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Paul Smith

@paulysmith.bsky.social
337 followers 494 following 277 posts

Doctor of Political Science at RGU Aberdeen UK. Interested in political communication/media pluralism. #NUFC season ticket holder. Living with MS. Shoegazer ♿️

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Paul Smith @paulysmith.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
What a fantastic photograph
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Sorry to be a (Conservative) party pooper, but
centrewrite.brightblue.org.uk
The Keminaissance is a myth. The Tories are still like a weird uncle.
Badenoch’s increasing tendency towards being ‘extremely online’ has led the party to paint itself into an ‘anti-woke’ corner that, to the majority of Brits who do not spend much time online…
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Mildly surprised how many people think "yeah Burnham's speech went down well but did you not notice how he failed to solve the (checks notes) 20 year growth and fiscal problems he inherited" is a devastating and insightful critique.
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Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
For my new research unit Politics of Democracy at the Berlin Social Science Center @wzb.bsky.social, we have 3 open research positions. 2 postdocs: 4 + 2 years (100%) 1 doc: 2 years (75%) Starting date: 1 March 2027 (negotiable) Application deadline: 1 November
Job adjob ad
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Jamie McKelvie @mckelvie.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The problem I have with so many AI evangelists is they are fundamentally anti-human
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Dr Katie Twomey @k2mey.eurosky.social · 28/09/2026
This is quite cool. My university is the first organisation in the world to force Microsoft to allow us to turn off copilot summaries in Word 365, after a backlash against it from staff (including, very vocally, me). That cannot have been easy for our heroic IT people so hats very much off to them!
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Philippe Auclair @philippeauclair.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Reading the independent report into Man City's financial "arrangements" now, stopping after every paragraph, saying "Jesus"..."JESUS!"..."Holy fuck!" and again. This is beyond anything anyone imagined. Also started to wonder whether criminal proceedings are in the picture now.
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Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Luxury retailers want taxpayers to fund a 20% tax break for foreign tourists. They paid consultancy Cebr to claim this will raise £2.6bn for the UK. That convinced Sadiq Khan and Kemi Badenoch. But it's false: a free lunch. Four basic errors mask a £600m loss. Thread:
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"Since Healey is in a Labour government that will not slash spending, this means higher taxes. The UK is not in truth a high-tax country, at least by the standards of its European peers. Labour must now dare to recognise that reality." Martin Wolf telling it like it is www.ft.com/content/aa0a....
Graph showing that the UK's overall tax burden falls in the middle of the large high-income economies.
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Room empties out at the UN as Netanyahu begins his speech.
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Michael @michaeljsc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
they should study him in a lab. I don’t think I could write this badly on purpose. still, glad this has higher billing than coverage of last night’s far right escalation
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Anna Landre @annalandre.com · 22/09/2026
My latest for @lbc.co.uk: If politicians want to reduce the PIP and wider benefits bill, they should make basic investments in accessible infrastructure and services ⬇️
Screenshot of an LBC opinion article with headline “PIP would cost less if politicians invested in making life easier for people like me,” subtitle “If Government wants to spend less on disability benefits over time, it has to remove the daily barriers that create these costs, writes disability campaigner Anna Landre,” and photo of Anna, a young white woman using a wheelchair.
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Stanandthat @stanandthat.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
(chef's kiss)
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Matt Owen @mjowen174.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I am a writer of the words & sentences (some funny). I’ve done most things: written gags, speeches, scripts, TV ads - if you require such an individual, then I am that person. Website (here) www.mathew-owen.co.uk any RTs (or whatever they’re called on here) gratefully received. Cheers👍👍
mathew-owen.co.uk
Mathew Owen | Speech Writer | Manchester
Bespoke wedding speeches from a professional comedy writer.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 21/09/2026
LMFAO -- Trump is holding an event at the White House right now but there's no audio because the press pool isn't there. The Newsmax host notes that this is an example of Trump's attacks on the press "backfiring just a little bit"
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Paul Smith @paulysmith.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Excellent 👏👏👏 #nufc
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a frightful hobgoblin stalking throughout Europe @supermathskid.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I really need a job, if anybody knows of somewhere looking to hire a good writer with connections in scientific academia and a few random folks in government please lemme know
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Pavlos Vasilopoulos @pavlosvas1.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The government should grant the request immediately just to see them desperately trying to migrate to the UK only to be caught in the horrific asylum and immigration system www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Piddington in Oxfordshire votes to leave UK over asylum plans
Piddington residents vote over proposals to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers nearby.
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Gareth Watkins @garethwatkins.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Reposting because I have under one month left of an interminable three-month notice period, and any and all bits of freelance work I can get in the meantime is going to help me through a financially difficult time as I start working for myself.
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 15/09/2026
I remember a world where if you tried to sell the US out for Russian money you went to a Supermax jail for the rest of your life.
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Harbourmaster Productions @harbourmasterrr.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I keep forgetting to post this here. Come and see my band play in South Shields' finest café (please).
Poster text:

The Sea Change Cafe Sunday Matinee:
Old Man
American Wrestling 
Ami McGuinness 

September 27th at 4pm

Sea Change Cafe
158 Ocean Road
South Shields

Pay what you feel
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Stella Creasy MP @stellacreasy.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
It’s not too late to stop this madness - the government has said the uk mega donors are a problem. The lords can bring in a cap on UK donors to stop any attempt to buy the next election. Share this and ask your MP to join us protecting British democracy.
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John O'Connell @jdpoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Oh, dear, Mr Ferguson. Oh, dear. ID'd through your Instagram, cross-checked against your self-published photos of you at your place of employment, and a phone call. Your head office is talking to your boss, right now. Enjoy the rest of your week.
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Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This Neo-Nazi is attempting to target RNLI volunteers. The police have to act, and the Prime Minister should be making a public statement.
Neo Nazi attempts to target RNLI volunteers
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Steve Bullock @guitarmoog.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Thank fuck disability’s cool now. Here was I thinking spending 23+hrs/day in bed alone for 7yrs, missing every family/social event, missing half my kid growing up, losing my job and hobbies, burning through savings, pain, brain fog, passing out from standing up & losing all sense of self was bad.
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Paul Smith @paulysmith.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
As a rule I think blaming the Ref is lazy but this is exactly how it looked from where I was. Jones is always terrible #nufc
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Paul Smith @paulysmith.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Farage is in seriously deep shit #C4News
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Paul Smith @paulysmith.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Wissa is a different player man. Fit as anything. What a performance. Bodes well for the rest of the season #nufc
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Presenter: [The argument was put that DEI advanced people not on merit] Woolley: "There are 975 Professors at Cambridge. How many do you think are black? Paddy O'Connell: "Its a fair question you're asking me. So I am going to say 30%" Woolley: "I tell you: less than half a per cent"
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Paul Smith @paulysmith.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
At the match today I was set next to one kid with a vuvuzela and another with those fucking clackers and I swear I will torch St James’ if I ever have to go through that again #nufc
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Disabled People Against Cuts - DPAC @dis-ppl-protest.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
#NHS #SocialCare Ravi Mehta, who has a life-limiting disability, was admitted to hospital in September 2025 for a routine appointment to fix his ventilator settings He’s still in hospital www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Please sign & share the petition you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/re...
bbc.co.uk
Disabled man 'rotting' on a hospital ward - despite being told he is fit to go home
Ravi Mehta says his care could be terminated if he self-discharged. His NHS care board says its decisions have not been driven by costs.
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Wheels for Wellbeing @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk · 12/08/2026
Paid opportunity for Disabled people: Please share Are you interested in floating bus stops? Are you a Disabled person based in the UK? Why not apply to the Floating Bus Stops Disability Advisory Group? Applications close midnight Wednesday 09/09/2026 wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk/floating-bus...
wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk
Floating Bus Stops Research Disability Advisory Group - Information and Application Form
Wheels for Wellbeing is an award-winning charity supporting disabled people of all ages and abilities to enjoy the benefits of cycling.
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DrMaxPolitics @drmaxpolitics.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Hi, I'm being made redundant by the University of Southampton at the end of this month. I'm desperately looking for work. I'll consider all offers but have particular skills in policy, strategy and research. I also have a consultancy service I offer. Please let me know if you hear of anything
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Paul Smith @paulysmith.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
The most delusional fans on the planet #nufc
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Paul Smith @paulysmith.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
FFS. This comparison is bullshit. The club had no choice but to sell our best players. The PL Cartel is designed to stop teams progressing. It’s not the club or Eddie’s fault #nufc
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Alex Hall Hall @alexhh.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
🔥🔥🔥Yet another beautifully written piece by @rafaelbehr.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Suddenly the British right feels a political chill. It’s getting cold in Andy Burnham’s shadow | Rafael Behr
The Tories and Reform had it easy when Keir Starmer was self-destructing – but a new PM with ideas exposes how vacant the opposition has become, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
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j-o-h-n270.bsky.social @j-o-h-n270.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Sorry, don’t post much. Bit of a personal promotion, my mum makes bags, handmade. Really good quality (she’s been in the textile business for a long time). She made one in Newcastle colours. If your interested, please check it out at julianadesigns.co.uk
julianadesigns.co.uk
Juliana Designs
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Zoë Grünewald @zoegrunewald.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
The Reform donations story is obviously exploding right now, and it just so happened that on Thursday I spoke to Ben Habib, Reform's former deputy leader, about what he knew and what he thinks of Farage now. It's worth a watch, it's pretty excoriating. Some key bits: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq_L...
youtube.com
Ben Habib reveals the truth behind Farage's by-election battle
YouTube video by Politics Uncensored
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John Milton @geordioca.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
If anyone has any contact with @kerouac151.bsky.social can you please reach out to him?
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Fairy @lafeeverte.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
This is fucking hilarious
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
These years of anti-immigration hysteria we're living through right now are going to look utterly incomprehensible in the coming era of closing schools, ageing populations and massively understaffed public services
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Michael Savage @michaelsavage.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Ouch...
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Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 09/07/2026
Is welfare spending ''out of control''? It's estimated to be 11.1 per cent of GDP this financial year. That's just 1.1 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen by 0.9 per cent of GDP since 2012-13 ⤵️
chart showing Social security spending as a proportion of GDP, by category: GB
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
This is absolutely shameful - from both Tice and the Telegraph
Tice, via lawyers, threatened to injunct the Guardian to stop it publishing these details.

Without responding to any of the questions put to him, Tice then appears to have shared the allegations contained in the Guardian’s requests for comment with the Telegraph, which wrote them up without credit or contact ahead of publication.
Quote
Anna Isaac
@Annaisaac
·
1h
Exclusive:  More Reform UK transactions worth millions reported to National Crime Agency
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Tom Phillips @tom-phillips.com · 06/07/2026
Every lifelong football fan I've ever met is like "I think players are supposed to serve their suspension" and every adult convert is like "the Archon of Constantinople's epistle on the Pentacostine rites of the eucharist clearly states handballs are mandatory."
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Paul Smith @paulysmith.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Just look at him. #cats #catsofbluesky
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Summary of the Home Office Impact Assessment for Asylum Bill is hilarious (if it weren't so depressing). HO analysts say "basically no evidence to suggest *any* of these policies will work *even on their own terms*" (but will probably cost money). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a43e1...
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Alistair Coleman @alistaircoleman.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Well. www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2624087...
oxfordmail.co.uk
Raise the Colours Oxfordshire leader to stand trial over 'indecent child images'
A leading figure in the Oxfordshire's Raise the Colours movement is due to stand trial accused of making indecent child images.
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Another stupid Mahmood idea - getting “trained” members of the public to decide asylum cases - is ripped to shreds here by someone who knows what they’re talking about… Politicians have truly lost their minds on immigration. It’s making us a very wretched and angry place.
Asylum appeals
Sir, Muddled government thinking is contlating the law, resources and the judiciary ("Public to decide asylum appeals as Mahmood jettisons judges", Jun 29). Nothing except its own ambivalence prevents a government with a large majority from changing the law on immigration and human rights, and nothing except its own misplaced expenditure priorities prevent it from funding the courts and tribunals system to eliminate the backlogs.
The task of the immigration judiciary is to decide whether, on return to their home country, an asylum seeker faces a real risk of persecution. This can mean torture and death, so immigration judges exercise the nearest that the UK now has to a capital jurisdiction. That responsibility, which I exercised for 20 years, requires accumulated legal training, skill, experience and judgment. Replacing a body of people exercising those proven attributes with one that lacks all of them and will not be operational until the end of next year is nonsensical. It will imperil appellants and will undoubtedly increase the number of applications to the High Court for judicial review. We have only to imagine a proposed crash course for applicants from different backgrounds with no medical knowledge for surgical hospital positions.
Dr Jonathan Lewis
Designated immigration judge (ret'd), Pinner
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