Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 7hHow is it that intelligent people still circulate this stuff as common sense? How do they explain all the other countries who pay more tax than we do but haven't experienced total economic collapse? 481
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 10hBacking for the theory that some people will say anything in opinion polls. More than one in ten people think the police and armed forces should be privatised? 220
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 22hA repeated dad anecdote: My family started the seventies in crap private rented, later bought the small house I was born in, got a regeneration grant to put a bathroom in, then by the end of the decade had moved into a nicer house on a nicer street along the road. All on one wage from the same job. 100
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 28/09/2026“Chips and gravy”. Some people are struggling with the idea of becoming middle class through education, the combination of middle class cultural traits with regional accents, or the idea that someone might authentically retain elements of a working class upbringing. 270
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 27/09/2026So - as I understand it - a conservative government would find savings in the 'welfare' bill to fund defence and now also adult social care. Anything else? I'm sure there's still plenty. 031
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I like Spaced, which isn't on the list But mostly because I'm that age, lived in London N4 at that time, and it's almost like a documentary. 450
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 25/09/2026A minor point... About 80% of the price of a packet of (legitimatly purchased) cigarettes goes back to 'the taxpayer' in duty and VAT. For tabs bought from a bloke in the Dog and Duck public house, approximatly zero tax is paid. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukTories would prevent long-term jobless spending benefits on alcohol and cigarettesThe proposals would also see benefits cut for people who are able to work but have failed to hold down a job. 030
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I think this was likely to happen under any political leadership but Reform entered town halls around the country on a wave of disillusionment (or even rage) with local government and a big offer to root out supposed endemic waste and corruption. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukSouth Tyneside Council nursery closures decision 'devastating'Councillors confirm that all 10 Stanley's nurseries in South Tyneside will close by July 2027. 1116
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The Tories are floating a new way to be mean today I'm sure this time it will work. 120
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Someone floats a vaguely populist idea about allowing alcohol at football matches and X responds despairingly as if this is Burnham's primary focus in government. 020
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 22/09/2026For all the bowling brilliance, I was at Headingley on the Sunday in 2023 and it's Wood's swashbuckling six at the death that sticks in my mind (and some blokes near us in Newcastle shirts singing 'Howay the lads' in response). www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...bbc.co.ukMark Wood: England fast bowler announces international retirementEngland fast bowler Mark Wood announces his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect. 040
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 20/09/2026If it's out of a small tumbler rather than a wine glass, and I'm cooking, does it bypass my new self imposed 'no alcohol on a Sunday' rule? 130
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Seeing Conservative MPs raging at cuts to local government funding is melting my brain. 2170
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 16/09/2026‘Unfair’, ‘outrageous’, ‘cruel’… still hundreds of pounds less than in Middlesborough www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukWandsworth council tax bills could almost doubleThe council says it will have to raise council tax significantly unless the government rethinks cuts. 260
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Look at me sneering at the stout labouring folk of Piddington from the comfort of my liberal elite Gateshead enclave. 051
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Durham county council is teetering on the edge of no overall control after more Reform UK resignations. 000
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I'm firmly middle aged now and we've been reforming 'welfare' for my entire adult life. Come to think of it, I was welfare reformed as a teenager. 2101
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Great to see the Guardian getting stuck in as well. www.theguardian.com/education/20...theguardian.comRevealed: the university courses students regret – and those they don’tWe looked at graduates’ satisfaction levels after leaving university – and while most were happy, up to a third wish they’d picked a different subject 300
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 10/09/2026A quiet shit angle on English devolution from the UK's self styled leading progressive voice. www.theguardian.com/business/202...theguardian.comMinisters face backlash from hospitality industry over ‘tourist tax’ plansMany mayors welcome power to impose tourist tax but industry warns of ‘irreparable harm’ and job losses 350
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Haarlem. How do any of these businesses survive in the face of the disgraceful lack of parking? 2120
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Is the pause in local government reform in part people in central government deciding, “Our priority is MSA and regional growth. We have finite time, capacity and political capital, let’s not spend it on fighting with councils that don’t want change?” 140
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 08/09/2026It's bizarre that so many X accounts appear to sincerely believe that, in standing against the much loved RNLI and with masked men dressed in a paramilitary style, they're on the side of public opinion. Are they mostly bots and unserious trolls? 110
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Channel four news essentially just spent 10 minutes airing the views of your Facebook uncle. 230
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 07/09/2026If I say Alice Weidel has an air of Bond villain about her will I be veering into cultural stereotypes? 301
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 07/09/2026I'm not sure it's helpful to draw equivalence between a bunch of middle aged hippies and a bunch of masked men in paramilitary get up, on the basis that they are both blocking the road. I don't think you have to agree with the middle aged hippies to see that. 092
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Good to see the BBC leading a bond market story with the views of completely independent commentator Rupert Harrison. 150
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 06/09/2026"If the AfD manages to form a government in Saxony-Anhalt, Siegmund has promised to immediately start a remigration and deportation offensive" Maybe betraying my ignorance but surely migration policy is federal? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...theguardian.comFar-right AfD wins key German state election but may fail to secure majorityExit poll shows Alternative für Deutschland on 44.4% of vote in Saxony-Anhalt after huge turnout, with votes still being counted 020
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Whatever problems Saxony-Anhalt has, it's certainly not full. 160
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Probably unlikely but looking from the outside there's a tension between Reform's net-zero scepticism at the national level and the type of local economy that Cambell is working to support and grow. inews.co.uk/news/politic...inews.co.ukThe Reform mayor who is tipped to defect to LabourLuke Campbell is said to be on defection watch, but denies any intention of quitting Reform 220
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 05/09/2026These weekend "Reform pledge to simply..." headlines on the BBC website are getting almost funny tbh. 4306
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 04/09/2026I've been idly thinking about James Orr's specialist knowledge and wondering if there's an ethical justification for what he appears to have been offering to do. To me he appears to be in check mate. Any moral philosophers out there? 261
Reposted by Nick GrayLeigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 03/09/2026A real test now of the media's appetite for Cambridge professors and their ethics. 8684206
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 02/09/2026I'd like a Venn diagram of: “People who seemed reasonably keen on levelling up” and “people who think Burham’s line on regional policy is nonsense and we simply need to roll back the state and slash taxes” 350
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Not only is "fifty ways to save" still online, it's up there without the "this was published under a different government, nowt to do with us mate" disclaimer that's generally plastered on everything - even the decent stuff. Hope it's an oversight. www.gov.uk/government/p...gov.uk50 ways to save: examples of sensible savings in local governmentPractical tips and guidance for councils. 230
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Crown sourcing the budget? I mean, OK... kind of... but who is going to read and collate the responses? Shades of the 2015 Public Sector Efficiency Challenge which I think got 22000 responses, most of which were, like, "do things better". 340
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Get the long term unemployed to staff prisons in return for their benefits. Hashtag two birds with one stone. If anyone from a populist party is reading this, you can have that one for free. 010
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 01/09/2026This is doing the rounds on X. , I'm not getting into the 2000 vs 2026 thing, but it did strike me that nobody who has got inovled in the "good old days vs now" debate is sharing Reading line-ups from the 1980s. (pre-89) 330
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 30/08/2026Durham and Gloucestershire closing for bad light last night and everyone coming back this morning to wrap it up within two minutes is the latest 'most cricket thing'. 220
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 28/08/2026It's an extremely sad state of affairs when someone like Will decides he's had enough. Hope it's temporary. 020
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 28/08/2026North east England's football bantz heuristic has actually happened. 000
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Viewpoint diversity vs the bluesky echo chamber: latest. 141
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 26/08/2026'empty cycle lanes' hotline www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukReform proposes £30 tax rebate for HMRC phone delaysPeople on hold to HMRC for more than 30 minutes would get a tax credit under plans announced by Robert Jenrick. 110
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 26/08/2026On X they are worrying about ‘activist’ academics. Pulling it way back in time, do these people think enlightenment thinkers were working in a neutral, a-political vacuum? Like, Locke? Of course, you need to be aware of and reflect on your own values and assumptions. 040
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 26/08/2026If AI does destroy all jobs and put us all on the dole, does it mean the median voter will be sitting up until 4 AM watching Ken Russel films, the magic roundabout, and peruvian league football? Bring back ITV Job finder with the same easy listening music but no jobs? 250
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 25/08/2026The famously footloose defence industry. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukSunderland City Council leader backs defence enterprise zone ideaThe zones could allow defence firms to take advantage of tax-breaks, says the Adam Smith Institute. 130
Nick Gray @path-dependent.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Anyway, you do all realise that people will be screen grabbing today's posts to have "they are losing their minds on bluesky over the lanyard class" lolz. I share the blame. 020