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Oona

@oonam.bsky.social
153 followers 437 following 20 posts

Social researcher focused on education, previously worked in higher education charities | Glaswegian in London | Lapsed violinist

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Reposted by Oona
Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Various Jewish communal organisations wrote to Green Party leadership on Friday, making the following points, which they have made before. They have received no answer, because the Green Party has no real answer to give. www.jewishnews.co.uk/board-jlc-an...
The communal letter also raises a series of points regarding Green party policy if the motion were to pass, with the writers noting that “it raises immediate questions about how the Green Party will now relate to the British Jewish community, having explicitly branded most Jews and synagogue denominations as racist for holding commitments they regard as intrinsic to their Jewish identities.

“In practical terms, we wish to understand the implications for the welfare and security of Jews and Jewish institutions located within areas represented by Green Party elected officials. How will Green Party MPs, council leaders and councillors engage with Jewish communities, communal leaders and institutions that Green Party policy declares are ‘racist’. Can ‘racist’ Jewish individuals and institutions continue to expect equal access to their elected representatives and equal provision of services? Will Green Party officials be willing even to meet with ‘racist’ Jews, visit ‘racist’ synagogues, or hear from ‘racist’ cross-communal Jewish representative organisations? How will Green Party-led councils relate to Jewish faith schools that fall under their responsibility, that the party has branded ‘racist’?
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Oona @oonam.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
First time I’ve seen a frontline Westminster politician talking this firmly about Glasgow’s decline and the increasing fortunes of the east of Scotland in direct contrast.
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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
As vile and as telling an image in the clip as Trump mocking a reporter with disabilities. These people are telling us who they are. We should not make the same mistake the US made.
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Jack Bailey @jack-bailey.co.uk · 14/09/2026
Turns out, the author just ... made them up 🤷‍♂️. I can't get over this. It really doesn't seem ok to me for someone to draw some squiggles, claim that they're illustrative of something in the real world, then act as though it's akin to evidence. The vibes you feel aren't data!
No hard mathematical proof can be proffered for the shift from post- to anti- to hyperpolitics. Figure 1 is therefore less an exact representation of historical reality than an intuitive dia-gram, synthesizing fragments of existing graphs-of trade union density, incidence of political assassinations, size and frequency of demonstrations-offered by way of illustration.
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Easy to donate: rnli.org/support-us/g...
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 09/09/2026
Also, why is this basically written up as "quirky crowd make an embarrassing mistake" and not "violent racists form mob because Asian people use hotel"?
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Media presenters in UK may have skewed perceptions of balamce of Jewish opinion towards Israeli govt. Centre of gravity aligns with Miliband (attached to Israel & critical of Netanyahu). Varies by faith/denomination & politics: many cons & mainstream orthodox disapprove Netanyahu govt too. See IJPR
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Liam Thorp @liamthorp.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Have to say this is a very fair criticism. I criticised Starmer for waiting ages to condemn Tommy Robinson’s mobs in London. But this is even more frustrating because Burnham is popular and could have real impact. We can’t allow images of mobs of masked fascists blocking roads to be normalised.
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James Butler @piercepenniless.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Is it better to think of it as part of a multi-vector political shift – street thugs, plus Reform as a catalyst for rightward pull on formal politics as a whole, the rise of Restore, and dissolving whatever historic cordon sanitaire existed between them and mainstream politics. I suspect the latter.
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James Butler @piercepenniless.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
The interpretive political question is harder: is the return of hard, militant action with the latent threat of violence a sign of marginalisation and *weakness* of the far right – i.e., vs the demonstration of a strong political constituency at the 100k strong Tommy Robinson rally last year? Or...
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James Butler @piercepenniless.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
FWIW I think the Burnham government is 'continuity Starmer' in failing to grasp how serious and dangerous this stuff is, and how sharply they should move on it. (The line has been crossed!) bsky.app/profile/yeom...
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
At the same time as banning myself and other journalists from their conference this week, this is who Reform laid out the red carpet for www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Raise the Colours leader given access to Reform UK conference while on bail
Ryan Bridge, arrested this year on suspicion of religiously and racially aggravated harassment, says party invited him
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
'The statistics for drama are similarly bleak. A-level drama entries have almost halved in 10 years, with by far the biggest drop in state schools. Forty per cent of state schools no longer even offer music or drama GCSEs.'
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Prof Katherine Schofield 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇪🇺 @katherineschof8.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The death spiral includes the closure of music departments across the country -> our severe current shortage of school music teachers. Round we go. You might think a kid can pick up a guitar or a mic but they need a wide music ecosystem to thrive, and without music for young people, music will die.
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Ros Taylor @rostaylor.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
So much to unpick about this horrible page. One thing: disability never was, never will be cool; but not only that - in British society, the disabled are despised and pitied in a way that neither ‘side’ wishes to acknowledge.
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Alastair @as-j.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I'm generally happy to give someone like Burnham a bit of time to get things in order but I'm already pretty impatient for an explanation why an octogenarian holding a small protest placard gets a criminal record but 200 people dressed as paramilitaries blockading Dover can just get the train home.
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HOPE not hate @hopenothate.org.uk · 05/09/2026
🚨 BREAKING: Patriot Platform, a new far right group launched by Tommy Robinson’s right hand man Daniel Thomas (AKA Danny Tommo) has blockaded the port and several roads in Dover. The masked men are from subgroups of PP, including Sussex, Essex, and South East Patriots Here’s all you need to know.
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Wonder if they'll be dealt with as harshly by the criminal justice system as the various environmental activists jailed after blocking roads etc. 🧐
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 03/09/2026
man can you imagine the VIBES at Reform's conference right now, the AMBIENCE, hahahahahahaha
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
"We just don't have British resident donors, British entities, that would support us. That's the grim reality" "There are a lot of people in your position who, for completely understandable reasons, can't declare ... the reality is we can easily get away with it ... [Le Carre]" - James Orr 10m40s
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Nick Barlow @nickbwalking.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The findings of that Reform investigation
Deep Throat in All The President's Men: "The truth is, these are not very bright guys and things got out of hand."
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Ethnonationalism, to put it politely. (Source: www.kcl.ac.uk/news/public-...)
Graph showing: The public wrongly assume most people convicted of homicide are from an ethnic minority. In fact, 64% are white – but the public's median guess is just 45%. Conversely, they overestimate the ethnic-minority share, putting it at 55% when the reality is 35%.
And Reform UK supporters are most wide of the mark on both measures, guessing just 30% of homicide convicts are white and as many as 70% are from an ethnic minority.
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Kate Connolly @kateconnolly.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The bloody legacy of Ratko Mladic, the butcher of Bosnia, who has died at The Hague @julianborger.bsky.social reports from Srebrenica talking to survivors fighting to preserve the memory of his murderous crimes but finding that “the crime of denial is everywhere” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
theguardian.com
‘The voices of our dead have not faded away’: the fight for the memory of genocide in Srebrenica
Three decades on, as leaders deny what happened, remains of the thousands killed continue to be identified and buried
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
In addition to the fact that the Last Night of the Proms is not the only night of the proms, the Proms are one of the best things this country has given to the world. It’s up there with Jenner inventing the vaccine: a huge variety of music, for free, and for all of us, on the radio!
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 19/08/2026
what a powerful piece www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
A rightwing witch-hunt focused on Jason Arday – but so did legitimate journalism | Hugh Muir
Amid the grief and rage at a tragic loss, it’s right to differentiate between those who fought a culture war and others who just sought the truth, says Hugh Muir, executive editor, Opinion
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
YouGov ask about religion. But they do not ask about race/ethnicity, when finding 14 things to ask about, when reporting findings that pretty clearly show a much bigger gap in ethnic preferences among some political, cultural, demographic groups compared to others. A very weird omission!
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Morgan Jones @morganj0nes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
People's private lives are to be mourned and celebrated by those who knew them as they seen fit. I see little to mourn or celebrate in this public life.
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Matthew Holehouse @matthewholehouse.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
"The jobs that AI won’t do, like healthcare or the creative industries." An alarming line in an alarmingly shallow piece www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
thetimes.com
We must end this one-size-fits-all approach to education
Our school system has become too single-minded and is stopping children reaching their potential, says the education secretary
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Chris Gallon @chrisgallon.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Why do people assume a technical route doesn't require academic qualifications. If you want to be an engineer and recognised as such in Germany you are going to need an accredited engineering degree amongst other things.
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Ben Newmark @bennewmark.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
The most infuriating thing about it all is that this has been tried and has failed numerous times. And saying "oh it works well in Germany etc" is silly as this ignores the very different economics and overlooks the role of our class system. Which we won't change through tech ed.
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Ben Newmark @bennewmark.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
If I wanted to protect the most prestigious and highly paid jobs for the social groups who usually hold them I'd probably design an education system that discouraged poorer children from studying the entry qualifications for these jobs as early as possible..
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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Every serious analysis of the future of the economy says we need a lot more B. It happens in universities. A is not an alternative to B. It is also important. Universities do not only consist of D. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
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Chris Cook @chriscook.news · 28/07/2026
as a general rule, delaying specialisation to 16 + the GCSE being well specified exams are positive feature of England’s system
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
And good luck finding businesses to offer meaningful work experience to hundreds of thousands of 14 and 15 year olds. As ever a failure to acknowledge that our big challenge with vocational ed is our labour market.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
It's noticeable, too, that there wasn't a single question on the climate, at a time when Europe is experiencing catastrophic wild-fires & record-breaking heat. It's astonishing how low down the political agenda this remains in Britain, when all the environmental indicators are signalling disaster.
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Hugh Brechin @hughrbrechin.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
'listen, forget whoever was in charge of this department before. from now on, we're doing things my way.' huge energy, massive enthusiasm, a transformative figure in the UK's cultural renaissance.
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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 20/07/2026
Back into the Cabinet after two years in a silent monastery in Tibet.
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 20/07/2026
I can't work out if this is intended as a punishment to Lisa Nandy, who clearly hates the job; or a punishment to the entire UK culture sector, which is suffering as a result of that. Maybe both?
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
good to see at least one cabinet minister announcing their departure on the non-nazi social media app
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
There's gonna be a new PM. What he needs is an op-ed telling him what to do, of which there's no doubt a lamentable absence. Here's the time-hallowed method for creating one: 1. Set out the problem cleanly, as if the PM had literally no idea that growth, the cost of living and deficit matter. 1/
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Prof. Pam Birtill @diervilla.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
I’ll take this paragraph! Higher Education and Universities are a success story. The chaotic destruction of the sector is avoidable, undesirable, and self defeating.
Universities are illustrative of the wider problem. They are one of the few sectors in which Britain is unquestionably world-class: they are exporters, research institutions, civic anchors and drivers of local growth. A government that says it wants innovation while pursuing a policy of often malign neglect when it comes to universities’ funding model and international students is not being tough-minded. It is simply incoherent.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I know it's only a PCC election with low turnout but 11% for a party that happily accepts neo-Nazis as members is really bad.
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Oona @oonam.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
First professional job I ever had was working for Ken! Learned a lot about good work and good politics from him, lovely to see this news.
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Amongst many important points in @jdportes.bsky.social article is the succinct explanation of why universities are vital to a coherent economic strategy.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
It would be v helpful for politicians to agree not to use language vs opponents they would object to being used vs them Yusuf saying these are OK words to target Reform MPs with is silly & ofc he would object to thst
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 07/07/2026
Saying you're the "most physically attacked" MP when two MPs have been killed in the last decade is just horribly self-absorbed.
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Gareth Davies @garethtbij.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The level of insight is astonishing
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