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Mark Norbury

@markjnorbury.bsky.social
326 followers 257 following 562 posts

@unltd @acevo - generally prefer hopeful liberal progress + humour over despair, division, aggro, ego

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Reposted by Mark Norbury
David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 15h
Paying taxes is punishment is it? Some might say it's a contribution to the infrastructure and regulations (like the rule of law) that enables you to build a successful business and, being less transactional, your contribution to society..
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Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I'm furious about the two Iranians who came across as part of the surge in small boats created by my Brexit and under a Home Office run by my MPs Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick.
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Codfather #FBPE 🇫🇷🇪🇺 @codfather.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I'm with Carl Sagan on this:
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Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
After the Brexit referendum in 2016, Nigel Farage predicted that the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Italy. 2016 to 2025: each country has become more pro EU 🇳🇱 Netherlands - from 72% to 81% 🇩🇰 Denmark - from 62% to 85% 🇸🇪 Sweden - from 64% to 85% 🇦🇹 Austria - 37% to 51% 🇮🇹 Italy - 33% to 52%
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Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Avg GDP growth 1945-79: 2.8% Since then: 1.6% And this apparently "broken, economically stagnant" basket case kept its AAA status right through the Winter of Discontent We lost it under Cameron, and it fell again under May, then Johnson, and then Truss: i.e. the whole time Clarke was in govt
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
You either bow down to the assumption that voters’ preferences are fixed or at least exogenous. Or you decide that they’re malleable and endogenous - and so prepare to make a political argument. Better, perhaps, to risk dying on your feet than live on your knees.
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Steve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
NEW: How does Burnham’s conference speech land with voters when they see it it? In short, very well it seems. A thread on some new video testing of the PM’s speech among voters by @persuasionuk.bsky.social Top line findings and some caveats below! 🧵👇
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The Bear @bearlypolitics.co.uk · 01/10/2026
Bad news, everyone - Brexit has apparently caused the entire United Kingdom to detach from Europe and drift several thousand miles west. We are now slowly approaching Newfoundland. Can someone please let Eurostar now there might be some issues.
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A country that will not fix its mistakes is a country that has given up on the future. And Brexit was, it’s now clear, a terrible, terrible mistake inews.co.uk/opinion/brex...
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Michael Spicer @michaelspicer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Most TV is just this now.
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is your semi-regular reminder that pensioner poverty: a) is real b) is significantly less prevalent than working-age poverty and half the rate of child poverty, and c) is such that a pensioner is statistically more likely to live in a household worth over £1 million than to live in poverty
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Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This two tier policing is disgraceful. It's as if there is one approach for people who helpfully film themselves committing crimes and another approach when there is insufficient evidence.
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Mujtaba Rahman @mijrahman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Burnham's speech hasn't gone unnoticed in Brussels (where I am) Maybe Canada helped pave the way But a sense among senior officials here there's a more purposeful and political Govt in London that's willing to be clearer and more strategic about what it wants with/from EU
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Tom Scott @tom--scott.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Outstandingly dishonest even by Nigel Farage's standards. Farage knows that the men arrested at Fairford would not have been released if they were still suspected to be terrorists. He's stirring up fear, hatred & resentment against both immigrants & the police. Pure malice.
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The BBC news summary this morning went seamlessly from "critics warn PM scrapping triple lock would be electoral suicide" to "critics ask if PM has nerve to make tough decisions" and I don't think it's a particularly pro Burnham stance to suggest he might not be the entire problem here.
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 28/09/2026
"There are reasons to hope the right wing populists can be pushed back. Some of that is about messaging, some of it is down to vibes. "But once you’re in government, there is something bigger than all of that: when you’re in power, you can just do things. So do them."
thenewworld.co.uk
Memo to Burnham: this is how you beat the populists
Carney, Mamdani and Ossoff are all showing you can take on the raging right and win. But there’s one crucial lesson from them that Andy Burnham must learn
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
It will never not be wild to me that the Russians attacked Keir Starmer's home, successfully spread falsehoods about Starmer's love life, and this didn't changed British politics and British political elite behaviour *at all*.
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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 28/09/2026
🚨 Ed Miliband: "Europe is not just our geography, but so much more. "And on economics, on defence, on security, I say to this conference: our future lies in a stronger, deeper partnership with the European Union."
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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Isn't it nice when there's something we can ALL agree on? #ReleaseTheUnredactedEPSTEIN-Files
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Times this morning. Me in December last year. It was pretty damn obvious this would happen to anyone who did the maths. samf.substack.com/p/the-oversh...
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
CARTOON OF THE DAY…
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Rayner is correct: these proposals are economically damaging and politically counterproductive. Pretty clear that view is now almost universal in the Cabinet/Labour Party and the informed public. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
thetimes.com
Angela Rayner condemns Labour’s migrant visa crackdown
Speaking before the party conference, the housing secretary says Shabana Mahmood’s immigration plans would affect care workers
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Mark Norbury @markjnorbury.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Love it
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Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
England is a made up thing. It has no basis in the ineluctable laws of nature. Its extent is defined by Edward II getting his arse handed to him. Athelstan conquering York. The Welsh of Cumbria were incorporated, the Welsh of Gwynedd were not. It is a political idea, an aspiration - not taxonomy.
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Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I mean, any time now would be good. If it's not too much trouble
Headline: "‘Outright racist’ Daniel Thomas will face full force of law over any crimes, says home secretary"
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Schrödinger's Sneetch Belly @rtodkelly.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Please know that this is one of my few legitimate areas of actual, high-level professional expertise: Kicking the healthiest people off of a health insurance program will bankrupt it. Not 'could;' not 'might,' not 'probably," but absolutely will, with mathematical certainty.
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The only 4 constituencies where rejoining the EU wasn’t the preferred option were those of Lee Anderson, Farage, Tice and Lowe. In those 4, the top answer was ‘don’t know’. Confirming that Brexit has no real support at all. Not surprising for a total shitshow. And makes red lines seem very silly.
Independent front page. 

Voters across Britain back rejoining EU
Reversing Brexit is most popular option in 646 of 650 constituencies, finds new electoral survey of 12,000Bar chart showing
Which EU relationship respondents most wanted the Uk government to propose

EU membership 35%
Single market 6%
Customs Union 5%
Uk govt position  18/19%
Starts quo 8/9%
Don’t know 16%
Loosen ties 11%
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Mark Norbury @markjnorbury.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Incredible courage and compassion. To give this interview knowing what will come her way ... all power to her
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
It's a rare policy that would be welcomed by both business and trade unions - and at the same time would *improve* the UK's fiscal position. Dropping these proposals - for which there is no economic, moral or political case - would be one. www.ft.com/content/8a00...
ft.com
Unions demand softening of UK immigration reforms
Proposals will ‘punish’ low-paid migrants doing essential work in public services and create a new staffing crisis in social care, says motion passed at TUC
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 13/09/2026
referees should not be rewarding the team whose player committs the foul, then kicks the other player on the ground, and then pretends he's been shot after light contact
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Politicians on the centre-left and centre-right simply don't seem to understand they are in an existential battle for the future of British democracy.
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Hassinator @hassinator.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
a great letter in the times today. perhaps worth sharing in these troubled times. #RNLI #heroes
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Sam Bright @writesbright.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
🔴 As I revealed, Christopher Harborne’s crypto investments are being boosted by the White House - which has introduced pro-crypto laws that Farage wants to replicate in the UK
desmog.com
Tethered: How the White House is Helping Reform’s Finances
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has stood to gain financially from the crypto connections linking it to Donald Trump’s administration, DeSmog can report. Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been ac...
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
‘At a time when many policymakers are concerned about strengthening public control, humanities and social sciences research is central to ask questions about how and in whose interests technology is being developed, how it can be adopted, deployed and governed’ ukri.substack.com/p/why-ai-wil...
ukri.substack.com
Why AI will fail without the humanities and social sciences
AI can transform society. But only if society has a say in shaping it, writes Hetan Shah, Chief Executive of The British Academy.
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Mark Norbury @markjnorbury.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Grimly idiotic and disgusting ... my hate is paradoxically purer than your hate
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I resigned from ExxonMobil today. I spent the last three years doing fossil fuel extraction research at both BP and ExxonMobil. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing to maximize extraction while the window to act closes, and gambling with our lives. More below.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 12/09/2026
mackenzie scott really seems like the only billionaire to figure out that you can be a literal hero to millions with a relative pittance
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Mark Norbury @markjnorbury.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Really is outstanding @timnitgebru.blacksky.app i/v cutting through any technical AI guff to the core human/ethical/practical judgements and calibration we need to make.
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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
"The whole “Oh no, our models went rogue” thing … When a bridge collapses, you don’t analyze whether the bridge was ethical or sentient or why it decided to collapse. You ask, who is the person who built this bridge to be so flimsy?" www.wired.com/story/one-of...
wired.com
One of AI’s Fiercest Critics Says All the Doom Talk Is ‘Meant to Distract Us’
Timnit Gebru argues that AI companies are stoking fears of extinction to avoid discussing actual harms, like autonomous weapons.
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Tanita Tikaram @tanitatikaram.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
What I love about Western democracy is you can bung a political party £ 36 million earned from criminal activity & most media will continue to point at asylum seekers & migrant care workers with families as the barbarians at the gate we need to defend ourselves from 🙄.
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Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Riddle me this. If somebody donates £36 million to a political party and £5 million to its leader, how is the £5 million not political? Asking for a parliamentary standards commissioner.
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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
What a line! 😂
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Andrew Copson @andrewcopson.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Dismayed by defeat of the assisted dying bill. Nothing was won today – no new palliative care funding, no new disability support. And the suffering that brought this bill to parliament remains.
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Survation. @survation.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
NEW: Westminster Voting Intention LAB 28% (+1) RFM 23% (-1) CON 21% (+2) LD 10% (+1) GRN 8% (-2) SNP 2% (=) PC 2% (+1) RB 2% (-1) OTH 4% (=) F/w 9-10 September 2026. Changes vs 28/08/2026
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This is completely on Andy Burnham Last week Labour could have stopped this. Now we have a single person giving more money than the entire general election spending limit for a political party www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
telegraph.co.uk
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 11/09/2026
This is an amazing way of saying that you pled guilty to breaches of US anti-money-laundering law (and were subsequently pardoned by Donald Trump)
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Rafael Behr @rafaelbehr.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
On the urgent task of stopping nationalists, pumped with Maga propaganda and Kremlin money, conniving against liberal democratic Europe www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
European democracies are running out of time to turn away from the abyss | Rafael Behr
Far-right parties, Maga ideology and Kremlin money are conniving to suffocate liberal idealism for another generation, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 09/09/2026
Well, look at that.
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Rory Cellan-Jones @rorycj.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Regarding the Anthropic "we're all doomed" story: if a safety advisor at a car company said there's a 1-in-10 chance our product will kill everyone within 10 years, how long would they stay an employee? And what would happen to the share price?
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Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
You might have to turn up for the results of this one, Nige.
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