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Jonathan Simons

@jonathansimons.bsky.social
3.4K followers 915 following 919 posts

Partner, Public First and Head of Education Practice. Education strategy + policy advisory. Former civil servant + think tanker. Occasional loud LFC. Centrist Dad, so naturally I also have a Substack.

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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We’ve had billion pound bottle jobs, now we’ve got billion pound fraudsters
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
*stretches out* *wiggles toes* *luxuriates in a Sunday that does not involve multiple trains to Liverpool in a suit for Lab party conference*
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
An organisation? Charging corporates to sponsor and speak at party conference panels alongside politicians? I’ve never *heard* of such a thing……
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Sigh indeed. jonathansimons.substack.com/p/making-the...
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This man is not economically left wing.
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Look, we say we want HE and academia to be more productive, but god forbid the man comes up wirh a solution…..
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The complete and total collapse of state function in the face of far right extremists. It is frankly ludicrous that Daniel Thomas continues to be at large given the series of crimes committed which he has literally filmed.
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Wonkhe @wonkhe.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
NEW on Wonkhe: Annie Bell and Damayanti Chatterjee present new modelling that explores not just the potential for growth in international student numbers, but also whether that growth would be stable buff.ly/vhm0Vdl
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
30 week or so scan with child no1. The midwife asks us “what are you going to feed them”. I (wittily) say “McDonalds, probably?” Then my wife hits me and I say “we’re going to do formula from day 1”. Honestly, I think the midwife preferred the McDonalds answer.
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Brilliant. Thank goodness HE admissions teams have been alerted to This One Cool Trick
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I mean….what? Telling them to duck and cover? What on earth is the point of this. Wildly unproductive, nanny state tastic, very expensive, will be mostly binned unread, and far cheaper distribution mechanisms exist for genuine public information??
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The whataboutery around these results is quite something. I am sceptical that a lot of the people picking holes in the data methodology, to undermine England’s success, would be doing so had they shown us plummeting. This is a real public policy triumph, built by school reformers of *all* parties
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Trump closing the Straits of Hormuz might actually be a winning strategy…..
static.klipy.com
Donald Trump: I'm an extremely stable genius
ALT: Donald Trump: I'm an extremely stable genius
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Interesting and disturbing thread. Makes the point that, with this level of coordination and planning, supposedly all in secret, if this group had been armed they would have completely overwhelmed police (inc special branch) and security services; only army and special forces could have engaged.
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I love these. A man with no mortgage at all, that has to borrow money for the basics, who voted Starmer and thinks the economy has improved massively, but would now vote Tory. Wild.
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
It’s giving real
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
PM was unbelievably nervous there and it showed. He needs a far less staccato delivery and to know his attack lines off the top of his head, rather than looking down to read them every few words. Turns out PMQs is hard and you can’t vibe it.
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This must be true. Because we had stellar growth throughout the 70s, and terrible growth in the 90s and 00s until the global financial crisis.
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I can’t believe people are talking smack on the skills wallet, a terribly named policy admittedly but one that has got literal four party approval (the Tories and Lab both introduced the LLE, and it’s more or less what Reform have proposed in their new paper on apprenticeships and training)
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
This is a mind blowing paragraph: “Box office blockbusters like “The Odyssey” take weeks to hit $1 billion. “GTA V” famously did it in three days. Analyst firm Newzoo projects the new game could generate between $3.3 billion and $5.2 billion by the end of *its launch week* in November.”
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I hope Rachel Reeves makes an excoriating speech from the backbenches telling him that he’s threatening his country’s safety and that the first duty of any government is defence of the realm
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Inbetweeners 2 fireside scene.gif
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Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
This explainer out of Australia is genuinely useful background and analysis of what happened with the Canada-US trade deal last night. Note that it is extremely and delightfully sweary. Also there’s an appended glossary of Australian slang. ifloz.substack.com/p/king-carne...
ifloz.substack.com
KING CARNEY ACTIVATES KONG MODE WITH ZERO FUCKS
Carney Reads the Clock Like a Pro Wrestler
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The fully funding additional college places (last RT) sounds niche but really isn’t. Up until now, colleges taking extra kids couldn’t be sure they’d be funded for them - and often weren’t fully. Imagine if we applied that to schools or NHS (sorry you’re busy / popular, no more £ for you tho)
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Lucy Powell MP @lucympowell.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
🚨Every young person will have a fully funded college place if they want one. In the past, colleges couldn’t be certain they’d receive funding if more students turned up. We are changing that. This is a major step in our mission to get more young people into education, work or training.
thesun.co.uk
Teens' college places will be fully funded to help youth crisis, Ministers say
ALL college places will be fully-funded for 16-19 year-olds to help reduce youth inactivity numbers. Education Secretary Lucy Powell says the cash will be guaranteed for all courses following GCSE …
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Oh no, some of the French won’t pay tax, this will be so different, how on earth will the country cope
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Of course under the Burnham premiership, the Manchester team wins The Hundred
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Phil Rodgers @philrodgers.co.uk · 14/08/2026
Telegraph website reporting that Jason Arday has been found dead.
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
“That’s right - it is BAD to be a fire starter, twisted or otherwise. Don’t make me push the button again Keith”
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Amazing collective experience as 100 mobile phones shriek simultaneously up and down our whole road just now. Not had that much collective noise making since banging saucepans for nurses in 2020.
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Jess Lister @jesslister.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
other top contenders for the prize of "the asterisk is doing a lot of work here"
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Jess Lister @jesslister.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
'Tis the season for absolutely shameless university marketing comms
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Dan of the Year @downwithdan.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
AI can never replace real stock images Someone dreamed these up and had the courage to hire actors and make them real
Stock pic of a man caressing a skeleton with a bad wig. Is it his wife? We'll never knowStock pic of a doctor digging something out of a guy's ass like he's reeling in Moby dickStock pic of a guy in a suit with a balaclava holding an axe and a clockStock pic of someone about to run over a kid
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I think….Starmer is right here? The PM is incredibly time pressured. I don’t think he can and should dive into “bring me the problems”. He (or she!) should set the vision and the SoS should work through the detail and bring options and a rec.
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I hope each and every one of the 368 people in the Matthew Hudson-Smith stand enjoyed watching him win, and I hope whoever made a decision to price tickets at £100 a head with no junior concessions, leaving the stadium half empty, are happy
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
In 13 mins the eclipse will peak in London as Gabriel’s penalty from the Champions League Final travels in front of the sun
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The opposite of many, who loved their time at uni, and think now fewer people should go…..
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 09/08/2026
What a bonkers statistic as.ft.com/r/3b0a9bd3-a...
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
It’s just depressing. Further education has been cut to ribbons. Higher education is in crisis. Labour turns its eyes to the bit of the education system which is turning out the highest literacy rates in the western world and goes “that’s the bit that needs to change”
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
On the plus side, there’s now a vacancy for a Conservative council candidate in Somerset which Jason Arday could take up?
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Unsurprisingly, this is so so good
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Ben Johnson @ersatzben.com · 20/07/2026
Sunday: an LLM disproves an 87-year-old mathematics conjecture, seemingly on the prompter's whim Monday: the UK govt dept responsible for thinking strategically about AI + research in the round is disbanded, seemingly over a petty civil service turf war. Good one. 🇬🇧🦶🔫
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Ed M getting on the phone to Tehran in the morning
static.klipy.com
Ed Milliband Gifminster
ALT: Ed Milliband Gifminster
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
The Argentina behavior on every foul - encircling the ref & yelling at him - is illegal & no other team does it as comprehensively & often as they do, & it should not be tolerated.
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
😂😂😂😂😂
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
On why I didn’t like Andy Burnham’s speech open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...
open.substack.com
What I didn’t like about Andy Burnham’s speech
Does he know the country he's about to lead and the voters who put Labour there?
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Wow wow wow
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Jude Bellingham. Selfish player, self obsessed. Should have left him at home
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Thomas Tuchel right now
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Jonathan Simons @jonathansimons.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Wild game. Can’t work out if this is “man England really can’t hold a lead” or “France are brilliant” or “who gives a toss”
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