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Luca Tiratelli

@lucatiratelli.bsky.social
1.1K followers 851 following 761 posts

Research at The King's Fund | Own views | He/him |

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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
What does the political discourse around the growing welfare bill mean for public acceptance of mental health conditions? New blog explores wonkwatch.substack.com/p/brace-for-...
wonkwatch.substack.com
Brace for Mental Health Backlash
Are the political tides turning against mental health acceptance?
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Whether it’s questioning the validity of ADHD diagnoses or rolling the pitch for welfare cuts… acceptance of mental health and neurodiversity seems to be going backwards. New blog explores the backlash wonkwatch.substack.com/p/brace-for-...
wonkwatch.substack.com
Brace for Mental Health Backlash
Are the political tides turning against mental health acceptance?
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Consistently lacking in discussion of NEETs or really the economy in general - is any sense of what politicians want people to be doing. What kinds of jobs are the jobs of the future? What is Britain's role in the global economy? Is there any vision beyond 'growth'? Growth how? Growth of what??
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Once again - we don't have a generous system. Why can other countries have nice things but not us?
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John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
You can ask that question about a lot of things. Leave the ECHR, stop the local solar farm or data centre, freeze fuel duty, etc.
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M a r c u s 🏳️‍🌈🇧🇧 @marcusjdl.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
One of the worst state pensions in western Europe, 2 million pensioners in poverty and increasing numbers of pensioners still paying rising rents… triple lock being removed is not a left wing position just because you don’t like rich boomers
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Dean Hochlaf @dhochlaf.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Healy on ITV just now saying we have a system which asks "how much are you entitled to" and that's absolutely not true, the welfare system in the UK has loads of conditionality to look for and find work, it's so weird Labour keep pretending otherwise
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I await the first time a politician proposing some nuts new immigration restriction is asked what is otherwise the media’s favourite question: how are you going to pay for it??
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The UK does NOT have a generous pension regime. Any talk of cutting pensions or the triple lock in the name of 'inter-generational fairness' is pure race to the bottom politics and should be resisted.
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
wonkwatch.substack.com/p/policy-by-...
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
What happens when policies fail, but it becomes politically impossible to admit to that failure? Look to our universities sector to find out. Some thoughts on the crisis in higher ed, and the desperate attempts to do policy by backfill in the sector. 👇 wonkwatch.substack.com/p/policy-by-...
wonkwatch.substack.com
Policy By Backfill: Are universities being destroyed by accident?
What explains the seemingly wilful destruction of one our most successful sectors?
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
And at worst a massive distraction and cash incinerator
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
wonkwatch.substack.com/p/policy-by-...
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
What happens when policies fail, but it becomes politically impossible to admit to that failure? Look to our universities sector to find out. Some thoughts on the crisis in higher ed, and the desperate attempts to do policy by backfill in the sector. 👇 wonkwatch.substack.com/p/policy-by-...
wonkwatch.substack.com
Policy By Backfill: Are universities being destroyed by accident?
What explains the seemingly wilful destruction of one our most successful sectors?
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Seriously, what does 'backing' growth actually mean? We've had a decade now of talking about economic growth almost like some sort of rain dance. If we can just perform the right incantations the gods will reward us with a line graph that goes up!
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The entire article is just vaguely sourced anecdotes from social media. "Doctors have been cast as bigots" OK by whom, how so, why does this matter? The only "expert" cited is another columnist for the same fucking newspaper.
When sickness becomes integral to a person’s self-image, we shouldn’t be surprised that they fiercely defend that identity. Doctors, instead of providing much-needed support for a patient, have been cast as old-fashioned bigots standing in the way of an individual’s “self-actualisation”.

Dr Katie Musgrave, a general practitioner, has seen this phenomenon first-hand. She describes a “hyper-awareness of physical symptoms like fatigue and a racing heart” from patients who visit her seeking an explanation for their pain, with an expectation that there will be a single, incontrovertible diagnosis. Often though, she says, it is more likely that factors such as “a lack of sleep and exercise and a poor diet” are causing the patient’s symptoms, and these can be resolved with minimal medical intervention.

Katie Musgrave
Dr Katie Musgrave is a South Devon-based NHS General Practitioner and a regular contributor to The Telegraph. She also provides a column for Pulse, the leading publication for UK GPs, and writes widely on primary care, NHS reform, and the frontline realities of modern medicine.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 03/09/2026
Higher education regulator apologises for imposing £585,000 fine on university
theguardian.com
Higher education regulator apologises for imposing £585,000 fine on university
Office for Students made decision to punish University of Sussex with fine last year after claiming it breached free speech regulations England’s higher education regulator has apologised for a string of mistakes in its decision to punish the University of Sussex with a record fine that was later overturned by the high court. The Office for Students (OfS) tried to impose a £585,000 fine against Sussex last year after claiming the university breached free speech regulations involving its former professor Kathleen Stock. It was forced to back down in April after a judicial review initiated by Sussex found the OfS “had closed its mind” and acted with bias. Continue reading...
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Daniel Moser @dmoser.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.
Map showing Lower Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Will the role of the Bank of England ever come up in media conversations about NEETs and unemployment I wonder? Remembering today all the articles from a few years ago when the BOE were stating their policy goal was to increase unemployment over the medium term. www.cityam.com/unemployment...
cityam.com
Bank's Huw Pill: Unemployment must be higher to tame inflation
A greater proportion of the UK population must be laid off to tame inflation going forward, the Bank's chief economist Huw Pill said today.
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Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
By "when public debate will catch up with this chart", I mean that there is basically no supply side theory of the housing market which can be made consistent with this chart without absolutely torturing the model. London hasn't built 20% more houses since 2017!
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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Al Cairns, fronting up the new Policy Exchange Report on Art 2, bases his position on the premise that there were adequate investigations into state killings during the NI conflict. Which just is not the case (with the Clonoe inquest flagging outright lies): policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/u...
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The idea that not nationalising Thames Water will somehow save tax payers a big bill relies on the idea that 'tax payers' and 'Thames Water bill payers' are two non-overlapping groups. There is no magic money tree - and costs need to be paid! www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks...
reuters.com
UK's Burnham drops Thames Water administration plan, The Times reports
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has shelved plans to put struggling utility Thames Water into administration ​amid concerns about the cost and the legal risk involved, ‌the Times reported on Monda...
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
The British press needs to be banned from using the phrase social construct until they learn what it means. Yes - diseases are social constructions. No - that doesn't mean they're not real.
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Very striking how out of touch the press are with the public on climate change, and equally, how limited an ability newspapers seem to have to shape opinion in this area. Shout out to 30 years of geography teachers inoculating the population against climate nonsense i guess 💪
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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Quite weird to hear BBC News describe Jason Arday as “the black professor accused of plagiarism”. Is every story about a white professor going to include the relevant adjective?
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The only regrettable thing there is two average authors sold too many books.
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Not to question the FT but assuming that the number of haircuts that the British male public has per year is RELATIVELY static how can the barber shop number here be right
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Vape shops (sketchy) should rebrand as tobacconists (classy, french) and then everyone will be happy
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
"There's a real thing going on in the composition of the staff...does that not have to be looked at as well?" Nick Robinson, on Today, discussing this news.sky.com/story/nhs-st...
news.sky.com
Patients refusing to be treated by non-white staff as NHS reports shocking rise in racism
Paul Awah, a Bedfordshire-based diagnostic radiographer originally from Nigeria, said: "It's definitely got worse – people are more expressive."
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rich uncle skeleton @alexeptable.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Nothing quite encompasses the rancid stench of English neoliberalism like having to sit on the floor because the 3-hour train journey you’ve paid over £200 for has been oversold, and the guard reminding those who have no seats that, despite first class being empty, you will be fined if you sit there
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
I just... I feel like I'm going a bit mad? The British government very visibly opposed locking down, we spent all of November 2020 ignoring every sign in order to "save Christmas." The BBC's weakness was not deference to science, but to the government! Laura K was reposting videos of buckets!
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
If I was to be incredibly uncharitable, I would suggest that it increasingly feels like “school closures”, when invoked by people with no particular interest in either public health or education, has become a kind of way to make your actual point - i hated lockdown - sound more high minded.
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Theory: Some people think that the middle way/secret third thing is inherently sensible, and that finding it is what it *means* to be clever. They don’t want to (and don’t) examine the evidence, they are just trying to find a third way in the discourse because that’s their rhetorical habit.
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
It really can't be overstated the extent to which a common sense is emerging that we got COVID wrong because we did *too much*. There is also a growing belief among people who would never consider themselves conspiracists that the lab leak conspiracy theory has somehow been proven to be true.
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
“fewer people should go to university” is the ultimate ‘luxury belief‘ in Westminster - because it never includes the people advocating for it nor their kids
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Emma Jacobs @emmavj.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Every commentator saying too many kids go to university has to tell their own kid to not do a degree
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
For some reason I decided to punish myself by listening to this. One thing that strikes me: the assertion is that multiple generations (anyone under about 45) now have been raised to think that 'Britain is bad' and that this is 'divisive'.... www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2ZB...
youtube.com
Katharine Birbalsingh: children are taught to hate Britain – I blame the adults | Quite right!
YouTube video by The Spectator
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Implies a weird assumption about a static workforce, where people are raised to work only in the local economy they were born in. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Burnham to tell schools in England to adapt teaching to local business needs
PM wants curriculums for students aged 14 and above to be more responsive to local jobs market
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Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
If only he'd pledged an uncosted £120billion instead
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
If we frame things as a 'cost of living crisis', rather than an 'affordability crisis' - do we foreclose talking about wages? What if the problem isn't how much things cost, but how little we have to pay for them? Would policymakers have different proposals if they conceived of a different crisis?
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Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
This is ... silly? The fact that the program was "unfunded" doesn't mean it was free or that cancelling it doesn't save money. It's a real insight into how some people in government have locked themselves in a mental prison of accounting
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
How excited should we be about devolution? Well... it's confusing. New blog here wonkwatch.substack.com/p/how-excite...
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
The luddites feared that new machines would take their jobs and that there would be no support for them afterwards... and they were right.
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Plashing Vole @plashingvole.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Congratulations to the government on saving 2700 jobs by nationalising British Steel. Now, about the 18,000 university jobs lost in the last 18 months, with more coming…
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
If you want to cut immigration and increase military spending, it has to be paid for. Good luck with the politics!
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
There are a lot of contenders but the licence fee feels to me somehow the most egregious example of the British state clinging to old ways of doing things that just don't make any sense any more. You can love the Beeb and still realise that this model is over - and that's okay!
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Two headlines from today's papers
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
But on the other???
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
On the one hand...
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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Should we be excited about a super-charged devolution agenda? A blog that presents an argument for why we should be - and then an argument for why we shouldn't. I wrote both of them and yet I'm still not sure which one I believe... wonkwatch.substack.com/p/how-excite...
wonkwatch.substack.com
How excited should we be about devolution?
Confusion reigns - for me at least.
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