Group @bfpg.bsky.social · 04/09/2026"Prime Minister Burnham and the case of the Inescapable Foreign Policy" BFPG Executive Chair David Landsman OBE examines the areas of foreign policy that will require the Prime Minister's attention. Click the link below to read⬇️ bfpg.co.uk/analysis/pri... #UKForeignPolicy #UKGov #Burnhambfpg.co.ukPrime Minister Burnham and the case of the Inescapable Foreign Policy | BFPGDavid Landsman examines the areas of foreign policy that will require the attention of the Prime Minister 012
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Great comments Will and smoothly delivered. 110
Reposted by Jamie Gaskarthalina @ramshackle78.bsky.social · 03/09/2026To be read in conjunction with the other recent very good article by Jana on why Germany has problems with all three of strategy, capabilities and societal consensus internationalepolitik.de/de/wenn-drau...internationalepolitik.deWenn draußen drinnen wirdHöchste Zeit für einen neuen deutschen Grundkonsens über Frieden und Sicherheit. 151
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthJonathan Boff @jfb1066.bsky.social · 03/09/2026I will give the 2026 Richard Holmes Lecture ‘Redcoats to Dusty Warriors: Britain and its Soldiers from Waterloo to Helmand’. Royal Air Force Club Tuesday 27 October 6.30, lecture starting at 7. Wine. Canapés. Tickets £45 each. Non-members welcome. Tickets- www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/richard-ho...eventbrite.co.ukRichard Holmes Lecture 2026The BCMH hosts a lecture on military history in memory of Professor Richard Holmes 1136
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthChatham House @chathamhouse.org · 02/09/2026Andy Burnham needs to narrow the scope of the UK's defence programme to the Euro-Atlantic area, keep the nuclear deterrent — and settle how the UK will pay for the NATO commitment to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2035.chathamhouse.orgWhat the Burnham government should do in its foreign policyThe new government must avoid its predecessors’ habit of trying to do everything. Priorities should include advancing the UK–EU reset talks, defending the Euro-Atlantic area, and working with the EU t... 1104
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Why not bring Sunak back in? He's a MP, could be a good Shadow Minister, doesn't elicit animosity AFAIK. 010
Jamie Gaskarth @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Two year degrees are a very bad idea. They cheapen and commodify learning; inhibiting the learning journey and reducing the skills and knowledge acquired. Wd also trash uni finances and UKHE reputation internationally. 040
Reposted by Jamie GaskarthChatham House @chathamhouse.org · 28/08/2026Andy Burnham’s influence with the EU will be stronger if his top team reaches an early decision on whether the next Labour Party manifesto will commit the UK to joining the customs union, the single market or the European Union itself.chathamhouse.orgWhat the Burnham government should do in its foreign policyThe new government must avoid its predecessors’ habit of trying to do everything. Priorities should include advancing the UK–EU reset talks, defending the Euro-Atlantic area, and working with the EU t... 0153
Reposted by Jamie Gaskarthderek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Enjoyed this touching NYT tribute to Dolly Parton. What a great talent, generous heart, and heroic life. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/a...nytimes.comDolly Parton, Country Music Superstar Whose Songs Spoke to Millions, Dies at 80 (Gift Article)Known for her outsize persona, appearance and talent, she rose from rural poverty to become a top-selling singer, songwriter and entrepreneur. 323482496