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owenamwilliams.bsky.social

@owenamwilliams.bsky.social
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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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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
'Disability history largely remains a missing part of the UK's story. Understanding it helps explain why contemporary debates often feel so fraught' New article by me in The Conversation theconversation.com/todays-argum...
theconversation.com
Today’s arguments about disability benefits have been raging for 500 years
From Tudor welfare claims to modern PIP assessments, disabled people have long faced suspicion and bureaucracy.
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Alexandra Sills @belovedofoizys.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Massive thanks to @benpaites.bsky.social for this episode, which I think really does a great job of explaining how museums work, with the marvellous @colmuseums.bsky.social as a case study. NGL it made me slightly nostalgic for my FOH days...
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
I honestly think banning MPs' second jobs is the single most powerful immediate thing the Govt could do to dent Reform support. It's the right thing to do. It would be a strong move (and message) in cleaning up politics. And it would shine a light on the person hit hardest: Nigel Farage.
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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
How OPERATION EPSTEIN FURY is going so far: 🤣 🖕 👌 👎
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Jane Green @profjanegreen.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
@martamiori.bsky.social and I have been writing, since 2024, about why Labour's 'Reform' challenge and emphasis was based on a misunderstanding of Labour's vote. Here for anyone interested: politicscentre.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
politicscentre.nuffield.ox.ac.uk
Article - Nuffield Politics Research Centre
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Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
There are now almost twice as many public electric car charging points in the UK as there are petrol/diesel fuel pumps, a government analysis has found. Obviously it's not a perfect like-for-like comparison given recharging/fuelling times, but symbolically important. www.gov.uk/government/p...
gov.uk
Comparing fuel pumps to electric vehicle public chargers
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
So it turns out Matt Goodwin's Reform campaign manager was a holocaust-denying Nazi who said he would "never touch a Jewish woman.” When do we start seeing all the coverage of the antisemitism crisis in Reform UK? www.jewishnews.co.uk/reform-uk-su...
jewishnews.co.uk
Reform UK suspends by-election campaign activist over ‘antisemitic and misogynistic’ posts
EXCLUSIVE: Adam Mitula, Reform UK’s interim campaign manager in Tameside, has been assisting Matt Goodwin's Gorton and Denton by-election campaign
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MKrebs 🇺🇦 @mkrebs.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
What Phillips said. This is definitely worth a listen.
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Lauren Leek @laurenleek.eu · 16/02/2026
My brother wanted a London pub crawl. The result? My new Substack post: "Britain Lost 14,000 Third Places. They were Called Pubs. Is Your Local Next?" How private equity reshaped the local, which pubs are most at risk and most importantly what to do about it. open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
open.substack.com
Britain Lost 14,000 Third Places. They Were Called Pubs. Is Your Local Next?
How private equity reshaped the local and the postcode tool that shows the pubs most at risk.
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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
🗞️ Some news! The Trump Action Tracker now has a bot that automatically posts new actions to Bluesky, along with link to news story & authoritarian categories. Follow to stay up to date! We are adding about 10 actions a day at the moment 😢 bsky.app/profile/trum...
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 14/01/2026
over the course of 1871, congress held seven months of hearings on ku klux klan and other white vigilante violence in the south, they took detailed testimony from hundreds of black men and women attesting to klan terror. (1/?)
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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
@hcrichardson.bsky.social wrote about a 1945 US leaflet on how to spot fascism in America. I thought it might be worth screenshotting the relevant bit. ALL of the these warnings have come to pass in the past year. 1/2
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Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Had a session with @pkrugman.bsky.social where we discussed US foreign policy and world affairs. Hopefully interesting if not entirely uplifting. open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
open.substack.com
Phillips O'Brien on Venezuela and More
And why America wins battles but loses wars
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Kat Beyer @katbeyer.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
Got interested in the comments on this thread & sub threads & found this helpful, reliably sourced article that sums up very well both his eugenics stance & his nefarious money making: healthpolicy-watch.news/rfk-jr-backt...
healthpolicy-watch.news
RFK Jr Backtracks Anti-Vax Statements At Start Of Contentious Confirmation Hearing - Health Policy Watch
But in a contentious exchange with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), RFK Jr dismissed the senator’s questions about his past as head of Children’s Health
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Carolyn Barber, MD @cbarbermd.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
🚨 NEW: One of the largest COVID-19 vaccine studies ever (28 MILLION people in France) just dropped. Results? • 74% lower risk of death from severe COVID-19 • 25% lower risk of all-cause mortality • No increase in 4-year mortality #BlueSky #MedSky #IDSky #SciSky #NewsSky #PedsSky #ObSky #NurseSky
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
This is really very good not least because, apart from its specific proposals, it actually articulates a coherent economic *strategy* - something which the UK hasn't had for a long time.
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Vital piece of investigative reporting from Sky. They've uncovered the X algorithm which feeds users extremist right wing material from the moment they join the site. It is a far-right radicalisation engine, by design. news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
news.sky.com
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
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Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
🚨BREAKING🚨 What Nathan Did Next: A Kremlin-Backed Forum on How to Subvert Western Democracy — and how Reform UK’s former Welsh Leader Nathan Gill fits in. 🧵 1/12 Full story: bylinetimes.com/2025/10/17/w...
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
"The day had begun with Robert Jenrick accused of racism. This is of course quite unfair. Racists believe in something." Absolutely fantastic sketch by @roberthutton.co.uk. Every line is a banger:
thecritic.co.uk
Rob whistle | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine
The day had begun with Robert Jenrick accused of racism. This is of course quite unfair. Racists believe in something. Some of us remember Jenrick as a chubby-cheeked fan of David Cameron fighting…
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Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Liverpool! Happening now! We have an amazing panel at 4pm at @OpenEyeGallery with the brilliant & inimitable @carolvorders.bsky.social Stewart Lee & @& the entire @thenerve.news team on this our launch day! It’s first come, first served for seats. See you there!! 👊👊👊
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Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Reform UK are pushing immigration hard as an issue in the Caerphilly by-election. Just for context, Caerphilly has the THE LOWEST, immigration rate of all Wales' 22 councils. 97.1% of people there were born in the UK. Only Cardiff and Newport have move that 10% born overseas.
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Garvan Walshe @garvanwalshe.org · 01/09/2025
4/ Specifically we need to win these by convincing enough people that (a) That human rights law protects British people against an overmighty government (b) That international treaties are how free countries cooperate against large dicatorships like Russia and china.
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Sarah, manic pixie dream MILF @goatsarah.org · 29/08/2025
I want to explain a few things and then it might be clearer why UK trans people are upset. In 2001 I married my wife, Sylvia. In 2005 I started medical transition. (1/13)
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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 18/08/2025
An important thread. What is Reform UK up to? ~AA
Screegrab of thread on X, by Lib Dem Councillor Tom Astell:

"Cllr Tom Astell
@tomastell
Something very concerning is happening in Hull & East Yorkshire. The new Reform UK Mayor has launched a website for a “£1m Community Fund.” Here’s why residents should be worried 👇 1/10
1:06 PM · Aug 17, 2025
·
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Cllr Tom Astell
@tomastell
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20h
The site (http://lukeasksyou.com) carries the Combined Authority logo & privacy policy, making it look like an official consultation and that the Combine Authority will be the ones handling your data. 2/10
Cllr Tom Astell
@tomastell
·
20h
But when you complete the survey, you’re told it’s “promoted by Reform UK.” Your personal data goes to the party — not the Authority. 3/10
Cllr Tom Astell
@tomastell
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20h
And the £1m fund? It doesn’t exist. It has never been through the Combined Authority Executive Board. No decision. No approval. It’s not even clear if the Combined Authority actually has the ability or monies available for such a fund. 4/10
Cllr Tom Astell
@tomastell
·
20h
The Constitution is clear: any spending over £250,000 is a Key Decision. It must be formally approved. That hasn’t happened. 5/10"Screegrab of thread on X, by Lib Dem Councillor Tom Astell:

"
Cllr Tom Astell
@tomastell
·
20h
So residents are being invited to pitch ideas for a fund that hasn’t been agreed — while handing their data to a political party. 6/10
Cllr Tom Astell
@tomastell
·
20h
This is a serious breach of trust. Public branding. Party data collection. A non-existent fund. Residents deserve honesty. 7/10
Cllr Tom Astell
@tomastell
·
20h
I’ve written to the Combined Authority Chief Exec demanding answers:
🔹 Has this fund been authorised?
🔹 Who approved use of CA branding?
🔹 Is this an official consultation — or a party campaign tool? 8/10
Cllr Tom Astell
@tomastell
·
20h
I’ve also raised  this with the Monitoring Officer, Chief Finance Officer and the ICO. Governance and transparency matter. 9/10
Cllr Tom Astell
@tomastell
Public office is a public trust. Hull & East Yorkshire deserves honesty, not smoke and mirrors. 10/10
1:06 PM · Aug 17, 2025
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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
1/11 History Reclaimed is still trying to invalidate the Church of England’s Project Spire reparative justice investment fund on historical grounds, with letters to the TLS and this rebuttal of the work of historians who examined the Church's complicity in slave-trading:
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Colm O'Cinneide @colmocinneide.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Debate around the ECHR would be more honest if everyone acknowledged that (i) the Court's 'living tree' interpretative approach was fixed by the early 1990s; (ii) the UK along with every other state kept renewing the optional jurisdiction of the Court while that case-law was developing, until...
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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
America's descent into suppression of dissent 🧵 I've been tracking Trump's actions since Jan and have included 93 actions that I consider to suppress dissent. They fall into 4 domains and their use is quite different over time. 1/16
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Reform UK has claimed they can cut loads of taxes by axing Net Zero policies they have based their claims on an old IfG report which said NZ would cost £45bn a year but IfG was explicit that most of those costs were on private indidivuals/companies - not state spending www.ft.com/content/8b5f...
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
The case for using "global majority" by institutions should be rejected unless + until it can be shown - most people understand what it means (most don't) - most people it is about would like it used (most don't) I find it a deeply incoherent fiction + a highly regressive term in some many ways
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 26/05/2025
hey lovelies, I finally got around to publicly sharing my compilation of big tech energy and emissions data. I'll be using it in articles, posts etc but it's yours too, free to use (w/ attribution is nice) ketanjoshi.co/2025/05/23/d...
a chart showing power consumption of big tech companies
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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
In normal times, the drop in UK exports since the pandemic and Brexit — and how they’ve been holding back GDP growth — would have been a major economic story.
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
I'm liking the look of Anara anara.com/new. Do any academics use it? Individual or team (shared workspace)? Thanks for tips! #academicsky
anara.com
Anara | Faster research
Anara is an AI research assistant that helps you quickly find insights in research papers so you can write literature reviews faster. Join 1M+ academics using Anara to speed up their work.
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
This chart from Immigration White Paper illustrates quality of government's underlying "analysis." 1. Numbers are completely wrong (in fact non-EU employment in health/care rose by over 100K). 2. Doesn't say what time period this is. 3. Footnote to source says data is from OECD (it's from HMRC)
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 10/11/2024
Long thread on how Brexitism started and evolved over 75 years, drawing from Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon's 'Continental Drift'. Global Britain, Free Trade, Cakeism, Federalism, anti-federalism, EEA, Winston Churchill, Empire, 52-48 referendums, Enoch Powell, 1975, Thatcher.... It's all here. /1
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Vance's Easter visit to Rome clogged its streets with a 40-vehicle entourage. He also demanded the Coliseum be closed so he and his family could tour it alone. Tourists who properly booked slots in advance got screwed. He's apparently the first to make that demand. Then he didn't bother to show up.
thetimes.com
JD Vance and his forty 4x4s visit the Vatican during trip to Rome
The US vice-president, a self-styled ‘baby Catholic’ who was baptised in 2019, and his family met senior officials from the Catholic Church
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joseph francis @joefrancis.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
My paper “Accounting for Slavery” presents a new database of state-level GDP divided into 15 sectors for every census year in the US from 1839 to 1899. I then use this new database to make a few gentle interventions in the slavery debates. 1/19
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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Seeing as it is #AutismAcceptanceMonth, I thought I would share a thread, in no particular order, of some of my favourite books related to being neurodivergent, in particular the books which have helped me in some way, shape, or form. 1/
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Nature @nature.com · 12/04/2025
Curious about using artificial intelligence to boost your research? Here are the programs you shouldn’t miss go.nature.com/4ls2K7a
go.nature.com
AI for research: the ultimate guide to choosing the right tool
Nature - Curious about using artificial intelligence to boost your research? Here are the programs you shouldn’t miss.
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Emma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
The Telegraph recently ran a headline: "More than one million foreigners claiming benefits." Sounds shocking, right? But what does it actually mean? Let’s have a look! 🧵1/13 (1/1)
Screenshot of The Telegraph headline: More than one million foreigners claiming benefits.
Subheading: Households with at least one foreign national claimant received more than £7.5bn in universal credit in one year
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George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
The average UK worker is paying a lower effective tax rate than their US equivalent (19%). Great stat via @tomcalver.bsky.social.
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Fantastic article by @tomcalver.bsky.social: not only is the UK not a high-tax country, taxes on *middle-income* earners are low by international standards. If taxes are to rise - and they should - it can't/won't be just on "the rich". www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
The US government officially stopped bothering to avoid civilian casualties earlier this month:
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Evan Peck @peck.phd · 21/11/2024
This has been fun, so part 2? A 🧵 on a topic I find many students struggle with: "why is their 🗺️ vis better than my 🗺️ vis?" Informed by my teaching & research I just saw this @upshot.nytimes.com article on my feed today, so I want to point out some of the small design decisions I love in this map
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Evan Peck @peck.phd · 20/11/2024
Trying something new: A 🧵 on a topic I find many students struggle with: "why do their 📊 look more professional than my 📊?" It's *lots* of tiny decisions that aren't the defaults in many libraries, so let's break down 1 simple graph by @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social 🔗 www.ft.com/content/73a1...
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Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
There are also loads of book festivals (too many to list) with lots of science, also Cosmic Shambles events cosmicshambles.com/e... and ** SIXTY** science musuems and science centres around the UK, listed here: www.sciencecentres.o... Spread the word! 8/8
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Janine Gibson @janinegibson.ft.com · 15/03/2025
Good morning and welcome to your thread of FT Weekend highlights on this cold but mercifully bright weekend. First before you hear one more tech oligarch redefine free speech please read this fantastic essay on the history of an ideal on.ft.com/4hlBeFq
on.ft.com
The real history of free speech — from supreme ideal to poisonous politics
[FREE TO READ] The 300-year-old doctrine is being tested by the excesses of digital oligarchs, says historian Fara Dabhoiwala
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Lucy V @lucyvilchis.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Judge Reyes is asking if the DoD cited a Beyonce album in their anti-trans policy, would the attorney demand she ignore common sense and just listen to the album. DoJ attorney has no idea how to respond.
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Richard Jones @richardaljones.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Wages have flatlined in the UK over last 15 years This long period of stagnation is unprecedented in living memory, & marks a decisive & unwelcome break from the UK's postwar economic trajectory This plot explains so much about state of UK politics today (now with x-axis labels)
Plot of UK average real wages vs time since 1946
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
In 2019 Nigel Farage's Brexit Party voted against plans to tackle Russian propaganda, calling claims of Russian interference "scare stories" One of his MEPs was Nathan Gill, who has just been accused in court of taking bribes in exchange for defending Russia in the European Parliament
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